Francis II's Troubles

Schönbrunn Palace, banquet hall.

Today was the day of the royal family dinner. Francis II sat at the head of the table, feeling as though he were bathed in a spring breeze after the events of the past year.

The entire nation was thriving, and even the number of people bribing him had increased.

However, seeing his eldest son, Ferdinand, forced to leave the room after suffering a sudden seizure and foaming at the mouth, he could not help but frown.

An emperor in such a state seemed incapable of ruling well; it appeared the imperial power was entering a period of decline.

He glanced at his second son, who was currently making a drunken scene, and his brow furrowed even deeper.

Archduke Franz Karl did not shout or brawl while drunk; instead, he was slumped over his plate, weeping to himself.

His unseemly behavior infuriated Sophie, but she could not lash out in front of Francis II, so she could only gently shake her husband.

Archduke Franz Karl seemed to find this comfortable; far from getting up, he let out an embarrassing sound.

"Take him out. Archduke Franz Karl is drunk." Francis II waved his hand impatiently, signaling the attendants to hurry.

The attendants of Archduke Franz Karl acted immediately, working with the waiters to carry the Archduke out.

Sophie rose, wanting to apologize for her husband's rudeness.

But Francis II merely waved his hand, signaling for her to leave as well.

"Grandfather, I'm full." Franz also found an opportunity to prepare his escape.

The rules of a French banquet were troublesome at this time; there were many dishes, they were served slowly, and one had to listen to the head chef explain them. The fat chef, whose saliva flew everywhere, truly ruined Franz's appetite.

Moreover, French cuisine did not suit Franz's palate; only the rice was familiar to him.

In French cuisine, rice was treated as a vegetable.

He did not know how well-done the steak was, but Franz could not chew it at all. In the end, he could only cut it into small pieces with his knife and swallow them, nearly choking. He grabbed the glass beside him and took a deep gulp, only to discover it was red wine.

Franz was already feeling dizzy.

Francis II wanted to keep his grandson; he was the only person in the family who could put him at ease.

However, he was too concerned with his image and could only indulge his grandson's rudeness.

With the family all gone, Francis II sat at the head of the table, feeling a sense of loss.

Sanborn, the royal steward, leaned close to the ear of Francis II and spoke.

"Prince Metternich has already delivered the final payment of one thousand gold bars to the palace. I have counted them, and the amount is correct. However, Prince Metternich says that the Bavarians want us to build a railway from Prague to Bayreuth."

Bayreuth was the economic center of Bavaria at the time, but it was located in the hilly terrain between the Fichtel Mountains and the Franconian Jura, making the construction of a railway quite difficult and naturally much more expensive.

Nowadays, when people mention Bavaria, they always think of BMW, football, beer, pork knuckles, a developed economy, and beautiful scenery.

However, at this time, Bavaria was notorious in the German region for being a wretched place. Despite being an agricultural country, it was frantically importing grain and could not even achieve self-sufficiency.

At the same time, it was a desert of knowledge and industry, with pitifully few factories and universities.

The lower classes lived in misery, while the upper classes were debauched, producing two successive artist kings.

The current king, Ludwig I, was notoriously promiscuous. The 36 beauties in the Gallery of Beauties at Nymphenburg Palace bore witness to this history, and his scandal with his mistress, Lola Montez, would eventually cost him his throne.

The Bavarian government hoped that Austria would build another railway to Bayreuth, partly to promote trade and increase tax revenue, and partly to allow Bavarians to work in Austria and increase Bavaria's wealth.

For the Bavarians, Austria was the first choice when looking for work abroad.

After all, Austria was large enough and offered enough opportunities.

Moreover, everyone in Bavaria spoke German, and in Austria, being able to speak German was a tremendous advantage.

This was especially true for young people aspiring to become officials; they could earn several times the salary for the same position, and their German identity and language were advantages that other ethnic groups in Austria did not possess.

There was also the religious factor. There were many opportunities in Northern Germany, but the religious beliefs there were different from those of the Southern German states.

The shadow of the Thirty Years' War still loomed over Germany, and they did not want to wake up one day to find themselves being burned at the stake.

In fact, it was not just Bavaria; the entire Southern German region had grown much closer to Austria ever since news broke that Austria had joined the Zollverein.

However, the Bavarian proposal to build another railway to Bavaria greatly angered Francis II.

No one was optimistic about trade between Austria and Bavaria; building a railway to Bavaria was entirely for the sake of doing business with the Northern German states.

In the eyes of Francis II, building another railway to Bavaria was a complete waste.

From Prague to Bayreuth, there were rivers and mountains in between, with a total length of nearly 250 kilometers, and the cost of building a railway at that time was 60,000 to 70,000 Florin per kilometer.

This meant the railway would cost over ten million Florin, but then Francis II had a thought.

"Since I'm not the one paying for it anyway, if they want to build it, let those Jews pay for it."

He then told Sanborn.

"Tell Metternich to let Salomon Rothschild build it. Doesn't he like building railways? Let him build to his heart's content."

Sanborn turned and left tactfully. Francis II checked his schedule; tomorrow he had to receive those relatives from Italy.

The craze for building railways soon spread to Austria's backyard, the Central Italy region.

Apart from the Papal States, the four duchies of Tuscany, Parma, Lucca, and Modena all hoped to strengthen trade ties with Austria.

The Italian states, which had risen through commercial trade, were inevitably heading toward decline during this period of waning Mediterranean trade.

The states of Central Italy had long since lost their former glory; the people lived in misery, and their backward handicraft industries, coupled with a lack of domestic resources, made it impossible to compete with the industrial might of the surrounding powers.

The various states of Central Italy were all facing severe fiscal deficits and constant popular uprisings.

Had it not been for Austria frequently dispatching troops to help suppress them, these small states would have collapsed long ago.

These small states hoped to build railways to strengthen trade with Austria, but the domestic merchants were unwilling to foot the bill.

After all, wealth in the deep mountains attracts distant relatives, while poverty in the bustling market goes unnoticed.

Investors with actual strength were unwilling to waste their money on these small states that were already yesterday's news.

The rulers themselves were unwilling to pay, as they only wanted to collect more taxes.

As for their so-called credit, it had long since been spent on luxury goods.

Now, they could only pin their hopes on the Emperor of Austria; after all, Francis II had personally said, "My Italian states," and the Congress of Vienna had confirmed that Italy fell within the sphere of influence of Austria.

However, at this moment, Francis II was suffering from a massive headache due to a lack of funds, as the decline of Central Italy had become an undeniable fact.

To continue investing or to maintain the status quo—that was the question.