Chapter 83 Rebuilding Rome (Part 1, Free.)

Rome.

In the morning, the sun rose, and the sunlight just spread on the ancient stone road, and there was still a hint of coolness in the air.

The streets, which should have been very quiet, were already full of people on both sides. Children were holding flowers and waving their bouquets.

People shouted Franz's name loudly, and flowers were thrown to the queue. If the guards around Franz had not been accustomed to big scenes, they would have been panicked or directly ecstatic.

However, even the royal guards who were accustomed to big scenes were still shocked by the enthusiasm of the locals. After all, in Austria, the people would not only line the streets to welcome, but also march and demonstrate.

The faces of the people here were enthusiastic, full of joy and excitement. Every time the convoy passed a place, the people followed behind the car.

The residents of Rome seemed to welcome them sincerely, without any intention of pretending. The whole city was filled with a cheerful atmosphere, which did not look like it had just suffered a catastrophe.

In fact, this is a talent of the Romans. They are very good at hiding their true intentions. After all, they need to perfunctory those priests and foreign visitors.

However, they are not entirely perfunctory to Franz, an outsider. In fact, Franz did solve the urgent needs of Rome.

Moreover, Franz also brought some new things, so that the Romans could get the necessary materials for life without being too humble.

As for labor, it was just the least valuable thing in Rome at this time.

Franz still did the old trick of work-for-relief, but it was still very pleasant to use other people's money to buy people's hearts for himself.

Rome needs to be rebuilt, which is also part of the deal between Franz and Pius IX, but it is not entirely appropriate for the Austrian Empire's army to do this now.

First of all, rebuilding Rome is definitely a great achievement, but this matter is very likely to be criticized by other forces, even the opposition in the Pope, and those who are dissatisfied.

If Franz really took on so much responsibility, then unless the Papal States were prosperous in the future, if there was any problem in Rome in the future, even if someone was killed by a brick on the top of the city, it would most likely be blamed on Austria.

However, Franz would definitely not give up such a good publicity opportunity, after all, Austria and Italy were deeply influenced by Catholicism.

In addition to the Habsburg family, the bond that maintained the Austrian Empire was the Catholic Church, so Franz had been carefully maintaining the status and reputation of the church to prevent them from entering a rapid decline as in history.

Rebuilding Rome would allow the Pope to better shape the Austrian Empire into a guardian of faith, which might be a waste of time for other countries, but it would be an additional security bond for Austria.

In addition, the reason why Franz wanted the Austrian army and Roman residents to participate in the reconstruction of Rome was to create a common memory of common struggle.

After all, with the development of the times, the power of religion will become weaker and weaker, and this era of the nation naturally needs the help of nationalism.

As mentioned before, Franz still used work-for-relief in Rome. In fact, even if those people did not work, they could still get relief food.

But those relief food could only keep people alive at most. If they wanted to avoid starvation, they had to work.

This was another calculation of Franz. He needed to train the obedience of the Romans. It is indeed easy to gain the favor of others by sending charcoal in the snow, but if this "charcoal" comes too easily, then no one will cherish it.

"A little rice is a favor, a peck of rice is a grudge." The story has never been far away from us.