War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Maria went back to face the wall, and Maximilian also felt bored. Only Franz and Ludwig were left on the table, as well as their father, Archduke Franz Karl, and his mother, Madame Sophie.

Ludwig's behavior was unexpectedly boring, and he didn't have much of a child's mind. Because Franz once told him some chicken soup that can help his laziness, the former got stuck in it and couldn't extricate himself.

Even at this banquet, he was reading the book and studying its contents, hoping that one day he could apply what he had learned.

But Ludwig was obviously looking in the wrong direction, because what he had in his hands was a Bible and a Bible exercise book specially written by some professors and magicians to please him.

"Ludwig, you should put the books in your hands away and enjoy delicious food and good family time." Franz advised.

"No, brother. You once said that opening books is beneficial. I know that my talents are not as good as yours, but I believe that hard work can make up for weakness."

To be honest, Franz is not good at preaching. He just hopes that his stupid brother will find the right direction.

"Who said you are not as good as us? You just didn't realize your talent."

"Really?" Ludwig still trusted his eldest brother.

"Yes, you work harder than any of us, so you are a genius who works hard." Franz searched his mind and finally thought of a comforting word.

"A genius who works hard!?" Ludwig couldn't conceal his excitement after hearing this.

"Yes, but I still recommend that you read more books other than the Bible. You need to broaden your horizons. For example, criminal law and national geography are good." Franz said thoughtfully.

"Okay! Brother! I will definitely live up to your expectations." Ludwig answered loudly.

"Well, eat more and pay more attention to your health. Brother, I believe in you." Franz patted Ludwig's shoulder meaningfully, and the latter suddenly felt that the burden on his shoulders was heavier.

Ludwig finally put down his book and began to eat properly.

Archduke Franz Karl had already drank several bottles of wine and two large bowls of soup, and was rubbing his belly on his seat.

Mrs. Sophie admired the beautiful feathers on the great auk while tasting the delicacies made from its meat.

In fact, in Franz's eyes, this precious feather is not even as good as the tail feathers of a parrot or peacock.

However, the saying that things are rare and valuable is especially true in the luxury goods industry. At this time, the wild auks may have become extinct.

Historically, on July 3, 1844, on Fire Island near Iceland, the last pair of great auks were discovered and brutally killed by two fishermen while they were incubating their eggs. The last egg was accidentally trampled to pieces, completely cutting off the rest of the world. The future of race.

However, there were still thirty-six alive in Vienna at this time, and Franz divided them into two groups and raised them separately to prevent some uncontrollable accidents. In fact, in addition to the great auk, he also collected many rare and exotic animals, such as moa.

Franz sent people to collect these huge birds that were once all over New Zealand for many years before finding two pairs. However, due to the uncertainty of shipping, he did not choose to have them transported back to Vienna. Instead, he placed one pair in Chenla and the other pair in Nanming.

The moa is named after its huge body, which actually means huge and terrifying bird in English. The average height of this guy can reach 3 meters, which is 1 meter taller than the current ostrich, and the weight can exceed 250 kilograms. It is a real "behemoth".

However, the combat effectiveness of creatures in Oceania is generally not high. Although this "behemoth" has strong legs, it is not good at running.

The huge beak is not used for fighting, but is used as an "excavator" to dig out tree roots and crack nuts.

Its main diet is plants and insects, but it will also attack small rodents and snakes they can find.

This native species in Oceania is very stupid. They will not run away when they see animals smaller than themselves. They are huge and have delicious meat, so they quickly became one of the main sources of meat for the Maori people.

The subsequent indiscriminate killing by European colonists was the direct cause of its demise, because their hunting rate far exceeded the reproduction rate of moa.

Fortunately, some remote Maori villages still preserved several pairs of moa for sacrificial purposes. The explorers sent by Franz exchanged for two pairs of moa at the price of thirty guns each.

Because the locals were not interested in currency, but the continuous invasion of the British led to an urgent need for firearms.

These moa were originally dedicated to the Maori gods, and the Austrians were willing to use their guns in exchange for what they regarded as the will of the gods, so they readily accepted it.

(The Maori believe in polytheism.)

In fact, the explorers felt that their business was doing poorly, because these giant "ostriches" did not seem to be worth so many guns.

And moa are actually not difficult to capture, because these birds are huge and always walk blatantly on the plains, often in groups.

At the same time, moas, like other birds, have phototaxis. Once the light is blocked by black cloth, they will become quiet and easy to control.

They all felt that they could catch the moa on their own if they had the chance, but the war between the Maori and the British in 1843 shut up these conceited explorers.

In the "Wairau River Massacre", the Maori not only defeated the British, but also ate all the British prisoners they captured. This allowed Western powers to experience the so-called "indigenous" terror for the first time.

In fact, the Maori were able to fight more smoothly than in history, thanks to the guns and bullets provided by the "great internationalist" His Royal Highness Archduke Franz.

The two pairs of moa obtained from the transaction were sent to Chenla and Nanming respectively. Both places were deeply influenced by East Asian Confucian culture. This ugly and huge bird was worshiped by local residents as the legendary phoenix. Worship.

After all, who else could explain why this bird grew so huge? Of course, how could this stump the smart Nanming officials?

They immediately began to quote scriptures and named the moa as the national bird "Suzaku", indicating that it was an auspicious sign from heaven to help the Ming Dynasty unify Southeast Asia.

According to legend, Suzaku is the divine beast in charge of Lihuo in Nanming, and is a more advanced being than the Phoenix.

Although this statement is outrageous, the entire Southern Ming Dynasty, from officials to people, firmly believes in it. Only Zhu Qiongying knows that this is just one of Franz's "gifts".

There is also a legend about the phoenix circulating in the Chenla area, and this thing was brought by the church, so the locals started a localized development.

The moa was directly regarded as the guardian beast, and those fanatical believers even forced the nobles and royal families to kneel down and worship it.

This outrageous result did not exceed Franz's expectation, but was part of his calculation. Nanming's commotion in Nanyang is getting louder and louder, and the first people to be unsettled are naturally the Manchu and Qing officials.

So immediately there was a proposal to organize a "Southern Conquest Army" to massacre the remnants of the Ming Dynasty in one fell swoop. But they soon encountered a problem, that is, there was an ocean between them.

But how can it be rare to live in a Manchu Qing official who is rich and educated? Someone proposed using barbarians to control Ming Dynasty, which immediately gained widespread support. This led to the first Battle of Kalimantan.

There will be an extra update tomorrow, that's it, I have no energy today.

Also, if you want to watch the plot directly, you should watch me write something else first.