Chapter 872: Adding Insult to Injury

However, it is impossible for the Kingdom of Sardinia to continue to offend the Austrians, but Carlo Alberto does not want to pay this wrongful money.

The Kingdom of Sardinia simply resorted to the tactic of delaying again. Yes, it will redeem the people, but it needs to raise money, so the time is uncertain.

Although it is a bit rogue, it is very reasonable. After all, more than 20 million florins is not a small number.

Before, a large sum of money had been spent on bribing the Swiss Carlo Alberto. Coupled with the recent propaganda and expedition, the treasury of the Kingdom of Sardinia has bottomed out.

No king or government in the world likes to be in debt. Most of the reason they are in debt is because they have no choice.

At this time, Carlo Alberto naturally dragged it out.

The Austrian side did not have any good solution for this. It could only send people to negotiate and ask the other party to pay as soon as possible.

But that was just in the usual sense. Franz was not panicked at all. After all, feeding tens of thousands of mouths was not a problem for the Austrian Empire.

Especially after Venice's sea passage was restored, a large amount of food from the Americas would greatly ease the crisis in northern Italy.

But the Austrian side would not completely follow Austrian standards when calculating the food for the captives. After all, this was the internal supply price, so how could the Kingdom of Sardinia enjoy it?

To put it simply, the price of food was very expensive in the disaster year. If Carlo Alberto did not redeem the people as soon as possible, the late payment fee would be enough for him to drink a pot.

This finally made Sardinia feel a little painful, but it was only a symbolic redemption of a group of officers, and the tug of war between the two sides continued.

After the recovery of Venice, the rebellion in the Venetian region was immediately eliminated by half, and the reorganized defeated soldiers swept most of the rebellious cities along the way.

In fact, those cities occupied by the rebels welcomed the return of the Austrian army very much, and the so-called Italian nationalist enthusiasm did not seem to affect them at all.

In a sense, this was thanks to Niele Manin. First of all, in order to ensure the capture of Venice, he almost mobilized all the strength and backbone of the entire Venetian rebels.

Almost all of these people died in the battle of Venice, some died, some fled, and the rebels without leaders were naturally vulnerable.

If Niele Manin did not gather the rebels in one place, but scattered them throughout the Venetian region as before, it would be difficult for Franz to deal with it.

Even if Austria's elite troops were fully deployed, it would not be easy to pull out such a nail.

Franz was well prepared for this. Over the years, he has cultivated many confidants in northern Italy. These people have established their own organizations to cooperate with the Austrian army in the cleanup.

Now Niele Manin's confidence has helped Franz and removed the thorn behind him.

Franz was not in a hurry to execute Fabio and Niele Manin. They were indeed extremely evil, but with them, the rebels in Venice had a target.

If they were all dead, it would be troublesome for the rebels to make trouble everywhere. Franz gave the rebels two weeks, which was enough time for them to launch another attack.

At the same time, the Austrian army can also complete the deployment along the Po River, which is the most critical for the war situation at this time.

However, Franz actually thought too much, because when the news of Fabio and Niele Manin's defeat in Venice came out, most illegal organizations were directly disbanded, and some even chose to betray directly.

Jumping back and forth is not just Carlo Alberto's stunt, ordinary Italians also inherited this bloodline ability.

The rebels and nationalists in the Venetian region became rats that everyone shouted and beat in a short time.

Compared with revealing secrets and reporting in the city, the vast rural areas are much more direct. Farmers and those pro-Austrian gentry kill them like wild boars and kill them directly for money.

And Austrian officials are also happy to use this reward and punishment mechanism to further divide the rebels in the Venetian region.

The head of Garibaldi, who previously commanded the capture of Verona, was offered a sky-high price of 500,000 florins.

Most people thought Franz was making a fuss, but he thought that even a million florins, let alone half a million, would be worth it.

Others didn't understand because they didn't know how great a feat this man with a red scarf had accomplished in history.

One thousand against one hundred thousand, a desperate fight, a hero of two worlds, the great father of modern guerrilla warfare, the only designated god of war in modern Italy

Even if you don't know the history of later generations, the battle of Venice alone is enough to prove his value.

With only a few thousand militiamen, he captured three cities in a row, playing with Alois Palffi, the supreme commander of Austria in Venice, and his 50,000 troops like monkeys.

If it weren't for the huge gap in the strength of the two sides and bad luck, Garibaldi might have really occupied Verona, which is not something that anyone can do.

You have to know that Verona is a strong city. Although Alois Palffi's resume has some elements of deification and his temperament is very strange, he is by no means completely incompetent.

However, with the arrival of Franz and Albrecht's army, Venice was on the verge of collapse, and it was not something that Garibaldi could save alone.

Franz's victory in Venice was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for the central government of the Austrian Empire.

After the war, the nationalists and constitutionalists disappeared. After all, if they continued to make trouble, the Austrian government could use their tricks to send them to the battlefield.

However, after the situation stabilized, the first group of people the Vienna government had to deal with were them. This group of people had previously driven up prices so much that even officials could not guarantee three meals a day, and they dared not put more salt in their cooking.

Gang members dared to shit on the heads of the secret police and gendarmes. Now that the situation has reversed, it is no wonder that they have recovered their capital and interest.

The group of capitalists who had previously encouraged Solomon Rothschild to be the leader of the constitutionalists came to Solomon again.

This time Solomon was not polite. He directly asked the gendarmes to arrest people. After all, his Rothschild family was not a rioter, and taking this opportunity, the family's business finally made great progress.

In fact, since the food crisis, Solomon's business in Vienna has not been good. In recent years, the economy of the Austrian Empire has developed rapidly, but he missed several key opportunities.

Especially the coal and iron mining industry in Bohemia, which directly made a second-rate bank soar to become a company on par with him.

So overall, Solomon's status in Austria is constantly declining. As a Jew, he was also affected by Metternich's resignation.

The reason is naturally that he and Metternich colluded with each other to sell out the country. God knows that Jews obviously have no motherland.

However, he was very satisfied with the counterattack of the Vienna government this time. The financial circle of Vienna was almost swept away.

Those former competitors were either directly imprisoned or forced to accept heavy penalties. Some of them who had strong connections and high skills had to provide the Austrian government with a long-term low-interest or even interest-free loan.

In fact, the determination of the Vienna government this time is much greater than before, and the strength is also much greater, but it does not seem obvious in the high-level circle where Solomon is mixed.

But those constitutionalists and liberals at the bottom have suffered a devastating blow, but the lives of these people are not within the consideration of the top leaders.

The reason why Franz had to go against these "little evils" was not that he was bullying the weak and fearing the strong, but that he knew that the lower classes were the main force of the rebellion.

Compared with the lower classes, those at the top knew the rules of social operation better and were deeply trapped in the network of interests. In fact, they would be more obedient.

And those at the bottom had poor risk resistance, and they were the group of people who wanted to change the world the most. Franz was not against change, he just didn't want the change to become a simple reshuffle.

In this turmoil, Solomon stood in the right position. Not only did he make a lot of money, he even received an honorary citizen medal issued by the Vienna government.

(At that time, Jews were still not regarded as citizens by most people, so the honorary citizen medal was the highest honor they could get. Except for those who joined the army)

However, Solomon soon got into trouble and even locked himself in the room.

Everything originated from a message that the Hungarians were ready to rebel and their troops were secretly advancing towards Pressburg.

Pressburg was the capital of Hungary at that time. Budapest was not even one city, but two cities, connected by the Szechenyi Bridge.

Pressburg was not only the nominal capital of Hungary, but also a symbol of Austrian imperial power.

At this time, the Hungarians were undoubtedly playing for real. Although Austria had won great victories in Venice and Lombardy, the threat of the Italian coalition had not dissipated.

At this time, the Hungarian cavalry rebelled, which was undoubtedly the worst case for Austria. In fact, as a member of the Rothschild family, which was famous in the 19th century, his sources of intelligence were very wide.

His nephew in London also gave Solomon an accurate message that the British would join the war, but the target was not Austria itself, but Austria's overseas colonies, just like during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of the Spanish Succession.

These two pieces of news together forced Solomon to reconsider the issue.

Should we add insult to injury or help in times of trouble?

The conditions offered by the Hungarians were very tempting. The honorary president of the Hungarian National Bank, the Rothschild Bank, would obtain the right to issue currency and be granted Hungarian nationality.

On the other hand, a large war loan was provided to the Austrian Empire. On the one hand, it could gain national recognition, and there would be no shortage of honorary titles and titles.

At the same time, as a creditor, he would have a better life in Vienna in the future, just like his brother Meyer did in the Napoleonic Wars.

But at this time, another news came that the Czechs in Bohemia had revolted.

"Lars, please invite Alexander Bach and Gushan Kasser to me."

The butler was a little puzzled.

"Master, it's not good to get involved with those constitutionalists at this time?"

"What do you know? The sky is changing again!"

Solomon said with emotion, how could the butler not understand and immediately agreed to take his most capable assistant to go out to do business.

To be honest, Lars didn't think much of Alexander Bach and Gushan Kasser because they ran away too quickly.

After they got the news, they fled, completely disregarding the lives of their followers. But in Lars' eyes, those so-called followers deserved to die.

But now Master Solomon actually wanted to associate with such people, and at such a sensitive time, with secret police and military police everywhere on the street, he really felt a little uneasy.

The happiest people at this time were the British. Although some parts of Ireland began to revolt, the Scots were also making trouble, and the constitutionalists in London were marching all day.

However, the French Provisional Government played itself to death. They first went to war with Austria and were slapped in the face at the speed of light, and then wanted to suck blood from the colonies to solve the domestic crisis, but were rejected by the colonies.

The successive uprisings in the country caused France's national strength to regress, and Palmerston had begun to support a pro-British government.

And John Russell naturally couldn't sit idle, he was ready to take action against the French colonies. Although the French had a lot of troops in North Africa, they still relied on domestic supplies and robbed the indigenous people.

So as long as the British fleet carried out a naval blockade, it would not take long for the French army in North Africa to surrender.

But there was a not-so-good news at this time, that is, the Austrians defeated the rebels in the Kingdom of Sardinia and Venice at the speed of light.

Moreover, there was no peace treaty between Austria and the Kingdom of Sardinia, but a truce agreement. This is very interesting. The Austrians probably want to take action against the Kingdom of Sardinia after dealing with the Italian coalition.

It will be difficult for Britain to intervene at that time. If Austria gets Genoa again, then Britain's strategy of blocking the Adriatic Sea will fail.

And after getting Genoa, Austria's economic development will be faster, and their products will compete with Britain all over the world.

In fact, this competition has already begun. Austrian products have appeared in the German Confederation, France, the United States, and even South America and India.

John Russell himself has bought some of them. These things are indeed advanced and easy to use. The design of each piece seems to have been polished for hundreds of years, so that even the most picky people can't see any problems.

But this is not what the British want to see, he must nip this in the bud. After the expansion of the British Mediterranean Fleet, it can completely suppress the French Grand Orient Fleet, and the excess ships can completely block the Adriatic Sea.

The advantage of doing this is to ensure that the Austrians will not directly use their maritime advantages to land directly in Rome and Naples.

After all, the Italian coalition's navy is just a bunch of large armed merchant ships. They may not even be able to deal with pirates, so how can they compare with the Austrian navy?

And according to the British experience, the Austrian Empire at this time likes to take risks very much. It is possible that their Archduke Franz will bring people to land on the beach.

Secondly, John Russell did not believe in the level of the Italian coalition. After all, the Kingdom of Sardinia claimed to have an army of 200,000, but it did not even last a week before it turned against the British.

In fact, whether Austria wants to annex the Kingdom of Sardinia or the Kingdom of Sardinia turns to Austria, it will make the situation on the European continent uncontrollable for Britain.

Their purpose is that no one can dominate Europe, whether it is France, Russia, or Austria.

There is always a reason to join the war, but Pius IX has already thought about it for the British. Moreover, Britain has never been afraid of anyone in naval battles. John Russell likes this kind of risk-free business the most.

It's too late to go home, so I'll make do with it for now and I'll change it later.