Inside Schönbrunn Palace, the old Emperor Franz could no longer sit still after hearing of Italy's reunification. He hurriedly summoned Crown Prince Rudolf.
Ever since the First World War, Franz had essentially entered retirement. Though he still bore the title of emperor, he had largely handed state affairs over to Rudolf. In his daily life, he simply spent his old age in Schönbrunn Palace, reminiscing about the past.
For an ascetic like Franz, even retirement did not mean stirring up trouble for no reason. That was one of Franz's greatest virtues.
Before long, Rudolf was summoned to Franz's presence.
The moment he saw Crown Prince Rudolf, Emperor Franz immediately demanded, "Rudolf, what have you been doing? How could you just stand by and watch Italy reunify?"
As Franz spoke harshly, the veins stood out on his right hand as he struck the marble floor with his gold-inlaid cane. A sharp clatter rang out, while the mustache at the corners of his mouth trembled with the movement of his muscles.
Franz's fury was hardly without reason. No one understood better than he did the threat that Italian unification posed to the Empire. Italy had nearly unified once before, and it had caused the Austro-Hungarian Empire enormous trouble.
Faced with his enraged father, Rudolf felt aggrieved as well. He said, "Father, please do not get angry yet. We had difficulties of our own."
Franz's chest rose and fell slightly as he said, "Difficulties? Italy's unification is now the Empire's greatest difficulty. How much effort and energy did we expend back then to break up Italy? We even paid a tremendous price to win over Hungary, and only through war did we finally force the Kingdom of Italy back into the northwestern corner of the Apennine Peninsula."
"The unified Italy of that time