Chapter 3 An Unreliable Family

In 1834, Franz was still a baby (4 years old), and he could only stay in the royal children's room bored every day.

The night was the most difficult time, because an unreliable mother would come to coax him to sleep. Mrs. Sophie felt that coaxing her child to sleep was fulfilling a mother's duty, so Franz couldn't sleep.

The big rabbit was sick, the second rabbit looked, the third rabbit bought medicine, the fourth rabbit boiled, the fifth rabbit died, the sixth rabbit carried, the seventh rabbit dug a hole, the eighth rabbit buried, the ninth rabbit sat on the ground and cried, the tenth rabbit asked it why it was crying? The ninth rabbit said, the fifth rabbit will never come back!

The weird lyrics make people think about it terrified, but the mother didn't seem to care about the child's reaction, still singing by herself, occasionally yawning, still complaining in her heart, why didn't the child sleep?

Franz didn't want to sleep, but the weird lyrics entered his brain and couldn't get rid of it, and he was scared and couldn't sleep. You know, this is one of the ten most terrifying nursery rhymes that have been circulated in later generations. Why did Mrs. Sophie choose this nursery rhyme?

Finally, Franz thought of a way to tell a story by himself to coax Mrs. Sophie to sleep, and then asked the maid to take her away.

Just when Franz breathed a sigh of relief, a man with a strong smell of alcohol came in. This smell of alcohol is very distinctive. It is not the smell of a single kind of alcohol, but the smell of many kinds of alcohol mixed together.

It was Franz's unreliable father who came. He himself knew that he was different from normal people, so he would avoid other people when he came.

Parents all over the world care about their children in the same way, whether he is a royal relative or an ordinary person.

So, Franz's father came with a pot of wine.

Franz's father has only two hobbies, one is drinking and the other is hunting. He thinks that wine is the best thing in the world, because when you are drunk, you will not be tired and will not think of those unhappy things.

Franz has never cried since he was born, so he thinks Franz must be very depressed, and he thinks Franz must need to be released. He also remembered what his father once said, "Good things should be shared with family."

So today he mixed his ten favorite wines and went to the children's room. He wanted to share his favorite wine with his eldest son so that he could grow up quickly. After all, it's boring to drink alone.

He poured a glass for Franz, poured another for himself, and then smiled foolishly.

Franz's head was full of black lines, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, wondering how the original owner lived to such an old age. Then he walked to the door, opened the door, called the maid and whispered a few words. After that, the maid, Mrs. Morcia, screamed, and soon a large group of royal guards rushed in with a doctor, and took Franz's unreliable father away.

Hofburg Palace, Hall of Mirrors.

Franz II was taking a nap on the throne. He liked this room, as if he could relive the glory of the Habsburg family in this way.

The conversation in St. Stephen's Cathedral yesterday, any "revelation", and those unreliable plans had been thrown out of his mind. Compared with those risky actions, he prefers to enjoy the comfort brought by the afternoon sun.

Franz II has never been a brave man. His brother once carried out drastic military reforms to revitalize the Austrian army, but also offended some vested interests.

He did not withstand the pressure and dismissed Archduke Karl, whom Napoleon called "the strongest opponent". The result is that until today, those military problems of the last century still plague the Austrian Empire.

Franz II knew very well that Austria's influence at home and abroad was declining, but the heavy debt and the entangled network of interests made all reforms stretched, and every time it was a state of suppressing one thing and floating up the other.

So he remembered that he should have listened to the advice of his other brother Archduke John, carried out economic reforms, abolished domestic tariffs, and used this to suppress the powerful. At that time, Napoleon invaded, the local power faction was severely weakened, and the domestic unity was a good time for reform, but he did not adopt it.

There is also the German Customs Union established not long ago, and Austria should also join.

"This is a Prussian conspiracy!"

"We must do something. There can only be one giant in the German Confederation!"

"Once Prussia controls the Customs Union, their development will be unstoppable."

At that time, the whole hall was in a mess, and each minister was ready to fight.

Whether it was Finance Minister Korolav, Prime Minister Metternich, or the overconfident Baron Brook, they all went to Franz II to state the pros and cons of joining the German Customs Union and strongly recommended that the Empire join.

Being excluded from the German Customs Union would greatly weaken Austria's influence. However, domestic nobles opposed it, such as Prince Wendigoretz and Prince Esterhazy, etc. Franz II felt that he could not ignore these voices, and he had no choice.

There was no way Franz II could not help but laugh at himself, with a bit of misery in it. He felt that he was not a supreme monarch, but an old widower who was led by the nose by family trivia.

Today is the day when the German Customs Union, led by Prussia, was officially established. This eight-year tariff agreement will become the basis for the disintegration of Austria's influence in the future.

In front of the palace, Prime Minister Metternich, Finance Minister Korolav, and Baron Bruck, three people with different political views who almost never interacted with each other, rarely agreed on one thing.

"Austria must join the German Customs Union." The always upright Baron Bruck spoke first. He never liked to keep people in suspense and firmly believed that everything he did was for the country.

Finance Minister Korolav hated the man in front of him because Baron Bruck always liked to talk about doing it for the country and for the people.

Korolav was completely different. He never concealed his greed for money and power.

He believed that those who refused to talk about interests were hypocrites who pretended to be hypocrites; or they were the vested interests in a certain field who threw out a cover to protect their own interests. These hypocrites are often more terrible and dirty than those who are greedy for money and power.

"Austria is not going to join the German Customs Union, but to lead it. Prussia is not worthy of leading the German Customs Union! Germany is the dumping ground for our goods and the source of our raw materials. Austria does not have a colony of its own. This is unacceptable! Germany is our first colony."

After Korolav finished speaking, he looked at Baron Brook provocatively.

"I'll say what you think. I heard from the doctor that it's not good for your health to hold it in. Don't thank me."

Korolav laughed up to the sky and walked towards the palace gate.

Baron Brook sneered at Korolav's behavior and said disdainfully.

"Mad man."

Then he also strode into the palace gate.