In view of the approaching Christmas, the Vienna government was not in a hurry to seek the bad luck of the Polish government. Even the news of Poland's diplomatic notes was suppressed, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs only conveyed Franz's threat.

No European countries have the tradition of doing things on Christmas. Vienna is still so lively this Christmas, and Franz held a palace banquet as usual.

Good times are always short. Just after Christmas, Franz received bad news - Greece's death.

Compared with the original time and space, Otto I was kicked off the stage in 1862. With the strong rise of Austria, his pro-Austrian faction would naturally not be kicked off the stage because he stood in the wrong team in diplomacy.

What is troublesome is that Otto I, who was born in the Vettelsbach dynasty, had no son. His younger brothers were unwilling to convert to Orthodox Church, and the position of Greek crown prince has always been vacant.

Now the question is, who should inherit the Greek throne? Franz has sent a telegram to the Vettelsbach dynasty, which is now the Lombardy royal family, hoping that they can send a prince to take on this important task.

The result was very embarrassing, and no one was willing to take over this mess. It was right to think about it. The situation in Greece is very bad now. It has high external debts and is also surging internally.

This is a sequelae of the Near Eastern War. As one of the participating countries, although Greece stood on the side of the winner, it retreated under the pressure of military pressure from Britain and France in the middle.

Not only was the spoils gone, but Britain and France also slapped them hard, and they were heavily burdened with huge debts after the war.

In any case, Greece was still bleeding during the Near East War, and sacrificed tens of thousands of people, dragging down some of the troops of the British-French Ottoman Union.

After the war, Russia and Austria still helped Otto I to save the throne. After the war, Greece had a strong anti-British and French sentiment, so Otto I naturally moved closer to Russia and Austria.

With the changes in the international situation, Austria reached deals with Britain and France one after another. Austria took over the French Balkans and obtained Kofu Island with the British.

In the Mediterranean dispute, France and Austria together excluded the British. Against this backdrop, Greece received the support of the Vienna government, and Otto I took the opportunity to expel the British.

This "exit" is similar to the British voluntarily giving up. After all, Greece's interests are still too small. Although the strategic position is important, the British are unable to take care of this scrap.

Finally, with Austria's mediation, the Greek government paid a redemption fee in exchange for the British to "withdraw troops" from Greece.

This is an inevitable result. If you lie beside the bed, you will not tolerate others. Since the French gave up the Balkans, Greece's geographical location has determined that the British cannot occupy it for a long time.

Faced with the continuous resistance of the Greeks, the London government did not have the energy to suppress it. The cunning John Bull decisively chose to sell it at a good price. In the end, the Greek government owed a large amount of debt to the British.

Nationalism is a double-edged sword. Since driving away the British, Greek radical groups have turned their attention to Austria and wanted to restore the Roman Empire.

This radical idea was naturally suppressed by the Otto I government. Normal people know that this is an impossible plan, but idealists are exceptions.

Unwilling to fail, the idealists wanted to overthrow Otto I's rule. There is no doubt that these gangs have not become a climax.

With the outbreak of the agricultural crisis, Greece's domestic economy also had problems, and many farmers went bankrupt in the first wave of crisis, and social contradictions intensified.

Although many immigrants were taken away by Austria, many of them remained, and social security in Greece is deteriorating.

This creates favorable conditions for radical groups to rebel. If Otto I was still there, it would be no big problem to suppress these mobs. The problem is that the throne is now vacant and the government is in chaos.

The Vettelsbach family has invested a lot of resources for the Greek throne and has not been able to get a reward for it for a long time. Now they don’t want to continue investing.

This is not what Franz wants to see. If the Greek throne is not settled soon, it will take no long before Britain, France and Russia will join in.

With all countries involved, it will be difficult for Austria to dominate. If an anti-Austrian government emerges in Greece, all Franz's early investment will be wasted.

"Prime Minister, who is the most suitable person to inherit the Greek throne at present?"

Prime Minister Felix frowned: "The best candidates are naturally Otto I's younger brothers Prince Lütterpod and Prince Adalbert, but both of them have clearly renounced the right to inheritance.

There are many heirs down there, but because of age, we cannot be sure whether Otto I's nephew can hold the Greek throne."

Otto I suddenly died, leaving a mess. The Greek kings are not easy to do, and they do not have a certain ability, so they cannot control the situation at all.

Otherwise, Franz would just fool a child of the Wittelsbach family and forcefully support him.

Europe is a world where people come from. The inheritance of the throne is naturally the closer the bloodline, the better. Closeness means orthodoxy. If the heirs ranked more than a dozen, even if they become the ranks, it will be difficult to gain the support of the people.

After wandering for a few steps, Franz made a decision: "Continue to send people to contact them. As long as they are willing to inherit the Greek throne, they can do not need to convert to Orthodox Church, and we will solve all problems."

Although this may be waiting for a price, Franz decided to give it to him. Who made the Greek throne unpopular?

The Wittelsbach family is worried that the investment will not be able to recover the cost, and it is understandable that they want to find someone to share the cost.

There is no free lunch in the world. If you get the benefits of Austria, you have to do business for Austria. The more you get, the more you need to pay.

Although Greece was small, Franz still dared not look down on it, so it would be better to take it into his own hands. Otto did a great job in his lifetime, and even though Greece was a little chaotic, it would be harmless.

Franz's demands are not high, and as long as he continues to implement Otto I's population restriction policy. In this era, the population of European countries is rising rapidly. Greece can remain unchanged, which is also a clear stream.

As long as it keeps it, Greece, which has a population of less than one million, can't afford a few waves no matter how hard it is.

These are all learning from France's advanced experience. If it weren't for the rapid development of France's economy after Napoleon III's succession, their population growth rate might have been lower.

It was just that the unreasonable part was modified and then promoted to the Greek government, and then cooperated with Malthus's theory of population, which was very convincing.

With the current land in Greece, it is indeed impossible to support more people. In a short period of time, the effect is very obvious.

Since the increase of the Dingkou tax, the Greek people's enthusiasm for giving birth has been greatly reduced, and fewer children needing to be raised, and the people's living standards have not declined but increased.

Foreign Minister Wesenberg shook his head: "Your Majesty, it may not be good for us to intervene too much. At present, the anti-Austrian sentiment among the Greek people is growing. If we intervene, it may make things more troublesome.

Moreover, the positions of Britain, France and Russia have to be considered. They are unwilling to see us control Greece. If we disturb it, the Greek throne may be delayed indefinitely.

Instead of doing this, it is better to wait and see the situation first. Whoever wants to cooperate with us will support him ascend. If someone does not know the current affairs and subverts the rule of a country, it will be much easier than establishing a country."

Franz has already heard the subtext. He is nothing more than worrying that after setting this precedent, it will affect the political structure of the empire.

There are many states in the Shenluo Empire. If the Wittelsbach family relied on the power of the empire when competing for the Greek throne, would it mean that several other royal families could also use the power of the empire to expand?

This is not an unfair worry, but it will happen. The relationship between the royal families of European countries is a mess, and it is common to have the right to inherit the throne of other countries.

At present, the thrones of Poland and Spain are still empty? There are many great nobles who are interested in the country, but they lack the support of the great powers and cannot gain an advantage in the competition.

The Vienna government did not support any of the great nobles in China. Now it fully supports the Vettelsbach family to hold the Greek throne. It would be fine if it received a generous reward, but if it did not receive a return, it would definitely cause a political storm.

According to the rules of the game, the Wittelsbach family can get the support of the empire, but they must provide resources for it.

This rule system was designed by Franz himself, including the operations in Mexico, and the royal family suffered a considerable portion of the military expenditure.

Franz frowned: "This is indeed a problem, but it is not difficult to solve it. The price the empire has to pay will be rewarded in the future.

We can explain the problem clearly in advance. If the Wittelsbach family still doesn't want to. I believe that no one will object to pulling Greece back to the embrace of the Catholic Church."

Austria is suppressing religion, but it does not mean that it cannot use religion to achieve its goal. Without any law, Greek kings cannot be Catholic.

Even if there is, such codes that are behind the times must be abolished. Now is the era of religious freedom, how can religious discrimination be carried out?

Franz was not worried about the return on investment. At worst, it was possible to promote cotton cultivation in Greece. Later generations were all major cotton exporters, and it must be possible now.

This has not only added a source of raw materials and an additional source of grain dumping, which is enough to satisfy domestic interest groups.

Thinking of this, Franz suddenly opened up a new idea, and this agricultural crisis may be resolved in advance.

...
Chapter completed!