Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

City of Venice.

A long and low whistle echoed above St. Mark’s Cathedral.

The sound lasted for a long time, and just when Ludwig von Kobitzel felt his ears were about to go numb, the surroundings finally quieted down.

The newly appointed Austrian Foreign Minister instinctively turned his head to look towards the sea.

Unfortunately, they were quite far from the port, and the cathedral’s structure blocked his view, but he knew that at this moment, 20 French steam battleships were lined up outside the port.

After they blew their whistles, half of the city of Venice could hear it.

Kobitzel sighed inwardly. It was these peculiar battleships that forced the British out of the Mediterranean Sea; otherwise, the Empire wouldn’t have been defeated in Northern Italy so quickly…

The whistle sounded again.

His assistant whispered in his ear:

“Sir, according to protocol, we must arrive at the negotiation venue when the whistle blows for the third time.”

Kobitzel nodded, just about to step forward when he suddenly stopped, stepping aside and motioning with his arm to Marshal Alvinczy who was following behind, “Esteemed Marshal, please go ahead.”

Yes, Alvinczy had paid 850,000 florins as ransom five days ago, thus regaining his freedom.

The old marshal sighed and then lowered his head to lead the way into St. Mark’s Square, where the first thing he saw were soldiers standing at attention in neat rows around the square, holding various flags, numbering well over a thousand.

He had heard before arriving that the member countries of the Mediterranean Security Organization would come to observe the signing ceremony of the truce agreement, but he hadn’t expected this type of “observation.”

Then he saw Talleyrand, Napoleon, and several other Frenchmen standing in front of the conference table in the middle of the square.

The limping man smiled and gestured to the Austrian negotiating delegation as they approached, “Ah, please take a seat, gentlemen. Today’s meeting schedule is full, and we must make the most of our time.”

Alvinczy had thought there would be lengthy negotiations about the terms of the truce, but as soon as he sat down, Talleyrand distributed a stack of documents to him, Kobitzel, and the others.

It was the truce agreement text.

Ten minutes later, Talleyrand clapped his hands and smiled, “I trust there are no objections from any of you, so I will begin reading it aloud.”

Alvinczy had only read less than a fifth of it by this time. He turned to look at the Foreign Minister, who remained silent, and then he slowly closed his eyes, closing the agreement text.

Talleyrand did not wait for a response from the others and stood up, gesturing around, before reading aloud:

“His Majesty Louis XVI, King of the Kingdom of France, and His Majesty Franz II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, to end the war and establish lasting peace, agree to the following terms…”

The content was exactly as Joseph had initially told Count Moses, only more detailed and accurate.

The French Foreign Minister read aloud for nearly an hour, finally reaching the concluding section:

“…and, a total of four secret clauses. They will not be publicly read here.

“The contracting parties…”

He then handed the formal agreement text to an assistant, who placed it before Kobitzel across the table.

Kobitzel, Alvinczy, and Archduke Ferdinand, representing the Holy Roman Royal Family, each signed the truce agreement.

Then it was the turn for the French representatives to sign, exchange agreement texts, and seal the originals with wax.

Talleyrand signaled to a distant officer, who immediately commanded the soldiers to fire a 24-gun salute, followed by lowering the flag bearing the Habsburg emblem in front of the negotiation table, accompanied by the band.

After the flag-lowering ceremony came the sword surrender ceremony, the military handover ceremony, the map division ceremony, and journalistic interviews…

It was only then that Alvinczy understood why Talleyrand had initially said time was tight.

At 6 PM, after the last journalist finished their questions, the agreement signing ceremony concluded.

The on-site painters and journalists left with their fill of stories.

Days later, the entire European Continent saw the news in the newspapers: Austria officially withdrew from the Anti-French Alliance, recognized French rule over the Southern Netherlands, Northern Italy, and the Rhineland, and agreed to pay 30 million florins in war reparations.

The aura of Austria as a top-tier European power almost instantly shattered.

In the hearts of people across Europe, Austria had fallen to the same level as Prussia…

And France, having single-handedly defeated the Anti-French Alliance, became recognized as the undisputed leader of the European Continent.

Everyone, while discussing the war, began to focus on the development of France in areas such as industry, commerce, and technology.

Newspapers across various countries overnight transformed into “France enthusiasts,” even depicting the lavishness and decadence of Versailles nobles as “fashion-leading” and “economy-promoting” virtues…

Of course, the most affected were the Austrians.

Vienna managed to maintain a semblance of calm under the strict control of the military and the secret police, but other major cities erupted in massive protest marches, with the Liberals’ cries for “freedom, equality, human rights” echoing throughout the Empire.

Meanwhile, Baron Tugut suffered three assassination attempts within a week, had his residence set on fire, and eventually had to flee Vienna to seek refuge in Galicia.

Fortunately, after the signing of the truce agreement, Napoleon’s troops began returning to France, allowing Archduke Karl to withdraw a large number of troops from the border and dispatch them throughout Austria to suppress the uprisings.

As the last military genius of the Holy Roman Empire, Archduke Karl managed to quell most of the insurgents in various cities in less than a month with high efficiency.

Although incidents such as the “Krems Massacre” and the “Graz Square Incident” resulted in bloodshed, the situation was generally stabilized, earning Franz II’s commendation and a marshal title.

Until his troops encountered Hungarian and Romanian insurgents in Transylvania, and his previously unstoppable momentum came to an abrupt halt.

Over 15,000 insurgents, familiar with the southeastern Austrian mountain terrain, continuously ambushed and raided the Imperial troops, causing Archduke Karl significant trouble for a while…

Prussia.

Potsdam.

Sanssouci Palace.

William II’s mistress, and the kingdom’s current de facto ruler, Wilhelmina, handed the report to Marquis Groelman, the Minister of Military Affairs, and asked, “So, what do you think?”

The latter glanced at the new Prime Minister, Baron Heinrich von Stein, and after some deliberation, said, “Austria has experienced severe rebellion, and their military forces are currently stationed in Transylvania, so this is indeed a good opportunity…

“However, I am uncertain whether our finances can support such a war. After all, Austria still has thousands of troops stationed in Legnica.”

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