Chapter 19, Making a Fortune? Starting with Embezzlement**

Franz was imbued with a sense of national responsibility, and to raise war funds for the Kingdom of Prussia, he, the Emperor himself, took the lead by donating one million shields and deposited it into the Austrian Royal Bank.

(1 shield ≈ 11.69 grams of silver)

Soon, nobility, businesspeople, and students from across Austria raced to make donations, except these funds were not handed directly to the Prussian Government but deposited into the Austrian Royal Bank.

Indeed, this Austrian Royal Bank was a recent concoction of Franz, and its primary business now was to collect donations from the public, while also overseeing the allocation of this money to the defense campaign in the Schleswig-Holstein dukedom.

The Prussian Army now moved unimpeded across the Jutland Peninsula, having crossed over the line that justified the use of the donations.