Chapter 382 Safety First
The tax policy is only an intention, and the final extent to which it will be implemented will ultimately depend on the actual situation. Except for the parties involved, most people are indifferent.
Colonial and native integration, this is not the same. As soon as the Vienna government became the wind, it quickly aroused heated discussions in the society.
Supporters and opponents tore in the newspapers every day, and even hot topics such as the Prussian-Russian war, US negotiations, and the Russian navy being bullied by pirates were suppressed.
Public opinion is not one-sided, and supporters and opponents are evenly matched. This made Franz very reassured, and it seemed that the chances of integration being passed in the Imperial Parliament were relatively high.
As emperor, although he has the ability to force a decision, Franz never did it.
On the surface, it seems that this is very majestic, showing the authority of the monarchy, but in fact the potential political threat is very great. It should be the right decision, and the emperor will be responsible for it if the decision is wrong.
No one can guarantee that you will not make mistakes, let alone making the right decision at the wrong time and place, which is also a mistake.
The Imperial Parliament is the highest authority in the New Holy Roman Empire, and it is the role of the culprit. Usually, major political decisions need to be taken here.
This is the political backhand prepared by Franz. If there is a big problem and you don't want the cabinet to get out of the way, you can also make the Imperial Parliament responsible for it.
After so many years of reorganization, the current imperial parliament is no longer the same as it used to be.
Even the smallest free city has at least one seat, and then one seat is created for every three million people. In order to take care of the small state, one seat will be added directly after the population exceeds three million.
Anyway, no matter how it is done, Austria occupies half of the seats. However, if one-third of the parliamentarians object, the resolution can be vetoed. To amend the constitution, more than 95% of the parliamentarians must agree.
It is worth mentioning that the constitutional issue was not created by Franz, but was requested by the states on their own initiative.
Because the imperial constitution guarantees their autonomy, in order to prevent the possibility of Austria interfering in their internal affairs, it directly puts forward a condition that is almost impossible to meet.
Of course, the favorable provisions in the constitution to protect the emperor and king are also one of the reasons for this provision. We are all smart people, and of course we have to support them as terms that are beneficial to them.
The rights of the central government are naturally restricted. No matter how powerful the bureaucracy is, their rights are legally restricted.
Each state government has a set of teams, and now the cabinet of the new Holy Roman Empire government has great power, which is based on the premise that they also serve as the Austrian cabinet.
If Franz is unhappy one day, they can be separated directly. Then the Imperial Cabinet would be embarrassed to find that they could not do anything without the cooperation of the state government.
The army belongs to the emperor and the king below, and the cabinet has no right to mobilize; the states have a high degree of autonomy, and the central government has no right to intervene in internal affairs.
Only part of the financial power is left, and the central government can print money, but this also requires the approval of the imperial parliament; the seigniorage and customs collected by the central government need to pay administrative expenses, military expenses, royal annuities, etc. Government apportionment.
Of course, diplomatic power is in the hands of the central government, and colonial management power is also in the hands of the central government, but these are inseparable from the cooperation of the state.
Especially when it comes to the internal affairs of the state government, all policies can only be carried out with the cooperation of the state government.
For example, if the government plans to give tax rebates to textile factories, it must obtain the cooperation of the state government.
If a state government objects, then they can still do their own thing and continue to collect taxes according to their own laws, without paying attention to the decisions of the central government.
This is only theoretical, in practice now the economy of the New Holy Roman Empire has been integrated. Many economic problems need to be solved through coordination by the central government, and there is no reason why people will refuse the terms that are beneficial to them.
This is also Franz's positioning of the central government, an organizational coordinator that links all the states together.
It is somewhat similar to the German Empire in history, but the emperor's power is much greater. The central government has no right to interfere in the internal affairs of the states, which does not mean that the emperor has no right to interfere.
It's one thing to have the right, it's another thing to ignore it.
Unless the government of a certain country has caused anger and resentment, the people will rise up, and Franz will only intervene when the emperor must intervene.
From the establishment of the New Holy Roman Empire to the present, this has never happened, so Franz has always been paid only for wages and no work.
He is not a power madman, why should he do such a thankless thing? As the emperor of the new Holy Roman Empire, it is enough to be a good judge.
What's more, Franz is also the emperor of Austria and the king of Bavaria. Even if he has a strong desire for power, he is not without a place to vent.
If it really doesn't work, you can still toss the colony. Anyway, things will never be finished. If you are not afraid of sudden death, you can work 24 hours a day.
It is not without advantages to have more part-time jobs. In Europe, a society where property is clearly divided, Franz can naturally get more salary.
The New Holy Roman Emperor's pension, the Austrian Emperor's pension, the Bavarian King's pension, if the future integration process of the colonies is completed, he will probably have to add several titles, which is another large income.
As for merging the colonies into Austria
Location? This is completely impossible.
It is very expensive to open up overseas colonies. The Austrian family obviously cannot afford it. In the end, the new Holy Roman Empire has to pay for it.
In other words, it was all the states who paid together to build the current colonial empire.
If all the money was allocated to Austria, the money owners would definitely not agree. It is even more impossible for a family to be divided, and the colonies are destined to decentralize far overseas.
It is enough for states to obtain economic benefits. Even if they have the nominal management rights, they have no way to manage them.
Franz encourages everyone to open up overseas colonies. The colonies that the state government wants to open up can be done by themselves.
After taking into account the terrifying capital investment and risks, everyone unanimously decided to let the central government go! If you want to make money, everyone will make money, and if you want to lose, everyone will lose together.
The most important thing is that there is no way to leave the central government alone, and without the protection of the imperial navy, how can the security of the colonies be solved?
Haven't you seen the colonial strongholds established overseas by Prussian and German federal capitalists, and they all volunteered to join?
Even if Prussia and the German Confederation joined the colonial movement now, they were inseparable from the support of the new Shinra Empire.
This can't be solved by hugging your thighs, and overseas colonies are another world. Each country has a large number of civilian colonial groups overseas, and these groups are not completely controlled by the governments of various countries.
In the event of a conflict, governments stand by their own side.
In the end, they all speak with their fists. If they are strong in a certain region overseas, they can occupy a dominant position in that region, rather than simply looking at the strength of the country.
This is also the reason why the Netherlands and Portugal can keep large colonies. Although their countries are not strong, they are strong enough in some areas.
Since the colonial empire was built by everyone with money and efforts, the ownership of the colony naturally belongs to the empire. In what way is it incorporated into the empire, which is also a question that needs to be studied.
Autonomous province, municipality, dominion, province, state, noble fief...
These are all options, and different names represent different systems.
A municipality means that the colony is fragmented, a dominion means that the colony retains a larger territory, a province directly under the central government means direct control by the central government, and the state is the same as the current state...
From the point of view of interests, Franz is of course more willing to incorporate the colonies into the empire as a state, which will help consolidate the imperial power.
To put it bluntly, whether it is a principality or a kingdom, Franz can directly serve as the king. The link of the empire is the emperor first, and economic integration second.
The more part-time jobs you have, the more stable the throne will be. Unless all the states fight against the emperor together, it will be safe.
Under the policy situation, no one dared to take the emperor down at the risk of the division of the country. Moreover, before the emperor was abolished, a civil war had to be fought.
The opposing states must be subdued by force, otherwise the Imperial Parliament will not pass. If the constitution cannot be amended, the new regime cannot gain legitimacy.
The legitimacy of the regime is very important in the European cultural system. Usually, the lower the legitimacy, the shorter the lifespan of the regime.
A regime without legitimacy, prepare to suppress rebellions every day! No, the regime has no legitimacy, so it can't be regarded as a rebellion, it can only be regarded as making things right.
On the question of revolution, Franz was very reassured. As long as it's not an army rebellion, it can be done easily.
Just look at Vienna, there is no revolutionary basis here. Even if there were revolutions all over Europe, there would be no trouble here.
From Franz's accession to the present until now, there has been no general strike in Vienna, and even if there is a strike, it is limited to less than 180 people, which is enough to explain a lot of problems.
This is not without reason. Since more than ten years ago, the Vienna government has prohibited the opening of any factories in Vienna, and the established factories have been relocated and left one after another.
In a city without industry, there is naturally no large-scale strike.
Now Vienna's economy is mainly based on service industry, scientific research and finance. The economic structure determines the superstructure, and the income of employees in these industries is relatively good.
Without industrial pollution, Vienna has become the most beautiful city in Europe and the first large city in Europe without slums.
Small cities cannot be counted. Small cities in this era are themselves big slums, and there is no need to distinguish them.
The price is that Vienna's population growth rate is slow, and the urban development rate is far behind London and Paris.
Even within the New Holy Roman Empire, many cities now surpass Vienna in terms of population, such as Milan and Munich.
Of course, the population is not equal to the economy. Now the total population of Vienna is only 680,000, and the urban population is only 310,000, but the total economic volume is only that in London and Paris.
With a small population and a developed economy, the living standard of the people ranks among the top in Europe, and social conflicts are naturally reduced. With fewer social conflicts, the people's desire for revolution is also reduced.
As the basic plate of the Habsburg family, Franz attaches great importance to it. As the capital of two empires, Vienna has the unique advantage that there is no need to develop any industry at all.
Greater London and Greater Paris seem to have a face, but in fact they are self-aware. London became the fog capital, Paris the revolutionary capital.
Moreover, big cities themselves are not suitable for the development of industry. Land prices and living costs are far higher than small and medium-sized cities, which has raised the cost of industrial production from the very beginning.
Taking Vienna as an example, if you invest and build a factory here, the land price will be three times higher than that of small and medium-sized cities, and the labor cost will also increase by at least one third.
This does not take into account the transportation of raw materials. If a variety of factors are considered, the production costs of these factories are usually increased by 10% to 30%.
Franz can only sigh that the competition in this era is not fierce enough, and the capitalists still do not know how to optimize the industrial allocation, let alone do their best to save costs.
You know, the later capitalists moved their factories wherever the production cost was the lowest. Anyone who insists on staying in a big city will either be kicked out or shut down.
Of course, Franz is very clear that everyone is keen to squeeze into the capital, mainly because it is close to the center of power and can gain political benefits.
However, Franz, who doesn't like capital's interference in politics, overturned the table from the beginning and did not give them this opportunity.
Vienna has enough resources to not need these industries, but many small and medium-sized cities do. Under this policy, seven or eight more industrial cities were added to Austria.
In this way, perhaps the total industrial volume of Austria has not increased much, but the industrial competitiveness has increased, which is very beneficial to the long-term development.
In this era, large cities are prone to strikes. In many cases, capitalists pass on these increased costs to workers in order to protect their own interests.
The worse the economic situation is, the more strikes there are and the more intense social conflicts become.
From the ruler's point of view, as long as Vienna does not disturb Franz's rule, it is stable, and if there are problems in other regions, they can deploy troops to suppress them.
This is the lesson of history, and most of the successful revolutions in Europe were carried out in the capital. There may be exceptions, but Franz's memory does not exist.
In short, Franz de-industrialized in Vienna, whether for industrial development or to maintain his rule.
This is also a precautionary measure, a stable capital, coupled with a perfect system, it can be said that Franz has brought safety first to the extreme. As long as you don't die, you really won't die.