The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1366 Depressed William IV

In fact, Franz doesn't need to do anything. The big stick of the market will teach these guys a lesson in a few years.

The pain of transformation from an agricultural country to an industrial country is something that every country must go through, but Franz does not think so. The Austrian Empire cannot afford such a turmoil, and at least the Habsburg family should not be the bad guy.

Franz's solution was to establish a royal agricultural machinery rental company and an agricultural bank. In fact, the Austrian Empire had similar organizations before, but they provided good varieties and planting techniques.

The Royal Agricultural Machinery Leasing Company can rent agricultural machinery to farmers at a low price, but the lease period needs to be set according to local actual conditions to ensure that every household can benefit.

Franz knew that someone would have other ideas, so he left a back door in advance and the leasing rights could be transferred.

This allows ordinary farmers with more land to use money or items to exchange for the right to rent machinery from farmers with less land but more people.

On the other hand, the Agricultural Bank's loans to farmers also give them the opportunity to make a big leap forward. Some people will inevitably take out loans to expand reproduction, and then buy more land to become real land capitalists or farmers.

Of course, there will be some people who lose their land due to misjudging the situation and have to move to cities or overseas colonies to seek a living.

The land they lose will be sold by the bank to those in need, and it is almost inevitable for those farmers to use agricultural machinery. After all, if they don't do so, they will not be able to escape the fate of being eliminated.

The ultimate goal of everything Franz did was to reduce the proportion of agricultural population in the Austrian Empire and thus achieve real transformation.

But the actual situation in the Austrian Empire was more complicated, that is, the land had not been fully developed, and the contradiction could be temporarily alleviated by expanding the area of ​​arable land.

However, the biggest beneficiaries during this period were still the big landowners and big capitalists. Fortunately, Franz was the largest landowner and capitalist in the Austrian Empire.

It is an inevitable trend of the times that more farmers will move into cities. The undeveloped land at home and overseas colonies can only serve as a buffer. No one can resist this trend.

All Franz did was hope that everyone could land safely.

As more land is developed, more agricultural techniques are applied, and food sources are diversified, the Austrian Empire will truly be free from hunger.

The Austrian Imperial Academy of Agricultural Sciences has never stopped cultivating improved varieties, and the fertilizer industry has also been constantly upgrading.

Although potash fertilizer was invented by Franz very early on, the output has been low and the price has been high due to problems with the production ideas.

Compared with the phosphate fertilizer obtained by decomposing phosphate rock with sulfuric acid in the early days, potash fertilizer has many wonderful uses such as strong resistance to stress, improved yield and quality, and optimized soil structure.

In terms of effect alone, potash fertilizer was stronger than phosphate fertilizer at the time, but the British did not think so, and the debate between the Germans and the British lasted for a long time.

In the end, both sides stubbornly insisted on using only fertilizers developed in their own countries, but Franz knew that compound fertilizers were the way to go.

After all, there is an old saying that goes, "If you mix it with gold, one bag of it is worth two bags of it."

As for the problem of potash fertilizer production, it is actually easy to solve. The world's two largest carnallite potash mines are located in Staßfurt in the Principality of Anhalt and in Solikamsk in Russia.

Russia's Solikamsk might be difficult to deal with (mainly because it is too far away), but the Duchy of Anhalt would not refuse the offer to jointly develop Stassfurt with the German Confederation. Franz never forgot his brothers when he got rich, and the brothers in the German states were naturally willing to make money with their big brother.

Faced with such a reasonable request, the Principality of Anhalt could only agree with tears.

The German states welcomed the Austrian Empire's invitation to jointly develop the area, and their gratitude to Franz even exceeded their gratitude to the Duchy of Anhalt.

After all, if the Austrian Empire did not take the lead, it would be normal for the Duchy of Anhalt to develop the carnallite veins in its own territory on its own.

Although the development will be slower, the money you get is real, and you can also demand more by monopolizing resources.
Of course, this is only wishful thinking in theory. The Duchy of Anhalt was surrounded by Prussia, and no matter how much Duke Leopold IV of Anhalt thought about it, he would still be at the mercy of Prussia.

It was for this reason that the Duke of Anhalt so readily agreed to Franz's proposal for joint development.

Prussia was the most uncomfortable state in the entire German Confederation. After all, without the interference of the Austrian Empire, William IV had to enjoy all the consequences alone.

But now the Austrian Empire is under the banner of the German Confederation. If William IV really chooses to refuse, then the German states and those nationalists will rush to Berlin.

Even if these are excluded, the Austrian Empire alone is not something that Prussia and Anhalt can refuse. What's worse is that the Austrian Empire just happens to be "empty" at this time, and William IV does not think he has the ability of Frederick the Great.

However, it was inevitable to feel suffocated. William IV shouted angrily in the palace. After finally relieving himself of the suffocating feeling in his chest, he wanted to go out for some fresh air. However, he encountered an assassination attempt just as he arrived at the palace gate.

A Prussian artillery officer suddenly shot William IV in the arm, but William IV remained calm, as he was often the target of assassination attempts.

William IV waited for the result of the interrogation while the doctor cleaned his wound. However, the interrogator said that the artillery officer named Sever Roger was a mental patient, which made him unbelievable.

Soon William IV received many letters from Berlin celebrities, all of whom pleaded for the poor artillery officer, including Bettina von Arnim (the most famous female writer in Prussia at the time).

Everyone said that releasing the assassin would win back the love of the people, so William IV had no choice but to show his kindness.

But soon William IV became depressed again because after being released, Severus Roger became drunk and boasted about how he deceived the inquisitor and the king by pretending to be stupid.

This incident brought disgrace upon William IV. Although he already had a bad reputation in 1848, the incident involving Severus Roger still nailed him to the pillar of shame.

Franz now understood why William IV suffered from depression. He was not a human being if he could endure such a situation.

It is hard to say whether Sever Roger in history really suffered from mental illness, but it is obviously not the case in this life. After all, the spies sent by Franz used all kinds of threats and inducements to make Sever Roger admit that he was not a fool.

In the end, a temporary actor had to be made up to look like Severus Logue and perform the play in a pub on the streets of Berlin.

What Franz had never expected was that even with this ultimate insult, William IV would still let Sever Roger live.

Instead, the real Severus Roger mysteriously disappeared after learning that "he" had humiliated William IV.