Chapter 68: The Great Cheat

With the budget battle getting fierce, Franz returned to the Vienna Palace by the end of October, cutting short his vacation trip.

Vacations could be taken anytime, but as Emperor, state affairs always came first. Though the Crown Prince was being trained, it did not mean that he would completely let go of his responsibilities.

In politics, if there was nothing else, there were certainly plenty of pitfalls ahead. Minor pitfalls could be stepped into, almost seen as lessons learned.

However, there were also pitfalls that absolutely could not be stepped into, where one misstep could result in being stuck forever, unable to get out.

Take, for example, the ongoing annual budget allocation: a single mistake there could be a fatal wound.

If one could not balance the needs of all parties and arbitrarily compiled budgets, or invested the budget solely based on idealism or efficiency into just one or a few aspects, that would spell doom.