Chapter 14: Mistakenly Hitting the Wrong Side of the Car

  Chapter 14: Mistakenly hit the side car

April 30, 1847, a generation of military man Archduke Karl suddenly in Vienna, his death also marked the end of an era.

Archduke Karl’s funeral is very grand, Franz’s uncle Ferdinand I personally over to participate in the farewell ceremony, the major European nobles have sent representatives.

Franz’s mood is very bad, even if it is a second life, he is equally unable to face life and death with ease.

Even if he inherited the legacy of Archduke Karl’s army, Franz also has no interest, people are not grass, who can not have mercy, but as the emperor reserve, and can not have too much emotion.

“Grand Duke, Mr. Bauernfeld from the newspaper is asking for an audience!” The maid Jenny whispered

For this uninvited guest to arrive, Franz is still a bit puzzled, it seems that there is no big deal on the side of the newspaper that needs his personal attention, ah? Then he said, “Bring him in!”

“Honorable Archduke, something big has happened!” Bauernfeld said with fear and anxiety.

“Speak, the sky hasn’t fallen yet!” Franz said calmly

Austria has a censorship system, the government has a permanent staff in the newspaper to review the content, Franz does not think that there can be anything big.

Could it be that the people at the newspaper office still dared to privately issue banned newspapers? If that was the case, Franz didn’t mind cleaning up the house.

Targeting by peers?

At most, it would be a business rivalry, and he didn’t think anyone would dare break the rules!

Bauernfeld explained, “In recent times, there have been newspaper calls for a Labor Protection Act, and we’ve been involved in that.”

“Go on, I don’t see anything wrong with that!” Franz said indifferently

Bauernfeld looked at Franz’s face and said with some trepidation, “We became one of the dominant players in the news this time, and in order to make more people pay attention to the lives of the underclass, we did another series of reports.”

“Finish it all at once, why are you swallowing, things have happened, are you still afraid to say it!” Franz frowned and chided

He hated this kind of person who spoke halfway, and came to a screeching halt when he reached the key place.

“The editor of our newspaper, based on the intelligence gathered, put forward an initiative proposal, suggesting that the capitalists provide a series of guarantees to the working class, not realizing that it was taken seriously by the government, and that it would probably be turned into law!” Bauernfeld said fearfully

Franz knew why he was worried, originally everyone was used to shouting slogans in the newspaper, a little bit radical that was fine, but once it became a reality, it was different.

The capitalists knew that the Labor Protection Act had been drafted by the newspaper “We Want Bread, We Want Cheese,” and Bauernfeld, the editor-in-chief, was dead.

Not only him, but all the employees of the paper, big and small, will be in bad luck. Maybe even Franz, the big boss behind the scenes, will be affected.

Such a thing happened, Franz is also very helpless ah, he can say that this is the bottom of the people do, and his own no relationship?

As the Crown Prince of Austria, can he still soften to the bourgeoisie? What could he do now? In addition to the hard head on, he simply have no other first choice.

“Bring me the initiative you have drafted, and don’t tell me you haven’t prepared it!” Franz said with dissatisfaction

He didn’t blame Bauernfeld, the newspaper didn’t do anything wrong on this matter, without knowing the inner workings of the political struggle, they made these reports, all in line with Franz’s positioning of the newspaper.

“Brought it, the Grand Duke please read it!” Bauernfeld said apprehensively

Now his only reliance is Franz, as the Imperial Crown Prince even if he stands up and fights the bourgeoisie, with the support of the aristocracy the possibility of losing is extremely small.

Once the big shots are on the stage, they, the little peasants, will be ignored, and when it’s over, the victor will not be liquidated.

Picked up the article, Franz initial scanning a glance, the more you look at the more familiar, this is not the “996” work system is a replica of it?

Ten hours of work per day, two hours for meals and breaks, one day of paid vacation per week, the government sets a minimum wage, capitalists cannot deduct wages, employees cannot be dismissed without reason, and factories should take the initiative to assume responsibility for workplace injuries.

Franz does not think there is anything wrong with this initiative, if the European capitalists of later generations saw such standards, they could wake up laughing in their sleep.

Franz very responsible said: “Mr. Bauernfeld, this thing you did not do wrong, the back of things you do not have to worry about, I will find a way to deal with it, the newspaper is next door to the police station, I will give them a greeting!”

Hearing Franz’s words, Bowenfeld’s hanging heart finally put down, since the boss is willing to take the lead, then it’s good to say.

Capitalists are not fools, if there is no need, no one is willing to be the head of the crowd, perhaps Franz will be afraid of the whole bourgeoisie, but to deal with one or two capitalists, but it is not a problem.

“Grand Duke, then do we have to continue the story next?” Bauernfeld asked hesitantly

“Of course we have to continue the coverage, but we have to pay attention to the intensity, don’t go overboard to stimulate the capitalists, lest we cause unnecessary trouble!” Franz thought about it and said

Changing positions is the least desirable, since we have already offended the bourgeoisie, let’s just go down one path, at least we can still gain the support of the general public.

If you really have two ends of the snake, that is the most stupid thing to do, want to please both ends, and in the end, it can only be both ends are not good.

Now the newspapers in Vienna, support the enactment of the Labor Protection Act is not the only one, the conservatives have already made an effort, the Austrian public opinion is generally sympathetic to the working class.

“Yes, Archduke!” Bauernfeld replied

After dismissing Bauernfeld, Franz was thinking about the aftermath again, and as a rule trying to suppress a topic creates a more powerful one.

What kind of topic would attract the attention of the bourgeoisie? Undoubtedly, it is still the hottest labor protection law at the moment.

For example: taking the ten-hour workday and compressing it further to include meal and rest breaks for workers?

Or maybe it’s to raise the penalties for workplace injuries a little bit, or even to set a minimum wage that will make the capitalists’ flesh hurt.

In short, as long as the Labor Protection Law finally enacted by the government goes further than what is on this initiative, then everyone’s eyes will shift.

The likelihood of the capitalists relocating their anger to the newspapers will also be minimized.

Thinking about this, Franz revealed a satisfied smile, the people who resisted the thunder were already there. Now that Archduke Louis had proposed a labor protection law on behalf of the aristocracy, Prime Minister Metternich couldn’t be idle if he didn’t want to be replaced, could he?

(End of chapter)