Chapter 25 The Troubles of Franz II

Schönbrunn Palace, Banquet Hall.

Today is the day for the royal family dinner. Franz II is sitting in the main seat. The past year has made him feel like a spring breeze.

The whole country is thriving, and even more people are bribing him.

He frowned when he saw his eldest son Ferdinand, who had to leave the scene due to a sudden epilepsy and foaming at the mouth.

Such an emperor seems unable to rule well, and it seems that the imperial power is about to enter a period of decline.

He looked at his second son who was drunk and furrowed his brows even more.

Archduke Franz Karl did not yell when he was drunk, on the contrary, he was crying alone on the plate.

His inappropriate behavior made Mrs. Sophie very angry, but she could not get angry in front of Franz II, so she could only shake her husband's body.

Archduke Franz Karl seemed to feel very comfortable. Instead of getting up, he made an embarrassing sound.

"Take him out, Archduke Franz Karl is drunk." Franz II waved his hand impatiently, signaling the servants to hurry up.

Franz Karl's servants immediately took action and carried the Archduke out with the waiters.

Madame Sophie stood up and wanted to apologize for her husband's rudeness.

But Franz II just waved his hand and asked her to leave.

"Grandpa, I'm full." Franz also found an opportunity to escape.

At this time, the rules of French dinner were very troublesome, there were many dishes, and they were served slowly. He had to listen to the explanation of the chef next to him. The fat chef with saliva splashing really made Franz lose his appetite.

Moreover, French dinner was not to Franz's taste. Only rice was familiar to Franz.

Rice was regarded as a vegetable in French dinner.

Franz couldn't bite the steak, so he had to cut it into small pieces and swallow it. He almost choked, so he grabbed the glass next to him and took a sip. It turned out to be red wine.

Franz was already feeling dizzy.

Franz II wanted to keep his grandson, the only person in the family who could make him feel comfortable.

But he was very proud, so he had to indulge his grandson's rudeness.

All the family members left, and Franz II sat in the main seat, feeling lost.

The royal butler Sanborn leaned close to Franz II's ear and said.

"Prince Metternich has sent the balance of one thousand gold bars to the palace. I counted the number and it was correct, but Prince Metternich said that the Bavarians want us to build a railway from Prague to Bayreuth."

Bayreuth was the economic center of Bavaria at that time, but it was difficult to build a railway on the hills between the Fichtel Mountains and the Frank Jura Mountains, and the cost would naturally increase a lot.

Now when people mention Bavaria, they always think of BMW, football, beer, pork knuckles, developed economy and beautiful scenery.

However, at that time, Bavaria was notoriously bad in the German region. It was obviously an agricultural country, but it was madly importing food and could not even be self-sufficient.

At the same time, it was a desert of knowledge and industry, with very few factories and universities.

The lower-class people lived in poverty, but the upper class was licentious and produced two artist kings.

The current King Ludwig I was a playboy. The 36 beauties in the Beauty Gallery in Nymphenburg Palace witnessed this history. His scandal with his mistress Lola Montes made him lose the throne.

The Bavarian government hopes that Austria will build another railway to Bayreuth, one is to promote trade and increase tax revenue, and the other is to allow Bavarians to work in Austria to increase Bavaria's wealth.

For Bavarians, Austria is the first choice for finding jobs abroad.

After all, Austria is large enough and has enough opportunities.

And everyone in Bavaria speaks German, but speaking German in Austria is a huge advantage.

Especially those young people who aspire to be officials can earn several times more salary for the same official position, and the identity of Germans and the German language are advantages that other ethnic groups in Austria do not have.

There are also religious factors. There are many opportunities in the northern German region, but the religious beliefs are different from those in the southern German countries.

The shadow of the Thirty Years' War has always been over Germany. They don't want to get up one day and be burned to ashes on the stake.

In fact, not only Bavaria, but the entire southern German region has become closer to Austria since learning that Austria joined the German Customs Union.

However, the Bavarians' proposal to build another railway to Bavaria made Franz II very angry.

No one is optimistic about the trade between Austria and Bavaria. The construction of the railway to Bavaria is entirely for doing business with the northern German countries.

In the eyes of Franz II, building another railway to Bavaria is a complete waste.

From Prague to Bayreuth, there are rivers and mountains in the middle, and the total length is nearly 250 kilometers. At this time, the cost of the railway is 60,000 to 70,000 florins per kilometer.

That is, this railway will cost more than 10 million florins, but Franz II thought again.

"Anyway, it's not me who pays for it. If you want to build it, just give it to the Jews."

So he told Sanborn.

"Tell Metternich to let Solomon Rothschild build it. Doesn't he like building railways? Let him build as much as he wants."

Sanborn turned away tactfully. Franz II looked at his schedule. He had to meet his Italian relatives tomorrow.

The craze for building railways soon spread to Austria's backyard, Central Italy.

In addition to the Papal States, the four principalities of Tuscany, Parma, Lucca and Modena all hoped to strengthen trade with Austria.

The Italian countries that started out as commercial trade inevitably declined during this period of Mediterranean trade decline.

At this time, the states in Central Italy had long lost their former glory. The people lived in poverty, the handicraft industry was backward, and the country lacked resources, and they could not compete with the industry of the surrounding powers.

The states in Central Italy were facing serious fiscal deficits and constant popular uprisings.

If Austria had not frequently sent troops to help suppress them, these small states would have been finished long ago.

These small states hoped to build railways to strengthen trade with Austria, but domestic merchants were unwilling to pay for it.

After all, the rich have distant relatives in the mountains, and the poor have no one to ask in the downtown.

Really powerful investors are unwilling to waste money on these small states that are already yesterday's flowers.

They are unwilling to pay for it themselves, after all, they just want to collect more taxes.

As for the so-called credit, they have long used it to buy luxury goods.

Now they can only pin their hopes on the Austrian emperor, after all, Franz II said "My Italian countries" in person, and after the Vienna Conference, it was also confirmed that Italy was Austria's sphere of influence.

However, at this time, Franz II was very troubled by having no money, after all, the decline of Italy is now a fact.

Continue to invest or maintain the status quo, this is a problem.