War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Austria, Venice.

The deal with Verawise Adani was a success and Franz managed to clear a cache of old equipment for the Austrian Imperial Army.

Although Verawise was a careerist, the princes and nobles of Trivandrum were indeed not considered human beings. They even instituted a clothing tax to make up for the shortfall.

That’s right! Local law stipulates that all untouchables, regardless of gender, must pay a clothing tax, otherwise they need to go topless. This sounds like a ridiculous law, but it was enforced until World War II.

Others are even more outrageous, such as the nose piercing tax. The name is rather weird, so I need to explain it.

Indians worship cows and will pierce the noses of their wives to show that they are their women.

However, the local king of Trivandrum felt that this violated the rights of the nobility, so he made all non-noble women pay a nose piercing tax, otherwise their nose rings would be removed and their noses would be cut off.

So Franz had no regrets that his actions might kill such a person, and he was even prepared to eat an extra bowl of rice at dinner to celebrate.

In fact, it is not that there is no rice in Europe, but the chefs here treat it as a dish.

That’s right! This is a dish!

Chefs usually pour a lot of olive oil and butter into the pot, then add onions, potatoes, and truffles, saute them until fragrant, and then add the rice to the pot.

At the same time, add butter and continue to stir-fry until golden brown, then add chicken stock or other quality stock to simmer, then add Italian celery, thyme, rosemary, cinnamon, longan, clove buds and other spices.

After it's out of the pan, top it with cream, cheese, or tomato sauce, and it's done.

In response to Archduke Franz's hobby (bizarre behavior) of eating rice, chefs developed various dishes based on rice.

Of course, in Franz's eyes, these things are just rice bowls, but they taste a little weird.

1842, Christmas.

The fiscal revenue announced by the Austrian Empire was 350 million florins, which was more than double the same period in history. At the same time, railroads, colonies, and all walks of life were developing for the better.

In the eight years after joining the German Zollverein, the national income of the Austrian Empire increased by 100%, and even soldiers could receive an annual military pay of 200 florins.

During the same period, prices only increased by 25%, and the prices of some commodities even dropped. However, there were more and more types of commodities, and people had more needs.

After having enough food and clothing, sewing machines have become the goal pursued by many people, and this is not an unreachable goal. Although 400 florins is still a lot of money in the eyes of ordinary people, with new financial methods such as installment payment, the pressure is far less than before.

In fact, not only Austria, but also the economies of German states are developing rapidly. For example, Luxembourg's economy has increased by 400% in eight years. This is of course due to their nationwide steelmaking and rich local resources.

However, compared with the rapidly growing economy, the political situation faced by Luxembourg was not optimistic. Half of their land was occupied by Belgium. In 1839, the two sides even fought over it. After causing 139 casualties, France and Prussia announced their intervention. this war.

Historically, the British-dominated London Conference directly assigned the western territory of Luxembourg to Belgium. However, this London Conference was not successfully convened at all, and the agreement it formulated was naturally not recognized by the great powers.

The people of Luxembourg were actually very indifferent to Prussia's "military occupation", but compared to the extravagant king who treated them as human beings and their covetous neighbors, being a German seemed pretty good.

(Military occupation refers to the decision by Prussia to protect Luxembourg after the Congress of Vienna.)

(The extravagant king who treated them as human beings refers to the then King of the Netherlands, William Frederic. At that time, he was also the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, but he did not care at all about the life and death of the Luxembourg people. He was indifferent to Belgium's invasion of Luxembourg. He also cut off forests from Luxembourg. Fort, causing Luxembourg to lose 75% of its territory at one time.)

(The eyeing neighbor refers to Leopold I. He was the founding king of Belgium and a heroic leader. With the support of Britain and France, he dismembered the Netherlands. Later, he also made many achievements in domestic affairs and economic development, which also made Belgium a minority. The country that escaped the storm of 1848.)

Under British leadership, the Netherlands admitted defeat in the war and Belgium became independent.

But the Luxembourg parliament refused to sign the peace agreement. After all, it represents half of the country and 40% of the population. Because Luxembourg was protected by Prussia, the Dutch army could not enter Luxembourg to suppress it. This matter was delayed from 1839 to Christmas 1842.

Over the years, Luxembourgers have worked hard to save money. Just a week before Christmas, the 83-year-old Member of Parliament Couldre spoke on behalf of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg at the regular meeting of the German Confederation.

"I want to accuse Austria and Prussia. They can fight the slave trade all over the world and even go to Africa and Asia to liberate those barbaric peoples, but they turn a blind eye to the tragedy of their compatriots at their doorstep!

Just in 1839 two robbers broke into our house. One commits murder and arson, the other enslaves us. Two robbers fought on our land, but it was us who suffered in the end!

They divided our territory and robbed our families, but our brothers, our fathers, Prussia and Austria did nothing!

Why? ! Because we are too weak and insignificant!

But the biggest kidnapping case of this century is happening before your eyes. 380,000 Luxembourgers were kidnapped by Belgium and 150,000 by the Netherlands.

You all propagate that you will ban the slave trade and combat slave trading, but at this time, 420,000 Germans are enslaved by the King of the Netherlands without paying a penny. Are you blind? !

I accuse! This incompetent father and brother, this useless confederacy, this unfair world! "

Representative Kurdrey's accusation made the representatives of the German Confederation feel uncomfortable, especially the representatives of Austria and Prussia. They also felt that they were very wronged. They came to attend a regular meeting. Who knew they would encounter this kind of meeting? matter.

In fact, the situation in Luxembourg is very clear to all countries, but theoretically the Netherlands is its suzerain country, and the King of the Netherlands is also the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

Even if other countries wanted to help, they had to seek the consent of the Netherlands first. The partition of Luxembourg was obviously approved by the Netherlands. There is no legal problem with this. In addition, the whole thing was led by Britain and France, so no one dared to point fingers. .

The entire venue fell into silence because the Luxembourg representative's statement was "unreasonable", but a kind of national feeling was brewing, and fellow Germans could not ignore their experiences.

However, the final voting power was still in the hands of the two great powers Austria and Prussia, and other states were unable to do so even if they wanted to.

After all, Belgium and the Netherlands are backed by Britain and France. If they want to fight against the great powers, they need Austria and Prussia, who are also great powers, to come forward.

But no matter what, the whole of Germany and even Europe will have a restless Christmas.