The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1249 Masquerade
Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna.

A grand masquerade ball with the theme of the changing of the four seasons is being prepared, which makes Franz feel strange. After all, in theory, doing so would pose a safety hazard.

Moreover, masquerade balls always remind people of the bad practices of the old aristocracy. Although there is only a mask between them, it is possible to infinitely magnify the filth and dirtiness in some people's hearts.

Similarly, masquerades were often used in conspiracies. Austrians usually did not hold banquets like the French, but they liked to use masquerades as a cover.

Now the Austrian imperial family is doing this, which makes people feel a little puzzled. Franz does not quite understand Mrs. Sophie's behavior, and does not think that the latter's political sensitivity is so low.

Then there is only one truth, and caring too much will lead to confusion.

Franz calculated that Maximilian was already 17 years old and his sister Maria Anna was already 14 years old, both of them were old enough to get married.

But Franz still frowned. It was too unreliable to get to know each other through a masquerade ball.

What Franz didn't know was that in the eyes of Madame Sophie, he was an unreliable man, and in Madame Sophie's stereotype, unreliable men always liked to find love in such unreliable occasions.
However, Madame Sophie never expected that Franz would directly send a substitute for the masquerade ball she had carefully planned.

In fact, Franz had no interest in this, and because it was a masquerade, the risk of the double being exposed was minimized.

The young nobles in Vienna had a lot of fun, and it did create opportunities for some of them to fall in love freely.

But Madame Sophie was very unhappy. Franz sent a substitute, and her second son Maximilian was even more dismissive of such things. Maria Anna was her only daughter and was reluctant to let her go, so she did not attend.

As for the youngest son Victor, he is only 7 years old and a little shy. On the contrary, Ludwig, who is already engaged, let himself go after putting on the mask.
Mrs. Sophie sighed. It seemed that everything needed to be considered carefully.

Franz had never considered changing his marriage partner. In fact, marrying Russia was the most advantageous option for the Austrian Empire at the moment.

Franz has linked the two countries together in terms of politics, economy and military, so some people must think that blood ties are useless. After all, the relationship of interests is the most stable relationship.

This has to say about the profoundness of the Chinese language. Is it possible that blood ties are also a kind of interest relationship, but they are also more than just an interest relationship?

"Since ancient times, kings have been mostly unfaithful, and the most ruthless are the imperial families." However, Nicholas I was not a typical king. He did not even take the required courses for a king.

Blood ties may be meaningless to most monarchs, but this may not be the case for Nicholas I.

And the so-called bond is not a rope that can tie a person to death. It is enough to make decision makers hesitate or even reconsider.

If the relationship of interest was really so strong, there wouldn't be so many coincidences in the world.

However, Franz was not in a hurry to get married, and the issue of heirs was not a problem in his eyes. After all, Franz still had a very long life ahead of him.

Instead, he felt a little irritated by the events in Spain. With the help of the former Queen Regent, Franz's third brother Ludwig became engaged to Princess Luisa Fernanda of Spain.

The initial negotiations resulted in the wedding being held in the Austrian Empire, and the Habsburgs would not need the Bourbon dowry.

However, due to tradition and consideration for the face of the two families, the Austrian Imperial Government gave Princess Luisa Fernanda a gift of two million florins.

The purpose of this money was to allow her to buy a dowry for herself so as not to appear too shabby. However, what Franz never expected was that the Queen Regent actually took the money away and ran away to Cuba.

Although the Spanish Civil War lost the support of Britain and France, the fighting between the weaklings was just a low-level one, but it did not mean it was not brutal.

It has long been common for both sides of the civil war to slaughter each other, and their wars have refreshed the understanding of the bottom line of humanity time and time again.

Queen Regent Maria Christina was neither a military genius nor a calculating politician.

To put it bluntly, she was just a small figure who appeared on the historical stage with a special identity in a special period.

Maria Christina hated her husband, hated her two daughters by him, and hated war even more.

So Maria Christina fled directly to Cuba with her lover. Two million florins may not be a huge sum of money in Europe, but in Cuba she was the god of wealth!
This kind of life of luxury and debauchery is what she wants.
However, when Maria Christina left, Austria and Spain were dumbfounded.

The Austrian government had already paid the money, but the Spanish government had not received it. The government officials, headed by Prince Schwarzenberg, firmly opposed giving the Spanish government another gift.

As for the reason.

"They don't deserve it!"

Prince Schwarzenberg roared angrily.

"Your Majesty! The Spanish have gone too far! This is a humiliation to our country! I suggest that we immediately send the navy to occupy Cuba and arrest the former Spanish Queen Regent Maria Christina!"

"That's right, Your Majesty! We should seize Cuba as compensation for the gift money. Cuba's sugar and tobacco are exactly what our country needs. If we can have Cuba as a colony, we can get rid of our dependence on Mexican sugar and tobacco."

There has always been a group of people in the Austrian Empire who are very distrustful of the Mexican government and are eager to get rid of their dependence on Mexican sugar and tobacco.

Given the current scale of Austrian consumption, the sugar beets and tobacco produced by Austria itself are far from enough to fill the gap left by Mexican goods.

"Yes! Cuba has developed for hundreds of years in the hands of the Spanish. It can generate huge profits without a large investment. Our Austrian Empire needs such a colony."

In fact, the official did not say explicitly that, except for a few colonies supported by gold mines, most of the colonies of the Austrian Empire were in a loss-making or semi-loss-making state.

The initial investment in a colony is huge, and if it is not well developed, the maintenance cost will be even more staggering, so the speed of colonization in this era is so slow.

Just imagine if colonies were really as profitable as a bull market, then why couldn't Franz find colonists?

“Some people do business that will cost them their lives, but no one cares about business that will make them lose money.”

Franz's huge annual investment in the colony had long caused dissatisfaction among some officials, but almost no one dared to show it.

If this money was used in Austria, it would be impossible to build countless factories, railways and roads. How much benefit could they get from it?