However, this was indeed good news for the Austrian Empire. The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies held an extremely important strategic position, especially since several of its ports were highly suitable as naval harbors.
The Austrian Imperial Navy could establish outposts in these places, or even conceal its forces there to avoid being bottled up in the Gulf of Adriatic by hostile powers.
The joint-defense agreement that had failed to pass for so long was now formally approved. From this point on, a pan-Apennine economic and security cooperation organization, including the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, was established.
The chair state was naturally the Austrian Empire. After all, the other countries lacked the strength to guarantee the security and stability of the entire region.
Although Victor Emmanuel II was all flattery toward the Austrian Empire on the surface, in truth, he loathed it.
However, one of his new aides, the Chamber of Deputies member Cavour, told Emmanuel II that if he wanted the Kingdom of Sardinia to remain stable, then it had to maintain good relations with the Austrian Empire.
At this time, the Kingdom of Sardinia was heavily burdened with debt, and its economy was far weaker than it had been in the same period of history. At the very least, in the markets of northern and southern Italy, goods from the Kingdom of Sardinia were far less competitive than those of the Austrian Empire.
Besides that, Northern Italy also had its own industry. Whether Lombardy or Venetia, neither looked favorably on goods from the Kingdom of Sardinia, and they regarded them as competitors.
As for the capitalists of the Italian region, never mind supporting the Kingdom of Sardinia in unification—if they did not trip the Kingdom of Sardinia up, that was already good