The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 828 Another disaster year

The Swiss Civil War has just ended, the Spanish Civil War is about to begin, the Russians are in constant civil strife, and several forces in the north are ready to move.

In summer, heavy rains come as expected.

Central Europe is a vast country, and floods in North Germany have broken out of rivers and wreaked havoc in cities and countryside. Countless lands have been submerged, houses have been washed away, and people have been displaced.

Prussia, Berlin.

Floods flooded the streets, and the rudimentary water circulation system collapsed, causing countless filth to overflow. After the floods receded, cholera broke out again.

In addition to Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony were not spared.The German region has a well-developed water system, so canal construction is an economical and practical business.

However, excessive development quickly destroyed the structure of the original water network system. Coupled with the advancement of science and technology, human beings' ability to develop land has been greatly enhanced. Many lakes and swamps originally used to store water have been drained and used as farmland. Further destroying the original ecology and risk resistance capabilities.

The result was a major collapse when heavy rains came, and floods rushed out of the rivers, flooding dozens of towns in North Germany, destroying many buildings and displacing people.

But the most terrifying thing is that the floods have also destroyed the farmland, and there is no way to harvest any more replanting at this time. Today is destined to be a barren year.

In addition, major disasters must be followed by major epidemics. After floods enter the city, they will bring out the filth in the rivers and urban drainage systems.

Coupled with the difficulty of cleaning up the animals and plants that died in the floods, the result was epidemics of epidemics, especially cholera, a terrible disease that made a comeback.

Floods and epidemics have made people no longer optimistic, and everyone has begun to hoard food and necessary daily necessities. As a result, prices have skyrocketed, and the poor have become poorer and the rich have become richer.

There is an old saying that goes, “After a great disaster, there will be a great epidemic, and after a great epidemic, there will be a great famine.”

Floods, plagues, famines, disharmony among people, and great chaos also appear.

But relatively speaking, things are much better here in Austria. The Danube, the largest river in Europe except the Volga, has a larger runoff than other rivers in the German Confederation. The probability of disasters in history is more frequent and more terrible. .

However, the raging river water was firmly locked in the river channel, and the dikes that were prone to collapse in the past became unbreakable immediately after the magistrates moved in.

The high-ranking officials who were usually accustomed to serving pork chops, red wine, and beauties around the fire at home were all wearing ponchos and patrolling the river embankment.

Note: Austria is a country that is accustomed to eating pork. Even today, its pork consumption ranks first in Europe.

The reforms carried out by Franz and the establishment of large-scale pig farms in the book are also one of the objective factors. Because the price of pork has dropped, more people will eat it.

Many urban residents who haven't received much rainfall don't even feel anything. They still go to work and eat on time, but there are fewer luxury carriages on the streets.

In the eyes of ordinary people, the owners of those luxury carriages must have taken the opportunity to skip work and go home to sleep in. They could only say, "It's nice to have power."

Ordinary officials who were also freezing and pouring on the river embankment couldn't help but be very touched when they saw that their bosses who usually idle around, push around, and have no responsibility were actually freezing with them. They even felt that they had wrongly blamed the other party.

"What a role model for us!"

"fart!"

The workers on the side couldn't stand it anymore and cursed.

"His wife, children, and property are all down there, how can he not be interested in it?"

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Without floods, some farmers who are accustomed to fleeing famine in big cities would be embarrassed.

A village woman asked: "My dear, the dam has not burst, should we run away?"

The villagers on the side fell into deep thought. Escape from floods has been a tradition in their village for many years. However, in the past few years, there has been a sudden lack of floods. Escape to Vienna would be embarrassing and would be regarded as a liar. "This way, you and the children go first. The ticket is not much anyway. Remember to bring two sets of clothes and read the newspaper more often. If there is news about floods, you can beg on the spot. If there is no flood, then you can take the children and stay safe. Travel around Vienna and gain insights.”

My wife was also very embarrassed. She used to go hungry, wear ragged clothes, and beg frequently without feeling anything.

But life has improved over the years, and I can fill my stomach by farming. My clothes are clean and I suddenly feel a little unable to kneel down.

"What about you, dear?"

"Someone has to be at home to watch. What if it doesn't rain in two days? If the water in the ground is not cleaned up in time, it will be over! I'm at home, you go."

The wife nodded and took the children to pack their bags and prepare to go to the train station.

At this time, the husband stopped his eldest son, who was already as tall as himself.

"What are you going to do?"

"My mother and I went to Vienna to beg!"

The young man was a little stunned, not quite sure what his father meant.

"You are not allowed to go. You and I stay at home and guard the fields."

"why?"

"You are the eldest son, how can the future head of the family beg for alms from others? All your elementary school education was in vain!"

Spain.

The heavy rain did not dampen the enthusiasm of both sides in the civil war. The Carlists, Orthodox, British, and French fought together, and the bodies were buried underground mixed with mud.

The plants on this land will be even more luxuriant next spring, and decades or hundreds of years later they and they will become the collections of history buffs.

Rome, Vatican.

A trial was about to begin, in which Pius IX would be present in person.He was very excited because these two prisoners were sent by the Austrian Empire.

Pius IX felt that this was a sign of goodwill from the Austrians, and believed that it would not be long before they returned to the arms of the Lord and paid back the debts (tithes) they owed.

What kind of prisoner could give Pius IX such a big illusion?

They are the former President of the Swiss Confederation, Joseph Loy, and the Generalissimo of the North, Frei Holosse. Their war atrocities in Switzerland are well known to the world.

In addition, these two men also persecuted Catholics in Switzerland to a heinous level. Later, they ransacked monasteries, used priests as laborers, and sent nuns as military prostitutes, which made His Majesty the Pope want to have him alive. Meat.

But what angered Pius IX the most was the persecution of the Jesuits by these two men, and the death of the "Invincible" Minofel, which almost uprooted the power of the Papal State from Switzerland. The efforts were in vain.

As the ever-victorious general of the Papal State and one of the few close friends of Pius IX, Minophel's death was a great blow to the Pope.

When the news of Bishop Minofel's defeat and death reached the Vatican, the Pope's eyes widened and he shouted "Impossible! Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

But the facts were right in front of him and he couldn't help but not believe it, so Pius IX found the chief exorcist of the Papal State. He firmly believed that the Swiss used demonic magic to defeat the "just" bishop.

At first, the exorcist thought that the pope was asking him to replace Bishop Minofel in the war and was still thinking about how to deal with it. When the pope said this, the exorcist suddenly felt confident.

(End of this chapter)