Schönbrunn Palace in Habsburg.

Ernst came to Franz for help.

To be honest, Franz has been busy lately, in addition to the aftermath of the defeat, he has recently had to deal with the vexatious troubles of the Hungarian Magyar nobility.

But Franz still found time to meet with his future niece-in-law.

"Ernst, how do you have time to come to Austria!" Emperor Franz asked.

"Your Majesty, I have come this time in the hope that Austria can support me in recruiting workers in Austria." Ernst confessed.

"You don't have to tell me about this kind of trivial matter!" Franz wondered.

It is an exaggeration to go to the palace to personally tell himself that so many companies in Austria have to report to themselves every day.

"Actually, your majesty, the number of people I am recruiting this time is a little bit more. And I hope that the Austrian government can endorse this recruitment. ”

"How many people are you hiring?" Franz asked curiously, after all, there is no need for the government to intervene if there are few people.

"If you can, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands." Ernst replied without changing his face.

"Ernst, you're kidding! Are you ready to arm an army? It's outrageous that there are so many people! Franz asked incredulously.

Ernst explained in 1510: "Your Majesty, in fact, this is the case, I think you should know that I have a colony in East Africa, and the current economic benefits are not bad, and I can barely make ends meet, and the factor that hinders the development of the colony is the population, because no one wants to go to East Africa to develop, so I recruited a lot of people from Asia, just like the German population of the Austrian Empire, the number of whites in the colony is very small, I think you know what this means!" ”

"So you're trying to recruit Asians from within the Austrian Empire to balance the colonies! Why didn't you recruit people from Prussia? Franz wondered.

How does this make me answer? Ernst complained in his heart, could it be that the Austrian people's cultural level is low, so foolish!

"Actually, Your Majesty." Ernst said stubbornly: "The Prussian army has solved the employment problem of Prussia very well in recent years, so there are few people who choose to go to sea for development, as we all know, the size of the Prussian army is relatively outrageous, so it is difficult to recruit workers in recent years." ”

Of course, Franz didn't believe a word of this nonsense, but he decided to give Ernst a chance: "If you can tell me what makes me happy, I can still support you." ”

Ernst said unhurriedly: "Your Majesty, may I ask if Austria is now being troubled by the nationalists?" ”

Franz nodded: "This is true, especially the Hungarians, who have been making a lot of trouble with the central government of the empire recently!" ”

Ernst asked, "What do you think your Majesty thinks the Magyar nobility of Hungary should rely on to negotiate with the Austrian government?" ”

"Naturally, it is the strength of Hungary, Hungary has a large area and a large population, if the Hungarians become independent, then Austria will also lose its position in Europe, and it is impossible for the empire to give up this place!" Franz said.

"That's right! Your Majesty. Ernst chimed in: "The rise of European nationalism is in fact a conspiracy by Britain and France against your country, and Germans do not account for 30% of your country. ”

"More than 20 percent of the population is German, but 20 percent of the population of Hungary is 10 percent, and there are 10 percent of the Poles, Slavic peoples such as Czechoslovakia and Croatia, and a small number of Romanians and Italians."

The Hungarians alone had the ability to challenge the German nation, let alone the Poles and other Slavic peoples in Galicia. Formerly backed by the entire German region, the Reich was able to suppress these peoples. ”

"But now that the international situation is becoming more and more turbulent, Austria cannot be as powerful as before, and clowns like Italy dare to attack the idea of the territory of the Empire, and once they plot against the Italians in the Empire, Trieste and the southern part of the Empire will be very dangerous."

"The Poles have always been actively seeking support for the restoration of the country in Europe and the United States, but Poland is only a country that exists historically, and what motivates the Poles is the cultural identity shaped by the glorious history of the Polish region."

"But are the Poles really just claiming territory within the territory of the Russians? They are now concentrating on smearing Russia in Europe because they need support, but they will not forget Prussia and Austria in those days. ”

"Even if the Poles in the empire now support the royal family, there is a good saying that we can share happiness and not weal and sorrow. Now they support your rule on the basis of the misery of the Poles in Russia, and they will blame Austria for any day when the Austrian Empire has economic problems. ”

"In addition to this, there are other Slavic peoples in the empire, and now the Russians hate your country because of the Crimean War, and the influence of Russia among the Slavs is obvious to all, and the Ottoman Empire has suffered a lot in the past two years."

……

Franz listened to Ernst's tirade with a frown, and interrupted: "Enough, of course I understand what you mean. ”

Franz got up, put his hands behind his back, looked at the map of the territory of the Austrian Empire, and said in a low mood: "I don't know the many ills of the Empire, but politics is not as easy as you think, Ernst. ”

"Maybe you're young," he said, "young people always have the courage to face adversity, but Austria is so old that a small change can lead to a catastrophe that will kill the Austrian Empire." ”

"Maximino, for example, is very aggressive, and as a result, he has a big heel in Mexico, and he is so competitive that he doesn't want to ask me for help, and I don't know how I'm doing!"

He walked up to Ernst and said with a resolute gaze: "The Austrian Empire was once the hegemon of the European continent, and although it is facing unimaginable difficulties, I think that my own ability cannot solve the problems of Austria, but I still have the ability to support this great country to continue." ”

He turned his back to Ernst and said, "When I am old, the future belongs to you young people, and I believe that you and the younger generations of Austria will use your wisdom to make Austria great again." ”

"Austria is indeed in turmoil because of the nationalists, and the Austrian government itself wants to change that."

"But the pressure we are facing is unimaginable, the aristocracy of the country has far more control over the local area than the central government, and now the problems of the central government of Austria are very thorny, and the finances have been bothering the government to promote Austrian reforms."

Speaking of this, Franz was a little lonely, and said to himself: "I have also tried to learn from my ancestors to promote centralization and strengthen German education among the people. ”

"However, whenever the government made these proposals, the local magnates tried to stop them, and the economic situation of the empire has deteriorated in the past two years, and the government has no spare financial resources to support reforms."

Ernst was certainly aware of these difficulties, Austria did face the problem of difficult transition, and there was no such person in contemporary Austria who could turn the tide.

Franz, for example, was not a radical reformer despite his status as emperor, and his status dictated that the interests of the Habsburgs must be put first.

If he pushes through reforms, it could shake the rule of the Habsburgs, so the royal family will not take the initiative to lead the reforms.

The present Austrian government does not have such a statesman of such ability and unrivalled influence throughout the empire.

Bismarck came out of Prussia next door, and Wilhelm I and successive Prussian monarchs were more virtuous, which laid a good foundation for Prussia, and Bismarck established his personal prestige with the help of war victories and diplomatic achievements.

If Austria at this time could also produce a Bismarck-like figure, then Austria still had a chance, but unfortunately Austria was not a gambler like Prussia and had no spirit of self-innovation.

Of course, Ernst did not come here to help Austria solve political problems, but to get people for the colonies.

"Your Majesty, the question of Austria is indeed tricky, but we can choose to make things more difficult."

Ernst continued: "For example, when I recruit workers in the Reich, I am actually absorbing the unemployed peasants of the Austrian Empire, who have just moved from the countryside to the cities all over the country, and the problem is that the jobs in Austria are obviously not able to absorb so many people. ”

"If these people are not employed, it will exacerbate the social crisis in Austria and make it more difficult to reform. What's more, they will be used by those radical capitalists, after all, they have a criminal record. ”

Franz sighed and said, "Okay, I know your thoughts. ”

"You can recruit workers in the Austrian Empire, as long as you are able, you can recruit as many people as you want, but I want to warn you first, you can't pay attention to the Germans, and if you can overcharge other nationalities, we will not only not oppose it, but also support it."

In this way, the two men tacitly reached a verbal agreement that Austria would reduce the number of other nationalities through Ernst, and Ernst would receive white labor to develop Africa.

We all have a bright future......