Chapter 31: Measures

  Chapter 31 Measures

Metternich’s proposal amounted to nothing, and it was as if no one else but his supporters had heard it.

Abolishing serfdom at this time is also risky, one bad maneuver and the local nobles will rise up.

Since ancient times it has been easy to cut someone else’s flesh, but difficult to cut one’s own.

Moreover, to restore confidence in the market, it is not enough to abolish serfdom, but also to abolish a series of privileges of the aristocracy, and I am afraid that in the end, even the land will have to be divided up, otherwise where will the serfs get their purchasing power?

Only by abolishing this series of constraints that are not conducive to the development of the economy, further reducing the cost of commodity circulation, and releasing a larger market, can we get rid of the economic crisis.

With such a big concession, I am afraid that even if a few of them agree, it will not be of any use, and it is impossible for the aristocracy to agree.

The abolition of serfdom can be negotiated, but to share their land is not to be thought of, of course, the money to give enough, is not non-negotiable.

To abolish the privileges of the aristocracy is also possible, but this needs time to come step by step, to come at once a fierce, it is easy to fall.

Unless one waits for productivity to develop further and the government pays for land redemption. Using coercion is impossible, as long as the army is still in the hands of the nobles, it is impossible to use coercion.

These radical means, Metternich naturally did not dare to use, at most, the abolition of serfdom, the liberation of civil productivity.

“Your Excellency the Prime Minister, if we now announce the abolition of serfdom, perhaps tomorrow you will receive news of Hungary’s independence!”

Archduke Louis said very facelessly, the abolitionist movement that Metternich insisted on still had results, by 1848 many of Austria’s nobles had freed their serfs.

But this was limited to the core of Austria, the Vienna government had a tighter local control, and after the abolition order was issued, the government gave the nobles a lot of work.

This was the reason for Metternich’s unpopularity, as many Austrian nobles, including the royal family, freed their serfs because of their reputation.

The same could not be said of the local nobles, who were all kings of the soil and often treated the orders of the central government as toilet paper, and the Vienna government did not have the determination to stick to them.

Even Prime Minister Metternich often used the abolition of serfdom to terrorize the Hungarian nobles and force them to make political concessions.

The abolition of serfdom at this time could indeed satisfy the bourgeoisie, but the Hungarians were about to revolt, and the same might happen in other regions.

The government could not even think of compensating the aristocrats for their losses. At this time, the Austrian central government’s finances were only flat, and even if there were surpluses, they went into the pockets of the bureaucrats.

“Both of you, we can discuss this issue later, for now it’s better to solve the immediate problem, if we don’t take action it will be too late!” Franz Anton von Kollorat-Libustinsky interrupted the dispute between the two men

The Austrian Regency Council consisted of four men, Metternich, Archduke Louis, Archduke Franz Karl, and Kollorat, but Archduke Franz Karl had not the slightest political ambition. (It was mainly a congenital defect that prevented him from taking part.)

Politically Collorat and Metternich were rivals, though rivals were not incapable of working together, and in many cases they still shared the same political views.

Even if they oppose for the sake of opposing, the struggle is not to the point of death, for example, now he and Prime Minister Metternich are very close in their political views.

However, as a political opponent, don’t expect him to help Metternich, not adding to his chaos is the biggest help.

Seeing that even Archduke Louis couldn’t convince him, Metternich could only sigh helplessly.

“Even our own people don’t agree, let alone the local nobles.”

Once a local rebellion was caused by the abolition of serfdom, it would be a big trouble.

Such a political disaster could not be carried by Metternich alone, at least the Council of Regents would need to come together to fight it in order to get through it.

“Alright, then let’s arrest people first!”

Having made this reluctant decision, Metternich was in a very bad mood, knowing that there was no way back for the capitalists themselves.

The outbreak of the economic crisis could not be solved, then they were going to go bankrupt, and in order to avoid bankruptcy there was only to break the current social order.

Their counterparts in France had already set an example by crushing the crisis with a revolution that also unlocked the shackles restraining the bourgeoisie’s economic development.

For example: use the revolution to revolutionize the bankers directly, and the debt will naturally disappear.

Without debt, people are naturally not afraid of hoarding, the big deal is to sell slowly, and without banks calling in loans, people won’t go bankrupt.

Even further, simply let the government pay for them, pay for the purchase of these goods, and shift the crisis to the government.

U.S. counterparts have done this, of course, people go further, not the government directly pay for the purchase of goods, but take the money for the bailout.

Broken capital chain to connect up, the economic crisis time delayed, everyone will have time to retreat, the last bad luck is the receiver.

Austria has not yet evolved to that point, before serfdom is unraveled, they want to find the receiver can not, the working class is exploited by them too hard to connect the qualifications of the plate are not.

Vienna’s stock market, now also just a game for the rich, the poor even the qualification to open an account are not.

This era of stock market transactions, all are manually operated, this human cost is also very high, a few shillings even the reception of the labor cost is not enough, naturally no account qualification.

……

With an order from the Vienna government, the secret police were deployed overnight and began to arrest the organizers of the demonstration.

Obviously this was not the right decision, the organizers who were pushed into the open today were in reality just pawns, the big boys were not going to charge.

The easiest to find were the student representatives, there were only so many universities in Vienna anyway, and the locations were very well defined, but unfortunately no one wanted to do this errand.

The doors of the University of Vienna were not easy to enter, as a concentration camp for anti-government forces, most of the middle-aged teenagers were opponents of the government, and the rest of those that were left were aristocratic reformers.

Now Sheriff Winston has a headache, the suspect is inside the school and they can’t even get in the door. There’s no doubt that the school is resisting government enforcement.

The university is so influential that it would be a bad idea to rush in violently. There are no ordinary teachers or students in there, the lowest born are small businessmen, lawyers, doctors.

The working class is too poor to pay tuition, and the peasants, the vast majority of whom are still serfs, can’t afford to go to school.

(End of chapter)