War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Seeing the serfs lying on the ground and the troops surrounding them, the nobles who had been timid before suddenly became full of pride and gestures, as if they wanted to show off with the serfs on the ground.

Franz still took one last look at these poor guys with some pity. With external support, his serfs had to deal with it so miserably, and there was no one left among them.

Franz shouted, urging his horse forward.

"Stand up, all citizens of Austria!"

Franz deliberately did not speak German, but spoke twice in Polish and Ruthenian. Because the local population of Galicia is mainly composed of Poles and Ruthenians.

But the serfs were still lying on the ground, as if they hadn't heard. This made Franz very strange, so he asked someone to ask.

(Franz has already violated the rules by coming to the front line, because this kind of behavior is very dangerous and irresponsible. If he really gets off his horse and goes to the crowd to ask questions, then many people around him will be unlucky.)

Naturally, Colonel Bordeaux had to do this kind of thing, and he was willing to do it. Although his attitude was still bad, he had to admit that his efficiency was high.

The results obtained were somewhat surprising. According to Colonel Bordeaux's report, the serfs were reluctant to get up because they saw the double eagle flag of the Habsburg family.

Only then did Franz realize how arrogant and ignorant these Galician nobles were. Even the serfs could recognize such a big double eagle flag, but these nobles did not recognize it.

In other words, the nobles in these border areas didn't care at all. After all, the last time a member of the royal family visited Galicia was 70 years ago, that is, the famous Joseph II.

“I am the eldest son of Archduke Franz Karl of the Habsburg family and Archduchess Sophie of the Würterbach family, grandson of Holy Roman Emperor Franz II, and Archduke Franz Joseph of the Austrian Empire.

The recent massacres in Galicia have been identified as a powerful response by the Empire to the rebels, and the Royal Family and Government thank you for your bloodshed and sacrifices.

Stand up now! Tell me what do you want? ! .”

Franz's shout only changed their lying state, and the serfs still looked at each other in shock.

Seeing Franz acting like this, how could those nobles not know what he was going to do? Some people were hysterical, but their throats were injured and they couldn't shout at all.

Royal guards do this professionally, but they usually don't show it to outsiders.

Some people are almost crazy and want to rush in front of Franz, but this is impossible. Those who run slowly may be caught, and those who run fast will be knocked down by the butt of the gun. If they run faster, they will be greeted by Sabers and pistols.

Someone knelt down to pray and repent, which also failed to arouse Franz's sympathy. Maybe someone had done the same thing in front of them.

If they really let each other go, the serfs should not be so angry at this time. If they have the choice, no one will fight the nobles and landlords with guns with their bodies.

Although the performance of firearms in this era was very poor, as a serf with only simple farm tools and sticks, if he wanted to avoid bullets and rush into the dock, and then kill the landlord, it was simply not enough to have the courage to die.

Even if you are determined to die, you still have to pay a heavy price.

Because guns are not just weapons, they also represent rights. Every landowner and noble will recruit a small group of people as their own forces, let them form a guard to protect themselves, and even deliberately create confrontations between serfs. This way the lives of the gentlemen To be stable.

Therefore, the success of serf uprisings in this era often required two things at the same time: unparalleled courage, and the local nobles being sufficiently inhumane.

Finally, a young man supported an old man and walked out of the crowd. The young man looked very tall, but under the tattered clothes, you could see the outline of the abdominal cavity. The two boots under his feet were obviously different. One of them should be winter. The other one is a common riding boot.

Although the old man was being supported by others, he was still in good spirits. His legs and feet were inconvenient and he most likely suffered gunshot wounds.

"I am the head of Vizhcha Village. We are not rebelling. We are helping the motherland to suppress the rebellion."

At this time, a nobleman cursed hoarsely.

"Eat everything inside and outside! You are Polish! Poland is your motherland!"

Immediately, two guards restrained the man and put something similar to a horse bit on his mouth. The man could no longer speak.

The old serf didn't care at all. After all, serfs have no nationality. He just continued.

"We hope that His Highness the Grand Duke will fulfill the promise of Emperor Joseph II after he ascends the throne."

The so-called promise of Joseph II was to liberate the serfs. The old man said it neither condescendingly nor arrogantly. But this sentence was like thunder in everyone's ears.

The reason why Joseph II died young was because of his radical political strategies. Moreover, those serfs were the property of the nobles. In Austria of this era, it was not uncommon for nobles to rebel, and usually they would not harm their families.

Even if he is caught, at most he will be imprisoned, his family's property will not be lost, and he will not be punished. In many cases, he will not even be punished at all.

Once the rebellion succeeds, the benefits will be huge. So who doesn’t love this kind of profitable business?

The fundamental reason is that the Austrian imperial system is not centralized enough, and it has to maintain a rule that is close to an aristocratic republic.

"Benevolence" largely comes from lack of strength, but Franz really has no way to betray his own class.

Franz really wanted to be like other time-travelers, who would directly attack the local tyrants to divide their land, and then return to the world with a wave of his hand, and even embark on an unimagined road.

However, the reality is that the Habsburg family is the largest landowner in the Austrian Empire, and the emperor himself is the chief noble of the empire. The foundation of the dynasty's rule lies in the support of the nobles and clergy.

Moreover, this method of dividing land against local tyrants was used by Huss, the Protestants during the Thirty Years' War, and Napoleon also used it during the recent French Revolution.

Most of Franz's team were soldiers, so there were many Josephists, and most of them supported the liberation of serfs.

It's just that the civil servants and secretaries were a little nervous. They were not necessarily afraid of harming their own interests, but they were afraid that Franz would make the same mistake again.

In fact, the serfs didn't really expect Franz to do anything. After all, the nobles made trouble not once or twice. Each time, they raised it high and then put it down gently.

The usual practice of the dynasty was to give some rewards to the serfs and then make a lot of empty promises that were simply unattainable.

But there was once an emperor who really wanted to liberate them, and the so-called freedom was really only one step away from them.

What the serfs wanted most was what they never had. But they had been deceived many times. In order to give the young people some hope, the old man said that he would wait until Archduke Franz came to the throne.