A month after the Ruhr coal workers' strike, German society has returned to calm. Reforms in various fields are also being discussed and implemented. State-owned enterprises and Hong Kong Company, a subsidiary of Yochen, have started to experiment with a new work and wage system, and the response has been positive. May 1 was designated as a holiday for the workers, and under the influence of government propaganda agencies, the workers regarded it as a "great victory" for the proletariat. Since then, the aftermath of the strike has completely dissipated, and German society has re-entered the fast lane of development. Minerals and oil workers, you ask, in Cameroon? How is it possible for African natives to be treated in the same way as German citizens?

Not only is Germany developing smoothly, but Jochen's own industry is also thriving. After a year of initial investment, the production of gold and diamond mines in Cameroon is basically on track, and the output is slowly increasing, and the transition from input to output is just around the corner. The exploitation of oil is also very smooth, and the erected mines have basically produced oil, and now what we need to do is to speed up the construction of supporting facilities and expand the scale of production. And because of the good prospects, it was easy for Jochen to get a loan from the bank, so that he no longer had to take money from the royal treasury, but operated completely according to the business process.

Not only that, but there was good news from the expedition team that visited German East Africa. Under the auspices and at the request of Jochen, the expedition focused on the exploration of the eastern and southern parts of Lake Victoria in Tanganyika (present-day Tanzania) in German East Africa, as well as the indeterminate greenstone belts in the southern and southwestern parts of Tanganyika, where gold belts were discovered, and these areas were also captured by Jochen at a fairly low price, and mining began to be carried out, Tanganyika's gold reserves were much higher than those of Cameroon, if it were not for Cameroon's proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, Jochen wants to give priority to the navy to have a foothold here, and Cameroon's oil resources are extremely important, so he can make more money by digging for gold in Tanganyika first. Tanganyika has proven gold reserves of up to 840 tons in its previous life, with an estimated total resource reserve of 1,500 tons, and most of the minerals are concentrated at a depth of about 200 meters, and mining is relatively simple. Although the gold mines were in Jochen's hands, in order to accelerate the development of German East Africa, a large number of kimberlite pipes in northwestern Tanganyika were used to attract German investment. The nickel-cobalt sulphide deposit to the west of Lake Victoria has a large associated copper deposit. The area was bought by the BHS-Santhohofen Machinery and Mining Company, which was founded in 1563 A.D. and started in the iron ore mining industry, so it had considerable mining capacity and did not have to worry about the sale of ore.

While the German industry was rejoicing, Jochen was married. Except for a few Junker aristocrats who still have a slight opinion on this marriage, most of them still agree with this marriage. The Austro-Hungarian strata showed great interest and concern for this marriage that could promote the relationship between the two countries, and the nobles who knew the inside story were even more gratified that they had sacrificed the free love of Her Royal Highness the princess and hugged the thigh of the German Empire, and sang praises to the royal family for a while.

At the beginning of June 1889, the Hohenzollerns signed a marriage contract with the Habsburgs. It is unknown whether it was to make up for his debt to his daughter, but His Majesty Franz Joseph I expressed his willingness to provide Mary with a dowry of 1 million thalers (Note 1), equivalent to 3 million marks, compared to 50,000 Gulden silver coins (Note 2), equivalent to 90,000 marks, when Elizabeth married to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In addition, a pair of jewelry, costumes, and jewelry will be prepared for Mary to get married. The Hohenzollern family was not stingy, and for the marriage of their only son, His Majesty Frederick III expressed his willingness to pay a gift of 5 million marks, and gave Mary 50,000 florin coins after the marriage (Note 3) as an "early morning gift" in the European royal tradition. Mary, on the other hand, received an annuity of 300,000 marks per year after her marriage, including a possible period of widowhood, an amount determined by the Prussian Parliament and the same amount that Empress Victoria had received when she married His Majesty Frederick III.

On June 29, Mary, accompanied by Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth, boarded a German family welcome train and departed from Vienna for Berlin. As the train left the Austro-Hungarian border, Mary looked out the window and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. The German personnel thought that this was the future crown princess's sadness about leaving her hometown, so they comforted her, emphasizing that it was convenient for Germany and Austria to communicate, and it was also very convenient to go back and forth if Her Royal Highness Marie was homesick. However, Joseph I and Empress Elizabeth knew that this was their daughter's sacrifice for their dead love, so they asked the German personnel to retreat and began to comfort their daughter. Empress Elizabeth can't blame her husband for sacrificing her daughter's happiness or anything at this time, and can only comfort the German crown prince is a very outstanding young man, and if life really doesn't go well, she can go back to Austria-Hungary, and even go to her side to stay away from the palace with her mother and daughter, etc. And Joseph I could only be speechless when he heard these words from his wife.

On the morning of July 1, the train arrived in Leipzig, where Jochen, who was the greeter, was also waiting, and Mary could only squeeze out a smile in the face of her future husband, and then got off the train to show her demeanor on the red carpet, fulfilling her obligations as the future crown princess of the German Empire. After a tedious welcoming ceremony, Joseph I placed Mary's hand on Jochen's hand and instructed him to treat his daughter well. After the wedding ceremony, everyone boarded the bus again and headed for Berlin.

In the afternoon, the train arrived in Berlin, and all the personnel were driven to the palace under the costumed cavalry of the 1st Imperial Guards Hussar Regiment, although Jochen had thought of using his Daimham limousine numbered 4 as a wedding car, but this idea was firmly rejected by His Majesty Emperor Frederick III and Her Royal Highness Queen Victoria, so Jochen could only travel to Charlottenburg Palace in the royal carriage. The road where the carriage would lead to Guò was already crowded with Germans, who held flowers and waved flags to greet the Crown Princess and allies of the Austro-Hungarian Emperor and Empress.

The welcoming ceremony at Charlottenburg Palace was even more tedious and lengthy. Jochen wore a navy gown, while Mary wore a snow-white wedding dress and received blessings from relatives and friends and nobles of both countries. Then I took Mary to talk cordially with the guests and introduce each other, and the guests were also getting to know each other and deepening their relationship.

Then, in full view of everyone, Frederick III presented his daughter-in-law with a crown symbolizing the German Crown Princess, while Empress Victoria presented him with sumptuous jewelry as a gift.

The next day, it is the traditional ceremony of the bride passing through the Brandenburg Gate. When the motorcade reached the main entrance of the Guò Brandenburg Gate, the crowd burst into cheers. However, the inside of the carriage at this time was not as cheerful as it was outside.

Unlike the day before, when Jochen and Joseph I were in the same car, and Mary and Queen Elizabeth were in the same car, Jochen was in the same car with his wife. Although the crown prince and the crown princess frequently smiled and waved to the people outside. But Jochen could see that Mary was smiling reluctantly.

"You can see you're not happy." Yochen thought about it, but decided to spread it out first.

"Why do I have to be happy because I'm married to the Crown Prince of the German Empire?" Hearing Yochen's question, Mary finally put away the smile on her face and responded lightly.

"Maybe I'm not the husband you'd expect, but I think we got along fairly well in Vienna. Even if you are against this marriage, I hope that at least we will not be cold like enemies. Jochen sighed.

"You're not angry with me for such an attitude? You should know that I didn't marry you of my own free will. Mary was surprised by Jochen's bland reaction, and it was unexpected that she would be angry or embarrassed.

"This is a political marriage, you understand this, and I understand this. But what makes me different from you is that I am not against political marriage. In addition, I don't hate you, and I appreciate your cheerfulness and liveliness, and as long as you can play the role of the German Crown Princess, and the future German Empress, I don't mind what kind of attitude you have towards me. Looking at Mary's stunned expression, Jochen smiled and continued, "It's just that I think we've lived together for a long time, and it's not a good choice for you to get along with me with a confrontational mentality." No matter how much they try to hide it, there will be news of the breakdown of the relationship between the German crown prince and the crown princess, which is not good news for Germany and Austria-Hungary. I can give you time to change your mood and adjust to the change of identity, and I won't force you to do anything, but you should understand that the empire needs an heir, and this heir must be you and my children. ”

"Uh...... Well...... I didn't think of it...... I'm sorry, I understand my mission, it's only for a while...... I need time. Ever since she agreed to the marriage, Mary had known that there were some things that could not be avoided, but she was a little surprised that Jochen could be so honest.

"Of course, time is the best medicine to heal the pain, and you have time to adjust. So don't keep a straight face now, Imperial Crown Princess, and show your demeanor to your subjects. Jochen then continued to smile and wave to the window. And Mary finally stopped smiling so hard at the window.

On the third day, the wedding ceremony was held at the Berlin Cathedral.

15,000 candles were lit in the church, and the hall was as bright as day, and the jewels worn by all the nobles who qualified for the wedding shone brighter than usual.

In the melodious chant sung by the choir, the two sides exchanged wedding rings, marking Mary's official becoming the crown princess of the German Empire and the crown princess of the Kingdom of Prussia.

Then the newlyweds came to the main entrance of the church, stood on the stairs in front of the main entrance, and waved to the people gathered below. As the twilight fell, people were excited to see their crown prince smiling and the generous crown princess standing side by side, and people sent their blessings to the most important couple in the empire.

At night, with Jochen's assurances that nothing would happen, the two shared a bed, and the two fell silent, and then fell into a deep sleep. At least for a long time, the two will have to maintain this peculiar relationship.

Note: Thaler is a collective term for silver coins that were widely popular in Central Europe at the end of the 15th century, and in 1753, Bavaria and Austria began to use Taler, after which a large number of German Confederations joined the Thaler system. After the Austro-Prussian War, Austria withdrew from the German Confederation to establish the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and began to replace Thyler with the Rhine shield in 1754, but Thaler was still in circulation, and it was not until 1892 that the Austro-Hungarian krona began to replace the Rhine shield. The ratio to huàn is generally 1 thaler = 3 marks, in addition, there is also a gold coin called king thaler is also popular in Germany, 1 king thaler gold content is about 4 grams of gold. However, when it is generally said that thaler refers to silver coins.

Note 2: The silver Goulden coin is also one of the most common silver coins in early Germany, and 1 Goulden silver coin is about 1.8 marks.

Note 3: The gold florin coin, like King Theller, is a gold coin in circulation in Germany, and the gold content of 1 florin is about 3.5 grams.