Affected by the sudden change in the situation in Paris, the Bourbon Restoration Movement directly turned into a civil war, and the political situation in Europe became tense again.
The "tension" was not because of the civil war in France, but because of the debt problem. Belgium, Spain, Russia, and Italy, especially the poor countries, paid special attention to it.
If it weren't for the Bourbon Dynasty's firm opposition to the Alliance's intervention, the Russian Army stationed outside of Paris would have already charged in. Not being able to directly intervene didn't mean that they couldn't take sides.
The Paris Revolutionary Army took the initiative to attack several times, but the Russian Army blocked them with the excuse of military exercises, providing strong support for the private army of the nobles who fled.
Not only that, but even the prisoners of war released by the Anti-France Alliance in batches were now prioritized by the royalists. As for the unlucky people who leaned toward the Revolutionary Party or the Republican government, they were probably prepared to spend the rest of their lives in prison.
The Anti-France Alliance didn't want these people to obstruct the restoration, and the Bourbon Dynasty didn't welcome these opponents. Perhaps they would have the opportunity to be released when the situation stabilized in the future, but who could say for sure what would happen in politics?
Anyway, since the failure of the European War, the French people's dissatisfaction had been accumulating, and it was good to vent it out.
Based on past experience, the situation in France would stabilize for a period of time after the emotions were vented, and it was just enough for the Bourbon Dynasty to stabilize.
Everything was under control, and Franz didn't have the time to pay attention to the outside world. The focus of his work was still within the country.
After the initial run-in, the Holy Roman Empire was finally unified in a real sense. Although there was still a long way to go to integrate into one, it was enough to scare people.
The data of the unified Holy Roman Empire was undoubtedly terrifying on paper. The total economic output of the mainland plus the colonies reached 38.2% of the world's, and the total industrial output reached 54.8% of the world's. The fiscal revenue exceeded the sum of the European countries. Coupled with the world's number one army and number two navy, it was simply shocking.
In fact, Franz was also stunned by this data and thought it was April Fool's Day.
After calming down and carefully studying, Franz found that this set of data wasn't exaggerated, and there was even a lot of potential to be dug out.
The European War had devastated France, Belgium, and the Regions of Italy. The world's economy and industrial output had shrunk.
As the victor of the war, the Holy Roman Empire not only completed the unification of the country, but also further seized a large number of French colonies.
The mines, railroads, ports, and plantations that the French had so painstakingly built in Africa became the spoils of war for the Holy Roman Empire. With the influx of immigrants, the wealth was converted into economic data on paper.
That's right, this was only wealth on paper. It would take a long time for these assets to be put to use and transform into real national strength.
The anticipated post-war depression did happen, but the hardest hit was not in the Holy Roman Empire, but in France, Belgium, and Sardinia, the countries that suffered the most from the war.
In order to reduce the pressure of demobilization after the war and reduce government expenditure, Franz once again used the enfeoffment law to entice the meritorious soldiers to migrate to Africa.
As a generous emperor, land, mines, plantations, and unimportant ports were all taken out by Franz as fiefdoms. Some meritorious officers even received a city with jurisdiction.
To put it this way, most of the colonies that the Holy Roman Empire seized from the French had now become private property. The ones that belonged to the emperor were either sand or remote areas that no one wanted.
Since it was private property, local development was no longer a problem. This new group of military nobles, he called his friends to develop it.
As the government, collecting some business taxes to maintain the local administrative operation was enough. Other problems were not a problem. As long as it didn't cause a big mess, Franz pretended not to see it.
In short, it was very characteristic of Shinra. Franz could even tolerate the major vassals in Europe, not to mention the minor vassals in Africa.
Besides, such a large territory, if he didn't play this way, how could he rule it?
He couldn't learn from the British colonial rule, right?
If he really wanted to adopt colonial rule, it was not as reliable as enfeoffment. At least the foundation of the rule was more stable, and there was no need to suppress ethnic uprisings every now and then.
Flipping through the history books, one would know that basically all the areas ruled by enfeoffment nobles were not independent. On the contrary, the newly occupied areas under the direct jurisdiction of the central government often changed.
As for the possibility of local nobles becoming big in the future, Franz couldn't care less. If they wanted to become big, then so be it. At most, it would be an autonomous territory, and the size of the fiefdom would limit the upper limit of development.
The national culture had already determined that no matter how big the aristocratic group became, they could not shout the slogan "Kings are better off with guts" to rebel, and it was even more impossible to send the emperor to the guillotine.
The position of class had already determined that they must be members of the royalist party. This was the foundation for them to maintain their status. Even if there was a single rebel, they would be suppressed by the other nobles.
The one that suffered the most was probably the central government. There was a group of nobles below, and their power was severely limited.
Of course, in the Holy Roman Empire, no one would care about this problem. Since ancient times, the central government had never been strong. The current Government of Vienna was already an anomaly. It could be called the strongest government since the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire.
To continue to strengthen the authority of the central government, even if the people below had no objections, Franz would not agree!
What a joke, if the power of the cabinet continued to expand, the primary and secondary would be reversed. Once there was a powerful minister, the emperor would become a rubber stamp.
This was considered good luck. If there was an unlucky person, they might not even leave a position for the rubber stamp and directly flip the table to become the boss.
Once the power lost its balance, it would become a man-eating monster. Countless cases had proved that human nature could not stand up to the test. Loyalty was never as reliable as benefits.
Taking advantage of the victory in the European War, Franz directly healed the aristocratic group with military merits, and their foundation was planted in the African continent.
From this moment on, the core to maintain the unity of the Holy Roman Empire became the emperor. States and aristocrats were loyal to the emperor, which was why there was the Holy Roman Empire, not because there was an empire before there was an emperor.
In other countries, playing this way would definitely cause a lot of dissatisfaction. However, the Holy Roman Empire was an exception. The states and aristocrats were all beneficiaries of this system. From the beginning, the political system had been played this way.
There seemed to be no difference between the definitions, but in fact, it was the origin of the legal system.
Loyalty to the emperor meant that the vassals were on the same level as the central government and had the highest autonomy. If they were loyal to the government, it meant that the central government could take back everything they had at any time.
After decades of struggle, he finally completed the ideal political system in his mind. There were so many twists and turns that Franz felt physically and mentally exhausted.
He did not want to care about the hidden dangers and sequelae. After all, the world was never perfect. The painstakingly built Holy Roman Empire also unfolded around the House of Habsburg.
If the House of Habsburg really collapsed one day, what did the survival of the empire have to do with him? Franz was not so noble as to make the wedding dress for others.
According to the current political structure, as long as the future generations did not seek death, there would be no problem to continue for one or two hundred years. After that, sorry, transmigrators were not omnipotent.
He picked up the pen and signed the document in his hand, and the unique ruling system with Shinra's characteristics was officially established. Not only the African continent, but the colonies far away in the Americas and Southeast Asia would also replicate this model in the future.
The difference was in these remote areas. Franz had not yet made up his mind whether to send his son over to be the king or let the aristocrats play with local autonomy.
Sometimes, too much territory was also a kind of trouble. The first or second generation of immigrants still had a sense of belonging to the country, but after three or five generations, it would be nonsense to talk about a sense of belonging again.
In addition to the closeness of culture, the rest was the interests. The economic ties were close, and the strategic direction was the same. They were like a family. If there was a conflict of core interests, the family would still have to split.
Looking at the world map on the wall, Franz made up his mind to not continue to expand.
After a preliminary calculation, the territory controlled by the Holy Roman Empire had actually exceeded Britannia and was about to exceed 40 million square kilometers.
Based on the current situation, no effort was needed. As long as Franz did not stop it, in eight to ten years, the area controlled by the Holy Roman Empire would exceed 40 million square kilometers.
However, this expansion did not make any sense. The benefits brought by colonial expansion were not enough to make up for the negative political impact of expansion.
Today was different from the past. The days of running ships to encircle land were over, and the ownerless land had long been divided up. If they continued to expand, they could only fight for it. The cost and benefit were not proportional at all.
"Prime Minister, tell the governors that we need time to digest the results of the war. In the future, if it is not necessary, do not carry out military expansion.
Recently, the belligerence in the country was obviously a bit too much. We are not war maniacs. Don't clamor for war for no reason.
The cabinet should do a good job of ideological education for government officials and let them use their brains when they encounter problems. Arrogance is a sign of lack of education.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should also make a change in thinking. From now on, we are no longer bystanders in international affairs. You have to be prepared to act as arbitrators. "
It was not that Franz was making a fuss, but the current Government of Vienna was a bit arrogant. The victory came too easily, causing many people to lose their sight and become arrogant.
Well, it did not matter if the great powers were arrogant, but the rulers themselves must keep a clear head.
After such a long time, Franz realized the problem, but no one at the top of the government actually raised it, which was abnormal in itself.
Even if the people involved were confused, then the think tanks under everyone should have thought of it, right? If no one thought of it, then what was the point of keeping them?
This was obviously impossible. It was normal for one or two people to be arrogant, but it was impossible for everyone to lose their sight. There was only one answer. Everyone knew but did not pay attention to it.
No matter what the reason was, the emperor had discovered the problem, but the cabinet had not realized the seriousness of the problem, which was a mistake.
Prime Minister Carr replied bitterly, "Yes, Your Majesty!"
As the Prime Minister of the Empire, it was a very shameful thing to be directly pointed out by the emperor. Among the previous prime ministers of the Holy Roman Empire, there were only a handful of similar things that had happened. Carr's self-esteem had taken a strong hit when he was about to retire.
Of course, that was the extent of it. Politicians were very thick-skinned. Even if they were pointed at their noses and scolded, they could still greet it with a smile. A little embarrassment could not hit Prime Minister Carr.
In a sense, it also reflected the emperor's trust in them. In politics, only their own people would be directly beaten. If there was a problem and they still greeted it with a smile, it would be a political disaster.
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