Chapter 162: Parliament Arson

March 2, 1839, Hungary.

For ordinary people living in Pest, this day was no different. The streets were still in chaos, with melancholy and lifeless people everywhere.

From time to time, people in the river shouted excitedly because they found property on the bodies, and homeless people walked through the streets in groups. Nobles would hold dances in their homes, singing and dancing day and night, and never stop getting drunk. People who became rich due to the food crisis sat high up in the cafe, looking down at their masterpieces in front of them.

A fire broke the tranquility of the city, and black smoke billowed out of the Hungarian Parliament Hall, and the sound of glass shattering continued to be heard.

However, the surrounding residents watched all this happen blankly, as if it had nothing to do with them. In fact, the Hungarian Parliament Hall is an independent building, and it really does not affect others.

But even the firefighters did not show up. In order to respond to Count Bilal's passive resistance policy, the fire chief went directly to Belgium for vacation. Those who should have appeared at the fire scene were drunk at the station.

When the chief of police went to knock on the door of the fire station, he was told by the firefighters that they were on holiday today.

Seeing the attitude of the fire station, the chief of police simply went home and lay down.

As the Hungarian Parliament Hall was engulfed by fire, the great nobles (mainly nobles living in Vienna), the country nobles (nobles living in Hungary), and Kossuth all felt that the fire was too strange and must have been deliberately set by someone.

However, none of the three parties admitted that they had set the fire, but someone must be responsible for it.

The country nobles felt that it must have been done by the fanatics under Kossuth. After all, they could strip a gentleman like Count Pilar naked and tie him to a cross. What crazy things could they not do?

Kossuth felt that the country nobles did not want to spit out the disaster relief money, so they burned the entire parliament and then put the blame on the people.

Kossuth's views were supported by the great nobles. After all, the stolen money was in the hands of the country nobles. Without the parliament hall, the Hungarian government would have to shut down, so they could escape their own responsibilities.

The rural nobles countered that even without the parliament hall, the Hungarian government would not stop. Maybe the great nobles wanted to skip the Hungarian parliament and directly exercise their rights, so they burned the parliament hall.

All three parties had reasons for arson, but the rural nobles were obviously more suspicious, and it was more in line with the interests of the great nobles and Kossuth.

Striking the rural nobles was beneficial to both the great nobles and Kossuth. For the great nobles, they could better consolidate their power and monopolize the interests of Hungary. For Kossuth, on the one hand, he could establish his image in the minds of the people, and on the other hand, the great nobles needed an agent in Hungary. After the fall of the rural nobles, he was the most ideal candidate.

So, the two sides hit it off, and the arson case became a premeditated rebellion.

The great nobles kept sending news about Hungary back to Vienna to build momentum for their next rebellion. Kossuth, the inspector, also used his power to block the mouthpiece of the rural nobles.

Of course, the rural nobles would not sit still and wait for death. They decided to strike first, so the bandits who dared to attack even the royal estates rushed into Budapest and frantically hunted down the nobles, Kossuth and his cronies.

A real-life battle royale took place in Budapest, Hungary.

The bandits rampaged in the streets, but the police station and the gendarmerie kept their doors closed.

The bodies of civilians were everywhere. The bandits rushed into hotels and personal residences to pull out the newly appointed noble officials and execute them.

Some officials were protected by guards, so the bandits set all the nearby buildings on fire to force them out.

The opinion leaders in the tavern did not escape either. They were dragged through the streets and alleys by the bandits to find Mr. Kossuth, whom they supported.

At this time, their Mr. Kossuth was hiding in the home of a French female reporter. When the bandits entered the city, Kossuth had just finished an interview and was discussing life with the female reporter, so he escaped.

Some people hid in the church for shelter, but God did not bless his people.

The bandits rushed into the church, took away the people they were looking for, set a fire in the church, sealed the door, and let the people inside cry and curse.

For the bandits, this was a good day, after all, the city's oil and water were much better than those caravans.

A small number of people escaped from Budapest on horseback under the desperate protection of the guards. When they came to the garrison barracks for help, they found that someone was waiting for them.

The next day, the city returned to its past appearance, except for the burned buildings and dead people.

The rural nobles thought that things could be thrown to the bandits as usual, and then they could just find some serfs to take the blame to solve the problem.

However, on the third day, the Austrian army arrived in Budapest by boat, led by Archduke Albrecht.

Those who were killed were indeed Hungarians, but many of them were also members of the Vienna City Defense Army.

Archduke Albrecht was the commander of the City Defense Army. Although his City Defense Army was known as the worst army in the Austrian Empire, it was still not comparable to the gendarmes and bandits.

At the same time, under the operation of the great nobles in Vienna, the crime of rebellion in Budapest was confirmed. Even Prince Ertházy went to the Hall of Mirrors in person to ask the emperor to order the rebellion to be suppressed, and the emperor's decree was quickly passed by the Regency Council.

(The previous Prince Ertházy has died, and now it is his successor.)

After all, the Regency Council has long wanted to take action against Hungary. This time, not only is there an imperial decree, but it is also proposed by the Hungarians themselves. It would be strange not to deal with them.

Albrecht was visited by many Hungarian nobles. On the surface, these people were under the banner of suppressing the rebellion and avenging their relatives, but in fact they were bribing Albrecht and hinting that he would rather kill the wrong person than let him go.

Albrecht had long been fed up with those slave traders and traitors. After receiving double support, he immediately started from the two lines of horse bandits and corruption, taking a two-pronged approach.

The problem of horse bandits plagued Hungary until the end of World War II, until later the Soviets completely eliminated the horse bandits that had been entrenched in Hungary for a thousand years.

However, these horse bandits were quickly defeated by the pursuit of the so-called "worst legion in Austria", and the manors where they hid were found one by one.

Another clue of embezzling 35.9 million florins of disaster relief funds also improved, and a large number of Hungarian nobles and officials were arrested, many of whom had participated in the previous slave trade.

Albrecht led the Vienna city defense army to search homes everywhere in Budapest, and the nobles were not idle either. They were desperately fabricating charges against the opponents who murdered their family members.

Soon Albrecht returned to Vienna with 35.9 million florins of disaster relief funds. The money would be redistributed for the relief of refugees, but most of it went to Franz's manor.

The Regency Council had no objection to this. After all, Franz's manor did absorb a large number of refugees, and the strength of the royal family was also conducive to the stability of the country. This was an indisputable fact in the Austrian Empire.