Just when the two brothers, Franz and Ferdinand, were "shouting for warmth, brothers, friends and brothers", I don't know what luck Franz had today, and another uninvited guest came to the door.

"Your Majesty, Grand Duke, His Highness Ernst is here again." Maid Messenger reports.

Under normal circumstances, the servants and guards saw that Ernst was directly allowed to go, because Ernst came to Schönbrunn Palace so often that Franz gave him this privilege, but Ferdinand was also there today, so the servants chose to inform him first.

"Hmm!" Franz and Ferdinand glanced at each other at the same time, today is really a coincidence, it is said that Ferdinand, Ernst's future father-in-law, has never met Ernst, but Princess Charlotte (Queen Carlotta) has seen Ernst once, but Princess Charlotte, who was eager to reunite with Ferdinand at that time, did not communicate with Ernst too much.

"Let him in!" Franz asked his brother.

The ill-intentioned Franz was eager to see Ernst's reaction when he saw Ferdinand, and the slightly raised corners of his mouth betrayed his inner thoughts.

"Humph! Call that boy in, I'm going to see if he's as good as my Karina. ”

As soon as Franz waved his hand, the servant immediately understood: "Yes, Your Majesty!" ”

……

How is today different from the past? Ernst stood outside the palace gate and waited, in the past he could enter generously, but now he was stopped, could it be that Franz had something important to do or met some big man? I haven't heard of any big names coming to Austria!

The more I thought about it, the more I felt a little uneasy, and Ernst felt as if he had become a prey. I haven't had this sense of crisis since I awakened the memories of my past life.

My instinct told Ernst that I might as well go back today! Anyway, it doesn't matter what I'm talking about, and it's the same if I come back tomorrow, and I'm about to retreat and run away, when the servant has arrived.

"Your Highness Ernst, Your Majesty invites you over."

"Oh, good!"

Ernst complied.

"By the way, is there a special person in the palace today?"

"There shouldn't be any special people!" The servant replied, "How can there be a special person!" This is Schönbrunn Palace, as for Ferdinand, it naturally doesn't count, after all, the Austrian Archduke is still a member of the royal family, and he used to live here, so it definitely doesn't count! This is how the servant understands it.

"That's good, I'll go in first." Ernst said, and walked inside.

……

As soon as he stepped through the door with his left foot, Ernst immediately felt two pairs of eyes staring at him, and he fixed his eyes on the sofa next to Franz, who was usually only Franz, and there was one more person.

Ernst looked at it, but Ferdinand watched it closely.

"I'll go!" Ernst's heart was cold, and in an instant, the temperature in the room seemed to drop by several degrees, "Isn't this Archduke Ferdinand!" How is he here. ”

Ernst recognized his father-in-law at a glance, in fact, Ernst had known Ferdinand in his previous life, after all, the picture of Ferdinand lying in the coffin board was too impressive.

(Picture, readers who are less courageous should not click on it to view.) ）

Anyone who knows a little about the history of Mexico can't avoid Massimiliano I anyway, after all, if there is a ranking of foreign monarchs who have been executed in recent times, after Charles I of England, Louis XVI of France, and Nicholas II of Tsar, Massimiliano I must be on the list.

In this life, since Ernst became engaged to Princess Karina, he naturally paid more attention to Ferdinand, and he had seen several photos and portraits alone.

Although Ferdinand didn't know why he shaved his beard, Ernst still recognized him at a glance, Ferdinand without a beard looked very energetic, and neat, this habit was actually developed by Ferdinand in East Africa, East African immigrants originally had fewer beards (the population as a whole is relatively young), and Ernst also repaired them when he immigrated to East Africa. East Africans have to trim their hair and beard once a month, after all, if you don't pay attention to hygiene, you can really die in East Africa, and the Hexingen Daily Commodities Company happens to produce razors and barber shears, and the cost is also very low, so the promotion is very thorough.

Ferdinand has lived in East Africa for so long, and he has learned from East Africans to shave their beards, and this is indeed a lot more convenient in East Africa, the temperature in Mombasa, Dar es Salaam and now Bagamoyo where he has lived is relatively high, most of the time above 30 degrees, think about such a hot day, thick hair and beard plus sweat is indeed sloppy.

"You're Ernst?" Ferdinand, who had taken a closer look, spoke first.

"Yes, father-in-law." Ernst immediately became well-behaved and alert.

Franz covered his mouth and snickered unkindly, although he was touching his beard, this was the first time he had seen Ernst like this.

"You're going to cling, Karina isn't married yet!" Ferdinand said.

"This, father-in-law, the family doesn't speak two words, there are still three years, and we will be a family at that time." Although Ernst had lived two lifetimes, it was the first time he had seen his father-in-law, so he was a little unskilled in coping.

The two of them then began to have a question-like conversation, and Franz was a little embarrassed on the side.

……

"By the way, I went to the shipyard to see the small gunboats you purchased, and the performance is not bad, but I think you should also build a shipyard in East Africa, not to mention that there is no money, just build some small fishing boats first, anyway, the Sultanate of Zanzibar next door has a ready-made one, you can copy its shipyard, it may not be technically comparable to European shipyards, it is still possible to fish along the coast, and it is also convenient to cultivate a group of fishermen with good water characteristics, and it will be more convenient for the navy to expand in the future." Ferdinand proposed.

In addition to considering the navy soldiers, another point is that it is highly feasible, and there is no need to spend even money, and it is enough to allocate some immigrants to the Sultanate of Zanzibar to learn the technology, anyway, the Zanzibarians dare not have an opinion.

"I'll arrange it, but why don't you propose it to my father when you're in East Africa?"

"I only remembered it recently, so what are you doing at Schönbrunn Palace?" Ferdinand asked.

"Of course I have something important!"

Franz finally spoke: "You won't come again to help!" ”

"That's not it, I'm here to deliver information this time."

"What information?" Franz asked curiously.

"This shouldn't be much important information, or rather a prediction of what I predicted." Ernst said: "The Franco-Prussian should be about to fight." ”

"Don't you dare to talk nonsense?" Franz and Ferdinand were both excited, especially Franz who asked, "Did Wilhelm I tell you?" ”

Ernst shook his head.

"I guess!"

"Guess!" The two couldn't believe it, now is the time for a joke?

"But I'm not talking nonsense, this is the result of my feedback in the German enterprise, Prussia is preparing for a war, and it is self-evident who Prussia has the most tense relations with at the moment, it is impossible to fight Austria again!"

In fact, Ernst is just talking nonsense, so far the Prussian army has not mobilized at all, nor has it ordered supplies on a large scale from Ernst's enterprises, and the feedback from Ernst enterprises is completely false.

"If it is true, it is indeed possible, and if Prussia's military changes are in preparation for the unification of South Germany, it is indeed possible to run into France." Ferdinand said.

"That's right! The French could not have made Prussia so simple. "They will take themselves as a gift, to give Prussia the status of a great power," Ernst added psychologically.

"You have come here to warn us of Prussian ambitions to rule South Germany? In fact, now Austria-Hungary could not do anything. Franz said.

When this sentence was spoken, Franz's tone became a little low, Austria-Hungary really can't do anything, if Austria-Hungary has actual actions, Prussia will have public opinion, a crime of collusion with the French cannot be escaped, then the hearts of the people in the German region will be all to Prussia, and the Hungarian government in Austria-Hungary may also try its best to pull back, because South Germany is taken by Prussia, which is beneficial to them, and they do not want to see Austria or the Germans strengthened.

Can't really do anything? Wrong, Ernst had something to do with Austria-Hungary at the moment.

"Actually, Your Majesty, the success or failure of the German region has nothing to do with the current Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the real enemy of the empire is no longer Prussia! Your real enemies ......" Ernst paused deliberately.

"France? Russia? You're here to be a lobbyist for William I? Franz suspects that the surname Hohenzollern gives Franz reason to believe that Wilhelm I had tried to persuade him not to act rashly.

"You also think too highly of me, William I can't let me be a lobbyist, and besides, what my character is, you don't know, and Your Majesty, you are too extreme!" Ernst finally stopped pretending for so long, and the image of the past in Schönbrunn Palace reappeared.

"What about Prussia, like you said, Austria-Hungary can't do anything, I still have to be a lobbyist, and the real enemy of Austria-Hungary is Prussia's ally, the Kingdom of Italy, which is about to be united."

"Italy?" Franz and Ferdinand were a little confused by Ernst's turn of events.

"Isn't it? Now Italy has completely gotten rid of the former state of domination by Austria and France, if Italy takes advantage of the Franco-Prussian war to unify the Papal States, then Austria-Hungary in the Mediterranean will really have to look at the face of the Italians to live! ”

"Moreover, Italy unified the Papal States, and then I saw all his territorial claims, and southern Austria was good, and there were many Italians."

As for whether it can prevent Italy from annexing the Papal States in the future, it depends on what Austria-Hungary does.

(End of chapter)