Chapter 1318: Surprise
Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.
The leader of the Violet Knights came to deliver the letter in person, which made Franz feel that his intelligence agency was too unprofessional.
There was no need for the highest person in charge to be the messenger for any kind of intelligence, right?
"Asfold, is there anything so important that you need to come by yourself? During the war, is the work of the Knights so idle?"
Asfold's public identity is a socialite who likes to host art salons. Her figure and appearance are impeccable, and her blonde hair adds a bit of charm to her.
People subconsciously label such women as big-breasted and brainless, but the one in front of them is a genius. She has amazing instant memory and knows eight languages and twenty-five dialects.
At this time, Asfold was wearing special clothes and spoke in a mixture of lip language and sign language through thick bulletproof glass.
"We found a lot of gold in Spain. A lot!"
In fact, it is impossible for these intelligence personnel to meet Franz directly. They must be carefully checked before the audience to prevent them from carrying weapons, poisons or explosives.
In addition to strict inspections, you cannot carry anything on your body, including your own clothes, so you need special clothes.
"Gold? A lot?"
Franz felt bored. He knew that the Spanish Kingdom was in financial difficulties. Except for those officers, others might not even get their salaries.
Isabel II's private treasury did have some money, but not a lot, about 10 or 20 million reais.
This money is an astronomical figure for ordinary people, but it may not be enough for a month's normal expenses for the Austrian Empire.
"A lot!"
Asford continued to speak with lip reading and sign language.
"There is no one here who needs your defense, you can just say it directly. Just for such a little gold, you came here specially?"
Asford looked at Franz's eyes, his face flushed slightly, but he still emphasized.
"Your Majesty, we really found a lot of gold. There is a huge storage room under the summer palace abandoned by the Spanish royal family, which is full of gold.
We can't count the exact number, but it is conservatively estimated to be no less than 600 tons."
Franz immediately thought of the legend. He didn't expect that in the 19th century, the Spaniards were still playing this trick.
If Isabel II could use this batch of gold to arm the Spanish army earlier, the Austrian Empire Expeditionary Force might really encounter some troubles.
If the Spanish government could make good use of this gold, perhaps Spain would not have fallen to this point today.
It's really self-inflicted!
"How did you deal with the gold?"
"Your Majesty, there is too much gold, and we can't transport it back with our manpower in Spain. So we took advantage of the chaos in Madrid to blow up the closed entrance of the palace and deal with all the insiders except the branch minister and me."
Asford was a little excited, and it seemed that there was some hidden secret.
"Protect the dead, they are all heroes of the empire. The living should be given more attention, let them relax, and if they still have shadows after this mission, they can choose to retire early."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I thank you on behalf of the comrades who died and their families. For the empire, for you, we are willing to do anything"
Franz knew that Asfold was showing his loyalty, but sometimes it is better to accept it.
"It's getting late, you stay tonight"
Madrid, Spain.
The arrival of Archduke Albrecht boosted the morale of the soldiers and civilians. In addition to his royal status, his record is also worthy of the title of "war hero".
The status of soldiers in the Austrian Empire is gradually improving, and the impression that soldiers are gangsters, bandits, scoundrels, and beggars is gradually changing, while officers have become the most admired group, and war heroes are undoubtedly the pinnacle.
It's just that Archduke Albrecht found that the Spaniards admired him more than the Austrians, and along the way it was like a candy cart passing by the school gate.
Albrecht had to admit that this feeling was not bad.
But he did not like the position of Field Marshal at this time. As the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Central Army, he always had endless meetings.
In the previous war meeting against Spain, Albrecht had always been a war advocate, but he was sent to Spain when the war was about to end.
At this time, Albrecht's mission was not to fight, but to carry out a secret mission for Franz.
Probably to dig up some relics and then send the gold inside safely back to Vienna.
Albrecht felt that Franz really liked to make a fuss. Such a simple thing actually required him to come in person, and even used the Royal Legion to escort.
His weird brother might laugh at him again.
Although Albrecht was older than Friedrich, the latter became a marshal first, got married first, and had children first.
In fact, Albrecht should have been married, but the woman had a problem in the pre-marital physical examination, and the doctor thought that the woman might not be able to have children.
The inability to have children was unacceptable to the Habsburg family, which was facing a population shortage at the time, so Albrecht's marriage fell through.
Albrecht himself was not interested in these things. What interested him was war and military affairs, the feeling of commanding hundreds of thousands of troops, the thunderous roar of cannons, and the airships that covered the sky.
At this time, the adjutant stumbled in.
"Marshal, so much gold! So much gold!"
Albrecht gently put down the teacup and closed his eyes to savor the bitter and sweet taste.
"Isn't it just gold? What's the big deal?"
"But there's really a lot! Gold is everywhere!"
The adjutant was obviously shocked and spoke incoherently.
"It's really strange. Take me to see it."
Albrecht stood up and walked towards the excavation site.
Albrecht was also a little dumbfounded when he came to the ruins of the Summer Palace. The entire excavation site was full of gold and stones, and there was gold under almost every stone.
On the side was the execution ground. Some people saw gold secretly hidden on their bodies. If they were discovered, they would only die.
Albrecht's father, Archduke Karl, had always been the richest noble in the Austrian Empire. He inherited almost all of his family's wealth, and the family's annual income was comparable to that of a medium-sized country.
Albrecht felt that he had long been numb to gold, but he still couldn't help but gasp at this moment.
"How much is this?"
Albrecht looked around again. Fortunately, he had taken measures to close the area before, otherwise the commotion would have been even greater.