African Entrepreneurship Records

  Chapter 123 Abduction

   February 1, 1868.

  Ernst walked through the Schönbrunn Palace as if he was at his own home, and the servants were already familiar with it, and no one stopped or led the way.

Since last year, Ernst has basically been going back and forth between Hechingen, Berlin and Vienna. In Hexingen and Berlin, Ernst’s family has their own castles and manors, and the Prussian family (Hohen Sauron), it doesn't matter where you stay.

  As the important market of the Hechingen Consortium after the German region, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is naturally worthy of Ernst's personal attention.

  Different from Hechingen and Berlin, Ernst just bought a small property in Vienna, not far from Schönbrunn Palace.

  During the time he stayed in Vienna, Ernst would visit the Austrian Imperial Palace when he had nothing to do. Basically, he either traveled far during the day or stayed in Schönbrunn Palace, and returned to his residence to rest at night.

  …

   "Ernst, Ferdinand (Maximiliano I), didn't they bother you!" Queen Sophie asked pleasantly.

"Queen Mother, don't worry, father-in-law and mother-in-law are doing well in East Africa. Their whereabouts will be sent to Europe with telegrams every day, and I have arranged guards to protect them. The conditions in East Africa are worse than in Europe, and there is no entertainment. The venue, but the scenery is still good." Ernst replied respectfully.

   "Really? Is there a telegraph line leading to East Africa in Europe? I really don't know about this." Queen Mother Sophie said in surprise.

   "Queen Mother, you may be too worried about the safety of your father-in-law, so you didn't notice. Last time I was in the telegram, I mentioned the telegram from East Africa." Ernst explained.

   "So that's it! I only know that Africa is a relatively barren place, but I didn't expect there to be a telegram leading to Africa." Queen Mother Sophie said.

"In fact, North Africa, that is, Egypt, also has telegraph lines laid by other European countries. East Africa is not too far from Egypt, so I pulled a telegraph line to transfer from Egypt, and all news can be passed from East Africa to China within a day. Europe," Ernst said.

   "Ernst, since this is the case, can you send people here to send the daily news of Maximilian I and the others here." Queen Sophie asked.

"Of course no problem. In fact, every time the news will go to Trieste first, the second stop is Vienna. After all, I don't always stay in one place, so I will back up the news and send it to me. I will arrange for Vienna starting tomorrow. The staff sent the news of the father-in-law and mother-in-law to Schönbrunn Palace." Ernst said.

   "Thank you so much, Ernst, alas! As a mother, who doesn't love her son!" Queen Mother Sophie said with emotion.

   "The queen mother is polite. This is what I should do as a junior. You are all my relatives, and the affairs of relatives are naturally my business." Ernst said quickly.

In the Austro-Hungarian Empire, whoever had the greatest power was naturally Franz, but in Schönbrunn Palace, whoever spoke the most effectively must be Queen Sophie. Apart from politics, Franz could not disobey the will of Queen Sophie. So of course Ernst had to try his best to please Queen Mother Sophie.

"You can speak beautiful words! If it weren't for your good deeds, and you were the best among a group of boys, Karina wouldn't be able to get your turn, don't you think? Karina." Queen Mother Sophie He lowered his head and asked the little loli in his arms.

Karina stared at the two people talking with her big watery eyes, and suddenly heard her grandmother ask herself, and said without thinking: "Grandma, are you going to give me away? Don't you want Karina? "Karina's words were astonishing, and there was a clear stupidity in her eyes.

"Silly girl, you can talk nonsense. You and Rudolph are grandma's favorites. Why would you give them away!" Sofia rubbed Karina's hair and said, "In the future, you will grow up and want to Those who have a family can’t always be under my protection, I’m an old man! I don’t know how long I can last!”

   As he spoke, he held Karina and Rudolph in his arms.

   Little Rudolph is only eleven years old, three months younger than Karina. Unlike Karina, little Rudolph may be due to his status as the crown prince.

  The education he received was also stricter, and since he was brought by the Queen Mother Sophie since he was a child, he seemed a little cautious.

  After all, little Rudolph can still get in touch with his parents, but Franz is quite old-fashioned, and Queen Elizabeth (Sissi) has been deprived of her educational rights.

   And Karina has rarely seen her parents since she could remember, and only met Maximilian I a few times when he visited Europe.

So Karina has been close to her grandma since she was a child, and the Queen Mother Sophie is worried about Maximilian I, so she loves Karina even more. Anyway, Karina will not have to bear the future of the empire like Rudolph in the future. , so education is not strict.

   As a comparison, Rudolph was miserable. The Empress Dowager Sophie directly copied on Rudolph what she had taught Franz.

   It’s actually okay to do this, the bad thing is that Rudolph’s family is not the same as Franz’s at the time.

Queen Sophie and Archduke Karl have no conflicts at all, and Queen Sophie is very strong, and Archduke Karl is relatively slow (the reason for the marriage of close relatives), without wildness, and 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.

  Rudolph was completely different. His father was strict but he was not decisive in the face of the family (it was the same in politics, but the environment was basically qualified at the time), and his mother, Princess Sissi, was at odds with the court, and the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was tense.

  Anyway, Rudolph is destined not to feel a harmonious family environment, so he is a little timid. Facing the different personalities of his parents, he is naturally more easily influenced by his mother.

   Ernst's eyes lit up when he saw little Rudolph. Isn't this one of his goals?

   Ernst stretched out his hands, squeezed little Rudolph's chubby cheek and said, "Ah! Who is this, so cute!"

   Ernst is not talking nonsense. In his previous life, Ernst liked children more, except for children of course.

   Little Rudolph and Karina are clearly good-natured babies at present, and most adults would like children with such personalities.

   "Ernst, I remember that you are not much older than his siblings! You look like an adult." Seeing Ernst teasing Rudolph, Queen Sophie said cheerfully.

  Actually, Queen Mother Sophie is more satisfied with Ernst. Ernst is now eighteen, and he 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 son of a farmer needs to go to the land, and the son of a nobleman needs to start learning to be a mature successor.

At present, Ernst's level of successor is definitely no problem, and his background is also good. In the future, a prince will be indispensable, and he has made achievements in his own business. In addition, he is very self-disciplined and has no bad deeds. For a traditional person like Queen Sophie In his eyes, he was naturally excellent in all aspects.

   "Queen, no matter how old I am, I will always be a baby in front of you elders." Ernst said.

   Ernst is trying to get the attention of the grandson of the Queen Mother Sophie, but the Queen Mother Sophie doesn't know yet.

   As one of the tragedies of the Habsburgs in the previous life, it is indeed a pity that Rudolph committed suicide, and Ernst, Rudolph's future brother-in-law, naturally wanted to help Rudolph.

  Of course, Ernst also wanted to see what would happen to the future of the Austro-Hungarian Empire if Rudolph did not die! And Franz's unlucky nephew, Archduke Ferdinand, who was shot by a Serbian youth, will his fate change?

  As for the butterfly effect, Ernst is not afraid at all now. Judging from the extraordinary standby time of Franz in his previous life, even if Rudolph is alive in this life, he will have to wait until after 1916 to gain power.

  In 1916, the day lily was cold. According to the current speed, the East African colonies were developed at that time, and East Africa was far away from Europe.

As long as you don't stand in disorder in advance, the two world wars will not affect the East African mainland, and unlike the United States, East Africa is an important force near the Indian Ocean, and it will be the object of competition between the two sides (after all, it can threaten the two important sea passages of the Suez Canal and 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 stage of entrepreneurship in the East African colonies.

  Currently the risk is the greatest. Other powers have the ability to interfere in the situation in Africa. Fortunately, the current capitalism in Europe has not yet developed to the stage of capital export (searching for raw materials and markets around the world).

  That is to say, at present, the colonists are mainly plundering raw materials, and the industry is all in the country, and those resources in East Africa that Ernst does not publicize will naturally not attract attention.

  The stage of capital export means that 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 land.

So after 1880, Europe and the United States set off a frenzy to divide the whole world. In just a dozen years, more countries in Asia became colonies or semi-colonies; At the end of the ninth century, the capitalist world colonial system finally took shape.

  So East Africa must reach a size sufficient to protect itself before 1880, and it must have the ability to be independent by the end of the 19th century.

  …

   "Rudolph, do you want to live with me in Prussia for a while!" Ernst asked half-truthfully.

  The little guy didn't speak, but turned to look at his grandmother.

"Ernst, are you kidding! Even if you like children, Rudolph is the future emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so he has no time to play with you. If you really want to hold a child, after you get married in the future, you will marry Karina Have a baby?" Queen Sophie joked.

Ernst said seriously: "Queen Mother, I'm not joking, but I think that as a future emperor, he should see more of the outside world, especially in the current era of rapid development and accelerated industrialization, many things are the same as before. It’s different, the emperor has to keep pace with the times, otherwise it’s easy to get out of the times.”

   "You are alarmist! Franz came here in the same way back then, and it is not impossible to see the outside world when Rudolph grows up in the future." Queen Mother Sophie retorted.

Ernst would not give up easily if he failed to achieve his goal, and then persuaded: "Queen Mother, it is not a bad thing to let Rudolph go out to see the world in advance. People who are emperors are lonely. Except for the experience passed down by word of mouth from their parents, they have nothing to do. Other channels for reference. After all, there are only so many people in the world who can be the king of a country. I think so. I took Rudolph to the Prussian royal family to communicate with Crown Prince Frederick, Prince William and other future Prussian monarchs. "

Ernst continued to flicker: "Queen, all these years, the development of Prussia has been seen by everyone. Others don't know it. I am very aware of the development of Prussia's domestic industrialization. It is no exaggeration to say that Prussia's industry is currently sufficient. Compete with France, and the speed of Prussia's development is still accelerating, and it is just around the corner to surpass France. Judging from my personal contact with the heirs of the Prussian royal family, they are all young heroes of the same generation, so letting Rudolph contact them will help Improve his abilities."

   "But the development of Prussia is based on the temporary failure of Austria, otherwise Prussia would not have achieved such achievements, Ernst!" Queen Sophie strongly retorted.

"Queen, Prussia did play tricks, but the last war was definitely not an accident. Take the application of technology as an example. Last time, Prussia's firearms were at the forefront of Europe. Huge effect."

"This is enough to show that an understanding of industry and technology will be a compulsory course for a monarch in the future. At present, the Prussian royal family is definitely at the forefront of European countries. It is true that Vienna is one of the cultural and artistic centers in Europe, but at the level of industry and science. It can directly enhance national power." Ernst did not forget to give Vienna a title.

   "Isn't it the same to invite teachers in related fields?" Queen Mother Sophie said.

"Just like when we look at landscape paintings and go to the field to see landscapes, the impact on people is different. Take Schönbrunn Palace as an example, Queen Mother, if we look at Schönbrunn Palace through paintings, we will definitely not have a deeper experience living here. If you want to understand the era and experience the development of industry and technology, you still have to visit the site to get a better feeling.”

   These words are very reasonable, and the examples are also very good, easy to understand. Queen Sophie was a little shaken, but she still said: "But Rudolph can't let go of his studies!"

   Ernst strikes while the iron is hot: "It is absolutely possible for the court teachers to follow, while studying, communicating with those princes, and at the same time, you can get acquainted with the situation in various places."

"The most important quality of a monarch is not how well he studies. There were many illiterate monarchs in the Middle Ages, but some of them could still be good kings, and some knowledgeable monarchs may not be able to govern well. Country, after all Rudolph will be emperor in the future, not a scholar."

  …

  Under the bombardment of Ernst's words, the queen mother Sophie reluctantly agreed to let Rudolph follow Ernst to see the world, but she had to discuss it with Franz first.

   (The reason why there are not many Karina roles at the moment is that 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 Rudolph is a boy.)

  (end of this chapter)