There was a joke circulating in the Austrian Empire during Metternich's era: the country's rule was built upon four great armies – an army of standing soldiers, an army of sitting officials, an army of kneeling priests, and an army of omnipresent spies.
Even though Metternich's era had passed for a decade, this joke still applied to the Austrian Empire of today.
Now, let's talk about one of them – the army of standing soldiers. The Austrian Empire maintained a standing army of 450,000 men for a long time, and if all reserves were mobilized, the army could be expanded to 800,000 in a short period.
Especially in Italy, there were 100,000 troops stationed, with tens of thousands more scattered in Italian Confederation such as the Duchy of Parma and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. The Austrian Army in the entire Italy accounted for one-third of the Empire's army.
A powerful army was an important weapon for maintaining the Emperor's autocratic rule. It was this army, commanded by Marshal Radetzky during the First Italian War of Independence in 1848, that defeated the Kingdom of Sardinia. However, Marshal Radetzky is now deceased, and the Kingdom of Sardinia, allied with the French Empire, is making a fierce comeback.
It is now June 1, 1859. If I remember correctly, this is a crucial moment when France and the Kingdom of Sardinia are jointly counterattacking the Austrian Empire. The original owner also rushed from Vienna to the fiercely battling Lombardy Kingdom area due to the urgent situation on the front lines, but was overly exhausted and mentally drained, leading to me taking over his body.
According to historical development, the decline of the Austrian Empire began to show from this war. The army of the Kingdom of Sardinia was actually just a facade; the real main force was the French Army.
These elite French, tempered in the Crimean War and the North Africa wars, had combat capabilities far beyond what the long-peaceful Austrian Army could compare to. Under the fierce attack of the French, the Austrian Army was completely defenseless, collapsing like a mountain, and quickly lost Milan, the capital of the Lombardy Kingdom.
Then, the original owner personally led the army and engaged in battle with the French-Kingdom of Sardinia allied forces at Solferino, ultimately suffering defeat and being forced to cede the Lombardy Kingdom to France (Franz insisted that France defeated him, not the Kingdom of Sardinia, and therefore was unwilling to cede the Lombardy Kingdom to the Kingdom of Sardinia).
Afterwards, the Kingdom of Sardinia merged the Lombardy Kingdom and other areas later captured by Garibaldi's rebel army, such as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, eventually establishing the Kingdom of Italy.
The biggest challenge now is this war. If defeated, the Austrian Empire will lose the rich Lombardy Kingdom, the Empire's finances will collapse, and huge debts will crush the entire Empire.
Franz kept thinking. He picked up a pen from his desk and began to scribble on a piece of paper, noting down the important people he thought of: Home Secretary Bach, Chancellor of the Exchequer Bruck, Prince Albrecht, and so on.
He began to outline a plan to save the Empire, the first step – to salvage the losing situation.
Time flew by. Knock, knock, there was a knock on the door.
"Your Majesty, may we come in?"
Franz looked up at the clock. The hands pointed exactly to 10 o'clock. Franz smiled. This Prince Albrecht is truly punctual.
"Please come in." By this time, Franz was fully dressed, having changed into a crisp white military uniform. Most of the Austrian Empire period army uniforms were white, and they looked both majestic and handsome on Franz.
Prince Albrecht and a tall, thin man in a grey robe and a tall top hat walked in. He was carrying a small box. Franz recognized him; it was his doctor, Dr. Stahlde.
"Franz, let Dr. Stahlde examine you first."
Franz looked at Dr. Stahlde. He didn't know how doctors in 1859 would examine a body.
Dr. Stahlde took a step forward, bowed respectfully, and then said in his unique, slightly hoarse voice, "Your esteemed Majesty, please allow me to perform a simple physical examination for you."
Dr. Stahlde carefully took a strange instrument out of the box. It had a long, flexible tube, one end with a frame similar to a chest piece, and the other end connected to two earpiece-like things. Franz guessed one thing in his mind, but wasn't entirely sure.
Dr. Stahlde carefully placed one end of the instrument on Franz's chest area, then put the earpieces into his own ears, listening intently.
Okay, this confirmed Franz's guess. This was the stethoscope, an essential tool for doctors in later generations, but it looked quite strange; it seemed to be a rather primitive version.
After a series of examinations that seemed strange in Franz's eyes, Dr. Stahlde put on a serious face and solemnly said, "Your Majesty, your body is currently very healthy, very healthy, but for the future of the Empire, you should avoid excessive fatigue and take care of your health."
"Thank god, thankfully nothing is wrong." Prince Albrecht, who had been tense, let out a sigh of relief. If anything had happened to His Majesty, his responsibility would be unavoidable.
Moreover, when Franz first woke up, his mental state was clearly not good, as if he had amnesia.
Fortunately, he is fine. Prince Albrecht muttered to himself.
"Thank you for your advice, Doctor. The situation on the Empire's front lines before had exhausted me, but after resting, I have recovered my energy." Franz nodded and replied calmly.
Just now, Franz was wondering if the court doctor, who was extremely familiar with the Emperor, would notice anything amiss. It seems Franz was overthinking it, after all, this is something that even the 21st century cannot explain.
Furthermore, thankfully no physical problems were found. Even if there were problems, Franz wouldn't dare let the current doctors treat him. Western medicine in the 1860s was just beginning to touch the door of modern medicine, and the level of treatment was truly unimpressive. Bloodletting was the mainstream treatment method of this era.
He thought of Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria of England during the same period, who had undergone bloodletting therapy multiple times due to illness, suffering immensely, and finally died on his sickbed.
Franz couldn't help but feel a chill at the thought of this tragic situation.
He glanced at Dr. Stahlde, then said, "Doctor, you may withdraw now. The Prince and I have important matters to discuss."
"As you command, My Majesty." Dr. Stahlde bowed respectfully and then gently closed the door behind him.
At this moment, only Prince Albrecht and Franz remained in the room.
The future of the Empire... Franz felt the immense responsibility on his shoulders. Of course, this was certainly not because he had become accustomed to the Emperor's power, but because he truly cared for the Empire's subjects. Defeat, defeat is not an option. If defeated, there would be territorial concessions and reparations, and without money, taxes would have to be increased. The subjects would be unhappy, and Franz would be even more unhappy.
He looked at Prince Albrecht, the future military star of the Empire, then smiled and spoke in a relaxed tone, "Would you like a glass of wine?"