Chapter 386 Moving Forward
Prussia, Pomerania.
The stone walls that Mr. Otto organized the local people to build did not have any effect. The Russians did not arrive and the war did not happen. He himself won the title of "Defender of Pomerania".
Of course, Bismarck didn't care what others thought. He was both happy and relieved that the situation did not develop in a bad direction. This was enough.
However, the poor performance of the Prussian army in Namur really disappointed him. He could not understand how incompetent the command was that led to the defeat of more than 100,000 troops by 20,000 French troops, with the main force still being blocked in the city.
Not only did this operation to send troops to Luxembourg achieve nothing, it also caused a huge scandal. This was a big loss to Prussia's international prestige, and in the end it had to give in on the issue of the ownership of the Principality of Liege.
In Bismarck's view, this was Prussia's only gain. The Austrians were once again pushed to the front line to face the threat of the French.
"It is feasible to use the contradictions between France and Austria to seek benefits for the kingdom, but doing so will undoubtedly arouse the resentment of other countries in the confederation. However, if you want to lead Germany, you will have to deal with those small states sooner or later. This does not seem to be important. "
Mr. Otto was thinking rapidly in his mind as a group of laborers moved a large amount of goods into the mansion.
"Be gentle, be gentle! This is from Vienna! It's very valuable!"
Yes, Bismarck also joined the hunt for goods in Austria. Although his identity as a patriot made him reject this huge southern neighbor, he could not do without its goods.
What's more, the sales of Austrian products in Prussia are very tight. This time the prices have been reduced, and the Junker nobles who have the strength and warehouses have hoarded a large amount of goods.
They believe that once the Austrian promotion ends, the items will return to their original prices and they can make a profit.
After Bismarck decided to sell these items, he decided to spend some of his savings on a trip to Paris. Curiosity drove him to see the world, see the world's largest city up close, and see the hometowns of wise men such as Rousseau, Montesquieu and Voltaire.
At this time, French culture represented by Paris was still sought after by the world. But as a butterfly flutters, something slightly changes at the crossroads of history.
Vienna and Paris are both recognized as the only two metropolises on the European continent, and in terms of academic atmosphere and artistic atmosphere alone, the former surpasses the latter.
But Otto of Pomerania visited Vienna once as a humble member of the Prussian mission, and this exquisite city left a mixed impression on him.
It is magnificent and prosperous, but it lacks the majesty of the capital of a country. It's hard to be in awe of those exquisite buildings and the overwhelming sounds floating everywhere.
(In the previous plot, Bismarck visited Vienna.)
Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace, Franz has no comment on Adjani's assassination proposal. Count Andrew is just a small figure, and his life and death have little impact on the overall situation.
Transletania is almost out of touch with Neletania. When the Zagreb and Sibiu lines are opened, it will become a complete state within a state.
(Zagreb is the central city of Croatia, the Zagreb line is the southern line around Hungary, the northern Bukovina line has been completed, and the remaining line is the eastern Sibiu line.
Some people must ask why there is no Western Front, because the west is the Austrian mainland. )
Franz reviewed documents on recent domestic product pre-sales and found that beer sales were so far ahead that they might threaten food security.
Fortunately, the agricultural products that the UK was busy selling finally reached its own hands. It's just that the price is not as good as what they paid for it.
Franz, who was prepared for a rainy day, also purchased a batch of grain in the name of his country's church and smuggled it to the island of Ireland to deal with a possible crisis. In addition, the church is also working intensively to secretly transport religious talents to the local area. At this time, there are only more than 100 Catholic churches on the island of Ireland, and as many as 100 of them have been infiltrated.
In fact, these clergymen sent to Ireland did not know what their specific tasks were. They were only told to deal with possible disasters.
"It is too sacred to sacrifice hundreds or even thousands of people for years because of an uncertain prophecy."
Of course, only believers can do this kind of thing.
Most of the priests felt that the so-called "scourge" in the prophecy was poverty, because most of them came from the wealthy areas of Austria. Although poor people live in the streets all over the world, the poverty of the Irish people is still beyond their imagination.
"They have no beds, no quilts, only straw, and those houses are simpler than stables. Those sour potatoes are only suitable for feeding pigs in our country, and the paste mixed with grass seeds and bark makes my throat feel like a knife. It hurts just like cutting”
“It’s hard to imagine that a nation can live so tenaciously and humbly”
"This is a cultural desert. Almost no one is literate. They say they believe in God, but they don't know the content of the Bible."
"The Irish had no land and almost all the land belonged to outsiders and their servants."
"People here sleep all day long. But unlike the British, they are not lazy, they just have to save energy in order to survive."
Such was the feeling of the first Austrian priests to arrive in Ireland. These clergy received gifts from "well-wishers," but they didn't quite know what to do with them.
Some people chose to sell the grain and use the money to build schools in the parish, because they believed that knowledge is power and learning can make you rich.
Some people bought land from the landlords and distributed it to the Irish to cultivate, only collecting a small amount of rent to maintain church expenses.
Soon they encountered a problem, which aroused the vigilance of some British people, and some even created and spread rumors.
"Those Catholics are using land to buy the Irish, and they want to kill us (Protestants/Anglicans)."
This rumor has been popular in the United States several times in history, and each time it has caused a large-scale humanitarian crisis.
In the end, the priests had to return the land to the British landlords in order to save the church, and then the matter was suppressed.
Of course, some people realized that buying land and setting up schools was too troublesome, and it was difficult for ordinary believers to feel "God's mercy." The solution of this group of almsgivers was to make food into communion directly and distribute it to all believers who came to worship.
In order to prevent the precious food from rotting due to long-term storage, some thoughtful priests simply took the communion to the village to distribute it.
In a short time, the church became lively, and even many well-dressed people came to share the Eucharist.
The priests were also satisfied with their missionary results, but soon after the distribution of the Eucharist was over, the church was filled with poor people again. All their efforts seemed to be in vain.
Some priests did the opposite. Since hoarding food is the most effective way to deal with disasters, why not do it?
The activists did it immediately. The organizers began to dig cellars under the church to store food for emergency use. These people lived an extremely hard life and were called misers by their peers.
Of course, there were also many "decent gentlemen" who were not used to the hard life. After leaving their country, they became reckless due to lack of supervision and control. They were greedy and addicted to enjoyment. They not only regarded selling food as a business to make money, but also got in touch with the British and sold out the intelligence of the Austrian Church.
Of course, because they did not get any valuable information from them later, the British side was too lazy to deal with these spineless and worthless guys.