Facts once again proved that being the boss was no easy task. At critical moments, he had to take the hit for his underlings. The debt between Prussia and the British was common knowledge; no one could deny it.
"Debts must be repaid—it is only right and proper."
Though the political situation had changed, the Kingdom of Prussia, the debtor, was still there, and so naturally were its debts. The British were collecting according to the terms of the loan contracts. No one could say they were in the wrong.
Originally, this had little to do with Franz. The debts of the constituent states were not the debts of the central government, and the Empire had no obligation to shoulder them. Even if the British came to collect, they could not come knocking on the Vienna Government's door.
The problem was that the Berlin Government was now playing dead and had elevated the "debt issue" into a matter of safeguarding national sovereignty. That left the Vienna Government to deal with it.
Honoring the contract was impossible. If they truly carried out the treaty as written, the people's spittle alone could drown Vienna.
Paying the money was impossible as well. If they helped the Kingdom of Prussia repay its debts today, who knew how many constituent-state governments would go bankrupt tomorrow? Before profit, politicians had never been known for their integrity.
Defaulting was even less possible. As a newly risen hegemon, the Vienna Government had to preserve its international image.
Especially since the Vienna Government still had a mountain of debts to collect abroad. If it took the lead in acting like a rogue, others could use "international precedent" as an excuse to welch on their debts in the future.
It could be said that the Vienna Government had been forced