Chapter 39: The First Measure Applied
There was no market for modest declines in Europe. If you started to decline, you would come out empty.
Since the regime had been taken over, Franz surely would not ask for trouble, so he took power as soon as possible and did not give Louis the opportunity to change his mind.
Then Franz changed the topic.
"All of you here, the rebellion in Vienna has been suppressed, but other parts of Austria may soon be in chaos. In order to avoid the collapse of the empire, we must take more decisive action!"
Everyone's faces changed, and their good mood over surviving the disaster completely vanished. The collapse of the Empire? What a terrible idea it was!
As the nobles of Austria, their interests were bound to the country, and if the Empire collapsed, everything they owned would disappear.
"Franz, things are that bad?" Archduke John asked with concern.
"Yes, they are. Since the February revolution in Paris, the whole of Europe seems to be coming apart, and revolutions are brewing in many regions, including Austria.
The bureaucrats of the empire are in decay, just like in the Vienna rebellion. It could have been settled by the police, but in the end, it became an appalling tragedy, and tens of thousands of Austrian people were killed, including hundreds of nobles!
Under these circumstances, if we don't take more active measures, the present of the Orleans dynasty is our future, or something even worse!" Franz threatened.
Would Franz's words scare them? Obviously, it was impossible. The fact that all these grand dukes were incapable did not mean that they were easy to bluff. It was just too naive an idea.
Franz brought up these opinions to take advantage of the fact that everyone had just experienced the Vienna revolution, and their mentality had not yet recovered. When looking at the problem, they were sure to be pessimistic.
At the time, Franz exaggerated and used the lack of real information to create an illusion for them: that the Austrian people were dissatisfied with the current political system and the distribution of benefits, and if there was no reform, people were going to rebel, as they already had.
"Franz, can you tell us about the situation outside?" Archduke Louis asked.
Apparently, he was also taken aback by the news Franz had brought. Maybe they were not afraid of the rebellion of the people in Vienna, but if the people of other places followed suit, it would be horrible.
After thinking about it, Franz answered cautiously, "Well, after the February revolution in Paris, the revolutionary parties in all European countries were encouraged, and various undercurrents sprung up in the big cities, which was obvious to everyone.
After the outbreak of the Vienna revolution on March 7, the domestic revolutionary flame in Austria was soaring. Although we successfully suppressed this rebellion, the planners behind it ran away.
What is worthy of our vigilance is that, during the Vienna revolution, not only the revolutionary party, but also the capitalists, nobles, and city government officials got involved.
If we look from the perspective of social class, it actually involves workers, peasants, citizens, the middle class, the capitalists, and the nobles, which means the coverage is too wide.
If it weren't for the sudden occurrence and the serious internal conflicts of their party, the Vienna revolution would have been successful!"
Hearing this, everyone was dumbfounded. Even the nobles took part in the revolution--that was to say, the current Vienna government was undermined.
Archduke John hurriedly asked, "Franz, are you sure there were nobles involved in this rebellion? Is it individual, or ..."
Franz said with a wry smile, "There are 83 nobles whose participation in this rebellion has been confirmed. The number of people who have not been found out may be bigger.
The reason for their participation in this rebellion is very simple: they were dissatisfied with the government's inaction in the economic crisis, or they hadn't made a good bargain after they stored up goods!"
"These bastards, didn't they know what they were doing? If the Empire is finished, they think they can still live a good life?" Archduke Louis said angrily.
Other people shared his bitter hatred of the nobles who rebelled, whose action was killing their livelihoods: without the Austrian Empire, could these nobles maintain their current status?
Franz explained, "I'm afraid this problem has something to do with our system, which lets them have no fear. Anyway, even if they fail, we can't kill them all.
If they succeed, the new government could also become a member of their interest group. As for the glory of the nobles, if they still care, they will not participate!"
The crowd stopped talking, for, at that moment, everyone realized that Franz was going to take action against them, which meant the interests of the nobility would be damaged. When it came to their own rights and interests, no one was willing to give in.
The only one who looked the same was Archduke Franz Carr. It seemed that he was just listening like an outsider from beginning to end, as though these discussions had nothing to do with him. Suddenly, he spoke.
"Franz, what are you going to do?"
Everyone's face changed slightly, but they didn't say anything. They weren't ready to stand up against him before they were sure about Franz's purpose.
"Those who participated in this rebellion must be severely punished. Specifically, the leaders will be sent to the gallows, and others will be sentenced according to the seriousness of the case.
We must abolish all titles of the nobles who participated in the rebellion and confiscate all their property, but other specific plans can be decided by the noble parliament!"
Franz spoke out decisively, for he was not afraid that someone would oppose him. Hundreds of nobles died in the Vienna rebellion. If those rebels were not severely punished, the relatives and friends of the dead would not let it go.
For the nobles, in fact, the most serious punishment was not to be killed but to lose their title and their fief, which meant that the family glory was ruined.
Several Archdukes looked at each other, and Archduke Louis spoke first. "Franz, this time the involvement is too wide; can you let them keep their titles, at least?"
Franz shook his head and said, "If the punishment is mild, I am afraid that even more people will participate in the next rebellion.
And how should we explain it to the families of those who died? According to our rough statistics, I am afraid that there are more than a dozen noble families that will be wiped out!"
Everyone's faces fell, as "being wiped out" was definitely the most terrible consequence. If some noble families were wiped out, then the quality of punishment was very different.
During the period of the Holy Roman Empire, if the emperor wanted to confiscate a fief, it would have been collectively opposed by everyone. But it was different in the Austrian era.
The domestic nobles were not that strong, and there was no situation in which the emperor could do nothing just because several nobles united to fight against him, so Franz dared to play like this.
Even more nobles would be involved as the investigation went on. As long as a member of a noble family participated in the rebellion, all his family would be involved, because there was no other way to make this kind of thing clear.
Of course, if they were smart enough, there was still a way to escape: as long as they could prove their value to Franz before the investigation was completed, Franz could be merciful.
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