Chapter 364 Christmas

Austria, Venice.

The deal with Veraweiss Adani was very successful, and Franz successfully cleared a batch of old equipment for the Austrian Imperial Army.

Although Veraweiss was an ambitious man, the princes and nobles of Trivandrum were indeed not human beings. In order to make up for the deficit, they even formulated a clothing tax.

That's right! Local laws stipulate that all untouchables, both men and women, must pay a clothing tax, otherwise they need to be topless. This ridiculous law was enforced until before World War II.

There are even more outrageous ones, such as the nose piercing tax. This name is weird, so it needs to be explained.

Indians worship cows, and when they marry their wives, they will pierce their noses to show that they are their women.

However, the local king of Trivandrum felt that this violated the rights of the nobles, so he asked all non-noble women to pay the nose piercing tax, otherwise they would pull out their nose rings and cut off their noses.

So Franz had no regrets that his behavior might kill such people, and he even prepared to eat an extra bowl of rice at dinner to celebrate.

In fact, it is not that there is no rice in Europe, but the chefs here regard it as a dish.

Yes! This is a dish!

Chefs usually pour a lot of olive oil and butter into the pot, then add onions, potatoes, and truffles to stir-fry, and then put the rice into the pot.

At the same time, add butter and continue to stir-fry until golden, then add chicken soup or other high-quality broth to stew, and then add spices such as Italian celery, thyme, rosemary, cinnamon, longan, clove buds, etc.

After it comes out of the pot, pour butter, cheese, or tomato sauce on it and it is done.

For Archduke Franz's hobby of eating rice (weird behavior), chefs have developed various rice-based dishes.

Of course, in Franz's eyes, these things are rice bowls, but the taste is a bit weird.

Christmas, 1842.

The fiscal revenue of the Austrian Empire was 350 million florins, which is more than twice the historical period. At the same time, railways, colonies, and all walks of life are moving in a better direction.

In the eight years after joining the German Customs Union, the national income of the Austrian Empire increased by 100%, and even soldiers could receive an annual salary of 200 florins.

During the same period, prices only increased by 25%, and the prices of some commodities even decreased, but the variety of commodities increased, and people's needs increased.

After being well fed and clothed, sewing machines became the goal pursued by many people, and it was not an unattainable goal. Although 400 florins is still a large sum of money in the eyes of ordinary people, with new financial means such as installment payment, the pressure is far less than before.

In fact, not only Austria, but also the economies of the German states are developing rapidly. For example, the economy of Luxembourg has increased by 400% in eight years, which is of course due to their national steelmaking and the rich local resources.

However, compared with the rapidly growing economy, the political situation faced by Luxembourg is not optimistic. Half of their territory is occupied by Belgium. In 1839, the two sides even fought for this. After causing 139 casualties, France and Prussia announced their intervention to end the war.

Historically, the London Conference led by Britain directly ceded the western part of Luxembourg to Belgium, but the London Parliament was not successfully held in this era, and the agreement it made was naturally not recognized by the great powers.

The Luxembourgers were actually very unimpressed by Prussia's "military occupation", but compared to the arrogant and extravagant king who treated them as non-human beings and the neighbors who were eyeing them covetously, being a German seemed to be quite good.

(Military occupation refers to the fact that after the Vienna Conference, Luxembourg was determined to be protected by Prussia.)

(The king who was arrogant and extravagant and treated them as non-human refers to the then Dutch King William Frederick, who was also the Grand Duke of Luxembourg at the time, but he didn't care about the lives of the Luxembourgers at all, and was indifferent to the Belgian invasion of Luxembourg. He also cut Limburg from Luxembourg, causing Luxembourg to lose 75% of its territory at one time.)

(The covetous neighbor refers to Leopold I, who was the founding monarch of Belgium and a powerful ruler. With the support of Britain and France, he dismembered the Netherlands. After that, he also made many achievements in domestic affairs and economic development, making Belgium one of the few countries that escaped the storm of 1848.)

Under the leadership of Britain, the Netherlands admitted the defeat of the war and Belgium became independent.

However, the Luxembourg Parliament refused to sign the peace agreement. After all, it was half of the territory and 40% of the population. Because Luxembourg was protected by Prussia, the Dutch army could not enter Luxembourg to suppress it. This matter was delayed from 1839 to Christmas 1842.

Over the years, Luxembourgers have been working hard to make money and save money. At the regular meeting of the German Confederation a week before Christmas, 83-year-old Councillor Courdre spoke on behalf of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

"I want to accuse Austria and Prussia. They can fight the slave trade all over the world and even go to Africa and Asia to liberate those barbaric nations, but they turn a blind eye to the tragedy of their compatriots at their doorstep!

In 1839, two robbers broke into our home. One killed and set fire, and the other enslaved us. The two robbers fought on our land, but we were the victims in the end!

They divided our territory and plundered our family, but our brothers, our fathers, Prussia and Austria were indifferent to this!

Why?! Because we are too weak and insignificant!

But the biggest kidnapping case of this century happened right before your eyes. 380,000 Luxembourgers were kidnapped by Belgium and 150,000 by the Netherlands.

You all promote that you will ban the slave trade and crack down on slavery, but at this time, 420,000 Germans are enslaved by the King of the Netherlands, and they don’t have to pay a penny. Are you blind? !

I accuse! This incompetent father and brother, this useless confederation, this unfair world! "

The accusation of Councillor Coulder made the representatives of the German Confederation feel uncomfortable, especially the representatives of Austria and Prussia, who became the target of public criticism. They also felt very wronged. They came to attend a routine meeting. Who knew that they would encounter such a thing.

In fact, all countries are very clear about the situation in Luxembourg, but in theory, the Netherlands is its sovereign, and the King of the Netherlands also serves as the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

Other countries have to obtain the consent of the Netherlands even if they want to help, and the division of Luxembourg is obviously tacitly approved by the Netherlands. There is no problem in legal terms. In addition, the whole thing was led by Britain and France. No one dared to make comments.

The whole venue fell into silence, because the Luxembourg representative's statement was "unreasonable", but a kind of national sentiment was brewing, and as Germans, they could not turn a blind eye to their plight.

However, the final voting power was still in the hands of the two powers, Austria and Prussia, and other states were powerless even if they wanted to.

After all, Belgium and the Netherlands were backed by Britain and France, and if they wanted to fight against the powers, they needed Austria and Prussia, which were also powers, to come forward.

But no matter what, the whole of Germany, and even Europe, would have an uneasy Christmas.