Chapter 123 Abduction

February 1, 1868.

Ernst walked through Schönbrunn Palace as if he were at home. The servants were used to it, and no one stopped or led him.

Since last year, Ernst has basically been traveling back and forth between Hechingen, Berlin and Vienna. The Ernst family has its own castle and manor in Hechingen and Berlin, and it is a family in Prussia (Hohen). Sauron)'s territory, it doesn't matter where you stay.

As the Hechingen Consortium's most important market after Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire naturally deserves Ernst's personal attention.

Unlike in Hechingen and Berlin, Ernst only bought a small property in Vienna, not far from Schönbrunn Palace.

During his stay in Vienna, Ernst would visit the Austrian Royal Palace whenever he had nothing to do. Basically, he would go on long trips or stay at Schönbrunn Palace during the day, and then return to his residence to rest at night.

…

"Ernst, Ferdinand (Maximiliano I) and the others didn't cause you any trouble, did they?" Queen Mother Sophie asked kindly.

"Queen Mother, don't worry. My father-in-law and mother-in-law are living a good life in East Africa. Their whereabouts are sent to Europe every day with telegrams, and I have arranged escorts to protect their safety. The conditions in East Africa are worse than in Europe, and there is no entertainment. The place is small, but the scenery is still good." Ernst replied respectfully.

"Really? Are there telegraph lines from Europe to East Africa? I really don't know about this." Queen Mother Sophie said in surprise.

"Your Majesty, you may be too worried about your father-in-law's safety, so you didn't notice that last time I told you about the telegram from East Africa," Ernst explained.

"That's it! I only knew that Africa was a relatively deserted place, but I didn't expect that there were telegraphs to Africa." Queen Mother Sophie said.

"Actually, North Africa, that is, Egypt, also has telegraph lines laid by other European countries. East Africa is actually not too far from Egypt, so I set up a telegraph line to transfer from Egypt. All messages can be transmitted from East Africa within one day. Europe,” Ernst said.

"Ernst, in that case, can you send someone here to send daily news about Maximiliano I and others in the future?" Queen Mother Sophie asked.

"Of course, no problem. In fact, every time the message will arrive in Trieste first, and the second stop is Vienna. After all, I don't stay in one place very often. The message will be backed up and sent to me. I will arrange it in Vienna starting tomorrow. The staff sent the news about the father-in-law and mother-in-law to Schonbrunn Palace,” Ernst said.

"Thank you so much, Ernst! As a mother, who doesn't feel sorry for her son!" Queen Mother Sophie said with emotion.

"Your Majesty, you are so polite. This is what I should do as a junior. You are all my relatives, and the affairs of my relatives are naturally my business." Ernst said quickly.

In the Austro-Hungarian Empire, who had the most power was naturally Franz, but whoever spoke the most effectively in Schönbrunn Palace must be the Queen Mother Sophie. Apart from politics, Franz could not disobey the Queen Mother Sophie's will. So of course Ernst wanted to try his best to please the Queen Mother Sophie.

"You kid can say nice things! If you really don't have any bad deeds and are the best among a group of guys, Karina won't have your turn, don't you think so? Karina." Queen Sophie He lowered his head and asked the little Lolita in his arms.

Karina stared at her big watery eyes, watching the two people talking, and suddenly heard her grandmother ask herself, and said without thinking: "Grandma, are you going to give me away? Don't you want Karina anymore?" "Karina said astonishingly, with clear stupidity in her eyes.

"Silly girls, you know how to talk nonsense. You and Rudolf are my grandmother's treasures. How could I give you away?" Sofia rubbed Karina's hair and said, "In the future, you will always have to grow up. Those who start a family cannot always be under my protection. I have such an old body! I don’t know how long I can survive!”

As he spoke, he hugged Karina and Rudolf next to him.

Little Rudolf is only eleven years old, three months younger than Karina. Unlike Karina, little Rudolf may be because of his status as the crown prince.

The education he received was also stricter, and he was taken care of by Queen Mother Sophie since he was a child, so he seemed a little reserved.

After all, little Rudolf can still contact his parents, but Franz is quite old-fashioned, and Queen Elizabeth (Princess Sissi) has been deprived of educational rights.

Karina has rarely seen her parents as long as she can remember, and she only met Maximiliano I a few times when he visited Europe.

Therefore, Karina has been close to her grandmother since she was a child. Coupled with Queen Mother Sophie's worries about Maximiliano I, she feels even more sorry for Karina. Anyway, Karina will not have to bear the same responsibility for the future of the empire as Rudolf in the future. , so the education is not strict.

In contrast, Rudolf was in a miserable situation. Queen Sophie directly copied the method she used to educate Franz on Rudolf.

It's actually okay to do this. The bad thing is that Rudolf's family was in a different situation than Franz's at the time.

The Queen Mother Sophie and the Archduke Carl have no conflicts at all, and the Queen Mother Sophie is very strong, while the Archduke Carl is also slow (due to incest marriage), has no wildness, and is mediocre. One is strict and the other is kind, so the relationship between the two is not bad. The child's psychology is also relatively normal.

Rudolf was completely different. His father was rigid but undecided in the face of the family (the same was true politically, but the environment was basically qualified at the time). His mother, Princess Sissi, was incompatible with the court, and the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was tense.

Anyway, Rudolf was destined not to experience a harmonious family environment, so he was a little timid. Faced with the different personalities of his parents, he was naturally more susceptible to the influence of his mother.

Ernst's eyes lit up when he saw little Rudolf. Isn't this one of his goals?

Ernst stretched out his hands, pinched little Rudolph's chubby little face and said, "Ah! Who is this? It's so cute!"

Ernst was not talking nonsense. In his previous life, Ernst preferred children, except naughty ones.

Little Rudolf and Karina are currently clearly good-natured babies, and most adults would like children with such personalities.

"Ernst, I remember that you are not much older than his two siblings! You look like an adult." Seeing Ernst teasing Rudolf, Queen Mother Sophie said happily.

In fact, Queen Mother Sophie would be more satisfied with Ernst in this way. Ernst is now eighteen and was already an adult in his previous life.

Of course, in this era, adulthood will only be earlier, but people in this era need to take responsibility earlier. The sons of farmers need to go to the fields, and the sons of nobles need to start learning to be mature successors.

At present, Ernst's qualifications as a successor are definitely good, and his background is not bad. He will be indispensable for a future prince. He has also made achievements in starting his own business. In addition, he is very self-disciplined and has no bad deeds. For a traditional person like Queen Mother Sophie, In his eyes, he is naturally superior in all aspects.

"Her Majesty, no matter how old I am, I will always be a little baby in front of you elders." Ernst said.

Ernst was trying to attract the attention of the Queen Mother Sophie's grandson, but the Queen Mother Sophie didn't know it yet.

As one of the tragedies of the Habsburgs in his previous life, it is indeed a pity that Rudolf committed suicide, and as Rudolf's future brother-in-law, Ernst naturally wanted to help Rudolf.

Of course, Ernst also wanted to see what the future of the Austro-Hungarian Empire would be like if Rudolf did not die! And Franz’s unlucky nephew, Archduke Ferdinand, who was shot dead by a Serbian youth, will his fate change?

As for the butterfly effect, Ernst is not afraid of it at all now. Judging from the extraordinary standby time of Franz in his previous life, even if Rudolf is alive in this life, he will have to wait until after 1916 to get power.

In 1916, the daylilies were all cold. At the current rate, East African colonies had developed by then, plus East Africa was far away from Europe.

As long as you don't take sides in advance, neither of the two world wars will affect the East African mainland. And unlike the United States, East Africa is an important force near the Indian Ocean and will be the object of competition between the two sides (after all, it can threaten the two important sea lanes of the Suez Canal and the Cape of Good Hope. ).

Therefore, Ernst was not worried about World War I and World War II at all. What he was really worried about was the entrepreneurial stage of the East African colonies.

The biggest risk is at present. Other powerful countries have the ability to interfere in the situation in Africa. Fortunately, European capitalism has not yet developed to the stage of capital export (looking for raw materials and markets around the world).

That is to say, at present, the colonists mainly focus on plundering raw materials, and all industries are domestic. If Ernst does not publicize the resources in East Africa, they will naturally not attract attention.

In the capital export stage, the great powers have completed domestic industrialization and the domestic market and profits are saturated, so capital has to go to the world to conquer cities and territories.

Therefore, after 1880, Europe and the United States set off a frenzy to divide the entire world. In just a dozen years, more countries in Asia became colonies or semi-colonies; Africa was carved up; Latin America actually became a semi-colony. The capitalist world colonial system finally took shape at the end of the ninth century.

Therefore, East Africa must be large enough to protect itself before 1880, and have the ability to be independent by the end of the 19th century.

…

"Rudolf, do you want to live with me in Prussia for a while?" Ernst asked half-seriously.

The little guy didn't speak, but turned to look at his grandmother.

"Ernst, are you kidding! Even if you like children, Rudolf is the future emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and he has no time to play with you. If you really want to have a child, after you get married in the future, you and Karina Give birth to one?" Queen Mother Sophie joked.

Ernst said with a serious face: "Queen Mother, I am not joking, but I feel that as a future emperor, he should see more of the outside world, especially in the current era of rapid development and accelerated industrialization. Many things are different from the original ones. Things are different, and the emperor must keep pace with the times, otherwise it will be easy to fall out of the times."

"Are you being alarmist? Franz came here like this back then. It's not impossible for Rudolph to see the outside world when he grows up in the future." Queen Mother Sophie retorted.

Ernst would not give up easily until he achieved his goal, and then persuaded: "Queen Mother, it is not a bad thing to let Rudolf go out to see the world in advance. People who are emperors are lonely. Except for the oral experience passed down by their fathers, they have no There are other channels for reference. After all, there are only so many people in the world who can be the king of a country. This is what I thought. I took Rudolph to the Prussian royal family to communicate with Crown Prince Frederick, Prince William and other future Prussian monarchs. "

Ernst continued: "Queen Mother, everyone has seen the development of Prussia in recent years. Others don't know. I am very aware of the development of Prussia's domestic industrialization. It is no exaggeration to say that Prussia's industry is currently sufficient. Competing with France, Prussia's development speed is still accelerating, and it is just around the corner to surpass France. From my personal contact with the heirs of the Prussian royal family, they are all young heroes of the same generation, so it will be helpful for Rudolph to contact them. Improve his abilities.”

"But Prussia's development was based on Austria's temporary defeat. Otherwise, Prussia would never have achieved such an achievement, Ernst!" Queen Mother Sophie retorted.

"Queen Mother, Prussia does have some tricks up its sleeve, but the last war was definitely not an accident. Take the application of technology as an example. Last time, Prussia's firearms were at the forefront of Europe. At the same time, railways, telegraphs and other technological products have also played a role. Huge effect.”

"This is enough to show that understanding industry and technology will be a compulsory course for a monarch in the future. In current European countries, the Prussian royal family is definitely at the forefront. It is true that Vienna is one of the cultural and artistic centers of Europe, but at the industrial and scientific level it can It can directly enhance national strength." Ernst did not forget to give Vienna a title.

"Isn't it the same with teachers in related fields?" Queen Mother Sophie said.

"Just like when we look at landscape paintings and go to see landscapes in person, the impact on people is different. Take Schönbrunn Palace as an example. Her Majesty, if we look at Schönbrunn Palace through paintings, we will definitely have a deeper experience than living here. "If you want to understand the times and feel the development of industry and technology, you still have to go to the actual site to have a better experience."

This statement makes sense, and the examples are very good, simple and easy to understand. Queen Sophie was a little shaken, but still said: "But Rudolf can't stop studying!"

Ernst struck a chord while the iron was hot: "You can definitely let the palace teachers follow you, and you can learn and communicate with the princes at the same time, and at the same time, you can understand the situation in various places."

"The most important quality of a monarch is not the quality of his studies. There were many illiterate monarchs in the Middle Ages, but some of them could still be good kings, while some knowledgeable monarchs may not be able to govern well. Country, after all Rudolf will be an emperor in the future, not a scholar."

…

Under the bombardment of Ernst's words, Queen Mother Sophie reluctantly agreed to let Rudolf follow Ernst to see the world, but she had to discuss it with Franz first.

(The reason why there aren’t many scenes of Karina at the moment is that the two are not married yet and are too young. Let’s talk about it in a few years. It doesn’t matter if Rudolf is a boy.)