Drawing Firewood from Under the Cauldron...

Prime Minister Karl said, "If they can't be reined in, then we can only suppress them.

"Over all these years of the Russo-Austrian Alliance, the Russians have already taken too many benefits. If they still aren't satisfied, then there's no need to continue..."

It was only a matter of time before conflicts erupted between Russia and Austria. Human desire could never be filled, and Austria could not keep satisfying the Russians' appetites forever.

Though he had long been mentally prepared, Franz had not expected it to come so quickly.

The French alone were already causing so much trouble. If the British joined in later, things would become even harder to handle.

It was basically certain that as long as Britain and France were willing to pay a heavy price, the Russians would sooner or later switch sides, because Austria could no longer afford to outbid them.

This was dictated by geography. Austria blocked Russia's westward path, and the Vienna Government had no way to continue making concessions on this issue.

Once the international situation underwent drastic changes, the enormous debts between Russia and Austria would also become one of the factors tempting the two countries to turn against each other.

If you couldn't repay foreign debts, you killed the creditor—there were precedents for that on the European Continent. Given the Russians' moral character, Franz would not be surprised in the slightest if such a thing happened.

Foreign Minister Wessenberg shook his head and said with a smile, "Things are not that bad yet. There are three main reasons preventing the Russians from switching sides at present:

"First, Britain and France have not attached enough importance to this yet. The price they have offered the Russians is not high enough, and the stakes for betrayal are not sufficient.

"Second, the friendship