Chapter 989 Transformation
Affected by the sudden change in the situation in Paris, the restoration movement of the Bourbon dynasty directly evolved into a civil war, and the political situation in Europe became tense again.
The "tension" is not because of the French Civil War. The country is most concerned about the debt issue. Especially the poor ghosts of Belgium, Spain, Russia, and the states of Italy pay special attention to it.
If it weren't for the Bourbon dynasty's resolute opposition to the alliance's intervention, the Russian army stationed outside Paris would have rushed in. The inability to directly interfere does not mean that there is no way to pull the bias.
The Paris Revolutionary Army took the initiative to attack several times, but was blocked by the Russian army under the pretext of military exercises, providing strong support for the private nobles who ran away.
Not only that, even the prisoners of war released in batches by the Anti-French Alliance are now given priority to members of the royalist party. As for the unlucky ones who are politically inclined to the revolutionary party or the republican government, it is estimated that they will be prepared to sit in prison.
The Anti-French Alliance does not want these guys to come out to hinder the restoration, and the Bourbon dynasty will not welcome these opponents. Perhaps when the situation is stable in the future, they will have a chance of being released from prison, but who can say for sure about politics?
Fight if you want. Anyway, since the defeat in the European war, the dissatisfaction of the French people has been accumulating, and it is good to vent it.
According to past experience, after every emotional vent, the situation in France will stabilize for a period of time, just in time for the Bourbon dynasty to stabilize its situation.
Everything is under control, Franz has no extra time to pay attention to the disturbances from the outside world, and the focus of his current work is still at home.
After a preliminary run-in, the Holy Roman Empire is finally unified in the true sense. Although there is still a long way to go to integrate, it is still enough to scare people out.
The paper data of the unified Holy Roman Empire is undoubtedly terrifying. With the addition of the mainland and the colonies, the total economic volume has reached 38.2% of the world, and the total industrial volume has reached 54.8% of the world. The fiscal revenue exceeds the sum of all European countries, coupled with the world's largest army and second largest navy. , it is simply speechless.
In fact, Franz was also stunned by this statistic and thought it was April Fool's Day.
After calming down and studying carefully, Franz discovered that this set of data is not exaggerated, and there is even a lot of potential to be tapped.
The Continental War ravaged France, Belgium, and Italy, and the world's economic and industrial aggregates shrank.
As the victor of the war, the Holy Roman Empire not only completed the unification of the country, but also further seized large colonies of the French.
The mines, railways, ports, and plantations that the French painstakingly managed on the African continent became the spoils of the Holy Roman Empire. With the influx of immigrants, these wealth have been transformed into economic data on paper.
That's right, it is only "on paper" wealth, and it will still take a long time for these assets to function and be transformed into real national power.
The expected post-war Great Depression did happen, but the hardest hit area was not the Holy Roman Empire, but France, Belgium, and Sardinia, the countries most affected by the war.
In order to reduce the pressure of post-war demobilization and resettlement, and reduce the government's financial expenditure, Franz once again resorted to the method of enfeoffment to lure meritorious officers and soldiers to emigrate to Africa.
As a generous emperor, Franz took out land, mines, plantations, and unimportant ports and wharfs as fiefdoms. Some military officers with great credit even directly obtained a city.
Let's put it this way, most of the colonies that the Holy Roman Empire took from the French have now become private property, and what belongs to the emperor is either sand or backcountry that no one cares about.
Since it is private property, local development is no longer a problem. This group of emerging military aristocrats called their friends and friends to develop it.
As the government collects some commercial taxes, it is enough to maintain the operation of local administration. Other problems are not a problem, as long as there is a big mess, Franz pretends not to see it.
In short, it is very characteristic of Shinra. The big prince Franz on the European continent can tolerate it, let alone the small princes on the African continent.
Besides, how can such a large territory be ruled without playing around like this?
You can't learn from the British colonial rule, right?
If colonial rule is really adopted, it is not as reliable as the enfeoffment system. At least the ruling foundation is more stable, and there is no need to suppress national uprisings every now and then.
If you read the history books, you will know that there is basically no independence in the areas ruled by enfeoffment aristocrats. On the contrary, the newly occupied areas directly under the central government often relapse.
As for the possible expansion of local nobles in the future, Franz can no longer care so much. If it is big, it will be big, and it is only a self-governing dominion, and the size of the fiefdom limits the upper limit of development.
The national culture has already decided that no matter how powerful the aristocratic group grows, it is impossible for them to rebel by shouting the slogan "The princes and generals are better than each other", let alone send the emperor to the guillotine.
The class position has determined that they must be a member of the royalist party, which is the foundation for them to maintain their status. Even if there is an individual rebellion, it will be suppressed by other nobles.
The most injured is probably the central government, which has a group of nobles checking and balancing, and its power has been severely restricted.
Of course, in the Holy Roman Empire, everyone would not care about this issue. The central government has never been strong since ancient times. The current Vienna government is already an outlier, and it can be called the most powerful government since the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire.
Continue to strengthen the authority of the central government, even if the people below have no objections, Franz will not agree!
Just kidding, if the power of the cabinet continues to expand, it will
To reverse the priority. Once a powerful minister appears, the emperor will become a rubber stamp.
This is considered lucky, if you encounter a black hand, maybe they won't even give you a place for the rubber stamp, and you will just overturn the table and become the boss.
Once power is out of check and balance, it is a man-eating monster. Numerous cases have proved that human nature cannot stand the test, and loyalty will never be as reliable as profit.
Taking advantage of the opportunity of winning the European war, Franz directly supported the military aristocratic group and planted their roots in the African continent.
From this moment on, the core of maintaining the unity of the Holy Roman Empire became the emperor. States and nobles had the Holy Roman Empire because they were loyal to the emperor, not the emperor who had the empire first.
Playing like this in other countries will definitely cause dissatisfaction among many people. However, the Holy Roman Empire is an exception. The following states and nobles are all beneficiaries of this system, and the political system has been playing like this from the beginning.
The seemingly indistinguishable definition is actually the origin of legal system.
To be loyal to the emperor means that the princes are at the same level as the central government and have the highest autonomy; if they are loyal to the government, it means that the central government can take back everything they own at any time.
It took decades of tossing around to complete the ideal political system in his mind. There were so many twists and turns that Franz felt physically and mentally exhausted.
He doesn't want to care about any hidden dangers or sequelae now. Anyway, this world has never been perfect, and the painstakingly managed Holy Roman Empire also revolved around the Habsburg dynasty.
If the Habsburg dynasty collapsed one day, what would the life and death of the empire have to do with him? Franz was not so noble in making wedding dresses for others.
According to the current political structure, as long as the descendants do not die, there is no problem in continuing for a hundred or two hundred years, and in the future—sorry, the time traveler is not omnipotent.
After signing the document in hand, the unique Shinra-style ruling system was formally established. Not only the African continent, but also colonies in the Americas and Southeast Asia will replicate this model in the future.
The difference is that in these too distant regions, Franz has not yet made up his mind whether to throw a son in the past to become king, or let the nobles play local self-government.
Sometimes too much territory is also a kind of trouble. One or two generations of immigrants still have a sense of belonging to the country. After the last three or five generations, it would be nonsense to talk about the sense of belonging.
In addition to cultural intimacy, the rest will be of interest. With close economic ties and the same strategic direction, we are like a family. If there is a conflict of core interests, those who should separate will still have to separate.
Looking at the world map on the wall, Franz made up his mind that he could not continue to expand.
After a rough calculation, the territory controlled by the Holy Roman Empire has actually surpassed that of Britain, and it is about to break through 40 million square kilometers.
Judging from the current situation, no effort is needed. As long as Franz doesn't stop it, in ten or eight years, the Holy Roman Empire's control area will exceed 40 million square kilometers.
However, this expansion doesn't make any sense. The benefits brought by colonial expansion are not enough to make up for the negative political effects of expansion.
Today is different from the past, the days of running boats to enclose land are over, and the land without owner has long been carved up. If you continue to expand, you can only compete with each other, and the pay and benefits are completely out of proportion.
"Prime Minister, tell the governors below that we need time to digest the results of the war. In the years to come, if it is not necessary, do not use force to expand.
Recently, the belligerent atmosphere in the country has obviously gone too far. We are not war mad, don't clamor for war if we have nothing to do.
The cabinet should do a good job in the ideological education of government officials, so that they can use their brains more when they encounter problems. Arrogance is a sign of lack of education.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must also make a change in thinking. From now on, we will no longer be bystanders in international affairs, and you must be prepared to act as arbitrators. "
It's not that Franz made a big fuss, but that the current Vienna government is already a little bit drifting. Victory came too easily, causing many people to lose their eyes and become arrogant.
Well, it doesn't matter that the great powers are mad at all, but the ruler himself must keep a clear head.
After such a long time, Franz has realized the problem, but no one from the top government has brought it up, which in itself is abnormal.
Even if you are a fan of the authorities, then your brain trust should have thought of it, right? If everyone can't think of it, then why raise them?
This is obviously impossible. It is normal for one or two people to float away, and it is impossible for everyone to lose their eyes. There is only one answer, and everyone knows it but has not paid attention to it.
No matter what the reason is, the emperor has discovered the problem anyway, and the cabinet has not realized the seriousness of the problem, and that is the fault.
Prime Minister Karl replied bitterly: "Yes, Your Majesty!"
As the prime minister of the empire, it is very embarrassing to be directly pointed out by the emperor. Among the successive prime ministers of the Holy Roman Empire, there are only a handful of similar things that happened. Just before he retired, Carl's self-esteem was severely impacted.
Of course, that's all there is to it. Politicians have thick skins, even if they are pointed at their noses and scolded, they can greet them with a smile. A little bit embarrassing, but it can't hit Prime Minister Karl.
In a sense, it also reflects the emperor's trust in them, and only his own people will be directly beaten in politics. It would be a political disaster if there is a problem and you are greeted with a smile.