Moreover, the lottery business was prone to breeding corruption. Franz knew Maximilian would certainly falsify the payout rate, but if he could deceive the common people, would those officials not deceive him as well?
While black-box operations made it easier for him to manipulate things in secret, they also gave corrupt officials an opening. Without a regulatory mechanism, relying on personal morality was even less reliable than getting rich through lotteries.
Franz wrote down nearly every problem he could think of and even had the Austrian Empire's economists list the data for each one.
Franz did this partly to persuade Maximilian, and partly to make the difficulties before him plain.
If Maximilian truly was some once-in-an-age genius, Franz would be more than happy to see him succeed. As the true helmsman of House Habsburg, Franz was not afraid that Maximilian might do better than him.
The faces of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies' officials went pale, then green. The corruption issues Franz raised struck almost every one of them right where it hurt, leaving them trembling with fear.
Fortunately, His Majesty the King had not read the letter carefully. Otherwise, many people would have suffered.
In truth, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was not devoid of clever people. Many knew that the lottery business was a colossal pitfall, but because there was profit to be made, they chose to selectively ignore the difficulties that might arise.
"Your Majesty, you are the master of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. We will support you forever!"
Several ministers who had previously advocated developing the lottery business were the first to step forward. Once they had read the letter, they knew there was no turning back, so they decided to stake everything on one throw.
Most of the other officials were