Chapter 535

When the outside world's attention was focused on the election, Franz sent his two sons to the overseas colonies as governors.

Frankly speaking, there was a certain political risk in changing people at this time. The battle for supremacy between Britain and Austria was not over, and the overseas colonies were not as stable as Mount Tai.

Once the colonies fell in the future game, the governor would be the first person to bear the brunt of the responsibility. But there was no other way. Wealth was always found in danger.

Even the royal family's political resources were not unlimited. In order to ensure the smooth transfer of power, political resources must be prioritized to the crown prince.

In a country where military merits were conferred, without enough merits and reputation, even if Franz pushed them to the throne, it would be difficult to convince the public.

For long-term considerations, it was necessary to send them to the colonies in advance. Even if they could not accumulate enough merits, at least they could cultivate a group of trusted followers.

The European imperial power was not as strong as the Eastern imperial power. Even a strong emperor like Franz could only go with the flow.

Although in the long run, the "overseas state plan" was more beneficial to the Empire, it was damaging the power of the central government in the short run.

Not everyone had such a foresight, and not everyone could be selfless. Franz did not think that this plan could win the support of the majority.

As the emperor, he could forcefully suppress the voices of opposition, but Franz did not have the ability to make the people of the overseas colonies swear loyalty to his sons.

If he could not convince everyone, even if he reluctantly accepted the emperor's order, there would be endless problems in the future.

If he wanted to stabilize the regime, he still had to rely on his own efforts. It was a good transition for him to take control of the local authority as the governor in advance.

The election was the best time to finalize things. Everyone's attention was drawn away, and there was no time to care about the small matter of the colonial governor.

Even if some politicians noticed, they could only pretend not to see it. Otherwise, in the process of personnel adjustment, there would be no place for them.

The political struggle was cruel. Relatively speaking, the political struggle of the Government of Vienna was considered harmonious.

As long as they didn't do anything stupid, even if they lost in the political struggle, the most serious consequence was to go home and take care of their grandchildren.

There was no internal turmoil in Shinra, but it did not mean that there were no changes outside. The successive changes in the governors of the colonies still attracted the attention of those who were observant.

…

St. Peter's Castle

Nicholas II looked at the information in his hand and couldn't help but rub his forehead. Perhaps it was the aftereffects of the assassination, but every time he overused his brain, he would feel a headache.

"Recently, Holy Empire's overseas governors have been changing constantly, and the new governors are all princes. What is Emperor Franz trying to do?"

Thanks to his identity as the Chicken Soup for the Soul teacher, Franz's prestige in the monarch world was very high. A junior like Nicholas II had been fed chicken soup for a long time.

As a teacher with integrity, although what he said was all deceitful words, it was not completely without substance.

As a teacher, although it was a teacher, he was a teacher. Using himself as a case study, Franz also asked someone to compile a history of his struggles.

Although there were a few hundred million points of artistic processing, it still had referential value and was very attractive to the young King.

The central idea was classic. The only problem was that the general idea was easy to understand, but the specific implementation was troublesome.

If Franz Shinra Shinra's history was copied, it would take a small country 30 to 50 years to complete the initial industrialization, and a large country would struggle for 20 to 30 years.

This "industrialization" was based on the current industrial level. Considering the development of the times, the actual time needed might be longer.

Of course, countries with an industrial base could greatly shorten this time. However, it still had nothing to do with a crash course.

This was the truth, but not everyone could see it. Most people only saw the rapid revival of Austria and the reconstruction of Shinra. They didn't notice how much wealth Austria had before the revival and ignored the wind of the great era.

It was like an entrepreneur sharing the experience of success, but the premise was that he had already "succeeded." It was possible to use as a reference, but it was impossible to copy.

It was one thing to learn or not, but it didn't affect Franz's ability to gain respect. With this, Franz would leave a strong mark in the history of countries around the world.

Foreign Minister Mihailovich: "We don't have enough information, so we can't confirm it for the time being. However, considering the special system of the Holy Roman Empire, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs speculated that Emperor Franz Shinra might want to enfeoff the country again.

In the history of the House of Habsburg, similar things have happened before. The current Holy Empire is too big. It wouldn't be strange if Emperor Franz wanted to break it up. "

Shinra Are Are Ra Shinra Shinra. and are. are. that are, and are are are. However, after the separation, the number of times the Habsburg Dynasty was jointly targeted by other countries had decreased significantly.

The current Holy Empire was even stronger than the Unsetting Sun Empire of yesteryear. The Russian Empire didn't panic. In addition to the Russo-Austrian Alliance, the number of countries targeting the House of Habsburg was significantly reduced.

The Russian Empire didn't panic. In addition to the Russo-Austrian Alliance, they thought that Shinra's strength couldn't last.

Franz had the means to make Shinra the leader of the European World. It wasn't targeted by everyone, but it didn't mean that his successor had the same ability.

Just by looking at Holy Empire's territory, if diplomacy failed, they would become the target of public criticism. Enemies would surround them from all sides.

Of course, the premise was that the Holy Roman Empire had problems first. Otherwise, the fence-sitters wouldn't dare to get involved.

Prime Minister Sergey Witte: "If you are just worried about being targeted, then such a division is meaningless.

The core of the Holy Roman Empire is mainly the European headquarters, the Near East, and the African continent. The remaining overseas colonies are just additions.

The governors that have been replaced are all overseas colonies, and they haven't touched the core areas. Even without these areas, the strength of the Holy Roman Empire won't be affected much.

With Emperor Franz's style, even if he was really worried about being targeted, he wouldn't destroy his own martial arts. It's more likely that he would take the initiative to attack.

Looking at the world, there are only a handful of countries that can pose a threat to the Holy Roman Empire. As long as these countries are suppressed, all the problems will no longer be a problem. "

Obviously, the Russian Empire was one of the few threatening countries. It wasn't a matter of diplomatic relations. The main problem was strength.

The Russian Empire had strength, and it was a potential threat. Once the Government of Vienna decided to eliminate the threat in advance, the Russian Empire couldn't hide.

The existence of economic ties and the Russo-Austrian Alliance could only ensure that the two countries wouldn't fall out directly, but it didn't mean that they couldn't play tricks in the dark.

In recent decades, the Tsarist government had suffered a lot in the dark games. The tragedy was that they obviously suffered a loss, but they were always in the wrong and even embarrassed to say it.

The thick "fear" in his heart was overflowing from his words and actions. It could be seen that Sergei Witte's vigilance against Shinra had never really been lowered.

Minister of Internal Affairs Vyacheslav: "Maybe Emperor Franz didn't think so much at all. It was just because he loved his sons and wanted to get a fief for them.

You know, the African continent is now full of nobles. The remaining lands were either strategic locations or worthless deserts and sandy lands.

In contrast, the overseas colonies are more fertile. The number of nobles is also relatively small. It's not difficult to divide a piece of land for one's son. "

Getting a fief for one's son in the European world wasn't anything new. It was less in modern times, mainly because all countries were playing with centralization.

It wasn't easy to get a fief in the mainland, but there were no restrictions in the overseas colonies. For people like Franz who had been enfeoffed with five-digit nobles, it wasn't a big deal to get a fief for his son.

The House of Habsburg itself had this tradition, but in modern times, most of the Grand Dukes enfeoffed in the mainland were just nominal titles.

Minister of War Yevgeny: "The probability isn't high. If it's just because he loved his son, there is still the Near East to choose. Although the land isn't fertile enough, the location is superior.

I think Emperor Franz is strengthening his control over the place. The governor of the colony is high and powerful, often for more than ten years. He doesn't feel comfortable putting someone else in such a position, so he might as well replace it with his own people.

Considering the upcoming struggle between Shinra and Britannia, once they win, the Holy Roman Empire's colonies will further expand. It was necessary to prepare for a rainy day in advance.

If Emperor Franz's plan succeeds, it is obviously not a good thing for the empire.

The Holy Roman Empire is too powerful. If they are allowed to grow, even if we realize the Russian Plan and take over India, we can only keep pace with them. "

…

All kinds of speculations were reasonable, which made the indecisive Nicholas II even more confused. But in the end, there was a common conclusion, which was that it would be very disadvantageous to the Russian Empire.

Since it was disadvantageous to him, he had to find a way to destroy it.

As for "realizing the Russian Plan and taking over India," it was better to treat it as a dream for the time being. Even if Nicholas II had a good appetite, he didn't think his family could realize the two major plans in a short period of time.

Of course, he still had to have dreams. If he didn't even have dreams, what was the difference between him and a salted fish?

With dreams in mind, Nicholas II frowned and asked, "How do we stop it? The appointment of the governor is the internal affairs of the Holy Roman Empire. We have no reason to object at all. "

Interfering in the internal affairs of other countries had always been a taboo. Even if Russia and Austria were allies, the Tsarist government still had no room to intervene on this issue.

If they really went up and blindly competed, not only would it not work, but it would also worsen the relationship between the two countries.

Prime Minister Sergei Witte: "Naturally, we can't directly interfere, but we can create trouble for them in other places.

Your Majesty, France is completely rotten. Getting the war reparations from the French is destined to be a long time in the future.

At this point, continuing to station troops in France is meaningless to the Empire. We should withdraw our troops. "

Obviously, things weren't as simple as "withdrawal." To create trouble for the Holy Roman Empire, they naturally couldn't leave a stable France.

In fact, France had never been stable. Now, with just a little bit of extra material, France could become a quagmire.

The Russian Army was a professional at destroying things. As long as the restrictions were released, France would immediately be in chaos.

Foreign Minister Mikhailovich objected, "Prime Minister, now is not the time to withdraw troops. Although France has no value, don't forget the international influence.

As a member of the anti-French alliance, if we withdraw troops for no reason, it will definitely cause dissatisfaction with the Empire.

Unless there is a reason acceptable to all parties, if we withdraw troops in a hurry and deliberately create problems in France, we will inevitably be hostile.

The achievements that we have painstakingly worked on for decades in diplomacy will be lost in a day, and it will be difficult to recover in the future. "

Politics had always been complicated, and it was obviously not advisable to look at the problem from a single direction.

Although the "diplomatic results" of the Tsarist government weren't significant, it was better than nothing. The difficulty of going from zero to one was far greater than going from one to two.

For the Tsarist government to withdraw at this time, it would be a betrayal for the anti-French alliance.

Traitors were always the most hateful. Not only would they not be able to survive in the European world, but even the Russo-Austrian Alliance would also have problems.

"Excuses" were easy to find, but an "excuse" that could be accepted by all parties was not so easy to find.

Since they were participating in the international community, it was inevitable that they would be bound by the rules of the international community. Even the Russian Empire was no exception.

Nicholas II glanced at the crowd, and seeing that no one refuted him, he sighed inwardly.

Diplomacy had always been the shortcoming of the Tsarist government. Every generation of Tsar wanted to change this situation, but due to various reasons, they all failed.

Relatively speaking, Alexander III could be considered the most successful one. The diplomatic strategy he left behind had continued until now.

The young and frivolous Nicholas II naturally didn't want to be under his father's shadow, and he always wanted to improve on this foundation.

However, plans always couldn't keep up with changes. Before this, the atrocities of the Russian Army in France caused a lot of criticism. Fortunately, there were more people in the anti-French alliance, and they were able to support the situation.

If they cut themselves off from the anti-French alliance, the Russian Empire probably wouldn't be able to survive in the international community anymore. Not only would their reputation be ruined, but they wouldn't be able to do international trade.