The setting sun had completely vanished below the horizon.
In Schonbrunn Palace, Talleyrand ostentatiously displayed indignation, but inside he was smugly pleased as he left the grand gallery hall with Leopold II for the evening banquet.
Before coming to Vienna, his instructions from the Crown Prince had been to use this fraudulent order incident to propose that Austria compensate by adopting the French franc for part of the trade in the Southern Netherlands.
Yet with his eloquence, he had not only secured the right to settle with French francs in the Southern Netherlands but also included Tuscany in the arrangement—The Grand Duke of Tuscany was Leopold II's son, a vassal of Austria, and would certainly follow the arrangements here.
Moreover, these regions would lower tariffs on French iron goods, paper products, and wines for one year.
In addition to that, Leopold II had divulged important intelligence to him—the mastermind behind the fraudulent order scheme was a Dutch banker named Henry Hope, including the bank that provided the initial deposit.
Of course, it was the British who told Leopold II this.
With the situation ballooning to such proportions, the British were also worried that if Austria discovered they were orchestrating it, it would severely affect Anglo-Austrian relations.
So they directly sold out Hope. And indeed, the fraudulent order scheme had sprung from Hope, who had truly provided substantial funds for it, and naturally, the Austrian intelligence system could find no flaw in that narrative.
After the banquet, Leopold III finally saw off Talleyrand, this "plague god," and immediately returned to his study to deal with the day's accumulated state affairs.
As the Habsburg Family's last somewhat competent monarch, relying on the principle of pragmatism, along with his diligence, he had tentatively stabilized Austria's situation.
Soon, he found the documents concerning the discussion of the Silesian war situation in the Cabinet meeting the next day among the piles on his desk, and exhaustedly looked up with a sigh.
In the solemnly furnished peach wood hall in Vienna, the core elite engaged in an extremely fierce dispute.
The topic of argument was naturally whether to call for a ceasefire in Silesia.
With the British having set the stage in advance, Walter's anti-French faction also conducted "combinations and alliances", so the voices in favor of a ceasefire soon overpowered the opposition.
However, the force advocating for continued hardline action against Prussia included Kaunitz, the politically influential State Minister.
Austria's State Minister is equivalent to the role of Chancellor, the foremost official under the Emperor. If he insisted on continuing the offensive into Silesia, not even Leopold II could feasibly issue a direct ceasefire order.
Moreover, regaining Silesia was politically correct for Austria. Kaunitz would frequently harp on the humiliation of the Seven Years' War and talk about restoring Holy Rome's glory, single-handedly withstanding many of the ceasefire faction's ministers.
After more than an hour into the meeting, Baron Tugut and the Minister of the Interior Kobutsel exchanged glances, deciding to initiate Duke of Leeds' plan.
"Count Kaunitz, it is clear that our country can no longer support a full-scale war against Prussia," Tugut declared loudly.
The Minister of the Interior immediately chimed in, "Indeed, we should not pursue a war we are destined to lose just for someone's political future."
"What has stripped you of your courage?" Kaunitz retorted at once, "Under His Majesty's new policies, our nation's financial situation has greatly improved, and our manpower is more abundant than ever before.
"Now is the best moment for us to completely crush Prussia!"
Leopold II's so-called "new policies" were actually the repeal of most of Joseph II's reform measures, thus preventing the noble class from resisting the government, creating the illusion of a "revival".
Baron Tugut looked at Kaunitz, his voice icy, "You are gambling with the future of Austria, Count, and you do not have the winning hand!"
"No, we will retake Silesia," Kaunitz glanced at him contemptuously, then said to the Emperor, "Your Majesty, our army shall emerge victorious in this battle!"
As a seasoned politician, he had prepared thoroughly beforehand.
Including the Hungarian Nobles Council, the Bohemian Congress, the Transylvanian nobility, and even the Romanian nobility in the south, they all expressed their willingness to contribute money and manpower to support his push in the Silesian conflict.
It could be said this was the most united Austria had been in decades; naturally, he was brimming with confidence.
But Baron Tugut immediately responded to his declaration: "You are merely shouting slogans; in reality, you cannot guarantee that we will defeat the Prussians."
Kobutsel also sarcastically added from the side, "Even if the front lines truly suffer a defeat, some people will likely find other excuses."
"No, I am confident!" Kaunitz, somewhat provoked, said to Leopold II, "Your Majesty, I am willing to take responsibility for the Silesian war. Just let me act freely!"
Tugut and the others immediately revealed a smug smile; they had been waiting for this moment.
"Count Kaunitz, if we fail to recapture Silesia, how will you take responsibility?"
Kaunitz hesitated for a second, then said solemnly, "I will resign from my post as State Minister and leave the political arena."
He then looked at the supporters of the ceasefire, his presence commanding, "But what if we defeat the Prussians?"
"I am willing to accept any punishment you impose," Tugut retorted without flinching.
Soon after, Leopold II, somewhat helplessly, authorized Kaunitz to plan a new offensive in Silesia, and on the suggestion of Tugut and others, he even transferred the power to appoint front-line commanders to him.
Following the meeting's conclusion, Vienna's newspapers began extensively reporting news such as "Count Kaunitz insists on continuing the Silesian conflict, expressing that he will resign if the war turns unfavorable."
All of Vienna became stirred up, with people taking to the streets, loudly extolling Kaunitz as if he had already secured victory in the war.
The nobility was even abuzz with tales of Count Kaunitz's heroic stance at the Cabinet meeting and had even given him the nickname "Prussia's Nemesis."
Exuberant, Kaunitz immediately began preparations for war.
A series of orders for material and troop deployments were dispatched to various parts of Austria upon his signature. Marshal Lacy at the Breslau front followed his orders and resumed the shelling of Prussian positions.
However, to his surprise, the day after his orders reached Budapest, the Hungarian Nobles Council passed a resolution rejecting his bill for a "special war tax".
The Bohemian Council, while not rejecting the bill, requested that due to the frost disasters at the beginning of the year, the special tax could only be collected from the middle of the next year.
At the same time, whether Hungarians, Bohemians, or Slavs, they all swiftly sent their troops to Silesia. In just a month, Lacy's forces had surged to more than 160,000 strong.