In the Middle Ages, people drew cards to be promoted to nobility.

Paris, the world's capital of art.

A newspaper with the headline "The Lone Wolf of the American Continent" appeared out of nowhere, delivering a shocking news to Parisians at a low price.

The French's old enemy, the British, suffered a "Waterloo"-like defeat in the remote and poor American country, which was only slightly stronger than the natives in the eyes of Europeans, and tens of thousands of British troops were annihilated.

The newspaper concealed the fact that the Republic of Texas was a regime established by the Basilicata wolf tribe, but instead exaggerated the image of a small American country that was unwilling to succumb and bravely resisted under the power of Britain.

And the president of the country, an old man who looked old and senile, was still begging France, as the glory of civilization, with tears in his eyes, to stand up for justice and expel the evil British.

This was certainly not a spontaneous report by the French, but the result of Giuliano's use of the hidden players left in Europe and the result of a lot of money.

After the report, the hidden players were expected to be arrested by the Royal Police, but they never thought that nothing happened.

It was as if the Paris government had acquiesced to the Texans and promoted itself as a small overseas country resisting British aggression.

Some second-rate poets began to publicize the shamelessness of the British in newspapers, the massacre of Americans, the persecution of white immigrants, and the concentration camps set up by the British in South Africa during the last Boer War.

The speed of public opinion deterioration was faster than anyone imagined, and the enthusiasm of the Parisians to pay attention to the world situation was also far beyond the cognition of the Basilicata hidden man.

Later, the French government, which originally intended to acquiesce to the Texans' support for public opinion, was also somewhat restless. Facing the marching crowd, the French king had to declare that he would issue a diplomatic inquiry to the British.

…

New England, Rhode Island.

As one of the earliest thirteen states in the North American colonies, Rhode Island's industrial base is quite good. The textile industry, jewelry manufacturing industry, and shipbuilding industry have all made great progress. In addition, as a port city, this place is suitable for "exile abroad" and has become the base camp of the North American colonial independence faction.

At this time, in the traditional Providence Manor, the man sitting with his back to the gate was frowning and listening to the report of his subordinates.

"Those local people are really stupid. They have the most advanced weapons, but they can't even defeat a group of barbarians, causing the fire of civilization to be extinguished in the face of barbarism."

"Start to act, old Arthur, this time you have to stand on the stage."

Old Arthur MacArthur was silent for a long time: "My weight may not be enough."

"Enough, you are a senior official in Wisconsin, this time we will make you the leader of the independence faction, don't worry, your son will be fine, the locals want to shift the responsibility of the defeat to the commander of a state militia, which is ridiculous."

When it comes to his son Arthur, old Arthur has no room for refusal, he nodded Nodding: "I understand, I'll do everything as you say."

The man reminded: "Very good. Remember, you must be cautious enough in this action, don't involve too many irrelevant people, MI6's dog nose is very sharp, the scale of the uprising does not need to be too large, let those local gentlemen see our strength."

"Yes, sir."

The man smiled, turned around and picked up the red wine glass on the table, raised it, and touched it remotely: "For Mr. Washington's legacy, for the independence and freedom of America!"

Old Arthur took the wine glass and drank it all. He knew very well that he was heading towards a road of no return.

The independence organization of the North American colonies had long been infiltrated into a sieve.

There were not only British spies and spies, but also many people who had no intention of independence at all, but just wanted to shout slogans so that the locals would pay more attention to the interests of the colonies.

If these people could be trusted, Washington would not have been burned to death at the stake in Richmond.

But old Arthur had no choice.

…

Frankfurt

As the northern capital of the German Confederation, Franz lives here two-thirds of the year.

The people of Vienna have some complaints about this, and some even claim: "We got a federation, but lost an empire."

In the original history, the southern German part of the German Empire only had a few small states such as Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse, and the northern German part dominated by Prussia had an absolute advantage.

However, the North-South confrontation problem is still very serious. Before World War I, Bavaria and other states still sent ambassadors to other countries and even enjoyed a certain degree of diplomatic power.

In this time and space, not only Austria has been added to the southern German part, but Bohemia has also joined the Confederation in recent years.

The North and the South are more evenly matched, and no one can suppress the other, which is not a good thing.

At the beginning of the 20th century, this monarch, who was crowned as the Emperor of the Austrian Empire at the age of 18, has been on the throne for nearly 50 years.

In the past few years, he felt that his mental state was getting worse and worse. The expensive potions prepared by the royal wizards could heal his body, but they could not relieve the vicissitudes of his soul.

Royal advisor Conrad walked quickly to the emperor: "Your Majesty, there is an important news from America."

The old emperor's eyes flashed with impatience: "America? I don't want to hear any news from America."

Ever since his brother Maximilian I, the French puppet emperor of Mexico, was executed by the Mexicans, he had become increasingly reluctant to hear news about America, which had become a sad place for the old emperor.

It was during the Austrian-French War. Except for the old emperor and Maximilian's queen, no one was willing to send troops overseas for a Mexican emperor who "had surrendered to the enemy." The navy of the Austrian Empire was very weak. Even if he wanted to go overseas to punish Mexicans can't do it either.

After the war ended, Mexico claimed that it would pay compensation, and with Britain's support, the matter was settled.

Conrad said cautiously: "Your Majesty, this is good news."

"The British colonies are rebelling again? That may be good news, but those weak people cannot succeed. America is a battlefield between Britain and France. There is no need for us to enter."

Franz shook his head.

He is not interested in the situation in the Americas at all, and he is not even interested in the recently popular saying in China of "opening up a territory under the sun."

Today's overseas development has become more and more difficult. The soft persimmons and lucrative fruits have been picked out long ago, and what is left is either hard bones or barren land.

Germany's existing German South-Western Africa, German East Africa, and German Guinea, these colonies established with strong support from overseas factions, are almost all in a predicament of being unable to make ends meet and must be maintained by state subsidies.

The overseas faction claims that this is an essential upfront investment, but the old emperor believes that rather than investing in those overseas territories, it is better to transfer funds to Galicia, Hungary or Illyria.

It's closer there and generally less developed.

"That's not it. The British suffered a disastrous defeat in the war with Texas. The total number of casualties was at least tens of thousands of soldiers, and more than half of their proud airship fleet was also lost!"

Franz's originally squinted eyes immediately widened, and his whole lazy aura was refreshed.

"Texans? A country formed by those Italian wolves who defected overseas? When did they have such power?"

The fighting power of the Wolf Clan is not weak, but if a single Wolf Clan had such strength, the original Two Sicilies Wolf Clan would not have been suppressed by the Habsburg family in southern Italy.

"And according to reliable intelligence, when the British suffered this defeat, the French Cuban fleet was watching on the sidelines. The two sides were at war with each other and almost started fighting!"

Conrad looked very excited. It was true that Britain and Germany were allies, but the British already had enough interests in the world.

In this world, most countries have to celebrate when they see the British being unlucky.

"The British have exposed their incompetence. If the two sides really go to war, we can completely sit back and watch! No matter who wins or loses, they will suffer heavy losses. Your Majesty, we will rebuild a new system since the collapse of the Metternich system. The chance for European order is here!”

Franz was obviously not that excited: "Britain and France will not fight so easily. Moreover, the British are defeated, and I am more worried that the French will ignore the British's deterrence and take action against us... pass my order to the border soldiers We are on heightened alert and always pay attention to the movements of the French.”

These words poured cold water on the hot-headed royal advisor, and Conrad couldn't help but think about this possibility.

The old emperor suddenly asked: "Also, is there still no news about Viviana?"

"Sorry, Your Majesty..."

The old emperor let out a long sigh. He had been emperor for a long time, and enough tragedies had happened to him. His beloved wife was shot dead, his only son committed suicide for love, and the young man who had the most high hopes and regarded him as his own daughter A generation ago, the Candle Knight also disappeared mysteriously.

"Your Majesty, with Your Highness Viviana's strength, if she wants to hide, it will be difficult for us to find her traces."

"Then forget it..."

The old emperor waved his hand and fell into deep thought for a long time.

Conrad did not dare to say anything. The mysterious disappearance of the Candle Knight had become a taboo in the court.

It is said that because of this incident, the Elector Frederick went to Schonbrunn Palace to make a fuss. In front of all the monarchs, he mercilessly accused the Emperor of teaching his daughter a bad way, and even took out a The incident involving Crown Prince Rudolf deeply hurt His Majesty the Emperor’s face and heart.

Since then, the two have not interacted with each other and never met again.

As the largest power in North Germany, Brandenburg was at odds with Austria, which was also an important reason for the division within the federation.