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

Chapter 1822, "Franz's Seal"

In recent years, under Franz's reforms, the bureaucracy has expanded nearly fivefold, but what used to require three stamps to do something has now become twenty.

What used to take two hours to accomplish now could easily take a month or two. Mr. Severus had been waiting eight years to inherit the estate of his father, who had died in the war.

His will was not recognized until Mr. Severus paid a bribe of 150 florins to a certain manager.

Of course, the Austrian Empire's oversight agencies were quite powerful, so in addition to the money given to the supervisors, officials at all levels had to be bribed, and in the blink of an eye, hundreds of florins were spent.

The Austrian Empire’s massive bureaucracy was remarkably inefficient, but the bureaucrats piled up their documents high in the air to appear hardworking.

However, the bureaucrats don't want to solve the problem; they just want to pile up documents. The most direct evidence of this is that files that have been piling up for years can often be seen on their desks.

In order to pay tribute to their industrious emperor, various departments of the Austrian Empire required all officials to maintain a two-hour dedication period.

Furthermore, the arrogance of some officials in the Austrian Empire was extremely alarming; they would use their power to do everything in their power to make things difficult for others.

In the writings of those authors, Austrian officials often directly characterized public questioning as obstruction of official business, and then labeled them as British or French spies or Hungarian traitors.

(The above inspiration comes from the Austrian operetta "Franz's Seal" from the 1860s.)

Prior to the Austro-Prussian War, a kind of cult of stamps permeated the entire Austrian Empire.

Kafka later wrote specifically about his experience working in a bureaucracy, endlessly stamping documents like a machine.
In fact, these playwrights exaggerated a bit. After Franz's repeated reorganizations, the Austrian Empire's bureaucracy was far more efficient than that of other countries at the same time in history.

Putting aside other factors, the administrative efficiency of the Austrian Empire's bureaucracy had more than doubled since 1845.

Of course, this only refers to the local level. If we look at the whole of Austria, the efficiency has increased more than tenfold.

The main reason was that trains and telegraphs shortened the time and space distance between the capital and the local areas.

As for why five times the manpower only increased efficiency by one time?

The algorithm for administrative efficiency is quite complex, and the Austrian Empire was dealing with different issues now than it had in 1845.

Overall, the problems are more numerous and complex, and there are also issues related to anti-corruption, for which the Austrian Empire has already taken many measures.

In particular, the existence of a whistleblower mechanism made it unlikely that blatant bribery would occur in the Austrian Empire, especially in Vienna.

The Austrian Empire itself implemented a multi-track system of oversight, and even had a department specifically responsible for oversight and inspection.

Furthermore, with Franz paving the way for public whistleblowing, it will be much harder for corrupt officials to cause trouble as they have in the past.

Moreover, Franz himself had a deep understanding of this mess, so it wouldn't be easy for them to deceive him.

As for those official documents that have been sitting on the desk for decades, that's even less likely, since under Franz's rule, all official documents had a time limit.

Besides preventing document backlog, Franz's main concern was preventing some people from wielding absolute power.

Of course, if this person could control all departments and officials of the Austrian Empire, then Franz's move would be of little use.

But if it really comes to that, then Emperor Franz will have no reason to exist.

That being said, there will always be some rotten apples and rotten apples in any era, and in such cases, he can only conduct a specific investigation.

The only thing that puzzled Franz was the increasing number of questions Zhang was asking, so he specifically sought out Count Giovanni Battista, the Minister of the Interior.

Count Giovanni Battista's response was:
"This is a view put forward by Alexander Bach in his book 'Big Government': we must suppress separatism and anarchism."

Moreover, doing so can increase government revenue.

In reality, imperial governments are unlikely to call themselves autocratic or despotic; they usually refer to themselves as paternalistic states.

Historically, Alexander Bach's actions have been called neo-absolutism, mainly in response to the increasingly serious internal divisions and dire economic situation of the Austrian Empire (in order to make money).

However, Franz did not actually need these actions at this time. It is not that there was no internal division within the Austrian Empire, but that the crisis at this time was far weaker than that of Austria in history.

The Hungarians, and their supporters, were now finding it difficult to threaten Franz's rule.

The British had repeatedly brought up Kossuth, and the Austrian government had openly fished him out; those so-called Hungarian nationalists had already been thoroughly harassed.

Even if Kossuth were to actually come back to life and stand before them, they would still have to think twice about whether they wanted to accompany him on another journey.

In reality, most Hungarians have little feeling about the so-called Hungarian nation, and the influence of nationalism is far less strong than imagined.

Coupled with the previous series of bloody battles and famine, the enthusiasm of the Hungarians had long been exhausted by their national elites.

At this point, Hungarians were no longer interested in the grand narrative of the Hungarian nation and state.

In war, they could only be used as cannon fodder, while the nobles could either escape or beg for mercy.

More than 90% of the consequences of the war with the Austrian Empire were borne by ordinary Hungarians, who were sent to their deaths to steal food from the elderly, women, and children, and then used that food to control them.

The actions of the Kosut government make it difficult for ordinary people to associate them with good people, or even with humanity.

The Austrian Empire's propaganda machine was no pushover either. Years of relentless propaganda, coupled with solid evidence and the Church's encouragement, had the Hungarians practically launched a crusade for redemption.

Furthermore, the Austrian Empire's purge of Hungarians was very thorough; all crimes committed during the war had to be punished, and their families were not entitled to any of the benefits they had gained during Kossuth's rule.

After several censuses, the number of Hungarians registered in the Austrian Empire had dwindled to less than one million.

Of course, this also earned Franz a bad reputation, which playwrights often mock.

"Faced with the Hungarian question, our great emperor employed his extraordinary wisdom."

Since the Hungarian question cannot be resolved, wouldn't there be no Hungarian question if there were no Hungarians?

Before the war, there were more than seven million Hungarians in the Austrian Empire, but in less than ten years their numbers had dwindled to less than a million.

Most importantly, these figures were jointly released by the government and the church, so playwrights will naturally use them to fuel their imaginations.

In their writings, Franz is practically synonymous with cruelty and bloodthirst. However, most playwrights also acknowledged Franz's contributions.

"At least His Majesty the Emperor protected our civilization and saved us from a Mongol-style massacre."

At the time, the most brutal massacre that Europeans could imagine was the Mongol conquest of the west. After all, the Mongol army wiped out millions of people in Europe in just six years, which was still shocking for a country with only tens of millions of people.

Hungary was the hardest hit area at the time, with more than 50% of its personnel lost in a single incident.

In fact, Europeans were the biggest purists about the Mongols. Marco Polo's Travels and other contemporary writers and artists portrayed Mongolia as a paradise on earth, overflowing with gold and fine wine. As for the massacres in Eastern Europe, they preferred to call it efficient.

Until the seventeenth century, when Polish winged hussars repeatedly defeated superior nomadic cavalry in direct combat, Tatar cavalry were considered invincible in Europe.

In all honesty, the number of Hungarian soldiers killed during the Austrian Civil War did not exceed 40.

The Austrian army's statistics only show 35. Which general wouldn't want to report more battle achievements?
However, Hungary did suffer heavy losses in the civil war, with so many deaths that even coffin shops were emptied.

War, famine, plague, inter-ethnic feuds, and internal power struggles have killed many people during the civil war.

After the civil war ended, Franz did not fully pardon the prisoners of war; in fact, he carried out several purges and fishing expeditions.

The main reason for the rapid decline in the Hungarian population was that the Austrian Empire still offered opportunities for ethnic conversion.

Besides Hungary, other ethnic groups and individuals who emerged during the civil war were also severely defeated by Franz, and even the French-speaking population in Alsace-Lorraine began to speak German.

Furthermore, since the Austrian Empire was consistently the victor in the war, its domestic situation was actually quite stable.

As for the economy, the Austrian Empire was in much better shape at this time than it had historically been. It had even transformed from a debtor nation into a creditor nation, and its domestic economy was booming, making it completely unnecessary to rely on the stamp duty to supplement its economy.

"Count Batista, do you usually watch operettas?"

Count Batista shook his head, but Franz didn't expect him to answer.

"Eliminate as many useless stamps and procedures as possible, and shorten the processing time. Otherwise, you'll see your image put on the stage sooner or later."

I'm not exaggerating; after all, you're in charge of something that directly affects their livelihoods.

Moreover, fewer stamps and simplified procedures also benefit officials; at least they won't have to work overtime anymore.

Count Giovanni Battista quickly explained.

"Your Majesty, they volunteered; everyone signed the necessary documents."

It was obvious that he had prepared in advance; the existence of the voluntary application form could completely silence most people.

But this didn't include Franz, who was all too familiar with the system. However, Franz hadn't expected that the Austrian workers wouldn't benefit from it, but rather the bureaucratic class would get there first.

“Count Batista, you are the Minister of the Interior. If you just have a thought, or even say it, someone will do it for you.”

Would those low-ranking officials dare not sign?

Count Batista understood his situation; he could neither deceive nor oppose the emperor before him.

Count Batista immediately changed his tune.

"Your Majesty, you are right, I will do it immediately. Do you have any other instructions?"

"Now that our enemy has weakened, we can focus more on efficiency."

"clear."

Count Batista also felt that the domestic unrest had subsided considerably, but as the Minister of the Interior, stability and security were his top priorities.

After all, stability is the foundation of everything, especially for the Austrian Empire, which had just experienced a civil war.

However, the Austrian Empire was a monarchy, and Franz was a rather strong and visionary monarch, so Count Battista, as the Minister of the Interior, naturally would not refuse the order.

But out of a sense of duty, he still offered his reminder.

"Your Majesty, focusing too much on efficiency may weaken the country's control over its people and local areas. Traitors within the country have not been completely eliminated, and a lenient environment may create even more traitors."

Moreover, it could potentially disrupt certain fragile balances, possibly inciting more conflict and insurgents.

The Austrian Empire was indeed bound together by countless compromises and concessions, but this structure was outdated and it was time for a change.

Without the civil war of 1848, Franz couldn't have done much. After all, the various factions were deeply intertwined, and the entire Austrian Empire was like an old, poorly cobbled-together machine, barely functioning.

Any slight change could lead to a large-scale systemic collapse. Even the most correct decision needs a stable implementation environment; otherwise, it's all just castles in the air.

"Thank you for the reminder, but with me here, this country won't descend into chaos."

Franz dared to say such things because he had the confidence to do so; the victories the Austrian Empire had won over the years were not for nothing.

At this point, both internally and externally, the Austrian Empire's enemies were on their last legs. Moreover, Franz also had the strength to exact the most ferocious revenge on any enemy who dared to invade.

Within the Austrian Empire, there wasn't even a single well-known opposition leader; all that remained were a bunch of rats who only dared to hide in the shadows.

As for the ghost of Kossuth, even the British hadn't released him to annoy Franz for a while.

Furthermore, Franz maintained considerable control over the country, and his reforms were largely effective.

Franz played a very strong role in politics, economics, military affairs, culture, religion, and even the realm of thought.

Franz did not mention the issues of corruption and abuse of power, firstly because fighting corruption is the responsibility of the Minister of the Interior.

Secondly, making the Ministry of the Interior conduct a self-inspection is tantamount to punishing itself three times over. It's better not to say such things, as it's easily taken as tacit approval.

Such explicit self-examinations often fail to uncover any real issues and may even become a weapon in the hands of others to target those who refuse to compromise their principles.

Therefore, professional matters should be left to professionals. Of course, Franz wouldn't interfere too much in the affairs of the Ministry of the Interior; he needed to deal with the typical scoundrels.

After years of development, the Austrian Empire was no longer as lacking in officials as it was at the beginning of Franz's reign.

Although the number is still small overall, it's no longer the time to force things. Franz felt it necessary to weed out some of the slackers and lazybones.

The difficulty in this kind of situation isn't how to handle it, but how to correctly identify the person.

The only way to solve this problem is through whistleblowing and multi-level, multi-party supervision. Otherwise, it may result in the wrongful execution of innocent people or have no effect whatsoever. It may even encourage bureaucracy, just like the factionalism and mutual protection in ancient dynasties.

Abuse of power is actually easier to detect at this time, since such behavior is easier to leave evidence of.

Overall, Franz's governance was quite effective. Whether compared horizontally with other European countries or vertically with the Austrian Empire itself, the Austrian government reached an unprecedented level of clarity. Those playwrights really went too far.

(End of this chapter)