Chapter 123 Abduction
February 1, 1868.
Ernst walked through Schönbrunn Palace as if he were at home. The servants were used to it, and no one blocked or led the way.
Since last year, Ernst has basically been traveling back and forth between Hechingen, Berlin and Vienna. The Ernst family has its own castle and manor in Hechingen and Berlin, and in Prussia That's the family's (Hohenzollern) territory, it doesn't matter where you stay.
As the Hechingen Consortium’s most important market after Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire naturally deserves Ernst’s personal attention.
Unlike in Hechingen and Berlin, Ernst only bought a small property in Vienna, not far from Schönbrunn Palace.
While staying in Vienna, Ernst would visit the Austrian Royal Palace whenever he had nothing to do. Basically, he would either go on a long trip or stay at Schönbrunn Palace during the day, and return to his residence to rest at night.
......
"Ernst, Ferdinand (Maximiliano I), they didn't cause you any trouble, did they?" Queen Mother Sophie asked kindly.
“Queen Mother, don’t worry, my father-in-law and mother-in-law are living a good life in East Africa. Their whereabouts are sent to Europe every day with telegrams, and I have arranged escorts to protect their safety. The conditions in East Africa are better than those in Europe. It’s worse, there are no entertainment venues, but the scenery is still good,” Ernst replied respectfully.
"Really? Are there telegraph lines from Europe to East Africa? I really don't know about this." Queen Mother Sophie said in surprise.
"Her Majesty, maybe you are too worried about your father-in-law's safety, so you didn't notice that last time I told you about the telegram from East Africa in my telegram," Ernst explained.
"That's it! I only knew that Africa was a relatively deserted place, but I didn't expect that there were telegraphs to Africa." Queen Mother Sophie said.
“Actually, North Africa, that is, Egypt, also has telegraph lines laid by other European countries. East Africa is actually not too far from Egypt, so I opened a telegraph line and transferred it from Egypt. All messages were sent within one day. It can travel from East Africa to Europe," Ernst said.
"Ernst, in that case, can you send someone here to send daily news about Maximiliano I and others in the future?" Queen Mother Sophie asked.
"Of course, no problem. In fact, every time the message will arrive in Trieste first, and the second stop is Vienna. After all, I don't stay in one place very often. The message will be backed up and sent to me. I will arrange it in Vienna starting tomorrow. The staff sent the news about the father-in-law and mother-in-law to Schonbrunn Palace,” Ernst said.
"Thank you so much, Ernst, alas! As a mother, who doesn't feel sorry for her son!" Queen Mother Sophie said with emotion.
"The Queen Mother is very polite. This is what I should do as a junior. You are all my relatives, and the affairs of my relatives are naturally my business." Ernst said quickly.
In the Austro-Hungarian Empire, who has the most power is naturally Franz, but whoever speaks the most effectively in Schönbrunn Palace must be Queen Mother Sophie. Apart from politics, Franz cannot be disobedient. The will of the Queen Mother Sophie, so of course Ernst had to do his best to please the Queen Mother Sophie.
"You kid can say nice things! If you really don't have any bad deeds and are the best among a group of guys, Karina wouldn't have your turn, don't you think? Karin Na." Queen Mother Sophie lowered her head and asked the little Loli in her arms.
Karina stared at her big watery eyes, watching the two people talking, and suddenly heard her grandmother ask herself, and said without thinking: "Grandma, are you going to give me away? Don't you want Karina anymore?" "Karina said astonishingly, with clear stupidity in her eyes.
"Silly girl, you know how to talk nonsense. You and Rudolf are my grandmother's treasures. How could I give you away?" Sofia rubbed Karina's hair and said, "In the future, you will always have to When you grow up, you have to start a family. You can’t always be under my protection. I don’t know how long I can survive with my old body!”
As he said this, he put Karina and Lu next to him. Daphne hugged him together.
Little Rudolf is only eleven years old, three months younger than Karina. Unlike Karina, little Rudolf may be because of his status as the crown prince.
The education he received was also stricter, and he was taken care of by Queen Mother Sophie since he was a child, so he seemed a little reserved.
After all, little Rudolf can still contact his parents, but Franz is quite old-fashioned, and Queen Elizabeth (Princess Sissi) has been deprived of educational rights.
Carina has rarely seen her parents since she can remember, and she only met them a few times when Maximiliano I visited Europe.
So Karina has been close to her grandmother since she was a child. Coupled with Queen Mother Sophie's worries about Maximiliano I, she feels even more sorry for Karina. Anyway, Karina doesn't have to be with Rudolf in the future. Similarly, they are responsible for the future of the empire, so their education is not strict.
In contrast, Rudolf was in a miserable situation. Queen Sophie directly copied the same method of educating Franz on Rudolf.
It’s actually okay to do this. The bad thing is that Rudolf’s family situation was different from Franz’s at the time.
The Queen Mother Sophie and the Archduke Carl have no conflicts at all, and the Queen Mother Sophie is very strong, while the Archduke Carl is also slow (due to incest marriage), has no wildness, and is mediocre. One is strict and the other is kind, so the relationship between the two is not bad. The child's psychology is also relatively normal.
Rudolf was completely different. His father was rigid but had no decision-making ability when it came to the family (the same was true politically, but the environment was basically qualified at the time). His mother, Princess Sissi, was incompatible with the court, and the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was tense.
Anyway, Rudolf was destined not to experience a harmonious family environment, so he was a little timid. Faced with the different personalities of his parents, he was naturally more susceptible to the influence of his mother.
Ernst's eyes lit up when he saw little Rudolf. Isn't this one of his goals?
Ernst stretched out his hands, pinched little Rudolf's chubby little face and said, "Ah! Who is this? It's so cute!"
Ernst was not talking nonsense. In his previous life, Ernst preferred children, except naughty ones.
Little Rudolf and Karina are obviously good baby types at present, and most adults will like children with such personalities.
"Ernst, I remember you are not much older than his two siblings! You look like an adult." Seeing Ernst teasing Rudolf, Queen Mother Sophie was happy said.
In fact, Queen Mother Sophie will be more satisfied with Ernst in this way. Ernst is now eighteen and was already an adult in his previous life. Of course, in this era, adulthood will only be earlier, but people in this era need to take responsibility earlier. The sons of farmers need to go to the fields, and the sons of nobles need to start learning to be mature successors.
At present, Ernst's qualifications as a successor are definitely good, and his background is not bad. He will be indispensable for a future prince. He has also made achievements in starting his own business. In addition, he is very self-disciplined and has no bad deeds. For a traditional person like Queen Mother Sophie, In his eyes, he is naturally superior in all aspects.
"Her Majesty, no matter how old I am, I will always be a little baby in front of you elders." Ernst said.
Ernst is trying to attract the attention of the Queen Mother Sophie’s grandson, but the Queen Mother Sophie doesn’t know it yet.
As one of the tragedies of the Habsburgs in his previous life, it is indeed a pity that Rudolf committed suicide, and as Rudolf's future brother-in-law, Ernst naturally wanted to help Rudolf.
Of course, Ernst also wanted to see what the future of the Austro-Hungarian Empire would be like if Rudolf did not die! And Franz’s unlucky nephew, Archduke Ferdinand, who was shot dead by a Serbian youth, will his fate change?
As for the butterfly effect, Ernst is not afraid of it at all now. Judging from the extraordinary standby time of Franz in his previous life, even if Rudolf is alive in this life, he will have to wait until after 1916 to get power.
In 1916, the day lilies were all cold. According to the current rate, East African colonies had developed by then, plus East Africa was far away from Europe.
As long as you don’t take sides in advance, neither world war will affect the East African mainland. And unlike the United States, East Africa is an important force near the Indian Ocean and will be the object of competition between the two sides (after all, it can threaten the Suez Canal and Two important sea lanes at the Cape of Good Hope).
So Ernst was not worried about World War I and World War II at all. What he was really worried about was the entrepreneurial stage of the East African colonies.
The risk is currently the greatest. Other powerful countries have the ability to interfere in the situation in Africa. Fortunately, European capitalism has not yet developed to the stage of capital export (looking for raw materials and markets around the world).
That is to say, at present, the colonists mainly focus on plundering raw materials, and all industries are domestic. If Ernst does not publicize the resources in East Africa, they will naturally not attract attention.
As for the capital export stage, the great powers have completed domestic industrialization, and the domestic market and profits are saturated, so capital has to go to the world to conquer cities and territories.
So after 1880, Europe and the United States set off a frenzy to divide the entire world. In just a dozen years, more countries in Asia became colonies or semi-colonies; Africa was carved up; Latin America was actually It became a semi-colony, and by the end of the nineteenth century the capitalist world colonial system was finally formed.
So East Africa must be large enough to protect itself before 1880, and have the ability to be independent by the end of the 19th century.
……
"Rudolf, do you want to live with me in Prussia for a while?" Ernst asked half-seriously.
The little guy didn't speak, but turned to look at his grandmother.
"Ernst, are you kidding! Even if you like children, Rudolf is the future emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and he has no time to play with you. If you really want to hold a child and get married in the future Will you have a baby with Karina?" Queen Mother Sophie joked.
Ernst said with a serious face: "Queen Mother, I am not joking, but I feel that as a future emperor, I should see more of the outside world, especially in the current era of rapid development and industrialization. Speed up, many things are different from before, and the emperor must keep pace with the times, otherwise it will be easy to fall out of the times."
"You are being alarmist! Franz came here like this in the future, wait for Rudolf in the future. It’s not impossible to see the outside world when you grow up,” Queen Mother Sophie retorted.
Ernst would not give up easily until he achieved his goal, and then persuaded: "Queen Mother, it is not a bad thing to let Rudolf go out to see the world in advance. People who are emperors are lonely. Except for the oral experience passed down by their fathers, they have no Other channels for reference. After all, anyone who can be the king of a country is There is only so much in the world, so I thought, so I took Rudolf to the Prussian royal family to have some exchanges with Crown Prince Frederick, Prince William and other future Prussian monarchs."
Ernst then said: "The Queen Mother. , in these years, the development of Prussia has been seen by everyone, and no one else has Clearly, I am very aware of the development of Prussia’s domestic industrialization. It is no exaggeration to say that Prussia’s industry is currently strong enough to compete with France. However, Prussia’s development is still accelerating and it will soon surpass France. Based on my personal feelings about the heir to the Prussian royal family. Judging from contact, they are all Young heroes of the same generation, so bringing Rudolf into contact with them will help improve his abilities."
"But Prussia's development is based on Austria's temporary failure, otherwise Prussia would never have achieved such success. What an achievement, Ernst!" Queen Sophie retorted vigorously.
"Queen Mother, Prussia does have some tricks up its sleeve, but the last war was definitely not an accident. Take the application of technology as an example. Last time, Prussian firearms were at the forefront of Europe. At the same time, railways, telegraphs and other technological products have played a huge role.”
“This is enough. To illustrate that understanding of industry and technology will be a compulsory course for a monarch in the future, and currently in European countries, the Prussian royal family is definitely at the forefront. It is true that Vienna is one of the cultural and artistic centers of Europe, but at the industrial and scientific level it can directly Improve national strength." Ernst did not forget to give Vienna a title.
"Isn't it the same with teachers in related fields?" Queen Mother Sophie said.
“Just like when we look at landscape paintings and go to see landscapes in person, the impact on people is different. Take Schönbrunn Palace as an example, Her Majesty, if we look at Schönbrunn Palace through paintings, there will be absolutely no Living here has a deeper experience. I want to understand the times and feel the work. To understand the development of industry and technology, you still have to go to the field to see it.”
This is very reasonable, and the examples are very good and easy to understand. Queen Mother Sophie was a little shaken, but Still said: "But Rudolph can't stop studying! "
Ernst struck while the iron was hot: "You can let the palace teachers follow you, while studying, communicating with the princes, and at the same time getting to know the situation in various places."
"A monarch. , the most important quality is not learning There were many illiterate monarchs in the Middle Ages, but some of them could still be good kings, while some knowledgeable monarchs may not be able to govern the country well. After all, Rudolph will be the emperor in the future, and Not a scholar.”
...
Under the bombardment of Ernst’s words, Queen Mother Sophie reluctantly agreed to let Rudolf follow Ernst to see the world, but she had to discuss it with Franz first.
(The reason why there are not many scenes of Karina at present is because the two are not married yet and they are too young. Let’s talk about it in a few years. It doesn’t matter if Rudolf is a boy.)
( End of chapter)