From luxury to frugality is hard

Long live His Majesty the Emperor!

"Silesia will forever belong to Austria!"

"Destroy the Prussia bandits, and His Majesty the Emperor's glory will surely shine upon Silesia!"

"Crowning as King of Silesia..."

Outside Schönbrunn Palace Square, a wave of excited cheers echoed into the Meeting Hall on the second floor.

Leopold II, who was discussing the armistice plan with Count Frenz and Baron Thugut, frowned, took a few steps to the window, and saw a dark mass of people surging toward the Schönbrunn Palace in the distance.

He turned to his attendant beside him. "What are they shouting? What happened?"

The latter hurriedly went out to inquire, and soon returned with a Guard officer, bowing and saying, "Your Majesty, it seems that people are celebrating a great victory."

"A great victory? What great victory?"

The officer immediately reported, "Your Majesty, news has arrived that Marshal Lacy defeated the Prussia at Liegnitz and advanced the front line southwest of Breslau..."

Thugust almost burst out laughing, hurriedly holding his breath and lowering his head. Breslau is in the heart of Silesia and is the capital of Silesia. Currently, the Austrian Army is blocked at the border of Liegnitz and cannot advance an inch. This person who spread the rumor didn't even use his brain and directly helped Lacy sweep across the entire province.

Leopold II rolled his eyes at the Minister of Foreign Affairs and said angrily, "I didn't pay any attention to those rumors, but I didn't expect that anyone would actually believe them."

Hearing the cheers growing louder, he said irritably to the officer, "What are you all standing there for? Send someone to dispel the rumors immediately, and then disperse the crowd."

Of course, the rumors of the "Great Victory of Liegnitz" were spread by Baron Alphonse, the ambassador to Austria, at Joseph's behest. But this was just the appetizer.

Schönbrunn Palace, Baron Ferrari, a staunch anti-Prussian minister, stood on the stairs, waving a copy of the Vienna Daily and shouting, "A great victory! Silesia has never been so close to its return!"

He distributed the newspapers to the dozens of Nobility in front of him. "Look, it's all written in the newspapers."

"Oh, I suggest we all donate to Marshal Lacy's army. I'll donate 300 Florin first."

The Nobility immediately flipped through the newspapers, excitedly discussing, "Marshal Lacy is amazing! He killed 4,000 Prussia dogs!"

"What a victory! That's wonderful!"

Those Nobility who had seen this morning's news were already instructing their Servant to take out money. "For Silesia, I will also donate 300 Florin."

"I donate 500 Florin to the warriors of Liegnitz..."

In this era without the Internet, newspapers were the most authoritative source of information, especially for such important events, where no one would doubt them—after all, the Secret Police would rigorously censor every word.

In fact, not only in the late 18th century, but even in the early 20th century, courts would sometimes use newspaper articles as evidence in their judgments.

With Ferrari's vigorous promotion, Schönbrunn Palace quickly became abuzz with excitement. Although the Nobility with military backgrounds were skeptical of the news, none dared to utter a word of doubt at this time—otherwise, they would most likely be beaten up by the fanatical crowd.

The officer who was sent to refute the rumors was about to leave when Baron Thugut suddenly remembered something, frowned, stopped him, and then leaned close to Leopold II and whispered, "Your Majesty, it is probably not advisable to refute the rumors directly now."

"Oh? Why?"

"Just think about it, how is Baron Duden going to explain this to those people outside...?"

Leopold II paused, then frowned. "Yes, what do you mean? That the great victory is all rumors, that Austria isn't actually as invincible as the rumors claim? That Lacy has been fighting in Liegnitz with 100,000 troops for almost a year and is still lingering on the Silesia border? That you should all disperse, that Silesia can't be taken back anytime soon?"

Austria was already in turmoil due to His Majesty the Emperor's reforms, with various factions filled with resentment. If, at this juncture, the government's incompetence were publicly declared, it would immediately erupt into chaos. The Hungary Nobility, especially those with separatist leanings, had been waiting for such an opportunity; they might be emboldened and launch Rebellion...

That's just human nature.

If Austria continues to underperform, people become desensitized. But if someone suddenly tells them that Austria has risen to prominence and its military is invincible, their standards will immediately rise. At that point, trying to get them back to accept the reality of Austria's underperformance will only plunge them into anger and despair.

"Etc!"

Leopold II wiped away a cold sweat, quickly stopped the officer, and then instructed his attendant, "Summon the ministers; this matter must be seriously discussed."

Count Frenz, Pro-England Faction figure standing nearby, immediately became anxious. "Your Majesty, but how can we sign Ceasefire Agreement with Prussia if we don't refute the rumors?"

He knew very well that if everyone in Austria believed that Marshal Lacy had regained control of Liegnitz, then Austria's only course of action would be to seize Breslau in one fell swoop.

At this time, anyone who dares to propose peace will inevitably be labeled a traitor by the entire nation.

Even if the excuse was Austria's tight Finance, forcing a temporary ceasefire, where would Liegnitz, captured by Lacy, be after both countries withdrew their troops?

We can't exactly say we gave it back to those damned Prussia, can we?

Leopold II waved his hand impatiently. "Let's discuss the armistice at the Imperial Council as well."

He then slammed the door and left.

Just after noon, Viscount Malte, the "culprit" behind the fake news case, was brought before Leopold II by Marquess Hartmann, the head of the Austria Secret Police.

The poor News Censorship censor only knew that a businessman named Kugel had asked him to spend the whole day at "Red Boots" in order to get his nephew, who was smuggling banned books, to help him get off the hook.

Subsequently, Malte's entourage and News Censorship secretary Assistant Harper were interrogated. The former stated that he had been robbed, tied up in an alley, and only rescued this morning.

The latter claimed that seeing the note signed by Malte was what allowed the news of the "great victory" to pass the review.

Urged on by Leopold II, the Austria Secret Police became extremely efficient, presenting their preliminary findings to him by noon the following day.

"That Kugel is from Szolnok and came to Vienna three years ago," Marquess Hartmann reported. "He acquired the Life and Truth Newspaper newspaper a week ago, and the fake news first leaked from that Newspaper Office."

According to the testimony of Viscount Malte's entourage, one of the men who robbed him inadvertently spoke with a slight Hungary accent.

"These are the people who forged Viscount Malte's signature."

King Leopold II stared grimly at the report on the table, "So, this matter is related to the Hungarians?"

"It seems so, Your Majesty."