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

Chapter 1884 Recruitment Order

Mosley, a once-powerful figure in Bohemia, died a gruesome death, though the military police were somewhat used to it.

In fact, because the Austrian Empire's army could directly raid the strongholds of gangs and families, it was easy for them to obtain intelligence about their members.

With Franz's full support, Baron Eisenheim issued nearly 10,000 arrest warrants in one go, with bounties ranging from 100 to 50,000 florins.

This greatly stimulated the people's spirit of resistance, and Bohemia's more than ten million people were directly turned into more than ten million mobile surveillance cameras.

No matter where the villains are hiding, they cannot escape. The public may not know who is on the wanted list, but they know better than anyone who the gangsters are and who the big bad guys are.

Franz understood that he needed to mobilize the silent majority to deliver a fatal blow to these local bullies.

A swift and decisive victory over the rebels demonstrates strength, a full-scale raid showcases resolve, and a public trial, investigation, and disclosure of crimes define the nature of the operation. This approach can indeed awaken many people and gain initial public trust.

But that's not enough. To mobilize more people, the issue must be relevant to them. The world is driven by profit, and nothing mobilizes the masses more effectively than tangible benefits.

At the same time, with severe punishment for those who cover up wrongdoing, the people will have only one way out.

Franz did this in order to reshape the image of the imperial government, rebuild trust between the state and the people, and restore public confidence in the country.

If this were done in another country and by someone else, it could be very troublesome, and the whole process could take anywhere from several years to several decades.

But Franz only needed seven days; his cold refusal turned into active cooperation, and the rebels naturally had nowhere to escape.

This kind of authority is very satisfying to use occasionally, and it will continue to be satisfying if used repeatedly, but it creates path dependence and will backfire at some specific moment.

The economic system was also largely rebuilt, since state-owned enterprises were the mainstay of the Austrian Empire's economy.

As long as the overall framework remains intact, nothing else will be difficult to handle.

However, the problems in the administrative system are much more complex, involving too many aspects and leading to internal chaos.

Fortunately, Franz and the Austrian Empire's army had enough deterrent power, and the opposition was almost wiped out.

Thanks to the cooperation of Prince Esterházy and his loyalists, no major chaos ensued.

The problem is quite simple: there is simply not enough officials and police. Prince Schwarzenberg and the new Minister of the Interior, Count István Széchenyi, had already temporarily transferred 3,000 officials and police from across the country and promoted about 1,000 candidates to support Bohemia.

However, these four thousand people scattered throughout Bohemia were far too insignificant, but this was the limit that the Austrian central government could do.

Vienna had just been subjected to a major sweep, and they simply couldn't spare any manpower.

Moreover, the original plan was to deal with only the city of Prague, and even just its police and prison systems.

Franz knew better than anyone the current state of the Austrian Empire and the true nature of those local nobles. It was inevitable that pulling out one radish would bring out the rest of the mud, which is why he wanted to start from the outermost and most obvious places.

But a rebellion completely disrupted this rhythm, expanding the target directly from Prague to the whole of Bohemia.

Things had reached a point where a peaceful resolution was impossible, so Franz decided to go all the way.

However, at this point, Vienna's top officials were in a state of panic, like ants on a hot pan. For the country, if the situation could not be stabilized, it would be better not to investigate at all.

If an investigation is conducted and the situation cannot be stabilized, it will result in a pure loss. After all, if the investigation is not conducted and the status quo is maintained, Bohemia will remain the third largest source of tax revenue for the Austrian Empire, contributing a considerable amount of income every year.

At the same time, Bohemia was the second largest source of soldiers for the Austrian Empire, and it enjoyed a prestigious position within the empire. Investigating it could easily destabilize the empire.

The instability here mainly refers to the nobility, one of Franz's core supporters. Most of the imperial leadership believed that failing to stabilize the situation would be tantamount to shooting themselves in the foot.

It's important to understand that the period of rapid development that the Austrian Empire was experiencing was hard-won, but they seemed to have forgotten how this rapid development came about.

"No need to look so gloomy. The rewards for the loyalists haven't been distributed yet. I guarantee the list will be so long it'll make you want to curse."

The loyalty of those who side with the empire is not entirely based on abstract concepts such as conscience or reason. Idealists and those who can uphold their conscience are certainly admirable, but this world is more often driven by self-interest.

Franz wasn't naive enough to believe that such help was entirely free, especially since he always believed that without rewards, there was no way to encourage good deeds, and without punishment, there was no way to deter wrongdoing. Without clear rewards and punishments, right and wrong would be indistinguishable.

However, Prince Schwarzenberg and Count Széchenyi looked even more distressed.

"Your Majesty, if we relinquish the official position, wouldn't all our efforts have been in vain?"

It is obvious that they see this as a game between Vienna and Prague. They went to great lengths to deal with the old nobles, only to have the local bureaucratic group seize power. Wouldn't that be like working for someone else?
"Of course it's not a wasted effort. Do you think they can take over the whole of Bohemia? Do they dare to take over the whole of Bohemia?"
Given the current situation, the fact that they can assemble a thousand people with clean backgrounds and unwavering loyalty shows they have considerable resources.

Prince Schwarzenberg and Count Széchenyi naturally understood what Franz meant. Under such severe suppression, sending incompetent, corrupt, and wavering family members to serve as officials would not only fail to expand the family's interests, but might also hand over their secrets to the emperor.

Those guys are smart; they'll be very careful in choosing who to hire. Otherwise, they'd rather forgo such an advantage.
However, another problem arose. A thousand people might be barely enough for a city, but it was far too few for the entire shortage in Bohemia.

Count Séchenyi, as Minister of the Interior, began to speak.

"Your Majesty, a thousand men are not enough. The actual shortage in the Bohemian region is more than twenty thousand."

We need at least another 10,000 men to maintain basic stability in Bohemia; it's impossible for all the elites temporarily drawn from across the country to remain in Bohemia.

In reality, Bohemia did not have so many officials in history, but Franz expanded the bureaucracy several times in order to strengthen the administrative power of the imperial government, increasing its overall size nearly tenfold.

This is also a major reason why the Austrian Empire was always short of officials. In addition, being an official in the Austrian Empire at this time was actually a high-risk profession.

In terms of mortality rate alone, it was even higher than that of painters and miners. If you include the officials who were demoted, disciplined, or dismissed, it was even higher than the casualty rate of the Austrian army during the war.

"I'm asking you, what kind of officials do we need?"

Count Séchenyi answered Franz’s question truthfully.

"Speaks Mandarin, is a university graduate, and has basic legal knowledge."

"Are you so fixated on your own little corner of the country? We don't have enough university graduates, but there are plenty of unemployed young people like this in the German Confederation!"

Franz was telling the truth; at that time, there were large numbers of unemployed youths and aspiring officials in various states of the German Confederation.

This is one of the important reasons why the 1848 incident was so serious, however, Count Széchenyi and Prince Schwarzenberg exchanged glances and said.

“Your Majesty, we have been following your instructions all these years, and it has indeed been very effective, but this year’s people have already been distributed.”

"Even if we did it again, it wouldn't be enough." This wasn't the first time the Austrian Empire had tried to undermine the German Confederation. However, being an official in the Austrian Empire was no easy task, as everyone in the Confederation knew.

Aside from its initial few years of popularity, it has since calmed down and is now merely a last resort.

"Can't you be a little more flexible? Relax the requirements, increase the benefits, just get the person over here first."

Keep the ones that work, and figure out a way to deal with the ones that don't.

Count Séchenyi and Prince Schwarzenberg both looked at Franz with some confusion.

In reality, the Austrian Empire had already set very low requirements for people from the German Confederation, and their treatment was exceptional; at least on the surface, it was the country with the highest official treatment within the entire Confederation.

"Your Majesty, we are already treating our officials very well."

"That's what Count Séchenyi said."

Prince Schwarzenberg then added to the list.

"The situation in Bohemia is quite dangerous now, and officials from other states are also afraid it won't last long."

Franz nodded; it was normal for people from other states to have some doubts.

"Issuing a recruitment order: Bohemia is currently in a special period, and those who are willing to be loyal to the Empire and serve the Empire will be considered regardless of their background or past."

Anyone who passes the exam will receive a settlement allowance of 100 florins, and after a full year of service and passing the assessment, they will receive an additional 300 florins.

There are a total of 30,000 places available, and recruitment will close once all places are filled.

One hundred florins was not a small amount at that time; it was enough to sustain an average family for six months.

"That alone will increase our expenditure by twelve million florins per year."

Franz, however, didn't seem to care much.

"Is there any better way now? We should feel fortunate that we can buy peace with money."

He couldn't help but think of those bastards in Bohemia again; Franz really hadn't expected those guys to use the army.

If it were just an ordinary rebellion, the Austrian Empire might not have made such a big fuss, but the problem is that it involves the military, so Franz couldn't just turn a blind eye.

Franz wasn't too bothered by using money to settle the matter; in fact, he had originally planned to give out more.

However, given the internal conflicts within the Austrian Empire, Franz could not do this, otherwise officials from other regions would certainly be envious and create new trouble.

Count Séchenyi then raised a question.

"Your Majesty, we have a shortage of 20,000 men in Bohemia, so why are we recruiting 30,000? What should we do with the extra 10,000 men?"

This question sounds incredibly stupid. Shouldn't it be the Home Secretary's job to handle personnel matters?
The problem is that when the numbers get big enough, even the smallest problem can become a huge problem.

The appointment, dismissal, and whereabouts of more than 10,000 officials are beyond the authority of even Prince Schwarzenberg, the Prime Minister, let alone him.

Only one person in the entire Austrian Empire could make this decision, and that was Emperor Franz.

"Don't rush to send people out. Keep 10,000 as reserves. After all, we don't know if this is the last trouble of the year."

But don't let them sit idle; let them observe and learn. We don't need a bunch of Muggles who can't get started.

At this time, Franz had another plan: instead of training civil servants from other countries in the Confederation, he would rather use those from other countries directly.

Apart from Sachs, Luxembourg, and Prussia, civil servants in most countries of the German Confederation did not receive very good treatment.

One very counterintuitive thing is that Bavaria, which is known as the poorest country in the entire Confederation, has the best civil servants in the entire Confederation, and the hidden benefits are even more amazing.

Apart from the four countries mentioned above, the annual salary of low-ranking civil servants in other confederate states was mostly no more than 250 florins, which was incomparable to the salary offered by the Austrian Empire.

Even a village teacher in the Austrian Empire could earn two hundred florins a year, though the pay and status of a village teacher were much lower than those of an official.

Sending reserve officials to serve as rural teachers was an early practice in Austria; now, there are practically no rural teachers with official positions.

In fact, the situation at this time was completely contrary to Franz's original intention, which was that the candidates for official positions could serve as both rural teachers and village officials at the same time.

However, when Franz raised his treatment to a certain level, he inadvertently created a new market.

Soon, cheaper alternatives to alternate officials and college students emerged, and these people were not only cheaper but also more professional.

Loyalty? They can be very loyal.

Thus, a new profession, "secondary civil servant," was born in the Austrian Empire.

They were educated but had little background, and had a firm belief in the empire. Many were willing to go through fire and water for the empire and the emperor just for a chance to get ahead or a secure job.

These people, along with the church, became an important force for the imperial government in controlling rural areas.

They were one of Franz's trump cards; if the outsiders in the German Confederation couldn't handle the job, then it was time for them to step in.

However, Franz would not use these people unless absolutely necessary, as they were a double-edged sword that could both harm the enemy and himself.

In short, Franz summed up the shortage of officials in two sentences.

"A generous reward will surely attract brave men."

"All industries in the world are short of people, but those who seek official positions and pursue profit are endless."

As Franz had predicted, the Austrian Empire's recruitment notice quickly made headlines around the world. Some were envious, some were jealous, and some mocked Austria for using money and benefits to corrupt ambitious young people.
However, many people took direct action, since most people cannot resist the dual temptations of power and money.

The few who can refuse these two things will not refuse an opportunity to change the world. The Austrian Empire has recently caused quite a stir, and many people want to know what exactly happened there, whether it is a revolution or a farce.
The 30,000 places were quickly filled, with some people who were originally civil servants in other countries moving to Bohemia with their families after passing the assessment.

At this time, the proportion of Czechs in Bohemia was declining rapidly. In Prague alone, the proportion of Czechs was less than 10%, and even showed a negative growth compared to twenty years ago.