Chapter 10: The Cheapest Intelligence Organizations
Chapter 10 The Cheapest Intelligence Organization
It wasn’t Franz’s intention to show his face so early, and if he could, he wouldn’t mind being remotely behind the scenes all the time.
Unfortunately, this is not possible, as the Crown Prince of the Austrian Empire, his every move is within the sights of those who are interested.
Recently Franz frequently contact with the military, if not for his age is still young, did not grasp the power, do not know has made a big storm.
Interfering with the line of sight or not, public opinion building or not, Franz had to come to the forefront. The difference lies in whether he is pushed to the front, or whether he takes the initiative to stand on the front.
Franz did not want to be a pawn, he chose to take the initiative at this time. If history had not changed, the revolution would have broken out in Vienna in March 1848 and he would have ascended the throne in December.
In order not to be blackmailed by the rebels and succeed to the throne on the charge of being an executioner, Franz had to make the first move to create momentum.
Everyone has preconceived notions, as long as the image of a benevolent ruler is portrayed, any attack or groping will be in vain, and at this time the reputation of the Austrian royal family in the public has not collapsed.
“Raul, how is the recruitment of manpower I asked you to secretly recruit going?” Franz asked with concern
“Honorable Archduke, it’s not going very well, the number of people who can meet your requirements is too few, so far I still only dug up two people in the secret police, and their abilities only meet your minimum requirements!” Raul replied with difficulty
Franz was slightly stunned, he didn’t think that recruiting intelligence officers would actually be this difficult, was the standard he set really too high?
He had only put forward the most basic requirements: loyalty to the royal family, no political inclination, a certain amount of intelligence, courage, resourcefulness and endurance, as well as a keen sense of judgment, and preferably a certain amount of professionalism.
Even personal temperament, erudite knowledge, a keen sense of political smell, and strong analytical ability, which are the standard requirements for intelligence officers, he did not put forward.
“What’s the main thing that doesn’t fulfill the requirements?” Franz asked with concern
“Grand Duke, there are many people who fulfill one or a few items individually, but when combined together, there are not many people who can meet your requirements!” Raul said thoughtfully
Franz was dumbfounded, thinking about it, it was true that the professional intelligence personnel in this era were very few, most of them were amateur goods.
Wanting to establish an intelligence organization, it was a very difficult thing to do, even if he, the Imperial Crown Prince, could poach the government’s corners, could the loyalty of these people be guaranteed?
What if they were spies sent over by others?
No need to doubt, not to mention this era, even if it is a later generation of professional intelligence personnel are masters, Franz wants to establish an intelligence organization, either to train themselves, or to dig the government’s corners.
“What do you suggest, no need to hide it!”
Looking at Raul who wanted to speak, Franz frowned and asked.
“Grand Duke, in fact, there is no need for you to form a separate intelligence organization, there is an intelligence organization in the hands of the royal family, only these years ……”
Raul’s words came to an abrupt end halfway through.
Franz nodded, the royal family’s intelligence organization was also known to him. Under normal circumstances, this organization was only responsible to the emperor.
The size of this intelligence organization was very small, and the scope of business was relatively single, which was to monitor the situation in the country, as well as a few neighbors.
After his uncle came to power, this organization was almost deserted, and many of the intelligence personnel were poached by Prime Minister Metternich.
How much loyalty was left in the remaining personnel was a question worth considering.
Franz had to despise these nobles for not taking the opportunity to reach out to these departments when the Emperor was timid.
This also meant that the intelligence organization under the Emperor’s command was now practically a sieve with an unknown number of parties’ forces.
Franz had wanted to start a separate organization from the very beginning for this very reason, he wanted to create an intelligence organization that was completely loyal to his own self.
Now it seems that time is running out, there is still a year to go before the Vienna Revolution breaks out, and by the time he has trained his intelligence officers, he won’t even be able to touch them.
“Well, Raul first send someone to check, there are those big forces infiltrating into this organization, do it in secret, I believe that there must still be people loyal to the royal family in here!” Franz said decisively
If all the personnel, were bought off, then the Habsburg family would not need to mix anymore. To be able to inherit from the 11th century to the present, always standing at the peak of Europe, the Habsburg family was definitely not as simple as it appeared.
This point from the situation in Austria, Franz can speculate one or two. Now that his uncle Ferdinand I was unable to handle political affairs, the power had fallen into the hands of Prime Minister Metternich.
But this powerful minister is not the rule of the day, not to mention the oppression of the royal family, even many times, his policy is still subject to the influence of the Vienna court.
It is important to realize that Archduke Franz Karl, the most important representative of this generation of the royal family, was also congenitally flawed, with an unlimited political IQ of zero.
Franz can easily get the military support, the biggest dependence or origin, the heir of the Habsburg family, the Crown Prince of the Austrian Empire.
Otherwise, he is no matter how hard he tries, there is no use, do not see the history of the Vienna Revolution broke out, Metternich Prime Minister did not get the support of the military, forced to step down?
Then the situation is not as bad as imagined, perhaps so that the noble forces reached out to the intelligence organization, but this is not the same as they betrayed the royal family. As long as their interests were not involved, this intelligence organization could still be used normally.
Thinking about this, Franz breathed a sigh of relief, in other issues everyone might have a conflict of interest, but in the issue of suppressing the rebellion, the great nobles of Vienna definitely stood with the emperor.
As for the bourgeoisie, it was not that Franz underestimated them, in this era they were not qualified to infiltrate into this, bearing in mind that most of the members in the intelligence organization now were nobles.
Otherwise if they didn’t give funding for more than ten years, they would have disbanded long ago, what would be left of them?
These nobles are scattered all over the country, and through their royal family they can easily collect domestic intelligence, and even the vast majority of them don’t need to be paid.
The intelligence organization of the Habsburg family, not the Jinyiwei, has no law enforcement power at all, except for collecting ordinary intelligence.
European nobles are feudal system, fiefdom inside the matter, the emperor has no right to ask, and these information, or they provide their own, do not want the emperor to know the content of the natural concealment of non-reporting.
Hesitation again and again, Franz still decided to get this organization first before, and then bad intelligence organization is also better than none, at least the local outbreak of rebellion, he can be the first time to receive the news.
Besides, a poor man like him can only afford this kind of intelligence organization.
(End of chapter)