War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Businessmen even saw Austria's financial resources and foresight in the storm of 1848.

In particular, the counter-purchasing of small expected banknotes before the war was a stroke of genius. Otherwise, it would be difficult to say that the Austrian Empire would not have followed in the footsteps of Britain and France and fallen into an economic crisis.

Some keen businessmen and economists have noticed something strange. The economic strength and precious metal holdings of the Austrian Empire far exceed their estimates.

In fact, Franz had another reason for stopping the circulation of small-denomination banknotes, and that was the emergence of counterfeit banknotes.

Strictly speaking, it is very difficult and risky to counterfeit banknotes because banks have stubs and special anti-counterfeiting measures.

However, with the economic development of the Austrian Empire, people were no longer willing to go to the bank when using small denominations.

This gives counterfeiters an opportunity to take advantage of. After all, most people in this era have poor ability to distinguish banknotes. They cannot have the eyesight of a professional teller. If you don't pay attention to the order, it is inevitable to be deceived.

The Austrian Empire's banknotes started late, but they introduced a lot of technology from Sweden and France, and the country has never stopped researching and developing banknote anti-counterfeiting technology.

However, since 1844, counterfeit currency has always been an insurmountable obstacle for the financial system. The Austrian Empire has always cracked down on counterfeit currency very hard, but there are more and more counterfeit currency, and the technology is getting better and better.

These counterfeit coins have exceeded the limits of personal ability and look more like they were made by professionals using specialized machines.

After investigating that the counterfeit coins came from Bavaria, Austrian agents quickly discovered the true source of the counterfeit coins - France.

Behind the scenes, there are government officials and financial bosses backing them, so these counterfeiting groups can update in real time to the point where they are almost as real as fakes.

Soon they were joined by the British, who targeted areas of the colony that were more difficult to control.

In the face of such a national-level counterfeiting group, conventional methods are obviously useless. Giving up food due to choking is not a long-term solution, so new anti-counterfeiting technology is the first choice.

All Franz could think of was special ink and anti-counterfeiting thread. It was not difficult to develop these two technologies, but the difficulty was in their practical application.

In order to prevent anyone from fishing in troubled waters during the war, Franz chose to return the small-denomination anticipatory banknotes to the treasury and replaced them with a large amount of metal currency and large-denomination anticipatory banknotes.

In fact, after Franz takes the throne, a new type of anti-counterfeit currency will be launched, which will definitely give those guys who think they are hiding in the dark a heavy blow.

For the Catholic Church, this ceremony is also a good opportunity to restore the church's influence. After all, it has been a long time since there has been such a pious and powerful monarch.

Of course, there are also people like Fanny Cote and Thalia who came to watch the ceremony with complicated emotions. The former fully recognized the gap between the two parties at the negotiating table in Strasbourg. As a representative of the Duchy of Orleans, she Not even qualified to speak.

The whole meeting was just Austria and France bargaining, and the others could only be spectators at best.

But Fanny Cote still held on to a glimmer of hope before she came, hoping that Franz could announce something at the coronation.

However, she obviously thought too much. The fairy tale was indeed a lie. After all, in reality, Franz could not even decide his own marriage, and Fanny Cote did not have the courage to speak in the hall of mirrors filled with big shots.

From now on, the gap between her and Franz will become wider and wider. Fanny Cote finally understood the words written by the French writer Michel de Montaigne in "Essays".

"The gap between humans is greater than the gap between humans and beasts."

(Later generations often extended it to mean that the gap between humans is greater than the gap between humans and dogs.)

Franz could only express his helplessness at this. The title of saint was too heavy for a woman with only a passionate heart. If Franz doesn't help her, Fanny Cote will be crushed to death by this title sooner or later.

"He is a hero, I am a enemy." This sentence is not wrong. Franz does not like to kill innocent people indiscriminately, but it does not mean that he will let it go.

In Franz's plan, Fanny Cote could regard herself as a patriot, and Franz could quietly complete the support and layout of the Germans in the Duchy of Orleans.

The annuity provided by Franz for the Duchess was enough for her to maintain a decent life. In fact, without the money provided by Franz, the Duchess would have had to borrow money from everywhere.

After Thiers took advantage of Fanny Cote, he had no intention of actually letting a woman enter the government or the army.

Pensions are naturally even less likely. After all, the Orleans Dynasty is in a desperate situation and has plenty of money to spend.

As for the donation from the Duchess, since it is a donation, there is absolutely no reason to return it.

Thiers didn't feel guilty at all about this, and Fanny Cote had finally seen the warmth and coldness of human nature in Franz's words.

Thalia looked at Franz with an indescribable emotion, feeling both relieved that her silly son had finally grown up, and also annoyed at being abandoned by a scumbag.

But Talia is not the kind of person who dwells on the past. She has her own career. After all, she is the principal, and she has a group of children at home who need to be educated by herself.

Franz's father, Archduke Franz Karl, cried bitterly while drinking. No one knew whether he was sad because he drank or drank because he was sad.

(In fact, he is the first in line to succeed, but no one has ever listed him as a candidate.)

Mrs. Sophie was much more resolute. She believed that her child was born extraordinary and would definitely be able to revitalize the family. She was only proud of this.

In the Hall of Mirrors, Franz walked over the steps to Ferdinand I and knelt slowly. The latter made a cross on his chest and spoke as loudly as possible.

"May God bless you."

After saying this, Ferdinand I seemed to have lost all his strength, and then took off his crown and placed it on the tray in Archbishop Rauscher's hand.

It was not that Ferdinand I was unwilling to give up the throne, but that his illness was getting worse and worse, and he had exhausted all his strength just to avoid making mistakes.

"In the name of God, we are witnessing the coronation of a great man, Franz Joseph Karl Ludwig Anton von Habsburg.

Emperor of the Austrian Empire, King of Hungary and Bohemia; King of Dalmatia, Croatia, Slovenia, Galicia and Lodomeria; King of Illyria, Lombardy and Venice;

King of Jerusalem; Duke of Austria; Grand Duke of Tuscany and Krakow; Grand Duke of Lorraine, Salzburg, Styria, Krakow, Duke of Enten, Carniola and Bukovina; Grand Marquis of the Nibelungen;

Count of Moravia; Duke of Upper and Lower Silesia, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Guastalla, Auschwitz and Zator, and Ragusa;

Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, Archbishop of Montenegro, Protector of Western Bosnia and Albania, Restorer of the Allgäu, Defender of the Faith, King of the Romans." Rauscher read out Franz's lengthy titles, but his words were suddenly interrupted by someone shouting in unison.

"Savior of the German nation and Emperor of the German Empire!"

"Long live the Greater German Empire!"