War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Central Italy, the residence of the Grand Duke of Tuscany.

Archduke Leopold II looked with some surprise at the Austrian officials who were swearing allegiance to him.

"Mr. Mauna, are you kidding me? Tuscany is just a small state under the rule of Austria, and Tuscany must also be loyal to Austria."

Mauna was the Austrian special commissioner who came to Tuscany two years ago. Although Archduke Leopold II was a little unambitious, he was very kind and loved by the people. At the same time, he could listen to suggestions and do good things.

This is simply the best boss for someone like Mauner who is frustrated in Austrian officialdom.

Of course, such people usually have lax governance and corruption among their subordinates. This is also an important reason why Tuscany's economy has not improved. These special envoys from Austria can remove these stubborn diseases for Tuscany.

In two years, Tuscany not only built the railway to Modena and Lucca, but also expanded the small steel plant in Tuscany into the largest steel plant in Central Italy.

Central Italy lacks coal and iron resources, but it is not completely absent.

The abolition of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes collected privately by officials and nobles revitalized the port of Volina.

Tuscany has one of the largest mercury mines in Italy and even the world. During a raid by Austrian officials, 15 million florins were directly recovered as stolen money. In the following two years, output tripled.

Tuscany's fiscal revenue jumped from less than 3 million florins in 1834 to 10 million florins.

With money, Tuscany expanded his army from 2,000 to 10,000 and built his own factory. Not only could he be self-sufficient in weapons, he could also sell them to other countries.

Leopold II of Tuscany did not indulge in pleasure, but spent money on education and building public facilities.

This moved the Austrian officials, who had suffered from wrangling and corruption, so much that they were willing to stay and serve the "wise" archduke.

"Your Majesty, we swear allegiance to the Habsburg family, and you are also a member of the Habsburg family, so this is not a betrayal."

Leopold II of Tuscany didn't really care, as long as someone took care of the country for him.

And these people seem to be much more useful than those native Tuscans.

This Leopold II was completely different from Francis II. He never considered himself an Italian or an Austrian.

In his heart, he has always been just a member of the Habsburg family, and those "wise" actions are nothing more than a family tradition.

Even though Ferdinand I was unable to rule the country, causing chaos in Austria, Leopold II of Tuscany did not think Ferdinand I was at fault, because Ferdinand I just followed tradition when he inherited the throne.

Scenes like this are frequently staged in the countries of China, Italy and Italy.

Of course, there are those who are frustrated and want to find a stage to show off their talents, and there are also those who are corrupt and want to find a place to scrape the land.

For example, in Parma now, after Archduchess Marie-Louise learned that her and Napoleon's only son had died, she squandered her life even more unscrupulously.

As a special official of Austria, Ocker instead of helping restore order in the local area, instead fell into the favor of the Grand Duchess Marie-Louise, looking for handsome young men and buying luxury goods for her. He soon gained the Grand Duchess's trust.

Ocker's source of income is, firstly, by exploiting the people of Parma, and secondly, by defrauding loans from Austria.

As a supervisor, Ocker kept himself in check and used the money from Austria's railway construction to provide for the Grand Duchess and his own enjoyment. At the same time, he also bought real estate in the United States and could directly immigrate to the United States when necessary.

Okel colluded with local corrupt officials and imposed rounds of extortionate taxes, making the people of Parma miserable.

Those who could not survive gathered together and tried to demonstrate at the Duchess's mansion so that the Duchess could reduce taxes.

But Ocker directly reported to the nearby Austrian garrison that a mob planned to harm the Archduchess.

The Austrian garrison became a knife in Ocker's hand. The massacred citizens' resentment towards Austria increased, paving the way for future outbreaks.

Francesco IV of Modena was a member of the Habsburg family, but he was a mediocre person. He could be said to be Zhang Zongchang in the West.

Francesco IV didn't know three things: first, he didn't know how much money he had, second, he didn't know how many people he had, and third, he didn't know how many lovers he had.

He once assigned his lover's husband to take his money to recruit an army to attack Napoleon.

As a result, instead of recruiting troops, the man ran away with Francesco IV's money.

Until his death, Napoleon did not know that such a person had ever prepared to send troops to attack him.

Francesco IV's reign was chaotic, and he preferred calling in Austrian troops to maintaining an expensive army.

The Austrian special officials were helpless in the face of this situation, and they all worked together with the Archduke.

In the Papal States, the people still maintain an almost medieval life.

There is a joke: If anyone is most opposed to the church in this era, it must be the Romans.

The southernmost Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ushered in the freest king in the history of this country, who was different from his father who had ignored political affairs throughout his life.

Ferdinand II took some measures from the Napoleonic era, reorganizing administration, caring about national welfare, reducing taxes, encouraging industry, promoting trade, allowing exiles to return, and even using some officials from Murat's era in his government .

Ferdinando II established Italy's first railway (Naples-Portage Railway), Italy's first navigation company, and Italy's first telegraph company, then his people rebelled against his rule, Even shells were fired into his palace, but his liberal reforms continued.

Franz knew very well that to integrate China and Italy, what was needed was a strong country and the establishment of a long-term and stable order.

At this time, Austria was experiencing serious internal strife and was indeed unable to continue to protect the legacy left by the era of Francis II. It might be a wise move to temporarily give up integrating Central Italy.

Compared to Central Italy, which was tasteless and a pity to abandon, Franz was more interested in what happened in another place.

Carlos, who was defeated in the Spanish Civil War, first fled to England, but he did not get the support he wanted in England.

The British government even felt that Carlos was a scourge that undermined European peace, and said that as long as Carlos was willing to give up the throne and never return to Spain, the British government was willing to pay Carlos a pension of 30,000 pounds per year.

At that time, 30,000 pounds was already a very large number. The annuity for male members of the Austrian royal family was usually 10,000 to 20,000 florins, and 30,000 pounds was equivalent to about 300,000 florins. Of course, this pension would not be in vain. That’s it.

Carlos left England and went to France to seek help.

Franz felt that Carlos did not let the French see his sincerity, so Franz decided to help him.