War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Vienna, Hofburg Palace.

Franz made a fuss in the Invalides, but was not driven out of Vienna like Archduke Karl.

First of all, he did not kill anyone. Secondly, there are many witnesses who can prove that it was the insiders of the Invalides who wanted to harm Archduke Franz.

First he made provocations, and then he took the initiative to attack, and both the people and the stolen goods were obtained. The people who testified were also wealthy and nobles, and many parties were involved, so there was no room for any overturning of the verdict.

What happened at Les Invalides at this time was a scandal for the royal family, the imperial government, and the military.

Therefore, the Minister of Justice certainly understands that now it is time to cut the knot quickly, sentence the case quickly and harshly, and not give any opportunity to make a big fuss out of it.

At the same time, various departments within the Austrian Empire also cut off from the Invalides, because this incident alarmed the emperor. Ferdinand I still valued his family very much. The emperor became furious on the throne and almost suffered another stroke.

Austria's imperial power is still very strong now, especially with the economic improvement, political strength, and military victory in recent years, which has greatly strengthened the royal family's prestige.

Therefore, if the emperor is dissatisfied, someone must be unlucky, and in the end the bureaucrats have to introduce another batch of scapegoats.

The entire Les Invalides incident involved a total of 136 officials, including two Class A 5th-level civil servants, 17 Class B 3rd-class civil servants, 30 Class 3rd-class civil servants, and a total of 81 middle- and lower-level civil servants.

Here is an introduction to the civil service system in Austria at this time. It is a bit confusing because it was inherited from the era of Queen Theresa.

There are nine levels of civil service. The higher the level, the greater the power. At the same time, they will also be divided into five categories based on their origin and academic qualifications: Those who are from high-ranking nobles and have outstanding performance in university are classified as Class A.

Those who were born into high-ranking nobles, or who performed well in university, or those who were from lower-ranking nobles and had at least completed university studies were classified as second-class. Those who were born into lower-level nobles, or who had at least completed university studies, or who had served the imperial government for at least thirty years, were classified as Class C.

Intermediate civil servants are required to have completed at least secondary school or have more than ten years of experience as a low-level civil servant.

Junior civil servants are actually a group of odd jobs. They are said to be civil servants, but they are more like orderlies, and they have almost no possibility of promotion.

Class A has nine levels, Class B has seven levels, Class C can only go up to level five, junior and intermediate civil servants can only go up to level three, and Class A starts at level three.

Two first-class civil servants were sentenced to pay a fine of 10,000 florins each and to go home and reflect for five years without holding public office. A total of 47 civil servants in the second and third classes were sentenced to pay 2,000 florins each and were expelled from Vienna.

The remaining 81 people were sentenced to confiscation of all personal property and sent to Dalmatia for ten years of hard labor.

Although this penalty cannot be called fair, it serves as a deterrent.

Moreover, it also turned Les Invalides into a hot potato. Prince Metternich and Count Korolaf negotiated and contracted it out.

This was within Franz's expectation. Naturally, the two old foxes would not keep this kind of trouble in their hands, so they would use public bidding to kick the ball to others.

However, there are a few powerful businessmen in Vienna who have no background. They also know that this is a piece of chicken ribs, which does not have much profit and water, but can easily bring trouble to themselves.

But Prince Metternich and Count Korolaf looked down upon those small businessmen, and such people were not qualified to join the game. But someone must take over this plate, because they were the ones who got it from the army, so they must fight to the end.

Naturally, Franz would not really let them break the pot, so he asked someone to take over the business of Les Invalides. Of course, the conditions still have to be fought for, after all, this is a business deal.

As expected, Franz succeeded in the bid. The money allocated by the Austrian government to Les Invalides was not large, but not too much.

As a result, he contracted breakfast, lunch and dinner to three different companies.

The purpose of this is very simple. One is to let them compete with each other, the other is to let them supervise each other, and the third is to help the poor and provide more opportunities. Because of this kind of division, usually powerful big businessmen Look down on it.

The reason why Franz didn't send someone to do it himself was because he knew his position. If he was worried, he could send someone to supervise, but he couldn't do everything himself.

After all, Franz is not a construction captain. After all, when the three companies have common interests, they might waste money together and lower industry standards.

In order to put an end to this phenomenon, one is to let the veterans in the Invalides give scores, and the other is to regularly send industry specialists to investigate and supervise.

Thirdly, Franz will personally visit them every once in a while. Fourthly, he hopes that some children and young soldiers can visit these veterans regularly.

After all, it is easy to bribe a person who is related to one's interests, but it is not easy to bribe a group of people who have nothing to do with it.

When Franz and his friends came to Les Invalides again, the courtyard was still old, but there was no sense of decay.

The fallen leaves and soil on the ground were peeled off, revealing the original bluestone slabs.

A few veterans were chatting with the guard in front of the door, and there was a big black dog watching vigilantly outside.

Old people in twos and threes sat on benches in the yard, looking at the passing pedestrians and the ever-changing city. There seemed to be a ray of sunlight falling in the dense shade of the trees.

Franz and his entourage entered the courtyard, and everyone saluted solemnly.

Not only for Franz’s identity, but also for Franz as a person, they respect and appreciate him from the bottom of their hearts.

Franz was also happy that these people could come back to life. Being respected is always a happy thing. Taffy and others also felt that they were in a good mood. They planned to let people buy some things to reward these veterans. .

However, Franz stopped this behavior, because once people have enough food and clothing, they will start to demand dignity. He didn't want to be stabbed by some people's unconscious actions. These people had finally regained their self-esteem.

"I'm going to set up a glorious military foundation. You can consider sponsoring it." Franz suggested. Although Adjani didn't say anything, she obviously had great opinions on the former's behavior.

But people like Richard Metternich, Akadov, and Taffy don't care about this. Since Franz said it, just pay.

What they didn't know was that they were actually sponsoring Umbrella. Franz also very considerately gave them shares, but except for Taffy himself, no one else contributed a lot of money.

Franz patted Taffy on the head.

"I won't treat you badly."

Then everyone entered the hall, which was finally no longer a canteen, but became a bar.

That’s right, the bar at Les Invalides. As the saying goes, food and clothing are enough to satisfy your desires.

As soon as these veterans could fill their bellies, the hall turned into a bar. A group of old men brag, play cards, and dance kicks together. Many of them have to go up even if they are on crutches. It's very enjoyable.

"It seems that they lived too depressed in the past." Franz sighed, and everyone nodded in agreement.

Then the Invalides continued to carry out rectification at Franz's request.

Although Franz knew that there would always be a gap between ideals and reality, the scene in the Austrian Invalides was too real. He was afraid that others would not be able to stand it anymore, so he asked the veterans to practice regularly and learn art and storytelling methods.