When the Proclamation of the Imperial Diet reached Leopold, the newly crowned Habsburg ruler was shocked.
Although Leopold had expected such a day, when it actually came, Leopold's heart was obviously very shocked.
The Council of Electors required the seven Electors to elect their emperors, but Leopold had no advantage over Maximilian other than the edict of Joseph II.
Of the seven electors of the empire, Bavaria and Saxony acted according to the faces of the Prussians, there is no doubt about this, and Leopold himself only had the vote of the Elector of Bohemia, and as for the three religious electors, Leopold thought that he could only win the support of the Elector of Trier at best.
The reason why Maximilian and Leopold were confident in winning the support of the religious electors was that the successive Habsburg emperors could be said to be very fond of the religious electors, and these religious electors had various connections with the Habsburgs.
But this would have been an awkward situation, and if the Prussians had voted against it at the Electoral Council, Leopold would have to watch the crown fade from his sight.
"Kautz, I need you to communicate with Ambassador Bryved of Prussia immediately, and since the marriage between Anna and the King of Prussia has been decided, then it is necessary to send Anna to Brandenburg as soon as possible, after all, Anna still has a lot of things to do in Prussia before she gets married.
Well, as soon as you meet Brightfield, you arrange for a high-profile wedding party to go to Brandenburg!
” As he spoke, a gloomy look appeared on Leopold's face, and just as Kaunitz was about to go to carry out Leopold's order, he heard the monarch suddenly say: "Forget it, Kautz, this time Anna marries Prussia, and you will be the wedding envoy yourself, remember that your task is to make sure that Prussia's position cannot be shaken.
Although the Prussian side has made repeated assurances before, Prussia is notoriously fickle, so, I think you understand!
” "As you wish, my majesty!"
After Leopold finished speaking, Kaunitz held back the shock in his heart and saluted Leopold with a calm face.
Then he walked briskly out of the palace. ......................................
Looking at the notice sent by the Imperial Diet in Frankfurt, the expression on William's face became a little strange, it was a look that seemed to be a smile but not a smile.
"Locks, you see, our Excellency the Elector of Cologne is in too much of a hurry, May 28.
This date is really tight enough, and this trick can be said to be quite wonderful!
” Looking at the strange look on William's face, Locks also showed a smile on his face "Your Majesty, whether the Elector of Cologne is in a hurry or not, but I think the one in Vienna must be in a hurry, and soon, your Sanssouci Palace will welcome countless envoys from various countries!"
William smiled, then changed the subject "My Excellency the Prime Minister.
The last time I summoned Mehard, Mehard brought up the matter of last year and asked me to set up a naval academy, and I wanted to ask if there was any capacity in our treasury to help the Navy build a military academy."
Locks' face became solemn "Your Majesty, I have to remind you that although our fiscal revenue has increased this year compared to the same period last year, this increase has not been by leaps and bounds.
This year's budget has its own purpose except for the necessary provisions.
Here I have to remind you that this year the military spending of our Prussian Navy and Army exceeds 60% of the state revenue, and this is an extremely dangerous signal!
” Seeing Locks' performance, William had a headache again, and sometimes William was really entangled with Locks, because once William mentioned the matter of money, then Locks would immediately turn into an iron rooster.
It may be too much to say that it is a dime, but it is definitely extremely difficult to get money out of Locks' hands.
"Locks, I know that this year the Navy and Army have been expanded to varying degrees.
In such a situation, it is normal for the kingdom's finances to be tight, so let's arrange for someone to make a budget for this matter first, and then we will discuss it with Mehad. ” While William and Locks were talking, Henry entered the room, led by Buel.
When Henry saw that Locks was there, the prince's face was stunned and then furious "Okay, you Locks, I said how I searched everywhere and you couldn't find it, it turns out that you hid here, and it just so happens that Your Majesty is also here, you must give me an explanation for that matter, otherwise Your Majesty is also here, don't blame me for suing the Emperor!"
Henry's sudden anger made William a little confused, and Henry was actually targeting Locks, which made William's heart full of interest.
After Henry finished speaking, Locks' old face turned red, and then he bounced up from the sofa like a spring, and he pointed at Henry and said loudly: "Henry, look at where this is, Your Majesty is sitting here, you dare to threaten the royal family in front of the royal family, I think it should be me who wants to sue the royal court!
I will accuse you of disrespecting the king!
” Hearing Locks's words, Henry snorted coldly from his nostrils, and then saluted William, and in this case, William's curiosity was aroused "Okay, Prince Henry, you sit down first, and if there is anything you can say, what will you sue for the royal court?
I'll hear it!
” Seeing the curious look on William's face, Henry glanced at Locks fiercely and said: "Your Majesty, you have to be the master of the old minister, Locks is simply too deceitful!
Because the army has been expanded in recent years, the kingdom's inventory and equipment in terms of weapons are simply not enough to equip it, so the Ministry of Finance allocated a batch of funds for the purchase of weapons and equipment, but the money was not enough, so the minister went to the Ministry of Finance several times to ask for it.
The last time I saw Locks, he and his ministers said that the empire's finances were tight, and it happened that some time ago, the kingdom developed Frederick's 1790 rifles, which were given priority to the royal guards, and about 7,000 rifles were retired from the guards.
But Your Majesty, you also know that although the weapons in the army are well maintained, these weapons are after all second-hand goods that have been used for a period of time, and the failure rate of these weapons is extremely high during training.
After that, the minister asked Locks several times to ask the Ministry of Finance to approve the replacement of equipment, but he didn't even meet the minister, and he has been avoiding the minister, so this year the minister asked you to come to sue the royal complaint, and the people in the Ministry of Finance are really too disagreeable!
” After listening to Henry's lawsuit, William's brow furrowed, he looked at Locks and asked: "Your Excellency, is the situation the same as Prince Henry said?"
Looking at William's expression, a wry smile appeared on Locks' face "My Majesty, this money should have been paid in full, but I think you should remember that two months ago, you approved the Ministry of Finance to prepare a batch of supplies for Kutuzov as soon as possible, although the money was paid by you out of your own pocket, but after the approval the money did not arrive for a long time and you were in a hurry, so I had to embezzle the funds of the Military Department first."
"Uh" A cold sweat appeared on William's forehead, it turned out that the reason for the mess was still in his own place, but William recalled a little, he remembered that he personally asked Buel to inform Louise and let Louise transfer some of it from the Hohenzollern family warehouse!
It happened that Bouel was also in the room, so William beckoned Bouel over.
When Bouel walked up to William's side, William whispered in his ear: "Buel, I remember that I asked you to go to Her Royal Highness the Queen Mother to tell her about this in person, did you mean that you didn't convey it to me?"
William's words left a black line on Bouel's forehead "Your Majesty, I also know about this matter, you may not usually care much about your own family background, although I conveyed your meaning to Her Royal Highness Queen Louise, but you are in a bit of a hurry, Her Royal Highness the Queen Mother will not be able to come up with the money in a short period of time, so it was clear to Her Excellency Locks that His Excellency came to me to discuss it at that time!"
Although Buel was sloppy, William understood the meaning of his words.
Obviously, Buel alluded to William's money on his books, William was the king of Prussia, and a king couldn't even take out hundreds of thousands of silver marks, which couldn't fall!
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"Buel, you mean I'm poor?"
"Your Majesty, I didn't mean that, but in recent years, your expenses have been too great, and although Queen Louise doesn't say it, she also understands it.
Of course, your estate is still huge, and your estates and castles are spread throughout the Holy Roman Empire!
But those are real estate, and it is impossible to bring you a lot of wealth in a short period of time, and as for the funds in stock, I think there may not be much!
” Henry and Locks' eyes were focused on William's face, although the conversation between William and Buel just now was deliberately lowered in voice, but there were a total of four people in the room, and when William spoke, the room was very quiet, so Buel's words also entered the ears of Henry and Locks word for word.
After being embarrassed for a moment, William straightened up and asked Locks "Okay, Locks, let me ask you, has the money arrived now?"
"Your Majesty, half of the money has not yet arrived, and the other half has not yet arrived!"
Well, William is going crazy.