Christmas
As the most important festival in the European world, it is natural not to be sloppy. Didn't you see that the officers and soldiers of the Papal Empire were all in a hurry to come back for the festival
Franz held a Christmas dinner in the palace as usual, and invited a group of people to the banquet.
This is the first Christmas after Franz's accession to the throne. Everyone attaches great importance to it. The people who are invited and those who can arrive are here.
Relatives and friends, two-term military and political officials, and their family members, the guests directly exceeded four figures. During the banquet, gongs and chips were staggered, and the words were cheerful and happy.
Franz could see that everyone was showing a happy look to him, but in fact, they were all bored to death, talking about dry content.
Court banquets pay attention to etiquette, and they can't let go of playing at all. Children, especially, can't wait to end the banquet immediately and go out to have a merry Christmas.
There is no way, even the emperor is annoyed. With the glittering tableware, Franz once doubted whether it was gilded or not. After experiments proved that he thought too much, it was indeed real gold, and the people below did not dare to fool him, the emperor.
Well, these tableware Franz usually does not use, generally he uses silver tableware, which is said to be sterilized.
In this era, although Western medicine has come out of the original treatment of bloodletting, the technology is still not good. Any disease can kill people. Franz, who cherished his life, made a decisive choice.
After a sumptuous meal, everyone went back to their own homes. Let's spend Christmas at home by ourselves. Franz didn't leave us to celebrate the festival together, which meant looking for guilt.
He would bet that if it weren't for the fact that the palace banquet was a reflection of these people's status, most of them would rather not attend.
Although the banquet is very extravagant, it costs tens of thousands of dong (1 dong = 11.69 grams of silver) at a time. How can there be a poor ghost who can attend the banquet
The guests are all gone, the Franz family is spending their Christmas Eve, and the younger brothers are revealed in an instant. Today is a special day, so you can have fun.
Franz is envious, although he is only 18 years old, but now he can't let go of himself. Even more tragic, her mother's Christmas wish was for him to marry a daughter-in-law as soon as possible.
When the emperor is still urged to marry? Franz felt like a dog, and when he recalled the age of the European royal princess, he was relieved.
There is no need to worry in a short time. The original wife, Princess Sissi, has just turned 11 years old, and even her sister is only one or two years older. Other princesses of the same status are also young, and the older ones are married.
However, Franz still did not dare to relax his vigilance, for fear that if he was not careful, he would have a Lolita fiancée.
Early engagement is also very popular among nobles. As the Emperor of Austria, Franz is the fifth largest diamond king among the European nobles, and there are many nobles who are interested in him.
Fortunately, Franz is now the emperor and has a say in personal issues. If he insists on disagreeing, no one can force him to agree.
Under normal circumstances, the Queen Mother Sophie would discuss this issue with him. As for his father, he had bronchitis and had no right to speak at home.
The bell rang at midnight, and Franz was rescued.
The whole family stood up, lit candles, read the Bible in unison, blessed each other, and then sang Christmas songs.
…
This year's Christmas in Vienna was particularly lively. As the earliest official holiday, the factory closed early.
The capitalists are not willing to pay triple the wages to make workers work overtime today. If you meet a generous boss, you might even get a Christmas present.
The streets and alleys of Vienna are now full of children, singing Christmas songs and going from house to house to report good news.
Now is the time for everyone to show their demeanor. The wealthy usually prepare some Christmas gifts in advance, such as candy, melon seeds, etc., and distribute them to the children who come to report the good news.
This Christmas, Franz's wallet shriveled a bit.
Christmas gifts are a big deal. The servants and guards who work overtime in the palace are given a Christmas gift.
Relatives and friends, government officials, soldiers still on duty, and even the orphans taken in by the government have all received a Christmas gift from His Majesty the King.
They are all candy and melon seeds. Each gift is worthless, but the number of people cannot be held up. In order to buy people's hearts, Franz also took great pains.
However, hard work always pays off. In this era, people's hearts are simple, and in the face of sudden Christmas gifts, many people's loyalty to the emperor has skyrocketed.
Especially the orphans adopted by the government, many people receive the first Christmas gift in their lives, which has a particularly great impact on them.
The price is that Franz spent nearly 200,000 guilders for one Christmas. If it weren't for the great wealth of the Habsburg family, the royal annuity alone would not necessarily be enough for Franz to spend so much.
Austria's royal annuity was only determined not long ago. It is drawn according to 1.5% of Austria's fiscal revenue, which is about five or six million guilders per year.
The money was not spent by Franz alone. The whole family of the royal family had a share. Among them, the uncle Ferdinand I and his wife would take 1.5 million dongs.
The other members of the royal family also had a share, and in the end, the emperor was left with only about 3 million guilders at his disposal, and there were still such a large group of people in the palace to support.
It is not enough to live frugally, but it is obviously not enough to want to spend freely.
After Christmas, Franz was ready to buy some more properties. What to sit on, Franz had a headache.
There are many businesses that make quick money, and most of them are written in law. As a great emperor, it is obvious that he cannot take the lead in breaking the rules.
Franz once wanted to sell reference materials for the civil service examination, but he quickly dismissed the idea.
Don't think about agriculture, although the Habsburgs have no shortage of land, the rate of return in this regard is too low. Even if it is planting cash crops, this rate of return is unlikely to get rich quickly.
"Drugs" Franz will not touch, this is completely to darken his glorious image.
Arms can be sold, but unfortunately, the current arms trade is dominated by political factors. Austria has been circling in Europe these years, and its overseas influence is limited.
The rest is the financial industry. Unfortunately, Franz lacks this knowledge. In this era, the financial industry is full of shady things. If he is tricked, it will be too late to cry.
Don't think that no one dares to pit the emperor. For the capitalists, as long as the profit is enough, there is nothing they dare not do.
After picking and choosing, Franz felt that it was still promising to invest in food processing. Usually, companies that follow the policy have a "money" way.
Once the Holy Roman Economic Union is established, explosive development can be achieved immediately. With the connections of the Habsburg family, there is no need to worry about the sales network.
The variety of snacks in later generations cannot be produced. Popcorn, French fries, biscuits, cans, and beverages, such as non-technical products, are very simple to manufacture.
In addition, mining is also a very promising industry. It does not require much technical content. As long as the background is hard enough and a rich mine is found, you can make money lying down.
This is tailor-made for Franz, at least in Austria, he only needs to find a mine to make money, don't worry, no one dares to cut off the emperor's wealth.
…
After a while, Franz wrote a bunch of business projects in his notebook, how to implement them, and need to do market research.
The common problem of all travelers is to do one thing - to be at the forefront of the times. This is very dangerous and easy to become a martyr.
Franz was very wary of this and rarely acted arbitrarily. In his opinion, if even the elites of this era cannot accept things, how can they be accepted by ordinary people
"Jenny, give the information I listed to Baron Cass, and let him do a market research on these industries, collect as much information as possible, and I will choose a suitable project for investment." Franz ordered.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Jenny replied
This is the advantage of being an emperor. You can tell others to do anything, and some people are willing to sacrifice their lives for him.
For example, this Baron Cass is a retainer of the Habsburg family. His ancestors have served the Habsburg family for five generations.
After Franz regent, in order to strengthen the control of government departments, many people were stuffed in, and Baron Cass was only one of them, and was placed in the Ministry of Commerce.
At this time, Franz asked him to do personal work for himself, and Baron Cass would be more attentive than office work.
If Franz didn't let him do his personal affairs, but handed it over to his peers, it is estimated that he would still be worried, worried that he would be abandoned by the emperor.
Regarding the issue of public and private use, I'm sorry that in this era, everyone really can't tell the difference between the state and the emperor. In the eyes of many people, their allegiance is the emperor, not the state.
This situation is very common in the Austrian Empire. The bond that connects many Austrian nations is not the government but the emperor.