Chapter 946

The aftermath began, and the conferment of meritorious officials was also put on the agenda. The people below were impatient. If it wasn't for Franz's high prestige and credibility, they would have started to make a fuss.

It wasn't that the military was inefficient, but that there were too many people to confer titles this time, and there was too much coordination and communication.

Although in principle, it was voluntary and everyone's wishes were respected, it was impossible to achieve in practice.

Good places were fought over like a swarm of bees, and bad places were ignored. Many times, there were multiple meritorious officials eyeing the same piece of land, which required the General Staff to coordinate.

The past few months had been spent in wrangling and wrangling. In order to get more meritorious officials to agree to go to America and Australia, the General Staff also put in a lot of effort.

After a few months of hard work, they finally came up with a plan that most people could accept.

The general principle was still the same: the better the place, the smaller the fief area; conversely, the worse the land, the larger the fief area.

In order to get more people to explore, Franz also specially allocated a sum of money to directly provide economic assistance to the lords in remote areas.

It was mainly to provide assistance for roads, bridges, water conservancy projects, and other infrastructure. Those who met the requirements could directly apply for the project.

In addition, there were special low-interest policy loans. It ensured that everyone had enough funds to build the fief.

Compared to the nobles who had to think of their own ways to develop colonies in the beginning, the current wave of meritorious nobles was much happier.

The policy loan benefits were not only for the nobles, but also for the ordinary soldiers who received meritorious fields.

If it wasn't for the benefits of being the hegemon, Franz would never dare to spend money like this. It was now the era of gold standard, and the government's pockets were also limited.

However, as the hegemon of the world, it was different. God's Shield replaced the pound as the only international currency. The countries that originally held the pound now had to change their foreign exchange reserves to God's Shield.

The market suddenly expanded, and there was not enough God's Shield circulating in the market, so it became necessary to print money.

As for the problem of gold reserves, there was no need to worry about it now.

With the credit bonus of being the hegemon of the world, as long as there was no flooding, there was no need to worry about a run on the bank. It was okay to slightly increase the leverage ratio.

One of the important factors that allowed the Government of Vienna to quickly get out of its financial predicament after the war was the issuance of God's Shield to the market.

With money in their pockets, they could do anything. They could appease the meritorious officials internally and continue to be strong externally.

It was not an easy task to confer titles to thousands of nobles. Of course, it was impossible to have a separate conferring ceremony. Not only did Franz not have the time, but the others also could not afford to wait.

Even if they were forming a group to play wholesale, they couldn't miss out on the necessary rituals. This was the most glorious moment in one's life, and it was impossible not to give it enough exposure.

In order to achieve a 360-degree shot without any blind spots, the photographers were busy, and the reporters' cameras were clicking non-stop.

Fortunately, he survived, or else it would be a huge trouble. Fortunately, he managed to hold on. Otherwise, he would have been in big trouble.

Franz didn't want to experience the same thing twice. In the blink of an eye, he was almost eighty. He had no choice but to admit that he was getting old.

"Throne".

"Throne".

"Throne".

At this moment, Franz was determined to abdicate. If it weren't for the fact that the state hadn't been established yet, he would have issued an abdication edict.

In the Palace of Vienna, the direct members of the House of Habsburg had gathered. The moment to decide their future had arrived.

As a parent, Franz looked at the high-spirited juniors and asked seriously, "Are you ready?

You have to know that once you take this step, you will have to rely on your own efforts in the future. The world outside is not a good place. The difficulties you will face in the future will be several times or even dozens of times greater than before.

All kinds of conspiracies and schemes will come at you. If you don't have the ability to face it, it's not too late to retreat.

Don't be ashamed. It's important to know yourself. To be a qualified monarch, it's important to have a clear self-awareness.

If you go out and are chased back or sent to the guillotine, it will be a real disgrace. "

Whether it was intentional or not, everyone turned to look at Maximiliano I at the same time.

As a negative example of his family, Maximilian I Of Castile had not had a good time in the past few years. If it weren't for the idea of restoring his country, he would have had a mental breakdown.

Franz could only express his regret for all this. He really didn't mean what he said just now. He had to use a hammer to warn the younger generation.

As for hurting his brother's self-esteem, that was completely overthinking. For so many years, Maximilian I Of Castile had not experienced any supercilious looks and sarcasm because of the restoration fundraising.

This was the strength of an idealist. As long as they could realize their ideals, they could endure any hardship and anger.

The grand conferment was essentially to spread the risk and increase the family's ability to survive. It was also logical to help Maximilian I Of Castile restore his country.

However, it would no longer be Maximilian I Of Castile who completed this plan, but his son who would directly succeed him as Emperor of Mexico.

All parties had almost communicated with each other. After suffering a round of social beatings, the powerful parties in Mexico had all become royalists. They all invited Maximilian I Of Castile to return to take charge of the overall situation.

However, Franz did not trust Maximilian I Of Castile's ability. In order to avoid being dragged into the mess again, he directly stopped Maximilian I Of Castile on the grounds of worrying about his brother's health.

This reason was very good. It took months to travel from Vienna to Mexico by ship. The sea was stormy and rough. Even young people would feel tired, let alone an old man in his seventies.

As a good brother, Franz naturally wanted to prevent the tragedy from happening. The restoration couldn't be done without the support of Franz. Massimiliano could only be forced to accept the reality.

Realizing the embarrassment of his brother, Franz decisively changed the topic, "If no one withdraws, then I will sign the letter of appointment.

Next is your last chance to accumulate power. Once the state is established, it will be difficult to get the support of the central government.

I believe you all know what to do. If you can't even solve such a small matter, then quickly withdraw and don't go out and embarrass yourself.

You can use the family's resources, but the family isn't just one person's family. It's everyone's family.

To support your development, the family will provide support, but the resources that everyone can get are limited. I hope you can use it carefully. "

With more people came more problems. The House of Habsburg had been flourishing in recent years. Due to the influence of Franz's intrusion, several younger brothers were still alive.

These old guys naturally couldn't go out and start their own businesses, but their younger generations could participate. As long as they proved their ability, Franz was willing to provide opportunities.

Anyway, the territory obtained this time was large enough. It didn't matter if a few more states were granted. Breaking them up could also reduce the risk of trouble in the future.

However, sons and nephews were different. They could get the same resources from the family, but the support they could get from the emperor was very different.

Apart from other things, the emperor's sons were all grand dukes, but nephews could only get the title of count, and not everyone could get it.

The gap between them was definitely not just a little bit. Since the rules of the game had been set, the emperor had to abide by them.

Franz could grant his sons and younger brothers the title of grand dukes and support them to establish states, but he couldn't let a group of nephews establish states.

Otherwise, there would be a lot of counts in the Holy Roman Empire. Wouldn't everyone be able to establish a state?

Now that these nephews went out to start their own businesses, they were all under the banner of their fathers and managed the fiefdom on behalf of their fathers.

In the end, it was unknown whether they could obtain the status of a state or not. At least, Franz wouldn't use his authority to enforce it.

Not only Franz's nephews, but even Franz's grandsons also found it difficult to establish a state.

In addition to the problem of identity, the most important problem was that they didn't contribute to the country. Under the military system, "contribution" was the core of the Holy Roman Empire.

It wasn't that Franz didn't arrange for them to be gilded, but that they were too young. The oldest was in their twenties, and it was impossible for them to be qualified for important positions.

In contrast, his sons were different. They were arranged to serve as governors overseas and were commander-in-chief during the World War.

Although these military achievements weren't enough to obtain the title of a hereditary grand duke, considering the additional status of a prince, no one could find fault with it.

Although his nephews also had arrangements, the resources invested by Franz were obviously much smaller. Because they didn't have outstanding military talent, they could only follow along.

The resources they received now were different, and the gap would only be wider in the future. Unless they worked hard and achieved outstanding results, they would only be nobles with a noble status.

Of course, Franz wouldn't say these words. For the House of Habsburg, even if it was just an additional noble fiefdom overseas, it was also a kind of strengthening.

The greater the family's power, the more stable the imperial power. Even if they lost the power struggle in the future, their political opponents wouldn't dare to go too far.

…

On September 18, 1905, Franz issued an edict, conferring the second son Peter as the Grand Duke of Latin America, with the fiefdom of Austria's Central American colonies; the third son William as the Grand Duke of Nanyang, with the fiefdom of the islands south of Malacca; the fourth son George as the Grand Duke of Maple Leaf, with the fiefdom of Canada.

The conferment of a grand duke wasn't news, but the area of these grand dukes' fiefdoms was unusually large.

However, the people only talked about it for a while, and there wasn't any trouble. The fiefdoms were large, but many of these fiefdoms were already owned.

After deducting the nobles' fiefdoms and the soldiers' military fields, the rest of the land was their real fiefdom.

Most of the best land was already owned, and the rest was undeveloped wasteland. In the short term, there weren't many really valuable lands, except for the relatively famous ones.

Considering the status of a prince, this kind of treatment wasn't surprising. As for the establishment of a state, it was only spread in the upper circles.

This was an open conspiracy. On the surface, the emperor's conferment was completely in line with the procedure. There was no fault to be found, and the government couldn't find any reason to object.

The nobles themselves were equivalent to the princes of a region. Other than having no seats in the Imperial Parliament, their political power was similar to that of a state.

In the future, if these guys wanted to gain more say in politics, they would either promote localization or apply to the emperor for the establishment of a state.

There was no doubt that the Government of Vienna didn't have the ability to localize so much land, so it was natural to establish a state.

The naked political hint couldn't be hidden from the people with intentions. However, in the face of a powerful emperor who played an open conspiracy, the opponents didn't know how to object.

While everyone's attention was focused on the three newly appointed grand dukes, Franz continued to issue personnel appointments and arranged several nephews and grandsons to serve in the Colonial Department.

After the completion of the transfer of the colonies, they would go to New Zealand, Australia, Austria's South America, the Malay Peninsula, and other areas as regional colonial governors.

The establishment of a state wasn't something that could be done overnight, not to mention the domestic reaction. Without a direct team in hand, even if Franz issued an edict, he didn't have the ability to rule the place.

What he could do now was to help them pave the way. The final result still depended on the future development of the situation.

Only the three grand duchies could be established in a short period of time. No matter how many Franz had, he might not be able to withstand the pressure.

The main reason was that the public couldn't feel that they fought a world war, and in the end, the benefits were divided by the nobles, the royal family, and the soldiers.