"Uuuuu, Father, I'm late..."
As soon as Zhu Cizhao walked into the lobby of the Red Castle, he saw the elderly Zhu Cizhong walking towards him quickly. Somehow, he actually saw the shadow of Emperor Chongzhen in Zhu Cixiang - that was his biological father! Immediately, my heart came to my senses and I burst into tears.
As soon as he cried, Maria Theresa beside him also cried together, "Wow, Grandpa Emperor..."
Zhu Cizhong originally went to hug Zhu Cizhao and cry, but when he heard Maria Theresa crying, his attention was immediately drawn to her - this little foreign girl is so beautiful! Whose daughter is she? Why are you crying so fake? She was crying and calling her grandpa. Could she be Chongzhen's granddaughter? Judging from her appearance, she looks like a pretty foreigner! It should be that the son created by Chongzhen and a certain Hu Ji married a foreign girl and gave birth to such a little foreign girl.
But why didn't her father come? Why did she come with Zhu Cizhao?
The curious Zhu Cizhong did not hug and cry with Zhu Cizhao, but went up to comfort the little foreign girl, "Little girl, who is your father? Why didn't he come? What's your name again?"
Maria Theresa wiped away tears: "Grandpa Emperor, my father is Henry of Austria, and I am Maria Theresa!"
"What?" Zhu Cixiang was stunned when he heard this, "Are you Maria Theresa? The eldest daughter of Henry and Mary Anne?"
"Yes." Maria Theresa responded, then looked up at the most powerful grandfather in the world, "I am the eldest daughter of Henry and Mary Anne...my father learned about the death of my great-grandfather. After hearing the news, he was heartbroken and wanted to come to Ming Dynasty to attend the funeral in person. However, due to the tense situation in Europe, he couldn’t leave, so he asked me to come to Ming Dynasty to attend the funeral on his behalf!”
"Haha," Zhu Cihong laughed, raised his hand and pointed at Maria Theresa, and said to Zhu Hexing, "Boss, your brother Henry has not forgotten that he is a descendant of the Zhu Ming royal family. He can't leave, so let him The beautiful daughter came to attend the funeral on his behalf, how filial piety is commendable!"
Zhu Hexing also laughed, "Brother Henry is indeed filial... My son suggested that Brother Henry's name be recorded on the jade certificate and he be made a prince."
What?
Does this make him a prince?
As soon as Zhu Hexing's words came out, Zhu Cizhao, Zhu Hefu, and Zhu Hesi who were present were all stunned.
What's going on? Grandpa died. He didn't come to attend the funeral, nor did he send his son. Instead, he sent his daughter to come. This is a filial son, so he is going to be crowned a prince?
Zhu Hefu and Zhu Heyi were both a little dissatisfied - they were the same generation as Henry Chu. Although they were concubines, they were much better than Nisheng.
But what do they have in common?
Zhu Heyi, the Turkmen Khan, was not a direct descendant, so he was not qualified to seize the title. Later, he relied on his own ability (and the thousands of Mongolian households given by his father) to conquer the Turkmen territory, and then he obtained a Turkish Duke from Zhu Cihong. .....It sounds tacky, not classy at all.
Zhu Hefu, on the other hand, is the prince of a county prince - he is the eldest son, the prince of the Sanlan Kingdom (as usual, he should be called the prince, but they have all gone to Africa, and the Ming court cannot control that far). In the future, he can also be demoted to inherit. My father's title of Ming Dynasty is that of a county prince.
The two of them came back from thousands of miles away to attend the funeral, and their filial piety moved heaven. Emperor Zhu did not give them any titles.
Henry of Austria even changed his surname. He was not a filial son and grandson of the Ming Dynasty at all. Why was he named a prince?
Zhu Cizhao also felt that something was wrong. He was a member of the clan and had to speak. He quickly moved closer to Zhu Cizhong and whispered: "If Henry is granted the title of prince, he may not be able to convince the public!"
Zhu Cixiang smiled, holding Zhu Cizhao with one hand and signing Maria Theresa with the other, and walked towards the throne together, ignoring Zhu Hebu and Zhu Hexi, but Zhu Hexing greeted the two halls with a smile. My brother sat down together.
After everyone sat down, Zhu Cihong winked at Zhu Hexing. Zhu Hexing smiled and said: "This morning we received an urgent military report of 600 miles from the Jungar Kingdom, and 200,000 from the Ottoman Empire (actually The Western Expeditionary Army (only 150,000) was completely defeated by the army of the Grand Duchy of Austria between September 10th and 15th (lunar calendar) between Lakeside and the Danube in Austria... The losses were said to have reached 10 Thousands of people! And Upper and Lower Hungary were occupied by the Austrian army within 10 days after the Battle of Lakeside.
In addition, there are rumors that under the planning of Archduke Henry, Archduchess Mary Anne has been elected Queen of Hungary! "
Zhu Cixiang turned around and looked at Maria Theresa, who was sitting on a chair to his right, dumbfounded, and said with a smile: "Granddaughter, in Austria, does your mother or your father have the final say?"
"Of course it was my father who took power!" Maria Theresa had already reacted from the shock and gave a very positive answer, "The current Grand Duchy of Austria was created by my father... He founded the country When my mother was a little girl, she did not marry into the Hofburg Palace. Later, after my mother became the Grand Duchess, she did not participate much in military and political affairs. The power of the Grand Duchy of Austria was basically held by my father alone. If If he didn't have all the power, there would be no Austria today!
This country has made so much progress since the days of Leopold I! "
The absolute monarchy implemented by the Grand Duchy of Austria is the same as the earlier Kingdom of France under Louis XIV, and it was a "state in isolation". However, Henry's enlightened despotism had great progressive elements. During his reign, Austria's industry and commerce developed rapidly, Vienna became the financial center of Europe, and Austria's serfdom was basically dismantled - from the 20th anniversary of the Grand Duchy of Austria to The progress made over the years also illustrates the authority of Archduke Henry from another aspect.
If he had not held great power, how could Henry have implemented so many policies that utilized industrial and commercial development in Austria? Even serfdom was almost eliminated by Henry... Although the elimination of serfdom was related to the fact that the Austrian nobility suffered huge losses and lost most of their power due to Leopold's fiasco, but the Austrian serfs The system must still have strong remnants.
"Then why did Henry not want to be the king himself, but let Mary Anne be the king?" Zhu Cixiang asked again.
Maria Theresa thought for a while and said: "Let my mother be the queen, maybe to appease my grandfather... My mother's surname is also Bourbon! She became the queen of Hungary, then Hungary is Bourbon Family is king. There is no way that my nephew, Emperor Yi, would start a war with my mother to capture Hungary, right?"
She thought about it for a while and then continued: "In addition, my mother becoming the Queen of Hungary can also prevent the merger of Hungary and Austria."
Zhu Cixiang asked: "Is Henry really not planning to establish the Austro-Hungarian Empire?"
"Austro-Hungarian Empire?" Maria Theresa was stunned, "You mean the Austrian and Hungarian Empires?"
Zhu Cixiang nodded, "Is it possible?"
Maria Theresa shook her head: "At least I don't see such a possibility... And the Austrians don't have such thoughts, right? They are living very well now, there is no need to merge with Hungary!"
Zhu Cixi thought for a while, and then asked: "Then Henry will not let Karl inherit Austria and Hungary at the same time in the future?"
"Definitely not!" Maria Theresa laughed, "My father's greatest ideal is to have a crown for all of us brothers and sisters!"
Zhu Cixiang nodded, thinking: So Henry is the real good father! His two illegitimate children have already won Portugal and Brazil, and now Austria and Hungary... There are still four countries left before he can provide for the six legitimate children he and Mary Anne raised together. One person has built a country!
There is still so much territory that can be acquired in southern Europe, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. The probability of achieving what you want in the future is not small!
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