It was another Christmas. Because of the return of Jerusalem, this year's Christmas was particularly lively, and the whole of Austria was immersed in laughter.
Merchants also took the opportunity to organize activities, and the streets were full of discount signs. Some shops even gave out free candy and melon seeds to attract popularity.
Franz, who was standing on the roof, picked up his binoculars and looked at the bustling street with a trace of fascination.
Franz had no chance to experience the joy of ordinary people shopping. The life of ordinary people was not suitable for an emperor. This was the price of being in a high position.
Sneaking out was a sign of irresponsibility. The emperor represented not only himself, but also the country.
If there was an accident, Austria would immediately be turned upside down. Although Austria seemed very stable now, Franz was very clear that there were still many hidden dangers in the empire, but they were covered up by the prosperity on the surface.
It was not terrible for a country to have hidden dangers, they could just solve them. What was terrible was knowing that there were hidden dangers, but still turning a blind eye to them and courting death. That would have serious consequences.
Franz knew that there were many people in the country who were dissatisfied with the government, the losers in the power struggle, the people whose interests were harmed in the reform …
He could completely understand the resentment in these people's hearts. Understanding was understanding, but he still had to suppress them.
No matter how dissatisfied they were, since these people did not rebel, then time could dilute everything. Franz did not kill them all.
There was a prerequisite, and that was not to give them a chance. All that was left was to endure and slowly wear down their fighting spirit with daily necessities.
Just like the Hungarian independence organization in the past, when everyone experienced the cruel beating of society and matured, the originally hot-blooded revolutionaries were defeated by reality.
In the depths of his heart, Franz had always been reminding himself not to be reckless, not to be reckless. After a decade or two, when his son was raised and the throne passed down, he would be free.
"What's there to see? It's such a cold day, and you still want to come up here?"
A familiar voice came. Franz put down the binoculars in his hand and looked back at the person, revealing a smile. "It's Christmas, isn't it? I also want to see how the people celebrate the festival."
The seemingly relaxed answer was actually full of helplessness. People always missed things after they had lost them.
Queen Helen took the binoculars from Franz and looked in the direction he was looking at before frowning.
"Well, there are a lot of people on the street, but Santa Claus is too ugly. There's no artistic taste at all."
Franz couldn't help but laugh. Even he, the Emperor, had only a smattering of knowledge when it came to something as lofty as "artistic taste", not to mention those ordinary people who had to work hard every day.
His laughter angered Queen Helen, who glared at Franz. "You're laughing at me, aren't you?"
Although the question was plain, the look in her eyes told Franz: You'd better give a reasonable explanation, or you won't have a good Christmas this year.
Franz suddenly thought of a reason. "No, I just thought that Santa Claus outside was a bit funny.
Look carefully and see if there are any missing arms or legs. of of. If Santa Claus looked like this and still had to send blessings everywhere, it would be too difficult for him. "
"I" I "Don" is ", Christmas. in of Santa in Is in. I Day. of Christmas in in in." "Don't tell me you're free. I remember you're very busy every Christmas."
It was true. The royal family also had celebrations at Christmas, and the empress was in charge of these things. Including preparing Christmas gifts for friends and family, inviting guests, and hosting banquets, it was also the empress' job.
As if remembering something, Queen Helen's expression changed. "Oh no, I still have a lot of things to do. Take your time and see for yourself. I'm leaving. "
After that, she handed the binoculars to Franz and turned to leave. Queen Helen added, "Frederick The Great is almost 20 years old. As a father, you don't care about his marriage.
Don't forget, we have a lot of sons. European princesses of the same age are limited. If you don't decide in advance, you'll have to worry about it later! "
After this little episode, Franz had no desire to continue watching the fun. He really hadn't noticed that there were more men than women in the European royal family.
This was a side effect of the butterfly effect. The House of Habsburg had a high birth rate of males, especially Franz, who had four sons. This directly broke the balance between men and women in the European royal family.
This problem was quickly forgotten by Franz.
Except for the eldest son, who had to consider the political needs of the family, the other sons could marry lower or wait a few more years if they didn't have a suitable one.
In Franz's view, this wasn't a problem at all. As long as the standard of birth was lowered, the number of candidates could increase by at least double digits.
…
God seemed to want to increase the festive atmosphere. Night fell, and snowflakes quietly arrived.
The cold wind didn't disperse the festive atmosphere. Wreaths were hung on the doors of every house, snowmen were built, and Christmas trees were placed in the house.
After a busy day, Rene returned to his small bedroom, picked up the prepared materials, and began to make a homemade Christmas tree.
It was a little late to start preparing, but Rene was poor.
Rene wasn't a local. This summer, he came to Vienna to work, and he didn't have much savings. This small bedroom, which was less than ten square meters, was rented by him.
He had no choice. Although Vienna was known as the city with the highest per capita income in the world, the problem was the per capita income. But the problem lay in the average. As the lowest level of society, Rennes was undoubtedly the target of the average.
In Vienna, in addition to high-income fields such as finance, research, education, and medical, there were also poor people in the service industry.
According to the law, Christmas must be closed, but the service industry was an exception. If businesses were not open for Christmas, how could people celebrate the festival?
For the sake of overtime pay, Rene decisively chose to work overtime. He knew that even the stingiest boss would give a Christmas gift to his employees who were working overtime on this holiday.
Rene was lucky. The grocery store owner he worked for was a devout believer. This year, he returned to Jerusalem and was in a good mood. The grocery store owner gave him a bag of fifty pounds of flour.
It was the best Christmas present he had ever received in his life. With this bag of flour, he would have enough food for the next month. It was far more practical than candy and melon seeds.
With a good mood, Rene finished making the Christmas tree in the shortest time possible. It was a little ugly, but it didn't stop him from pursuing a better life.
The choir in the church had already gone from house to house, singing Christmas carols in unison. Ryan was very excited.
He had never experienced this kind of treatment. Although there was a church in his hometown, there was only one priest. The choir was only available in the cathedral.
After watching the choir leave, Rene was silent. Working alone in a strange city without any relatives or friends by his side, he didn't know how to spend the rest of his time.
Looking at the prepared Christmas presents, Rayne smiled bitterly. The city was different from his hometown. Everyone was very cautious, and many people put on a layer of disguise.
When he first moved in, Rene tried to get in touch with the surrounding neighbors. However, the tenants living here were the bottom of the society. They had to work hard every day to make a living, and they didn't have the energy to receive more people.
Although the words were polite, the unapproachable tone made Rene give up the idea of further acquaintance. He didn't have time to make friends.
Vienna was a city that never sleeps, so the workers in the service industry worked very hard. Although Austria's Labor Protection Act stipulated an eight-hour working day, it only existed in theory.
Eight hours of salary might be enough to survive in Vienna, but if he wanted to save money, he had to work overtime!
Like most of the service industry, Rene's grocery store also worked in two shifts. Except for Christmas night, it was open 24 hours a day.
Including the daily shift, the busy time was as high as 14 hours a day. The 14 hours was an ideal number. The grocery store would replenish the stock every three days.
In this situation, the boss wouldn't hire extra people. They had to work overtime for 3 to 5 hours. For the sake of the overtime pay, Rene decisively chose to increase the overtime pay.
He only had two days off every month. Don't think about anything else, and prepare to catch up on sleep! This was the daily life of an ordinary waiter in Vienna.
Rene didn't complain. Most of the factories would have a worse situation. Perhaps the working hours might not be as long, but the working environment was completely incomparable.
There was still hope here. He could interact with different people and things every day, and he could gain a lot of knowledge. If he paid attention, he could also learn a lot.
If he entered the factory, then he had to quickly learn the skills! If he couldn't overcome this hurdle, then he would be like this for the rest of his life.
Holding back his tears, Rene took out half of the roast goose he bought on the way, heated it next to the stove, and flipped the almost cooked potatoes. This was his extravagant Christmas dinner.
Late at night, the Christmas bell rang.
…
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