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

Chapter 1451 British Visitors
Prince Albert was a celebrity among European royal families at that time, but he did not have as good a reputation as he had in history. On the one hand, the attention paid to Britain's education reform and abolition movement was not as high as in the same period in history.

This was mainly due to the successive wars and major events on the European continent, and secondly, the journalism industry invested by Franz successfully resisted the cultural invasion of Britain.

The British educational reform did not become a benchmark in Europe at this time. Of course, Franz would not go out and fight the British himself, and the educational reform of the Austrian Empire had just started, so it was much easier to find fault with it than with the British.

Franz mainly promoted educational reforms in Germany, with Prussia being the most representative.

In fact, Prussian education is one of the most successful and influential educational models in modern times. Even today, many countries in the East and the West have continued the Prussian education, but have made slight changes based on different national conditions, such as Japan and South Korea.

Franz's advocacy did not arouse any suspicion from Prussian King William IV; on the contrary, it was one of his few joys.

Occasionally, when William IV was alone, he would shout "Prussian education is the best in the world!" and laugh out loud.

Other German states also felt that their education was very successful, so there was no British fever on the European continent.

In addition, one of Prince Albert's greatest achievements in history was to promote the abolition of slavery around the world. But this movement itself relied heavily on the strength of the British Navy and the strong influence of the British Empire.

Prince Albert's personal efforts had limited effect.

At this time, the British navy suffered a series of setbacks, and Britain was defeated in many diplomatic conferences. This also gave some slaveholding countries the confidence to fight back, especially the United States and Brazil.

Prince Albert was so angry at all the fallacies and heresies that his mouth was twisted, but he couldn't get angry because people used the Bible and the Declaration of Human Rights to make their arguments.

Then there is the negative impact of the Great Irish Famine, and a group of American black slaves spoke out. After visiting the living conditions of the Irish, they all agreed that American plantation owners were more humane.

Brazilian slave owners were so frightened when they arrived at British factories that they had never seen such cruel abuse.

Prince Albert tried hard to portray the image of a British gentleman, but was slapped in the face by various criticisms.

On the other hand, he has repeatedly given blind orders in politics, which resulted in more and more chaos and he has run into obstacles everywhere. He has been criticized by newspapers controlled by the British political parties for having great ambitions but little talent.

Although Prince Albert was still a celebrity at this time, he always gave people a slightly humorous feeling.

However, Prince Albert himself can still be described as a handsome man, and on the surface he looks like a model of a royal child.

However, she still pales in comparison to Franz. When they first met, Olga had some affection for Prince Albert, but not much.

"Your Majesty, your transformation of the Vienna system is admirable. Peace in Europe cannot be achieved without you and the Austrian Empire."

"Of course, this cannot be achieved without the UK."

The two sides exchanged pleasantries with forced smiles.

The British ostensibly claimed that the Vienna System was the cornerstone of European peace, but everything they did was to undermine the Vienna System.

The British did not want to passively defend, and neither did Franz. The British wanted to reform the Vienna system, so they supported France, attacked Russia and Austria, and supported Prussia and Sardinia to stir up trouble behind the scenes.

So Franz also reformed the Vienna system. He weakened France, consolidated the Russo-Austrian alliance, struck at Prussia and the Kingdom of Sardinia, and resolutely resisted the influence of Britain.

Franz even uprooted the Swiss thorn. He hated those who used the name of neutrality to secretly stir up trouble and take advantage of both sides. Olga was not interested in such political topics. She usually did some charity work. But because of this, Olga always felt that Prince Albert was a hypocrite. After all, so many people in his own country were starving to death, and he still cared whether other countries had slaves.

Although some people commented that Prince Albert was a kind person who was not particular about trivial matters, Olga just thought that this person was just too full. Of course, if it were in the past, the education she received would also make her care about people from other countries without distinction.

But after interacting with Franz for a period of time, her concept changed completely. It is okay to sympathize, but one must act within one's ability.

However, what Olga did not know was that the so-called global abolition movement was more of an export of values, just another way of establishing hegemony.

In order to arouse Franz and Olga's interest in the British World Expo, Prince Albert prepared many small gifts.

For example, there were exquisitely designed telescopes and mechanical watches, but these were nothing in the palace of the Austrian Empire. Olga preferred the exquisite wristwatch Franz gave her, which was much smaller and cuter than the bulky British pocket watch in front of her.

However, out of courtesy, Olga had to express her gratitude to Prince Albert. She understood men's needs very well, so she took out a gift that Prince Albert could not refuse - a lighter.

After receiving it, Prince Albert tried it twice and felt like he had found a treasure. He thanked him repeatedly.

"Oh my God! This is truly a miracle from the Creator! There is such a great invention in the world!"

Only then did Prince Albert realize that he had lost his composure. After all, no one except the emperor was allowed to smoke in the Austrian Imperial Palace. The purpose of his trip was to invite Franz and Olga to participate in the World Expo, not to exchange gifts.

Prince Albert then took out several more items, all of which were the industrial essence of the British Empire. However, Franz and Olga seemed to have little interest in them, and their polite yet awkward smiles made him feel a little embarrassed.

In desperation, Prince Albert had to use his last trump card - the model of the Crystal Palace.

The name of the Crystal Palace still made Olga feel a little curious. After all, the crystal clear crystal gave her some beautiful fantasies.

"You English people are so extravagant that you built a palace out of crystal."

Prince Albert and Franz were both ashamed when they heard this.

"Don't take it literally! It's just an exaggerated metaphor."

"Oh"

Olga said with a hint of disappointment.

Prince Albert took a deep breath, calmed himself down and opened the box.

"Look! This is the Crystal Palace! It is made of 5200 tons of fine iron and pieces of glass."

Prince Albert was very proud of this and spoke eloquently about it, but Olga was not sensitive to these figures. She only knew that the Austrian Empire's pig iron production had long exceeded four million tons, and a few thousand tons of iron did not seem to be a big deal.

Olga looked at the model of the Crystal Palace carefully and suddenly frowned and said.

“Isn’t this a greenhouse?”

Prince Albert nearly fell headfirst to the ground.