"We need a point of reference. More precisely, our Italian nationalists need a point of reference.
The weaker and more miserable the Kingdom of Sardinia becomes, the more it proves the Empire's superiority. Only then will they abandon their fantasies sooner.
Otherwise, destroying the Kingdom of Sardinia now would only turn those Sardinians into martyrs. That is not what we want to see.
Let them rot. Until they walk into destruction on their own.
After all, what is there to fear from a Kingdom of Sardinia without Sardinia Island, or a House of Savoy without Savoy?"
At last, everyone smiled knowingly. It seemed His Majesty the Emperor had planned this long ago, so there was no need to worry excessively. After all, Franz had so many advisers at his side.
Not far away, Franz's chief of staff could only offer a polite yet awkward smile in response to the looks everyone was sending him. Heaven and earth bore witness—he truly knew nothing.
It was not just him. In fact, much of the staff corps often had no idea what Franz was actually doing.
But that was no longer the issue. The issue now was how to ensure the two new territories settled down securely.
Do not be fooled—the war had not even begun, and negotiations had not even started. Yet the Kingdom of Sardinia was already fish on the chopping block. No one had any disagreement about that, nor could they.
Genoa would actually be easy enough to absorb. Sardinia Island was the real trouble.
As an isolated island, with mountains blocking off its interior, Sardinia Island's difficulty of assimilation was already maxed out from a geographical standpoint alone.
The most rational approach would have been to let it become independent or adopt a feudal system. That would save both