"I recall that the stockpiling plan is progressing on an annual basis, so there shouldn't be any urgent financial pressure right now. Logically, the Empire's finances should be able to hold out for a while longer."
"There is indeed no immediate risk of running out of funds, but this extraordinary stockpiling practice ties up vast amounts of liquid capital and incurs significant storage costs. Ultimately, it will impose a long-term burden on the health of the Empire's finances..."
To put it bluntly, Bilinski was worried that the material stockpiling orders Karl issued under the guise of "war preparation" would later prove to be an overreaction, causing massive waste and ultimately backfiring on the Empire's finances. He hoped Karl would rescind the order or scale it down at an appropriate time.
Hadn't the Balkan Wars already ended? Peace seemed to have arrived.
But only Karl knew that since the end of the Balkan Wars, he had hardly had a single night of peaceful sleep.
Because next, there was only one major event destined to happen.
World War I.
To preserve the Empire amidst those hellish flames of war, it was no exaggeration to say he lived for this purpose.
It was precisely for this reason that he had staked everything he had accumulated so far to make comprehensive preparations for that total war in advance.
He had issued only one command to the Empire's key departments—stockpile all types of critical materials and resources at any cost.
Starting a year ago, the Empire had quietly begun large-scale stockpiling of coal, oil, steel, non-ferrous metals, rubber, grain, medicine, cloth, and all other military supplies and daily necessities through various channels.
However, from the perspective of the Ministry of Finance, how could they not feel suffocated when existing reserves were being increased to a level almost equivalent to full-scale war preparation?
Excessive stockpiling would only create a vicious cycle and bad debts on the national balance sheet. Thus, as the head of finance, Bilinski had no choice but to bite the bullet and request the revocation or adjustment of the orders.
But in Karl's view, that was absolutely impossible.
He remembered how difficult it had been to persuade the Emperor to push this matter forward in the first place.
The reason he was able to issue such a supreme directive was entirely due to the fact that the progress and outcome of the two Balkan Wars had unfolded exactly as Karl had predicted.
During that decisive imperial meeting, Karl's analysis of the situation was proven correct one after another, and his influence grew accordingly.
Relying on the trust accumulated so far and the foresight he had demonstrated, the Emperor finally nodded with a look of anticipation.
Karl knew full well that the look was nothing more than thinking: if a massive financial deficit truly occurred, would this great-grandson of his, who was as wealthy as a nation, reach into his own pocket to fill the hole for his Great-Grandfather?
With a fifty-seven-year age difference, the Old Emperor, who even had his eye on his great-grandson's pockets, was truly shrewd enough.
Of course, Karl had his own calculations. If a great war ultimately did not break out, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. Those materials and resources were things the Empire would eventually consume for its development anyway; at most, they tied up capital costs. If a deficit really occurred, he had his own ways to make up for it.
But if war truly descended as it did in history, then all these preparations would be brilliant.
At that time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire would be the only belligerent in the world that had already quietly completed most of its war material preparations.
Rather than living with the wishful thinking that "maybe there won't be a war" and regretting it later, it was better to endure some financial losses and pressure now.
"The order stands. I have no intention of withdrawing or scaling it back."
Sigh, as expected, it didn't work.
Minister of Finance Bilinski knew he could not persuade this determined Imperial Grandson, so he could only let out a long sigh, as if the burden on his shoulders had grown heavier, and turned to leave.
"The Ministry of Finance is probably going to have nightmares for days," someone nearby teased in a low voice.
"It's not that difficult; he's just being melodramatic and is habitually conservative," another person chimed in.
"Haha, I'm just glad that the tasks I've been assigned under His Highness are relatively easy."
After the Minister of Finance left, the person who approached Karl was the new Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister, Count Leopold von Berchtold, who had succeeded the late Aehrenthal.
Karl had been pushing war preparations on multiple fronts, and diplomacy was naturally no exception.
It just wasn't as massive an operation as the financial and material stockpiling; after all, formal diplomatic measures still had to be conducted in the Emperor's name.
What Karl had done was merely to quietly plant a seed in Bulgaria, which had suffered a crushing defeat in the Balkan Wars and was harboring deep resentment.
Bulgaria, which originally had the chance to dominate the Balkans, had been entangled and ganged up on by several small former allies, then exploited by the massive but slow-reacting Ottoman Empire, and finally stabbed in the back by Romania, resulting in a total loss and heavy territorial casualties.
This bone-deep humiliation and hatred were so vivid that the foreign ministries of various European countries were already well aware of them.
Tsar Ferdinand I of Bulgaria and the high-ranking government officials likely wished they could tear their enemies—Serbia, Greece, and Romania—to pieces one by one, but defeat was defeat; reality was cruel.
Having lost the support of its traditional protector, the Russian Empire, Bulgaria was isolated in the Balkans and naturally needed to find new allies or a patron.
Thus, the Austro-Hungarian Empire appeared "at the right time."
The approach was simple: under Karl's instructions, "unofficial" envoys were sent to privately contact the Bulgarian leadership, offering a few words of comfort like, "Your country's recent experience is truly sympathetic; it must have been quite a blow, but the path to a great power's rise is always winding, and opportunities will come again," while also presenting several luxury cars from the Porsche Company as gifts.
Isolated and angry, Bulgaria was clearly tempted.
Filled with rage yet isolated and helpless, they were looking for a way to vent and were even more worried about being further weakened.
At this moment, the powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire's proactive gesture of goodwill was both a source of gratitude for timely help and played right into their desire to find a new supporter.
"Keep this communication channel open. Let them know we are ready for deeper dialogue at any time," Karl instructed Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Berchtold.
"Yes, Your Highness. Everything is proceeding in secret," Foreign Minister Berchtold replied respectfully.
Karl thought to himself that as long as the timing was right in the future, with just a word passed along to have Bulgaria strike Serbia from behind, the entire nation of Sofia would likely mobilize eagerly.
As for what benefits to give Bulgaria...
It was simple: just carve out a piece of land from Serbia and give it to them.
...
Although the meeting ended abruptly due to the Emperor's absence, Karl's schedule was even tighter than imagined.
He had already delegated specific matters in various fields to experts and bureaucrats, but in his high position, he still had endless documents to approve, reports to hear, and decisions to make.
Even if he managed to find a rare half-day gap in his work, it was certainly not for killing time. Because there was one more thing, perhaps more important than any government business.
He decided to go find Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who had not shown up at all during today's meeting.