Chapter 1160: Talk after the first day

Chapter 1160: Talk after the first day

The first day of the meeting was spent in the noise, and as usual, no agreement was reached on the surface.

In fact, Viscount Stratford originally wanted to end it at the end, but Austria announced the establishment of a monetary union, which directly broke his rhythm.

At this time, the peace conference did not transition to the British era, and international law was even more in name only. The Austrian Empire trampled on it the most.

Every foreign war of Franz was a trampling on the so-called continental balance of power policy of Britain. Of course, the so-called Vienna system has almost collapsed.

All diplomatic forms have returned to the most traditional court diplomacy. Compared with the connection ability of the upper class, even if the four major powers are tied together, they are not Austria's opponents.

In addition, this is Austria's home court. Viscount Stratford has lived for so many years and knows what it means to be difficult for the first time.

In fact, other countries except Austria are more or less at a loss, especially after the Europa Monetary Union was proposed, the whole situation has become more and more chaotic.

Ambassadors from various countries have asked their countries for help. The development of the current situation has obviously exceeded the expectations of all parties.

Hofburg Palace, small banquet hall.

Otto I was a little depressed. He also saw today's peace conference. It was so uncomfortable to be ignored! Even if it was a fait accompli, it was still so ridiculous in the eyes of the powers.

"Franz, what should I do? They don't take me seriously at all!"

"Cousin, you don't have to be angry. This peace conference is actually more like a business negotiation. As long as the cost of recovery is higher than the land income, the other party will carefully consider your opinion."

"Then."

Franz interrupted before Otto I finished speaking.

"No, I can support you secretly, but I can't negotiate with the powers for you.

Otherwise, they will definitely label these as the Austrian Empire, and the resistance will be greater than it is now.

And it will also affect our country's strategic layout in the Balkans"

Franz did not hide that Austria did not want to go too deep into the Balkans at this time.

Otto I was inevitably a little disappointed, but as a monarch, he also understood Franz's approach. He just asked in the end.

"Franz, how much spoils can our country keep this time?"

"Not much. Neither Britain, the Ottoman Empire, nor Russia want Greece to become bigger.

And I can assure you that after the war, the Ottomans will massacre the Greeks in their territory.

I suggest you move as many Greeks in the occupied areas back to Greece and Thessaly as possible. I will do my best to save Thessaly for you."

"Only Thessaly?"

Franz nodded.

In fact, with the current strength of Greece, it would be good if it could not be annexed, let alone expand its territory.

If there is no support from Austria, it is a question whether the firearms equipment rate of the Greek army can exceed 50%.

The biggest gain for Greece from this war should be bordering the Austrian Empire. From then on, Greece's development speed will far exceed the same period in history.

Franz walked over and patted Otto I on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, these lands will belong to Greece sooner or later. What you need to do now is to keep a low profile, strengthen your own strength, and prepare for future changes in the situation.

But I must remind you that the situation in Greece is very special, and you must make plans for your heir as soon as possible."

At this point, Otto I couldn't help but get angry.

"I know it without you saying it, but no one in my family is willing to come to this remote place in Greece.

Amalie, that bitch, flirts with those Greeks all day long and can't give birth to a child. I really want to kill her!"

Amalie is the wife of Otto I. It is rumored that she has an affair with several high-level Greek officials, and the two sides collude with each other to gain benefits.

However, Otto I's private life is also very chaotic. Not only does he have many mistresses, but he is also a frequent visitor to high-end brothels.

There are even rumors that he had an affair with his father's mistress Jane Digby, and voluntarily became the King of Greece in order to get rid of his father's control.

Male members of the Wittelsbach family are generally more interested in slightly older women when they are young.

But the most terrible thing is that both parties have no heirs, which is definitely a big problem in a monarchy.

In history, although Otto I was driven out of power, if he had his own heir, the situation would be very different.

Even if Otto I could die of old age with the help of Austria, if there was no heir, the Austrian Empire would have to compete with the powers for influence over Greece after his death.

This game is likely to become an opportunity for the powers to suppress Austria. Even if it succeeds, it will suffer huge losses and may cause panic in neighboring countries.

In addition, Queen Amalie is very incompetent and often interferes in politics for some petty gains, which makes the image of the Greek royal family very bad.

What's more terrible is that she also stands on the side of the liberals, advocates the abolition of the death penalty, implements free politics, and often does things that trample on the law.

In short, on the one hand, she enjoys the convenience brought by privileges, and on the other hand, she likes to talk about freedom and equality, and even uses it to create personalities and interest groups.

However, when the Greek uprising occurred, Amalie herself was swept out like garbage.

Otto I was unlucky to have such a queen. As for the issue of succession, either Amalie could give birth to a child, or Otto I could only consider changing his wife.

"Cousin, you'd better have your own children."

Franz's words were just a little bit, and I believe Otto I understood what he meant.

Franz's Europa Monetary Union was recognized by most countries. The benefits of a unified currency were obvious, and the fact that each country still retained the right to mint coins eliminated the worries of those economically weak countries.

It's just that there was a new dispute about what kind of currency system to implement. At this time, some countries adopted the gold standard, such as Britain and Portugal, and some countries adopted the silver standard, such as the United States, Spain, and Saxony, while Austria, France, Prussia, etc. adopted the gold and silver dual standard.

People who are familiar with history know that the gold standard is the future, but at this time, only the gold and silver dual standard can bridge the differences and promote an alliance in the short term.

The disadvantages of the gold and silver dual standard are also very obvious. The first is the arbitrage problem caused by price fluctuations.

Since it is a product that violates the law of value, according to the "Gresham's Law", bad money will drive out good money.

Secondly, in order to deal with this mechanism, or to reduce losses, it is necessary to strengthen supervision so that prices can be adjusted quickly to delay the phenomenon of bad money driving out good money.

But this also means increasing the cost of operation and management in disguise, so this model will not last long.

Historically, the French tried their best to maintain this wrong system for only eight years, and Franz was not interested in repeating the mistakes made by the French.