Edel took his family to live in this palace called the Belvedere Palace, which was also called the Belvedere Palace. It was the palace where the famous Prince Eugen lived in the past.
As commander-in-chief, Prince Eugen led the army to repel the Ottoman invasion and made outstanding contributions to the defense of Vienna. Therefore, the Kingdom of Austria at that time built this palace for this great hero. It is also one of the three major palaces in Vienna.
One, the other two are the Hofburg Palace, the main palace of the Habsburg family, and Schönbrunn Palace, its summer residence.
Arranging the Edel family in the Belvedere Palace among the many palaces in Vienna also shows that the Austro-Hungarian Empire attaches great importance to Romania. However, this has no effect on Edel. It can only bring rich benefits to the Kingdom of Romania.
Even the red regime dared to talk about good neighborliness and friendship, but the future red empire would have irreconcilable conflicts with Romania.
Edel took his family, who were tired from the ride, to have a wonderful night's rest in this palace with an octagonal top tower. Someone came looking for him early the next morning, and as expected, the Austro-Hungarian government came to discuss the matter as expected by Edel.
The candidate is the new Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Hoyos.
"Good day, Your Majesty Eder."
Before Hoyos became Minister of Foreign Affairs, Berchtold's secretary to Foreign Minister, who had instigated the declaration of war against Serbia, was promoted to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs because of his support from Germany. Then before his brother-in-law Karl was about to ascend the throne, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs.
.can be regarded as a lucky person with a prosperous official career.
"I wonder what your Excellency, the Foreign Secretary, needs for coming here this time?"
Edel was also surprised that Austria-Hungary took action so quickly.
Hoyos was not polite and directly explained the purpose of his visit. "I came here this time to discuss with His Majesty the issue of Austro-Hungarian grain imports."
Now importing grain from Romania has become the main way for Austria-Hungary to alleviate its domestic demand. However, the black-hearted Edel has set the price of grain so high and does not accept purchases in other currencies. It can only be valuables such as lei or US dollars or gold.
Metal, this has forced Austria-Hungary Finance Minister Bilinski to tear out his hair. Now Edel has gone to Vienna to attend the funeral of Frans Joseph, the Austro-Hungarian government hastily see if it can lower the price.
, or other substitutions can be accepted.
Edel pretended to be dumbfounded and said, "Isn't the current deal very good?"
Hoyos directly interrupted Edel's pretense. "Your Majesty, the price of food in Romania is now almost unaffordable for the Austro-Hungarian people."
The reason why Hoyos is so anxious has a lot to do with the fact that Austria-Hungary's grain reserves are about to bottom out. In Vienna, it's pretty good. In other parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the price of wheat flour as a staple food has reached 2.7 crowns per kilogram.
The level is 7.5 times higher than before the war.
Now the salary of a teacher in the Austro-Hungarian Empire is only 90-120 crowns, which means that if he wants to support himself and his family, he cannot purchase other items. In fact, this is impossible, including some ordinary condiments and some clothing.
It must be used for daily necessities, so the pure wheat bread that can still be eaten today are only people from very well-off families. Ordinary people now eat it mixed with other grains, such as corn flour and acorn flour.
According to the estimates of the Austro-Hungarian government, if the price of food in Romania does not decrease, the government will not have enough money to purchase food by the end of 1917. Everyone with some political common sense knows what the people will do if they have no food. This is why the Austro-Hungarian government is worried
The reason is that there is still no hope for the end of this war, and Austria-Hungary is likely to be the first to fall. This is something that Bechtold and others who launched this war never expected.
.
Facing Hoyos's request, Edel did Tai Chi. "I need to go back and discuss this issue with the Prime Minister. After all, Romania also has its own difficulties."
No matter what Hoyos said afterwards, Eder said that the matter needed to be discussed with the government, leaving the new Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister with nothing to gain.
After seeing Hoyos off, Edel told his captain of the bodyguard, "I don't see any guests today, so I said I need a day of rest to relieve the fatigue from the road."
"Okay, Your Majesty."
So under the obstruction of the guards, several guests who came to visit were blocked out.
It was not until the funeral officially started the next day that Edel had to appear in front of everyone. This time, the person who presided over the funeral of Franz Joseph was the Prime Minister of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Heinrich Lamash. Edel named Habus
His identity as a Fort clan member is behind Karl, who is about to take over the throne.
Karl, who was only two years younger than himself, was also famous for his bravery and perseverance as a soldier in Austria-Hungary, but Edel believed that he was not very mature as a politician. Because in later generations, after he succeeded to the throne, he succeeded to the throne through his brother-in-law, Prince of Parma.
Kestus engaged in peace negotiations with France. However, they were leaked in 1918, leaving Austria in a very embarrassing position.
At the end of World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire fell into civil strife and ethnic conflicts. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson proposed the Fourteen-Point Agreement, advocating the independence of all ethnic groups in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Karl convened the Royal Parliament, accepted the Fourteen-Point Agreement, and agreed
Establish a federal state with autonomous governments for various ethnic groups.
These two points can show that it is very immature politically. It negotiated privately with the enemy during the war. This was completely without taking into account the German feelings of protecting Austria-Hungary. And it accepted the Fourteenth Proposal proposed by US President Woodrow Wilson.
It would be a big mistake to have an agreement. As a multi-ethnic country, and a country where the dominant ethnic group is not dominant, accepting ethnic autonomy means secession. However, as a ruler, Karl was completely unable to see the harm, and politically he was not
Unqualified.
But now that he is about to ascend the throne, he still doesn't know his future destiny. Just before the funeral began, Karl turned to Edel who was standing behind him and said. "Your Majesty Edel, as relatives, can we promise me a small favor?"
Edel saw the eyes turning around and said calmly, "Your Majesty Karl, if I can help, I will definitely help."
Karl, who did not understand what Edel meant at all, said, "That would be great, Your Majesty Edel, can you sell Romanian grain to Austria-Hungary at a reduced price? Because Bilinski said that now the Austria-Hungary finance is almost unable to pay the price.
Romania spends more on buying grain.”
Seeing Karl really looking at him, mainly the eyes of his wife Sophie Marie looking at him with concern. Edel was defeated, but he still tried his best to talk. "This question needs to be asked to Prime Minister Bretianu."
Okay, but the Romanian royal family can sell you a batch of low-priced grain."
Edel cleverly changed the topic to the Romanian royal family's sympathy for Austria-Hungary, but at the government level he did not let up.
Edel's words made it impossible for Karl to continue asking, but Sophie Marie was okay.
"Edel, does this price have to be negotiated with the government?"
As the queen of Romania, Sophie Marie is still very concerned about the country of her birth. Fortunately, she is not very clear about politics. She didn't know that Edel was very talkative in Romania, and thought that like Austria-Hungary, she needed to discuss with the government parliament.
"Yes, I cannot make my own decision on this matter. Well my queen, the funeral is about to begin."
In fact, a few years before Franz Joseph's death, he secretly instructed his closest subordinates to start planning his funeral. The most luxurious and noble royal funeral must be held to match the glory of his lifetime.
.
Now a long-prepared super royal funeral has begun. Almost all dignitaries and celebrities are wearing black and yellow royal funeral clothes, forming a long queue that stretches for 10 miles. Escorting Franz
The coffin, the Royal Military Band played a sad and solemn elegy, and the red torch illuminated half of the city of Vienna. According to royal practice, before entering the Habsburg tomb, you must first pass by the Capuchin monastery. The tall monastery
The iron gate is closed tightly. Today, the cardinal of the monastery is guarding the iron gate.
"Please open the door!" the Prime Minister who presided over the funeral called the door as usual.
"Who is passing through here on his way to the Habsburgs?" asked the cardinal.
"Here is the supreme and incomparable majesty Franz Joseph I, the noble Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, King of Venice, King of Bohemia, King of Galicia, King of Croatia, King of Slovenia...
The Grand Duke of Tuscany, the Grand Duke of Krakow, the Duke of Lorraine, the Duke of Salzburg, the Duke of Bukovina...the Grand Marquis of Nibelungen, the Count of Moravia...
"The presiding president read out Franz's 37 titles at length.
"We don't know him." replied the cardinal. "Who is going to the Habsburgs?"
The presiding minister had to read it out again. This time, he used abbreviations as much as possible and omitted some boastful words.
"We don't know him," the cardinal replied. "Who is going to the Habsburgs?"
This time, the presiding minister was so anxious that sweat broke out on his face. He simply omitted all the titles and simply said: "This is Franz Joseph, our brother. The kind father of four children."
At this time, the iron door opened and the funeral procession was let in.
After watching the tedious funeral ceremony finally end, Edel took his wife and children to say goodbye to the Habsburg family one by one. However, they would not leave and needed to attend Karl's coronation ceremony tomorrow.
In fact, it was similar to Edel's coronation. Karl's coronation ceremony was just much more luxurious, with more than 1,800 nobles attending. Edel took his wife and children and left by car after attending the coronation ceremony in Vienna, because Karl
There was another coronation ceremony, which required going to Budapest to crown the King of Hungary. Edel couldn't afford to wait.
However, this trip was still worthwhile for Edel. He fully understood the current situation of Austria-Hungary, even if it was a rough understanding, some problems had already surfaced, and negotiations with the Allied Powers could now continue.
