I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1302 Stilz Society

Lucas was living a stable and comfortable life with his father in Paris, and even earned a degree in philosophy from the University of Paris.

But after the war ended, he suddenly realized that he had a responsibility to help the Austrian people get out of their suffering and that he wanted to bring his own happy life to every Austrian.

So he made the most important decision of his life, bidding farewell to Baron Scheller and his mother, and came to Vienna with the two thousand francs he had saved.

He was no longer the hot-blooded boy who participated in the boot camp riot. During his years in Paris, he witnessed France's growing strength and wealth, and he deeply realized that violent uprisings alone could not solve all problems; the rules of Austria had to be fundamentally changed.

This requires changing people's thoughts and attitudes first.

He soon ran into an old friend of his father's in Vienna. The latter was doing well, currently working under the Foreign Minister, and was also a liberal.

This elder introduced Lucas to a freedom movement organization called "Stiltz News Agency" and provided him with a lot of inside information about the Austrian government—it was he who revealed the matter of the emperor accepting 120 million florins as a diplomatic bribe.

Well, Lucas believed that given the level of corruption among the Viennese bureaucracy, the diplomatic expenses of 120 million euros would have required at least 200 million euros in taxes, so he gave his speech based on that figure.

He clearly did not inherit his father's writing talent, but during his time in Paris, he learned public speaking skills from his father's new friend, the orator Monsieur Varenne.

In just over a month, he became a core member of Stilz thanks to his outstanding speaking skills.

"Take a look, everyone! This is the advanced thinking of France!" Lucas handed out leaflets about the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen to those around him. However, more than half of the people didn't reach out to take them; they couldn't read at all.

Lucas, undeterred, lowered his voice and said, "We will give a detailed explanation of this great decree every Sunday afternoon at three and five o'clock at the Morning Mist Café on the south bank of the Vienna River. It will allow you to see a whole new world..."

As he was speaking, a sharp whistle came from the street corner, and the onlookers immediately fled like startled rabbits.

Lucas calmly pulled his hat brim down, walked into the café behind him, and then slipped away through the alleyway outside the back door.

Austrian law prohibits any speech given without obtaining government permission.

At the corner of Forest Street, a middle-aged man solemnly proclaimed, "Our emperor has launched several pointless wars, causing countless young people to die on the bloody battlefield, yet each of us has to pay a large amount of extra taxes for these wars!"

"It's time for us to seriously consider how to prevent such tragedies from happening again..."

Lucas squeezed through the crowd and gestured to the middle-aged man: "The 'vicious dogs' have started their search; retreat immediately."

The two boarded a carriage that had been prepared across the street, drove around the city a few times, and finally entered an ironworks workshop on the outskirts of the city.

The people in the workshop were all engrossed in their own work, as if they were invisible.

Lucas arrived at the warehouse where the scrap was stored and raised his hat to the old "warehouse manager" sitting inside.

The latter nodded to him and said, "You're back very early today. Did you run into the police?"

"A large-scale manhunt; there are twenty or thirty people on Tuherlauben Street alone. Um, is the booklet we need for tomorrow ready?"

The old man waved his hand: "Mr. Brandall is ill, so it hasn't been printed yet."

Lucas frowned. "Is he alright? Perhaps I can help with the printing."

“Mr. Brandall has a fever; he should recover after some rest.” The old man stood up. “Are you sure you want to get off? The printing press doesn’t smell very good.”

"Don't worry, this is nothing to me."

The old man turned around, moved a broken cabinet, cleared away the rusty ironware on the floor, then lifted the felt cloth and turned the key at his waist a few times on the floor.

With a "whoosh," a downward passage appeared on the ground.

"Thank you." Lucas nodded to the old man and stepped into the basement, where he saw several people busy around a printing press.

"Mr. Scheller, what brings you here?"

"I'm here to help."

Lucas rolled up his sleeves and skillfully pulled down the lever of the printing press. He often saw this type of printing press, made in the Antoine industrial district of Paris, at the office of the Paris Handels newspaper.

Yes, this printing press was provided by the French security agency.

In fact, more than half of Stilz's funding also comes from the security bureau.

Meanwhile, liberal movement organizations in Vienna, such as the "Constitutional Research Society" and the "Vienna Students' Group," also received funding from the Security Bureau.

Joseph was a very vengeful man. Austria had repeatedly provoked wars against France, so how could they possibly let it go by losing some territory and paying some reparations?

The old European royal family rules of "stopping at the right time" had no effect on him.

If we don't take advantage of Austria's weakness to completely deprive it of its ability to challenge France, are we going to wait for it to grow stronger before forming another anti-French coalition?

Joseph knew very well that an empire was difficult to defeat by external forces, but easy to collapse from within.

These liberal organizations were the "powder keg" he planted in Austria.

Of course, he chose this approach because he knew that Austria could not use it to complete a bourgeois revolution and thus embark on the path to prosperity.

The Habsburg dynasty was a mainstay of feudalism in Europe, and historically it has never been kind to liberal reformers.

Moreover, Austria is located next to another stronghold of conservative forces—Russia.

If the situation in Austria gets out of control, Russia will not hesitate to intervene militarily.

Austria will inevitably exhaust its national strength rapidly amidst the infighting between feudal forces and liberals.

……

Schönbrunn Palace.

Count Spielmann, Austria's Minister of the Interior, waved a German-language pamphlet of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, his expression grave. "Recently, people in Vienna have been distributing this stuff everywhere. The influence of liberals is growing... We must take some action."

Franz II looked at Kobutzl: "What do you think is the most appropriate way to handle this?"

The latter hesitated for a moment, then bowed and said, “Your Majesty, some of these liberal reform proposals are not without merit, and the empire does indeed need certain reforms at present. Therefore, we can issue decrees to regulate them.”

Standing behind the Foreign Minister, Metternich immediately said, "Your Majesty, these instigators of riots must not be tolerated. Have you forgotten the Vienna riots of a few years ago?"

"The empire does need reforms, but those should be carried out by you and your ministers who have extensive experience in governing, rather than by those empty-headed liberals who run amok."

Seeing that Spielmann and Stadion did not stop him, he boldly added, "I suggest expanding the size of the secret police and implementing stricter censorship of publications and registration of gatherings to eliminate all sources of riots!"

Several ministers immediately echoed, "Your Majesty, we must prevent another Vienna riot."

"I also agree with strictly investigating and punishing those who incite riots!"

……

Paris.

The week-long victory celebrations have finally come to an end. Most of the people who paraded in French military-style clothing have dispersed, leaving only colorful ribbons and bouquets scattered on the ground.

However, thousands of people still gathered in the squares of the new district of Paris. Everywhere you could see people holding signs or standing on chairs talking loudly, and the atmosphere was no less lively than the previous celebrations.

Inside Versailles Palace, Joseph, listening to the cheers drifting in from outside the window, asked Mirabeau, who was reporting on postwar industrial development plans, with some surprise, "What are they celebrating?"

The latter hurriedly replied, "Your Highness, the latest 'Veterans and Pensions Act' was just announced yesterday afternoon."

(End of this chapter)