Following Franz's order, Bavaria became lively.
Prime Minister Felix's speech in Munich was effective. Most of the younger generation in Bavaria were tricked, and all of them were thinking about how to unify the German Region.
Once they thought about it, there was a problem. With their social experience, they simply couldn't consider the problem comprehensively, and it was easy to go to extremes.
If no one set the pace, it would be fine. Unfortunately, how could Franz, who was already prepared, give up this opportunity?
One by one, experts and scholars jumped out to express their opinions, criticizing the Bavarian government for destroying the unity of the German Region for their own interests.
In the eyes of most people, rebuilding Shinra wasn't the best choice, but it was the most suitable one. When the road to peaceful unification was blocked, the only way left was to unify by force.
Perhaps some people were eager to make contributions in the war, but this was definitely not a civil war.
Influenced by Prime Minister Felix's speech, these self-proclaimed elite students couldn't stand it anymore. They thought they should do something for the unification of the country and couldn't just watch the government mess around.
Demonstrations, such meaningful activities, were the best way for them to make their voices heard.
Everyone was an intellectual, and even a demonstration could find a legal basis. The speech made by the former king, Ludwig, before his abdication, became everyone's flag.
(Due to the influence of the Great Revolution, Ludwig abdicated. In order to win the hearts of the people, he publicly stated that the royal family was committed to the unification of the German Region.)
Maximilian II Of Macedon had a headache. This political bomb had detonated. Even if there was no such thing as unchangeable ancestral laws in Europe, the speech of the old king before his abdication also had political effect.
Now everyone wanted the king to come out and give an explanation. Since the royal family was committed to the unification of the German Region, how could they explain the current government's actions?
It wasn't only the king who was questioned, but the cabinet ministers were also questioned by the people. Everyone's attitude was clear. It was fine to oppose the establishment of Shinra, but they had to come up with a plan for the unification of Germany, right?
Whether it was feasible or not, at least it had to be able to convince everyone in theory and gain the approval of the majority.
Maximilian II Of Macedon asked anxiously, "What should we do now? The people outside are waiting for our answer."
It wasn't that they weren't prepared, but the previous emergency plan was used to deal with people who caused trouble. The problem now was that these people didn't cause trouble?
The quality of the people participating in the demonstration was much higher than usual. Not only were there workers and students, but there were also middle-class people, capitalists, scholars, and nobles.
The coverage was so wide that it involved all the groups in the Kingdom of Bavaria. Even if the Bavarian government suspected that it was organized by someone, they did not dare to act rashly without evidence.
The Great Revolution had just ended not long ago, and everyone still had lingering fears. They did not dare to act recklessly for fear of causing social unrest.
Prime Minister Auguste replied. "Your Majesty," Auguste said. "Your Majesty," Auguste said. "The best".
In reality, in the entire German region, the governments of the various states were preparing their own plans for unification. Since they were opposed to rebuilding Shinluo, there would definitely be a new replacement.
Of the "Minister Minister" Felix Minister Augu Auguhad said "They Only opposed." Minister "Was Has.
"Prime Minister, what do you think?" Maximilian II asked.
Ogyust replied, "Your Majesty, we can change our previous plan. We can just redesign the plan of the Three Kingdoms.
The reason is still the same. There are too many countries in the German Region. If everyone participates in the decision-making, there will only be arguments every day.
The best choice is for Bavaria to replace the small countries and form a balance with Austria and Prussia in the central government to rule the empire together.
Of course, this proposal will definitely not be supported by other countries, but it is feasible to convince the people. Bavaria can benefit the most.
As long as the Austrians can accept the formation of the Cabinet of the Three Kingdoms, we will support the reconstruction of the Holy Roman Empire. "
After hesitating for a moment, Maximilian II Of Macedon made up his mind. "Okay, let's do it."
Doing so would offend the small countries, but it was the lesser of two evils. Offending these small countries would only be a few words of protest. If they didn't give an explanation to the people, it would affect the foundation of their rule.
Ever since they gained the support of the great powers, the Bavarian government had become much bolder. If it wasn't for the fact that Prussia was a little too strong, they would have wanted to unify the many small countries in Germany by force.
Moreover, this time, the Bavarian government had stood up for everyone and crushed Austria's Shinra plan. Even if the slogan was a little excessive, everyone would understand.
…
On March 4, 1853, Britain and France ignited the Crimean War and disrupted the deployment of the Russians.
The British strategy was not wrong. The Tsarist government was really exhausted. After the addition of a new front, the logistics of the Russian Army in the The Balkans fell to Austria.
To the surprise of the allied forces, the Russian Army that entered the Crimean War not only had low combat strength, but even their weapons and equipment were abnormally bad. They could completely be regarded as an army of beggars.
There was no other way, and the Tsarist government was also very helpless. Most of the elite troops of the Russian Army filled the Balkan battlefield or went to the Caucasus battlefield. The rest were second-line troops or reserve troops.
Due to insufficient training and inadequate weapons and equipment, the Russians naturally suffered a great loss when the war broke out. If it wasn't for the terrain and climate of the Crimean War, which made it difficult for the allied forces to adapt, the outcome of the two sides would have been decided by now.
Vienna
The Minister of Finance, Carr, said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, the Russians have applied for a loan again. The Tsarist government's bond sales are cold in the market, and most investors are worried that they will default."
Franz was too lazy to complain about the Russians. There was no one else with such a poor reputation. Even if they took out collateral, investors were worried that they would default.
This wasn't groundless fear. There was a precedent for the Hairy Bear. Not only did they renege on ordinary debts, but they could also make excuses to renege on debts with collateral.
For example, if they mortgaged a mine, they could specifically impose random taxes on the mine and force the investors to withdraw.
Another example would be if they mortgaged a tax, and the debtor would collect it himself, provided that they could collect it.
…
Now, it was Nicholas I Of Russia's turn to pay for the sins done by their ancestors. They had suffered too many bloody lessons, and the capital market was still fearful of them.
Even though Nicholas I Of Russia was working hard to restore their credibility, it still didn't help. Without the efforts of several generations, it would be difficult for their credibility to be accepted by the market.
Just look at how all the European countries were issuing banknotes, and only they were still using gold and silver as their currency. Not only did they lack credibility in the international market, but even the domestic capital market doubted the credibility of the Tsarist government.
Franz said without hesitation, "Tell the Russians that our finances are also very difficult, and we can't provide them with a huge loan. Suggest that they try the capital market of a neutral country."
He was afraid. The Russians had already borrowed 202 million Rupiah from Austria, including 130 million Rupiah from the government, 72 million Rupiah from the private sector, and 5 million Rupiah from Franz's Royal Bank alone.
Of course, government loans had ultra-low interest rates. Private loans naturally followed the rules of the market. If they met a business partner with a bad reputation like the Tsarist government, the monthly interest rate was less than 0.7%.
After deducting all the miscellaneous fees, the interest that the Russians had to pay was actually more than 1% per month.
Don't think that this was usury. Even with this kind of interest, there were very few financial groups willing to lend money to the Russians.
High risk corresponded with high return. If it wasn't for the rule that the money could only be used in Austria, these loans wouldn't have been approved.
Some private loans had other additional conditions, such as specifying that the money would be used to buy a certain company's product, or …
Naturally, the Tsarist government was keen to ask the Government of Austria for loans. Private loans had high interest rates, and there were a lot of restrictions. The Tsarist government naturally couldn't stand it.
Even with the backing of the Russians, Franz didn't dare to unscrupulously print money. Who knew when the war in the Near East would end? What if it was earlier?
At that time, Austria wouldn't have accumulated enough capital, and the economic crisis would break out again. The Russians who got the loans might also become speculators.
In the face of interests, they still had to be on guard. Basically, the Russians had to import a certain amount of gold and silver to Austria to ensure that the currency wouldn't depreciate. Only then would Franz dare to lend.
Franz admitted that he was a conservative and knew nothing about economic issues. However, a country was different from a business. A country needed steady development, not a rapid explosion.
Metternich said, "Your Majesty, we need to stabilize the Russians at this time. We can help them sell a batch of bonds to meet the emergency. The summer tax is coming soon, and the Russians should be able to get back some blood.
The Bavarian government is on a dead end. Now, they just need time to ferment. Our people just need to give them a push, and they will be finished. "
It wasn't easy to trick the Bavarian government. Austria had set up a lot of traps for them to jump into, but they had avoided most of them.
For example, if the Bavarian government suppressed the protesters, Austria could use the Bavarian government's persecution of nationalists and attempts to split the German Region to intervene.
Without even a declaration of war, the Austrian army could appear on the streets of Munich and even be welcomed in.
Obviously, the Bavarian government wasn't stupid. Even if they didn't know that Austria wanted to move against them, they knew that using force would shake the foundation of their rule.
In the end, they didn't jump into this trap, and they dug another one to bury themselves. On the surface, it didn't seem like a big deal to offend these small countries since they were just shouting slogans at home.
However, it was different when Austria added fuel to the fire. The governments of these countries could calm down, but the people couldn't.
According to Austria's plan, they were one of the shareholders of Shinra, and they were all the owners of the country. According to Bavaria's plan, they were shareholders in name, but they didn't have the right to participate in the decision-making, and they were even deprived of the right to receive dividends.
In this situation, it would be strange if they weren't angry. As long as they were angry, they would oppose the government sending troops when Austria attacked Bavaria. The opposition of the ordinary people would undoubtedly make the governments of these small countries hesitate.
As long as they didn't send troops to help at the first instance, the Kingdom of Bavaria wouldn't be able to withstand the first wave. Later on, it would be the established fact that Austria annexed Bavaria, and it would be too late for everyone to participate.
Without the Kingdom of Bavaria, these small countries would have to face Austria directly. Their strength was limited, and they didn't have the strength to resist Austria at all. If the morale of the people was low, the later problems would be easy to handle.
The small countries of Germany looked insignificant, but if they united, their strength wouldn't be weak.
They could still bring out three to four hundred thousand soldiers, and with the addition of the Kingdom of Prussia, if they couldn't quickly defeat them one by one, once they reached a stalemate, this plan would fail.
Therefore, political camouflage was very important. Don't talk about fooling the governments, as long as they hesitated and let Austria attack Bavaria, the overall situation would be set.
On the surface, the Government of Austria was currently led by the peaceful unification faction, and the anti-unification faction followed closely behind. As for the voice that advocated for the unification of the German Region by force, it wouldn't be heard unless one went to the bottom.
From a political analysis, no matter how one looked at it, the Government of Austria didn't have the motivation to take military action, and they didn't have the conditions to make such a decision.
To a certain extent, the political stance of the politicians would affect the decision-making of the country. For example, when Lincoln, who advocated for the abolition of slavery, was elected, the American Civil War was ignited.
If the Government of Austria was in the pro-war faction, the countries of the German Region would be extremely vigilant, just like how everyone was vigilant against the Kingdom of Prussia now.
Even though their strength wasn't comparable to Austria's, their prime minister was from the military. He was a standard hardliner, and he gave everyone the feeling that he was a threat.
Franz readily said, "Alright then, we'll first help the Russians withstand this wave. After this, they should be collecting war taxes again. I'm sure the Tsarist government won't be short of money this year."
War taxes were a unique type of tax in Europe. Before modern times, monarchs usually used war taxes to fund their wars.
Now, there was also a war tax in Austria, but Franz wouldn't collect it unless it was absolutely necessary. Once he collected the money, he couldn't lose the war, or else the consequences would be very serious.
Marshal Radski reminded, "Your Majesty, it's time to create an excuse for war. The matter of dividing and disintegrating the German States has reached this step. If we continue, it'll be as bad as not doing enough."
Franz thought for a moment and said, "Let's act according to the plan!"
