Chapter 655 Franz's Helplessness

Prince Metternich did not realize his mistake, and most of Franz's suggestions were selectively ignored by him.

However, he still did a good job on the surface, and even made Franz believe that the prince had accepted his suggestions.

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

"Archduke Franz, your words don't seem to be as easy to accept as you think."

Adjani said with a hint of sarcasm. Franz knew that the other party would not be aimless, and it seemed that there was a problem in some link.

"What do you want to say?"

Adjani did not continue to hide, and said straight to the point.

"Our Prime Minister is still supporting the Swiss Orthodox Alliance, and at the same time, the investment in the Papal States has increased."

This surprised Franz a little, because according to the intelligence from many parties, the Austrian Imperial Government should have indeed cut the funding of the two places.

Let Prince Metternich pay out of his own pocket? That's impossible! And he couldn't afford it. In the 19th century, only the state could mobilize funds of tens of millions.

"How is that possible? I haven't heard of any unusual movements in the Papal States and the Swiss Confederation recently? And the most important thing is where the money comes from?"

Ajani: "Our Prime Minister is at least known as the 'Chancellor of Europe'. He has been operating in the diplomatic field and Austria for decades. Isn't it easy to hide the truth?

As for the money. Of course it is your education fund and colonial development funds!"

The new basic education is jointly responsible by the imperial government and the church. One of the purposes of Franz's doing this is to save money. Because of the church's own financial resources and its obsession with education, the government can do a lot with very little money.

But the disadvantage is that the church is very autonomous and does not rely on the financial support of the state. At the same time, due to Franz's special status, the former dare not make too many demands.

So even if the government defaulted on funds, Franz's basic education plan was still steadily advancing, and he naturally had no way of noticing it.

In the eyes of those bureaucrats, Franz was an emperor who didn't know when, while Metternich was now a real prime minister. After weighing the pros and cons, almost all of them chose to remain silent.

There are those who want to speak out, but let alone those petty officials, even local officials who want to give gifts to Franz may not have the opportunity.

Similarly, neither the intelligence network (Vienna Chamber of Commerce and Industry) formed by Franz, which is mainly composed of businessmen, nor the secret police organization hired at a high price, are willing to get involved in the struggle between the future emperor and the current chancellor.

The reason is simple, not seeking merit but avoiding mistakes. Especially in political struggles, it is more dangerous to stand in a random line before the situation is clear than not standing in a line.

As for the Bavarian Hometown Mutual Aid Association controlled by Mrs. Sophie, it may be very influential among the people, but it is nothing on the table, and it is even less likely to be exposed to this level of intelligence.

The same is true for the church's intelligence network. Their first task is to monitor public sentiment, targeting civilians and nobles, as well as those enemies who may threaten the rule of the empire. Their intelligence collection ability on foreign governments may be a little stronger than that of their own country.

The Violet Knights in Ajani's hands are completely different. The direction of their intelligence collection is completely based on Franz's needs. In addition to external intelligence, they are also internal intelligence. They are an organization that is completely loyal to Franz and do not involve the issue of choosing sides.

The personnel are even more diverse. In addition to socialites, barmaids, live-in nannies, there are also cooks, handymen, and even castrati singers.

After years of training, these people have infiltrated all walks of life, and some have even become the "Madame Pompadour" of the Netherlands.

In the colonies of the Austrian Empire, Franz arranged multiple forces to check and balance in order to maintain stability and relative loyalty.

Although they all have to be responsible to Franz in the end, due to some balancing measures, the information between these forces is not transparent enough, and there are even some barriers.

The result is that the government did not react much to the reduction of funds, but first became suspicious of each other.

At the same time, due to the rapid economic development and the relatively smooth construction of colonies, this contradiction has actually been greatly alleviated, and even in some colonies, it has been completely freed from dependence on government funds.

But this is not good news. The colonies can develop independently without the support of the mother country, which is what Franz has been trying to avoid.

It's just that Austria's plate is too big. Just the work of summarizing intelligence requires ten clerks, plus the confidentiality work that requires ten clerks, a total of thirty people are needed to complete.

If Franz does everything himself, I'm afraid 24 hours a day will not be enough. And focusing on something will inevitably lead to omissions. At this time, decentralization is needed, and it is difficult for people in the 19th century to have Franz's vision and judgment.

The result is endless problems and some hidden dangers that are difficult to detect, which have created today's situation.

Tens of millions of funds disappeared, and Franz didn't even notice it.

But what made Franz most angry was Metternich's approach. Not only did he pretend to obey, but he was also self-righteous. The latter never realized the troubles his approach might bring.

In fact, there was something that made Franz even angrier. Adjani's intelligence showed that Prince Metternich had neither increased his troops nor built fortifications in the Papal States that he had actually controlled, including Ferrara, Bologna, Ravenna and Ancona, nor had he carried out large-scale construction or developed agriculture and commerce.

Even if it was to quietly build a railway in the Papal States, Franz could understand it. But our Prince Metternich actually used Franz's money to bribe those cardinals, those church priests, and those scum.

This made Franz feel as uncomfortable as eating shit. He really didn't know whether he understood the rules of the game too well or whether he was empiricist.

However, the most outrageous thing was its operation in Switzerland. Just like in history, a large amount of materials and funds were sent to Ticino.

As a result, the other party just wrote a receipt, and the officials of the Austrian Empire went home happily.

Although Ticino was a member of the Orthodox Alliance on the surface, it had actually been bribed to join the Free Alliance.

As a result, this money and weapons directly solved the urgent needs of the Free Alliance. Originally, under Franz's gold and dollar offensive, the foundation of maintaining the Free Alliance was already in jeopardy.

But at this time, Metternich's funds directly gave the Free Alliance, which was on the verge of collapse, a large amount of food, and those weapons and equipment made Dufour ecstatic.

You should know that due to the arms embargo agreement between Austria, France, Prussia and Saxony, the Free Alliance can only rely on the British to import weapons.

But the British are not willing to do anything without profit. The weapons they sell are not only expensive, but most of them are outdated and obsolete.

Although they are now using obsolete goods from the Austrian military, they are much better than the 18th-century antiques sold by the British to the Swiss.

Franz thought that the war might not be fought if it continued like this, but Prince Metternich's poverty alleviation may lead to a dog-brain fight between the two factions in Switzerland.

Although the Swiss Orthodox Alliance is now in a great disadvantage, they don't know it themselves, and Franz will not let Switzerland continue to pretend to be neutral and act as a trader.