Chapter 1071 Uninvited Guests

Merchants witnessed Austria's financial strength and foresight in the storm of 1848.

In particular, the act of repurchasing small-denomination expected notes before the war was a stroke of genius. Otherwise, it would be hard to say that the Austrian Empire would not follow the footsteps of Britain and France and fall into an economic crisis.

Some astute businessmen and economists have noticed something strange. The economic strength and precious metal holdings of the Austrian Empire far exceeded their estimates.

In fact, there is another reason why Franz stopped the circulation of small-denomination expected notes, that is, the emergence of counterfeit money.

Strictly speaking, the difficulty and risk of counterfeiting expected notes are very high, because there are stubs and special anti-counterfeiting measures in banks.

However, with the economic development of the Austrian Empire, people are reluctant to go to the bank again when using some small-denomination expected notes.

This gives counterfeiters a loophole to exploit. After all, most people in this era have poor ability to distinguish banknotes. They cannot have the eyesight of professional tellers. If they don't pay attention, it is inevitable to be deceived.

The Austrian Empire started late in making paper money, but it introduced a lot of technology from Sweden and France, and the country has never stopped researching and developing paper money anti-counterfeiting technology.

However, since 1844, counterfeit money has always been a hurdle that the financial system cannot get around. The Austrian Empire has always been very strong in its crackdown on counterfeit money, but there are more and more counterfeit money, and the technology is getting better and better.

These counterfeit money has exceeded the limit of personal ability and looks more like some professionals using special machines.

After investigating that these counterfeit money came from Bavaria, Austrian agents quickly found the real source of the counterfeit money-France.

With the support of government officials and financial leaders behind the scenes, these counterfeiting groups can update in real time to the point where they are almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

Soon after, the British also joined in, targeting the more difficult to control colonial areas.

In the face of such a national-level counterfeiting group, conventional methods are obviously useless. It is also not a long-term solution to stop eating because of choking, so new anti-counterfeiting technology is the first choice.

All Franz could think of was special ink and anti-counterfeiting thread. It was not difficult to develop these two technologies, but the practical application was difficult.

In order to prevent someone from taking advantage of the war, Franz chose to return the small-denomination expected banknotes to the treasury and replace them with a large amount of metal currency and large-denomination expected banknotes.

In fact, after Franz ascended the throne, the new anti-counterfeiting currency would come into play, which would definitely deal a heavy blow to those who thought they were hiding in the dark.

For the Catholic Church, this ceremony is also a good opportunity to restore the influence of the church. After all, there has not been such a pious and powerful monarch for a long time.

Of course, there are also people like Fanny Cote and Talia who came to watch the ceremony with mixed feelings. The former completely recognized the gap between the two sides at the negotiation table in Strasbourg. As a representative of the Duke of Orleans, she didn't even have the qualifications to speak.

The whole meeting was just Austria and France bargaining, and the others were at most spectators.

But Fanny Cote still held a glimmer of hope before coming, hoping that Franz could announce something at the coronation.

However, she obviously thought too much. Fairy tales are indeed lies. After all, in reality, Franz can't even decide his own marriage, and Fanny Cote has no courage to speak in this mirror hall full of big men.

From now on, the gap between her and Franz will become bigger and bigger. Fanny Cote finally understands the sentence written by French writer Michel de Montaigne in "Essays".

"The gap between people is greater than the gap between people and animals."

(Later generations often extend it to mean that the gap between people is greater than the gap between people and dogs.)

Franz can only express helplessness. The title of saint is too heavy for a woman with only a heart of blood. If Franz doesn't help her, Fanny Cote will be crushed by this title sooner or later.

"His hero is my enemy." This sentence is not wrong. Franz doesn't like to kill innocent people indiscriminately, but it doesn't mean he will let it go.

In Franz's plan, Fanny Cote could be a patriot, and Franz could quietly complete the support and layout of the Germans in the Duchy of Orleans.

The annual pension provided by Franz to the Duchess was enough for her to maintain a decent life. In fact, if there was no money provided by Franz, the Duchess would have to borrow money from everywhere.

After using Fanny Cote, Thiers had no intention of really letting a woman enter the government or the army.

Pensions were naturally even more impossible, after all, the Orleans Dynasty was in a state of disrepair and there were many places to spend money.

As for the Duchess's donation, since it was a donation, there was absolutely no reason to return it.

Thiers had no guilt at all for this, and Fanny Cote had also seen the warmth and coldness of human feelings in Franz's mouth.

Talia looked at Franz with an indescribable feeling, both the relief that her silly son had finally grown up, and the regret of being abandoned by a scumbag.

But Talia is not the kind of person who dwells on the past. She has her own career. After all, she is the principal, and there are a group of children at home who need to be educated by herself.

Franz's father, Archduke Franz Karl, cried while drinking. No one knows whether he was sad because of drinking, or drank because of sadness.

(In fact, he is the first heir, but no one has ever listed him as a candidate.)

Mrs. Sophie is much more determined. She believes that her child is born extraordinary and will be able to revitalize the family. She is only proud of this.

In the Hall of Mirrors, Franz walked through the royal steps and slowly knelt down in front of Ferdinand I. The latter crossed himself on his chest and spoke in a voice that could be heard clearly.

"May God bless you."

After speaking, Ferdinand I seemed to have been drained of all his strength, then took off his crown and placed it on the tray in the hands of Archbishop Rauscher.

This was not because Ferdinand I refused to give up the throne, but that his illness was getting more and more serious, and he had already exhausted all his energy just by not making mistakes.

“In the name of God we shall witness the coronation of a great man, Franz Joseph Karl Ludwig Anton von Habsburg.

Emperor of Austria, Blessed by God, King of Hungary and Bohemia; King of Dalmatia, Croatia, Slovenia, Galicia and Lodomeria; King of Illyria, Lombardy and Venice king;

King of Jerusalem; Duke of Austria; Grand Duke of Tuscany and Krakow; Duke of Lorraine, Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and Bukovina; Grand Marquis of Nibelungen ;

Count of Moravia; Upper and Lower Silesia, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Guastalla, Auschwitz and Zator, Duke of Ragusa;

Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, Archbishop of Montenegro, Protector of Western Bosnia and Albania, Restorer and Defender of Allgäu, King of the Romans.”

Rauscher read out Franz's lengthy title, but his words were suddenly interrupted and someone shouted in unison.

"The savior of the German nation and the Emperor of the German Empire!"

"Long live the Greater German Reich!"