Chapter 905 Gift from Heaven

Chapter 905 Gift from Heaven

The so-called King of Rome by Pius IX was more like the honorary mayor of Rome, not the Roman Empire or the emperor of the Roman Empire.

As for the king of the Romans, if Franz is too serious, he will definitely end up like Emperor Norton.

Therefore, Franz did not have to lead the horse, hold the stirrups, kneel down, or kiss his feet. He just curtsied out of ceremony. However, this is still a title worth showing off for the royal family of any country.

The whole ceremony was complicated and lengthy. In addition to the coronation, Franz should also go on a parade out of the city, but considering the safety situation at this time, this was omitted.

Franz was crowned as the savior of Rome, especially since all this was done by the Pope himself, so it was not easy for other countries to say anything.

In fact, Pius IX, including the entire Holy See at this time, had their own considerations. The Papal State experienced this catastrophe, resulting in heavy losses in population, ruined industries, and high debts.

The most important thing is that at this time, the foundation of the Papal State's own country has also encountered a threat, that is, a crisis of faith.

In 1848, too many people were using the banner of the Pope and religion, but what they did was beyond the tolerance of believers.

Coupled with the smearing and liquidation after the liberals came to power, the Papal State at this time has not only been shaken to its foundation, but has actually become an empty shell.

So when Austria showed sufficient strength, Pius IX had to agree to Franz's deal, trading all its national defense, military, and economic powers, and had to accept the Sino-Italian Confederation and the Pan-Apennine Commercial Alliance Agreement .

Although the Pope will serve as the honorary chairman, he actually has no real power just like Francis, the King of Rome.

At this time, Austria was the only country the Papal States could rely on. The credentials of the French Provisional Government were not delivered until the day after Austria liberated Rome.

The French had similar ideas to the British. They also hoped that Austria would annex the Papal States or occupy the city of Rome.

However, the decision-making level of the French Provisional Government was too chaotic at this time, and its administrative efficiency was not as good as that of the Orleans Dynasty.

The French Provisional Government has many factions, many hills, and a mixed bag of fish and dragons, even a nest of snakes and rats.

As for its composition, it can be seen from the words of Ryder Rowland, the Minister of the Interior of the French Provisional Government at this time.

"We all care about the people, but please believe me, if one day the people really become the masters of this country, we will be the first to be hanged."

It is obviously unrealistic to expect this group of people to improve the lives of the people at the bottom of France, and too many factions and excessive democracy have also led to some common problems - excessive decentralization of power, leading to low administrative efficiency and political chaos.

The French provisional government also likes to hold meetings, but even if they hold a hundred meetings a day, they cannot come up with a solution.

And even the plan that most people like may not necessarily be the best plan, just like the previous declaration of war on Austria when the international situation was extremely unfavorable.

It may seem like a stupid decision, but in fact it releases the national sentiment that the French have been accumulating.

When this bill was proposed, it was almost unanimously approved, but the result was that the new French provisional government fell into a desperate crisis.

In fact, almost all senior French military officers and diplomats at the time opposed the provisional government's approach, but those political factions obviously chose the most popular approach.

At this time, the French were also feeling uneasy about the Austrian Empire's rapid advance in the mountains of Central Italy.

Whether it was the Orleans Dynasty or the Provisional Government at this time, the French never gave up their expansion in Italy.

And once the Austrian Empire takes Rome, they will occupy a more favorable position in the Catholic world.

But what to threaten the Austrians with? The new Navy Minister Agra proposed a naval blockade because the mountains of Central Italy were rugged and difficult to navigate, and the Austrians must transport supplies by sea if they wanted to attack Rome.

As long as the French fleet enters the Adriatic Sea and crushes the Austrian navy in the Port of Venice, the Austrians will not be able to continue deep into central Italy.

In the wars of the 19th century, the role of logistical supplies was raised to a very high level. Without food and artillery, the Austrian army could not attack the city and therefore could not occupy Rome.

However, this does not mean that the French recognized the so-called Fourth Roman Republic. Although the French Provisional Government did not clearly express its position at this time, they actually supported the restoration of Pius IX.

Minister Agra is indeed very talented, and his vision is also very vicious. This can indeed prevent the expansion of the war and force the Austrians to retreat.

But the premise is that the French navy is far stronger than the Austrian navy. However, although the French navy at this time won the Mediterranean naval battle, its vitality was seriously damaged.

What's more important is that no one knows better than those within the French Navy whether they sunk the British fleet.

At that time, the losses of the British were much less than those of the French navy, but the latter had the advantage of the home field, and this kind of close-range melee meant that the British, who were better equipped and had higher-quality soldiers, could not give full play to their advantages.

The fate of the subsequent British fleet must be determined by the Austrian Navy. At this time, the French Navy had no confidence in winning this war.

Minister Agra's proposal was rejected due to the staunch opposition of the naval officers and soldiers. Then someone proposed a more radical approach, which was to directly threaten Austria with all-out war.

In fact, France and Austria are not bordering each other, so the so-called total war is nothing more than a gimmick.

What they really want is the Principality of Liege. Although the French have a bad reputation here, there are indeed a large number of French-speaking residents living here.

And because of the rise of German nationalism, the local French-speaking residents were hurt. In addition, the high-pressure policies left over from the Metternich era also disgusted the locals.

Forcibly promote German education, Austrian culture, and copy Austrian law and bureaucracy. Metternich really wanted to quickly assimilate the Principality of Liege into Austrian territory.

However, haste makes waste, and the habits formed by the locals over thousands of years cannot be changed easily.

At this time, the French were eyeing this area. After all, there were not many Austrian troops stationed there, and the whole of Germany was in chaos. There should be no more German coalition forces at this time.

In fact, Louis Philippe, who had taken refuge in Alsace-Lorraine, was also a major concern of the French Provisional Government, but according to the previous agreement, Alsace-Lorraine was part of the German Confederation.

Although there were no German Confederation troops stationed in Alsace-Lorraine, attacking Alsace-Lorraine would be equivalent to declaring war on the entire German Confederation.

The two previous frictions between France and the German Confederation did not yield any advantages, so they were still very wary of rashly starting a war.

However, theoretically speaking, the Austrians will not protect the former French king, but if a French king is shameless enough, he can still call himself the Duke of Germany.

That’s right! At this time, Louis Philippe claimed to be the Duke of Alsace-Lorraine, and even threatened the French provisional government, saying, "If you dare to attack Alsace-Lorraine, I will follow the example of the Luxembourgers and go to Frankfurt to accuse you!"

Note: Frankfurt was the seat of the Grand Council of the German Confederation in 1848.

The French Provisional Government dithered over the Austrian advance into Central Italy for several days, finally sending their ultimatum to Rome the day after Franz liberated the city.

The French threat was a total war, but this strengthened Pius IX's determination to follow the Austrian side.

Because judging from the speed of intelligence transmission alone, the French Provisional Government was several notches behind the Austrians.

Secondly, Pius IX had witnessed the strength of the Austrian army with his own eyes. It was not just the Swiss Guards who defended the Papal States before, but the Swiss were the most famous.

French, Spanish, Portuguese, and even Germans, there were all kinds of mercenaries in the Papal States.

When the supreme ruler of a country relies on foreign troops to protect his position, the degree of decadence in this country is evident.

However, in terms of personal morality alone, Pius IX was much better than his predecessors. After all, he was not a politician, businessman, liar, or conspirator.

In fact, the role of the Pope has been going astray since the Middle Ages, so that people's moral standards have dropped again and again.

Pius IX and his bishops figured out how to solve the crisis of faith by binding the Church to the Austrian Empire.

Because the Austrian Imperial Church had risen in this way before, and the wealth of the Austrian Imperial Church at this time was completely unmatched by the Papal State.

Although the Papal State is not as down-to-earth as the Austrian church, the former has an advantage that the latter cannot match, and that is where great righteousness lies.

In fact, Pius IX had a crazy idea at this time, which was to conduct another Crusade. Maybe this would restore people's faith in religion and save his own face.

After the coronation ceremony was completed, Pius IX came to Franz.

"Child, you are our hope for the future. Are you satisfied with this gift?"

However, Pius IX did not see any fear or complacency on Franz's face, only calmness.

"His Majesty the Pope, when the time is right, I will give you a kingdom of heaven."

"Heaven?"

Pius IX suspected that his ears had heard wrongly.

"Yes, Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

Franz's words only made Pius IX smile, and the latter only regarded them as a joke made by the former.

At the same time, the French's credentials were delivered to Vienna, and the Austrian imperial government was in a dilemma because the news of Franz's liberation of Rome had already reached Vienna.

However, France's declaration of war on Austria seemed to Duke Fantero and Solomon to be a blessing from heaven.

Although Solomon was once honored as "His Majesty the King" of Vienna, he had no chance to meet people like Duke Fantero. After all, the latter was the real aristocrat.

In fact, Duke Fantero had long wanted to meet Solomon Rothschild, but due to the status gap, he could only put on airs.

However, today is different from the past. Now they have an enemy that they have to join forces to defeat - the Austrian Empire.

In fact, they have done nothing less these days. As the former underground king of Vienna, Solomon naturally had many connections.

And due to the long-term chaos in Vienna at this time, many of those gang members had already blended into the German nationalists.

Solomon now controls at least 20,000 to 30,000 people, and they are spread across every corner of Vienna. The previous purges of the Vienna government did not destroy much of his power.

However, Solomon's power was still not worth mentioning in front of Duke Fantero, who directly attacked the Vienna city defense army.

As the top nobleman who has been in Vienna for many years, the influence of the Fantero family has naturally penetrated into all aspects of Vienna.

This naturally includes the Vienna City Defense Army, the reservation of the nobles.

The previous gatherings between the top wealthy families were the layout of Duke Fantero. He wanted to attract as many nobles as possible to join him in causing trouble.

However, due to the existence of the Vienna Overseas Company and the loyalty of some nobles, Duke Fantero's plan was not completely successful. But in fact, he had already won over some of them before that, and took advantage of the chaos in Vienna to kill a group of people.

Now Duke Fantero is fully capable of instigating a rebellion of 10,000 city defense soldiers. This kind of regular armed force is not comparable to gang members and militiamen.

The city defense force not only had infantry, but also cavalry and even artillery. Duke Fantero also went to war and fought for the Austrian Empire.

However, the great nobles have their own unique way of fighting, which is to listen to music, eat red wine steak, and sit in an absolutely safe area to watch the war process.

This was a common gesture among the great nobles at that time. People like Archduke Karl who would actually go to the front line to command were simply rare.

And a leading commander like Prince Andrei Bolkonsky (one of the protagonists of War and Peace) will only exist in novels.

But this does not mean that Duke Fantero is a loser. In fact, he has a very profound study of the art of war, and he also understands the importance of artillery in the wars of the 19th century.

The walls of the Hofburg Palace are not thick, but even a wall as thick as Constantinople cannot withstand the bombardment of modern artillery.

Although the royal guard in Vienna has been expanded several times, it is still impossible to block the attack of tens of thousands of people. And the key to it all will end with the capture of Emperor Ferdinand I.

Some people may have hesitated before, but with France's assistance at this time, Duke Fantero believed that most people would agree with his approach.

Although the expansion of the royal guard has brought about an increase in combat power, it has also given the great nobles an opportunity to extend their hands.

The Fantero family has placed internal agents in it. After the two sides fight, the descendants of the Fantero family and those who have received favors from the Fantero family will turn against them. When the time comes, the internal and external cooperation will definitely capture the Hofburg Palace.

At this time, Duke Fantero could already imagine Emperor Ferdinand I crawling under the stool in embarrassment, exposing his fat buttocks.

Duke Fantero was still hesitating whether to kick his butt with his left foot first or his right foot? This is a problem

At this time there was a knock on his door