April 13, 1866.

Today is the day when the castle of Hohenzollern is completely completed, and Prince Constantine has specially invited some important people of the family to come here to celebrate.

Hohenzollern Castle is the birthplace of the Hohenzollern family and is the spiritual symbol of the family.

The castle was built in the 11th century, and the construction of the castle began in 1100 when the ancestor Bourchad I was made Count of Sauron (between the present-day Upper Neckar, Swabian and Upper Danube). But the old castle was later destroyed.

The castle was fortified and fortified, making it a retreat for the Hohenzollerns from the war. Due to the difficult terrain, this place was once a battleground for the French and Austrians, and there was a brutal battle in which the enemy besieged the castle for nine months and the defenders in the castle starved to death. During the war, the castle was not completed exactly as planned, and was eventually abandoned after several changes of hands.

In 1844, Wilhelm IV, who succeeded to the throne of Prussia, wrote about the fond memories he had made in the castle when he was 19 years old, especially when he looked out at sunset, so it became a dream of his youth.

The current Hohenzollern Castle was rebuilt in 1850 at the joint expense of Prussia and Heshingen, and was not completed until 1867.

However, after Ernst made money from his industry, the Heshingen royal family became more wealthy, so Ernst decided to speed up the construction of the castle.

After consulting with the Prussian royal family, Ernst accelerated the construction of the new Hohenzollern Castle, and the workers worked overtime every day, bringing the castle forward by a year.

At the same time, Ernst bought back the Prussian royal family's ownership of Hohenzollern Castle to 50 percent.

After all, this is his own home, which not only represents the glory of the Hohenzollern family, but also represents the face of the Heixingen lineage.

King Wilhelm I of Prussia, who was worried about the war funds, happened to sell part of the property rights, although the royal funds and state finances were separated, but it was cheaper for the royal family to invest in the construction of the kingdom than those commercial banks to buy national bonds, after all, the second-way dealers also had to charge a handling fee.

……

Today's ceremony for the completion of the castle was attended by prominent figures in the Hohenzollern family, and there were only two people in the Heshingen family: Prince Konstantin and Ernst.

The Prussian royal family sent Crown Prince Frederick (Frederick III, Emperor of the Hundred Days, who ascended the throne after the death of Wilhelm II) because of Wilhelm I's preparations for war. ) to attend the ceremony.

There were also many members of the Sigmaringen line, including Prince Karl Anton and his two sons, the eldest son, Prince Leopold (whose eldest son Leopold became a candidate for the Spanish throne in 1870, and Leopold's question of succession to the Spanish throne was one of the direct causes of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871). ）

As for the youngest son of Prince Karl Anton (future Romanian Emperor Carol I. Speaking of which, it also made Ernst envious, now that he was in Romania, he was about to ascend to the Romanian throne, so he could not attend.

The members of the Hohenzollern family, who are now present, also have a "bright future" for Ernst and Leopold. Leopold had a chance to become king of Spain, but was prevented by the French. Not to mention Ernst, who only had the position of Prince Heshingen to inherit.

Ernst's advantage over Liopold is that it is a colony in East Africa, so in the future, after World War I, Ernst can continue to run East Africa, and poor Leopold's descendants can only eat ancestral products on the European continent.

In this respect, however, the descendants of his younger brother were more pitiful than the Prussian royal family, one losing the Romanian throne and the other losing the German imperial throne, so perhaps Leopold would feel better in this comparison. (Wicked laughs)

Ernst swore that if East Africa developed well in the future, he would pull these relatives along, which was true, for example, the Prussian royal family supported Ernst a lot, otherwise Ernst wanted to get orders for the army, and the arsenal would not be so easy, this is the benefit of a strong family.

As for Ernst's deceased mother, Eugène de Beauharne, the daughter of Eugène de Beauharne, Duke of Leuycheltenberg, Eugène de Beauharne had many children, and the only surviving one is Josephine, the former Queen of Sweden.

These are almost the important relatives of Ernst, and the Hohenzollern family is the real support of Ernst at the moment.

……

“…… The rebuilding of Hohenzollern Castle is a sign that the Hohenzollern family has once again stepped up to a new level, and we hope that he will always stand on German soil with the Hohenzollern family. ”

After Prince Heshingen's speech, there was applause, followed by speeches by Crown Prince Frederick and Prince Karl Anton on behalf of the Prussian royal family and Sigmaringen, respectively.

In the evening, a cocktail party.

"Hey, cousin Leopold, why do you drink alone?" Ernst greeted.

"The main thing is to worry about whether Karl will go well in Romania, after all, Romania is not a good place now, although there is the support of the family, but the painful experience of the previous Romanian Grand Duke shows that the situation in Romania is not stable."

"Don't worry, not to mention Carl's other abilities, the experience of leading the army alone is very good, as long as Carl can get in touch with the Romanian military, those Romanian opponents will definitely not dare to act rashly." Ernst was relieved. There is a basis for this, Karl was in the army for many years and also participated in the Second Schleswig War.

"Well, I hope so! I've heard that Ernst you've been mixing well lately, and it seems that Uncle Konstantin didn't think about letting you develop in the army. ”

When Ernst heard this, he said self-deprecatingly: "Cousin, I don't know anything about military affairs, and I still can't compare with your brothers, so I won't harm the army of the kingdom." ”

"I heard from my father that you have a colony in East Africa, is it going well?" Leopold digressed.

"Haha, East Africa really can't be compared with Europe, now I'm doing some agricultural planting there, and in the future I will produce some raw materials for my own factory, but it's just a small business." Ernst said with a smile.

"What are you talking about?" Crown Prince Frederick walked over.

Crown Prince Frederick was the oldest of the three, and both he and Leopold had been in the Prussian army, and had only met Ernst a few times, so they knew very little about Ernst.

"Your Royal Highness, Ernst and I were talking about some small things, but I heard that Ernst had developed a colony in East Africa, so I was a little curious." Leopold said.

"The colonies are indeed a good place, and the British rely on the huge colonies to maintain maritime supremacy. It is a pity that Germany has never been unified, and the opportunity for overseas expansion has been wasted, and now those rich colonies have been divided between Britain and France, and the rest is probably just scraps. Crown Prince Frederick sighed.

Taking advantage of the situation, Ernst said: "Therefore, our current energies should be more focused on the completion of the unification of the German regions, and only a strong Germany can compete with those great powers." ”

Leopold and Frederick nodded in agreement.

Frederick said: "This is the destiny of Prussia, and it is our duty to complete the unification of the German regions." ”

This sentence was murderous, and it was obviously aimed at the Austrian Empire, and it seemed that the Prussian top brass had agreed to deal with the Austrian Empire with all its might.