Franz II desperately held down his anger and coldly instructed the diplomat standing beside him, "Tell the Bavarians to immediately return the Imperial soldiers they have detained, stop this unreasonable nonsense, and assist in wiping out the rebels in Innsbruck. I can pretend this never happened. Otherwise, they will face punishments ranging from the Danube Trade Ban, to opening up the Right of Appeal within the Realm, the Imperial Knights' Privilege Edict, and even the Imperial Ban!"
The diplomat's face turned pale with fright. After saying, "Yes, Your Majesty," he hurried out of the study, calculating that he had to let Lord Metternich know of the Emperor's rash decision as soon as possible.
The so-called "Danube Trade Ban" meant ordering all States along the Danube River within the Empire not to trade with Bavaria, or to impose exorbitant tariffs.
The "Right of Appeal within the Realm" meant that Bavarian nobles and clerics could directly submit indictments to the Imperial Court in Vienna and Wetzlar. If the Imperial Court rendered a judgment, Bavaria's domestic courts had to enforce it—this was a fundamental Imperial system established by documents such as the Treaty of Westphalia.
The "Imperial Knights' Privilege Edict," also known as the "Knights' Self-Governance Edict," granted Imperial Knights within Bavaria the privilege of refusing to obey their sovereign's orders on conscription, taxation, and judicial matters.
By past experience, these three measures alone were enough to make any German State other than Prussia immediately kneel before the Emperor's boots. For instance, thirty-three years earlier, the Duke of Württemberg had violated Imperial regulations by privately expanding his army and raising taxes. Emperor Joseph II had then invoked the Right of Appeal within the Realm. Large numbers of Württemberg nobles flocked to Vienna to appeal, throwing Württemberg into utter chaos. Before long, the Duke