War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Will beer price hikes lead to uprisings?

When it comes to beer halls and Bavaria, some not-so-good things always come to mind.

However, at this time Bavaria had to find ways to increase taxes due to Ludwig I's staggering expenses.

Then the king remembered that his subjects liked to drink beer, so he decided to increase the beer tax by 8%.

Next, in February 1844, large-scale demonstrations took place in Bavaria, not just in Munich but throughout the entire territory.

Fortunately, the king's moral bottom line was flexible enough. The next day, a minister was accused and said that he had no knowledge, using the old story of "the good king listened to the bad minister."

In fact, Ludwig I was not a good king. His outrageous consumption was mainly used to support his mistress and have fun.

In the past, Bavarians were called "plateau beggars" by other Germans. Over the years, other surrounding countries have invested a lot of money in development, but Bavaria has spent all the money on the king's personal consumption.

This king comes to the Dark Moon Theater every week and is very generous with his money. He can be said to be the real king.

But even if Franz hadn't created the Dark Moon Theater, he would have wasted money on other things. In history, the king had 36 public mistresses, and countless women who had romantic relationships.

The most famous among them is Lola Montes, who was also a dancer and won the favor and trust of King Ludwig I.

But she is not a spy sent by Franz to lurk, but in short, with this kind of disaster, Bavaria cannot become a powerful country.

This is good news for Franz. After all, Mrs. Sophie herself is very enthusiastic about political affairs. The former did not let her take care of Austria, and the latter went to Bavaria to make suggestions.

Fortunately, my mother does not possess any extraordinary political talents. Apart from strengthening domestic control, her level in other aspects is similar to that of her half-brother.

After helping a few times and finding that the help was getting more and more troublesome, Mrs. Sophie decisively chose to stop and go home to take care of her children.

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

Mrs. Sophie, who had just stepped out of the carriage and wanted to breathe in the smell of home, was knocked head-on by a huge duck.

The attendants on the side quickly helped Mrs. Sophie up, but the latter was obviously very angry.

"You idiots! What is this! Why is it in the palace?!"

The attendants looked at each other, and Mrs. Sophie knew from the looks of the attendants that it was probably her husband or her precious son who had done something wrong.

In fact, these creatures that walk like penguins and swim like ducks are auks.

When Archduke Franz Karl went to the North Pole to look for penguins, he returned in vain, but he accidentally discovered a group of "Arctic ducks" on a small island.

Franz Joseph (the protagonist's full name) was also curious when he first saw this creature. It seemed to be the auk he had been looking for.

But he couldn't confirm it, and only after calling in a naturalist did he confirm that it was the great auk.

In fact, before the great auk became extinct, some people had been buying its feathers and specimens at high prices. This was the direct cause of its demise.

Franz naturally wanted to buy a few. After all, the price of auks had reached five hundred pounds a piece at that time. If they could be bred in batches, it might be a new way to get rich.

Even if it cannot be mass-produced, it would be good to put it in a zoo as a protected animal.

Through several auks brought back from the Arctic by Franz's father, plus those later purchased from merchants, there were ten auks in total. After several years of breeding, the population size had been expanded to thirty.

However, Franz had been keeping them in the greenhouse of the Royal Academy for Women in Vienna. Recently, little Maria wanted to play with a few.

So this rare bird appeared in Schonbrunn Palace. Its combat power was far inferior to that of the goose, and little Maria could easily control it.

Franz's sister, with one hand in each hand, clamored for some. This caused a sensation in Schönbrunn Palace. After all, this was Archduke Franz's pet, and it was said that one was worth five thousand florins.

Five thousand florins could buy several houses in Vienna at that time. However, the chefs had long wanted to study new dishes, and the ladies in the palace also wanted the beautiful feathers of the great auk to decorate their homes. Clothes and hats.

But usually no one would dare to say such things, so Franz rubbed his sister's head helplessly.

"Okay, just this time it won't happen again."

"Okay!" Little Maria suddenly jumped for joy.

"As promised, you can't take advantage of them in the future. These ducks are very expensive, but when their population size increases, you can do whatever you want."

"Okay!" Little Maria blinked again, "Then when will there be more of them!"

"It may be ten years, it may be twenty years. After all, their egg production is very low, but their lifespan is very long. It is said that they can live for ten or twenty years."

"Oh" little Maria was a little disappointed.

"But after the number of this kind of duck reaches a certain scale, we can consider using crossbreeding to increase its number."

Adjani looked at Franz with great disdain.

"Archduke Franz, it's not good for you to talk to Her Royal Highness the Princess. I find that you are not very interested in the opposite sex. Instead, you like to interfere in some private activities between animals and plants.

I think it is better not to pass this quirk on to Her Royal Highness the Princess. You know that some rumors in the palace spread quickly, and some people even think that you will not have descendants, which will cause some people to support other Grand Dukes. "

Franz's head was filled with black threads. Of course he knew who said this, Maximilian, his brother. Franz thought it might be that the latter was still holding a grudge, the shame of being held under the Bible when he was a child.

But Franz was not too worried about this. After all, a severely disabled person like his uncle Ferdinand I could become emperor. There was no reason why he couldn't do it.

"Miss Adjani, you control too much. As for certain things, how can I, a child, prove it? As for chasing chickens and teasing dogs, isn't that what I should do at my age?"

Adjani just glanced at it casually. After all, the little princess was here, so she didn't dare to say anything too presumptuous. Because it would not be good if some things were spread to Madam Sophie's ears, and although she was Franz's maid, it would be easy for the little princess to deal with her.

"Franz! I'm hungry, I want to eat duck!"

Franz looked at the two poor auks, they were already tortured to death, and the child could not do it lightly or harshly.

"Miss Adjani, you and Maria are going to hand over these two great auks to the chef. I'm going to ask my father to come over. After all, he has been craving for them for a long time."

Just then I heard a roar!

"Franz! Look what you've done! What a horrible bird this is! It ruined my dress. You must give me an explanation today!"

Mrs. Sophie was seen carrying two strangled auks to find Franz. As soon as she saw him, little Maria's eyes lit up and she hurriedly ran over to hug Mrs. Sophie's thigh and shouted.

"Good mother! There is food again!"

On this day, the already small population of auks - 4.