The Shadow of Great Britain

Arthur sighed and said, "I must admit, this is quite a strange phenomenon. Mr. Feng Kromeier, being an Austrian, actually sings praises for Italy's national independence. It seems that faced with a check, the professional integrity of most diplomats is indeed unreliable."

Schneider chuckled softly upon hearing this: "No, Arthur, I disagree with you. This actually proves that Mr. Feng Kromeier is a person with simple interests, and such people are much easier to deal with than idealists. The so-called idealists are, in fact, not much different from Scottish donkeys. Many believe it's a good term, but in the field of diplomacy, this description is simply terrible.

To put it plainly, it's a matter of acting impulsively without considering the actual situation, nor considering whether the interests of the party they represent have suffered any loss. They act according to their whims and have preconceived opinions on everything. It's hard to find a few smart ones among them. If the delicate work of diplomacy were handed over to idealists, Europe would soon erupt in full-scale war again."

Arthur instinctively wanted to speak a word for the few idealists he knew, but upon reconsidering, he realized Schneider's words were not entirely wrong.

Whether it's Great Dumas or Garibaldi, Mazzini, and others, they are adept at uprisings. Wherever the political situation is turbulent, they are there. In this regard, Mazzini and Garibaldi are even more superior, because due to the lack of ability, Great Dumas mostly participates in uprisings, whereas Mazzini and Garibaldi are usually the ones initiating them.

As for Heine, this German nationalist Jewish poet also claims to be an idealist, but since his books aren't as popular as Great Dumas', he often has to swallow his pride for survival. Once he has money, he writes articles scolding and accusing the government of oppressing progressive poets like him.

Based on this inference, idealists do seem unsuitable for the work of diplomats, but rather suitable for being hoodwinked by diplomats.

Because essentially, the purpose of establishing diplomatic relations is not to express friendship, but to gain convenience. The essence of diplomats is a group of people sent abroad to specialize in lying to serve their own country.

And the taboo in diplomatic occasions is losing one's temper; any table-smashing must be thoroughly pre-designed and should always be the last option.

For the Foreign Office, the most perfect diplomatic handling is to make others willingly do what you want them to do, and also let them believe it was their own idea.

However, although this profession lives by misleading others, one cannot be too ruthless.

Because the person unlucky today might be lucky tomorrow, a shrewd diplomat must leave room for the future, and can't do unprofitable business.

This is not only the basis of Arthur's actions, but also of Schneider's and Feng Kromeier's actions.

For the three of them, their interests do not entirely coincide with those of the government.

Even Feng Kromeier, the direct opponent of 'Young Italy', prefers Italians to continue stirring things up compared to Arthur and Schneider.

In Britain, things like establishing intelligence agencies can only be done secretly due to the influence of public opinion.

But in the German Confederation, Metternich can openly establish two intelligence agencies by way of Confederation resolutions—the Mainz Central Investigation Committee and the Frankfurt Central Investigation Bureau.

Outside of these overt agencies, Metternich also secretly established an independent intelligence agency apart from the German Confederation Council—the Mainz Intelligence Office (MIB).

The courts of Berlin, Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, and Vienna among the German States all cooperated around these intelligence departments in political, police, and espionage affairs, with their areas of operation covering not only all German States but also including other key cities in Europe, like Paris and Zurich, etc.

These intelligence agencies compile countless information involving suspicious individuals, social gatherings, and travel into comprehensive reports sent to the Austrian Prime Minister's Office. Therefore, even if Metternich remains shut indoors in Vienna, he can become the most knowledgeable European politician on political movements, public opinion trends, and radical literary circles.

Even Britain's Palmerston, France's Talleyrand, Russia's Count Benkendorf wouldn't dare claim their intelligence was more informed than Metternich's.

But being well-informed isn't necessarily a good thing, because this means the Austrian Emperor and Metternich have received more warnings and threats about hanging lords, assassinating them, or driving them out of their country.

As a politician who experienced the political turbulence of the 1810s and 1820s, Metternich certainly doesn't consider these threats as mere empty words.

As for Austria's intelligence personnel, their livelihood depends on the fear of the Vienna court; the more the Emperor and the Prime Minister worry, the more their work is emphasized, leading to receiving more funding.

Especially just recently, in Frankfurt, the location of the German Confederation Council, an incident almost occurred where the Confederation members were nearly rounded up.

On the night of April 3rd, around 50 students and radicals took advantage of the darkness to attack the guard post in Frankfurt, aiming to seize weapons and ammunition for staging an armed uprising. However, due to their plan being leaked ahead of time, the Frankfurt authorities were fully prepared, therefore, in fierce firefights, the insurgents were never able to break through the government defenses to their intended target locations.