Chapter 580: Spare Me from Bitter Toil
The sun had completely dipped below the horizon.
Inside Schönbrunn Palace, Talleyrand, outwardly seething with indignation but inwardly secretly pleased, left the Grand Gallery with Leopold II to attend a dinner.
Before he came to Vienna, the Crown Prince had instructed him to use the incident of the fraudulent order to propose that Austria allow the Franc to be used for partial trade settlements in the Southern Netherlands as compensation.
Yet, relying on his eloquence, he not only secured the right to use the Franc in the Southern Netherlands but also arranged for Tuscany to accept Francs as well—the Grand Duke of Tuscany was Leopold II's son, a vassal of Austria, and would certainly follow Vienna's directives.
Furthermore, these two regions would reduce certain tariffs on French iron products, paper products, wines, and other goods for a period of one year.
In addition, Leopold II had divulged crucial intelligence: the mastermind behind the fraudulent order was a Dutch banker named Henry Hope, and even the down payment money had come from his bank.
Naturally, this information had been conveyed to Leopold II by the British.
With the matter escalating to such a degree, the British were concerned that Austria might discover their manipulation, which would severely impact Anglo-Austrian relations.
Thus, they promptly sacrificed Hope as a scapegoat. Since the fraudulent order truly was Hope's idea, and he genuinely provided substantial funds for it, the Austrian intelligence system found no flaws despite its investigations.
As the last relatively competent monarch of the Habsburg line, he had largely stabilized Austria's situation through his pragmatic philosophy and diligent work.
Soon, amidst the stack of documents on his desk, he found a memo about discussing the Silesian war situation at the next day's cabinet meeting. He sighed, tilting his head back, feeling utterly weary.
The following day.
In the solemnly decorated Mahogany Hall, Vienna's core high-ranking officials engaged in a fiercely heated dispute.
The subject of the debate was, naturally, whether to agree to a truce in Silesia.
Due to the British pre-arranged connections and Walter's anti-French faction engaging in extensive politicking, the voices supporting a truce quickly overpowered the opposition.
However, among those advocating for continued firmness against Prussia was Count Kaunitz, a Minister of State with immense political influence.
The position of Austrian Minister of State was equivalent to that of a Chancellor, the highest authority below the Emperor. If he stubbornly insisted on continuing the offensive in Silesia, even Leopold II would find it difficult to forcibly order a truce.
Moreover, reclaiming Silesia was already a politically correct stance for Austria. Kaunitz frequently invoked the humiliation of the Seven Years' War and the restoration of the Holy Roman Empire's glory, almost single-handedly resisting numerous pro-truce ministers.
After the meeting had proceeded for more than half an hour, Baron Thugut and Interior Minister Cobentzel exchanged glances, then began to execute the Duke of Leeds's plan.
"Count Kaunitz, it's clear that our nation can no longer sustain a full-scale war with Prussia," Thugut declared loudly.
The Interior Minister immediately concurred: "Precisely, we should not pursue a war that is destined for failure simply for personal political gain."
"What has robbed you of your courage?" Kaunitz instantly retorted. "Under His Majesty's new policies, our nation's finances have greatly improved, and our manpower is more abundant than ever before.
"Now is the optimal time for us to decisively crush Prussia!"
Leopold II's so-called "new policies" effectively involved rescinding most of Joseph II's reforms, thereby preventing the aristocracy from resisting the government, which created a facade of resurgence.
Baron Thugut looked at Kaunitz, his voice frigid: "You are making a reckless gamble, with the future of Austria as your stake! And you hold no winning cards!"
"No, I am confident of victory." Kaunitz shot him a disdainful glance, then turned to the Emperor, saying, "Your Majesty, we are certain to reclaim Silesia in this war!"
As a veteran statesman, he had made ample preparations beforehand.
The Hungarian Noble Diet, the Bohemian assembly, the Transylvanian nobility, and even the Romanian nobility in the south had all pledged financial and human resources to support his push for the Silesian campaign.
One could say this was Austria's most unified moment in decades. He was naturally brimming with confidence.
Baron Thugut, however, immediately said, "You are merely spouting empty slogans."
Cobentzel added sarcastically from the side: "Even if the front lines truly suffer a defeat, some will find other excuses to deflect blame."
"No, there will be no excuses!" Kaunitz, provoked into a fit of passion, declared to Leopold II, "Your Majesty, I will take responsibility for the outcome of the Silesian campaign. Just grant me a free hand!"
Thugut and the others immediately revealed triumphant smiles; they had been waiting for this moment.
"Count Kaunitz, if we fail to reclaim Silesia, how will you take responsibility?"
Kaunitz hesitated for a second, then said in a deep voice, "I will resign as Minister of State and withdraw from politics forever."
He then looked at the pro-truce ministers, his gaze intimidating: "But what if I win?"
"I will accept any arrangement you propose," Thugut countered just as fiercely.
Before long, with Thugut and the others no longer objecting, Leopold II reluctantly authorized Kaunitz to plan a new offensive in Silesia, even granting him the authority to select front-line officers.
As the meeting concluded, Vienna's newspapers immediately began heavily publishing news reports such as "Count Kaunitz insists on continuing Silesian campaign, states he will resign if war turns unfavorable."
The entire city of Vienna was stirred into a frenzy, people took to the streets, loudly extolling Kaunitz, as if he had already won the war.
The nobility, moreover, widely spread tales of Count Kaunitz's valiant bearing in the cabinet meeting, even coining the nickname "Nemesis of Prussia" for him.
The High-Spirited and Energetic Kaunitz soon began to set about making war preparations.
A series of orders for material and troop movements were dispatched across Austria after he signed them. Marshal Lacy on the Breslau front, under his command, resumed the bombardment of Prussian positions.
However, what he had not anticipated was that the very next day, after his orders reached Budapest, the Hungarian Noble Diet passed a resolution rejecting his bill to "levy a special war tax."
The Bohemian assembly did not reject the bill, but it demanded that the special tax could only begin to be collected from the middle of next year, citing a frost disaster earlier in the year.
At the same time, Hungarians, Bohemians, and Slavs alike swiftly sent troops to Silesia without delay. In just one month, Marshal Lacy's army swelled to a staggering 160,000 men.
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