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

Chapter 1916 The Knights of Malta

However, they saw something different in the Austrian Empire, where the number of corrupt officials was significantly less and the efforts to control them were unprecedented.

The economic order is more rational and fair, and the culture and thought are also flourishing with diverse ideas and a hundred schools of thought contending, where decadent music coexists with grand and majestic music and heroic and tragic songs.

Some consider Franz to be the philosopher-king of Plato's ideal state, while others call him the number one tyrant of all time, both ancient and modern.

They didn't know who was right and who was wrong; they only knew that they were living a pretty good life, almost like living in paradise compared to the lives of the Piedmontese.

Approaching the issue from a religious perspective is something Piedmontese people can hardly resist, since most ordinary people consider themselves devout believers and are also intimidated by such authority.

Furthermore, the French dared not take advantage of the religious guise to launch an attack, knowing that Napoleon III's rule was not stable and that he had paid a considerable price to gain the church's endorsement.

Those concessions allowed the Church to regain some of its influence in France, especially at the grassroots level where its power became more deeply entrenched.

In fact, the French Church never trusted the Napoleonic government. After all, the French Church could not easily forget what the Napoleonic government had done to the Church, so it had always been wary of the Napoleonic government.

In addition to the success of the Austrian Imperial Church and the change in the attitude of the Roman Catholic Church, the French Church was actually very close to Austria and the Habsburg royal family.

The French Church even secretly developed some societies so that they could be used in critical moments.

As long as the Napoleonic government has any plans to harm the Church, the French Church will not sit idly by.

If the French government were to openly oppose religious aid at this time, it would likely provoke discontent from the Church.

If this leads to war, the Church is likely to directly oppose the French government, triggering large-scale unrest.

As long as the French do not object, the opposition of other countries is actually irrelevant at this time.

As for the attitude of the Sardinian government, Franz was more than happy that they would be tougher and give the Austrian Empire another chance to deal with them.

In addition to the flags of the Habsburg family and the Papacy, the flag of the Knights of Malta also appeared.

The Knights of Malta are also known as the Knights of St. John, though they are more commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller.

They also have a glorious history, dating back to the 12th-century Jerusalem pilgrim shelters.

After receiving formal recognition from the Pope, these monks, who had initially only sought to heal the sick and save lives, took up arms and crosses.

However, these people seemed to have been destined for their fate from the very beginning. With the fall of Jerusalem, the Knights Hospitaller were forced to evacuate, and their members scattered to Europe, the Middle East, and even Africa.

They then established a foothold in Cyprus before moving to Rhodes Island.

To resist the Ottoman invasion, the Knights Hospitaller used the entire island as a fortress, but after two hundred years of perseverance, they were driven from their homeland by Suleiman's army and forced to wander again.

After eight years of wandering, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V decided to grant the island of Malta to the Knights Hospitaller in exchange for paying the Habsburgs an annual falcon.

What truly made the Knights of Malta famous was the Great Siege of Malta in 1565, when the ambitious Suleiman the Magnificent planned to use Malta as a springboard to attack Europe.

The proud Mustafa Pasha led 40,000 elite troops. He didn't take the 500 knights in front of him seriously at all, and didn't even bother with a symbolic attempt to persuade them to surrender before charging straight into the fray.

Mustafa Pasha can be considered Suleiman's killing machine, Bai Qi. He was victorious in every battle, and after each victory, he would massacre the city. He used love to skin people alive, making his enemies tremble with fear.

Whether the other side surrendered voluntarily or was defeated, he would choose to eliminate any future troubles. Anyone who resisted and was sold into slavery should thank God. His iron hooves trampled across three continents: Europe, Asia, and Africa, but he twisted his ankle in Malta.

Mustafa Pasha's 40,000 elite troops fought for four months against a coalition of 500 Maltese knights, thousands of militia, and mercenaries and volunteers who arrived later. In the end, they chose to retreat before the Habsburg army arrived.

When Mustafa Pasha was forced to retreat, he had less than 10,000 troops left, and his two sons-in-law and four sons had all been killed in battle.

Even Suleiman the Magnificent, known for his cruelty, showed him exceptional leniency, not only refraining from any real punishment but also sparing him his symbolic official position.

Less than 600 of the defending troops survived, and only five members of the six mercenary groups that participated in the defense survived.

However, over the next few centuries, the Knights of Malta gradually degenerated and lost their fighting spirit, and were finally invaded by Napoleon in good faith in 1798.

The Sovereigns of Malta offered only symbolic resistance before surrendering within 48 hours, ultimately becoming a part of Napoleon's glorious record.

(Another account says it took six days, but there's not much difference. The French suffered three casualties, while no one in the Knights died, and the number of wounded is unknown.)
Napoleon wrote in his diary.

"The Knights' creed forbids firing on Christians? That's perfect, we can."

Some books describe Napoleon as viewing the Knights of Malta as a stumbling block, but that overestimates the Knights at the time; in reality, they were more like fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

The Sovereigns of Malta have accumulated over centuries a vast fortune of gold, silver, jewelry, antiques, artworks, and sacred objects.

Napoleon simply did what others wanted to do but dared not do.

On the other hand, the Sovereign Order of Malta was already corrupt and utterly decadent, and it just so happened that it was given a weak and mediocre Grand Master, Matteo Pérez da Arezgio.

He believed Napoleon's words almost without hesitation, thinking that France would offer the Knights a new territory and an annual pension of 600,000 gold francs.

The French Republic would protect the property of the Knights of the Order and provide each knight with an annual pension of 700 francs.
(There is an agreement between the two parties.)
However, Napoleon never intended to fulfill these promises from the beginning. Relatively speaking, the French government was quite generous and provided the Knights with some assistance far below what was promised, but this did not last long.

As a result, a knightly order with a history spanning hundreds of years could only occupy nine acres of land on Via Condotti in Rome.

In fact, the Knights of Malta had already approached Franz when the Austrian Empire conquered the Maltese Islands.

After all, the Habsburg family was one of the biggest supporters of the Sovereign Order of Malta, and even Madame Sophie was one of its main patrons.

Although Franz occasionally indulged in extravagant spending, he felt that most of the money he spent was meaningful.

In fact, Franz wasn't very good at managing his family's extravagant spending, since it was all spent within the empire and would eventually return to him.

However, donating to the Knights really disgusted him, because these people basically don't do anything practical.

In the 19th century, they claimed their mission was to care for the sick and poor, but in reality they only ran a few struggling almshouses and small hospitals.

These almshouses and small hospitals were not directly operated by the Knights Hospitaller, nor were they responsible for providing funding or technical support. In other words, they were more like a collection of rebranded products; some people had resources and manpower, but lacked reputation, so they borrowed the name of the Knights Hospitaller.

However, these franchisees cannot guarantee the purity of their motives, nor do they have sufficient constraints, which naturally leads to frequent scandals.

The so-called Knights Hospitallers are nothing but a gimmick.

Of course, this doesn't prevent some people from genuinely wanting to do charity, but most people are just using the name of the Knights Hospitaller to make money, since the name of a charitable organization can easily lower people's guard.

At the same time, it gives some poor people and seriously ill patients the illusion that someone will genuinely help them, and they are even more willing to go bankrupt for it because they feel that they are worthy of entrusting their lives to them.

However, there's not much to be gained from the poor; in reality, these poor people and seriously ill patients are more like billboards.

The hospital can then initiate a fundraising campaign and then use methods such as matching donations as needed and delayed distribution to appropriate the money for itself.

In particular, the identity of a philanthropic tycoon makes it easier to squeeze into high society circles, since the more prominent a person is, the harder it is for them to say no to charity.

At least it can't be said publicly, otherwise no matter what the reason, it would definitely be labeled as a heartless rich person.

This was a very serious matter in 19th-century Europe outside of Britain.

Even in free America, Rockefeller and other wealthy individuals of his time spent hundreds of millions of dollars and decades promoting new-age theories such as Social Darwinism to reshape American ideology.

However, the money was well spent, because people are still reshaping the Western world with their theories to this day.

However, Europe at that time was not the United States of later years. If such a serious label were attached to them, the powerful figures behind them would immediately distance themselves to avoid getting into trouble.

His lackeys would often demand exorbitant prices, and even lawyers, writers, journalists, and freelance writers who wanted to become famous would target him.

However, becoming a philanthropist can avoid these problems. Regardless of the actual results, you will have the confidence to do it.

Franz called them philanthropic tycoons not just because they only profited from patients and public donations; in fact, these guys even preyed on the state.

The government usually provides subsidies to these public hospitals, and even if there is no direct financial support, they will be given various preferential policies. Some people even use charity as a pretext to acquire land.

In addition, charitable organizations in the 19th century were also powerful accomplices in money laundering and fund transfer.

Franz was well aware of this, and he had always held those high-society figures who used charity as a pretext in high esteem.

However, his past life experiences combined with what he has seen and heard in this life led Franz to make a firm decision to completely ban non-governmental charitable organizations and any non-governmental fundraising activities within the Austrian Empire.

Even in exceptional cases, they must be reported first, then reviewed, and subject to periodic re-inspections. We must treat them like spies.

Did the Knights know nothing about this? Franz didn't believe it, but he still sent people to investigate first.

The results of the investigation were even more surprising to Franz; some people knew everything, while others were completely unaware.

But those who were completely unaware were not clean either; in other words, the entire Knights Order was just a rabble.

They devoted almost all their energy to internal strife, with everyone from top to bottom embezzling so-called funding. Naming rights could even be sold, and most of the proceeds went into their own pockets.

Not only naming rights, but even knighthoods and positions can be purchased. A certificate of pure bloodline costs only £30.

The high-ranking members of the Knights were keen to attend various high-society social events, but they were also happy to go as long as businessmen were willing to pay.

British tycoons viewed them as clowns who could be summoned and dismissed at will, and even used them to humiliate their own aristocracy.

However, the situation was different in France. The bourgeoisie, often seen as nouveau riche, would pay to buy a status from the Knights of the Order as a credential for entering high society in order to shed their stigma.

If they truly intended to use this to accumulate strength for the restoration of their nation, then Franz had to commend them for their forbearance and resilience.

However, Franz couldn't say anything nice when he looked at the ledger full of deficits.

Some say that a war made the Sovereign Order of Malta realize their true mission—"to heal the wounded and save lives"—so they abandoned their swords.

However, throughout the 19th century, the Knights of Malta never relinquished their sovereignty over Malta, and they repeatedly and publicly expressed their desire to restore control over Malta and other territories.

This vague slogan barely kept the organization afloat.

The knights didn't want to put down their swords; they simply couldn't lift them anymore.

In fact, they even honored Tsar Paul I as Grand Master. If anyone cannot understand the absurdity of this, imagine a Catholic knightly order honoring an Orthodox Patriarch as its leader.

But the real absurdity didn't stop there. After the Roman rebels expelled Pope Pius IX in 1848, the Knights of the Order still did not choose to resist or be martyred, but instead chose to compromise.

Comrade Mazzini almost became another Grand Master and patron of the Order.

However, the proposal was vehemently rejected by Mazzini, and the Knights of Rome, instead of feeling embarrassed, settled down comfortably in Rome.

On the surface, they maintained strict neutrality, but in reality, they were exchanging glances. When the Austrian Empire marched on Rome, they suddenly changed their tune and were the first to break down the gates to welcome Franz into the city.

Franz vividly remembers this betrayal at a crucial moment, and he dislikes these guys from the bottom of his heart.

When Filippo di Coloredo, the Grand Master of the Palace of Malta in Rome, learned of the Austrian Empire's conquest of the Great Island of Malta, his breathing became noticeably heavier.

"Read it again! From the beginning!"

The knight's scribe looked helpless; he had read it more than a dozen times that night, as the Grand Master himself was afraid of missing a single word.

"Grand Commander, Malta belongs to us. The Austrian Empire has been our largest source of funding over the years; we should seize this opportunity."

Grand Master Filippo certainly understood what the scribe was trying to say, as he shared the same thought. Malta was the holy land of the Knights, its origins traced back to the pact made with the Habsburg ancestors.

"It's just one falcon, that kid won't back out, will he? If not, we'll use two."