East, West, South, North

Palmerston's so-called goodwill was simply a plan to partition the Kingdom of Madagascar with Austria, with the condition remaining a division of east and west.

However, the proposal had shifted from a joint military expedition to Britain providing the ships and Austria providing the men. This is just a "free shipping" offer away from being a total scam, Franz thought, filled with infinite emotion.

As expected of the British Empire; this "troublemaker" is truly not someone an ordinary person can touch.

Fortunately, Prince Metternich was not as stubborn as Franz had imagined. In truth, the Metternich of those years was a man who would never release the hawk until he saw the rabbit.

He was capable of instigating Francis II to seek a son-in-law when France was strong and Austria was weak, just as he was capable of kicking a man when he was down and turning his blade against Napoleon when he failed.

Known alongside Talleyrand as one of the most shameless diplomats in the world, he was a politician who had absolutely nothing to do with the word "morality."

Metternich did not agree to Palmerston's proposal because the island of Madagascar held no real attraction for the Austrian Empire.

Setting aside the two million rioters on the island, the development costs of such a colony alone were enough to make one shrink back.

In reality, the initial investment for colonies was enormous, and the Austrian Empire's maritime transport capacity was limited. Metternich did not believe that a colony on the other side of Africa held any value, and this included the Governorate of Tanzania.

At this time, few countries were developing colonies on a large scale; most colonists relied on plunder or the cultivation of puppets to extract profits.

Therefore, in Metternich's eyes, the most valuable colonies were