War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Bavaria, close to the Alps.

Mrs. Sophie took Maria to Posenhofen, a castle far away from the hustle and bustle. But it's more like a farm than a castle.

Mrs. Sophie's sister Ludovica lives here. At first she hated this remote village and her incompetent brother-in-law.

Of course, Mrs. Sophie did not come here to find a future wife for Franz. After all, in her eyes, the girls Ludovica gave birth to were as stupid as her and would not be helpful to Franz at all. The most important thing is their status. It's too low, completely unequal to Franz.

But Madame Sophie came more often than ever before, mainly because Franz did a lot of things she was supposed to do, and did them better.

Madam Sophie had nothing to do, so naturally she only had two options: showing off her baby and visiting relatives. Although Franz also found some things for her to do, such as makeup and fashion design, it was still not enough to kill her time and energy.

Mrs. Sophie preferred her daughter Maria to her four sons.

As a result, poor Maria had to follow Mrs. Sophie on her expeditions all day long.

Of course, little Maria actually likes to be with girls of the same age. Although Nana (Princess Helen) is only one year older than her, she is like an older sister and always takes care of her.

As for Sissi, although she is two years younger than her, she is even naughtier than her.

This was the first time Maria knew what naughty meant. After all, being naughty was her prerogative in Schönbrunn Palace.

However, Maria still liked her cousin very much, and she would share any good things she had with the two sisters.

For example, toothpaste, lollipops, small dresses, small toys, and jewelry. Among them, Franz asked her to bring the toothpaste. After all, he didn't want to see Princess Sissi with the same two rows of yellow teeth as in history.

In fact, the British industrialized the production of tooth powder as early as the 18th century, but the market response was not good. People still don't like this kind of dental care products that are cumbersome to use and inconvenient to carry.

Historically, the French invented the metal hose in 1840, but in fact it was not until 1893 that the Austrians put toothpaste into a hose to make the first modern toothpaste.

In this generation, Franz tinkered with metal hoses in 1837 in order to improve steam turbines.

The use of metal hoses to make modern toothpaste is just a by-product, but it was only then that toothpaste really began to enter the public eye and gradually transformed into a daily necessities.

From the invention of metal hoses, to the invention of toothpaste with chalk soil as a friction agent, soap as a cleanser, and glycerin as a moisturizer, and finally putting it into a metal hose. Franz simply advanced this process by fifty years.

Ludovica still admires her sister very much. After all, although she is the daughter of the king, she is married to a member of the collateral clan.

Mrs. Sophie is married to the Habsburg family, the second heir to the throne of the Austrian Empire, and her son may even inherit that ancient and huge empire in the future.

Although there were rumors in the early years that Archduke Franz Karl was an idiot, over the years the Archduke not only defeated Vienna's smartest doctor in the park debate, but also proposed many major events that changed the fate of the country. People like to call him "Silent Franz Karl."

(In this era, people often thought that doctors were the smartest people, because it was very difficult to get a medical license at that time, and it was a highly respected job, although most of them only knew how to bleed and feed people opium)

Although Ludovica's own husband has the title of civilian Duke, this is not a compliment, but a kind of irony. As a duke without any position in the palace, he does not abide by the rules and etiquette, and hangs out with common people all day long to call each other brothers. It is simply a shame for the family.

The lakes and mountains on the shores of Lake Starnberg are indeed beautiful, but Ludovica would rather live in the city and live a glorious life.

Many people evaluate Ludovica as a peasant woman without any ambition, but in fact this is not the case. Just because she did not give her children to servants according to the aristocratic custom of this era, but educated them herself, it can be seen that she was very dissatisfied with the current situation.

But meeting a husband like Duke Maxi is enough to make any housewife despair. Duke Maxi, the father of Nana and Princess Sissi, is an all-rounder who climbs mountains, rides horses, fishes, plays music, and can also recite a few limericks.

But Duke Maxi is not a good nobleman. His accounts are in a mess. He only enjoys and criticizes every day without taking any responsibility. He has children with many lovers and often brings them to his home.

This made the relationship between Ludovica and her husband very difficult, and of course no woman would be willing to accept this embarrassing situation.

So Ludovica pinned her hopes on the next generation. She hoped that her daughters could marry into good families.

Nana is fine, but Sissi is too naughty. I'm afraid it will be difficult to marry into a good family. Mary (born in 1841) is still too young.

Of course, Ludovica is actually very self-aware. She does not think that her daughters have any hope of marrying her sister Sophie’s eldest son. But fortunately, her sister has many sons, including Maximilian, Ludwig, and Victor Jr. They are the targets of their daughters.

Although Mrs. Sophie understands the thoughts of her poor sister, her children are the political assets of the family, and their marriage must be a political transaction.

But perhaps out of sympathy for her sisters' misfortunes, she promised Ludwika that one of her sons would marry into their family.

Every time Mrs. Sophie came to Posenhofen, she would bring some food and clothing to the Ludovica family, of course not just Maria's toys, but also some skirts and clothes designed by the former.

As well as underwear, cosmetics, perfumes and other things designed by Franz, Ludovica couldn't put it down.

Because they have been married for so many years, her husband has never bought her a skirt.

It's just that she can't accept the fact that Franz can design underwear and cosmetics. It was hard for Ludovica to imagine that a boy would be interested in such things, but after thinking about the history of his family and the Habsburg family, it seemed that it was not impossible.

On the other hand, a big event happened on the European continent. The Netherlands announced that it would join the German Customs Union.

Although this incident had long been expected by all parties, it still caused an uproar when the news came out.

After all, this means that the German Customs Union will become the largest economic entity after the United Kingdom and France, and its growth rate will far exceed that of the United Kingdom and France.

This matter was strongly opposed by Britain and France, but King William II of the Netherlands was very resolute this time, and he only joined the German Customs Union, not the German Confederation.

So the French made concessions, and the British, who did not want to be isolated any longer, chose to make concessions. What was unexpected was that the biggest obstacle to the Netherlands joining the German Customs Union was Prussia.