The paper deals with talks between Austrian Foreign Minister Klemens von Metternich and Carniolan Enlightenment figure Žiga Zois von Edelstein in Ljubljana in May 1816. Based on an analysis of Zois's correspondence with Jernej Kopitar, Raffaele Zelli and Anton Bonazza, it sheds light on the context of this meeting and previously unknown details related to it. At the same time, Zois was visited by two other high representatives of the Austrian government, Count Rudolf von Wrbna-Freudenthal and Count Procop Lažanský von Bukowa. The carefully planned talks addressed not only the importance of an Illyrian kingdom and the rehabilitation of Valentin Vodnik, but also the state purchase of Zois's Upper Carniolan ironworks.