Chapter 314: A Class That Cannot Fall

  Chapter 304: A Class That Cannot Fall

Seeing the two resignations in his hands, Franz could only sigh helplessly.

The years were unforgiving, not something man could change.

Marshal Radkis was already 91 years old, and at this time in history he had received his box lunch. Now actually almost as soon, although nominally as Chief of the General Staff, actually three years ago in retirement.

Anyway, the Chief of General Staff is only a high-powered position in times of war, and in times of peace it is mainly a matter of strategy and not much concrete business, so Franz retained the old marshal’s position.

Apparently, Field Marshal Radetzky did not want to live on, and after realizing that his health was not holding up, he submitted his resignation to Franz every now and then.

The wording was getting more and more intense, if not approved, he would die suddenly in office. After some hesitation, Franz reluctantly approved his resignation.

If the departure of Marshal Radetzky was more of an emotional pain for him, then Metternich’s resignation really gave him a headache.

Foreign Minister was no vanity title, it was one of the three most important positions that could go hand in hand with Prime Minister and Finance Minister.

Metternich is also 85 years old, and at this age it is clear that he can not hold out. Most of the affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are now managed by his deputies, and only important matters he will ask.

Two years ago, Franz gave him special permission to work at his own time and place of work, and he did not need to report his vacation.

After a few moments of lamentation, Franz had to accept the departure of two of his old ministers. Perhaps not two, but three, Archduke Louis was about to leave.

Franz was sure that if Metternich left, he would not stay either. He was in his eighties, and if his political rivals, who had fought for decades, had left, what was the point of staying?

The ability of this person can not be compared with the previous two, can only be regarded as the middle of the road, and even some mediocre. However, when Franz initially provoked the conflict between the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy, he was his supporter.

There are many political problems that cannot be taken at face value, and Archduke Louis took the blame for Franz. He sacrificed one of his sons in the Vienna rebellion.

Putting aside his ability, his loyalty is still high enough. These years for Franz pulled enough capitalist hatred, unwavering leadership of the aristocratic group to suppress the bourgeoisie.

Without them, it is estimated that the domestic capitalists would not be so honest. Not to mention, the labor protection law would not have been enforced, child laborers would not have been able to return to school, and class conflicts in the country would not have been suppressed.

There is no way around it. The first and foremost thing in ruling a country is balance. In an era of rapid economic development, the power of the bourgeoisie naturally expanded dramatically. Without restraints, these people would have already made a mess of the country.

The accumulation of primitive capital is all bloody, and these people are all still at the stage of being profit-oriented, and don’t care about what’s in their lives and what’s behind them.

In order to ensure domestic stability, Franz had to add chains to them.

And this chain, also need someone to implement, this executor can not be the emperor, the conservatives acted as this knife.

The effect is also quite obvious, with the constraints over, the capitalists know the sky and the earth, eat finally a little better.

Franz will not listen to their boasts, what the rising labor costs, weaken the competitiveness of the market, in fact, this is mostly used to fool people.

Speaking of labor costs, why not compare with the British and French counterparts? As an agricultural exporter, Austria’s cost of living is lower than that of Britain and France.

Obviously, it is for the purpose of profiteering that the law is violated, but it is said that it is caused by market competition. If you want to advocate high manpower costs, you have to make a comparison.

In this era, Austria is qualified to be compared with Britain and France, and Austria still has an advantage over these two countries.

If you compare labor costs with the woolly bears, there is certainly no argument. People’s factories are using free serfs, can’t we drive backward in history?

Franz can responsibly say, this era of investment in industry is still in the golden stage, enterprise gross profit below thirty percent, belong to the kind that can be eliminated.

Even if the profits increase tenfold, capitalists will still feel low profits. This Franz is well aware of, he also felt that the return rate of gold mining is low!

The biggest antithesis of this is Britain and France, who fell behind in industrial production after the outbreak of the second industrial revolution.

The reason for falling behind was not because of technology, nor was it because of the market. The real reason is very laughable, lying down to be able to make money why still have to work hard?

Anyway, they have cheaper raw materials, there is a rich market, do not carry out technological innovation as profitable.

From the interests of the replacement of machinery and equipment is also the need to invest. In the era of rapid change, machinery and equipment update speed and fast, in order to maximize the benefits they simply do not change.

On the contrary, labor costs, raw material costs are higher in the German Empire, forced by the brutal competition in the market, they have to promote technological innovation, as long as the new technology in order for them to survive.

Under the accumulation of days and months, Britain and France, which had absolute advantages, were so overtaken.

If there is no pressure to survive, Franz is very doubtful that Austria will follow in the footsteps of Britain and France, and once everyone has developed such bad habits, it will be difficult to correct them.

Even these people in order to have cheaper labor, will promote some strange policy out, head simply do not have the concept of national interest.

Not only do we have to guard against the degeneration of the capitalists, but we also have to guard against the degeneration of the aristocracy. People are all the same, once there is no more pressure, it is easy to fall down.

To Franz, the fall of the aristocracy was more frightening than the fall of the capitalists. This was the foundation of his rule, and once this class was in trouble, the rule would be unstable.

These were the people who were truly tied to the Emperor, with their roots in Austria, and the cost of betrayal was quite high. It’s impossible to learn from the capitalists, who say they will betray as soon as they see a greater benefit.

The current push for overseas colonization campaigns, the domestic civil service examination system, provoking the aristocracy with the bourgeoisie contradictions, in fact, these are to give the aristocracy pressure.

Let them know that if they do not work hard today, they will be replaced by others tomorrow. In front of the cruel reality, many on the verge of bankruptcy, or already bankrupt nobles, have become the vanguard of colonization.

In order not to let the domestic elite degenerate, Franz is also worried. A lot of policies, are centered around this issue.

……

The next personnel adjustment gave Franz another headache.

The position of Chief of the General Staff was the best; there were plenty of candidates and plenty of people who could do the job.

Anyway, in the late stage, the competition is the national strength, comprehensive national strength up, directly rely on the strength of the opponents crushed to death, is the most reliable strategy, tactics.

The successor of the Foreign Minister has also been trained, although the ability is not as good as Metternich, it is also higher than the average level of each country.

Essentially, diplomacy is also built on national strength. A weak country has no diplomacy, and without strength, even the most powerful diplomat is useless.

On the contrary, the Minister of the Interior is more troublesome. For the sake of domestic political balance, this person must come from a conservative background and have a certain ability to convince everyone, but also be able to act according to Franz’s will.

While there were many people who could fulfill one of these conditions alone, there were few in the entire Vienna government who could fulfill all of them.

(End of chapter)