Tumor
News of revolution erupting in Paris once more spread, leaving the whole of Europe dumbfounded. First, the revolutionaries had toppled the Bonaparte Dynasty; then the radicals among the revolutionaries had toppled the revolutionary government. Now, nobody even knew what party was toppling the radical government.
If the royalist coalition outside the city was counted as well, France had gathered every sort of faction this age had to offer. Even news reports struggled to write it all down, let alone ordinary spectators.
Ordinary people could watch the spectacle, but politicians had plenty to keep them busy. With the situation this chaotic, this year's war reparations were certainly out of the question.
No matter which government took power, it could not conjure up money overnight. The countries that had been counting on French reparations to supplement the household budget had now seen those hopes thoroughly dashed.
At Vienna Palace, Franz, who had just reached a compromise with Belgium, was troubled and delighted at once. It could not be helped—more and more people had recently come seeking loans.
If it was an ordinary commercial loan, the solution was simple: just introduce them to a bank. So long as they could afford the interest and had sufficient collateral, the Holy Roman Empire's financial system could help them secure financing.
Following France's defeat and Paris's decline, the European Continent's financial centers had become a two-horse rivalry between Vienna and Frankfurt.
Finance, too, had to be tied to politics. After the Continental War ended, Britain and Austria held secret negotiations concerning the international situation and postwar reconstruction.
The outcome naturally spoke for itself. One only had to look at the Continental Alliance's organizational structure—if the two sides had reached an agreement, Britain would not have been excluded from the alliance.
Without question, it had been