Chapter 239： funeral

Edel took his family to live in this palace called Belvedere Palace, which was also called Belvedere Palace. It used to be the palace where the famous Prince Eugen lived.

As the commander-in-chief, Prince Eugen led the army to repel the Ottoman invasion and made outstanding contributions to the defense of Vienna. So the Kingdom of Austria at that time built this palace for this great hero. This is also one of the three major palaces in Vienna. The other two are the Hofburg Palace, the main palace of the Habsburg family, and Schönbrunn Palace, its summer residence.

The arrangement of the Edel family in the Belvedere Palace among the many palaces in Vienna also shows that the Austro-Hungarian Empire attached great importance to Romania. But this is of no use to Edel. Only if it can bring huge benefits to the Kingdom of Romania, even the Red regime dares to talk about good-neighborly friendship, but the future Red Empire will have irreconcilable contradictions with Romania.

Edel took his tired family in the car and took a rest in this palace with an octagonal top tower. Someone was looking for it early the next morning, and it was true that Edel did not expect that the Austro-Hungarian government came to discuss the candidate to be the new Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Oyos.

"Good day, Your Majesty Edel."

Before Oyos’ foreign minister, Bechtord’s secretary of the foreign minister, who instigated a declaration of war on Serbia, was promoted to deputy foreign minister because he won the support of Germany. Then his brother-in-law Carl was appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs before he was ready to take the throne. Can be regarded as a lucky official who is prosperous.

"I don't know what your Excellency Minister of Foreign Affairs needs for coming over this time?"

Edel was also surprised at how quickly Austria-Hungary acted.

Oyos was also polite to explain his intentions directly. "I'm here to discuss with your Majesty about the import of grain from Austria-Hungary."

Importing grain from Romania has now become the main way for Austria-Hungary to alleviate its domestic demand. But the black-hearted Edel set the price of food so high, and he did not accept purchases of other currencies. It can only be leu or dollars or precious metals such as gold, which forces the Austro-Hungarian Minister of Finance Billinsky to tear his hair out. Now that Edel has gone to Vienna to attend the funeral of Frans Joseph, the Austro-Hungarian government has not hurried to see if the price can be reduced or other alternatives can be accepted.

Edel said stupidly. "Isn't the current transaction good?"

Oyos directly interrupted Edel's pretense. "Your Majesty, the food prices in Romania are almost too much for the Austro-Hungarian people to afford."

What makes Oyos so anxious is also related to the fact that the grain reserves of Austria-Hungary are about to bottom out. Not bad in Vienna. The price of wheat flour, which is now the staple food in other parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, has reached 2.7 kronor per kilogram, which is 7.5 times higher than before the war.

The salary of a teacher in the Austro-Hungarian Empire is only 90-20 kronor, which means that if he wants to support himself and his family, he cannot purchase other items. In fact, this is impossible. You must use ordinary condiments and some clothing and other necessities of life, so the pure wheat bread that can still be eaten now are people with very well-off families. Ordinary people are now mixed with other foods, such as corn flour and acorn flour.

According to the estimates of the Austro-Hungarian government, the government will not have enough money to purchase food at the end of 1997 if the price of food in Romania does not decrease. Everyone with a little bit of political knowledge knows what the people will do if they have no food. This is also the reason why the Austro-Hungarian government is anxious. There is no hope for the end of this war, and it is very likely that Austro-Hungary will be the first to fall. This is Bechtordel and others who started this war. People never thought of it.

Facing Oyos' request, Edel played Tai Chi. "I need to go back and discuss this issue with the Prime Minister. After all, Romania has its own difficulties."

Then no matter what Oyos said, Edel said that he needed to discuss this matter with the government, so that the new Austro-Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs would gain nothing.

After sending Oyos off, Edel ordered his captain of the bodyguard. "I didn't see a guest today, so I said I needed a day off to relieve the fatigue on the road."

"Good Majesty."

Therefore, under the obstruction of the guards, all the guests who came to visit were blocked.

It wasn't until the funeral officially began the next day that Edel had to appear in front of everyone. This time it was Heinrich Lamash, Prime Minister of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, who presided over the funeral of Franz Joseph. Edel, as a member of the Habsburgs, is behind Karl, who is about to take over as the throne. ..

This Karl, who is only two years younger than himself, is also a soldier known for his bravery and perseverance in Austria-Hungary, but Edel believes that he is not mature as a politician. Because in later generations, after he succeeded to the throne, he negotiated peace with France through his brother-in-law, Prince Sixtus of Parma. However, it was leaked in 1998, which put Austria in an embarrassing position.

At the end of the First World War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire fell into civil strife and national conflicts. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson proposed a 14-point agreement to advocate the independence of all ethnic groups in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Karl convened the Royal Parliament, accepted the 14-point agreement, and agreed to establish a federal state with autonomous governments of various ethnic groups.

From these two points, it can be seen that it is very politically immature, and negotiating privately with enemy countries during the war, this is completely without considering the German feelings of defending Austria-Hungary. Accepting the 14-point agreement put forward by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson is even more wrong. As a multi-ethnic country, it is still a country in which the dominant ethnic group does not dominate. Accepting ethnic autonomy means splitting. However, as a ruler, Carl can't see this harm at all, and he is politically unqualified.

But as he is about to enthrone him now, he still doesn't know his future fate. Just before the funeral began, Carl turned his head and said to Edel, who was standing behind him. "Your Majesty Edel, can we as relatives promise me a small favor?"

Edel looked around when he saw the surroundings and said calmly. "Your Majesty Carl, if I can help, I will definitely help."

Carl, who didn't understand Edel at all, said. "That's great, Majesty Edel, can Romania's grain be sold to Austria-Hungary at a reduced price? Because Billinsky said that now the Austrian-Hungarian finances are almost unable to afford the cost of buying grain from Romania."

Seeing Carl really looking at him, it was mainly the concerned eyes of his wife Sophie Marie. Edel was defeated, but he still tried his best to talk about it. "This question needs to be asked to Prime Minister Bretianu, but the Romanian royal family can sell you a batch of low-priced food."

Edel cleverly replaced this topic with the Romanian royal family's sympathy for Austria-Hungary, but he did not let go at the government level.

Edel's words made Carl unable to continue to inquire, but Sophie Marie was okay.

"Edel, does this price have to be negotiated with the government?"

As the queen of Romania, Sophie Marie still cares about the country where she was born. Fortunately, she was not very clear about politics. She didn't know that Edel had a lot of words in Romania. She thought that like Austria-Hungary, she needed to discuss with the government council.

"Yes, I can't make my own decision on this matter. Okay, my queen, the funeral is about to begin."

In fact, a few years before Franz Joseph's death, he secretly asked his closest subordinates to start planning his funeral. We must hold the most luxurious and noble royal funeral to match the glory of his lifetime.

Now a long-prepared super royal funeral has begun. Almost all high-ranking officials and celebrities are dressed in funeral attire in two royal colors, black and yellow, in a long line that stretches for 0 miles. Escorting Franz's coffin, the Royal Military Band played a sad, solemn elegy, and the bright red torches illuminated half of the city of Vienna. According to royal practice, before entering the tombs of Habsburg, one must pass the Capuchin Monastery. The tall iron gate of the monastery is tightly closed. Today, the cardinal of the monastery is guarding the iron gate.

"Please open the door!" the prime minister of the funeral called the doorway as usual.

"Who is passing here to Habsburg?" the cardinal asked.

"This is His Majesty Franz Joseph I, the supreme and dignified King of Austria, the King of Hungary, the King of Venice, the King of Bohemia, the King of Galicia, the King of Croatia, the King of Slovenia... Grand Duke of Tuscany, Grand Duke of Krakow, Duke of Lorraine, Duke of Salzburg, Duke of Bukovina...Grand Marquis of Nibelungen, Count of Moravia... "Presiding over the first consecutive chapters, endlessly reading out Franz's 37 titles.

"We don't know him." The cardinal replied, "Who is going to Habsburg?"

The presiding minister had to read it again, and this time, he used abbreviations as much as possible. And omitted some bragging words.

"We don't know him." The cardinal replied still: "Who is going to Habsburg?"

This time the presiding minister was so anxious that his face was sweating. He simply omitted all the titles and simply said: "This is Franz Joseph, our brother. Four. The benevolent father of the child."

At this time, the iron gate was opened and the funeral procession was let in.

After watching the tedious funeral ceremony finally ended, Edel took his wife and children to bid farewell to the Habsburgs. But they will not leave, and they still need to attend the coronation ceremony of Karl tomorrow.

In fact, it was similar to Edel's coronation. Carl's coronation ceremony was just more luxurious. The number of nobles who attended alone was as high as 800. After attending the coronation ceremony in Vienna, Edel took his wife and children away by car, because Karl had another coronation ceremony and needed to go to Budapest to be crowned the king of Hungary. Edel couldn't wait.

However, this trip is worthwhile for Edel. He fully understands the current situation in Austria-Hungary. Even if it is a preliminary understanding, some problems have already surfaced. Now the negotiations with the Allied Powers can continue.

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