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

Chapter 1949 The Laborer's "Robbery"

In factories, in taverns, and on the streets, the flames of war are igniting throughout Germany.

In these chaotic times, pubs are no longer just places to drink.

Several greasy wooden tables were pushed together, and a propaganda poster for the "German Confederation Workers' and Peasants' Law, and the Law for the Protection of Workers in Service Industries" was slapped on the table.

"See that? Maximum working hours, minimum wage, overtime pay, and insurance."
Whether they are workers, farmers, or anyone else who does work, they should all enjoy basic dignity and rights!

It's written all over here! But they refuse to admit it! They're even planning to drag us down with them!

"That's right! Those people still want to recruit soldiers! Just to protect those vampires! They want to send us all to the battlefield!"

The crowd, who were initially just indignant, suddenly became enraged.

"Four hundred thousand people have already perished! And you still want us to go? Isn't that just sending us to our deaths?!"

Another sharp voice rang out at just the right moment.

"I don't want to be buried with Prussia!"

"To hell with Prussia! To hell with Hohenzollern! Those Polish bastards are up to no good!"

The first king of Prussia did indeed have Polish ancestry and was legally a vassal of the Kingdom of Poland.

However, ordinary people find it difficult to understand this complex relationship. In addition, given the era in which this people live, they prefer to distinguish between themselves, enemies, and bastards, which gives them a sense of moral superiority.

"We can't let them destroy us!"

Seeing that the crowd was already angry enough, someone spoke up.

"We Germans should establish our own country!"

The Great Germanists lurking in the crowd immediately jumped out.

"Yes! We should rebuild the German Empire!"

However, the response was few and far between, because the shadow of the turmoil of 1848 had not completely faded.

People remember the power and influence of the National Assembly in its heyday, especially in Prussia, where even the king had to bow down to them and be at their beck and call.

But people remember more how the National Assembly was destroyed, how they installed an emperor, and how they tried to subdue him like the British did.

What followed was that earth-shattering battle, but they failed, and failed miserably.

However, people seemed to have remembered something else, which was also related to the Labor Protection Law last time. They felt the Emperor's demands were absurd, and their response seemed to be almost identical to what Prussia was saying now.

All of them ended in crushing defeat.

"Could this be a Jewish conspiracy?"

Many people have similar thoughts. Sometimes, people need a target to focus on. Once they find one, many things become clear.

"That's right! Our current infighting and fratricide is a Jewish conspiracy!"

"We must never bow down to the Jews!"

"Let's take up arms!"

Similar sounds rang out one after another, and under the influence of alcohol, people actually picked up weapons.

"Our bodies are ours! Our souls are ours too! Germany is not a colony of capitalists, and we must expel the Jews!"
Let us defeat those accomplices of the Jews! Let us establish a nation that belongs to us Germans!

"Workers without dignity are nothing but slave laborers! Long live the Labor Protection Act!"

"Long live!"

"Long live His Majesty the Emperor!"

"Long live!"

These slogans spread like wildfire through every street and every household, igniting the pent-up anger of the people, which is now growing ever stronger.

Anyone who tries to stop them will be labeled an accomplice to the Jews.

In front of the largest textile factory in Silesia, Lord Phelps' men and Director Daggett's subordinates were already on high alert.

They can't let those crazed people destroy their cash cow and the foundation of their future.

Although the laws of the Austrian Empire were harsh, the merchants made a considerable profit. They were well aware that Prussia was in decline and that the Austrian Empire was likely to reclaim its former territory of Silesia.

It is true that the emperors of the Austrian Empire killed people, but it seems that they did not commit any truly indiscriminate killings of innocent people.

As long as they have the means of production in their own hands, it doesn't matter who rules this land. I believe it won't be long before they are still the superior people.

After all, they felt they were more valuable and powerful than those peasants.

So the core message is simple: no matter the outcome, they must preserve their own value.

What they feared was never Prussia's defeat, but the collapse of order.

It would be best if a capital-friendly country could win, but even if it loses, they have plenty of ways to deal with it, after all, they have figured out countless coping strategies over the millennia.

In fact, the capitalists in North Germany suddenly had a group of young, beautiful adopted daughters with inheritance rights.

The noble genealogies and official lists of the Austrian Empire are selling for astronomical prices, especially those of single noble officials who are receiving unprecedented attention.

Furthermore, they still firmly believe in the logic that without their jobs, people wouldn't even have enough to eat. They see them as the cornerstone of social progress, and without them, humanity would regress to a primitive state.

However, the number of people who came far exceeded Phelps's expectations. In fact, a considerable portion of them were not workers, but rather a group of German nationalists.

"A true Prussian will not accept charity from the enemy! Your actions are bringing shame upon the Kingdom of Prussia!"

Chief Daggett stopped the protesters with a single sentence. After all, he had served as police chief for so many years, and even though the Kingdom of Prussia was about to be defeated, he still held considerable influence.

On the other hand, the workers' thoughts and demands remain simple and honest.

"We just want to have enough to eat!"

"We just want more time to rest. Seven days a week, fourteen hours a day is just too tiring!"

I have no time to take care of my family, not even time to attend a loved one's funeral!

For once, Director Daggett restrained his anger. Although he was extremely reluctant, he still patiently spoke those righteous words.

"If the Kingdom of Prussia wants to rise, everyone must make sacrifices!"
How many hours do you work in a day? We work 24/7, 365 days a year!

If you continue down this path of depravity, you'll drag down the factories of our fellow countrymen!

Director Daggett made it sound like he was suffering even more than they were, and his words seemed to make a lot of sense, causing the workers to waver again.

“Stop crying like a coward! Go back to work! You must be diligent, hardworking, and not lazy! Things will get better sooner or later!” At this moment, Director Daggett had completely relaxed, and he exchanged a glance with Mr. Phelps.

These people are so easy to fool. They deserve to suffer. They should be proud of their contributions.

As for Bent, he's a complete waste, and his relatives and henchmen are just a bunch of idiots with nothing but brute force.

In fact, the first to be dealt with were the overseers, because they were the ones who directly oppressed the workers.

Director Daggett and Phelps were almost successful again when those Greater Germanists mixed among the workers stepped forward.

"Director, you are mistaken. The Austrian Empire is not an enemy; its predecessor was the Holy Roman Empire, and we Germans were once subjects of the Holy Roman Empire."

That was not charity, but a gift that every citizen of the Empire deserved.

These workers simply want to eat well, sleep well, and have basic human dignity, and to be with their families.

What's wrong with them wanting these things?

Then the real leader looked around at the expectant eyes.

“You need not feel ashamed. Your demands are legitimate. They are rights granted to you by His Majesty the Emperor and have been written into the law!”

"Nonsense! What kind of evil magic is this? Do you even know what country you're from!"

Director Daggett roared angrily, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"All I know is that I am German, not a lackey of the Poles!"

"you"

Director Daggett was so angry he couldn't speak, and Phelps quickly chimed in to help.

"Do you even know that you are on Prussian soil?"

"All I know is that this is the German Confederation, and I am standing on German soil!"

The leader's words were a wake-up call for the Greater German faction and those who had just come into contact with German nationalists.

But to Director Daggett and Lord Phelps, it was utter nonsense and sophistry. After all, in their minds, only they were nationalists, while the workers and civilians were just expendable resources.

"Get out! This is my factory!"

Mr. Phelps spoke again.

"You're the ones who should get out! This is German land!"

"The Austrians haven't arrived yet! I'm still in charge here!"

"Director Daggett said angrily."

"Therefore, today we will end your tyranny! We will establish a nation that belongs to us Germans!"

The two sides were only a dozen meters apart. Chief Daggett knew the principle of capturing the leader first, and his hand reached for the pistol at his waist.

Coincidentally, the other side had the same idea, and gunfire erupted, with both sides engaging in a fierce battle.
Why is it that while many factories are shutting down amidst price wars and economic crises, Mr. Phelps' factory is still operating day and night?

The reason is simple: his market is not only the German Confederation, but they can also smuggle goods to Russia.

Pain, anger, poverty, and humiliation are never necessary conditions for an uprising, but when these emotions are combined, it becomes difficult for people to control their emotions.

On the other hand, the war of public opinion never stopped. However, the situation in the Austrian Empire was very special. Many traditional propaganda methods were simply useless, and even illogical.

From a certain perspective, the Austrian Empire was not an external enemy at all; Franz Joseph I could even be considered their original leader.

Because both the Holy Roman Empire and the earlier German Empire had received the allegiance of princes.

Even now, Austria remains the chairman of the German Confederation and has been protecting the entire German Confederation for many years.

Moreover, compared to Prussia or Hanover, the Austrian Empire was clearly more representative of Germany.

It's just that those feudal lords no longer acknowledge it.

Furthermore, the Austrian Empire was too close to the German states, allowing people to easily see another world, or rather, a world that they believed should belong to them.

The prosperity and power of the Austrian Empire aroused envy and jealousy in every German at the time, and the yearning for a better life is a human instinct.

Franz's efforts over the years have not been in vain; the term "cultural infiltration" was still too advanced for the German states.

Even if they had a vague sense of something, they were completely powerless to stop it within the existing political, economic, and even logical framework.

The public will wonder what the Austrians will do, and the country will expect them to do what they will do.

At the same time, Franz's presence prevented the possibility of a strongman coming to power, since there could not be a stronger strongman than Franz within the German Confederation.

Those capitalists don't even have the opportunity to train new agents.

When private wealth depends on public sacrifice, it must be subject to public scrutiny.

The lies of those people were completely exposed, because Austrians did not need to suffer so much to have a better life than them.

The rapid development of the German Confederation in recent years has shortened the distance in space and time, allowing people to learn more about things that were previously impossible to know through trains and telegrams.

Many things about the Austrian Empire seemed like fantastical tales to ordinary people in the German states a decade or so ago, and were even labeled as inferior stories.

However, traveling to the Austrian Empire is now very easy; all you need is a train ticket. If you don't have time, you can send a telegram to distant relatives; these are not difficult things to do.

Although all of this was true, and the Austrian Empire did indeed intend to implement laws to protect them, the people knew that it was only temporary, and that once the princes recovered, they would find a pretext to restore everything to its original state.

There are only two ways to solve the problem once and for all: either completely eliminate the feudal lords, or let Franz rule them.

At this time, the Germans were still relatively traditional and conservative, and coupled with the influence of the French Rebellion, they did not want to fight to the death with the princes.

The best solution would be to establish a new state under the equal rule of Austria, which would greatly weaken the influence of the feudal lords.

The rural areas were the homeland of the Junker aristocracy, the most solid foundation of all Prussia. However, in the face of the Austrian Empire, all of this became a joke.

Thanks to the Austrian Empire's itinerant merchants and cultural infiltration, as well as the repeated propaganda of the Poles and German nationalists, the entire Prussian countryside turned into a boiling pot of porridge when news of defeat arrived.

Because the people who died the most on the battlefield were the sons and brothers of farmers; they were the ones who suffered the most heavy losses in the defeat.

But in rural areas, there are not many channels for venting their frustrations. They still have to bear heavy taxes and live a precarious life.

Their protests were not suppressed, but completely ignored, which was the most contemptible mockery.

When the sparks of urban life drifted to the countryside, they ignited a raging inferno that was beyond their wildest imagination.

The rural areas of continental Europe in the 19th century did not have an idyllic pastoral life. The reason there are not many painful memories is simply because there are not many records of them.