Chapter 29: A Certain Karl from the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Part 1)

  "Davis, do you know? Only when this rotten empire of the old regime is in chaos can we reap enough benefits! Just like this cup of red wine, a little more, we need a bit more, to squeeze out every last drop of its vital energy from this already rotten giant empire!"

  After the small wine time had passed, on top of a three-story building in the Austro-Hungarian Floburg Yanghang's residence in the German concession area of Hankou, looking at a team of Qing soldiers who were negotiating with black patrolmen outside the concession and wanted to come in to capture the "gangster" they claimed was hiding inside. Karl (full name: Karl Franz Josef Ludwig Hubert Georg Maria von Habsburg-Lothringen) swirled the 1865 French red wine in his hand, tilted his head back and drank the remaining half of the blood-like fine wine in one gulp. He had previously instructed those below that if any Qing dynasty fugitives entered the embassy district, the patrolmen inside only needed to pay attention to where they were, and as for the pursuing Qing soldiers, not a single one was allowed to be let in!

  "Yes, sir. You're always so wise!"

  A middle-aged brown-haired white man with a standard British gentleman's mustache next to him slightly bowed his head, saluted him and echoed what he said.

  "David, I'm afraid I rather regret Father's decision to send you here," Karl said with a shake of his head. "Without you, I'd probably make a complete mess of everything, and yet...you're always so dull. The British Butler Academy was never exactly the most thrilling place!"

  He paused, "Just like this bottle of red wine that the German ambassador gave me, Germans and French are equally greedy and hateful. Don't expect them to really want to please you. In fact, the Williams aim to grasp everything in our empire just like France bought all the mines and factories of the Russian Empire. Humph! The British rule the world, although the Gauls lost to them, they are also extremely greedy. But our cousin is not a good person to get along with either... Look at how they deal with the British, Gauls, and even Slavs. They have offended all of Europe. If it weren't for the great Austro-Hungarian Empire, they would have lost their last pair of pants long ago. Italian women are okay, but men? Humph! Do they have men?"

  He wrinkled his brow and stopped the middle-aged white butler with brown hair, whom he called 'Davis', who was about to pour wine for him. "Compared to red wine, I prefer whiskey, of course vodka is also okay, it has to be said that although Russians are always so rough and barbaric, their liquor tastes pretty good!"

  He put the wine glass in his hand on the table, and Karl picked up a exquisitely carved silver wine jug next to him, unscrewed the cap and took a swig!

  "Cuckoo! Cuckoo!"

  "Ah! Great Austro-Hungarian Empire, I salute you..."

  After downing nearly half a bottle of whiskey in one breath, Karl put it back on the table and walked to the window again, looking out!

  "This is a beautiful and rich place, isn't it?"

  "Yes, sir. I like this beautiful country as much as you do!"

  Davis held a bottle of aged red wine that had been opened for years, with a faint smile on his face, and replied respectfully!

  Who would have thought that Karl shook his head, "No, you're wrong, I don't like this country! They are too big, so big that even that madman (referring to the Tsar) acknowledges that it will take several centuries to swallow it completely, God forbid, but hopefully this yellow (harmonized word) cursed nation is forever in the hands of a bunch of trash!"

  "Territorial size doesn't represent everything, you're always so wise, sir!"

  Davis didn't show the slightest bit of embarrassment after being refuted, and still smiled faintly as he replied. "Just sir, forgive me for speaking out of turn, but you've just returned from an inspection tour in the United States, so why did you suddenly ask Duke-sama for those goods and come to this beautiful yet uncivilized country? Duke-sama is also very interested in this, you know!"

  Davis is very dedicated to his work.

  "This," his face suddenly turned serious, Karl's mind involuntarily thought of that country on the other side of the ocean which was rising at a surprising speed ignored by the whole world. It had vast and rich territories like the Russian Empire, steel like the German Empire, and markets like the British Empire. Although its navy was not as good as the empire, its huge industrial potential destined that once it wanted to, it could build a massive naval fleet comparable to those of Britain and Germany at any time. Although its army was almost non-existent, it was the only country in the civilized world where citizens were legally allowed to own firearms, and it can be said that when war is needed, it is the only country that can arm millions of land troops without effort.

  But it is such a country, its influence in Europe and even in the world is not as good as that of an empire. Just like this ancient empire under his feet, they all have infinite possibilities, but they are all asleep, and once awakened, the consequences are unthinkable.

  Wiping the cold sweat from his own forehead, on a trip to America, Karl witnessed the vast territory of the United States, witnessed the extensive railway network, witnessed the massive shipyards in their spare time, and witnessed the automobile industry rising like a new star. Although he didn't want to admit it in his heart, he had to say that this country across the ocean, which was still ranked after the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the world, had already thrown the empire far behind!

  "Probably only the British Empire and Germany can match it!"

  He sighed inwardly, and Karl thought of the situation within the empire once again. In an instant, he made up his mind - the great Austro-Hungarian Empire, the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, could not lose to them.

  Nothing much, our family's factory has been severely under capacity lately, and the Far East has been quite unstable in recent years, so I thought of coming here to take a look, and also find a new market for our family's munitions factory and the Empire's!

  Carl didn't tell the truth, and the other party obviously saw through it. However, Davis still stood by with a faint smile, "Yes, sir, the Far East has been quite restless for the past two years, but the Yangtze River Basin is after all within the sphere of influence of the British Empire. In the past two years, with that gentleman's naval armament competition, the empire has also been affected to some extent. Especially in the Balkan Peninsula, our allies - the Russian Empire, even the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Turkey, have been at odds with each other, and there is intelligence that domestically it has been decided to test the degree of support for the empire from our allies..."

  "Your father and your grandfather, the Duke, did not go to Tianjin or Shanghai, where our power is strongest, but instead came to this Yangtze River region, one of the provinces with the strongest British influence. Although various countries do not want to tear off their masks for the time being, so through diplomatic means, plus our proper restraint in the Balkans, the British fleet has not been too difficult for our merchant ships, however... sir, do you think this is necessary?"

  Karl frowned, he naturally knew that because of this matter, even the Emperor himself was his grandfather - Karl Ludwig's brother had personally asked about it. Their family also belonged to the Habsburgs, but the struggle for power within the imperial court was more intense. Who would have thought that they, who should have stood on the side of Inner Austria in the empire, actually had greater interests in Hungary? Moreover, his father Otto Franz became a force close to the Hungarian nobility in the Imperial Council, and his mother was a princess of Saxony. His grandfather was also a powerful Archduke in the Empire, so it's no wonder that he would face hostility and obstruction from the Emperor and various family forces under him. For his own idea, although the family did not explicitly say anything, he had already received many hints from his father and grandfather's confidant - Davies.

  "I didn't expect that those detestable arms groups would secretly persuade several governments, including our ally the German Empire, to sign a 'Convention on Prohibition of Arms Export to China' behind our backs. Not only did they snatch away huge orders worth tens of millions of silver taels from the Qing government, but also attempted to prevent other powers from expanding their influence in China. We're not the only ones who suffered losses; even the Yankees across the ocean are fuming with rage - I heard that their arms dealers have already taken to the streets and protested all the way to Congress!"

  Carl helplessly shrugged his shoulders. Although he looked relaxed at the moment, in fact, even Davis could see that his heart was absolutely not calm, because he knew how heavy the pressure on him was!

  "This is a beautiful and wealthy country, but at the same time it's also a poor country!"

  "You're right, sir. This is the most beautiful country I've ever seen, the richest country I've ever seen, and also the poorest country!" Davis agreed with him.