Chapter 355: Secret Positioning

  Chapter 345: The Dark Side

There is no way to convince Massimiliano, Franz directly threw the other two younger brothers into the barracks, closed education. Perhaps it is to accept the lesson, this will Sophie Empress Dowager did not intervene.

Before Franz succeeded to the throne, the Austrian army has always been the aristocratic fop’s gold-plated place. Now the Austrian army is the same place for fops, but not in the gold-plated, but the days are like years.

Closed management, not to mention, once into the barracks and the city of wine and green life goodbye, every day stuck in the Alps inside the training.

Because of the strict management system, many families have used the military as a school to educate the next generation, the number of active fops in Vienna has also dropped to an all-time low.

The legal military service time is only two years, because of the population growth, usually after one year of service, the ordinary soldiers can be retired to go home and transfer to the reserve.

An exception was the sons of nobles, who started with three years of service. It took more time to train an officer than an ordinary soldier, so naturally the service time was longer.

The training of noble officers was more rigorous than that of ordinary soldiers, and the training subjects were much more varied. Usually the first year was spent in the Alps, or the Balkan Mountains.

Every day training was exhausting, so naturally there was no energy to think nonsense. After a long time, many bad habits would be changed in the army.

Originally, Massimiliano and Franz were only a little over a year apart, and by the time the military reform came around he had already completed his gilding and become a naval officer, missing out on this opportunity for polish.

Because the training was so hard, he couldn’t return home once a year. The Queen Mother Sophie, who loved her son dearly, asked Franz to open the back door unsuccessfully, and then dragged it out.

It is good that the nobles in the German region have the tradition of military service, and those who have not entered the army to serve in the military are simply unable to gain a foothold in society.

So the Empress Dowager Sophie at most can only delay, do not dare to really let the two little ones to avoid military service.

The specific situation can be referred to, every year there are a few playboys were tied by the family sent into the barracks, and occasionally there will be crying and crying as if the scene of life and death.

Of course, such scenes mostly appeared in the emerging nobles. This was also the reason why it was despised by the old nobles, and was considered to be a reflection of a lack of upbringing.

In a way, Franz’s military reform also relied on tradition.

Although Austria had not reached the point where the army owned the country like Prussia, most of the top government officials had also come from the army.

If there was a need for extreme mobilization in a certain place, government officials could turn into officers and form an army in the shortest possible time.

Because of the honor of the nobility, no nobleman ever complained in front of Franz that the training was too hard, which made him very satisfied.

Rights and obligations were equal, and if one refused to fulfill even one’s own obligations, then the class was truly depraved.

According to the statistics of the Ministry of Defense, the percentage of Austrian noble children serving in the military was more than ninety-five percent, and the rest of those who were physically defective and congenitally deficient did not have the means to enter the military service.

Before the reform of the military system this figure was one hundred percent, the cultural tradition of the German region is to serve as a soldier as an honor, now this fine tradition is naturally preserved.

From the beginning of compulsory education, there are basic military training classes. In regions without the conditions it is just formation training and long-distance running, and the aristocratic school is a replica of the Junior Military Academy.

St. Petersburg

After several years of struggle, the reformers finally prevailed over the conservatives, and on March 25, 1863, Alexander II issued the General Decree on the Peasants’ Freedom from Serf Dependency.

It provided for the abolition of serfdom and the acquisition by serfs of the status of freemen, with personal liberty and general civil rights, including the right to own property, to hold public office to conduct litigation, and to engage in commerce and industry.

Peasants were allowed to use a certain number of plots of land provided that all the land was owned by the landowner, but had to pay a ransom to the landowner.

Peasants were also required to perform labor or pay a rent in lieu of labor for the landowner before signing a deed of redemption.

Obviously, this reform of the Russians was imperfect, and this land ransom was fixed by the landowners, far exceeding the market price of the land, and even in some places several times higher than the market price.

The high redemption price of land, in turn, posed a potential for future social conflict. In fact, conflicts have occurred in many places after the purchase price was set.

Alexander II also had a problem: on the one hand, he wanted to carry out more radical social reforms, so that the Russian Empire could quickly enter into a capitalist society; on the other hand, he did not want to break with the land-owning nobles.

There was a difference between a “landowner” and a “landlord”. The landowners in the Russian Empire were the nobility, and the common freeholders seldom owned land.

The social reforms that are being carried out now are obviously detrimental to the interests of the aristocracy. The nobles who ruled the country were naturally reluctant to do so, and they wanted to pass on the losses.

This was not only the will of the conservatives, including many among the reformers who were prepared to sacrifice the interests of the peasants for the success of this social reform.

As for the social conflicts that might be brought about after doing so, they had already been ignored, they couldn’t really go and cut their own flesh, could they?

The Minister of Police, Home Novvius, said in a low voice, “Your Majesty, there were a total of 38 serf riots in the country last month, and they have all been suppressed.”

Serf riots were no longer news in the Russian Empire, it would be news if that didn’t break out a few times a year.

But with dozens of outbreaks a month, Alexander II still felt the pressure. The abolition bill was issued, but this reform did not satisfy the serfs.

The revolutionaries were not idle either, they encouraged the serfs to rise up in revolution, claiming that once the Tsarist government was overthrown, everyone would be able to own land for free.

The libertarians were not so radical, at least they were not prepared to push the Tsar. The liberals believed that the government should introduce laws to put a price on the land, and that the nobles should not be allowed to exploit the peasants.

Most of the current serf riots in the country are the result of these two schools of thought.

Alexander II said, “Continue to keep a tight vigil, we can’t let them make a mess and jeopardize this reform at this critical time.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” The police minister replied hastily

Fortunately, the Russians won the Near East War, and utilizing the opportunity to reward meritorious officials for the war victory, Nicholas I liberated a group of serfs.

These people were now the main force of the Tsar’s army, even though most of them were at the bottom of the army, but as long as these people were loyal to the Tsar, then the Russian Empire was still the Tsar’s Russia.

Otherwise the nobles, who had long been alarmed, would not have compromised with the Tsar so easily, and the conservative forces in Russia were consistently the strongest in Europe.

It was not the same as the abolition of serfdom in Austria in the midst of rebellions all over the place. At that time, the Austrian nobles were frightened by the revolution, watching the extermination of one noble family after another, fearing when it would be their turn, and had to agree to the abolition of serfdom.

In the face of survival, the expectations of everyone’s heart naturally lowered. The price of land was cut downward by a single cut, and so it was. In order to save their lives, everyone had to choose to compromise.

Now the Tsarist nobles could not feel the pressure of survival. Although there were serf riots in Russia, these were not on a large scale. There is no pressure, everyone naturally want to make up for the loss, and even ready to take the opportunity to make a profit.

Finance Minister Kurdasiabi said anxiously, “Your Majesty, because of the reform, it is expected that our tax revenue this year will fall by five percentage points again, while financial expenditure will rise by fifteen percent.

If it continues like this, I’m afraid that we won’t wait for the domestic reforms to be completed, we you’ll be financially bankrupt first. The Ministry of Finance suggests delaying the abolition of the tax package system in some remote areas in order to reduce fiscal expenses.”

The tax charter system was also a difficult problem for the Tsarist government. The Russian empire was too huge, and before that because of communication and transportation, the tsarist government had no way to manage this huge empire and had to implement the tax charter system.

Now with the advent of the telegraph, the problem of communication could be solved. The Tsarist government was ready to abolish the tax system and clear the way for the development of the capitalist economy.

Only in this way the administrative overhead increased considerably. The taxes received in many remote areas were not always enough for administrative overhead.

Alexander II asked rhetorically, “I’m afraid that just delaying the abolition of the tax charter system still won’t solve the problem, will it? Our funding gap is not something that can be solved with a few million rubles a year.”

Finance Minister Kurdasiabi replied, “Yes, Your Majesty. This year’s fiscal deficit should exceed forty million rubles, and delaying the abolition of the tax package system will save eight million rubles.”

Alexander II thought for a moment and said, “Even if we delay the abolition of the tax package system, what about the remaining funding gap?”

The main areas of the Russian Empire where the tax package system was implemented were in Siberia, the Far East and Central Asia, and because of the transportation, the economy of these areas was not good, so delaying the reform would not have much impact.

Finance Minister Kurdasiabi proposed, “Your Majesty, I personally suggest selling Alaska to save on administrative expenses while exchanging it for a sum of money to cover the financial shortfall.”

Alexander II shook his head and said, “There’s no problem with selling Alaska, that land doesn’t actually bring us any revenue except for its size.

Because of the relationship with the British, we simply won’t be able to defend it in the event of a future conflict.

But the problem is that we simply can’t find a buyer, and the only Americans who might buy this land are now deep in the civil war and can’t get out of it.”

It’s true, before the discovery of gold, Alaska was a barren land, with less than 10,000 Russians in over a million square kilometers.

Even though the Central Basin has a reclaimable land, land is worthless in this day and age, especially undeveloped land.

Minister of Finance Kurdasiabi proposed, “Your Majesty, we are looking for buyers all over the world, and if we can’t find any buyers it will be used as interest on next year’s loan against Austria!”

Alexander II shook his head, “No, if we do that, it will affect the relationship between the two countries. Right now Austria is not only our ally, but also our largest trading partner.”

This had nothing to do with modesty, it was entirely determined by interest. The existence of the Russian-Austrian alliance allowed the Russian Empire to retain its European hegemony, and even now, busy with internal reforms, no one had shaken their position.

But the situation would be different once this alliance was dissolved, not only would the French challenge their hegemony, even Austria would likewise become a challenger to the hegemony.

Turning potential enemies into allies was the greatest diplomatic achievement of the Tsarist government in recent decades.

When Austria was deep in revolution, Nicholas I did not fall on his sword, so the Russian Empire gained Austrian support to win the Near East War and capture Constantinople.

Before his death, Nicholas I repeatedly warned him of the importance of the Russian-Austrian alliance, Alexander II was not stupid, and knew that this is the alliance between the two countries, for the sake of a small benefit affect the relationship between the two countries that would not be good.

Minister of Finance Kurdasia explained: “Your Majesty, there is no need to affect the relationship between the two countries. You only need to write a letter to His Majesty Franz, explaining our difficulties and asking him to help.

Back then, when the Austrians suppressed the Hungarian rebellion, Nicholas the Great was also prepared to send troops to help, only just arriving at the border, the Austrians took care of it themselves.

No matter what, this favor the Habsburgs received. As a result, in the later Near Eastern wars, the Vienna government has always been on our side.”

Kurdasiabi was implicitly reminding Alexander II to value the royal relationship between the two countries and not to neglect the national interest just because of his pro-Prussian personal stance.

Alexander II nodded, he personally pro-Prussian to pro-Prussian, not Peter III that stupid, ignoring the national interest.

Don’t you see that the relationship between Russia and Prussia is still not improving?

After the death of Bismarck in Prussia, Wilhelm I, who was deeply humiliated, never bowed his head to Russia. Alexander II also did not show any goodwill to Prussia.

It was all a matter of national interest. On the one hand, as the hegemony of Europe, the Russian Empire can not take the initiative to bow down; on the other hand, Denmark, the mood of the little brother should also be taken care of, based on the Danish Kingdom of these years to the tsarist government to provide 20 million rubles in loans, pro and con on a glance.

Alexander II calmly replied, “No problem, I will write this letter as soon as possible.”

See Alexander II accepted this proposal, the Minister of Finance Kuldasia than a sigh of relief, straight sigh this money can be really hard to earn.

He so hard to encourage Alexander II, not just to deepen the relationship between Russia and Austria, of course, does not rule out the factors in this regard.

More still because of the receipt of the Austrian ambassador to Russia’s 100,000 Shendian public relations fee. Kurdasiabi is smart people know what money can be received, what money can not be received, received the money to do things.

Austrians want to further deepen the relationship between the two countries, Kurdasiabi naturally will not refuse, which is also in line with Russian interests.

As for the issue of Alaska, it was decisively ignored by him. This is nothing more than a pretext for continuing to deepen relations between the two countries, a barbaric land.

(End of chapter)