The busy Marquess Wellesley

Ludwig IX leaned somewhat toward Prussia politically, yet in the "Initiative," he declared that if the Southern Netherlands insisted on breaking away from Austrian rule, it had to elect a king to govern it. Otherwise, the Southern Netherlands Parliament should not be recognized by any monarch.

The initiative had already received support from ten countries, including Spain, France, Bavaria, and Mainz.

What surprised Marquess Wellesley most was that Austria was actually among its signatories.

But he immediately understood the reasoning behind it. What the Austrians had signed was "the Southern Netherlands Parliament should not be recognized by any monarch." They were certain that the Southern Netherlands could never accept electing a king-the Southern Netherlands Parliament was currently controlled by Van der Noot and his band of Liberals. Getting them to elect a king for themselves would be harder than getting them onto the gallows.

In fact, Austria was the greatest driving force behind this "Southern Netherlands Initiative." As for the copyright to the initiative, that naturally belonged to Joseph II's beloved nephew.

Wellesley angrily jabbed his cane hard against the ground and inwardly cursed Ludwig IX all over again.

If the United Kingdom now also demanded that the people of the Southern Netherlands elect a king, it would effectively be pushing the Southern Netherlands Parliament into opposition. But rejecting the "Initiative" would mean cutting itself off from the entire European Continent.

He immediately ordered his subordinates to set out, traveling through the night toward Pozztan.

Several days later, after promising William II £500,000 in aid and handing all Southern Netherlands affairs over to Prussia, with the United Kingdom no longer intervening, he finally dispelled the latter's suspicions.

Then Wellesley hurried on to Saxony without stopping to rest...

Meanwhile, London was also packed with diplomats from various countries.

Besides receiving seven