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

Chapter 1325 Pervasive
The Malades Islands and the Azores Islands were Portugal's cash cows at that time, and Ferdinand II could not even imagine the consequences of losing the two major archipelagos.

Portugal was already badly damaged after the anti-French war and the civil war. Pedro I, who was completely fooled by the British, pushed the radical liberal Aguiar to the forefront.

Aguiar claimed that he wanted to turn Portugal into the Britain of continental Europe. He ordered the dissolution of all knightly orders, expelled almost all religious groups at the time, confiscated church property, and stopped missionary activities in Africa. He was called the "Friar Killer" by some historians.

But few people mention what else Aguiar did and the consequences. His radical measures directly led to the colony becoming a cultural desert and completely shook the foundations of Portugal's rule.

Aguiar forcefully accepted royal properties in the name of helping the country repay its debts, and then sold them to private individuals at prices far below the average market price.

However, due to serious corruption within the government, the national debt increased after all the royal properties were sold out.

Maria II took power and decided to appoint Marquis Sá da Bandeira in order to revitalize Portugal. However, the latter completely destroyed the Portuguese colonial economy and turned the overseas colonies into a rotten wound on the body of the Kingdom of Portugal. Not only did it fail to generate financial income, but it also sucked blood from the mainland.

After that, Maria II began to give in and dismissed Cabral at a critical moment of his reform, causing the reform to fail.

After decades of turmoil, Portugal's domestic and foreign economies have become a mess. Coupled with the fact that the country is highly economically tied to the UK, it has been deeply affected by the economic crisis and there is almost no good place in the entire country.

On the other hand, due to the rapid development of Atlantic trade, the status of the Malades Islands and the Azores Islands rose rapidly. Once the Portuguese royal family lost these two islands, they might not even be able to pay the annuities, so Ferdinand II was so angry.

Did Franz really have any intentions towards these two islands?
In fact, the most taboo in naval warfare is to divide the troops. The Austrian Imperial Navy was not sure that it could defeat the British Navy, so it was impossible to send a fleet to cruise around the archipelago.

But the Austrian Empire did visit these two islands, but its purpose was to fight British pirates.

None of these were important to the British. There was frequent trade in the Atlantic Ocean, and the Malades Islands and the Azores were important nodes on the Atlantic Ocean. It was impossible for the ships of the Austrian Empire not to pass through here.

As long as Fernando II begins to suspect, he will definitely be able to investigate and get the results he wants.

In a rage, Ferdinand II sent 20,000 troops to Olivenza. You should know that there were less than 10,000 residents here. He felt that he had a sure victory and was ready to plant his royal flag in the border area to give the other side a little shock.

Since there was no order to declare war on the Portuguese, the commander on the front line ignored the other side's provocation and simply ordered the soldiers to stay where they were.

It is always good for soldiers to have a rest. No one really likes to risk their lives with others every day.

However, reporters and military priests at the front line recorded it all and sent it back home. There was even a painter who temporarily joined the army and painted an oil painting.

The painter himself probably didn't expect that this painting would be his only work passed down to future generations.

This behavior of the Portuguese did not cause any waves among the Austrian high-level officials, and everyone just thought it was a childish trick.

But when a large amount of graphic and text materials were published in newspapers after simple editing, it immediately caused an uproar and the Austrians felt unprecedented anger.

In people's minds, being provoked by the weak is a shame. The weak must pay the price for insulting the strong, and Portugal must be punished.

It was only then that the Austrian Empire's top officials realized that this was not a joke and was not funny. They were quickly infected by the people's anger.

"War! Your Majesty, in order to solve the problem of the Iberian Peninsula once and for all, we should go to war with Portugal."

Prince Schwarzenberg was somewhat helpless. The war in the Austrian Empire always escalated inexplicably, but the situation was already like this and there seemed no need to stop.

Portugal and Spain were not on the same level at all. Even though the latter was already on the decline, Prince Schwarzenberg did not dare to underestimate it. However, a small country like Portugal that could not even muster an army of 100,000 was really not worth mentioning. Even if there was no war with Spain at this time, it would be necessary to launch a punitive war against Portugal if it dared to provoke.

"That's right! Your Majesty, according to the latest intelligence, the British have landed in Portugal and established an outpost.

We should take the initiative now!"

War Minister Count Tural has always been supportive of war, and this time is consistent with his previous style.

"I object!"

The voice of Count Pilesdorf sounded. As a traditional politician, he naturally couldn't understand the situation in front of him.

“The Spanish War is not over yet, and we should be thinking about how to end it, not starting a new war.

Besides, the Portuguese are humiliating the Spanish, what does this have to do with our Austrian Empire?"

"But those Spaniards are serving in the army of our Austrian Empire."

Count Tural, the Minister of War, retorted.

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"Good God! Count, do you know what you are talking about? This is a matter for the Spanish and Portuguese, and it has nothing to do with the Empire!

Moreover, the British and Portuguese have not declared war on us, and we should avoid escalating the conflict as much as possible.

If you really invade Portugal and destroy the British outpost, how will we end it?

Now all we have to do is end the war and take what is ours back to Austria. Do you understand?"

Although Count Pillersdorff was not the Prime Minister, he felt that he was the Foreign Minister, so he should be the most qualified person in the entire empire to decide Austria's foreign policy besides Franz.

"But the British have been causing trouble for us time and time again. Should we always tolerate them? If the British hadn't been making trouble behind the scenes this time, would the Portuguese dare to provide supplies to the Spanish Republicans?"

Prince Schwarzenberg was a typical Greater Austrian and therefore hated the British very much.

"Do you have any evidence?"

"What more evidence do you need? Did the British set up an outpost in Portugal just to travel? We blocked part of the British fleet outside the Mediterranean, otherwise the combined British fleet would have reached Venice long ago!"

"These are all your guesses, Your Highness. We still have a truce agreement with the British."

"Armistice? What a joke! The rules you think of are actually a means for others to defeat you. We also have an armistice agreement with France. Did the French abide by it?"

In fact, Franz's involvement in the war was somewhat beyond his expectations. He did not expect the British to spend so much money.

However, Franz had plenty of chess pieces in his hands, thanks to the legacy left to him by Franz II - Miguel I, the pretender to the throne of Portugal.