Franz wiped his hands and casually gave the order.
"Clean it up."
The guards around him immediately sprang into action.
Personally, Franz was not afraid of powerful ministers. On the contrary, he hoped someone could help shoulder part of the burden. After all, one person's energy was limited, while problems were everywhere.
But a powerful minister could not be both bad and stupid—especially not someone as self-righteous as Kurt.
Of course, if Kurt had not even considered the possibility of becoming a powerful minister, then he was even more hopeless.
Kurt's arguments were highly deceptive. They exploited the weaknesses of human nature, as well as the common trait shared by most Western rulers before the nineteenth century—wanting to be a whore while also setting up a monument to chastity.
If Kurt had been facing Caesar or Napoleon, he would have been reused without question, perhaps even relied upon as a pillar of the state.
After all, they were usurpers. They needed the support of the bureaucratic establishment, and they needed to reconcile with the existing vested-interest groups.
But Franz was different. The foundations of his rule came from the people and from inheritance.
Franz had no need to worry about the legitimacy of his rule. The House of Habsburg's centuries of effort had not been in vain.
The inertia of history made it easy for Franz to accomplish Napoleon-style feats.
The notion that one needed the recognition of officials from every faction before one could become emperor was, at its core, a lingering poison from the era of the Holy Roman Empire. An emperor had to secure the support of the prince-electors to ascend the throne and keep it.
But do not forget who had personally ended the Holy Roman Empire. Franz's grandfather could not even be bothered to continue