Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 36 Reversing black and white

Hearing the president's question, Karen was startled, and quickly covered up his panic, and replied: "In general, a consensus has been reached, but there are still some details that have not been negotiated."

Little Pretorius said without changing his face: "I see, you go down!"

There was a hint of sadness in his voice, obviously his heart was not peaceful.Little Pretorius is not a saint, and he can't be calm in the face of interests.

Karen's expression did not hide from his eyes. If not unexpected, his confidant has also been in contact with the Austrians, and may have even betrayed him.

Being able to sit in the current position, Pretorius Jr. is naturally a smart person.Regardless of whether Karen has betrayed or not, he will not verify it.

At this point, it doesn't matter anymore.Even if he remained loyal to him, refused to accept the bribe of the Austrians, and even confessed all this to him, so what?

Little Pretorius couldn't do anything to the Austrians, and he couldn't even protest to the Vienna government.If the two sides tore their faces openly, he wouldn't even be able to keep the last preferential treatment.

If the negotiations between the powerful faction in the country and the Austrians do not go well, he, the president, can still play a role.Now that everything is going well, naturally there is no need for him.

At the beginning, Pretorius Jr. was planning to negotiate with the Austrians in the name of the government to strive for a more favorable political position for everyone.

The reality is very embarrassing. After the Vienna government began to divide and win over, everyone changed their positions.How can the country get more benefits than the country itself?

The two Boer republics merged and joined the Shinra Empire in the name of a state, and the political status obtained is indeed better.

But in this way, the benefits they can personally obtain are very limited.If you don't make any contribution, if you want to become a nobleman, go ahead and dream!

Although the privileges are restricted, the title of nobility in this era is still very attractive.After Franz made the conditions, the mentality of many people changed.

Since the Vienna government insisted on taking down the Republic, it couldn't bear it anyway, why not sell the Boer Republic in exchange for a noble title and become the ruler of the Shenluo Empire?

As for the future of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, does it matter to them?

Everyone is either Dutch or German. They used to be a member of the Shenluo Empire, but now they just return to their homeland.

Even the president Pretorius Jr. is not prepared to fight Austria to the end, so how can he expect others?

Not long ago, the British contacted the anti-Austrian forces, and then were caught by the pro-Austrian forces. They took the opportunity to launch a political offensive and completely drove them out of the power center.

If Pretorius Jr. was not smart enough to decisively reject the British, the president would have been changed now.

What Pretorius Jr. is looking forward to most now is the British taking action. Only when the situation gets out of control can he, the president, have room to play and sell himself a good price by the way.

There is no way, anyone can betray the country now, but he, the president, can't.Otherwise, even if he became an aristocrat, he would not be able to get along in the aristocratic circle.

Aristocrats also need reputation, especially for newborn aristocrats, if they want to integrate into the circle, the first step is to wash their hands and go ashore.

Little Pretorius didn't want to just quit the political arena, so naturally he couldn't take the initiative to lean forward.In addition to secretly expressing his position to the Vienna government, he can do nothing in the open.

Under normal circumstances, after joining Austria, he will become the governor of Austrian South Africa. After the transfer of power is completed, he can return to his native land with a noble title to retire.

If you want to become a powerful governor, unless the British come over, the Vienna government needs him to stabilize the situation.

For his own benefit, Pretorius Jr. was not unprepared.Since defeating the Zulus, he has deliberately abandoned his armaments.

On the one hand, it was showing its attitude to the Vienna government and proving that it had no ambitions; on the other hand, it was showing its flaws to the British in an attempt to lure them into action.

The South African strategy proposed by Governor Delphi to the London government was based on this foundation.

You must know that because of the relationship between Austria sending immigrants to the Boer Republic, the strength of the two Boer Republics now far exceeds that of the same period in history.

If fully armed, coupled with Austria's strength in South Africa, even if the British united with the Portuguese, they would not have much chance of winning.

……

In a manor in Pretorius, the capital of the Transvaal Republic, former President Skman is inviting Austrian representative Viscount Fickney.

No one deserves too much credit. Since the Vienna government decided to annex the two Boer republics, the nobles on the African continent have acted.

Viscount Fickney, who made his fortune by opening up colonies, was naturally not far behind.Although he has just crossed from a hereditary baron to a hereditary viscount, it is almost impossible to go further.

It's no problem to lie on the laurels of the previous credit book, but there are so many sons who can't stand him!

The eldest son will naturally inherit the title and most of the family business, and the remaining two youngest sons can only share part of the property. The eldest son will become a branch of the nobility, and the next generation will be a commoner.

Baron Fickney, who is eager to love his son, naturally does not want to watch this happen.The great His Majesty Franz is kind and has considered this issue for them in advance.

They are allowed to make contributions in exchange for a few more noble titles, and at the same time they can apply for these titles to be inherited by multiple heirs.

Of course, the heir must be a parent-child relationship.In other cases of succession, it can only be done in accordance with the provisions of the original title succession law.

The main purpose is to combat the trading of titles. According to the new noble law, nobility can only sell titles to the Vienna government, and private trading of titles is prohibited.

There is no way, there will never be a lack of prodigal sons in this world, and when a title auction is held at that time, the impact on the aristocratic system can be imagined.

In order to avoid this worst situation, Franz cut off the hereditary title deal directly from the source. Don't worry about the lifelong noble title, it cannot be inherited at all.

If there is a prodigal son to sell, the Vienna government is open to recycling, and the price offered is still very high.

The lowest level of hereditary knights is 1000 Aegis; the highest level of the throne is a sky-high price of [-] million Aegis.

Of course, this is limited to the titles confiscated by Franz, and they must be taken back together with the fief, and the empty titles must be discounted.

The titles before that will be priced according to the actual situation.Basically, as long as Franz was confiscated by the Habsburg dynasty, he would recognize that the confiscation of others would be the recovery of cabbage prices, and foreign titles were not within the scope of recovery.

The gold content has been determined, and everyone is more enthusiastic about the title of nobility.The rights of the great nobles were restricted, and the vassals and nobles they enshrined were no longer recognized by the country.

Including the kings of several states, they also cannot arbitrarily confer nobles, and the empire will not recognize the knights without enough merits.

From the initial quota limit to the current merit assessment, Franz successfully took away the title of knighthood from the king of the state.

Selling the title is not a simple matter, it needs the consent of all legal heirs, which is almost impossible.

There are a lot of relatives of the nobles, no matter how low in the ranking, as long as they have the right of inheritance, even if it is an indirect right of inheritance, they are all heirs.It is not impossible for a title to have thousands of heirs.

This inheritance relationship is estimated to be crashing.If you want everyone to agree, it's better to expect them to collectively receive the box lunch.

Viscount Fickney said in a personable manner: "Mr. Skorman, we must speed up. As far as I know, the British next door are training the native army, and they are likely to cause trouble.

Your Majesty, we don't want to see a chaotic South Africa, so we must act in advance.Once the merger is completed, the British dare not make small moves. "

This is the rule of the game among the great powers. In colonial activities, everyone is deliberately controlling the scope of conflict.

Before the colony is actually controlled, it is considered a land without owner. Everyone can use their own means. Once it is brought into the actual control of the other party, the nature of the action will become an invasion.

Under normal circumstances, this situation will not happen, and it will mean war.

If you don't want to face each other directly, even if you want to grab the territory, you will usually just use your hands secretly to squeeze the opponent out.

If it weren't for everyone's restraint, in the colonial activities, there were so many conflicts in various countries, and several major colonial empires would have been beaten to the ground.

Skoman had been the acting president of the Transvaal for a while. Although his personal reputation was not very good, he possessed a lot of strength.

Because of a business, he met Viscount Fickney unexpectedly, and the two were nodding acquaintances.Under normal circumstances, this relationship is not much different from strangers.

However, as the situation changed, the two were brought together again.

Viscount Fickney needs to win over the powerful faction in the Transvaal to join the Austrian colonial system; while Skorman needs to establish a relationship with Austria in order to preserve his own interests in the new era.

The two hit it off and became "good" friends in an instant.

Now that he has decided to follow Austria, Skoman naturally will not hesitate, and after thinking about it, he replied: "Your Excellency Viscount, I will push it as soon as possible.

However, it will take some time. Public opinion has only just gained momentum, and it will take some time to accumulate before it can reach its peak.

If it is in advance, there is a high possibility of accidents. After all, there are still some flies that have not been cleaned up, and their existence is also a hidden danger. "

Political battles rarely kill all, and this one was an obvious exception.In order to create a grand occasion where the people of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State demand to return to the Shinra Empire, hidden dangers must be eliminated.

This is related to His Majesty Franz's face, and the direct annexation of two independent countries will have too bad an impact.Using the request of the people of the Shinra Empire to return to their motherland as an excuse, the food looks much better all of a sudden.

Anyway, the Boers trace their ancestors back to the Shenluo Empire, and their cultural traditions are also in the same line, so they are not afraid of being picked on.As long as they insist on returning to their home country, the legal issue will be perfectly resolved.

If it weren't for the consideration of eating, the Vienna government would not need to spend so much effort, and it would be more convenient to force it directly.

Even if the current Boer Republic wants to resist by force, it must first consider whether the German soldiers below will suddenly defect.

Viscount Fickney said solemnly: "This group of flies must be swat to death. Since they dare to collude with the British to betray the empire, they will have to pay the price in blood."

On the issue of safeguarding the interests of the empire, Viscount Fickney's position is very firm. In his opinion, any traitor deserves to die.

Although these people are not Austrians at all, there is no so-called betrayal.But if you stand on the opposite side of the empire, you must die.

Now Austria needs to scare the chickens and monkeys, otherwise how to deter these gangsters who have just defected to the wall?

Fickney doesn't think these guys who can sell their country will have much loyalty to Austria.The best way is naturally to make them dare not betray.

Asking them to kill the anti-Austrian elements by themselves not only allowed them to submit their votes, but also made them understand the price they need to pay for being an enemy of Austria.

Smart people will make the best choice for themselves, and Skoman is a smart person. Knowing that this is Viscount Fickney's calculation, he still decides to pretend to be confused.

Immediately promised: "Your Excellency, please rest assured, these spies lurking in the empire, we will all find out and bring them to justice!"

God knows when the anti-Austrians in the Boer Republic became spies for the British, and how they lurked in the Shenluo Empire.

To discuss traitors, it seems that they are more similar.Directly packaged the Transvaal and the Orange Free State to Austria in exchange for benefits.

Viscount Fickney smiled slightly, raised the wine glass in his hand and said, "Then I will congratulate you in advance, Your Excellency the future Baron Skelman."

After finishing speaking, he touched Scoman's cup and drank it down, as if he was really happy that his friend had won the title.

The wily Skoman couldn't keep calm anymore, and smiled instantly.It is not easy to step from a commoner to an aristocrat in this era, let alone a hereditary aristocracy?

Prior to this, the two parties had negotiated the terms, and as long as the smooth handover was completed, Scoman could become a fief baron.

Scoman replied with a trembling voice: "Thank you, Your Excellency the Viscount!"

There is no way, the two were not real friends before, politeness is a must.

But the future is not certain. Viscount Fickney will not make friends with a commoner, but he will not reject being friends with a nobleman.

Identity determines how everyone gets along. Since Scoman is willing to cooperate, he is his own.

Fickney, who was in a good mood, said for the sake of the meager friendship between the two, "Old friend, now you need an etiquette teacher.

When the matter here is over, you have to go to Vienna to accept His Majesty's canonization before you can become a real nobleman.

There can be no mistakes in the noble conferring ceremony, otherwise you will become a laughing stock among the nobles, and you will never want to raise your head.

Although the government will arrange etiquette teachers, the time to learn is too short.In order to be sure, you'd better study it in advance. "

This is a fact, but the consequences of being rude in the nobility canonization ceremony are very serious, and it will be considered as a sign of lack of education.

At the least, it can be embarrassing and become a joke in the aristocratic circle, and at worst, it may directly lose the title.

Scoman's face changed drastically, and he quickly thanked Viscount Fickney.

……

Chapter 37 Each Has Its Calculations

"Killing chickens to warn monkeys" is not so easy to operate. The chicken that will be killed first disagrees.If the butcher is not skilled enough, the chicken may fly away.

No one who plays politics is a fool.Everyone is in the same circle, who doesn't have a few dark spots?

The news of the arrival of the Austrian delegation is not a secret at all. Since the Vienna government wants to annex the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, under normal circumstances, they have to win over these powerful factions.

Don't think that they are anti-Austrians politically, so they really have a deep hatred with Austria, and they are going to die to the end.

With the exception of a few middle school sophomores, it is only a political need for the old fritters to oppose the Olympics.Participating in Austrian Africa can benefit some people, but naturally some people's interests will be damaged, and it is impossible to satisfy everyone's interests.

Those who lost their interests would naturally oppose the merger.Crying children have milk, and both Chinese and Western are universal, so how can it be possible to benefit from not crying or fussing?

In order to obtain more benefits, the anti-Austrian faction was born in this way.Pro-Austrians and anti-Austrians are inextricably linked, even for hedging their bets.

Not everyone could have predicted that Austria could expand so fast.Before they could react, Austria had already arrived at the door to discuss the merger.

If you want to turn around immediately, it must be too late. The anti-Austrians also have a backing, for example, they secretly collude with the British and Portuguese.

The tragedy is that Austria is so powerful on the African continent now, the Portuguese dare not make mistakes at all, and the British also do not have enough strength to suppress Austria.

The general trend cannot be reversed by individuals. Many people are ready to quit and wait for the Vienna government to bid.

The plan did not change quickly. Viscount Fickney, who led the operation, did not follow the routine at all. After winning over the pro-Austrian faction, he stopped acting.

Even those who were impatient among them were delivered to their door and were turned away. Viscount Fickney had no intention of accepting them at all.

At this time, the situation in the Transvaal and the Orange Free State also changed, and the pro-Austrian faction suddenly launched a political attack on them.

Smart people know that a storm is coming, and as the existence of the wrong team this time, danger is approaching them.The pro-Austrian faction is not monolithic, and it is normal for a few anti-Austrians to lurk among them. The news leaked.

Looking at the information in his hands, William, one of the anti-Austrian political leaders, became angry.Isn't it just shouting a few slogans, as for shouting, beating and killing?

Although they are "anti-Austrian", they have actually been stuck in propaganda, and no one dared to really provoke Austria at work.

A weak country has no diplomacy. This general international law is also common in South Africa. "Anti-Austrian" talk is about the same, if it is really the last unlucky for Upper Austria, it will be them.

This time it's different. It's not that they want to fight against Austria, but that Austria wants to use their heads to stand out.