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

Chapter 1984 Performative Bureaucrats

What Franz was most annoyed by was the laxity of the imperial officials, many of whom habitually resorted to brute force to solve problems.

They were too lazy to think about the problems; they just wanted to increase investment and manpower.

This group of people seemed to be working hard and taking it seriously, but this thoughtless behavior only angered Franz, who hated this kind of formulaic bureaucratic behavior.

If there's a problem, then invest resources to solve it; the bigger the problem, the more resources you should invest.
This logic seems very reasonable at first glance, but Franz, who was angry about it, actually seemed very stingy.

But in reality, this approach is often just a performance of shirking responsibility, a blatant waste.

Because the reasons for the problems are either not known or not questioned, the situation often worsens despite efforts to address it, or one problem is solved only to create another.

This is also a major reason why the more officials the Austrian Empire had, the less efficient it became.

When Franz first ascended the throne, the number of officials was only one-fifth of what it is now, but the efficiency was almost the same, and some departments were probably even more efficient.

Franz sometimes felt like he was supporting a group of actors, having to watch all sorts of performances every day and even having to critique their poor acting skills.

Only eleven years later, the bureaucratic system has made a comeback. Few people care whether the problem has actually been solved, nor do they care about the so-called optimal solution.

Because that's too abstract. The bureaucrats of the empire are very pragmatic. What they care about most is whether their efforts can be seen, quantified, and whether they can prove that they have done their best, and whether they can be absolved of responsibility at critical moments.

Increasing investment and manpower is the most visible way to address the problem. For example, in the case of bicycle theft, the Vienna government invested more than two million florins throughout the year, increased police force by more than 5,000 people, and responded to more than 100,000 calls throughout the year.

It sounds like that might actually be true.

But has the problem been solved?
Resolving
Franz had heard the same argument countless times. It wasn't that he didn't want to give people a chance; it was just that his time was limited, and the people of the Austrian Empire also had limited time. They couldn't afford to waste time on these mediocre people.

Franz often bypassed the bureaucratic system to issue orders directly, which was a last resort. Otherwise, given the efficiency of this group, a problem that could be solved in a year would drag on for more than ten years or even forever.

In fact, the clues can be seen from the way those bureaucrats tried to appease Franz in the past; many of the policies they were unwilling to implement were intended to be delayed until after Franz's death.

It's obvious that this group of people really did do that; it's all 'wisdom' passed down from their ancestors.

When facing accountability from superiors
"Have you taken this seriously?"

"We attach great importance to this, have held several special meetings, and have invited many experts."

"What measures have you taken?"

"We have established a special fund and set up a special task force."

Have you addressed all the issues?

"Of course, we divide the work into sections and assign tasks accordingly. Money arrives, people arrive, and the work is done."

This is a nearly impeccable chain of evidence, but they are not trying to solve the problem; they are only trying to shirk responsibility.

In fact, if you delve deeper along this original path, you will find another problem: they are not wrong, but the people who originally designed this plan are wrong, and you may even feel guilty for blaming them.

However, this had no effect on Franz; he knew this trick all too well. Franz's reason for sending those high-ranking officials of the Holy Roman Empire to the frontiers was largely in the hope that they would reform.

After all, this country is still short of truly useful officials, but if they remain obstinate, they can only go to the colonies to serve as laborers.

There are reasons why the British prefer small government and hiring civil servants. Because with civil servants, only results matter, not process, which largely avoids such petty corruption.

However, administrative staff are not omnipotent and often create more problems. Over-reliance on administrative staff is like drug addiction, and it can lead to bureaucratic issues, or even more serious ones.

Are those officials simply incompetent and unwilling to take responsibility?

Franz could answer with absolute certainty.

"of course not."

In fact, increasing investment and manpower itself represents huge ambitions and a huge network of interests behind it.

It's not so obvious to say it's about increasing investment and adding more staff. What if it's about budget and staffing?

That is immense power.

What does a large budget and numerous staff positions mean?
This means that it has a very high status and a voice. Don't think that only capital likes to expand and increase value; the bureaucratic system does too.

No department wants budget cuts, staff reductions, or being replaced. Like people, bureaucracies crave more resources and greater power.

Of course, it can also refer to a specific person, and the gray area needs no further explanation.

Greater investment and more people make it easier to generate results, for reasons that are actually somewhat absurd: because the cost is high enough, the empire has to find a way to save face.

In fact, there is a "budget maximization bureaucracy" model in economics.

"Bureau leaders may be inclined to pursue larger departmental budgets because budgets bring higher status, compensation, prestige, and organizational influence."

Unlike market firms, public sector businesses do not face direct profit constraints, making it easier for them to expand their services and budgets.

Franz could only propose this theory more than a hundred years in advance, but knowing it does not mean understanding it, much less knowing how to do it.

Therefore, Franz still had to do many things personally. In fact, he wanted to delegate authority, but the cost was enormous waste and chaos.

Especially since the Holy Roman Empire had just been established and a massive amount of newly added territory and departments needed to be integrated, if Franz were to lose heart at this time, it would leave behind endless hidden dangers.

Franz is also working to reform the evaluation system, shifting from an input-oriented approach to an outcome-oriented one. However, this process will be extremely difficult and painful, and the entire country, from top to bottom, will experience growing pains.

However, if the evaluation system remains unchanged, things will eventually revert to the same outcome. At the same time, supervision and accountability must be strengthened; otherwise, new cliques will form.

Franz gets a headache just thinking about it. Prime Minister Schwarzenberg is capable, but he's out of touch with the times.

Franz needed someone more capable of stirring things up to trigger a "catfish effect," to get the stagnant waters moving. The sight of dozens of high-ranking officials, along with hundreds of the capital's elite, being exiled to the frontier was a rare occurrence, even in the grand scheme of history.

This was a last resort, as the empire was still short of officials, and he hoped that these people could rise again and see the world clearly.

If gymnastics could become popular, modern people would certainly find it unacceptable, let alone imaginable.

However, the reality was that gymnastics was incredibly popular throughout the Shinra Empire at that time, but gymnastics at that time was very different from that in later generations.

Compared to gymnastics, it was more like training gladiators or soldiers. The gymnastics events that people are familiar with today only account for a very small part. Instead, it included a large number of track and field events, some like triathlon, but with far more than three events.

In addition to gymnastics and track and field, there are also rope climbing, wall climbing, swimming, shooting, tug-of-war, wrestling and other events.

At the same time, adjustments will be made according to different age groups. There are gymnastics exercises for teenagers that are very similar to modern indoor playgrounds, and there are exercises for middle-aged and young adults.

Gymnastics for the elderly focuses on health preservation and physical exercise, while gymnastics for the nobility includes horse racing and hunting, and special gymnastics for the military includes digging trenches.

The political and nationalistic ideas behind gymnastics are fading, transforming it from a political activity into a genuine sport.

However, the cost is very high: this group loves to claim territory. Large-scale brawls frequently break out in the park due to disputes over land.
Building more parks? That's clearly unrealistic. Land in cities is too expensive, while rural areas simply don't need it.

Franz initially thought it was just a regular exercise, but due to the large number of enthusiasts, the group even organized a competition.

One major reason why Franz didn't think much of gymnastics was that he felt it lacked competitiveness and was too niche.

But Austria at this time was completely different. Watching tens of thousands of people watch the obstacle course in a stadium with tens of thousands of people was a unique kind of fun.

It's not very competitive, but it's very entertaining. The main advantage is that anyone can participate, and many new ways to play have been developed.

By shuffling the order, increasing the number of participants, and adding special events on the spot, gymnastics ironically became one of the hallmarks of the Austrian Empire.

In fact, the indoor playground designed for children was designed by Franz, and his unintentional act inadvertently solved the problem of students not liking to go to school.

However, this has also caused some new problems. Students only want to attend physical education classes, and teachers and parents have to go into the indoor playground to catch them after school.

The promotion of football is still a long way off. It's not that no one likes it, but the social strata are too far apart, making it difficult to bring people together.

Nobles, the middle class, and commoners all lived their own lives, and many disdained to interact with each other. This was less pronounced in Britain, where the proportion of nobles was far smaller than in the Holy Roman Empire.

Britain has a large working-class population, while the Holy Roman Empire was essentially just an agricultural country with advanced industrial development.

Football was significantly more developed in the rural areas of the Austrian Empire than in the cities, where cycling and gymnastics still dominated.

As for traditional sports such as horse racing, fencing, hunting, fishing, and billiards, they are only suitable for nobles and the emerging middle class; the threshold is too high and they are not suitable for ordinary people.

Fanny von Arnstein and Maria Amelia strongly recommended tennis to Franz, both believing it to be an excellent sport.

Unfortunately, what they considered a popular sport had long since deviated from the realm of the common people. Tennis equipment in the 19th century was quite expensive, and the cost of renting courts was unacceptable to the common people, since it was impossible for them to set aside a piece of land in their homes as a tennis court.

The main reason Franz was so devoted to football was that it was the sport best suited for the industrial age.

On the one hand, it can maximize physical exertion and release stress, and on the other hand, it is a sport that highly values ​​teamwork.

However, since history had found another breakthrough, Franz did not insist on it.

The gambling industry, however, developed very rapidly, and Franz's restrictions on the gambling industry also gave rise to a large number of gray and black industries.

This is also one of the important reasons why football has not developed, because match-fixing is commonplace, and gambling is really addictive, and the huge profits will make more people take risks for it.

However, the share of the gray and black market is not large when there are legitimate channels. But precisely because of this, the operators of these gray and black markets often resort to exploitative practices, and even loan sharks have resurfaced.

Franz certainly didn't do this intentionally; anyone who dared to lend money at exorbitant interest rates would be forfeited, along with their people. The money would be confiscated, and the people would be sent to the colonies for construction.

Under Franz's almost brutal crackdown, these people began to restrain themselves. In fact, many people couldn't understand why Franz always had a problem with casinos and loan sharks.

Many people have heard the saying, "Adultery breeds murder, gambling breeds theft," but Franz felt that it should be followed by, "Debt breeds evil, poverty breeds chaos."

Debt has been excessively sanctified, and poverty has been endlessly vilified—these are practices of the British, and Franz is unwilling to accept them.

Combating usury is essentially about maintaining social order; if we let them get too rampant, it is the country that will suffer.

Usury is not a supplement to the financial system; it is outright crime.

However, when it comes to the gambling industry, Maximilian's operations in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies have essentially failed, so he wants to extend his reach to Austria.

Franz did not give his brother any face; in fact, he put the entire gambling industry in North Germany on the illegal list.

They either pay to rectify the situation and accept the empire's new laws, or they accept a fine and then have to close down.

Franz's comprehensive crackdown on the gambling industry aroused strong dissatisfaction within the industry, but at this time, few dared to stand up for them; in fact, even those working in the industry dared not express their dissatisfaction.

The loan sharking industry disappeared almost overnight, and they didn't even dare to assert their rights.

In fact, Franz still held considerable authority among these people, after all, he was a man of his word and had proven himself countless times in front of others.

After all, the events in Prussia were still fresh in everyone's mind; Prussian capitalists had truly suffered a devastating purge.

William I and the Prussian nobles all claimed that they were misled by the capitalists, and could only be misled.

This group went to extreme lengths to get the Prussian capitalists to prove this crime. How could they possibly get them to prove it?

Of course, there's no way to prove it now that the dead are dead.

Not only were they trying to clear their names, but they were also trying to show their loyalty to Franz, because under Franz's deliberate guidance, this group of people had come to believe that the whole war was a class war between nobles and capitalists.

They naturally need to state their position, otherwise who knows if there will be a second war?
If I don't take a stand now, will I be put on the purge list again next time?
Besides addressing Franz, they also needed to clarify their stance to nationalists, firmly supporting national unity while resolutely refusing to be lackeys of the Jews.
My cold is getting worse, cough cough.