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

Chapter 1504 Stop Loss
In fact, the British also approached Napoleon III hoping that he would sign a statement abandoning Guatemala and El Salvador. In return, Britain would provide a loan to the government of the Second French Empire.

It is clear that the British underestimated Louis Napoleon and also underestimated the French.

Louis Napoleon refused to sign the agreement. Not only Napoleon III, but also Louis Philippe, the Duke of Aumar, and even the Count of Chambord refused to sign this humiliating agreement, no matter how much benefit it brought to them.

Without the French approval, the British would not dare to occupy Guatemala and El Salvador by force, and could only secretly infiltrate and support agents to indirectly control them.

However, due to the presence of the British, the French did not dare to rashly send troops to recover the lost territory.

However, with the support of the Austrian Empire, the situation would be completely different. It would be impossible for Britain to be hostile to both France and Austria at the same time. In order to win over France and prevent it from siding with Austria, Britain would even take the initiative to give up the two places, or even go further and send troops to help France quell the rebellion.

As for the gold standard reform, it was also beneficial to France. The French financial community was not short of far-sighted people at this time, and Louis Napoleon and Alexander Colonna Walewski were also far-sighted politicians.

They even wanted to thank Franz for helping them solve a big problem. After all, any country that carries out currency reform will face backlash from different interest groups.

At this time, the government of the Second French Empire only needed to throw all the responsibilities to the Austrian Empire to solve the problem perfectly.

They did not think that the Austrian Empire could gain dominance over the monetary alliance so easily, and other countries would not give up so easily. In the end, they would most likely have to rely on force to decide the outcome.

Unless a country can control more than half of the world's gold reserves, this is almost an impossible goal to achieve, even for Britain.

At this moment, France's strength is not qualified to compete for the dominance of the monetary union. Instead of fighting to the death with Britain and Austria, it is better to take Guatemala and El Salvador into its pockets first.

Franz naturally had his own plans for supporting Napoleon III in taking back Guatemala and El Salvador. On the one hand, it was to promote the gold standard reform, and on the other hand, it was to restrict Britain's development in Central America.

After New Granada annexed Spain, the only threat to the Austrian Empire's Central American colonies was the British.

Although the Austrian Empire's Central American colonies had basically completed the expulsion and suppression of the indigenous people at this time, it was difficult to guarantee that the British would not poison them again after a while.

Franz didn't want to provoke the British too early, but it was unrealistic to be passively defensive all day, so he decided to find something for the British to do.

Another reason is that Mexico is an unreliable ally. This unreliable ally is not only weak, but also very unstable and even has the risk of rebellion.
As for Prussia's choice, William IV did not have the courage to disobey Franz's will at this time. He made his own choice not long after the Austrian Empire's envoy arrived in Berlin.

John Russell didn't have time to worry too much about the choice between the French and the Prussians. What he had to do now was to minimize the losses.

"For God's sake! Mr. Charles, please do something! We are really doomed!"

"Prime Minister, we should stabilize the situation first, buy gold, and then sell silver."

"Oh my God, how can we stabilize the situation if you do this?"

John Russell was speechless. The actions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Charles Wood, were clearly inconsistent. "Mr. Prime Minister, we can issue an announcement first and use this time to ship the goods quickly. Otherwise, once the news spreads, we will be stuck."

John Russell understood what Charles Wood meant, but he had no other solution at this special time. The British government certainly could not afford such a loss, and unilaterally withdrawing from the European Monetary Union would be useless.

The financial tsunami triggered by the Austrians will surely sweep the world, and it is only a matter of time before the window paper is punctured.

Is this announcement from the British government useful? Of course it is useful, as the volatility of British precious metal prices has significantly weakened.

However, the bigwigs in the City of London do not believe the announcement of the British government. They all have their own channels and judgments. But these people also understand that if they act too hastily, they will also suffer losses.

As a result, Barings Bank, Rothschild Bank, Barclays Bank, Gurney Bank, Lloyds Insurance Company and Coutts Insurance Company all issued announcements claiming that they would stand together with the British government.

With these big guys stepping in, the price of precious metals in the UK finally stabilized and even rose slightly.

Various newspapers were full of praise, and a large number of stories about small people who changed their fate by purchasing precious metals were also brought to the stage.

The situation in France was similar. Franz just laughed at this trick and sent people to take advantage of it.

In fact, Baron Brooke's data was inaccurate. Not to mention the unexpected gains in Spain, the amount of gold shipped back from the colonies every year alone was not just the superficial numbers.

The gold mines discovered in Australia at this time should not be attributed to the British. A considerable part of those gold mines were under the control of Franz, but they were only registered under the name of the British royal family.

(Volume 12: The Holy King Arrives, Chapter 34: Business.)
Every year, the Austrian Empire's companies in Australia would provide the British royal family with dividends of £100,000 through Leopold I.

What does 100,000 pounds mean to the British royal family?

When Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, the royal family's annual salary was set at 38.5 pounds. The British royal family's entire industry generates an annual income of about 10 pounds, which means the British royal family's annual income is around 48.5 pounds.

One hundred thousand pounds is quite tempting even for the British royal family, so Victoria and her husband will try every means to keep this company of the Austrian Empire.

The reason for this situation, in addition to Franz's willingness to invest, the British government's restrictions on the British royal family are also to blame.

When Victoria's predecessor William IV ascended the throne in 1794, the annual salary of the British royal family was as high as 51 pounds. Even forty years ago, it was nearly one-third higher than hers. If factors such as the development of the times and depreciation are taken into account, the salary of the British royal family has been almost cut in half.

At the same time, the royal family's industries were shrinking. The development of the industrial age led to a continuous decline in the income of the royal territory, but the royal family's expenses were increasing day by day.

Under such circumstances, the British government could not blame the British royal family for thinking on their own. With the protection of the British royal family, the Australian company of the Austrian Empire was able to succeed in both mining and occupying land.

In the UK, the British royal family may still have to pay attention to their image and not give anyone a handle to use against them, but in the colonies, no one dares to destroy the British royal family's signboard.