But no matter what Alexander's mood is, what he has to face at this moment is still the fact that his father Leopold II has passed away. In the palace of Vienna where the body of Leopold II is placed, not only Alexander , countless Viennese noble ministers also gathered in the palace.
The ministers cried bitterly, and some even fainted. The whole sky in Vienna was filled with sadness. At this time, only a few ministers walked up to Alexander and said:
"Your Highness Alexander, look, His Majesty Leopold II just passed away and His Royal Highness Franz was invited to participate in the funeral of His Majesty the Emperor!"
After hearing the minister's words, Alexander was stunned for a moment with his head lowered. Then he looked up and saw several Viennese nobles headed by Christopher standing in front of him, and this Christopher was Kaunitz's eldest son and current deputy prime minister of the Austrian government.
Although Kaunitz gradually stayed away from Austrian politics due to his age and health, his position as prime minister was not eliminated by Leopold II, and Kaunitz's eldest son Christoph was even replaced by Leopold II. Promoted to the position of Deputy Prime Minister of the Austrian government.
After Alexander entered Vienna, he did not attack the Rietberg family. After all, the family headed by Kaunitz had penetrated into all aspects of Austria. It is no exaggeration to say that this family controlled the entire Austrian society. Seventy percent of the political power.
It is precisely because of such scruples that after entering Vienna, Alexander only purged the families of a few of Franz's hard-core subordinates. However, for political giants like Ritterberg, he chose a temporary solution. tolerate.
After being stunned for a while, Alexander's face turned red. His eyes were staring at Christopher as if they were spitting out angry flames.
But as the eldest son of Kaunitz, Christoph has never experienced any big storms. And let’s not forget that Christopher also has a political fox who is famous throughout Europe’s upper echelons—Kaunitz. With such a family background and many years of Political experience has long since given Christopher the ability to remain calm no matter what major events he faces.
"Your Highness, His Majesty the Emperor is newly deceased. As His Majesty the Emperor's legitimate son, His Highness Franz has the right to attend His Majesty the Emperor's funeral, no matter how big a mistake he committed. His Highness Franz is always His Majesty the Emperor's legitimate son. This is There is no way to change it, and we hope that His Highness will carefully consider our opinions!"
Faced with Christopher's aggressiveness, Alexander could no longer bear it. He personally put Franz in prison. Even when Franz was being tried, Alexander who was present once said: No matter what happens, Thing, unless my rule is overthrown, you will never appear above the sunlit earth.
And now the request of Christopher and others is undoubtedly to make Alexander break his promise, which makes Alexander unable to bear it.
"Christopher, Franz was convicted of treason. He has been sentenced to life imprisonment, which means that he will live in that dark prison forever, and now. You actually want me to imprison that treason If you let go, what are your intentions!"
Alexander, who was furious, looked quite scary, but Christoph and others were not afraid. Not only was his brother Dominic following Christoph, but also several cabinet members of the Austrian government.
Followed behind Christopher.
In Alexander's view, people like Christopher were not only challenging his authority, but also challenging his personal endurance.
"Christopher, I can tell you clearly that there is absolutely no negotiation to release Franz. It is impossible for me to allow Franz to appear in the sun!"
Hearing Alexander say this, Christopher's face showed no dissatisfaction at all. He only said to Alexander calmly:
"Your Highness, I came to discuss with you the matter of His Highness Franz. I am not saying that your consent is needed to release His Highness Franz to attend the funeral of His Majesty the Emperor! After discussions within our government, there is a case of treason against His Highness Franz.
There are too many doubts, and it coincides with the death of His Majesty the Emperor. Therefore, after careful discussion, the government decided to overturn the previous trial of His Highness Franz and declare His Highness Franz acquitted!"
"Christopher, how dare you!"
"Your Highness, don't forget, I have already said that this matter does not require your consent. Our government has already made a decision and we are just here to inform you!"
Looking at Christopher's slightly arrogant face, Alexander wanted to take out a knife and kill this hateful guy immediately.
It is a pity that when entering the palace where the body of Leopold II was placed, everyone removed their weapons, even Alexander was no exception. But even this time, Alexander still held on tightly
He really wanted to use his fists to teach the arrogant guy in front of him a lesson.
"Your Highness, a little impatience will ruin a big plan. Now is not the time to fall out with the Kaunitz family!"
Seeing that Alexander was about to take action, Daniel, who was standing next to Alexander, quickly dissuaded Alexander. Upon hearing Daniel's dissuasion, Alexander's face suddenly cleared. Of course, he knew that now was not the time to fall out with Kaunitz, but
Everything Christopher does now is challenging Alexander's bottom line!
"Christopher, you have to think clearly. I still have more than 100,000 troops under my command! Do you think you can turn the world upside down?"
"Your Highness Alexander, to be precise, you only have the Hungarian army under your command. After discussions between me and the Austrian generals, we all decided that releasing His Highness Franz is in the interest of the entire Austria!"
Alexander looked shocked. No wonder Christopher had such courage and offered to release Franz regardless of the risk of falling out with him. It turned out that Christopher had won over a large number of Austrian generals without Alexander knowing it.
Immediately, Alexander seemed to have thought of something again. He frowned and said to Christopher;
"If I remember correctly, I have appointed Karl as the commander-in-chief of the army. It is impossible for Karl to agree to your plan!"
Christopher smiled slightly and replied;
"Indeed, His Highness Karl's loyalty to you is really worthy of admiration from the lower class. However, in this matter, His Highness Karl also believes that there is insufficient evidence for His Highness Franz's treason. Therefore, His Highness Karl also agrees to release His Highness Franz to join the Emperor.
His Majesty’s funeral!”
Hearing what Christopher said, Alexander was really panicked. He didn't expect that Karl, whom he trusted so much, would betray him and collude with Christopher and others. This was absolutely unacceptable in Karl's opinion.
What might have happened. After all, Karl chose to support Alexander after Alexander took over Vienna, so why would he choose to oppose Alexander now?
Alexander had previously led 40,000 Hungarian troops to besiege Vienna. After the capture of Vienna, the Hungarian army under Alexander had only less than 33,000 troops. After that, except for part of the Hungarian army left by Alexander to garrison in Vienna, another part of 20,000
Two thousand Hungarian troops were defeated by Asia
Alexander sent to the south to conquer Franz. Even after Franz was defeated and escorted back to Vienna, the more than 20,000 Hungarian troops were still stationed in various towns in southern Austria to suppress the situation in various places. The reason why Austria was not used
Troops were stationed everywhere, and Alexander really couldn't believe these Austrian soldiers.
Currently, among the garrison in Vienna, in addition to the 10,000 Hungarian troops, there are also more than 20,000 Austrian troops led by Karl.
This means that once Karl really stands on the opposite side of Alexander, then Alexander will have no advantage at all. Even if Karl colludes with the Austrian ministers in Vienna who are dissatisfied with Alexander, then Alexander has just won less than three
Yue's regime will collapse immediately.
Alexander looked up, and he remembered that Karl had entered the palace shortly after him, and sure enough, in front of Leopold II's body, Karl was half-kneeling there motionless.
Alexander ignored Christopher, Daniel and others around him and walked quickly to Karl. Then he saw Alexander's hands grabbing Karl's collar and shouting loudly:
"Karl, how could you betray me!"
Feeling Alexander's actions, Karl seemed to be awakened from his deep pain. He looked at Alexander blankly for a while and then said numbly:
"Your Majesty the Regent, I have not betrayed you, but His Majesty the Emperor has passed away. All His Majesty's children have the right to attend His Majesty the Emperor's funeral, even a sinner!"
"But...but..."
However, after a long time, Alexander could not tell a reason.
Karl is right in saying that among all countries, even a prince who has been deprived of his inheritance rights still has the right to attend his father's funeral after his father's death. There is no doubt about this.
"Alexander, have you ever thought about how Franz treated us back then? He was so jealous of talents that he wanted to kill all our brothers! What else would it be if he were to be released now instead of raising a tiger?"
Alexander yelled at Karl angrily, but at this time Karl had been completely taken over by sadness, and he only heard murmuring;
"Alexander, our father is dead. No one can threaten your position. You are already the regent of the empire and the Archduke of Austria. Can't you still tolerate Franz, who has completely failed?"
The conversation between the two brothers attracted the attention of everyone in the palace, and Christopher led his family of nobles to watch the excitement.
Before Alexander could speak, he heard Karl continue:
"We brothers have been fighting for too long. I don't want to say more about how my father died. Are we brothers going to make the whole of Europe laugh at the funeral after our father's death?"
"Karl, what do you mean? Do you think it was me who killed my father?"
Hearing Karl's words, Alexander was shocked. He did not expect that Karl would actually say such words. You must know that these words could completely prove that Karl thought that Alexander killed Leopold II.
It's okay that Alexander didn't say that. After hearing his words, Karl's eyes immediately flashed with a cold light and he said in a deep voice to Alexander:
"I don't want to say more about this matter, but why did my father die not long after you left the palace? But before that, my father had nothing to do! And why did my father have to take one last time before he died?
Wearing his crown, isn't this because he is afraid of being taken away from him?"
As he spoke, Karl's expression became more and more excited. However, under Karl's gaze, Alexander took several steps back. Alexander's unusual move immediately aroused the attention of all the Austrian ministers in the palace.
Obviously, this situation reminds people of Alexander's panic after the conspiracy was exposed.
"I don't!"
Seeing the ministers in the palace giving him suspicious looks, many of them even looked hostile. At this moment, Alexander felt powerless under the attention of everyone.
Yes! What he did is really puzzling. Why did Leopold II pass away shortly after he left the palace? Can all this be described as a coincidence?
No one knew about Leopold II's illness before Alexander conquered Vienna. After Alexander entered Vienna, although Leopold II used his illness as an excuse to hand over all Austrian state affairs to Alexander.
However, everyone believed that this was a choice that Leopold II had to make under the general trend. After all, Alexander had a powerful army, but Leopold II had no soldiers.
It is precisely for this reason that Leopold II's physical discomfort was understood by everyone as an excuse and a cover-up. Everyone believed that there was nothing wrong with His Majesty's health.
But now His Majesty the Emperor passed away suddenly. In the eyes of many nobles and ministers, it was obvious that Alexander killed Leopold II for his own selfish purposes.
This view spread among the upper class in Vienna shortly after the death of Leopold II. Even Karl had to maintain a certain suspicion of Alexander under such circumstances.
Alexander, who was horrified, knew that at this moment he had been led into a conspiracy. This conspiracy theory was obviously released by someone who was interested after the death of Leopold II. Otherwise, it would not have happened.
In such a short period of time, even Karl, whom he had always trusted, began to doubt himself.
"This is a conspiracy, a complete conspiracy! We can get a doctor to check it out!"
Alexander yelled in the face of the strange looks from all the officials in the palace. But after he finished yelling, no one picked up his words.
For these nobles, the conspiracies they have seen or made may even be more than the meals they have eaten. And at this time when conspiracy theories are prevalent, it is obvious that not many people will believe Alexander's explanation, even if it is done by a doctor.
The diagnosis was that His Majesty Leopold II died in heavy military service. People still doubt that this conclusion was made by Alexander deliberately bribed doctors to calm people's hearts.
"Okay, Alexander, I don't want to argue with you. Christopher has said a lot. Since we did not fulfill our filial piety before our father died, then after his death, we must not let other countries see the joke and treat him as a joke."
Let Lantz go, no matter what he has done, he is our father’s eldest son and our brother after all!”
Karl seemed unable to continue arguing with Alexander. He waved his hand and said to Alexander. After Karl finished speaking, Alexander knew that his brother had made up his mind.
After a while, Alexander seemed to think of another person, and his eyes immediately looked to the other side, where it was Alexander's previous staunch supporter and his second brother-Ferdinand.
However, when Alexander looked at Ferdinand, he seemed to notice Alexander's gaze. Ferdinand quickly lowered his head like an ostrich. Obviously, Ferdinand had no intention of getting involved in this matter.
.
Alexander was truly desperate at this moment. At this moment, he really wanted to send all the ministers in the palace to be buried with Leopold II, and let these ministers go and question Leopold II in person to prove themselves.
But this idea is obviously undesirable. If Alexander really does this, then everyone can guarantee that starting from tomorrow, the entire Austria will set off a wave of opposition to Alexander. After all, these nobles and ministers in the palace are
Represents the entire Austrian government and 80% of the Austrian aristocracy.
"Your Highness, you'd better agree. The situation is unfavorable now. Let's agree first and then discuss it in the long term!"
Seeing that the situation was not good, Daniel quickly rushed to Alexander's side to persuade him. Seeing that Alexander was still aggrieved, Daniel continued:
"His Royal Highness Karl just agreed to release His Highness Franz, and did not agree to Christopher and others' acquittal of Franz. If we resist the pressure now, then there is no doubt that everyone will be released.
It would be extremely detrimental to us to push everyone to Christopher's side, so please, Your Highness, be able to endure the pain for a while.
You will be in Vienna for a long time in the future. After this matter is over, you can deal with those who oppose you today one by one. Now, please be willing to compromise! Your Highness!"
After hearing Daniel's words, Alexander took a few deep breaths and then said:
"I declare that the sinner Franz is allowed to attend the funeral of His Majesty the Emperor, but his treason has been pronounced by the sacred law, and there is no room for overturning it!"