The Judiciary Organization of 1855, the extension of the railroad network, the introduction of the freedom of trade are attributed mainly to his suggestion and promotion. Under his government, came the acceptance of the French Commercial Treaty (1862) and the acknowledgment of a contract with Italy. He exerted himself under influence of his minister Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust for the Great Germany Solution (de: "Großdeutsche Lösung") of the imperial arrangement (under inclusion of Austria). In 1866 Saxony fought on the Austrian side in the Austro-Prussian War. Finally, after the defeat of the Battle of Königgrätz, Saxony joined the North German Confederation and in 1871 the German Empire under the hegemony of the Kingdom of Prussia. The King died two years later, aged seventy-one.