Chapter 120 Investment Tips

The North American version of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms that was being staged at this time made Franz very satisfied, but not everything could go according to Franz's expectations.

For example, the United States has now contacted Mexico, and the two sides have reached a secret agreement to jointly fight against France.

That is, no matter which side France attacks, the other side needs to attack Texas within a month.

After defeating France, the United States and Mexico will use Austin as the boundary, and the United States will pay Mexico a ransom of 10 million US dollars.

Of course, what the Mexicans don't know is that Martin Van Buren and the French have also signed a similar agreement.

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

"What? Those two women didn't leave Franz's room all night?" Madame Sophie seemed very angry.

The already sultry weather added fuel to Madame Sophie's fire.

"Schussel! Prepare the carriage!"

Count Schüssel was the only person in the room who didn't look so exhausted, but it still took some courage to go out at noon.

He grabbed a glass of ice water from the table and drank it all, and the ice cubes were bitten in his mouth and squeaked.

Arriving downstairs of Franz's bedroom, Madame Sophie did not ask the maid to help her, but rushed up the stairs holding the hem of her skirt.

In the room, Talia and Adjani were helping Franz process documents. Franz's layout was too large, and there was no network, so one person could not handle it at all.

Franz was still drawing on a map, and occasionally asked Adjani and Talia to help find some information.

The moment the angry Madame Sophie opened the door, a cool breeze blew over, making her so comfortable that she couldn't help but let out a whimper, and her whole body softened, and there was not much hostility in her words.

"What did you do in Franz's room? Why didn't you leave at night?"

Adjani wanted to say that she was Franz's bedroom maid, and it was her duty to stand by her master at night...

But Talia pointed directly to a machine on the wall that was blowing cold air, and Madame Sophie understood it all at once.

"Franz, did you make this?"

"Mother, this is Mr. Doppler and me, and..."

Franz was interrupted by Madame Sophie before he finished speaking.

"Have you applied for a patent?"

"No," Franz replied.

"Why don't you apply for it?"

Mrs. Sophie glanced at Adjani, who immediately reacted and left with a pile of documents and design drawings.

Mrs. Sophie wanted to take out a fan to fan herself, but found it unnecessary.

"Franz, how much did this machine cost?"

"Seventy thousand florins, mother," Franz replied.

Franz's words choked back Madame Sophie's next words.

Mrs. Sophie originally wanted to install one in her room, but now it seems that she should forget it. Seventy thousand florins is too expensive, but she is not an ignorant woman. She knows that Franz's machine is much better than Queen Anna's fifty thousand florin ice machine.

Talia made a cup of tea and brought it to Madame Sophie with her head down. Although her rude behavior just now was unintentional, if Madame Sophie pursued it, she would definitely be severely punished.

"Grand Duchess, have some tea."

Madame Sophie picked up the teacup and found it was a little hot, so she poured it directly on Talia's chest, then took out a handkerchief to help Talia wipe it, and said in a very gentle tone while wiping.

"Really, why are you so careless? This time it was tea, and next time it might be boiling oil. As someone close to Franz, you should be more careful. Go to my room, there is new tea that just arrived this year, let Archduke Franz taste it."

Talia didn't care about the tea leaves still hanging on her chest, and immediately stood up and saluted to Madame Sophie's room to get the tea leaves.

After Talia left, Count Schüssel closed the door outside.

Franz was about to speak when he was interrupted by Madame Sophie.

"If you don't want me to discipline your people, you'd better discipline them. Otherwise, I'll use boiling oil next time. I mean what I say."

"Mother, you're too strict. It's so tiring to do this. Why bother?" Franz rubbed against Madame Sophie like a spoiled child.

"Silly child, I'm doing this for their own good. With you, any shortcomings of theirs will be infinitely magnified. You are destined to be the emperor. If they are not competent for their jobs, it's better to replace them in advance, rather than being scapegoats when the situation is out of control."

Madame Sophie pinched Franz's face and said dotingly.

"What did you do last night? Why are your dark circles so serious?"

What else can I do? I was squeezed in the middle by the two of them. When it was cold in the second half of the night, I was used as a pillow. When it was almost morning, the temperature rose, and Franz was pushed away in disgust. After a night of tossing and turning, Franz certainly didn't sleep well.

"Recently, I have been thinking about investment."

"Speaking of investment, Franz, I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?" Madame Sophie asked.

"The good and bad news all stem from the same thing. I know that the weather this year is too hot."

"Yes, the good news is that food prices have risen, and the bad news is that Austria is experiencing a rare drought. Franz, do you have any solution?"

Franz shook his head and sighed.

"No, even if there is, the cost is too high. All we can do is try to stabilize food prices and help the poor when necessary."

Madame Sophie also sighed.

"May God bless them, Amen."

"Mother, with the money from selling the grain, I hope to buy some wasteland in Hungary to resettle the poor."

"Why in Hungary? There is still a lot of wasteland in Neletania, so why buy land in Hungary?"

“Now that land in Hungary is cheap, and the wasteland in Netalegna will be developed sooner or later, where will we have the land to continue to house refugees?”

"Refugees?" Mrs. Sophie was a little confused. In fact, European countries were very repulsive to refugees at this time, because they were always the source of turmoil. The usual way that big countries solve the refugee problem is to throw them into colonies to fend for themselves.

Austria obviously does not have this condition. Of course, if Hungary can be regarded as a colony, then the problem will be much easier to solve.

Placing the refugees on the wasteland purchased by Franz will not only allow them to reclaim the wasteland, but also solve the problem of the livelihood of these refugees. This will alleviate the social unrest caused by the refugees. After all, who has enough to eat? You have to want to rebel.

As for the conflict between refugees and Hungarians, Franz is happy to see it end, because both parties can ultimately only rely on the Austrian government to resolve it. In this way, Austria can take the initiative on the Hungarian issue. When the railway is built to Hungary, maybe the Hungarian issue can be resolved peacefully.

"Yes, due to the influence of the German Customs Union, our country's ties with the German states have been greatly strengthened. At the same time, our country has no reason to prevent subjects from the German states from entering Austria. As for this disaster and the possibility of a refugee flow, we You have to be prepared for this.”

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