Holy Roman Empire

"Count, why don't you withdraw first? We have limited power now, and continuing to defend will only increase casualties."

The housekeeper's suggestion is undoubtedly the most practical.There are only a small number of nobles living in the city, and more nobles still like to live in manors.

The revolutionary government has the ability to purge Paris, but not the ability to carry out a national purge.Once you leave this cage, it is like "the sky is high for birds to fly, and the sea and sky are for fish to leap".

With the strength of the aristocratic group and the support of European countries, restoration is only a matter of time.No matter how hard the revolutionary government tried, it could only be dying.

Earl Adrian shook his head: "It's not the right time. With just a few hundred of us, we can't run far with our family members. Send someone to go through the secret road to contact the nearby Marquis Anderson and the Earl of Gutrun. In the evening, we will get together breakout."

Unlike later generations, the European nobles these days are all going to the battlefield.The European war was so fierce that the nobles of the right age in France basically walked away from the battlefield, and Count Adrian was no exception.

With combat experience, Adrian naturally knows how to make the best choice.The communication was interrupted, and it was impossible to gather the noble private army in the whole city, but this did not prevent the nearby military nobles from forming a group.

"Yes, Count!"

Just as the butler was about to turn around and leave, Earl Adrian hurriedly stopped him and said, "Wait a minute, there is no need to send someone. It is estimated that their situation is not much better. Even if we send people out now, we cannot contact them." .

Maybe it will expose the existence of the secret passage, and the enemy can take advantage of it.In the evening, contact them again when we break out. "

It was a gamble, but Count Adrian had no choice.The revolutionary army has no artillery, and theoretically speaking, waiting for help is the best choice.

But the problem is that the aristocratic group is also in a state of disunity. Those with charisma either meet God and hold a meeting in Vienna, and no one else can command others.

The battle has been going on for a long time, but none of the troops originally controlled by the noble group appeared on the battlefield, so Earl Adrian couldn't help but think about it.

If the reinforcements don't come, it will be over.You must know that since the second revolution, the number of people executed publicly by the new government has exceeded four figures, and even more people have been executed secretly.

Although no nobles were publicly executed, there were quite a few nobles who had accidents, and some of them had higher status than him.Had it not been for the tense situation, the royalist party would not have compromised so quickly.

Chapter 249 Transformation

Affected by the sudden change in the situation in Paris, the restoration movement of the Bourbon dynasty directly evolved into a civil war, and the political situation in Europe became tense again.

The "tension" is not because of the French Civil War. The country is most concerned about the debt issue.Especially the poor ghosts of Belgium, Spain, Russia, and the states of Italy pay special attention to it.

If it weren't for the Bourbon dynasty's resolute opposition to the alliance's intervention, the Russian army stationed outside Paris would have rushed in.The inability to directly interfere does not mean that there is no way to pull the bias.

The Paris Revolutionary Army took the initiative to attack several times, but was blocked by the Russian army under the pretext of military exercises, providing strong support for the private nobles who ran away.

Not only that, even the prisoners of war released in batches by the Anti-French Alliance are now given priority to members of the royalist party.As for the unlucky ones who are politically inclined to the revolutionary party or the republican government, it is estimated that they will be prepared to sit in prison.

The Anti-French Alliance does not want these guys to come out to hinder the restoration, and the Bourbon dynasty will not welcome these opponents.Perhaps when the situation is stable in the future, they will have a chance of being released from prison, but who can say for sure about politics?

Fight if you want. Anyway, since the defeat in the European war, the dissatisfaction of the French people has been accumulating, and it is good to vent it.

According to past experience, after every emotional vent, the situation in France will stabilize for a period of time, just in time for the Bourbon dynasty to stabilize its situation.

Everything is under control, Franz has no extra time to pay attention to the disturbances from the outside world, and the focus of his current work is still at home.

After a preliminary run-in, the Holy Roman Empire is finally unified in the true sense.Although there is still a long way to go to integrate, it is still enough to scare people out.

The paper data of the unified Holy Roman Empire is undoubtedly terrifying.With the addition of the mainland and the colonies, the total economic volume has reached 38.2% of the world, and the total industrial volume has reached 54.8% of the world. The fiscal revenue exceeds the sum of all European countries, coupled with the world's largest army and second largest navy. , it is simply speechless.

In fact, Franz was also stunned by this statistic and thought it was April Fool's Day.

After calming down and studying carefully, Franz discovered that this set of data is not exaggerated, and there is even a lot of potential to be tapped.

The Continental War ravaged France, Belgium, and Italy, and the world's economic and industrial aggregates shrank.

As the victor of the war, the Holy Roman Empire not only completed the unification of the country, but also further seized large colonies of the French.

The mines, railways, ports, and plantations that the French painstakingly managed on the African continent became the spoils of the Holy Roman Empire.With the influx of immigrants, these wealth have been transformed into economic data on paper.

That's right, it is only "on paper" wealth, and it will still take a long time for these assets to function and be transformed into real national power.

The expected post-war Great Depression did happen, but the hardest hit area was not the Holy Roman Empire, but France, Belgium, and Sardinia, the countries most affected by the war.

In order to reduce the pressure of post-war demobilization and resettlement, and reduce the government's financial expenditure, Franz once again resorted to the method of enfeoffment to lure meritorious officers and soldiers to emigrate to Africa.

As a generous emperor, Franz took out land, mines, plantations, and unimportant ports and wharves as fiefdoms. Some military officers with great merit even directly obtained a city, the kind with jurisdiction.

Let's put it this way, most of the colonies that the Holy Roman Empire took from the French have now become private property, and what belongs to the emperor is either sand or backcountry that no one cares about.

Since it is private property, local development is no longer a problem.This group of emerging military aristocrats called their friends and friends to develop it.

As the government collects some commercial taxes, it is enough to maintain the operation of local administration.Other problems are not a problem, as long as there is no big trouble, Franz pretends not to see it.

In short, it is very characteristic of Shinra.The big prince Franz on the European continent can tolerate it, let alone the small princes on the African continent.

Besides, how can such a large territory be ruled without playing around like this?

You can't learn from the British colonial rule, right?

If colonial rule is really adopted, it is not as reliable as the enfeoffment system. At least the ruling foundation is more stable, and there is no need to suppress national uprisings every now and then.

If you read the history books, you will know that there is basically no independence in the areas ruled by enfeoffment aristocrats. On the contrary, the newly occupied areas directly under the central government often relapse.

As for the possible expansion of local nobles in the future, Franz can no longer care so much.If it is big, it will be big, and it is only a self-governing dominion, and the size of the fiefdom limits the upper limit of development.

The national culture has already decided that no matter how powerful the aristocratic group grows, it is impossible for them to rebel with the slogan "The princes and generals are better than each other", let alone send the emperor to the guillotine.

The class position has determined that they must be a member of the royalist party, which is the foundation for them to maintain their status.Even if there is an individual rebellion, it will be suppressed by other nobles.

The most injured is probably the central government, which has a group of nobles checking and balancing, and its power has been severely restricted.

Of course, in the Holy Roman Empire, everyone would not care about this issue. The central government has never been strong since ancient times.The current Vienna government is already an outlier, and it can be called the most powerful government since the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire.

Continue to strengthen the authority of the central government, even if the people below have no objections, Franz will not agree!

Just kidding, if the power of the cabinet continues to expand, the priority will be reversed.Once a powerful minister appears, the emperor will become a rubber stamp.

This is considered lucky, if you encounter a black hand, maybe they won't even give you a place for the rubber stamp, and you will just overturn the table and become the boss.

Once power is out of check and balance, it is a man-eating monster.Numerous cases have proved that human nature cannot stand the test, and loyalty will never be as reliable as profit.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of winning the European war, Franz directly supported the military aristocratic group and planted their roots in the African continent.

From this moment on, the core of maintaining the unity of the Holy Roman Empire became the emperor.States and nobles had the Holy Roman Empire because they were loyal to the emperor, not the emperor who had the empire first.

Playing like this in other countries will definitely cause dissatisfaction among many people.However, the Holy Roman Empire is an exception. The following states and nobles are all beneficiaries of this system, and the political system has been playing like this from the beginning.

The seemingly indistinguishable definition is actually the origin of legal system.

To be loyal to the emperor means that the princes are at the same level as the central government and have the highest autonomy; if they are loyal to the government, it means that the central government can take back everything they own at any time.

It took decades of tossing around to complete the ideal political system in his mind. There were so many twists and turns that Franz felt physically and mentally exhausted.

He doesn't want to care about any hidden dangers or sequelae now.Anyway, this world has never been perfect, and the painstakingly managed Holy Roman Empire also revolved around the Habsburg dynasty.

If the Habsburg dynasty collapsed one day, what would the life and death of the empire have to do with him?Franz was not so noble in making wedding dresses for others.

According to the current political structure, as long as the descendants do not die, there is no problem in continuing for another 200 years, and in the future—sorry, the time traveler is not omnipotent.

After signing the document in hand, the unique Shinra-style ruling system was formally established.Not only the African continent, but also colonies in the Americas and Southeast Asia will replicate this model in the future.

The difference is that in these too distant regions, Franz has not yet made up his mind whether to throw a son in the past to become king, or let the nobles play local self-government.

Sometimes too much territory is also a kind of trouble.One or two generations of immigrants still have a sense of belonging to the country. After the last three or five generations, it would be nonsense to talk about the sense of belonging.

In addition to cultural intimacy, the rest will be of interest.With close economic ties and the same strategic direction, we are like a family.If there is a conflict of core interests, those who should separate will still have to separate.

Looking at the world map on the wall, Franz made up his mind that he could not continue to expand.

After a rough calculation, the territory controlled by the Holy Roman Empire has actually surpassed that of Britain, and it is about to break through 4000 million square kilometers.

Judging from the current situation, no effort is needed. As long as Franz doesn't stop it, in ten or eight years, the Holy Roman Empire's control area will exceed 4000 million square kilometers.

However, this expansion doesn't make any sense.The benefits brought by colonial expansion are not enough to make up for the negative political effects of expansion.

Today is different from the past, the days of running boats to enclose land are over, and the land without owner has long been carved up.If you continue to expand, you can only compete with each other, and the pay and benefits are completely out of proportion.

"Prime Minister, tell the governors below that we need time to digest the results of the war. In the years to come, if it is not necessary, do not use force to expand.

Recently, the belligerent atmosphere in the country has obviously gone too far.We are not war mad, don't clamor for war if we have nothing to do.

The cabinet should do a good job in the ideological education of government officials, so that they can use their brains more when they encounter problems. Arrogance is a sign of lack of education.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must also make a change in thinking. From now on, we will no longer be bystanders in international affairs, and you must be prepared to act as arbitrators. "

It's not that Franz made a big fuss, but that the current Vienna government is already a little bit drifting.Victory came too easily, causing many people to lose their eyes and become arrogant.

Well, it doesn't matter that the great powers are mad at all, but the ruler himself must keep a clear head.

After such a long time, Franz has realized the problem, but no one from the top government has brought it up, which in itself is abnormal.

Even if you are a fan of the authorities, then your brain trust should have thought of it, right?If everyone can't think of it, then why raise them?

This is obviously impossible. It is normal for one or two people to float away, and it is impossible for everyone to lose their eyes.There is only one answer, and everyone knows it but has not paid attention to it.

No matter what the reason is, the emperor has discovered the problem anyway, and the cabinet has not realized the seriousness of the problem, and that is the fault.

Prime Minister Karl replied bitterly: "Yes, Your Majesty!"

As the prime minister of the empire, it is very embarrassing to be directly pointed out by the emperor.Among the successive prime ministers of the Holy Roman Empire, there are only a handful of similar things that happened.Just before he retired, Carl's self-esteem was severely impacted.

Of course, that's all there is to it.Politicians have thick skins, even if they are pointed at their noses and scolded, they can greet them with a smile.A little bit embarrassing, but it can't hit Prime Minister Karl.

In a sense, it also reflects the emperor's trust in them, and only his own people will be directly beaten in politics.It would be a political disaster if there is a problem and you are greeted with a smile.

Volume VII Road to Overlord

Chapter 1 A New Era - SHIELD Settlement System

Politics has always affected the whole body with one hair, and what seems to be an ordinary beating is actually Franz closing the expansion valve and suppressing the voices of the main domestic fighters.

Everything has two sides. It was too easy to win the European war, and the loot was too rich. The most important thing was that the emperor was willing to share the benefits, so that "fame and fame can be obtained immediately" became the mainstream of society.

Stimulated by interests, the empire has become unprecedentedly warlike.Ordinary people want to stand up through war, ordinary officers and soldiers who have risen due to military exploits want to cross the threshold of nobility through war, and nobles want to go further through war.

"The wages of avarice is death".

The survival law of nature is vividly expressed here.Stimulated by interests, everyone has forgotten the risks brought about by war.

It's not that no one noticed the problem, but everyone tacitly pretended not to see it.The reason is very simple. The collapse of France made the Vienna government lose its sense of crisis.

In the eyes of everyone, without the old enemy of France, there is no one in the world that can rival the Holy Roman Empire.

Even though the Royal Navy is still number one in the world and the big bears are still strong, their weaknesses are all too obvious.

The industrial strength of the Russians is weak, the government is clinkingly poor, and the economic lifeline is still in the hands of the empire. We must look at Vienna's face.

Although the British navy is number one in the world, it is only temporary.Once the empire decides to fight for supremacy at sea, it is their turn to exit.

If you can't compete in quality, then pile up quantity.The big deal is that if Britain builds one warship, the empire will build two. Two against one can always win.

Money is such arrogance. The integrated Holy Roman Empire has a financial revenue that exceeds the sum of all European countries. As long as the government tightens its belt, even if it is land power and sea power, it will not hesitate to play with it.

No matter how other people drifted, Franz was not drifting anyway.Income and expenditure are directly proportional. Ordinary people only see the government's huge fiscal revenue, but ignore the government's huge expenditure.

If it hadn't been for the adoption of the original enfeoffment system, which greatly reduced administrative expenses, the current income of the Vienna government might not be able to support this huge empire.

You know, because of the war, the Vienna government has been in deficit for three consecutive years.To achieve financial balance, the fastest is 1894.

"Although a country is large, it will perish if it is warlike."

It is universal in any period.Reality has proved that as long as the scale of the war reaches a certain level, no matter how rich the spoils are, it will lose money in the short term.

The outside world only saw the scenery of the victorious country, but did not know the suffering behind it.Only when the booty is digested is the real wealth, otherwise it is the data that stays on paper.

Not only is the government poor, but even the pockets of the aristocrats are not rich, especially the military aristocrats who have just risen, their pockets may be cleaner than their faces now.

There is no way, all the money is thrown on the fief.Their own fiefdoms are managed by themselves, and of course they have to pay for their own construction.

Not to mention the emerging aristocrats, even the old-school aristocrats, it is not easy to come up with such a large sum of money all at once.

The construction of fiefdom itself is not a matter of one person. All the emptying is not only of their own wallets, but many people also empty the wallets of relatives and friends.

Of course, this is also an investment, and it is the most stable investment.As long as you don't fiddle around, you can never lose money in running a fiefdom.

Now the only rich people are probably the capitalists, but these guys are trembling at the moment, each of them is as low-key as possible, for fear that they will be caught by the poor and crazy Vienna government and confiscated.

If all of them are legal property, naturally there is no need to hide and hold them. The problem is that the capital these days is all bloody, and it is almost certain to check.

But the Vienna government likes to play like this. When it is short of money, it will fight corruption, and then involve a bunch of capitalists by the way, or just stare at a few fat sheep to investigate.

Since Franz took the throne, similar things have happened three times, and every time the capitalists are leeks on the table.

Every time, the one who dances the most will die the fastest, especially those idiots who ran to manipulate politics, one counts as one, and now the graves are covered with grass.

It has nothing to do with Franz, behind this is the game between the aristocratic group and the bourgeoisie.In order to ensure their own political dominance, the aristocratic group has always been within the rules of the game to suppress the rise of the bourgeoisie.

Similar things are not only staged in the Holy Roman Empire, but almost the entire European continent is where two major classes are fighting.