Chapter 457 Basic Education Issues

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

Franz was a little angry and a little depressed. He just wanted to do some basic education. He spent tens of millions of florins in six years, but why are there so many problems?

What's more terrible is that it has not yet reached the real promotion stage, but is only in the large-scale pilot stage.

Pilot education in rural and mountainous areas of Austria cannot be generalized. Especially on the issue of free meals, the various reports made Franz think that this is a waste of effort and a hotbed of corruption.

However, the reality is that since the school stopped providing free meals, there has been a wave of dropouts in the mountainous areas. The reason is that it is too difficult for students in the mountainous areas to eat.

Franz imagined that the mountain school was only a few hundred meters away from the door of a village. In fact, there are only a few or a dozen children in a village. In order to save costs, it is usually necessary for children from several or even a dozen villages to share a primary school.

Then the problem came. These children need to walk more than ten miles or even dozens of miles of mountain roads every day. This exaggerated distance is very terrifying for ordinary people.

Moreover, there were wolves in many mountainous areas of Austria at that time. The wolves in the Tyrol region were actually coyotes and foxes of similar size. They were not as strong as a child in a one-on-one fight, so a wooden stick or hiking pole was enough to deal with them. They might even have a snack at night. However, the gray wolves in the Balkans were not something that children could deal with by themselves.

Compared with these difficulties, eating was a big problem. These children needed to bring their own food and fuel. The most important of these was corn. In fact, the leapfrog development of Europe's population was attributed to potatoes and corn.

However, the way people in the mountains ate corn at that time was not the kind of muscular man eating corn salad in a basin that is advertised on the Internet every day. In fact, the way Europeans and Orientals ate corn at that time was not much different. They ate cakes or paste made of cornmeal.

Cornmeal or a mixture of some bran and wheat was the staple food of children in the mountains. The so-called dishes were some unknown wild vegetables plus some fern roots and beans. Some wealthy families might bring some raw pickled lard.

Raw pickled lard is actually very popular in Central and Eastern Europe now. It is basically a paste made from pig fat and pig skin. It is terribly greasy and is usually stored in a jar or a sealed leather bag.

As for the offal, only the rich can afford it.

When eating, spread a little lard on corn cakes or mix it in paste, which makes the children feel very enjoyable.

Then let's talk about fuel. In fact, the mountains are not as full of trees as imagined. You can just cut and pick them up. In fact, not all vegetation is suitable for firewood. The most suitable ones are actually those dead branches and fallen leaves, because they are easy to burn with less water, and they are not easy to smoke and choke.

The church's brain circuits are always more novel. They also understand that it is not easy for children to go to school, eat, and walk on mountain roads all day. It is hard and dangerous.

So they started to build monasteries, especially this kind of mountain is far away from the mundane world, theoretically more suitable for meditation.

But the problem is that this place has to be used as a school, and the school is a window that must communicate with the outside world.

In fact, Franz did not care about the monks and priests. For the time being, this method was feasible because the monastery was large enough and was borne by the church, and the Austrian government would not block it.

At the same time, the monastery could solve the problem of food and accommodation for the children, and there was no need to worry about the problem of fewer children or population explosion in the future. After all, bigger means more flexibility.

However, more monasteries and letting children feel too much religious atmosphere may lead to an increase in the influence of Catholicism, and some priests themselves are a threat to children.

Franz had asked Archbishop Rauscher to "purify" the clergy more than once, and the latter became the first archbishop in Austrian history to go to war against corruption, abuse of power, and private morality in the church.

In fact, this is a bit inaccurate. Not all priests in history turned a blind eye to the problems of the church, but Rauscher was the one with the highest status and the longest life.

And although it was said to be a full-scale war, in fact, there were not many church leaders who were dealt with, and the punishments they received were all very light. However, the punishment at the lower level was severe, such as excommunication, scalping, and even direct burning at the stake, just like the style of a medieval inquisition.

In fact, what the Austrian Church did was what the Roman Curia did not dare to do at this time, because the rule of the Papal States itself was not stable, and the courage of the Inquisition was naturally insufficient.

Franz knew very well how useful the church was in the front, and how painful it would be to strip it later. It is not something that can be done by saying "science eliminates superstition", it may even take decades and the blood of thousands of people to do it.

As for rural areas, usually the most difficult to deal with are not the local nobles, but the so-called "village tyrants". When the nobles heard the three words government, royal family, and church put together, they dared not refuse before they could curry favor.

But these nobles also have their own selfishness, that is, they will give up some uncontrollable land to the school. In theory, these lands belong to the nobles, but in fact they are planted together by some farmers, also known as public land.

In theory, crops, burning, and pasture on this part of the land do not need to be taxed, so the nobles have no income.

At the same time, due to hundreds of years of evolution, serfdom has changed and disintegrated in some parts of Austria, and these so-called public lands have been occupied by some powerful farmers.

In addition, the French Revolution has greatly weakened the power of the Austrian aristocracy. In fact, when Napoleon attacked Austria, he also used the trick of beating the local tyrants and dividing the land, and the effect was very significant.

At this time, some of these public lands were occupied by one family, and some were occupied by several families, and these people were usually the most "powerful" people in the village, or the kind of "bully" that no one dared to provoke.

Although the declining nobles could not do anything to these people, these people did not dare to really do anything to the local nobles.

As for facing the imperial power, the imperial government, and the church, they did not have so many scruples, after all, the emperor was far away.

Although they did not dare to confront, it was still easy for them to stop all the children in the village from going to school. The church in Austria was still very influential in this era, and a large number of similar incidents were reported to Vienna.

Although Franz was very unhappy, he still allocated a sum of money to compensate those who were originally using public land.

But this did not have any effect. On the contrary, the situation was getting worse. Some people demanded more compensation, some demanded the demolition of the school, and some even brought people to surround the school and beat students and teachers.

Franz was even more unhappy. He planned to let the Astartes who had just returned from Zhenla go to various places to be principals, and then assign a few veterans to the school as doormen and chores.

Although they were doormen and chores, their income was actually much higher than the local average. After all, there was no pension at that time.

In the era without war, the Austrian military would require people over 30 to retire, even if they performed very well, they would not exceed 35 years old, so Austria could have a large number of excellent veterans to recruit.

Veterans who could be hired by the royal family again were naturally the best in the Austrian army. Some of them did not want to fight, some did not want to go to other countries to perform missions, and some looked down on the mercenary business, so they gave up the opportunity to enter Umbrella as mercenaries.

These people usually have excellent military skills, but they don't know anything else, so putting these people in society is both a waste and an unstable factor.

Franz simply arranged some work for them as a reward for their service to the country over the years. It also left a way out for the Austrian Empire, after all, these people could be called up again at any time.

Soon people found that there was a black-robed tough guy with a face full of flesh and eating snakes raw, as well as a group of errand guards who looked difficult to deal with.

To be honest, Franz didn't like the land system in Austria at that time. The cost of infrastructure construction was too high. But there was no way to rush it. After all, you have to eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time.

In addition, those who dared to attack the school directly, no matter what the reason, should be arrested first, and then interrogated in detail.

In addition, although basic education has not been fully launched in Austria, some businessmen with a keen sense of smell have already smelled the business opportunities.

For example, the prices of pencils and paper have risen, but they quickly returned to normal. After all, it is easy to expand the production capacity of such things.

Although Franz hoped that education could become the cause of the Austrian Empire, history so far has proved that only "profitable" can be more "inspiring".

At least Austria was not qualified to choose its own model at this time, after all, there were still many blank areas in education.

And if Austria's papermaking and printing industries had any leap-forward development at this time, I am afraid that by 1848, there would be more pamphlets advocating the overthrow of the Habsburg royal family and the dissolution of the Austrian Empire.

Compared with those "remote" cities, it is much easier to promote education, and most citizens are willing to let their offspring receive education.

As long as it is free, more than 80% of urban children will choose to go to school, and the rest are too poor to let their children work to supplement their family income.

In fact, Austria's education in the German region is relatively backward. This is not because Austria does not attach importance to it, but because it is too large, the infrastructure is relatively backward, the cost is high, and there is no strong executor.

For basic education in the city, Franz plans to reopen the public schools of Queen Theresa's era. Although this cannot solve the problem of schooling for all children of school age, it can reduce the illiteracy rate in Austria to a certain extent.

Compared with Austria, education in overseas colonies does not need Franz to worry about.

Although the assimilation education was carried out, the local nobles and merchants were trying their best to squeeze in. The children of the chiefs and priests in the African region were even proud to be able to go to school. For ordinary natives, only a very small number of natives who were very close to the Austrian colonists had the opportunity to go to school.

In the Zhenla region, it was even more exaggerated. Because it was a theocracy, Franz adopted a selection system for checks and balances and to stabilize his rule.

Thousands of people gathered in the square. They were elites selected from all over Zhenla. After that, they had to go through several days of rigorous tests to check whether they were loyal and talented.

In the end, only one hundred people were qualified as voters and received re-education.

The main reason is that the territory managed by the church is getting bigger and bigger, the number of "elected persons" is insufficient, and the upward space for ordinary people is insufficient. The class solidification is very fatal even for the theocracy.

After all, people tend to destroy themselves or the world when they can't see hope. But neither of them is what Franz wants to see. What he needs is living blood and a beating heart.

Due to the vast land and sparse population in Central America and inconvenient transportation, education has become extremely luxurious, but fortunately, the immigrants here are mainly German-speaking people and Dutch people from Austria, so Franz does not need to worry about assimilation.

As for the local indigenous people, Franz adopted the policy of changing the cage and moving them to Mexico. On the one hand, Mexico is happy to accept it, and on the other hand, it is because this is the most thorough solution for localization.

The terrain of Central America is too suitable for guerrilla warfare, and it is rich in products. Franz does not want to get involved in an endless security war.

As for those indigenous people who are unwilling to leave Central America, they will either move them to the seaside to dilute the population for easy control, or send them into the mountains to become real marginal people.

Of course, those who could not be deceived by the church and driven away by the Austrian government could only be moved by the army. However, before all this, the local elites would be asked to drive the people away first, and then implement Franz's plan.

In fact, there are conflicts between pure-blooded whites, mixed-blooded whites, and indigenous people in the local area. The former two naturally think that Austria is on their side.

Therefore, the indigenous people must be the target of attack by all parties, and they will inevitably be eliminated first.

Then there are those self-righteous and deeply rooted pure-blooded white people of Spanish descent. Franz does not want these guys to compete with the Austrian Empire for influence, so they will inevitably be suppressed.

Finally, there are mixed-blood whites. Most of these people feel inferior and do not have much power, but there are not many of them. After the indigenous people and pure-blooded whites are eliminated, they can only rely on the new ruler of the Austrian Empire.

Moreover, these people's positions are not too firm, and there is no so-called national consciousness, so assimilation is the easiest.

Of course, since most of these people can speak Spanish, they will also be selected and sent to the Austrian Empire to study. They will eventually be sent to other Latin American countries to collect intelligence for the Austrian Empire and become its vanguard.

Franz needs this kind of study abroad system, after all, he is looking at the whole world and the future. It is very necessary to continuously cultivate talents and select spies for the Austrian Empire.

Of course, objectively speaking, this practice also promotes the spread of civilization and technology, which is a good thing for all mankind.

As for the problem that some people think Austria may be blackened, there is actually no need to worry too much. At this time, the feeling of Europeans looking at Africans is similar to that of looking at gorillas.