War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Chapter 6 Your Majesty governs the world with the nobles, not with the common people.

Back to reality, the quarrel in the Hall of Mirrors continues.

"Your Majesty governs the world with the nobles, not with the common people."

As the ruling class of this country, the aristocracy is obviously in opposition to the ruled common people. As members of the ruling class, they hoped that the emperor would consider the interests of the nobles first.

At the same time, those who supported joining the German Customs Union, Prince Metternich, Count Korolaf, and Baron Brooke were also nobles, and even the emperor himself was.

It's just that those who keep saying that they want to rule the world with the emperor do not represent the interests of the country and the ruling class, but their own interests.

They have two purposes. One is to block the transition between the small nobles and the common people. The other is to use the power in their hands to collude with domestic and foreign forces to squeeze the people of their country to the maximum extent.

To sum up the attributes of this group of people simply, they are bureaucrats, landlords, and compradors.

Although it was said by a group of villains with selfish intentions, it sounded harmless at the time.

At this time, Austria was no longer the Holy Roman Empire divided into states.

As Emperor of Austria, Francis II had absolute power.

All this is thanks to the end of the Holy Roman Empire - Napoleon. The Napoleonic Wars greatly weakened the power of the local nobility, but inadvertently strengthened the centralization of power in Austria. In the past, the situation where small nobles dared to support their own troops and openly resist the state machinery has disappeared.

Even the power of the great nobles was greatly restricted. Take Archduke Karl, the largest landed aristocrat in the Austrian Empire, as an example. He only had 1,000 private soldiers and was unable to face the powerful army of the Austrian Empire.

Other nobles have no ability to fight against the country.

So now if any big nobleman jumps out and says that the emperor refuses, I will go against it.

Then Count Latour will definitely be happy to give him a ride.

At this moment, a small figure slipped in from the door. The royal guards saw it but did not stop him. After all, he was just a child. After all, he was the emperor's favorite grandson and the future master of this country.

The upright Baron Brooke said.

"Are you going to govern this country with His Majesty? You only care about your own interests. Do you know how much benefits open trade can bring to this country? Our national finances have been on the verge of bankruptcy. As long as there is any disturbance, this building will It will collapse."

"You are an alarmist! Vienna has the largest number of banks in the world!" (Vienna had the largest number of private banks in the world at that time, but they were very small and most of them were in a half-dead state. They could not be compared with London at all.)

"But who will lend us money? You? Now Vienna's financial industry is almost monopolized, and the country even has to mortgage part of its tariffs and public power to bankers. Can't you see?"

"It is natural to pay back debts. Besides, are banks in other countries willing to lend you money? Don't make so many excuses and look for reasons within yourself."

Baron Brooke has worked hard all his life, with integrity and outstanding ability. (Historically, he committed suicide because he was falsely accused and could not prove himself.)

It can be said that it is a miracle that Austria's finances have not collapsed today. He absolutely cannot accept the accusations from others.

"Do you know what the empire's financial revenue was last year?" Baron Brooke asked angrily.

Before the other party could answer, Baron Brooke continued.

"130,269,877 florins."

"Do you know the total debt of the empire?"

"1,461,224,893 florins."

"Do you know the total interest that the empire had to pay to extend its debt last year?"

"101,221,096 florins, you don't know!" Baron Brooke roared.

"So what, God bless our emperor, Austria will last forever. Do you think this is all your fault?" The speaker was Pitru, Prince Elthazy's staff. He wasn't nervous and even retorted.

This man graduated from the University of Vienna with excellent grades and once aspired to be a judge. But after waiting for five years in Vienna, the real gap was not filled.

Finally, under the recommendation of a classmate, he became a staff member of Prince Elthazy's family. Since becoming Prince Elthazy's staff, his financial situation has improved. But he also saw more of the dark side of this society. It turned out that it was not that he was not good enough, but that he had no way out.

Those teachers who kept teaching him to abide by the law actually colluded with the officials behind their backs to sell their jobs and get titles.

At this time, Austria had a conferral system, which meant that officials were directly awarded official positions by the emperor. But the prerequisite for being granted an official position is that you can meet the emperor or let the emperor know your existence.

Prince Eltházy is a great nobleman in Hungary, and even the emperor cannot easily touch him. Pitru never hesitated to execute Prince Elthazy's orders. What if the Austrian Empire fell? As long as Hungary is still there and Prince Elthazy is still there, we can give him everything he wants.

When Pitru saw Baron Brooke speechless, he once again added fuel to the fire.

"The empire's debts have not been paid off for so many years. Why don't you resign! Give your position to those who are capable!"

Baron Brooke was furious and wanted to continue his theory. Count Korolaf stopped the furious Brooke. Although he didn't like this guy, there was no doubt about his ability. As Korolav, the finance minister, naturally no one understands how dire Austria's financial situation is better than him.

There are usually only two ways to increase fiscal revenue, one is to increase revenue and the other is to reduce expenditure.

He has gone to the extreme in terms of saving money. He even withholds military pay and royal annuities. He will never spend anything he can't. Even so, the remaining money is only about 10 million per year. He had to use about 10 million yuan to solve the debt problem of hundreds of millions of dong every year. He could not imagine the difficulty.

But now Brooke has lost his mind and has been led astray by the opponent.

"Twenty years! As long as I join the German Zollverein, I promise to pay off all the debts of the empire within twenty years."

This is not an empty talk, but is calculated by all officials of the entire Austrian Ministry of Finance. According to their calculations, joining the German Customs Union will bring Austria an annual economic growth of 4%. Even so, it's an extremely substantial gain.

Korolaf glanced at Pitru, who was still thinking about how to deal with it.

"can you do it?"

"I"

"Just shut up if you can't!" Count Korolaf was very disgusted with people like Pitru who only knew how to talk.

Korolav scanned the room.

"Which of you can guarantee to pay off the empire's debts within twenty years! Let him be my chancellor!"

"You're kidding! Why should we repay the debt owed by the empire?" The nobles complained in their hearts. "Besides, it's impossible to repay it."

In the hearts of the powerful, the debt of the Austrian Empire has long been a black hole that cannot be filled.

Since being reasonable isn't enough, let's be tough.

Several nobles, headed by Prince Elthazy, walked towards Francis II.

"Your Majesty governs the world with the nobles, not with the people. Do you want those mud-legged people to ride on our heads?"

Franz II hesitated a little, he really didn't know what to do. Seeing the commotion below, he didn't know who to listen to. My ministers seem to be thinking about the country, but who can guarantee that they have no selfish motives? These nobles may seem incompetent, but they are their own people.

Seeing Francis II swaying, some people laughed. This was the moment they had been waiting for.

As a result, they got closer and closer to Francis II, trying to use pressure to overwhelm the weak-willed emperor.

"Your Majesty, have you forgotten France's attitude?" Someone finally spoke more and more excitedly and walked forward and pulled Franz II's sleeve.

Franz also smiled, he had been waiting for this moment.