As the economy recovered, the Vienna Government's fiscal revenues rose right along with it. The government was not going to keep money around to breed; all fiscal revenue had to be spent.
Less than half of 1897 had passed, and every department was already rubbing its hands together, preparing to fight over the following year's budget.
The Emperor had gone off on holiday, so the authority to decide budget allocations fell to the Crown Prince. Everyone could see that the Emperor was clearly paving the way for his son.
There was nothing to object to. Though the Emperor remained in good health, he was still sixty-seven years old. In an age when average life expectancy was under fifty, that counted as a ripe old age.
No one could guarantee that the elderly Emperor would not suddenly go to meet God one day. From that perspective, it was certainly necessary to train the Crown Prince in advance, lest they be caught scrambling when the time came.
Unlike the bloody struggles for imperial power in the East, Europe's succession laws were comparatively well developed. Even when conflicts occasionally arose, they did not reach such cruel extremes.
At the very least, the internal struggles within the House of Habsburg had not been so intense. Otherwise, Franz's uncle, Ferdinand I, could never have inherited the throne.
Against such a backdrop, having the Crown Prince exercise the Emperor's authority in advance was uncommon, but not without precedent.
The most typical example was Franz himself. After the Great Revolution, he had exercised the Emperor's authority in his capacity as Crown Prince, and the Regency Council had obediently surrendered power.
Rules were rules. So long as everyone insisted on following them, nothing would go wrong.
The same held true for Friedrich, and his situation was even better.