The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 582 Dinner
(Not very well, the two chapters are merged into one chapter.)
The gentry in the city of Milan and even the entire Lombardy region were boiling. After all, under the system of bestowing officials in the Austrian Empire, being able to get acquainted with members of the royal family is something worth celebrating.

At the same time, it also made them breathe a sigh of relief. After all, what happened in Milan far exceeded previous expectations.

You must know that a few years ago, in the case of betrayal by traitors, the Carbonari rebel army with less than 1000 people could still deal with the two brigades of the Austrian Empire for nearly half a month.

The infantry regiments of the Austrian Empire belonged to large regiments, usually consisting of 2500-3000 soldiers.A brigade usually consists of two regiments, as well as some direct units.Therefore, the size of the suppression force at that time exceeded 1 people.

The real planners believed that this riot would last for a long time, at least until the great powers intervened or retreated completely.

This group of people obviously didn't have any clues in their minds. In other countries, the Austrians might not dare to fight. General Li Qi, who used money to buy entertainment, couldn't be compared with the old Marshal Radetzky.

And take a step back and say that Milan is the core of the Austrian Empire's rule in Northern Italy, no matter how many rebels there are, it is impossible to ignore it, unless the center of the empire is paralyzed.

The local gentry in Lombardy still hope that someone will make a fuss. After all, there is Hungary as an example. If you don’t pay taxes, it’s really cool to be caught by politics and the military.

But before that, they need to crowd out foreign officials.

So Franz received a lot of black information from officials, local foreigners, even the army and the Duchess of Parma who didn't care about anything and didn't care about anything.

Adjani laughed while watching, she seemed to have found the long-lost joy.

"Frantz, is this what you mean by 'good job'? There are gangs and mutual attacks. It doesn't look like a gang."

Franz shook his head helplessly and smiled: "It would be really troublesome if they were monolithic."

Adjani thought about it, but then asked: "But if they restrain each other like this, they can't do anything?"

Franz: "It's true to check each other, but nothing can be achieved. Northern Italy has always been an important tax source for the empire. The economic growth rate is also the fastest except for Bohemia, and the railway network has basically been completed."

Ajani asked a little puzzled, "Why?"

"Mutual supervision can curb corruption to a certain extent, and mutual competition can actually improve efficiency. Of course, if there is a long period of confrontation with each other, trouble will arise, just like now.

Although the two sides have deep grievances, the improvement of the welfare benefits of the Austrian Empire and the development of the economy have covered up this contradiction to a certain extent.

It's just that there are foreign powers infiltrating and bewitching, and the remnants of the Carbonari Party have been doing something about the revival of Italy.

How funny, Italy never existed, it was Rome that once ruled the Apennines.The Habsburg family used to have a crown of the "Emperor of the Romans". If you want it now, go to the Pope's crown and buy another one.

I am sure Gregory XVI would be happy to accept this deal. "

After hearing this, Adjani left thoughtfully. She went to complete the work that Franz had given her before, and exchanged these "gifts" for money.

After Gregory XVI came to power, he devoted himself to making money, and at the same time he was extremely opposed to the Italian national movement. At this time, the Pope was suppressing the uprising.

(From 1841 to 1845, dozens of uprisings broke out in the Papal State, with various banners, including national independence, tax resistance, and even religious laws.)
Gaury XVI carried out large-scale capitalist economic activities in the Pope's country, and successively established financial institutions such as the Discount Bank, the Bank of Rome, the Holy Spirit Bank, and the Savings House. He also established the Holy Water Company, sold indulgences, and used his own power to suppress , Persecution of competitors.

Franz bought the request letter from Emperor Yongli of the Ming Dynasty to the Holy See from this old magician.

At the banquet at night, celebrities from Milan, the governor and senior officials of the Lombardy region were all present.

The decoration of the venue can be described as extremely luxurious, and the giant crystal chandelier illuminates the hall like daytime.

All kinds of delicacies, fine nectar and jade wine are placed on the table, and the ladies and beauties have long been looking forward to it.

At this moment the waiter suddenly cleared his throat, and the orchestra began to play solemn music.

"Archduke Franz Karl is here!"

"Archduke Franz Joseph is here!"

The gate opened slowly, and everyone held their breath. At this time, the two archdukes entered the venue wearing the iconic white military uniforms of the Austrian Empire.

It's just that Archduke Franz Karl seemed to have caught something with his arm, and the waiter was stunned at a glance, and then the former seemed to suddenly remember something and handed a seal to the latter.

A seal of more than 60 kilograms instantly overwhelmed the waiter. After all, it was much heavier than a cape and hat, and then the little hairy fish jumped and fled.

Then the father and son walked straight to the center of the venue under the amazed eyes of everyone. Franz Joseph poured a glass of wine and handed it to his father, then poured himself a glass of juice, raised the glass and said.

"Respect the Empire!"

Only then did the people recover from the shocking appearance of Archduke Franz Karl depositing the seals, and raised their glasses one after another.

"Respect the Empire!"

Then there was the lengthy reception time, and Franz and his father had to accept the respect and greetings of others with high intensity.

After finally getting to the dinner table, Franz had to give a toast as usual, after all, his father was not very good at it.

It's just that this time it shocked everyone again. After all, most people thought that the IQs of the two grand dukes might be about the same.

Although the Habsburg royal family tried their best to package Franz, their propaganda methods were obviously problematic, too fake and exaggerated, but no one believed it.

In fact, before the banquet started, someone set up a bet on whether the two grand dukes could finish a complete sentence.

Although Franz is only 14 years old, his height is no different from that of an adult, but his face is still a little immature.However, the hard and lustrous short chestnut hair, cold white skin, dark blue eyes, and the noble temperament cultivated since childhood are all amazing.

But Franz himself hated carrying it like this, after all, it was very troublesome and tiring.

Then there was a group of ladies and daughters who "coincidentally" passed by Franz.According to the traditional etiquette, at the banquet, the superiors do not speak, and the subordinates cannot initiate conversations.

Compared with the water-tight son, the father who goes to dinner with a seal under his arm is much easier to deal with.After all, the latter is good wine, but fortunately, Franz has passed the gas in advance.

"Grand Duke, the people of Milan took the risk because they couldn't survive. And those outsiders, they are really hateful, not only took away the jobs of the locals, but also seriously disrupted our security environment.

Those Sicilians are gangsters, thieves, and liars. I really hope that the imperial government will find a way to punish them as they deserve. "

The speaker was an old man with a white face and heavy wrinkles. He liked to show his golden teeth when he rubbed his hands. He was Vera Ivar, the president of the Chamber of Commerce in Milan City.

What he said was not a lie. The arrival of a large number of immigrants did affect the local order, but he said that these were not entirely out of justice.

In fact, outsiders have formed their own forces, unwilling to pay membership fees, and robbed them of the market.And government officials don't care about the competition between them, as long as someone pays taxes is enough.

The so-called president of the Milan Chamber of Commerce used to be a tax-paying businessman.What he does is to contract taxes, and then earn the difference between the country and the people.

However, with the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the era of tax contractors also came to an end.

Taxes are now collected directly by the government, but the president of the Chamber of Commerce still has a strong influence in the local area, and at the same time he has the title of the Austrian Empire, which provides the possibility of tax avoidance.

The situation in the Austrian Empire at that time was very special. The nobles traditionally had the right not to pay taxes, but because of Joseph II’s reforms, the nobles were also included in the ranks of taxpayers, and then the nobles overthrew the emperor and his reforms.

What's interesting is that in the following Napoleonic Wars, the Austrian nobles were completely defeated, and then one of the most conservative emperors, Franz II, regained the most radical reform of his uncle.

However, due to a lot of historical issues, some nobles do have the right to tax relief.

For example, the royal family and Hungarian nobles have tax-free privileges, while in Netalenia and northern Italy, even Prince Metternich must pay taxes, but there are certain amount of exemptions for those whose title is above the baron.

In fact, the vast majority of Austrian nobles have no titles, only an honorary title, and these people do not have the privilege of tax relief.

The previous president of the Milan Chamber of Commerce used his family's title to help people avoid taxes, and the specific process was similar to the contribution in the Ming Dynasty.

This type of tax evasion was expressly prohibited by the Austrian Empire, yet the rules were destined to provide great benefits to violators the moment they were enacted.

At this time, someone will definitely ask, why do those foreign businessmen disagree with tax avoidance?We are all Italians, can we cooperate and win-win to cheat Austria together?

But this approach is too risky for those outsiders, and this Mr. Ivar has a really bad reputation. He often embezzles other people's property for no reason, and many excuses can be used from breach of contract to spitting everywhere.

However, the reality is that the more Ivar ate, the more people were afraid of him, and the address changed from "vampire" to "Mr." Over time, he became a local bully.

Until Austria came up with the Apennine Customs Union, a large number of foreign populations poured into Northern Italy. Among these people were not only laborers, but also many merchants and craftsmen, as well as persecuted exiles.

Among them, the Two Sicilians are the majority, which is mainly due to the liberal reforms of Ferdinand II.What the king wanted was to develop the economy and the military, but the first thing people got up was to revolutionize him.

As a result, this enlightened liberal became the cruelest and most steadfast conservative. Then, with the booming economy in northern Italy, a large number of southern Italians went to the local area to make a living.

And in fact, the atmosphere in North Italy is relatively open, and the control of ideas is relatively loose. The Austrians prefer to make money here rather than a stable rule. The main reason is that the country was too poor after the Napoleonic Wars. The famous four-corner fortresses all Because of the long period of disrepair, the defense power has been greatly reduced.

The book returns to the main story, these outsiders have money and technology, coupled with Austria's good policies, as well as the opening of trade routes and the development of colonies, they have the momentum of latecomers.

Ever since, those local snakes got upset and started to make troubles.However, it was a coincidence that this group of people beat the eldest son of Marshal Radetzky, and curiously and unfortunately attracted the attention of Vienna.

As a result, a royal decree that "the wicked must not be indulged, and the good must not be wronged" wiped out the largest local gangster, the mayor Gabriel Casati, the dean of Delmunda, Father Leonardo, There was a whole bunch of local gentry implicated.

The so-called strong dragon does not suppress the local snake, it is because the snake did not take the initiative to provoke the dragon, otherwise it is just a mass of rotten meat.

Franz had investigated before he came, and this Vera Ivar was one of the biggest suspects in planning the riot.

At this time, a young man with a firm face and a straight figure reprimanded loudly: "You are talking nonsense!"

Then, as expected, he was pinned to the ground by two guards in the crowd before the ladies had time to scream.

However, his voice still startled Archduke Franz Karl and splashed a glass of wine on Vera Ivar's face.

The latter stared subconsciously, and then returned to normal, but this could not escape the eyes of the attendant.

The falcon-like eyes fell on Ivar's face, making him feel cold all over, and then several guards surrounded him and checked him thoroughly while helping him clean up the wine stains.

The leading guard shook his head lightly, and Franz Karl's attendant, Calga Willy, looked away.

The young man who was pinned to the ground struggled and shouted: "Grand Duke, he is lying! We have been paying taxes according to the law. It is Ivar, the vampire! It is him!"

"Drink! Drink!" The young man was interrupted by Archduke Franz Karl before he finished speaking.

When everyone was puzzled (after all, everyone was waiting to see a good show), Grand Duke Franz Karl shouted.

"I'm announcing something!"

For a moment, everyone didn't know whether the Grand Duke drank too much or was really sick, but because of the identity of the other party, he didn't dare to speak, so the atmosphere was controlled.

"The empire will not treat its own people badly. Give them work for relief!"

Everyone was a little stunned, but fortunately, some people noticed the key word "relief with work".

Someone said with some doubts: "Relief with work? The weather in Lombardy has been considered smooth these years, and there have been no disasters?"

Now it's Franz's turn to play, he said, clearing his throat.

"The empire has investigated the situation in northern Italy, and found that the root cause of the social turmoil is the lack of jobs. Therefore, the imperial family has decided to implement work-for-work relief in northern Italy. I hope that everyone can unite and work together for a better future. fight for the future."

Relief from work is good news, after all, no matter what big projects the imperial government does locally, it will attract a lot of labor.

This can indeed alleviate the competitive pressure brought by the immigrant population to a certain extent, and at the same time increase employment and promote consumption, thereby creating more business opportunities.

In the process of this virtuous circle, if the local area can restore its own hematopoietic function, it will truly eliminate the crisis caused by the immigrant population.

It's just that the country will be in debt, but what does that matter to them?
So people started to carnival all night, and the young people before were also released.

Archduke Franz Karl approached the young man and offered him a glass of wine.

This moved the latter to tears. After all, he has been away from home for so many years, coupled with the excessive pressure, he has long been overwhelmed. The former did not understand and just said: "Have a drink, and you won't feel sad after a drink."

The next day, when people asked "how to give money for work", Archduke Franz Karl's answer was "tear down the wall!"

(End of this chapter)