January 22, 1901

On this day, a big event happened in the world, especially for Europe.

Queen Victoria, the grandmother of Europe and the great queen who single-handedly created the empire on which the sun never sets, has passed away.

She is the second-longest reigning monarch in British history, reigning for 64 years. She was the first British monarch to be addressed by the title "Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India".

The 64-year period was the most powerful period in Britain when the so-called "sun never sets". The period of her reign is known in British history as the "Victorian era". During this period, Britain intensified its aggression and expansion, establishing and occupying countless colonies around the world. The past 60 years coincided with the transition of British liberal capitalism from its infancy to its peak and then to monopoly capitalism, with unprecedented economic and cultural prosperity, and Queen Victoria became a symbol of British peace and prosperity.

At the same time, she is also the grandmother of Europe, and it is precisely because of her that she has brought a century of peace and economic development space to Europe, and completely opened up the gap with the East.

Princess Victoria became Empress Frederick III of Germany, one of her sons was Kaiser Wilhelm II, the German Emperor who started World War I, and one of her daughters was Queen of Greece;

The second child was King Edward VII of England, who later ascended the throne, and one of his daughters was the queen of King Haakon VII of Norway;

The third child, Alice, became the princess of Louis IV, Prince of Hesse in southwestern Germany, one of her daughters was the empress of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Tsarist Russia, and the other daughter was the maternal grandmother of Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II in the 21st century;

Three other daughters, two of whom were princesses of Prince Badenburg in southern Germany and Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. There was also a duke who married Scotland and later became the Governor of Canada. The sons were married to princesses and lords from Denmark, Russia, and Germany.

Her funeral was thus unprecedentedly grandiose, with more than six kings alone, most of them European powers, including Emperor Franz.

The fact that the Habsburgs were a little more distant from Queen Victoria than others did not make the Habsburgs ignore the death of their ancestor.

Ernst also received a letter from Vienna, in which Archduke Ferdinand clarified the relationship and asked Ernst if he wanted to visit London.

Considering the situation in Moravia at this time, Ernst agreed to go after a while, after all, Britain is now the world's largest power, and an economic center like London can give Ernst a lot of inspiration.

The Earl's nature was naturally busy, and the servants in the castle were in a mess, and from time to time Bert's reprimands came from below, which made Ernst shake his head helplessly.

The land was largely cleared, and the time for spring ploughing was approaching, which was supposed to be an important time, but something like that would have been settled by Massena, and it was of little significance for Ernst to remain in Moravia.

In fact, there is another big event hidden behind Victoria's death, which happened half a month ago on January 1, when Australia was founded.

After more than 100 years of colonial rule, she suddenly broke away from the country and established her own country, and no one knew what the recently deceased Queen Victoria had in mind.

Ernst understands that Australia's reverence for the British royal family even in the 21st century may be due to the current practice of Queen Victoria.

This is a wise and hands-off woman, and in terms of political long-term vision, she may be able to rank in the top 10 in history.

Of course, this is all just Ernst's own speculation, and it is not true at all, but it does not matter what the facts are, after all, it does not have a lot to do with Ernst.

If living in Victoria's heyday, maybe Ernst needed to be a little more cautious, but now Ernst needs to care too much?

Edward VII may have been a wise monarch, but perhaps he was far inferior to his mother, and England would not have begun to decline at his hands.

"How's the gift going?"

Traveling to England, Ernst naturally needed to visit the nobles there. Gifts were indispensable, because it was a matter of the reputation of the Habsburgs, of the Count of Moravia.

"Everything is in place, but are there really no problems with these gifts?"

Looking at the porcelain, calligraphy and painting gifts from the Orient on the gift list, Bert seemed very hesitant, these things will really be recognized by those British aristocrats?

The answer is of course yes, calligraphy and painting may be worse, but porcelain and bronze are quite well made, and can even be called superb, if this can no longer attract the hobby of those nobles, Ernst has nothing to say.

Wouldn't it make Ernst feel guilty about giving looted goods from the East to the English aristocracy?

Guilt is naturally there, even if Ernst is already a member of the Habsburg family in this life, even if he no longer has the slightest connection with that ancient country, the blood of the Nahan family from the depths of his soul still has an influence.

But things are divided into many aspects, and isn't it also a kind of cultural invasion to give cultural relics from the Orient to the British aristocracy? At the same time, the East is about to experience a great war, and it is difficult to preserve these things in the East, so it is better to stay in Britain, which is basically free of suffering.

After the 21st century, the rich from the East may spend a lot of money to buy it back, but it is better than having these historical artifacts destroyed in the smoke of gunpowder.

Of course, Ernst is not without his own ideas, after all, man does not destroy heaven and earth for himself.

If calligraphy and painting antiques from the Orient had formed a market in England, Ernst's wealth would undoubtedly have doubled or even tenfold, and he had many precious oriental relics.

Wang Xizhi's characters and Wu Daozi's paintings, these national treasure-level Ernst will be kept, and the others are not impossible to sell, provided that the price needs to be enough to impress Ernst.

Ernst had decided that he would bring a large number of calligraphy and painting artifacts with him to England this time, which could be regarded as a way out for himself, in case ...... In the event of the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he could live a carefree and wealthy life in England.

Carefree may be a misnomer, but there's nothing wrong with living a rich life.

With this in mind, Bert had everything ready, and Ernst went to Claricie with a small number of servants and guards to prepare for the train to France, and from there to London by boat.

PS: Thank you for the gothic swastika warrior, xiaotang246, and the tips of the classmates who can't get up, and there is a change tonight!