Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 127

Chapter 127: Chapter 14: Investment Preparation (Please Subscribe)

Translator: 549690339

Christmas

As the most important festival in the European world, it naturally could not be taken lightly. Hadn’t everyone noticed how the soldiers from The Papal State were rushing back to celebrate?

Franz, as per tradition, held a Christmas banquet at the Imperial Palace and invited a host of people to attend the feast.

This was the first Christmas since Franz’s ascension to the throne, and everyone paid extra attention to it. The guests who were invited and could make it, all showed up.

Relatives, friends, key figures from military and political circles, along with their families, swelled the guest list to four digits. The feast was filled with the clinking of goblets, cheerful conversations, and a heartwarming ambiance.

Franz could tell that everyone was putting on a happy face for his sake, but in reality, they were bored to death, engaging in dry conversations.

Palace banquets emphasized etiquette, and guests really couldn’t let loose and have fun. Especially the children, who couldn’t wait for the banquet to end so they could go out and enjoy a merry Christmas.

There was no helping it; even he, the Emperor, was unbearably annoyed. Using tableware that glittered with gold, Franz briefly wondered if it was just gold-plated. However, tests proved that he was overthinking it; it was indeed made of pure gold. It seems his subordinates didn’t dare deceive their Emperor.

Well, Franz usually did not use such tableware; he generally preferred silverware, which was said to have antiseptic properties.

In this era, although Western medicine had advanced from primitive bloodletting techniques, its technology was still lacking. Almost any illness could be fatal, so a life-conscious Franz promptly made his choice.

After enjoying a lavish meal, everyone went their separate ways. Christmas is better spent at home, and Franz had no intention of keeping everyone for the holiday – that would have been like asking for punishment.

He would bet that if palace banquets weren’t a status symbol for these individuals, the majority of them would prefer not to attend.

Even though the banquet was extravagant, costing tens of thousands of shields (1 shield ≈ 11.69 grams of silver), how could anyone present be a pauper?

Once the guests had left, Franz and his family had their own Christmas Eve to enjoy. His younger brothers immediately revealed their true selves; today was a special day, and they were free to revel as they pleased.

Franz envied them. Although he was only 18, he was no longer able to let himself go. Even more tragically, his mother’s Christmas wish was for him to hurry up and find a wife.

Being an Emperor and still pressured to marry? Franz felt it was utterly ludicrous. On considering the ages of the princesses of the European Royal Family, he felt relieved.

There was no need to worry for the time being. The intended Princess Sissi was only just 11 years old, and even her older sister was only a year or two older. Other princesses of suitable status were either too young or already married.

However, Franz remained vigilant, fearing that without caution, he might end up with a loli fiancée.

Early engagements were common among the Nobility. As the Austrian Emperor, Franz was considered the most eligible bachelor among the European nobility, and there was no shortage of nobles interested in him.

Luckily, now that Franz was Emperor, he had a say in personal matters. If he insisted on disagreeing, no one could force him to consent.

Under normal circumstances, Empress Sophie would consult with him on this issue. As for his father, a chronic bronchitis patient, he had little to say in household affairs.

The midnight chimes resonated, rescuing Franz from his thoughts.

The family all stood up, lit candles one by one, recited the Bible in chorus, blessed each other, and then started singing Christmas carols.

This year, Vienna’s Christmas was exceptionally lively. As the earliest established public holiday, factories had closed early.

Capitalists were not willing to pay triple wages, so workers were not required to work overtime today. If they encountered a generous boss, they might even receive a Christmas present.

The streets and alleys of Vienna were now filled with children’s figures, singing Christmas carols, and going from house to house, spreading good cheer.

This was the time for everyone to display their generosity. Wealthy individuals typically prepared some Christmas gifts in advance, like candies and nuts, to distribute to the children bringing tidings of joy.

This Christmas, Franz’s wallet had deflated a bit more.

Christmas gifts were a considerable expense. He presented every hardworking and overtime-serving servant and guard in the court with a Christmas gift.

Friends, public officials, soldiers still on duty, and even the orphans housed by the government, all received a Christmas gift from His Majesty the Emperor.

Though the gifts were just candies and nuts and not worth much, the overwhelming number of recipients made a difference. To win people’s hearts, Franz spared no effort.

However, there are always returns on investments. In this age, people’s hearts were pure, and faced with the unexpected Christmas gifts, many saw their loyalty to the Emperor soar.

Especially for the orphans under government care, many received their very first Christmas gift, which had an especially great impact on them.

The price was that Franz spent nearly two hundred thousand shields on one Christmas. If it weren’t for the grand business of the Habsburg family, the royal pensions alone might not have been enough for Franz’s extravagance.

The royal pensions of Austria were only recently set, calculated at one and a half percent of Austria’s fiscal revenue, amounting to roughly five to six million shields each year.

This money was not for Franz alone to spend; the large royal family all had their shares, with Uncle Ferdinand I and his wife taking one and a half million shields.

Other close members of the royal family also had their own parts, leaving only about three million shields for him, the Emperor, to freely spend—and there was still a large group to support within the Imperial Palace.

Living frugally was not an issue, but to squander without care was obviously not possible.

After Christmas, Franz was ready to invest in more industries. As for what specifics to undertake, that gave Franz a headache.

There were many quick profit-making businesses, mostly legal, and as a great Emperor, he obviously couldn’t lead the way in breaking these rules.

Franz even considered selling civil service exam study materials at one point, but he quickly dismissed the thought. It was too demeaning; it wouldn’t make much money, and the potential damage to his reputation wouldn’t be worth it.

Agriculture was out of the question. Even though the Habsburg family did not lack in land, the rate of return was too low. Even with cash crops, the return would not enable quick wealth accumulation.

Franz would not touch “drugs”, as that would tarnish his illustrious image.

He could sell arms, but unfortunately, arms trade is now dominated by political factors, and Austria had limited overseas influence as it had been circling around Europe these years.

That left the financial industry, but unfortunately, Franz lacked knowledge in this area. In this era, the finance industry was full of scams, and Franz would be devastated if he got tricked.

Don’t think that no one dares to cheat the Emperor. To capitalists, as long as the profit is high enough, there is nothing they wouldn’t dare to do.

After much consideration, Franz felt that investing in the food processing industry was promising; businesses that follow government policies are usually “money paths”.

Once the Holy Roman Economic Alliance was established, he could immediately benefit from explosive growth. With the Habsburg family’s connections, he didn’t have to worry about sales channels.

Though he couldn’t produce the various snacks from future eras, simple products that didn’t require technical skills like popcorn, fries, biscuits, canned food, and beverages were very simple to make.

Besides this, mining was also a very promising industry, requiring little technical knowledge. As long as one had strong support and found a rich mine, one could make money while simply lying down.

This was tailor-made for Franz—at least in Austria, mining was sure to be profitable for him. He only needed to find the mines; everything else would take care of itself, and no one dared cut off the Emperor’s wealth.

In a short time, Franz wrote down a list of business projects in his notebook. To implement them, he still needed to conduct market research.

All transmigrators had a common weakness—they loved to be at the forefront of the era. This was very dangerous and could easily lead to becoming a martyr.

Franz was very cautious about this and seldom acted arbitrarily. In his view, if the elite of his era couldn’t accept something, how could he expect the average person to embrace it?

“Jennie, hand over the list I’ve compiled to Baron Kas, and have him do a market study on these industries. Collect as much information as possible. I want to choose the most suitable projects for investment,” Franz ordered.

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Jennie replied.

This was the benefit of being an Emperor—whatever needed to be done, one could simply order others to do it. There were plenty of people willing to give their lives to his service.

Take, for instance, Baron Kas, a vassal of the Habsburg family, whose ancestors had served the Habsburg Family for five generations.

After Franz became regent, he inserted many people into government departments to strengthen control, and Baron Kas was one such individual, positioned within the commercial department.

Now Franz had him do private tasks, Baron Kas would do it with more dedication than official duties.

If Franz hadn’t given him private work, but instead assigned it to his colleagues, Kas would likely worry, afraid of being abandoned by the Emperor.

As for the issue of using public office for private tasks, sorry, in this era, it was quite hard to distinguish between the state and the Emperor. To many, their loyalty was to the Emperor, not the state.

This situation was very common in the Austrian Empire, as it was the Emperor, not the government, that bound the diverse nations of Austria together.