Chapter 443 The Gap Between Ideal and Reality

Vienna, Hofburg Palace.

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

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

First, they provoked him, then they attacked him, and caught him with evidence. The witnesses were also wealthy nobles, and many forces were involved, so there was no room for any reversal of the case.

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

So the Minister of Justice certainly understood that he should cut the Gordian knot now, sentence him quickly and severely, and not give anyone the opportunity to make a fuss.

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

The imperial power in Austria is still very strong now, especially in recent years, the economy has improved, the politics is strong, and the military victory has greatly enhanced the prestige of the royal family.

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

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

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

There are nine levels of civil service, and the higher the level, the greater the power. At the same time, they will be divided into five categories according to their origin and education: those who are born in high-ranking nobles and have excellent performance in college are Grade A.

Those who are born in high-ranking nobles, or have excellent performance in college, or those who are low-ranking nobles and have at least completed college studies are Grade B. Those who are born in low-ranking nobles, or have at least completed college studies, or have served the imperial government for at least 30 years are Grade C.

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

Junior civil servants are actually a group of chores. They are called civil servants, but they are more like service personnel, and there is almost no possibility of promotion.

There are nine levels for Grade A, seven levels for Grade B, and Grade C can only reach the highest level of Grade 5. The highest level of junior and middle-level civil servants is only Grade 3, and Grade A starts at Grade 3.

Two Grade A civil servants were sentenced to pay a fine of 10,000 florins each, and they were ordered to go home and reflect for five years and not to hold public office. A total of 47 Grade B and Grade C civil servants 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 exiled to Dalmatia for ten years of hard labor.

Although this sentence was not fair, it played a deterrent role.

It also made the Invalides a hot potato. The result of the discussion between Prince Metternich and Count Korolov was to contract it out.

This was already within Franz's expectations. The two old foxes would naturally not leave such trouble in their hands, so they would use the method of open bidding to kick the ball to others.

However, there are few powerful businessmen in Vienna who have no background. They also know that this is a piece of chicken ribs, not much money, but it is easy to bring trouble to themselves.

But Prince Metternich and Count Korolov look down on those small businessmen. Such people are not qualified to connect the plate. But this plate must be taken by someone, because they originally asked for it from the army, so they must do it to the end.

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

As expected, Franz won the bid. The money allocated by the Austrian government to the Invalides is not small, but it is not much.

So, he subsidized breakfast, lunch and dinner to three different companies.

The purpose of doing this is very simple. First, let them compete with each other, second, let them supervise each other, and third, it can be regarded as giving more opportunities to help the poor and the weak, because this kind of division is usually looked down upon by powerful big businessmen.

The reason why Franz did not send people to do it himself is that he knows his position. He can send people to supervise if he is worried, but he can't do everything himself.

Because Franz is not a construction team leader after all. After all, when the three companies have common interests, they may work together to make money and lower industry standards.

In order to prevent this phenomenon, first, let the veterans in the Invalides score, and second, industry specialists will be sent to investigate and supervise regularly.

Third, Franz will personally ask once every once in a while, and fourth, he hopes to let some children and young soldiers visit these veterans regularly.

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

When Franz brought his friends to the Invalides again, the courtyard was still old, but there was no sense of decline.

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

Several old soldiers were chatting with the guards in front of the door, and a big black dog was watching vigilantly outside.

In the yard, groups of old people sat on benches, watching the passers-by and the ever-changing city. The dense shade of the trees seemed to have a ray of sunlight falling.

When Franz and his party entered the yard, everyone saluted solemnly.

Not only for Franz's identity, but also for Franz as a person, they respected and appreciated him from the bottom of their hearts.

Franz was also happy that these people could regain their vitality. Being respected is always a happy thing. Taffy and others also felt good. They planned to have people buy some things to reward these veterans.

However, Franz stopped this behavior, because once people have solved the problem of food and clothing, they will begin to demand dignity. He didn't want some people's unconscious actions to hurt the self-esteem that these people had finally picked up.

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

However, Richard Metternich, Akadov, Taffy and others didn't care about this. Since Franz said so, just pay the money.

What they didn't know was that they were actually sponsoring Umbrella. Franz was very considerate and gave them shares, but except for Taffy himself, no one else paid much money.

Franz patted Taffy's head.

"I won't treat you unfairly."

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

Yes, the Invalides Bar. As the saying goes, when you are well fed, you will think about sex.

These veterans just filled their stomachs, and the hall became a bar. A group of old men were bragging, playing cards, and kicking dances together. Many people went to play even with crutches. It was so fun.

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

Then the Invalides continued to make rectifications at Franz's request.

Although Franz knew that there would always be a gap between ideals and reality, this scene in the Invalides in Austria was too real. He was afraid that later generations would not be able to bear it, so he asked the veterans to exercise regularly and learn art and storytelling methods.