Holy Roman Empire

Post-war matters commenced, and the ennoblement of meritorious soldiers was scheduled. The people below were growing impatient; if not for Franz's high prestige and credibility, there would have already been disturbances.

It's not that the military is inefficient, but rather that the number of people to be ennobled this time is too large, requiring extensive coordination and communication.

Although in principle it is voluntary and respecting personal wishes, in practice it is simply not possible.

Good locations are fiercely competed for, while poor ones are outright ignored. Often, multiple meritorious soldiers eye the same piece of land, requiring the Staff Headquarters to coordinate.

The past few months have mainly been spent wrangling over these issues. To encourage more meritorious soldiers to go to America and Australia, the General Staff has put a lot of effort into it.

After several months of effort, they finally put forth a plan that most people could accept.

The general principle remains the same: the better the location, the smaller the area of the fief awarded; conversely, the worse the location, the larger the fief.

To encourage more people to break new ground, Franz specifically allocated funds to provide economic support directly to the lords in remote inland areas.

Primarily targeting roads, bridges, and hydraulic projects among other infrastructure, those who met the application conditions could directly report their projects.

In addition, there are special low-interest policy loans. This ensures everyone has enough funds to develop their fiefs.

Compared to the early nobility who had to figure out everything by themselves when opening up colonies, the current wave of military nobility is much more fortunate.

The policy loans are not only for the nobility; even ordinary soldiers who receive military farmland can apply for a construction loan.

If it weren't for capitalizing on hegemonic benefits, Franz would never dare to spend so freely. Remember, this is the era of the gold standard, and the government's purse is limited.

But being a world hegemon changes things, as Divine Shield has replaced British Pounds as the only international currency. Nations previously holding pounds have now, out of necessity, had to replace their foreign reserves with Divine Shield.

The market has instantly expanded, and the Divine Shields circulating in the market are no longer sufficient, making printing money inevitable.

Concerns about gold reserves are no longer necessary.

With the credibility brought by being the world hegemon, as long as there's no excessive issuance, there's no worry about a run on the bank, and slightly raising the leverage ratio is acceptable.

One of the key factors allowing the Vienna Government to quickly emerge from post-war financial difficulties is its increased issuance of Divine Shield into the market.

With money in hand, everything is more solidified. Domestically, it can appease the meritorious soldiers; internationally, it can continue to be assertive.

Ennobling thousands of nobles is no easy task. An individual ennoblement ceremony is naturally out of the question, not only because Franz has no time, but also because everyone else can't afford to wait.

Even if it's done in groups for efficiency, essential ceremonies can't be omitted. The most glorious moment of one's life must have sufficient exposure.

To achieve 360-degree coverage without blind spots, photographers were bustling about, and reporters' cameras were endlessly clicking.

As one of the protagonists, Franz found it overwhelming. Fortunately, he persevered, otherwise, it would have been a great spectacle.

Franz absolutely does not want to do this a second time. Time urges one to age; in a blink, he's nearly eighty, and he can't resist aging.

"Abdicate!"

"Abdicate!"

"Abdicate!"

At this moment, Franz's resolve to abdicate was exceptionally strong. If it weren't for the sub-states not yet being established, he would have issued the abdication edict by now.

...

In Vienna Palace, the direct members of the Habsburg dynasty had all gathered to decide on their future fates.

As the head of the family, Franz, looking at his spirited descendants, solemnly asked, "Are you all prepared?

You must know, once you step out, you will have to rely on yourselves. The outside world is definitely not beautiful, the challenges you will face will be several times or even dozens of times greater than before.

Various schemes and manipulations, everyone will target you. If you're not capable of facing all these, it's still not too late to back out.

Don't feel ashamed. Knowing oneself is valuable, and having a clear self-awareness is crucial for becoming a qualified monarch.

If you go out and then get chased back or end up on the guillotine, that's a true embarrassment."

Everyone's gaze, intentionally or unintentionally, turned towards Maximilian I.

As a negative example within the family, Maximilian I's life these years has not been easy. If it weren't for the thought of restoration supporting him, he might have mentally collapsed by now.

Regarding all this, Franz could only express regret. He truly didn't mean what he just said on purpose. It was meant just as a warning to his juniors, he had to use a heavy hand.

As for hurting his brother's pride, that's overthinking. After so many years, due to the fundraising for restoration, the cold shoulders and sarcasm Maximilian I faced are nothing new.

Idealists are strong in this regard; as long as they can achieve their ideals, they can endure any suffering, withstand any humiliations.

This grand ennoblement ceremony is essentially to diversify risks and increase the family's survival capability. Helping Maximilian I to restore his position follows logically.

However, it won't be Maximilian I himself completing this plan, but his son who will directly succeed as the Emperor of Mexico.

All parties have almost finished their discussions, and after a round of social hard knocks, the influential factions in Mexico, which have turned into royalist factions, invited Maximilian I back to preside over the situation.

But Franz, distrusting Maximilian I's capabilities and to avoid being dragged down again to clean up a mess, directly intercepted him citing concerns for his unlucky brother's health.

This reason is quite sufficient, as traveling from Vienna to Mexico by ship takes many months, and the rough seas can tire even young people, let alone someone over seventy years old.

As a good elder brother, Franz naturally had to prevent a tragedy from happening. The restoration of the Empire relied on Franz's support, leaving Maximilian no choice but to accept reality.

Realizing his unfortunate younger brother's embarrassment, Franz decisively changed the topic: "If no one withdraws, then I will issue the appointment letters.

This is your last chance to accumulate strengths. Once the sub-states are established, it will be difficult to obtain support from the Central Government.

I believe you all understand what to do. If you can't handle even this little matter, then quickly withdraw and don't disgrace yourselves.

The family's resources are available for you to use, but remember, it is not one person's family but a family shared by all.

The family will support your ventures, but everyone's resources are limited, and I hope you use them wisely."

When there are more people, there are more issues. The Habsburg Family has been flourishing in recent years thanks to Franz's meddling, and a few of his brothers are still alive.

These old folks naturally cannot start their businesses, but their descendants can participate. As long as they prove their capabilities, Franz is willing to provide opportunities.

After all, the territories obtained this time were large enough, and creating a few more sub-states wouldn't hurt. Breaking some parts apart also reduces the risk of future troubles.

However, sons and nephews are different after all; the resources they could obtain from the family might be the same, but the support they could get directly from the Emperor is quite different.

Not to mention, the Emperor's own sons are Grand Dukes, while the positions nephews could obtain are only as Earls, and not everyone could achieve even that.

The gap is certainly not negligible. Since the game rules are set, the Emperor must also abide by them.

Franz could appoint his own sons and brothers as Grand Dukes to establish sub-states, but he couldn't allow a bunch of nephews to establish sub-states.

Otherwise, with so many Earls in the Holy Roman Empire, wouldn't everyone be able to establish their own Earldoms?

Now these nephews go out to start businesses under their father's banners, ostensibly to manage the family fiefs on behalf of their fathers.

Whether they can ultimately achieve sub-state status remains unknown. At least, Franz would not use his authority to force its implementation.

Not just the nephews, but even Franz's grandsons would find it tremendously difficult to establish a sub-state.

Besides the issue of status, the key problem is "no merits for the nation." Under the military merit system, "merits" are the core of the Holy Roman Empire.

It's not that Franz hasn't arranged for gilding opportunities; it's just that they are too young. The oldest being in their early twenties, they could hardly handle important positions.

In contrast, his sons were different. They were appointed as governors abroad early on and were commanders during the World War.

Although these military achievements were not enough to earn a hereditary Grand Duke title, given the identity of being princes, no one could find fault.

Although his nephews also had arrangements, Franz invested significantly fewer resources in them. Due to their lack of exceptional military talent, they ended up only playing minor roles.

Now that the resources obtained were different, the future gap would only grow larger. Unless they make extraordinary achievements on their own, they would just be nobles with prestigious titles.

Of course, Franz wouldn't say these things out loud. For the Habsburg Family, even having one more overseas noble was a form of strengthening.

The greater the family's power, the more stable the royal authority. Even if Franz loses in future power struggles, political opponents would not dare to go too far.

...

On September 18, 1905, Franz issued an imperial decree, appointing his second son Peter as the Archduke of Latin America, with the Austrian Central American Colony as his territory; his third son William as Archduke of Southeast Asia, with the islands south of Malacca as his territory; his fourth son George as Archduke of Maple Leaf, with the Canadian Region as his territory.

The appointment of Archdukes was not news, the key was the unusually large size of these territories.

However, the public just discussed it and did not cause any trouble. The large size of the territories is undoubted, but much of this land already had owners.

After deducting the lands granted to military nobles and soldier's merit fields, only the remaining lands were their hereditary estates.

The best lands were already owned, and the rest were undeveloped wastelands, which were not of much value in the short term except for their large names.

Considering the identity of the princes, such treatment was not surprising. As for establishing sub-states, it was currently a rumor circulating among the upper echelons.

This was an overt scheme; since the Emperor's appointments followed all procedures, the government could find no reason to oppose.

Sub-state nobility itself is equivalent to being a local lord; apart from not having seats in the Imperial Parliament, their political power was almost the same as sub-states.

If these individuals wanted more political influence in the future, they either had to promote localization or request the Emperor to establish sub-states.

Undoubtedly, the Vienna Government did not have the capacity to localize so many lands, thus establishing sub-states naturally followed.

The naked political hint could not be hidden from those vested with interests. However, faced with a strong Emperor and an overt scheme, the opposition did not know how to object.

While everyone was distracted by the freshly minted three Archdukes, Franz promptly continued issuing personnel appointments. He arranged for several nephews and grandsons to take posts in the Colonial Department.

After the colonial territory transfers were completed, they would go to New Zealand, Australia, Austrian South America, and the Malay Peninsula, respectively, to serve as regional Colonial Governors.

Establishing sub-states was not an overnight process, not to mention the domestic reaction. Without a direct line team at hand, even if Franz issued an imperial decree, he lacked the capability to govern the regions.

What he could do now was just to pave the way for them. The final results would still depend on future developments.

In the short term, only these three Archduchies could be established; Franz probably couldn't withstand more pressure.

Mainly because of the bad influence, he couldn't let the people feel that after a hard-fought World War, all the benefits were shared by the nobility, the royal family, and soldiers.