Metternich stepped forward, placed a hand on his chest in salute, and continued, "This isn’t really my place to speak, esteemed Regent King, but I truly don’t wish to see the European Royalty overwhelmed by tragedy."

Joseph looked at this political genius who had extended the life of the Austrian Empire by decades, his expression calm, and said, "Mr. Metternich, can you tell me what the price of bread was in Vienna a month ago? I mean the actual transaction price, not the government-controlled price."

Although Metternich was puzzled as to why the Regent of France suddenly asked this, he quickly replied, "Four pounds of bread cost 14 kroiser and 2 fen ni, Your Highness."

He was referring to the price if paid with silver coins; if using banknotes, it would be 16 kroiser.

Joseph nodded, "So that’s 4 sous and 3 danny per pound of bread. Hmm, in Paris, it’s 1 sous and 8 danny. How about salt?"

"Thirteen florins per bushel, Your Highness."

This time, Joseph took a while to calculate before saying, "Ah, 1 kilogram costs 1 franc and 4 sous. Your salt tax is quite high; in Paris, it’s only 4 sous.

"Speaking of taxation, Vienna is still more robust. Taxes like war tax, chimney tax, mill tax, newspaper tax—we don’t have any of those here.

"Oh, how much is your land tax now?"

This time, Metternich merely lowered his head, maintaining silence.

Joseph did not press further, smiling slightly, "See, perhaps the dream of the rebels in Vienna is simply to achieve a life like that in Paris. And if there really were a rebellion against my father in France, possibly not even the police would be alarmed because they wouldn’t make it past one street without being mobbed to death by the public.

"Now, do you still think it’s necessary for me to engage in mutual support with Vienna?"

Metternich paused for a moment but reacted quickly, "Your Highness, at least the act of the Hungarians betraying their King and attempting to split the Empire is a highly dangerous precedent for all rulers..."

Joseph sighed, "I don’t have such concerns. Actually, what has been troubling me lately is allocating the budget for the Upper German Province."

Metternich fell into silence again.

Indeed, France has no issues with regional separatism; it even has a multitude of small countries eagerly wanting to merge into France. The Basel people are even at war with the Empire for this...

He realized that the arguments he had prepared for so long were completely blocked by the Regent of France in a brief moment.

Hmm, it wasn’t that he was incompetent, but because Austria and France are well beyond being in the same league as countries anymore.

He wanted to employ strategic diplomacy but found there’s no room for maneuver.

Little Kobtsel saw the confident expression on the face of the royal secretary vanish without a trace and reluctantly pulled him back, preparing to make a complaint to the Regent of France.

Joseph raised his hand to interrupt him, "I’ll repeat again, the ’Stuttgart Declaration.’

"But..."

Joseph interrupted him once more, "You can tell His Majesty Franz II that I will directly help him resolve the rebellion instead of just providing some loans and materials."

Metternich was suddenly surprised, "You plan to dispatch troops?"

"The ’Stuttgart Declaration,’ that is the foundation for us to continue talking."

Little Kobtsel and Metternich exchanged glances, having no choice but to withdraw first.

Such a major issue was beyond their capability to decide.

Early the next morning, while they were still waiting for instructions from His Majesty the Emperor, the Austrian Consul in France hurriedly knocked on their door.

Little Kobtsel saw his demeanor wasn’t right and quickly asked, "Has something happened?"

The Consul in France handed him a document from the Sharp Signal Tower, "Yesterday, Bavaria announced its support for Basel."

Little Kobtsel frowned as he opened the document, seeing it stated: Bavaria supports Basel and the cantons like Schwyz joining the ’Stuttgart Trade Agreement,’ and will provide all kinds of assistance, including military, for their ’freedom cause’ until they drive out the ’invaders’...

The document was co-signed by Wurttemberg, Baden, Augsburg, and other nations at the bottom.

"These damned bastards!" he exclaimed angrily on the spot, "When the Empire resolves the current trouble, we’ll make them pay the price!"

Metternich’s expression suddenly became extremely serious, "Trouble. Now the Mikhailovich Army won’t be able to immediately withdraw from Switzerland."

Little Kobtsel looked at him and said, "You don’t need to worry. Actually, according to the intelligence agency’s judgment, these countries have long been involved in the situation in northern Switzerland. Now they are just openly stating it. They can’t achieve anything significant in Switzerland."

"The point isn’t what they can do," Metternich said gravely, "Think about it, if Bavaria and others had only just announced intervention in the Basel situation, and if our country immediately withdrew from Switzerland afterward, we will never be able to lead on Southern German affairs again!"

Little Kobtsel froze suddenly.

Yes, if the troops withdraw now, wouldn’t that be equivalent to Bavaria and others driving the Empire’s army out of Switzerland?

The Empire would lose all its dignity in front of the Southern German States, while Bavaria would emerge as the most influential country in Southern Germany as the "victor’s" posture.

Currently, the Empire must either win comprehensively in Switzerland and establish the Swiss Federation, or it must later declare war on Bavaria and defeat it to re-establish its authority.

But neither path seems feasible.

The 40,000 men of the Mikhailovich Army continuing stuck in northern Switzerland implies that domestic forces for suppressing the rebellion will be significantly reduced. The rebellion in Vienna could spread outward at any time.

As for declaring war on Bavaria... It was tried during the Bavarian throne struggle, and it wasn’t easy to secure victory. Moreover, most of the Southern German States were likely to send troops to support Bavaria, with even France possibly intervening.

Little Kobtsel held onto Metternich, anxiously asking, "What should we do now?"

Metternich furrowed his brow tightly, "We can only see what the French have to offer now, but we’ll need authorization from His Majesty the Emperor first."

"Are you referring to the ’Stuttgart Declaration’?"

Metternich nodded.

Little Kobtsel sighed, "Alright, I’ll write another report to His Majesty now."

By the evening of that day, they received a reply from the Brno side—France’s Sharp Signal Tower had opened up the highest priority for Austrian use, greatly increasing their communication efficiency.

Clearly, Franz II had also received the news from Switzerland, and in his letter, he ordered Little Kobtsel to negotiate with the French, accepting terms related to the ’Stuttgart Declaration’ if necessary.

The following noon, the Austrian Foreign Minister once again met with the Regent of France.

"You’re saying to let the Russian Army enter our country to suppress the rebellion?" Little Kobtsel looked at Joseph in shock. "But they’re currently at war with the Poles."

Metternich added, "Also, we shouldn’t have to pay you any interest for this. It would be between Russia and Austria."