I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1427 Metternich's Powder Keg

Lavallet immediately replied:

"Your Highness, after Vienna abolished domestic tariffs and the guild system, those merchants immediately stopped funding the liberals."

"Metternich's proposed civil service selection mechanism has kept lawyers, journalists, and other professionals busy preparing for civil service exams."

"Even the serfs aren't causing much trouble anymore. Only a few radical republicans and anti-secret police factions are still active."

He glanced at the Crown Prince and suggested:
"Given the current situation, I think the possibility of Austria breaking into chaos is not very high, and perhaps we should stop investing money."

Joseph, however, smiled:

"No, now is the best time for you to stir up the situation in Austria."

The security chief paused for a moment: "But..."

Joseph said, "Metternich simply covered Austria's various ravines and quagmires with a snowfall, but that doesn't mean their roads are really smooth."

"Those hereditary officials, old nobles, guild members, tax farmers, and local chambers of commerce—they're not doing anything now because Metternich has tripled the size of the secret police, but that doesn't mean they've really accepted the status quo."

"Metternich was actually piling up several barrels of gunpowder into the big house of Austria."

"Once a spark appears, the explosion will be much more powerful than it originally would have been."

Metternich was indeed a rare political genius in Austrian history, and he also keenly identified the obstacles that hindered Austria's development and quickly formulated a countermeasure.

However, he did not address the root of the problem, or rather, subconsciously he was afraid to touch upon those root causes.

Take, for example, the tax farmers. Including the tax collectors, their officials, and their henchmen, the total number of tax farmers reached seventy to eighty thousand, and they controlled enormous wealth.

If you don't take action to eliminate this interest group first, but instead directly announce that you've taken away their jobs, do you think they'll obediently comply?
Lavallet suddenly realized:

"Your Highness, I will immediately send people to contact these forces and persuade them to take appropriate actions."

In the context of the security bureau, "activity" means a riot.

Joseph shook his head and said, "That will only keep the Austrian secret police busy for a while."

"We need a bigger Mars."

"In fact, Metternich's reforms contained a fatal flaw: 'Germanization,' which would severely anger all nations except Austria, especially Hungary." He was well aware that Hungary had a very strong cultural cohesion, had always had its own parliament, and its customs and lifestyles were quite different from those of Vienna.

Metternich's demand that all government departments, courts, military, and even ordinary schools in Hungary must use German has absolutely touched a raw nerve with the Hungarian people!

At the same time, Metternich also restricted the meetings of the Hungarian Parliament, which seriously offended the noble elite.

Vienna's move to unify the management of Hungary's customs and currency not only offended the Hungarian nobility but also crossed the red line for capitalists.

Historically, it was after these far-sighted reform policies were implemented for more than 30 years that the "Pest Uprising" was successfully forced, and Hungary declared independence.

The Hungarian army subsequently defeated the Vienna suppression forces several times, forcing the Austrian Emperor to seek help from Russia. Ultimately, with the assistance of 14 Russian troops, the Hungarian uprising was thwarted.

Even though it failed to gain independence, Austria, which was then "bleeding from its mouth," had to accept many conditions that were favorable to Hungary, such as greater autonomy and Hungarian as the only official language.

Although Metternich's reforms have only been in effect for a short time, Joseph had already had the security bureau conduct a "preview" of them.

After receiving stable funding from a "mysterious Venetian merchant who sympathizes with the Hungarians," the "Exiled Kurucs" organization has moved its headquarters back to Hungary and expanded its membership to three or four thousand.

Meanwhile, the French Chamber of Commerce also reached secret trade agreements with Buda, Pest and other places, importing furs, chili peppers and draft horses from these places alone each year, with a total value of more than 180 million francs.

Moreover, after the Iroquois company in Charles sparked a tobacco craze in France, Hungarian farmers began to illegally cultivate tobacco on a large scale, selling it for nearly 40 francs annually.

France, on the other hand, sold cheap textiles, furniture, medicines, and machinery to Hungary. Because these were all smuggled from Serbia and other places... no, it should be called "special trade," so the tariffs were zero, resulting in very low prices, which were welcomed by everyone in Hungary, from nobles to serfs.

The trade volume between the two sides had exceeded 400 million francs. At this point, Vienna announced its intention to control Hungarian trade…

Joseph felt that if the Security Service operated well, it was not impossible to bring Pace's uprising forward by several decades.

After Lavallet finished taking notes, Joseph remembered something else:

"By the way, when will the Austrian army enter the St. Gallen Pass?"

"It should be in the next few days, Your Highness. There are approximately 6 people."

(I'm still not fully recovered today; I only managed to write this much in over three hours... I'll try my best to get back into shape as soon as possible!)

(End of this chapter)