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

Chapter 1825 Substitution
Franz wiped his hands and casually gave the order.

"Clean up."

The surrounding guards immediately began to move.

Personally, Franz was not afraid of powerful ministers. On the contrary, he hoped that someone could help him share some of the pressure, since a person's energy is limited and problems are everywhere.

However, a powerful minister cannot be both wicked and stupid, especially a self-righteous guy like Kurt.

Of course, if he didn't even think about becoming a powerful minister, then he would be even more pathetic.

Kurt's claims are quite deceptive and exploit human weaknesses, as well as the common trait of most Western rulers before the nineteenth century—wanting to have your cake and eat it too.

If Kurt had been facing Caesar or Napoleon, he would have been 100% given important responsibilities, and even relied upon as a pillar of the state.

After all, they are usurpers; they need the support of the bureaucratic group and they need to reach a reconciliation with the existing vested interest groups.

But Franz was different; his rule was based on the people and tradition.

Franz had no need to worry about the legitimacy of his rule; the Habsburg family's centuries of effort had not been in vain.

The inertia of history made it easy for Franz to accomplish Napoleonic feats.

The requirement that one must gain the approval of officials from all sides to become emperor is essentially a remnant of the Holy Roman Empire. An emperor must have the support of candidates to ascend to the throne and maintain it.

But let's not forget who personally ended the Holy Roman Empire; even Franz's grandfather was too lazy to continue that boring game.

Moreover, at this time, there was no power like the candidate marquis within the Austrian Empire, and even Hungary had been destroyed in the previous civil war.

Franz had also dismantled most of the local powers that had been entrenched throughout Austria, and the country was now in an unprecedented state of unification.

As a result, some people felt that certain niches had become vacant, and they thought they could give it a try.

Unfortunately, Franz was in power at the time, and no one could reverse his course.

As for Kurt's nonsense about handing over all the money, Franz didn't believe it at all.

However, some things are better resolved internally, so he immediately summoned Prince Schwarzenberg, who had recommended Kurt.

Although Kurt was a man of Count Giovanni Battista, the Minister of the Interior, his recommender was Prince Schwarzenberg, so he had to take full responsibility.

Upon hearing Kurt's story, Prince Schwarzenberg's expression turned extremely grim; he hadn't expected things to turn out this way.

After all, in Prince Schwarzenberg's eyes, Kurt was truly a genius, and he had heard those insightful views that had really enlightened him.

Although it didn't fit the style of the Austrian Empire, it became more and more useful the more it was used, especially in many foreign affairs.

Of course, although Prince Schwarzenberg was the prime minister, he dared not do such a thing, since Franz disliked these things and Prince Schwarzenberg looked down on those bribes.

What's the deal with Kurt's money?

Franz's casual remark instantly made Prince Schwarzenberg feel as if his heart had been gripped tightly, and he was about to have a heart attack.

“Your Majesty, Kurt did indeed donate a large sum of money to the Ministry of the Interior on behalf of the police system.”

The exact destination of this money needs to be asked of Count Batista, but Count Batista did indeed distribute several sums of money to all officials in your name.

This money is still in my office; I haven't used a single penny!"

Prince Schwarzenberg's tone became unconsciously excited, which further confirmed Franz's judgment.

What he called "sharing the nation's burdens" was nothing more than a huge bribe.

It's quite a scheme to bypass Franz and provide benefits to officials while also holding their secrets.

However, the problem lies with Count Batista of the Ministry of the Interior. After all, without a truly powerful figure backing him up, a mere police chief is simply not enough.

Count Batista himself had some neoliberal tendencies, but Franz heard that he had to be hospitalized several times due to overwork.

Even on his sickbed, the newly appointed Minister of the Interior spared no effort in helping Franz clean up the mess left by the civil war.

Furthermore, the Austrian Empire's internal affairs did indeed become more transparent after the war, and Franz's plans were proceeding in an orderly manner, with many indicators even far exceeding expectations.

In particular, it achieved remarkable results in railways, telegraphs, and urban infrastructure, and the Austrian Empire's economy and fiscal revenue maintained super-fast growth at the same time.

It is important to understand that it is dozens or even hundreds of times more difficult for a large empire to maintain high-speed growth than for a small country.

After all, their size is what it is, and large countries often have a first-mover advantage, meaning that the industry already exists, making it naturally more difficult to achieve growth.

It is no easy feat to maintain infrastructure development in line with rapid economic growth over a long period of time, which earned Franz some respect for it.

Out of this respect, Franz was exceptionally lenient with him, but it seems he was wrong.

Even a pig can take off if it stands in the right place at the right time, as long as the wind is strong enough.

Even if such a person works himself to death, he cannot save face for the Ministry of the Interior; instead, he will drag the entire Austrian Empire down into the abyss.

It seems we have to replace them.

In fact, Franz already had someone in mind, but this person's identity was too sensitive and might attract a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Count István Széchenyi, though he was the one who opened the Pandora's box of civil war, was actually an anti-war activist who had been trying his best to stop the war.

During the war, Count Séchenyi did not flirt with the rebels; instead, he firmly stood on the side of the Austrian Empire from the very beginning when they tried to win him over.

After the war, Franz reciprocated by appointing him as mayor of Vienna. Count Széchenyi distinguished himself during his tenure as mayor of Vienna, consistently striving to fulfill the tasks entrusted to him by Franz.

Count Séchenyi played a crucial role in Vienna's rise to become a world-class city. Moreover, compared to Count Battista, Count Séchenyi was more honest and upright, and there were not many negative rumors about him.

Franz also wanted to send a signal that he did not judge people based on their ethnicity. Whether Hungarian or Italian, as long as they were capable and loyal, they would be given important positions.

Franz originally wanted Séchenyi to succeed Baron Brooke, since Séchenyi was also an economist.

However, with the Ministry of the Interior's scandal, he had no choice but to take the plunge.

When Count Batista arrived at Franz's office, he offered many explanations, but Franz was not interested in hearing why he had tolerated so many mistakes made by his subordinates.

It can only be said that this era and this country are not suitable for neoliberalism. Franz's plan cannot tolerate these unstable factors; he needs to have sufficient control over the entire country.

"Alright. I understand. Since Kurt is your subordinate, you can handle the cleanup."

I think a fund should be established to atone for the crimes Kurt committed.

"I'll leave this matter to you for now."

Upon hearing this, Count Batista breathed a sigh of relief. He felt that Franz had merely raised the issue high and then lowered it gently. However, the punishment for Kurt was far too harsh, not even giving him a chance to defend himself.

Of course, Kurt's death was a good thing for everyone, since if His Majesty the Emperor had kept pressing the matter, it would have implicated a very wide range of people.

Thanks to the efforts of Home Secretary Count Giovanni Batista, the investigation into the Kurt bribery case was quickly completed, involving a staggering 1.7 million florins.

A subsequent investigation into Kurt's personal assets revealed that his illicit businesses were worth over 200 million florins.

This is what he meant by being incorruptible and loyal.

Franz had long anticipated this outcome; it was truly saddening that the company had grown to this scale in less than ten years.

Kurt's accumulation over the past decade has almost caught up with one-seventh of the Austrian Empire's annual fiscal revenue.

Of course, this is still far inferior to Heshen and other high-ranking officials in the Qing Dynasty.

Count Giovanni Battista did not escape his fate; after completing his pursuit of Kurt's property, he was imprisoned.

Count Batista will face seventeen major charges, including dereliction of duty, embezzlement of state property, abuse of power, harboring criminals, and treason.

Count Széchenyi was appointed as the new Minister of the Interior of the Austrian Empire, while Baron Johann Kempen von Fechtenstad was appointed as the Chief of Police.

In fact, the position of police chief was originally held by Baron Johann Kempen von Fechtenstad.

However, he was a staunch advocate of severe punishment, which contradicted Franz's ideas. At least at the time, Franz felt that harsh punishments should not be continued after the war, which is why he appointed Kurt, a young man who advocated the rule of law and rationality.

There is much controversy surrounding Baron Johann Kempen von Fechtenstad.

Although during the war, Franz would have the army maintain order at relief points and even shoot those who deliberately looted.

However, there was no fighting at the relief point where John Cimpon was stationed; order was restored in the area he was responsible for in a very short time.

John Campion once ordered two teenagers to cut in line in a relief queue to be hanged.

At this moment, the young couple's parents stepped forward and pleaded desperately. In fact, seeing such a scene, most people would likely choose to waive the death penalty and instead impose a punishment.

Even the sadistic priest in Berserk only had his parents take care of him, but John Campion hanged the entire family.

His reasoning afterwards was that while the two children deserved to die for cutting in line, the parents did not stop or lecture their children when they were taking advantage of the situation, but instead pleaded for leniency when they were caught. This was condoning crime and they deserved to die even more.

There are many more examples like this; John Cimpon always managed to find a reason to execute someone.

Of course, that was only during wartime. In peacetime, he would exile people to colonies or put them into mines or road construction teams, since human resources were also very valuable.

Overall, John Campion was overly enthusiastic about grievances, but he was a devout Christian.

John Copenhagen's unwavering faith in God led him to believe that ordinary people had no right to forgive criminals; only God had that authority.

The police are God's apostles, and their mission is to send criminals to meet God.

In fact, John Campion was quite loyal, morally upright, and did not engage in corruption, possess large sums of money, have no lovers, have no extramarital affairs, do not smoke or drink, and was a vegetarian who did not even swear.

My holidays are spent praying in church with my family, and my only hobby is listening to classical music.

This would have been almost impossible for police officers in the 19th century, and such people would certainly be extremely difficult to get along with.

Historically, the first to be held accountable after the defeat of the Austrian Empire were not the defeated generals, nor even Franz Joseph himself, but this police chief.

Franz had previously kept John Kempon in the military police and even sent him to the eastern part of the empire to deal with the newly conquered territories.

Especially in the Albanian and Western Bosnian regions, the New Human Republic, which was created by a bunch of trash, still haunts Franz to this day.

(For details, see Chapter 19, Annoyance, in Volume 14, Peaceful Times)
To prevent similar incidents from happening again, Franz assigned them the strictest military police captain.

John Copenhagen lived up to expectations, and the newly conquered eastern frontier regions have become relatively stable in recent years.

Regions like Wallachia and Moldavia, which have relatively good conditions, no longer need national financial subsidies for construction and can even provide funds for national development.

However, Franz did not do that. He was not in a hurry to withdraw the funds. On the contrary, he believed that only by injecting more funds into the new territories could the people feel real change.

At this time, the two principalities of the Danube were enjoying unprecedented peace and prosperity, which even made many locals feel unreal.

Public opinion about the Falcon of Bucharest has also undergone a dramatic reversal; no one would now call her the witch who brought the Austrians there.

Locals call her the saint or the liberator, but Anna Ipatis prefers the title of her former outlaw.

In fact, Anna Ipatis was also incredulous about the changes in the two principalities over the years, especially in Wallachia; she had never known her homeland could be so beautiful.

Of course, it was precisely because of this sense of unreality that Anna Ipatis became increasingly devoted to Franz.

She didn't know if she was the saint who would liberate this land, but she was certain that Franz was the chosen one.

In fact, the two principalities along the Danube River were already wealthy lands. If the roads and waterways were repaired and the tax rate was lowered to a relatively low level, the people would immediately become extremely rich.

The poverty of the two Danube principalities was largely caused by the Ottomans. The Ottomans were not unaware of the wealth of the two regions; on the contrary, they were well aware of the potential of the two principalities.

This is why the Ottomans continuously plundered the two principalities, exploiting them to the point of exhaustion, in order to prevent their rise to power.

Similar to the situation in Ireland, the grain, cattle, sheep, and horses produced by the two principalities could not be sold freely; they could only be sold to the Ottomans at prices several times lower than the market price.

In addition, the local nobles and church were also corrupt. They united to control almost all the land and, with the backing of the government and religion, their power was virtually unlimited.

Although the right of first night has long been abolished by law, the nobles and priests of these two duchies could still rape the wives and daughters of commoners anytime, anywhere.

There is a saying that perfectly describes the despair of the people of the two duchies at that time:

"They are police officers, judges, and even God is on their side."

We have nothing, we are worthless.

In terms of food, the farmers would be given only slightly less grain than their rations. This was to ensure the people's obedience and to encourage them to produce more grain, since the nobles and priests believed that if the farmers were well-fed, they would become lazy.

Industry and commerce were virtually nonexistent, and Roman-era technology remained in use until the 19th century. Franz didn't know whether to say the Romans were incredibly brilliant or the local rulers were utterly incompetent.

When the Austrian Empire's army entered the two duchies and began to purge the local nobles and churches, only a small number of people, unaware of the truth, chose to be buried alive with them.

Of course, they were not very willing to accept the land allocated by the Austrian Empire, but they were quite willing to become serfs for landlords.

To prevent those gentlemen from making a comeback, Franz simply established a royal estate, maintaining the model they were most familiar with, but with entirely new allocation and farming methods.

Loyalty will naturally arise when they discover they have more food than they can eat.