“Water… give me water…” Gu Changge opened his mouth with difficulty, his throat dry and sore as if scorched by fire. He tried to open his eyes, but found his eyelids so heavy they felt like they were pressed down by lead weights, and his head was even dizzier, as if it had been hit hard with a club. “Did I sleep too long?” he thought vaguely.
Gu Changge forced himself to lift his weak, aching arm, habitually reaching for the bedside table, trying to find the glass of cool boiled water that was always prepared every night.
“Ding-a-ling-ling!” “Ding-a-ling-ling!”
The sudden, crisp ringing startled him. “A bell? What the hell is this?” His hand didn't touch the familiar water glass; instead, it hit something that made a sound.
Gu Changge was completely bewildered, wondering when his bedside table had acquired a bed bell. He struggled desperately against his heavy eyelids, wanting to see what it was.
Suddenly, a dazzling bright light shone in. He instinctively shielded his eyes with his hand, rubbed his sore eyes, and slowly adjusted to the light. When the scene before him gradually became clear, Gu Changge was dumbfounded, as if he had seen a ghost.
“This, this, this, am I not fully awake? This isn’t my room, is it?!”
The room before him was astonishingly luxurious. A massive crystal chandelier hung high above, countless sparkling crystals refracting dazzling light. The walls were covered with magnificent murals, and several gleaming swords and muskets were displayed, all set in exquisite gold-threaded wooden frames, like a miniature military museum.
In the corner, several unknown precious flowers exuded an elegant fragrance, which alone made one feel noble and extraordinary. He looked down and touched the clothes on his body; the silky smooth touch was incredible, so soft it felt as if water could be squeezed from it. The quilt covering him was even more exquisite, embroidered with intricate and beautiful patterns.
The room also contained an elaborate grandfather clock. Its gray base was carved with complex and delicate patterns, and its golden hands were slender and elegant, showing the time to be approximately nine o'clock.
Gu Changge pondered for a long time before finally remembering where he had seen this style: “Oh! Isn’t this the Rococo style I saw when I traveled to Europe before?”
Just as he was looking around, a rush of footsteps approached from afar, followed by a “bang” as the door was suddenly pushed open. A middle-aged man with blond hair and blue eyes, dressed in a military uniform, stormed in, followed by several attendants.
“What’s going on? Cosplay?” Gu Changge couldn't help but complain inwardly.
Before he could speak, the middle-aged man exclaimed excitedly: “Thank God! Franz, you’re finally awake! We were all going crazy!”
“Franz? That’s a foreign name, but my name is Gu Changge.”
Moreover, he realized it was german. It was german! How did he wake up surrounded by a bunch of germans?
Gu Changge ranted wildly in his heart.
Gu Changge swallowed, and just as he was about to speak, a sudden, violent headache struck, as if countless needles were pricking his brain. A flood of unfamiliar memories surged in, making him involuntarily clutch his head.
“What’s wrong? Are you still unwell?” the middle-aged man asked anxiously, then turned to a thin attendant nearby and snapped, “Hall, why isn’t that damned Doctor Stade here yet? Go find him immediately!”
At this moment, Gu Changge felt his mind clear up a little. He suddenly remembered that the person in front of him was Archduke Albrecht, Archduke Albrecht Friedrich Rudolf, the last famous general of the Austrian Empire, who defeated the Kingdom of Sardinia in the Austro-Prussian War, and the eldest son of Archduke Karl, a famous general from the Napoleonic Wars.
These were not germans at all; they were clearly Austrians!
Damn it, did I transmigrate? Gu Changge was incredibly shocked. He tried his best to control his slightly trembling voice and spoke to the person in front of him:
“Um… please bring me a mirror.”
“A mirror?” Though puzzled, upon hearing the Emperor’s request, an attendant immediately retrieved an exquisite mirror from a nearby cabinet and respectfully handed it over.
Gu Changge widened his eyes and looked at himself in the mirror—tousled blond hair, aquamarine eyes, a high nose bridge, unmistakably European features. His heart nearly stopped.
“This… what exactly is going on?” Gu Changge’s face instantly turned ashen, and even a fine sheen of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
Did he really transmigrate?
He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, and turned to Archduke Albrecht, who looked worried, asking as steadily as possible: “Archduke Albrecht, what happened to me? Where am I now? What’s the date today?”
Archduke Albrecht frowned slightly and replied with a puzzled expression: “Franz, you haven’t lost your memory, have you? Today is June 1st.”
“What year?” Gu Changge pressed eagerly.
“What?”
“I asked you what year it is now, what is the Gregorian calendar year!” Gu Changge’s voice unconsciously rose a few octaves; he was agitated, unable to grasp the current situation.
“It is June 1st, 1859, according to the Gregorian calendar,” Archduke Albrecht said slowly, with a hint of confusion in his tone.
Archduke Albrecht looked at the disheveled Franz, pondered for a moment, then continued, “We are currently in the Golden Palace in Venice. After receiving Count Gyulai’s telegram, we immediately took a train to Ljubljana. However, the railway to Venice had not yet been completed, and the Austrian Empire navy could not guarantee the safety of the Adriatic Sea, so we had to ride horses to Venice. You should have rested properly, but you insisted on going to St. Mark’s Basilica in the city to pray, and ended up collapsing halfway through the prayer.”
Archduke Albrecht’s tone carried a hint of reproach; he clearly believed that the Emperor’s stubbornness was the root cause of this incident. If the Emperor had rested properly instead of going for that damned prayer, such a thing would never have happened.
“The doctor thought you were just overtired and would be fine after some sleep. But you slept for a whole day! If you hadn’t woken up, I would have given that quack a piece of my mind,” Archduke Albrecht said through gritted teeth.
Gu Changge pondered silently: His last conscious memory was finishing some foreign language materials for his graduation thesis, sending his sister a birthday red packet, and then feeling too tired, he collapsed on the bed and fell asleep. Could it be that the change happened then? Perhaps he died suddenly from overwork and then transmigrated, or perhaps he swapped bodies with the Franz of this timeline, just like the plot of a movie from a few years ago.
“June 1st, 1859, Count Gyulai, Venice…” These keywords flashed rapidly in his mind, and suddenly a thought, like a bolt of lightning, struck: “Italian Wars of Independence!”
“Oh my god! I actually transmigrated to the time of the Second Italian War of Independence?!” Gu Changge’s eyes widened in shock.
Historically, Count Gyulai, as the supreme commander of the Austrian Empire in the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, was defeated by the allied forces of France and Sardinia. Subsequently, Austrian Emperor Franz personally led reinforcements and took over the front line. However, he ultimately suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Solferino—the Battle of the Three Emperors.
This current time was precisely when the front lines were fiercely engaged. According to the original owner’s memories, the continuously retreating front lines had left Franz overwhelmed and overly worried, which was likely why Gu Changge had taken over his body.
After considering the sequence of events, Gu Changge sighed: “I’m sorry, Archduke Albrecht, for making you all worry.”
“I really should change this habit of praying,” Gu Changge said self-deprecatingly, mimicking the original owner’s tone.
He now clearly knew that his current identity was Franz Joseph I, Emperor of the Austrian Empire.
The original Franz was a devout Catholic, never missing his morning prayers. He was so devout that he renegotiated the concordat with the Roman Papal States, changing the rule established during Empress Maria Theresa’s reign that religion should not interfere with education, and allowing the Catholic Church into schools.
Archduke Albrecht smiled and said, “It’s good that you’re awake now. Doctor Stade will examine you shortly.”
He paused, then asked, "Vienna doesn't know you've woken up yet. Should I send a telegram to inform them? Sisi has been wanting to come ever since she heard you were in a coma, but Archduchess Sophie has been holding her back."
"Of course, send it!" Franz Joseph agreed without thinking. Are you kidding? Let Sisi come to see him directly? If any flaws were exposed, it would be terrible. He urgently needed time to adapt to this new identity.
Suddenly, a sharp headache struck. Franz Joseph gently rubbed his temples, forcing himself to say in a dignified tone, "You all go out first and let me be quiet."
"Yes, Your Majesty." A circle of attendants bowed respectfully and quietly left the room.
Archduke Albrecht still stood hesitantly, his eyes full of worry. Franz Joseph could only say softly, "You go out too, Archduke Albrecht. I'm fine, just let me rest for a while."
"Alright, Franz. You rest first. I'll go send a telegram to Vienna now to tell them you're safe and have woken up."
Archduke Albrecht waved his hand helplessly, then gently closed the door and left.
The room finally returned to silence. Franz Joseph kept rubbing his throbbing temples. After the headache eased slightly, he let out a long sigh: "Ah, what kind of situation is this?"
With the intense headache just now, the original owner's memories flooded into his mind like a tide, allowing him to gradually understand his current situation. This was definitely not some cosplay or prank; he had indeed transmigrated. Gu Changge had no choice but to accept this reality.
He remembered that he was supposed to be staying up late writing his graduation thesis, and he had even thought of the title: "On the Armament Situation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I." As a result, he woke up and transmigrated. Gu Changge couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and frustration.
After merging with the original owner's memories, he had actually transmigrated into Franz Joseph I, the Emperor of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire, well-known to later generations.
(Franz Joseph I, born on August 18, 1830, ascended the throne as Emperor of the Austrian Empire on December 2, 1848. After the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, he was forced to compromise with the Hungarian nobility within the country, reorganizing the Austrian Empire into the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He died on November 21, 1916, amidst the fierce fighting of World War I.)
Thinking of Franz Joseph's tragic life, Gu Changge couldn't help but feel a headache.
Due to the long-term intermarriage among European royal families, by modern times, the royal families of various countries had become a collection of eccentrics. Mental illness, dementia, and mania were common, and extremely ugly appearances, chins so sharp they could stab someone to death, and so on, were not surprising.
By the 19th century, the direct line of the Habsburg Family was deeply mired in this predicament.
Franz Joseph's father, Archduke Franz Karl, had low intelligence, and his uncle, Ferdinand I, suffered from epilepsy, having dozens of seizures a day, making it impossible for him to handle government affairs normally.
Because of this, when the young Franz Joseph was confirmed to be a normal person, his grandfather, the then Emperor Franz I, cherished him as a treasure and devoted all his efforts to training him as the heir to the Empire.
Franz Joseph began his devilish training at a young age.
To create a qualified Emperor, he first had to undergo strict military training. This was the only way to forge a strong character for an Emperor. Franz Joseph slept every day on a cold camp bed.
Secondly, because of the numerous ethnic groups within the Empire, learning languages was essential to being a good ruler. Therefore, Franz Joseph had to study 8 language courses, and he eventually mastered them all. It must be said that if Franz Joseph had not been Emperor, he would have been an outstanding linguist.
Finally, as an Empire primarily based on the Catholic Church, under the influence of his devout mother, Archduchess Sophie, Franz Joseph's faith in the Catholic Church bordered on obsession. This piety deeply influenced his later political stance towards the Papal States.
At the age of 18, Franz Joseph experienced the Vienna Revolution. After the Vienna Revolution was suppressed, he was placed on the throne by his mother, Archduchess Sophie, and the Habsburg Family. From then on, he was diligent in government affairs, working more than 12 hours a day, a level of diligence comparable to the hardworking Yongzheng Emperor who died from overwork.
Franz Joseph's happiest moment in life was probably at the age of 24 when he married his beautiful cousin, Princess Elisabeth Amalie Eugenie of Bavaria (the famous Sisi), who was as beautiful as a celestial being.
Sisi attracted Franz Joseph not only with her stunning beauty but also with her lively, unrestrained, and independent personality. Unfortunately, this personality was incompatible with the rigid and conservative royal family, which was destined to cause conflict.
After marriage, Franz Joseph continued to bury himself in government affairs, neglecting Sisi. What was worse, when Sisi's conflict with his mother, Archduchess Sophie, intensified, he did not intervene to resolve it, instead believing he had a happy family. Ultimately, Sisi developed psychological problems, feeling breathless as soon as she arrived in Vienna. She was suffocated by all the rules and regulations.
Franz Joseph's true tragedy began in 1859. In this year, Napoleon III of the French Second Empire, in alliance with the Kingdom of Sardinia, defeated Austria, and Austria was forced to cede the Kingdom of Lombardy.
The consequences of this defeat were catastrophic: soldiers' pensions, the depreciation of national debt due to defeat, the huge debts incurred to raise war funds, and the loss of the vast wealth contributed by the Kingdom of Lombardy. All of this directly led to the complete collapse of the Empire's financial system.
In 1866, Austria was defeated in the Austro-Prussian War, losing its leadership in Germany and simultaneously ceding Venice to the Kingdom of Italy.
In 1867, facing the devastated mess within the country, Franz Joseph had to compromise with the Hungarian nobility, reorganizing the Austrian Empire into the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the same year, his brother, Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, was executed, and his sister-in-law suffered a mental breakdown.
In 1889, his only son, Rudolf, committed suicide with his mistress at Mayerling.
In 1898, his beloved wife, Sisi, was stabbed to death by an Italian with an ice pick.
In 1914, the heir to the Empire, his nephew Archduke Ferdinand, was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist, and World War I broke out.
In 1916, as the Empire was in turmoil, this weathered old Emperor passed away alone on his sickbed. In his final moments, he still whispered his longing for his beloved wife, Sisi.
As a fervent military and history enthusiast, Gu Changge knew what happened next.
In 1918, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was defeated and disintegrated. After its dissolution, many small nations emerged from the remains of this vast empire. These newly formed countries eventually discovered that while they had gained the freedom they yearned for, they had also lost their dignity. There was no longer a yellow and black Vienna court to speak for them.
These newly independent countries fell into chaos: territorial disputes and violent conflicts arose one after another, and countless innocent civilians suffered misfortunes. Perhaps, at the end of their lives, these people would deeply miss that kind, bearded old Emperor.
Recalling these impending tragedies, Gu Changge—no, now he should be called Franz, Emperor of the Austrian Empire—felt his head ache.
And now it was June 1, 1859. According to his memories, it was currently the Second Italian War of Independence, with France allied with the Kingdom of Sardinia against the Austrian Empire.
Thinking of the current leader of France, Napoleon III, the "founding father" of Italy and Germany, who loved to help other countries establish themselves, Franz Joseph couldn't help but feel a headache. This guy was an idealist, single-minded and very stubborn.
"Sigh, what should I do, what exactly should I do?" Franz Joseph muttered to himself, staring at the unfamiliar yet familiar face in the mirror.