Chapter 243 A Turbulent World

At this time, the railway network of Nerethania in the Austrian Empire had been basically completed.

In Venice, you can take a train directly through Villach, Salzburg, Linz, and then to Vienna. The journey that used to take a month now only takes 14 hours.

A lot of things happened after Franz left Europe, including a massacre in Syria.

It is said that the local Jews ate grilled pork chops during the Eid al-Adha of the Muslims, and then the angry locals launched a campaign in the entire region under the command of the sect.

The death toll reached tens of thousands, and their personal belongings were robbed, even clothes and shoes were not spared. After that, the campaign quickly expanded and developed to the Jews of the entire Ottoman Empire.

This move completely angered the Jews, but it was useless.

Not long ago, Montefiore (a Jewish nobleman in Britain) also humiliated King Louis Philippe of France, who believed that the Jewish Congress would fail.

However, just when the reputation of this unruly Jew reached its peak, reality gave him a heavy slap in the face.

Louis Philippe still behaved very generously in public, and expressed his concern for Sir Montefiore's health, and even prepared to send an envoy to comfort him.

In the palace, Louis Philippe rarely opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate, and told his confidants, "I don't care what method you use, it's best to make that dirty guy shut up forever!"

Poland, Warsaw.

The brothers Edward Dembowski and Henryk Kaminski founded the "Polish People's League", with the same purpose of reviving Poland and making it independent from the rule of the three major powers.

However, the "Polish Restoration Army", which also wanted to revive Poland, was very unwelcome to this theoretical ally. The reason is that the "Polish National League" not only wants to defeat the three major powers, but also overthrow the rule of the Polish nobles.

This is unacceptable to the "Polish National League" in any case, so they reported the "Polish National League" to the Tsarist Russian government.

This wave of operations is really shocking, but what is even more bizarre is that the Tsarist Russia, based on the principle of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", actually threw an olive branch to the "Polish National League".

The Russian theory is that the Tsar is the father of the Polish serfs. If you want to protect the interests of the serfs, then you are also protecting the interests of the Tsar. In this case, we all serve the Tsar, so why don't we unite to deal with those damn Polish nobles?

The "Polish Democratic League" rejected the good intentions of the Tsarist government, just when the Russians were asking St. Petersburg whether to eliminate this potential rebellious force.

The Polish Restoration Army took action first. They destroyed the headquarters of the Polish Democratic League with explosives and sent assassins to assassinate those who betrayed the class.

(At that time, the top leaders of the Polish Democratic League were almost all from aristocratic origins, but they realized the harm of this corrupt system. At that time, Polish nobles and civilians, even some scholars believed that they could be defined as two races.)

The two Polish restoration forces were fighting fiercely in the former capital Warsaw, but the Russians were in a dilemma. On the one hand, they hoped that the Poles would fight among themselves, and on the other hand, they had to maintain local law and order.

In the end, the Russians chose to block the streets to let both sides fight to their heart's content, and at the same time set up temporary hospitals to treat civilians. This operation not only won the hearts of the people for the Russians, but also caused great damage to both sides.

As a former member of the Polish Restoration Army, Adjani was so angry that she tore the newspaper into pieces.

Franz thought it was very normal. After all, the conflict between Polish nobles and civilians has a long history, which is somewhat similar to the caste system in India.

The Polish nobles came from the conquerors of Northern Europe, while the civilians were the local Slavs. Although this happened 17 centuries ago, there are still many nobles who are staring at this matter.

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which once fought against the Ottoman Empire, declined because of this. Poland not only has conflicts between civilians and nobles, but also conflicts between nobles and nobles, that is, the king selection system and the principle of absolute equality.

The negotiations between Austria and the Free City of Krakow have finally settled, and a railway from Lviv to Krakow will be built within two years.

The success of the negotiations is due to the efforts of the cobblestone nobles in Krakow. Polish nobles are divided into seven levels: great nobles (more than 10,000 serfs), middle nobles (more than 500 serfs), tenant nobles, small nobles, castle nobles, rabble nobles, cobblestone nobles (urban nobles, engaged in industry and commerce).

The cobblestone nobles, who used to be the most despised seventh level, have become the most powerful people in Krakow at this time.

Their economy comes from trade, so they will naturally not miss the opportunity to expand trade with Austria, and by taking the Austrian line, they will join the German Customs Union and the Apennine Customs Union at the same time.

Driven by huge interests, those opposing voices soon disappeared. Krakow was once the most prosperous city in Poland, but at this time a railway determined its survival.

If it can expand trade with Austria, then it can continue its former prosperity, but if it refuses, it will become a rootless tree, and sooner or later it will not be able to escape the fate of withering.

However, when the railway is built, the Free City of Krakow will no longer be free, but a chess piece controlled by Austria.

This naturally caused dissatisfaction among some nobles, but they were quickly "persuaded" either by reason or physics.

As for the members of the Polish Restoration Army and the Polish Democratic League who wanted to stop all this from happening, they were either expelled or drowned in the Vistula River.

Prussia, Silesia.

As the textile center of Prussia, the most precious relic of Frederick the Great, and the province that was once the most loyal to the Hohenzollern family.

At this time, Silesia had 50% of Prussia's textile industry and was also the province that contributed the most to tax revenue. The system of buying and selling had been implemented here for nearly a century.

(Prussia took Silesia from Austria in 1740, which was exactly 1840.)

The system of buying and selling was once a great innovation. Merchants gave yarn to weavers, and weavers produced the predetermined clothes at home. Village workers were paid according to the quality of the fabrics. After bleaching and trimming, the fabrics were sold to domestic and foreign markets by merchants, which had supported the Prussian economy for many years.

However, after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the Prussian textile market has been hit by both Britain and Russia. A large number of cheap textiles flooded the Prussian market, and the textile center of Silesia suffered the most.

Later, Prussia established the German Customs Union, but the joining of Austria completely shattered the fantasy of the Silesians.

Austrian goods rushed into Prussia through Saxony. At the same time, Saxony was also a textile power. Coupled with the suspension of cotton supply by the Americans, it made it miserable.

However, the most painful thing was not the lack of raw materials and market share, but the fact that the taxes required by the Prussian government had not been reduced. You can imagine what would happen in this situation.