Chapter 839 Parma Incident

Marie Louise fell ill on December 9, 1847, and her condition continued to worsen. When the news first reached Vienna, no one cared.

In the eyes of most people, this was just a new trick by the Archduchess to win sympathy.

In the eyes of the people, the former French queen had lost everything, including her reputation, beauty, moral integrity, two husbands, sons, and fathers.

At this time, Austria was still preparing for Christmas, and various government departments were preparing for the year-end summary.

The workers had already received their wages at this time, which was the richest time of the year. Some smart businessmen were busy preparing to make the last profit.

In fact, even if those people were not smart, Franz's royal shopping mall was promoting sales, so they had no choice but to be smart.

The carp production in the Austrian Empire increased tenfold in three years, but the sales volume was not very good at ordinary times, and only showed explosive growth during the Christmas period.

One reason was due to traditional concepts, and the second reason was that the price of carp was not low enough, and ordinary people still couldn't afford it.

Third, the main reason is that in recent years, the war has been continuous. Although the war has not spread to Austria, people have already felt the crisis. Many families are hoarding daily necessities, even guns and ammunition.

People have no money, so they naturally have no ability to buy carp.

Franz's promotional strategy is to give carp directly for a certain amount of consumption, which can minimize people's resistance. At the same time, he can continue to promote this food and clear inventory.

Early generators have been successfully developed, but the efficiency is still not high at this time, and the cost of cold preservation is too high, so Franz must deal with those precious carp as soon as possible.

Although the situation at home and abroad is very tense, Franz's account is obviously more than in previous years.

Giant Bear, Karena von De Leant has no business talent, but she is good at anti-corruption and auditing. She has almost no friends. Her military aristocratic origin makes her almost unscrupulous.

The De Leant family actually came from Russia, but they have settled in Austria for hundreds of years. Their ancestors once followed Wallenstein.

However, no one knows what their ancestors' original surnames were. It is speculated that they were probably escaped Russian serfs or Cossacks.

Their descendants followed their ancestors' teachings and have been serving the Austrian army for hundreds of years. They neither do business nor politics, so they are not well-known.

The Deliant family is easily excluded by the mainstream nobles, but they are proud of it because they also look down on those soft eggs who only know how to spend their days drinking and begging for mercy.

So the revenge brought by Karena's series of thunderous means is completely a proof of honor in her family's eyes.

Old Deliant (Karenna's grandfather) led the family to cut down all the trees near the ancestral home, and purchased a batch of weapons and bulletproof carriages to fight to their heart's content.

In addition, the guards and bodyguards that Franz added for it made the Deliant family's ancestral home a hot potato.

In order to prevent unnecessary troubles and someone taking advantage of the opportunity, the guards and bodyguards that Franz added for it were all public, at least public to the inside.

Over the years, Franz's plans in international affairs have rarely failed, but he has been repeatedly defeated in domestic issues. It is impossible for him not to reflect on his own behavior.

In fact, Karena has also been assassinated, and it was her assistant who did it, but how can two civilian staff fight against a giant bear?

One of them was pushed out of the window from the third floor before he could shoot, and the other shot the bullet in a panic.

When the guards outside the door rushed in, the civilian staff who was turned against had been beaten into a pig head, his face collapsed, and one eyeball hanging outside.

The reason why some people can turn against Franz's subordinates one after another is just the connections and prestige accumulated by those families for hundreds of years.

To completely eliminate this influence, either a big cleanup or to support your own power after ascending the throne and give your subordinates capital that the other party dare not move.

Franz felt that day would not be too far away, but what if the people he supported were also rubbish? No, he wants to break this cycle.

On December 17, 1847, Archduke Marie Louise finally passed away after suffering from pleurisy for more than ten days.

According to the tradition of the Habsburg family, the remains of the Archduke will be transported back to Vienna and placed in the royal tomb.

Marie Louise grew up in an environment that hated France very much. Both Austria and the Habsburg family thought that France was shit.

As a result, for the sake of the overall situation, she had to marry this shit. After that, Marie Louise suffered almost all the tragedies that a woman might encounter. Even before she died, no one believed her and no one cared about her.

In fact, the Austrian imperial government had quarreled over the death of Marie Louise. They did not expect the Archduke to die so quickly and suddenly.

But what they cared about was not this poor victim, but the national interests of the Austrian Empire.

According to the agreement of that year, after the death of the Archduke, the Duchy of Parma would return to the rule of the Bourbon-Parma family.

At this time, Austria's investment in Parma has not recovered its costs. If the Bourbon-Parma family moves closer to France, it will drive a nail into Austria's heartland and directly threaten the security of northern Italy.

The current head of the Bourbon-Parma family is Carlo II, the grandson of Ferdinando I, Duke of Parma, and the son of Ludovico I, King of Etruria.

From 1803 to 1807, he was the King of Etruria, known as Ludovico II; from 1824 to 1847, he was the Duke of Lucca, known as Carlo I.

Carlo II was now settled in the Duchy of Lucca, which was actually indirectly controlled by the Habsburg family, so Carlo II's presence was so weak that people almost forgot his existence.

Theoretically, if Carlo II inherited the Duchy of Parma, the Este branch of the Habsburg family would be able to regain control of Lucca.

This meant nothing to Austria, it was just a transfer from the left hand to the right hand. But once Parma fell into the hands of the Bourbon family, it would directly threaten the map of northern Italy.

However, it was not so easy for Austria to break the contract, not to mention the international impact. The great powers alone would not miss this opportunity.

France wanted to compete with Austria for supremacy in the Apennine Peninsula, Britain wanted to stir up trouble, Prussia hoped to weaken the two great powers of Austria and France, and Russia hated France but did not want Austria to be too powerful.

At this time, Charles II was still considering whether to side with France, or Austria, or to play both sides and create a miracle.

But soon he had no choice, because France could not hold on. At this time, Franz was considering whether to let Louis Philippe withdraw from the stage or put him in another place to shine?

After all, Napoleon III's attitude towards Austria was not friendly