As Kobutsel walked into the Congress hall, he felt significantly more at ease.
Weimar had provided troops and money during the previous war against France, which made them a relatively staunch mber of the "Vienna Faction". Elevating Weimar to the status of Elector would an at least four votes in the Imperial Assembly would belong to His Majesty the Emperor.
Once all the representatives of the electors were present, Archbishop Frederick Karl opened the eting with the customary formal greetings and then went straight to the point:
"Due to so unfortunate circumstances, the Hanover Elector is unable to fulfill his duties..."
He rambled on with so formalities and then took out a letter: "His Majesty the Emperor wishes to revoke this elector position..."
Prussian Foreign Minister Herzberg imdiately stood up: "This is not customary."
He glanced at Kobutsel and loudly declared, "I propose that the Duke of Hesse inherit the elector position, as this originates from His Majesty Ludwig X’s grandmother..."
He rattled off several nas, successfully tying Ludwig X to the Hanover Royal Family by blood. Indeed, after centuries of intermarriage, all the royal families of the German states were related to each other.
Kobutsel retorted unceremoniously, "If soone must inherit the Hanover elector position, it should be Count Weimar."
He added, "This is also His Majesty the Emperor’s opinion."
After both Kobutsel and Herzberg had sat back down, Archbishop Karl nodded and said, "Alright, then we shall follow His Majesty the Emperor’s wish and first vote on granting elector status to Count Weimar.
"Who supports this decision?"
Kobutsel raised his hand without hesitation, glancing sowhat smugly at the Foreign Minister of Mainz.
There was no response.
He paused, quickly gesturing towards the Foreign Minister of Salzburg, who only smiled at him politely.
Ten seconds later, Archbishop Karl repeated the vote and then announced, "Only the Bohemian Elector is in favor."
He looked around and continued, "Next, we will vote on the proposal by the Brandenburg Elector. Who supports the Duke of Hesse receiving elector status?"
The representatives of the Brandenburg, Palatinate, and three other electors raised their hands almost simultaneously.
Kobutsel was imdiately dumbfounded.
How could this be!
All the electors ignored the Emperor’s wishes!
Particularly the Salzburg Elector, who was personally nominated by His Majesty the Emperor.
He recalled that the vote for the Salzburg Elector’s status was unanimously passed.
Little did he know, the Archbishop of Salzburg, only seventy to eighty kiloters from Passau, had witnessed the scene of hundreds of thousands of French troops besieging the fortress, and couldn’t help but have a massive psychological shadow.
Now that Austria had lost Innsbruck, all of Salzburg’s trade routes were controlled by Bavaria. Between loyalty to the Emperor and the country’s finances, he decisively chose the latter.
"These damned traitors..."
Kobutsel muttered angrily through gritted teeth, saying loudly to Archbishop Karl, "I request the ’conciliation procedure’!"
The so-called ’conciliation procedure’ was a process where the Imperial Assembly, when unable to reach a unified opinion on major issues, would temporarily postpone the vote and conduct private discussions.
Although he could persistently wield his single vote to block it, this would seriously offend Ludwig X—considering its current stature, Hesse was a powerful state.
Archbishop Karl cooperatively announced the initiation of the ’conciliation procedure’, to reconvene for a vote in half a month.
No sooner had Kobutsel breathed a sigh of relief when Archbishop Karl said, "This eting requires the addition of a temporary vote, proposed by the Elector of the Palatinate.
"The content is—to request His Majesty the Emperor to recognize the entirety of the Stuttgart Declaration.
"So, who supports this proposal?"
Once again, apart from Bohemia, represented by Kobutsel, the other five votes were all in favor.
Kobutsel, furious, demanded another ’conciliation procedure’ at once.
Let it be known that the accursed Declaration divided all of the Emperor’s direct territories and even established two kings.
Vienna, in its current weakened state, had temporarily ignored this issue, but amazingly these people now wanted the Emperor to recognize it.
This is absolutely unacceptable!
Archbishop Karl reluctantly nodded, "Alright then, we shall reconvene for a vote in half a month..."
Before he finished speaking, Kobutsel felt several cold stares aid at him.
Yes, despite the French Governnt’s orders for Hesse to inherit the Hanover elector position, the German states might not care too much, but the Stuttgart Declaration was their legal basis to claim imperial direct territories, including Hanover.
If the Holy Roman Emperor refused to recognize it, he would stand against all the states.
After confirming there were no other topics on the agenda, Kobutsel hurriedly left the eting hall.
He realized that the current situation had beco extrely dire.
When he returned to his residence, he imdiately gathered all accompanying diplomats to discuss how to break the stalemate.
A few days later.
Franz II frowned at the secret letter sent by his Foreign Minister.
Kobutsel requested diplomatic facilitation funds of 1.2 million florins, as well as the ennoblent for more than a dozen officials from various countries, to secure the cooperation of the electors in the Imperial Assembly.
After discussing with several high-ranking officials all day, the Holy Roman Emperor finally agreed to Kobutsel’s request.
After all, both the ownership of the elector position and the Stuttgart Declaration were matters of life and death for the Empire.
...
In the Inner City of Vienna.
Outside a café on Tuchlauben Street not far from St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Lucas von Scheler, dressed in a simple black linen coat and wearing a dark gray old felt hat but with eyes full of passion, clenched his fists and murmured to a dozen onlookers:
"Our city is suffering from poverty and hunger, while the lords of Schonbrunn Palace have added three new taxes in one week!
"They emptied the last pennies from our pockets, not to help the elderly or children, nor to give pensions to wounded soldiers, but to send money to Mainz, Bavaria, and other countries.
"That’s over 2 million florins! Our Emperor, to make Count Weimar an elector, thoughtlessly used our money for diplomatic bribery..."
He looked at a woman with a yellow and thin face and pointed to the bread bag she was holding: "In the past half month, the price of bread has risen by a quarter. If the Emperor were willing to use that 2 million florins to stabilize bread prices, would we be starving?"
His words imdiately aroused a chorus of agreent.
Lucas took out a stack of pamphlets from his pocket and distributed them to everyone: "To escape this hellish life, we must learn from the advanced and powerful France!
"Everyone take a look, this is the Declaration of Human Rights issued by the Crown Prince of France. It is the compass that guides us toward the light!"
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