Affairs of Hungary

On October 2, 1845, the first half of the Great Illyrian Line was officially opened to traffic.

This meant that the route from Trieste to Zagreb was formally connected to Cisleithania, placing Croatia under direct Austrian rule.

The Hungarians suffered the most from this, as they lost yet another hole through which they could bleed the Austrian Empire dry, while simultaneously losing the ability to continue exploiting the Croatians.

To be honest, although Franz had been mentally prepared for the poverty of Croatia, he was still shocked by what he found.

The entire "kingdom" contributed less in tax revenue than a single city in the coastal regions, amounting to less than five million Florins—even lower than one-twentieth of what Bohemia produced at the time.

Bohemia was currently the Austrian Empire's largest economic province, followed by Venice and Vienna, while the highest overseas contributions came from California, Mexico, and Chenla.

Although Austria now possessed the capability to levy taxes directly, it still had to respect tradition and the Hungarians by sending the tax revenue to Pressburg first, to be transferred to Vienna by the Hungarian government.

Naturally, the amount transferred was never the full sum; after all, the Hungarians intercepted the majority when collecting taxes, and these "missing" funds were redirected toward local construction and development subsidies.

The high-ranking officials in Vienna felt that rather than handing money over to the Hungarians, it was more practical to consolidate the frontiers. After all, everyone had seen the true face of the Hungarians by now and had no intention of continuing such futile efforts.

On the other hand, the Austrian Empire had grown stronger and more confident, which was why it finally dared to say no to the Hungarian side.

In reality, the Hungarian side had made many efforts, using every possible means