Chapter 690: Adding Insult to Injury

"The Russians did a good job."

Friedrich List said with a smile. Frederick William IV understood what the other party meant, which was to drive the Poles out.

Only by changing the cage and replacing the bird can the complete death of Polish nationalism be guaranteed. No matter how hard the Polish nationalists abroad try, as long as there are no more Poles in Prussia, it will be useless.

It's just that this decision is not easy to make, because a slight mistake may directly lead to a rebellion.

Prime Minister Ludwig von Thiele and Army Minister Hermann von Boyen also understood what Friedrich List meant.

They are all typical Junker landlords and naturally agree with this approach. After all, if the Poles are expelled from the "New Three Provinces", their estates can be expanded a lot.

And if a war breaks out, the status of the Junker landlords can be further improved. The two winked at each other, and Army Minister Hermann von Boyen said.

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, the Prussian Army is invincible, and we are confident that we will destroy any enemy who dares to challenge the order.

Those Poles will receive the punishment they deserve, just like the unruly people in Silesia!"

Prime Minister Ludwig von Thiele joked: "Maybe we can ask them if they are interested in Polish laborers."

The new Foreign Minister Heinrich von Bülow is also from a Junker noble family.

Although his family has no interests in the "New Three Provinces", as the Foreign Minister, he knows very well that Austria is accepting Russian refugees at this time, so if Prussian refugees are added at this time, can Austria still eat them?

"Your Majesty, as far as I know, the Austrian royal family and church are accepting Russian refugees in Galicia, so we can also send our country's garbage there to help them do charity."

Although the Foreign Minister said "charity", Frederick William IV knew very well that this was definitely a good opportunity to slow down the economic development of the Austrian Empire.

If the Austrian imperial family and church choose to accept it, then they must provide large tracts of land and money, or jobs for these refugees to engage in productive labor and let them survive.

Otherwise, the refugees will become refugees and constantly intensify social and ethnic conflicts. At that time, Austria will have to spend more money and energy to clear these blood clots.

If the Austrian imperial family and the church choose to stop the loss in time and do not accept the refugees to continue to enter, then Prussia can still take the opportunity to criticize the hypocrisy of the Habsburg family and the Catholic Church.

At the same time, the long border line cannot stop the vast number of refugees. At that time, the Austrian side will only lose both the lady and the army.

No matter what the original purpose of the Austrian Empire was, Prussia's plan will be disrupted by doing this, and there may even be a counter-effect.

Moreover, Frederick William IV himself is the largest Junker landlord. Faced with everyone's petition, he can only agree, or be forced to agree.

So Prussia began a quick trial of the conspirators, confiscated their land and property, and auctioned them cheaply to loyal Junker landlords.

However, the wealth of the conspirators alone could not satisfy the desires of the entire Junker class, and then the Prussian government received a large number of letters of denunciation.

These reports pointed directly at the wealthy Polish nobles, merchants and landed farmers. The Prussian government quickly accepted these cases and asked those who were reported to prove themselves.

There is no doubt that those who cannot prove themselves are conspirators, but how can they prove themselves? There is no unified standard, but it is certain that there must be very few people who can prove themselves and make Prussian government officials believe.

So there was another expanding group of refugees on the border of Galicia, which made the Austrian officials on the border look confused.

The news soon reached Vienna, which made the Regency Council very angry.

Count Kolarov: "Damn Prussian barbarians, do they really think we are a garbage dump? Last time they brought a group of Silesians, this time it was Poles, next time it won't be Saxons, right?"

Prince Metternich was worried about another thing, whether Austria could eat so many refugees? Will Franz mess this up?

"Maybe the government should intervene in this matter."

Metternich's meaning is very clear, that is, Franz's personal reputation is more important than the Regency Council itself. In other words, the Austrian Imperial Government can bear this pot, but Franz cannot.

Although Count Kolarov was somewhat reluctant, after all, his wish has always been to get rid of Metternich and become prime minister himself.

However, Count Kolarov is essentially loyal to Austria and the Habsburg family, so he needs to consider the overall situation.

"Okay, but I need time and your consent. The Austrian Imperial Government must enter a state of emergency."

Metternich nodded.

"I agree, and I hope we can get through this crisis."

A million refugees are a challenge for any country in the world at this time, but the Austrian Empire has also had a relatively mature solution for refugees over the years.

That is to use work instead of relief, use land as compensation, use compensation as bait, and expand and develop.

In fact, the Austrian Imperial Government will use free labor to carry out some infrastructure projects, and during this period will provide them with food, accommodation, tools, design, medical care, transportation, clothing, etc.

This will also boost the development of the country's economy. As for the refugees, they will be guaranteed not to starve to death during this period. After the project is completed, they will get a piece of undeveloped land in the country or colonies.

If they want to develop the land, they must borrow money from the government or sign a long-term contract with the country, and then expand the territory for the Austrian Empire.

If they refuse, they can choose to sell the land, which will be enough for them to live for a certain period of time.

They can choose to enter the factory, or do some short-term work, or join the army, etc.

In short, as long as a large number of refugees do not suddenly appear in the same area, there will be no social unrest.

However, the infrastructure projects of the Austrian Empire have been almost completed in recent years, and it would be a bit useless to do it again.

Fortunately, the Habsburg family is quite influential in the Austrian aristocratic circle, and many nobles in the House of Lords are willing to help.

These people are generally large landowners in Austria, and their families also have some industries such as factories. Each family can solve the employment problems of dozens to hundreds of refugees.

There are more than 3,000 families registered in the Austrian House of Lords, and they can solve the employment and livelihood problems of more than 100,000 refugees.

Austria still has a lot of water conservancy projects, roads, railways, and urban construction that need to absorb hundreds of thousands of people.

The military has been clamoring to catch up with France and surpass Russia, and this time the expansion of the army can solve a large number of problems.

Then the royal estates and government agencies can solve the livelihood problems of tens of thousands of people.

Let Galicia think of a solution for the rest, and it is estimated that this crisis will be over.

Franz was very moved after hearing about these emergency measures of the Austrian Empire, but he didn't need them at all.