In late October, Joseph II of Austria had to open peace talks with the Prussians, in the face of opposition from the domestic nobility, especially his mother, Queen Maria Theresa.
You must know that the nobles, especially the nobles of Vienna, were sacked by the Prussians when the Prussian army came to the city.
And they hated Marshal Lassi to the core, and the nobles believed that it was Marshal Lassy's negative attitude that caused the loss of their property.
Therefore, having learned of the withdrawal of the Prussians, the nobles hurriedly petitioned the king to take back their own private soldiers.
Although Joseph II sternly rejected the demands of the nobles, his mother, Queen Theresa, demanded the return of the private soldiers in order to prevent the emperor from causing a greater conflict with the nobles, and advised the emperor that it was not worth half Austria for a Bavaria.
The emperor had to give in under pressure from his mother.
In November, Joseph II's younger brother, Leopold II of Tuscany, arrived in Potsdam, and Frederick sent Locks to receive Leopold II as Minister for Peace Talks.
But after a week of negotiations, there was not the slightest progress on either side.
The Austrians believed that Prussia should return all the property they had plundered after entering the Austrian border, and that they should compensate the Austrians for their losses and unconditionally return the defeated and captured soldiers.
The Prussians regarded all these demands of the Austrians as nonsense, not to mention the fact that there were still many Austrian prisoners of war in Prussia's hands, and that the Prussian army had withdrawn on its own initiative rather than being defeated.
Duke Locks said to Leopold II: What you lose on the battlefield, never expect to get at the negotiating table.
And the Duke of Locks also put forward the conditions of Prussia: The Austrians compensated Prussia with eight million silver marks, and the Austrians paid three million silver coins for those prisoners of war.
The Austrians recognized Charles as Count of Bavaria, the Austrians were not allowed to station more than 20,000 troops in Bohemia, and the Austrians had to reaffirm the legitimate position of Silesia as a sacred territory of Prussia and must surrender the assassins who assassinated the crown prince.
The main conflict between the two sides was the issue of reparations, prisoners of war, and assassins.
And the question of Silesia has been discussed for decades, and both sides can make concessions on this condition.
But when it comes to reparations and assassins, the negotiators on both sides are like two lions fighting for territory.
When Frederick got the negotiations at an impasse, he said to Locks: "If the Austrians who deserve hell still refuse to admit defeat, I will march into Vienna again, and if the Assassins don't give it to me, I will lead people to turn Vienna upside down.
Tell Leopold that when I was fighting, I wasn't married."
Leopold had to inform Vienna about the progress of the negotiations, and when Joseph II learned of the Prussian conditions, he was furious and ordered Marshal Lassi to immediately prepare for a counterattack, but was stopped by Queen Theresa.
Queen Theresa sent a reply to Leopold: "Tell Frederick that we will pay up to four million in compensation, including the ransom money of the captured soldiers, and as for the assassins he is talking about, they are definitely not sent by us Austrians, which is a naked slander.
If Frederick still doesn't agree, I'll go into battle myself, and I'll personally go to Brandenburg to pick up my soldiers home" When Frederick learned of Queen Teresa's instructions to Leopold, he laughed and said to himself: You haven't changed after all these years, and you still have this rotten temper.
William Jr. was also brought into the negotiation field by Locks in his spare time, and when he saw the negotiators of the two sides suddenly excited as if they were about to roll up their sleeves and start fighting, William Jr. silently thought in his heart: Uncle, it turns out that in the international news of the newspaper in the previous life, any restraint between the two sides of the negotiation and the friendly atmosphere on the scene are all lies, and they are all black words and.
Locks said to William Jr.: "Your Highness William, don't think that these people are rude, in fact, the negotiation field is more cruel than the battlefield, maybe what you have captured on the battlefield will be easily lost in the negotiation field.
Therefore, negotiators are highly nervous during negotiations, and they will analyze word by word, and repeatedly deliberate.
You know, these people are fighting for the interests of their respective countries.
Therefore, even those who usually behave appropriately and personably in public will become less graceful when they get to the negotiating table."
"Lord Duke, please allow me to pay tribute to the negotiators of this time, all of whom are fighting on the other front for the benefit of Prussia, thank you very much," said William Jr. earnestly to Locks.
"Your Highness, these are the things we should do," Locks replied modestly.
When Leopold conveyed Queen Theresa's meaning to the Prussians, Frederick understood that this was Teresa's bottom line, and it could also be said that Austria's bottom line.
Frederick said to Locks: "Accept Austria's terms, and by the way, let Leopold bring a message to Teresa, and let God bless her to live until the day I march into Vienna."
When the European countries learned that the Austro-Prussian peace talks had progressed, they were relieved, no matter who won or lost, Prussia and Austria as long as they maintained a balanced state was in the best interests of the European countries, once one of them was defeated, then the remaining one would easily integrate the power of the Holy Roman Empire.
When the time comes, a strong country will rise in Central Europe, and no country will be able to stop it.
After Leopold returned to Vienna with his entourage, he conveyed Frederick's greetings to Joseph II and Queen Theresa, without mentioning Joseph II's gritted teeth.
The queen just shook her head and chuckled, and said: He still hasn't given up, so let's see who God will help in the end.
As soon as Austria's reparations arrived, Prussia released the prisoners of war.
Prussia dismissed some of the temporarily conscripted soldiers, and looking at the soldiers standing guard at Sanssouci Palace, Frederick asked Locks beside him: "Have the pensions for war casualties been paid?"
"It's already been sent, Your Majesty" "How much money is left in the treasury?"
"Excluding the pensions and bounties of this war, there are still in the treasury a million florins and twenty million marks of silver.
His Majesty received three million marks of silver outside Vienna."
"Did the assassin who assassinated the crown prince catch it?"
"Your Majesty, it is my incompetence, so far, I have not caught Lichtenau and her accomplices, please forgive Your Majesty" "Locks, I'll give you another two weeks, and if you can't catch anyone again, you can put this burden on your shoulders."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Locks finished speaking, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead and walking away slowly.