War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

"Archduke Franz, you are worried too much. The current Pope is a special case. After he ascends to heaven, the new Pope will definitely be able to see the great potential of the Apennine Customs Union. As for the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, they will either Accept their fate, or someone will take their place and accept Italy's fate."

Metternich believed that this plan was perfect. Of course, as long as no one interfered and the Austrian Empire could remain strong, it would be feasible.

It's just that the plan is good, but it cannot stand the test of reality. Britain and France will never sit idly by and allow one of the five major countries and potential competitors to grow in strength.

In fact, with the current strength of Austria, it can indeed beat the Italian region. If the railway is added, it may really nip everything in the cradle.

But the risk was too great, and Franz didn't want to try it. Because once the suppression fails and the railway is used by the rebels, it will be another story. And it's a horror story.

"Your Majesty Prime Minister, if the French and Luxembourg reach a tariff agreement, will you send troops to stop it?"

"No, that would be too much of a loss."

“What if the French want to annex Luxembourg?”

"That's impossible. Not only us, but the Prussians will not let them go either." Metternich suddenly realized something.

"Yes, even if a place as small as Luxembourg is, we and Prussia will not let the French take it away, because they have touched our bottom line." Franz said.

"But if we do this, will the British feel that we have betrayed them?" Metternich said.

"Your Excellency, I think the British will betray us first. Especially when they learn that the Jewish state cannot be established." Franz replied.

When he mentioned the Jewish state, Metternich laughed out loud.

"Jewish state? That is simply the funniest joke I have ever heard. Even the Jews don't believe it can succeed. The British must be crazy to do this."

"Actually, it's not all Jews. What you come into contact with are Jews with status and status, but the middle class is very yearning for such a country. Their desire for power is unimaginable. As for the bottom, unless they can't survive or get Action will only be taken if there is sufficient assurance.”

Although Franz knew that the Jewish state would not be successfully established at this time, he felt that some Jews must be ecstatic about this event.

"Archduke Franz, do you know? The British moved this to solve the Ottoman economic crisis. They wanted to use Jewish money to maintain high profits from trade. Those Jews were not fools, how could they hand over their money so easily? "

“There are many ways to get Jews to pay”

"I know what you mean, but that doesn't work. Jews usually keep their money in banks in another country. If the Ottomans really want to take away the wealth of those Jews, there is a high probability that it will be cheaper for a third country.

Just like the Jews in our country, they usually deposit their money in Prussian or French banks. This will prevent you from being penniless when you break the law in our country or are deported. " Metternich said.

"Well, they are indeed cunning. But at least we don't have to worry about the unfavorable situation of the Jews and the Ottomans uniting. But the British are not ideal allies. They only pursue eternal interests now..."

Franz still wanted to persuade Metternich to give up his illusions about the British. Countries that tried to join forces with them in history all declined without exception.

"Archduke Franz, you are still young and you don't understand. It is precisely because of our common interests that our country and the United Kingdom are together. As for the issue of negotiations with France, I will consider it carefully. Archduke Friedrich suggested to me Then, let Tripoli become independent from the Ottoman Empire and transform it from a satrapy into a vassal state," Metternich said.

It seems that Prince Metternich will not change his attitude. After all, the hatred between France and Austria is too deep. As the biggest victim of the entire Napoleonic War, Austria does have reason to hate France.

Franz could only hope that Egypt would not be weakened too much and that France could still maintain its influence.

"But now we have no way of knowing whether Tripoli, a dependent country, will turn to us, Britain, or France. I don't think this is a condition worth exchanging."

There were only a few thousand Ottoman troops in Tripoli, and coupled with the deep roots of the Karamanli family, Franz felt that as long as he supported a batch of weapons, he could actually overthrow the rule of the Governor of Tripoli.

At this time, Tripoli had become a complete wasteland after the slave trade stopped. The agriculture was very backward and there was almost no arable land. Food was mainly imported. Nomads accounted for about one-third of the country's population.

The tax revenue depends entirely on the fees incurred by foreign merchant ships berthing here. Almost half of the population is concentrated in the Port of Tripoli.

"I think Archfriedrich will find a way. This talented naval admiral has directly saved the Austrian Navy ten years of development time."

Metternich spoke highly of Friedrich's surprise attack on the Egyptian port, but what he didn't know was that the plan for this operation was drawn up by Franz.

"Yes, but the gap between our country and the British navy is at least fifty years. Now our coastline is extremely short and we are not afraid of threats from the sea. However, after integrating the Italian region, this situation will be reversed."

After Austria integrates the Italian region, the length of the coastline will increase several times. When faced with threats from the sea, the Austrian army will have no choice but to run exhausted.

As for attacking overseas colonies, it is a choice that outweighs the gains and losses, and division of troops is the most taboo in naval battles. Maritime communications at that time were extremely unfavorable. As long as you were unlucky, it was common to lose contact for several months.

At this time, except for the British Navy, no country in the world dared to choose to divide its forces to fight at sea.

Metternich obviously didn't know much about military affairs, and he was old after all.

"Although there is a gap of fifty years, I believe that when you come to the throne, you will lead our country to surpass the United Kingdom. Now Austria's economic growth rate has surpassed that of the United Kingdom. Don't worry, God has arranged everything."

After that, he talked a lot with Metternich, but the conflict between the two concepts was relatively large. Metternich was not interested in overseas colonies, but Franz, who knew the history of later generations, certainly knew how important the colonies were.

Metternich's reason was that there was still a large area of ​​land in Europe that could be developed, and overseas colonization was completely unnecessary. Moreover, it can be seen from the collapse of the Spanish Empire that colonies will seriously hinder the development of the country.

At the same time, he also expressed what he was most worried about, which was the hidden danger in the country - the theories of Mazzini and others were spreading wildly in Austria, and then evolved into a series of troublesome organizations.

For example, Youth Vienna, which was suppressed not long ago, was originally a fraternity of a group of artists and college students, but it was soon invaded by some extremists, and an idea that Viennese people were superior to others evolved.

Under the guidance of this idea, they even planned to expel the three regions of Dalmatia, Tyrol, and Galicia on the grounds that they were too poor.

As the Austrian Empire joined the German Customs Union and later formed the Apennine Customs Union, domestic nationalist ideas were violently colliding with each other, and the number of people affected by it was far greater than at the same time in history.