Hearing the president's question, Cullen was shocked. He quickly hid his panic and replied, "We've reached a general consensus, but there are still some details that haven't been settled."
Little Pretorius said without changing his expression, "I understand. You can go now!"
His voice had a hint of worry. It was obvious that his heart wasn't calm. Little Pretorius wasn't a saint. He couldn't be calm in the face of benefits.
Cullen's expression didn't hide from his eyes. If he wasn't wrong, his trusted aide had also been in contact with the Austrians. He might even have betrayed them.
To be able to sit in his current position, Little Pretorius was naturally a smart person. Regardless of whether Cullen had betrayed them or not, he wouldn't verify it.
At this point, it wasn't important anymore. Even if he remained loyal to him, refused to be bribed by the Austrians, and even confessed everything to him, so what?
Little Pretorius couldn't do anything to the Austrians. He couldn't even protest to the Government of Vienna. If both sides openly fell out, he wouldn't even be able to keep his last preferential treatment.
If the negotiations between the powerful factions in the country and the Austrians didn't go well, he could still play a role as the president. Now that everything was going well, he naturally wasn't needed.
Initially, Little Pretorius was prepared to negotiate with the Austrians in the name of the government to fight for a more favorable political position for everyone.
Reality slapped him in the face. After the Government of Vienna started to divide and rope in the Austrians, everyone changed their stance. How could the benefits of the country compare to the benefits of oneself?
The two Boer republics merged and joined the Shinra Empire in the name of a state. The political position they would obtain was indeed better.
But this way, the personal benefits they could obtain would be very limited. They wanted to become nobles without making contributions? Dream on!
Even though their privileges were limited, the title of nobility in this era was still very tempting. After Franz stated his conditions, many people's mentality changed.
Since the Government of Vienna insisted on getting rid of the Boer republics, they couldn't take it anymore. Why not sell the Boer republics in exchange for a noble title and become the ruler of the Shinra Empire?
As for the future of the Transvaal and Orange Free State, what did that have to do with them?
Everyone was either Dutch or German. They used to be part of the Shinra Empire, and now they were just returning to their homeland.
Even President Pretorius Jr. wasn't prepared to fight Austria to the end. How could he expect others to do the same?
Not long ago, the British had contacted the anti-Austrian forces, and the pro-Austrian forces had seized the opportunity to launch a political offensive, completely driving them out of the center of power.
If Pretorius Jr. had not been smart enough to reject the British, the president would have been replaced.
Now, what Pretorius Jr. was looking forward to the most was for the British to make a move. Only when the situation was out of control would he have room to play as the President and sell himself for a good price.
It couldn't be helped. Anyone could betray the country now, but he, the president, couldn't. Otherwise, even if he became a noble, he would not be able to stay in the noble circle.
Nobles also needed a reputation, especially new nobles. If they wanted to integrate into the circle, the first step was to wash their names clean.
Young Pretorius didn't want to retire from politics just like that, so he naturally couldn't take the initiative to get close to them. Apart from secretly expressing his position to the Government of Vienna, he couldn't do anything on the surface.
Under normal circumstances, after joining Austria, he would become the governor of Austrian South Africa. When the transfer of power was completed, he could take a noble title back to the mainland and retire.
If he wanted to become a governor with real power, the Government of Vienna would need him to stabilize the situation unless the British attacked.
For his own benefit, Young Pretorius Jr. was not unprepared. Since defeating the Zulu people, he had deliberately neglected his armaments.
On the one hand, he was showing the Government of Vienna that he had no ambition, and on the other hand, he was showing the British a weakness, trying to lure them into action.
Governor Delphi's strategy for South Africa to the Government of London was based on this basis.
Because of Austria's immigration to the Boer republics, the strength of the two Boer republics was far greater than it was at the same time in history.
If they were fully armed, coupled with Austria's power in South Africa, even if the British joined forces with the Portuguese, they would not have much chance of winning.
…
In a manor in Pretorius, the capital of the Republic of Transvaal, former President Skoman was inviting the Austrian representative, Viscount Fickney.
No one would complain about having too much credit. Since the Government of Vienna decided to annex the two Boer republics, the nobles of the African continent began to act.
Viscount Fickney, who made his fortune by opening up colonies, naturally did not want to be left behind. Although he had just crossed from a hereditary baron to a hereditary viscount, it was almost impossible for him to go further.
It was naturally not a problem to rely on his previous achievements and live off his old capital, but he had many sons!
The eldest son naturally inherited the title and most of the family business, while the remaining two younger sons could only share a part of the property and rely on the eldest son to become a branch of the noble family, and the next generation would be commoners.
Baron Fickney, who loved his sons, naturally did not want to see this happen. The great Emperor Franz was merciful, and had thought of the problem for them.
They were allowed to make contributions in exchange for a few more noble titles, and at the same time, they could apply for these titles to be inherited by multiple heirs.
Of course, the heirs had to be parents and children. If there were other inheritance situations, they could only follow the original title inheritance law.
The main purpose was to crack down on the sale of titles. According to the new aristocratic law, if a noble wanted to sell his title, he could only sell it to the Government of Vienna, and private title transactions were prohibited.
There was no other way, there would never be a lack of prodigals in this world, and if there was a title auction, the impact on the aristocratic system would be imaginable.
To avoid this worst-case scenario, Franz directly cut off the peerless title transactions at the source. There was no need to worry about the lifelong noble title, as it could not be inherited at all.
If there was really a prodigal who wanted to sell it, the Government of Vienna would also be open to buying it back, and the price was very high.
The lowest level of a hereditary knight was already 50,000 Divine Shields, and the highest level of a throne was even set at a sky-high price of 10 million Divine Shields.
Of course, this was only limited to the titles that Franz had given out, and they had to be bought back along with the land. Empty titles would definitely have to be discounted.
Before that, the price of the titles would have to be based on the actual situation. Basically, as long as it was given out by the House of Habsburg, Franz would accept it. If it was given out by others, it would be bought back at a low price, and foreign titles were not included.
Now that the value of the titles was confirmed, everyone was even more enthusiastic about the noble titles. The rights of the big nobles were restricted, and the vassal nobles that they gave out were no longer recognized by the country.
This included the kings of a few states, who were also unable to confer nobles indiscriminately, as the empire would not recognize the person who was conferred the title without sufficient merit.
From the initial quota limit to the current merit assessment, Franz had successfully taken away the title from the hands of the kings.
Selling the title was not a simple matter, and it required the consent of all the legal heirs, which was almost impossible.
The relatives of the nobles all had a large group, and no matter how low their ranking was, as long as they had the right to inherit, even if it was an indirect inheritance, they were all heirs. It was not impossible for a title to have thousands of heirs.
This inheritance relationship was probably enough to make people collapse. If he wanted everyone to agree, he might as well hope that they would all accept the box lunch.
Viscount Fickney said in a graceful manner: "Mr. Skoman, we need to speed up. As far as I know, the British next door are training the indigenous army, and it is very likely that they will stir up trouble.
Your Majesty, we do not want to see a chaotic South Africa, so we must act in advance. Once the merger is completed, the British will not dare to play tricks. "
This was the rule of the game between the great powers. During the colonization activities, everyone deliberately controlled the scope of the conflict.
Before the colony was actually controlled, it was considered an ownerless land, and everyone could use their own means. Once the colony was actually under the control of the other party, it would be considered an invasion.
Under normal circumstances, this situation would not happen, as it would mean war.
If they were not willing to fight directly, even if they wanted to snatch the territory, they would usually only use underhanded means to push the other party out.
If it was not for everyone maintaining restraint, during the colonization activities, there were so many conflicts between the various countries, and the few colonial empires would have long been fighting each other.
Skoman had been the acting president of Transvaal for a period of time, and although his personal reputation was not that great, he had a lot of power.
Because of a business transaction, he accidentally met Viscount Fickney, and the two of them could be considered to be acquaintances. Under normal circumstances, this little bit of relationship was not much different from strangers.
However, as the situation changed, the two of them were once again connected.
Viscount Fickney needed to rope in the powerful factions of Transvaal to join the Austrian colonial system, while Skoman needed to build a relationship with Austria in order to protect his own interests in the new era.
The two of them hit it off and instantly became "good" friends.
Since he had already decided to mix with Austria, Skoman naturally would not hesitate. After thinking for a while, he replied, "Viscount, I will push for it as soon as possible.
However, this still needs some time. The public opinion has just been built up, and it still needs some time to accumulate before it can reach its peak.
If it is brought forward, it is very likely that there will be accidents. After all, there are still some flies that have not been cleaned up, and their existence is also a hidden danger. "
Political battles rarely involved extermination, and this was obviously an exception. In order to create a grand situation where the people of Transvaal and Orange Free State wanted to return to the Shinra Empire, they had to get rid of the hidden danger.
This was related to His Majesty Franz's reputation, and directly annexing two independent countries would cause too bad an impact. Using the excuse that the people of the Shinra Empire wanted to return to their motherland, it was a much better way of eating.
Anyway, the Boers traced their ancestry back to the Shinra Empire, and their cultural traditions were also of the same origin, so they were not afraid of people finding fault. As long as they insisted on returning to their motherland, the legal issues would be perfectly solved.
If it was not for the problem of table manners, the Government of Vienna would not need to spend so much effort, and it would be more convenient to use force.
Even if the Boer Republic wanted to resist with force, they would first have to consider whether the German soldiers would suddenly change sides.
Viscount Fickney said seriously, "These flies must be killed. Since they dared to collude with the British and betray the Empire, they must pay the price in blood."
When it came to protecting the interests of the Empire, Viscount Fickney's position was very firm. To him, any traitor should be killed.
Even though these people were not Austrians, and there was no so-called betrayal. But standing on the opposite side of the Empire meant that they had to die.
Now, Austria needed to kill the chicken to warn the monkey, or else how could they intimidate these fence-sitters who had just defected?
Fickney did not think that these people who could betray their own country would have much loyalty to Austria. The best way was naturally to make them not dare to betray.
Let them personally kill the anti-Austrian traitors, not only to let them show their loyalty, but also to let them understand the price they had to pay for going against Austria.
Smart people would make the most beneficial choice for themselves, and Skoman was a smart person. Even though he knew that this was Viscount Fickney's scheme, he still decided to play dumb.
He immediately promised, "Don't worry, Viscount Fickney. We will find all these spies hiding in the Empire and bring them to justice!"
God knows when the anti-Austrian faction in the Boer Republic became spies for the British, and how they hid in the Shinra Empire.
If they were to talk about traitors, it seemed that this group of people was more similar. They had directly given the Transvaal and the Orange Free State to Austria, in exchange for their own benefits.
Viscount Fickney smiled, raised the wine glass in his hand, and said, "Then I will congratulate you in advance, future Baron Skoman."
After saying that, he clinked his glass with Skoman's and drank it in one gulp, as if he was really happy that his friend had obtained a noble title.
The astute Skoman could no longer maintain his calm, and he instantly revealed a smile. In this era, it was not an easy thing to become a noble from a commoner, let alone a hereditary noble.
Before this, both sides had already discussed the conditions. As long as the smooth handover was completed, Skoman could become a baron.
Skoman replied with a trembling voice, "Thank you, Viscount Fickney!"
There was no other way, the two of them were not real friends before, so it was necessary to be polite.
But in the future, Viscount Fickney would not make friends with a commoner, but he would not reject being friends with a noble.
Status determined the way everyone interacted. Since Skoman was willing to cooperate, then they were on the same side.
Fickney, who was in a good mood, saw the small friendship between the two of them, and gave some advice, "Old friend, you need an etiquette teacher now.
After everything here is over, you still need to go to Vienna to be conferred a title by His Majesty, and only then can you become a true noble.
You cannot make any mistakes during the noble conferring ceremony, or you will become a laughing stock among the nobles, and you will never be able to raise your head again.
Although the government will arrange for an etiquette teacher, the time you can learn is too short. To ensure that nothing goes wrong, it is better for you to learn in advance. "
This was the truth. If he was rude during the noble conferring ceremony, the consequences would be very serious, and people would think that he was ill-educated.
If it was light, he would become a laughing stock among the nobles, and if it was serious, he might even lose his title.
Skoman's expression changed greatly, and he quickly thanked Viscount Fickney.
...
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