Chapter 278 Birth of the Eldest Son

One wave has not settled, and another has risen.

After entering the 19th century, foreign powers fought fiercely for the North African market, and the international situation became increasingly unfavorable for the Moroccan government.

In the 1940s and 1950s, a large amount of cheap European goods poured into Morocco, which hit the economy of the Kingdom of Morocco.

In order to reverse this situation, the Moroccan government increased tariffs. In 1852, the import tariffs of the Kingdom of Morocco were increased by an average of 20%, in an attempt to use high tariffs to protect the local market.

Obviously, this harms the interests of the major European powers. In December 1856, the British forced the Moroccan government to sign the Anglo-Moroccan Treaty.

Through the treaty, the British got extraterritorial rights, the right to trade throughout Morocco, and the tariff was reduced to 10% of the price of goods.

Once Pandora's Box was opened, the situation got out of hand and great powers swarmed to claim the same.

The Moroccan government, which believed that it was supported by the British, rejected the demands of various countries without hesitation, causing strong dissatisfaction from all countries.

Colonial Minister Josip Jelacic suggested: "Your Majesty, the Moroccan government has rejected the proposals of various countries. France and Spain can send troops to Morocco at any time. Should we also take action?"

The main reason Morocco has attracted the attention of various countries is that it is too fertile. Not only is it rich in mineral resources, but also 220,000 square kilometers of land is fertile soil suitable for developing agriculture. It is a major agricultural exporter in Africa, and the climatic conditions are very good.

Every man is innocent, but he is guilty. Without the protection of poisonous insects and beasts, the Kingdom of Morocco has become a fat sheep in everyone's eyes.

Franz shook his head and said: "We have too few interests in the Kingdom of Morocco, and there is no need to join in.

In recent years, we have obtained too many benefits, which have caused dissatisfaction in European countries. What we need at this time is digestion. "

Although Morocco is good, it has to face the operation of the three countries of Britain, France and Spain. Instead of wasting time here, it is better to develop the unowned African continent.

Now Austria has also embarked on the old road of other countries, constantly sending expeditions to Africa to prepare for colonization, and many civilian colonization teams have independently established colonial strongholds outside.

There are also some colonial teams from the German Federal Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, who are also affiliated to the new Holy Roman Empire, and Franz is also welcome.

Why are all Germans so clear? As long as everyone recognizes him as the emperor, then everything is negotiable.

For example, the Cameroonian colonial stronghold was first established by the Prussian aristocracy, and as a result, the Berlin government now "does not dare" to be interested in colonial activities.

There is no way, in the era of great colonialism, without the support of the state, it is very dangerous to colonize overseas by individual strength. In order to fight against the British colonists, they logically joined the new Holy Roman Empire.

Another example: Hamburg capitalists established a stronghold in the Comoros Islands, busy with the internal integration of the German Federal Empire, and ignored overseas colonization, and finally hung the flag of the New Holy Roman Empire.

In short, the Ministry of Colonization has counted as many as 41 overseas colonial strongholds, of which 27 were established by the Vienna government and ruled the area.

The remaining colonial strongholds only exist in name, and the civilian colonization team has limited strength. Many times, they just randomly circle a piece of land and establish a so-called stronghold, or just fool an indigenous tribe into signing a so-called protection treaty.

According to the current standards prevailing in various countries, in the absence of conflict of interest, everyone acquiesces to each other.

Even if there is a colonial competition, most of them are negotiated first, usually buying a stronghold for a sum of money, and using force only after the negotiation cannot be reached. If they do not get the support of the state, most of them will be directly wiped out as pirates.

It is not uncommon for capitalists engaged in international trade in this era to occasionally join in as a pirate, and it is not an injustice.

Compared with colonial powers such as Britain and France, Austria can only be regarded as a pediatrician. Even in small countries such as Portugal and the Netherlands, the overseas colonial strongholds started in triple digits.

Many of them could not be called colonial strongholds, and they were more suitable for business and trade settlements. At most, there were more than a thousand people in these strongholds, and at least there were no people.

There is nothing surprising. If there is not enough interest, it is normal for the civilian colonial team to give up these strongholds. If someone is willing to pay, they can buy them.

If the official promotion of colonial activities and bureaucrats are sent to manage the colonial strongholds, the wealthy British will become the first colonial empire to go bankrupt. Who let them control too much territory and have too many colonial strongholds?

Franz naturally wants to learn from everyone's successful experience. By the way, he will lead the domestic careerists overseas. There is no prince and general in the European continent. There is no such thing as a kind of statement, but it is not ruled out that some people are out of their minds.

Even if there is room for improvement in the country, Franz will not allow them to establish independent kingdoms, and overseas colonies are different, and they can make waves at will.

As long as he has the ability, if anyone has the ability to conquer a kingdom, Franz also recognizes it. Isn't it the throne, there are already several in the New Holy Roman Empire, don't care to add one.

He is not afraid that someone will be independent overseas. If he wants to be lonely under the European cultural system, the first thing to look at is not the fist but the blood. Without blood, there is no legal system. .

Even now, the legitimacy of Napoleon III's throne has been criticized by the outside world. The seemingly stable French regime is actually very fragile.

No matter how great the overseas development is, without his canonization as an emperor, the regime will not be able to

Possibly stable.

Franz doesn't think that there will be a few people who are willing to run to be president when they can be kings. Even if there is, does his subordinate still want to become a noble?

...

In the evening, the Schönbrunn Palace was brightly lit, the important members of the Habsburg family in Vienna gathered together, and the great nobles of Austria also came together, waiting for the arrival of the little life.

While waiting anxiously, Franz, who has always been stable, also lingered, and the sweat on his forehead unconsciously came out. It is winter in Vienna now.

"Franz goes back and sits well, don't sway in front of me, it makes me uneasy."

There were four people in the Vienna court who dared to rebuke Franz the Great like this. Obviously, this could not be the Ferdinand I and his wife who had abdicated and lived in seclusion. The result was obvious.

"Okay, mother!"

Franz replied casually, and returned to his seat uneasy.

"The Queen is about to give birth!"

The doctor's voice came, and everyone poured into the delivery room together. This is the rule, in order to ensure the legitimacy of the prince's blood, supervision is essential.

This kind of supervision is directly related to the legitimacy of the bloodline of the next generation. If there are no witnesses, then the legitimacy is called into question.

After all, in this era of limited medical technology, many nobles lost their fertility due to various reasons, or an heir finally appeared but was a dead baby.

In order to preserve the family inheritance, the European aristocrats have done a lot of borrowing seeds from the outside world.

It's just that this kind of operation is rarely successful, and there is no way to prove the bloodline, and all directly lose the right of inheritance.

The next generation of the nobility is subject to supervision, not to mention the next generation of the emperor. If it is a prince, it is the heir of the Habsburg dynasty, and it is impossible to fool him.

Under everyone's expectation, the voice of "Wow, wow, wow..." sounded, and Franz rushed out before he could determine the gender.

Unfortunately, as soon as he took the first step, he was dragged back by Duke Karl and said solemnly, "Don't make trouble!"

Franz, who had reacted, immediately stopped, and he really didn't need his help at this time.

"A healthy prince!"

The doctor's voice sounded, and everyone showed joy, which meant that the next generation of the Habsburg dynasty had appeared.

Then everyone stepped forward one by one to confirm that the handle was brought, and the matter was completed. At this time, a nanny had already stepped forward to feed the milk, and Franz continued to watch and make soy sauce.

After accepting everyone's congratulations, sending off the supervisory team, and greeting the suffering queen, Franz had the opportunity to contact the little one.

It is a pity that he was despised for his hairy feet, and was deprived of the right to hold the child by the unanimous decision of the two hostess. Not only him, but his father, Archduke Karl, was also disliked.

There is no way this is the eldest son, everyone is very careful. The little prince was held by an experienced nurse most of the time. Empress Dowager Sophie held it once, and she was very nervous, for fear of hurting the little guy.