Chapter 761 The Real Trial

Perhaps he was repenting for not being kind all the time, perhaps he hated himself for not being able to protect his family anymore, perhaps he hated himself for not being a great villain

Vehliu Yasuski was even more infected and shouted "Long live Vladimir Wuster! You are the pride of Schlachta!", and other prisoners waiting for execution also shouted in unison, with a generous and tragic momentum.

(Schlachta refers to Polish nobles.)

Seeing that Vladimir Wuster was about to be regarded as a god, Franz hurriedly stopped the execution. The latter suddenly felt that the death penalty was too light, really too light, and it was not enough for such a person.

Looking at the group of sinners who were aroused, and then looking at the indignant executioners, Franz finally took a look at the victims who had become lambs to be slaughtered again.

He made a decision that would be cursed to death by future jurists and human rights scholars - using torture.

He gave this right to the victims. Franz did not want to return to the primitive and engage in homomorphic revenge, but he felt that simple justice was what was most needed at this time.

Civilization is not the more restraints there are, the more civilized it is. Instead, there should be prisons but no criminals; there should be torture but no criminals.

When the proposal to ask the victims to vote to decide the criminals was announced, it caused an uproar, because most serfs and civilians were illiterate, which caused the criminals to laugh and some even mocked.

"Come and draw a bed for me, I want to sleep to death on the bed!"

"No! It should be tired to death! Haha!"

But soon they stopped laughing, because after a simple vote, the victims chose the punishment of impalement.

Impalement refers to using a sharpened wooden stake to stand in the soil, and the victim sits on the tip, allowing the stake to slowly pierce the victim.

The favorite of the Impaler, the black thorn spear.

This is definitely not a merciful punishment. At this time, Vladimir Wuster could still pretend to be calm.

But as a deliberately blunt wooden stake was lifted up, he began to shout for hanging, but his throat was injured and he couldn't shout loudly.

However, at the moment when the stake entered the body, the whole execution ground heard screams that were not human.

Vladimir Wuster was stuck on the stake like that and no one paid any attention to him. The criminals finally dared not to act recklessly.

The second prisoner who went to the execution ground was so scared that he peed his pants. He honestly confessed all his crimes, made a sincere confession, and then walked to the gallows with some gratitude.

In the end, there were 753 people in total, and only three were tortured, including the butler Vladimir Wuster, the captain of the guard, Bodroski, and a dog trainer.

Another 200 people were hanged, and the rest were all exiled.

The trial lasted for a total of eight days. On the eighth day, the most critical day, there was only one trial, that is, the trial of Vihryu Yasuski.

In these days, 257 pages of evidence were collected, and the confessions of the victims and other accomplices were recorded for more than 700 pages. Thirty scribes were used alone.

The final verdict was that Vihliu Yasuski was deprived of his noble status, his territory was confiscated, and his property was used to compensate the victims.

Then all the farmland newly assigned to the royal estate was opened to new free men, and the previous village community system continued to apply, that is, large public ownership and small private ownership.

Vihliu Yasuski was no longer a noble, and his rights were naturally no longer protected. The contracts of those serfs were all burned on the spot.

The peasants who successfully got rid of their serf status, had extra money, and had arable land were naturally jubilant.

In the end, the punishment for Vihliu Yasuski was also torture, that is, he was caged with his own mastiff.

But no matter who wins, they will be buried underground forever. By the way, the gentle beast died on the stake the next day.

The last battle in Galicia was Krakow, but the Krakow people surrendered before the three continental armies completed the encirclement.

The city defense commander Bem and the king Landre Promi were both missing at this time, and most of the remaining people were coerced.

Franz still conducted a simple trial, but the subjects of the trial were mainly the prisoners of the Polish Restoration Army captured on the road.

In addition, those guys who acted recklessly in Krakow during the uprising were also disciplined.

Franz had done everything in the name of serfs and the Krakow City Council before. Although there would not be any big problems if he did it, it would always make some nobles feel resentful.

In order to save everyone's face, Franz put the pot on others at will.

The Austrian army entered Krakow and was warmly welcomed by the locals, and the public trial of criminals on their behalf was supported by the majority of people.

As for the power of the Polish Restoration Army and the Polish Peasant Union in Galicia, they suffered a devastating blow. During the entire rebellion, about 12,000 Polish nobles were killed, which was four times the number in history.

Franz made the royal estates occupy 50% of the arable land in Galicia through confiscation, redemption, and reclamation.

He also obtained the mining rights of most mines and the oil resources of Dorobich. But at this time, people still didn't know what the black liquid was used for.

At the same time, Franz also created a new market. After the new farmers in Galicia became rich, their demand for consumer goods increased greatly.

They were different from the nobles in the past. Their demands were relatively low-end, but this was in line with the trend of the times.

So the money Franz had given out returned to his hands. In order not to let it rot in his hands, Franz chose to invest. However, this time the target was not land, but technology.

After all, it is still difficult to expect farmers to spontaneously improve technology, especially when they are well fed and well-drinking.

Although professional scientific research has certain advantages, the role of the front line cannot be ignored. Therefore, Franz's strategy for agricultural reform is to conduct scientific research and reward inventions in parallel. In short, no matter whether the cat is black or white, it is a good cat as long as it catches the mouse.

In fact, the threshold for scientific research in this era is relatively low. It is not only experts sitting in the laboratory who can make technological progress, especially in the field of agriculture.

The main achievement of Franz's trip to Galicia this time was not how much land he got, nor how many nobles he killed, nor the liberation of serfs.

As for the Free City of Krakow, it was just a small piece of chicken ribs. Due to the existence of the railway, it had long become half of Austria's territory.

In fact, turning serfs into bankrupt farmers is more suitable for the development of capitalism, because it can provide a large number of cheap labor for factories.

But this is inconsistent with Franz's original intention. He does not want to give freedom from nothing.

This time, Franz's greatest achievement was to kill something and establish something new in the hearts of the Galicians.

Historically, after 1846, the Polish nobles changed their strategy and began to win over the serfs. Later, they even directly promised to abolish serfdom and expand the right to vote.

Although this group of people never succeeded, they have always cast a shadow in the sky of Galicia.

This time, Franz took the initiative and shattered the shadow in the sky.

I haven't been writing well recently, so I want to open another volume.