MTL - The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria’s Mandate of Heaven-Chapter 4 23 Attempts to Form the German Customs Union (Part 1)

Metternich, who fell behind, looked at his two colleagues and sighed. Although these people are full of confidence, but based on his understanding of the old emperor, it is likely that they will not succeed this time.

It's just that as an idealist, he is not willing to give up, even if the hope is slim.

Metternich liked the title "Prime Minister of Europe". It was only after he became the Prime Minister of the Austrian Empire that he realized that giving advice was not as easy as he thought.

In the past, as a diplomat, no matter how many people besieged and slandered him, he could defuse it with words.

However, as the prime minister of the empire, without money, he couldn't even hire a clerk, and he couldn't get out of Vienna with decrees, let alone reforms.

Austria's domestic relations are more complicated than those in Europe. Joining the German Customs Union is obviously beneficial to the Austrian Empire and has no harm.

However, he met with strong opposition, which was far beyond his imagination.

Because the cancellation of tariffs will affect the income of some people, and the entry of goods from the German region into Austria will affect the profits of some people, and even the increase in the German population in Austria will also affect the status of some people...

And Emperor Franz II was soft-hearted, and at the same time he was afraid of taking responsibility. So the final result is very likely to do nothing and maintain the status quo.

Metternich knew very well that if he wanted to keep Austria as the chairman of the German Confederation, he had to either join the German Customs Union or prevent it from forming.

The latter he tried, but failed.

Driven by Prussia, the six states of North Germany established a customs union in 1826, and the tariffs between the states participating in the alliance were cancelled.

The following year, Bavaria and Württemberg, two major states in South Germany, formed the South German Customs Union, and later some other South German states joined in to deal with the Customs Union organized by Prussia.

In 1828, Hanover, Saxony, the states of Thuringia and the cities of the Hanseatic League formed the Sino-German Customs Union against Prussia.

But who would have trouble with money bags? So these organizations that were formed to fight against Prussia fell apart, and finally became the cornerstone of the German Zollverein.

The establishment of the German Customs Union is good news for Prussia, and it is also good news for Austria.

Although Austrian products are not comparable to those of Britain and France at this time, or even inferior to those of the Belgians, he is still very confident in comparing them with Prussia.

As long as the German Customs Union is mastered, it will not only alleviate the stretched Austrian economy, but also strengthen its control over the German Federation, thereby reviving the great power.

As long as he had money, Metternich could carry out reforms and realize his ambitions.

On the other side, Prince Wendy Goretz and other dignitaries also arrived in front of the palace gate. Their trip has only one purpose, and that is to prevent Austria from joining the German Customs Union. Because Bohemia is close to South Germany and Saxony, if tariffs are exempted, it will greatly affect the income of local noble officials.

Prince Esterhazy even brought people from Hungary overnight, but he didn't come because of money. In his opinion, doing business with Prussia would also facilitate the purchase of Prussian luxury goods (amber, agate, pearls) with less money.

But once Austria and Germany establish a closer relationship, the German population in Austria will increase, which is very likely to affect the power of the Hungarian nobles within the empire, which he and they cannot tolerate.

Bolstruh, the banker, actually the representative of the Rothschild family, objected on the grounds that Solomon Rothschild wanted to monopolize the banking business of the Austrian Empire forever.

Now in the Austrian Empire, several well-known banking families have declined, or are in a state of shock due to the delay in recovering the empire's debts.

Once the restrictions are opened, North German banks will enter the Austrian Empire, which will affect the interests of the family.

In Vienna, inside the Hall of Mirrors, a fierce quarrel broke out between the two sides again.

Both Metternich and Kororav and Bruck were experts in their own fields on the side that supported joining the German Zolluge.

This makes this debate unsuspense from the very beginning..

As it should.

But can the right and well-founded side win?

Presenting the facts and reasoning is obviously not what these aristocrats are good at. Fishing in troubled waters and playing court politics is their specialty.

The aides they hired with a lot of money are not for nothing.

In particular, the great nobles seized on Metternich, who once tried to establish a German customs union with Austria as the core, but they couldn't let go of the fact that they broke up unhappy.

"Your Excellency, have you forgotten? How did you break up with Saxony that time, and how did Bavaria break your promise?"

"That's right, that's right, even Baden and Württemberg turned against us because of this. Have you forgotten?" Another nobleman echoed.

At this time, Metternich remembered how these dignitaries were so clever that they caused the alliance to explain.

Because Saxony's industrial products compete with Austria, and the crops from Prussia may enter Hungary through Saxony, which will affect their interests.

In order to prevent the Austrian Empire from doing business with Saxony, opponents even bribed officials to prevent the entry of Saxon missions. In the end the Saxon mission had to enter Austria via Bavaria.

At the meeting, these great nobles put forward harsh conditions, and even asked the Saxon government to limit the quantity and types of goods exported to Austria, which caused the Saxon ambassador to leave the meeting angrily.

After that, he even bribed the close ministers of the King of Saxony, spreading false news that "Austria intends to make Saxony a vassal."

At this time, King Anton I of Saxony still claimed to be the master of "North Germany's most powerful state". He imagined that sooner or later he would annex Prussia, and then fight against Austria. How could he accept the humiliation of surrendering to Austria.

Ever since, the business alliance between Austria and Saxony broke down.

The three countries of South Germany are closer to Austria in terms of culture and religion. UU Reading www.uukanshu.com has strong liberalism and is very interested in things that can make money. Many Germanists even consider themselves subjects of the Holy Roman Empire .

The churches in the three countries of South Germany also hope to use this to close the relationship with Austria and resist the influence of the Protestants in North Germany. The churches in Austria also hope to use this to increase the influence of the Catholic Church and thus counter the increasing Protestant forces in the country. .

Under Metternich's ingenious combination, the attitudes of the church, the people, and the bureaucracy were unprecedentedly consistent, which was already the general trend, but the great nobles were not reconciled.

The great nobles first repeated their old tricks, intending to make things difficult for the mission, but this time Metternich learned his wisdom and found a general who was both a noble and out of tune with the noble circle—Julius Heinau, to receive the mission.

This person is the illegitimate son of the candidate for Hesse and has no inheritance rights, so he should not be a nobleman. But in the Napoleonic Wars, he came to Austria alone, and performed well on the battlefield, and won the title of the Austrian Empire.

The real aristocrats look down on this kind of illegitimate son who was born in a wild way. At the same time, Hai Nao also looks down on those "so-called nobles" who rely on the shadow of their ancestors and pee their pants when they fight.

At the same time, Hai Nao has another identity, which makes the nobles even more disgusted. He was a Jew, and his mother was the daughter of a Jewish merchant. She first married a blacksmith, and later became the lover of the Grand Duke of Hesse, who secretly gave birth to Hainau.

People like Hainao are unacceptable to the nobles, and Hainao's vicious reputation makes all those who try to cause trouble stay away.

Only this time, the great nobles went too far. Their actions can no longer be said to be wronging the country, they are simply betraying the country. This time they went directly to the French.