In late October 1778, Joseph II of Austria was forced to start peace talks with the Prussians despite opposition from domestic nobles, especially his mother, Queen Maria Theresa.
You know, when the Prussian army was approaching the city, the nobles, especially the nobles in Vienna, had their estates outside the city looted by the Prussians. They hated Marshal Lacy to the core, and they believed that it was Marshal Lacy's negative attitude that led to the loss of their property. Therefore, after learning that the Prussians had withdrawn, the nobles hurriedly petitioned the king to take back their own private soldiers.
Although Joseph II sternly rejected the request of these nobles, his mother Queen Theresa, in order to prevent the emperor from having a bigger conflict with the nobles, asked the emperor to return these private soldiers and advised the emperor that it was not worth giving up half of Austria for Bavaria. The emperor had to give in under the pressure of his mother.
In November 1778, Joseph II's brother, Grand Duke Leopold II of Tuscany, arrived in Potsdam, and Frederick sent Rox as peace minister to receive Leopold II.
But after a week of negotiations, the two sides made no progress.
The Austrians believed that Prussia should return all the property looted after they entered the Austrian border, compensate the Austrians for their losses, and unconditionally return the defeated and captured soldiers.
The Prussians believed that all these demands of the Austrians were nonsense. Not to mention that Prussia still had a large number of Austrian prisoners of war, the Prussian army retreated on its own initiative rather than being defeated.
The Duke of Rocks said to Leopold II: Never expect to gain at the negotiating table what you lost on the battlefield.
And the Duke of Rocks also put forward Prussia's conditions:
The Austrians paid Prussia 8 million marks in compensation, and the Austrians paid 3 million marks for the prisoners of war.
The Austrians recognized Charles as the Count of Bavaria, the Austrians were not allowed to station more than 20,000 troops in Bohemia, the Austrians had to reaffirm the legitimacy of Silesia as the sacred territory of Prussia, and Austria had to hand over the assassin who assassinated the crown prince.
The conflict between the two sides mainly focused on the issues of compensation, prisoners of war and assassins. The issue of Silesia had been discussed for decades, and both sides could make concessions on this condition. But once it came to compensation and assassins, the negotiators on both sides were like two lions fighting for territory and refused to give in.
When Frederick learned that the negotiations had reached a deadlock, he said to Locke:
"If those damned Austrians still refuse to admit defeat, I will march into Vienna again. If the assassins don't give me the keys, I will turn Vienna upside down. Tell Leopold that when I was fighting, his mother was still unmarried."
Leopold had to report the progress of the negotiations to Vienna. When Joseph II learned of the Prussian conditions, he was furious. He ordered Marshal Lacy to prepare for a counterattack immediately, but was stopped by Queen Theresa.
Queen Theresa sent a reply to Leopold saying:
"Tell Frederick that we will pay a maximum of 4 million in compensation, including the ransom for the captured soldiers. As for the assassins he mentioned, they were definitely not sent by us Austrians. This is a blatant slander. If Frederick still doesn't agree, I will personally go to Brandenburg to take my soldiers home."
When Frederick learned of Queen Theresa's instructions to Leopold, he laughed and said to himself: You haven't changed after all these years, you still have the same bad temper.
Little William was also brought into the negotiation room by Rocks in his spare time. When he saw the negotiators from Prussia and Austria suddenly excitedly rolling up their sleeves to fight, Little William silently said in his heart:
Damn it, it turns out that the international news reported by CC** in the previous life, about the restraint of both negotiating parties and the friendly atmosphere on the scene, were all lies, all of which were jargon and bullshit.
Locke said to little William:
"Your Highness William, don't think these people are rude. In fact, the negotiation field is more cruel than the battlefield. Maybe what you have won on the battlefield can be easily lost in the negotiation field. Therefore, the negotiators are highly nervous during the negotiation. They will analyze word by word and repeatedly ponder. You must know that these people are fighting for the interests of their respective countries. Therefore, even those who usually behave well and elegantly in public will become unmannered once they are at the negotiation table."
"Your Excellency the Duke, please allow me to express my highest respect to the negotiators. You are all fighting on another front for the interests of Prussia. Thank you very much," Little William said seriously to Rocks.
"Your Highness, these are what we should do," Rocks replied modestly.
When Leopold told the Prussians what Queen Theresa meant, Frederick understood that was Theresa's bottom line, or Austria's bottom line. Frederick said to Locke:
"Accept Austria's conditions, and by the way, let Leopold tell Theresa that God bless her to live until the day I march into Vienna."
When European countries learned that the peace talks between Prussia and Austria had made progress, they all breathed a sigh of relief. No matter who won or lost between Prussia and Austria, as long as a balance was maintained, it would be in the best interests of European countries. Once one of them was defeated, the remaining one would easily integrate the power of the Holy Roman Empire. At that time, a powerful country would rise in Central Europe, and no country would be able to stop it.
After Leopold returned to Vienna with his entourage, he conveyed Frederick's greetings to Joseph II and Queen Theresa. Not mentioning Joseph II's gnashing of teeth, but Queen Theresa. The queen just shook her head and chuckled, saying: He still hasn't given up, let's see who God will help in the end.
As soon as Austria's compensation arrived, Prussia released the prisoners of war. Prussia dismissed some of the soldiers who were temporarily recruited. Looking at the soldiers standing guard at the Sanssouci Palace, Frederick asked Locke beside him:
"Have the pensions for war casualties been paid?"
"It has been sent, Your Majesty."
"How much money is left in the treasury?"
"Except for the compensation and rewards for this war, there are still 1 million florins in the treasury and 20 million marks in silver. Your Majesty has earned 3 million marks outside Vienna alone."
"Has the assassin who assassinated the crown prince been caught?"
"Your Majesty, it is my incompetence that I have not yet caught Lichtenau and her accomplices. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."
"Rocks, I'll give you another two weeks. If you still can't catch the man, you can put this burden off your shoulders."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Rocks said, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead and slowly walked away.