Franz soon witnessed Alexander II's formidable skill. News of the secret Russo-Austrian negotiations spread, as expected—except the details had changed somewhat.
That slight alteration made Franz grit his teeth and approve the loan. After haggling, the amount rose from 30 million Divine Shields to 50 million Divine Shields—and it was interest-free.
Naturally, the Russians produced new collateral—the customs revenues of Ukraine—thus avoiding a total loss of capital.
If the Tsarist Government obtained Prussian Saxony after the war, then the debt would be written off, with the Tsarist Government using Prussian Saxony to settle it.
There was no helping it; the Russians had sung his praises too extravagantly. Their big-mouthed ambassador spread word everywhere of the Vienna Government's efforts to recover Prussian Saxony.
He even spouted nonsense, claiming that Franz and Alexander II had communicated by telegraph many times and had already reached a preliminary agreement: after the war, the Tsarist Government would sell Silesia and Prussian Saxony to the New Holy Roman Empire.
Without question, Alexander II had tacitly approved this. Waving the banner of Russo-Austrian friendship, the Russian ambassador repeatedly emphasized Franz's contributions. To ordinary people, it looked as though he were striving for the Empire's unification.
After all, the Paris Conference had carved up Germany, making reunification exceedingly difficult. They could only take a roundabout path now, slowly advancing national unification.
Recovering lost territory was always a good thing. The nationalists rejoiced and joined in singing his praises.
Once domestic public opinion had been stirred up, Franz was left roasting over the fire. Backing down would inevitably cost him prestige, so he had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill.
He saw it clearly now: the Tsarist Government's earlier promise to gift Silesia to Austria had been bait.
If Austria recovered Silesia after the war while watching