Chapter 489: Saint Stephen's Crown Line

Vienna, Prime Minister's Office.

Although the two old foxes kept talking about Anselm, no one cared about the life and death of this tycoon's son.

The so-called factories in Bohemia were actually a group of mines. The mining industry at that time was a high-risk industry, and of course the profits were also very lucrative.

But the problem was that it was high-risk and had a bad reputation, and it was necessary to deal with some difficult problems frequently.

In fact, Franz had imagined using prisoners to replace laborers in the mines. The reality was that these people gathered together and it was very easy to riot, blow up the mines, and kill their companions.

But the most important point was inefficiency. These people had neither skills nor wanted to complete the work itself.

Due to the rapid development of industry, the Austrian Empire needed a large amount of ore and coal at this time, and it was obviously not enough to rely on these prisoners.

There were many mines in the mountains of the Austrian Empire, but the output was seriously insufficient, so new mines had to be opened. But if the royal family directly operated it, it would inevitably bring many problems and also carry a bad reputation.

It is naturally better to let others do this kind of thing. At this time, Metternich and Solomon mentioned it just to let him take the blame.

This is indeed a big business, which can bring a lot of benefits to Solomon, and at the same time it can solve the urgent problem of Austrian industrial development.

But doing so is undoubtedly to publicize that the Rothschild family is just a lackey of the Habsburg family, and it will bear a lot of pressure from all sides, and it will affect his reputation.

Solomon felt that Metternich still hated him for using the debt problem to threaten the latter, so the former did not directly agree to this proposal.

On the other hand, Hungary's industrial protection law has aroused public outrage. There are no less nobles and businessmen who claim that they have been robbed in Hungary and ask the Austrian imperial government for an explanation.

The humiliating punishment suffered by Anselm Rothschild has ignited the anger of other nations in the Austrian Empire.

This is not because the Rothschild family is so popular, but that everyone needs a breakthrough.

Seeing that the fire was almost burned, Franz proposed to Prime Minister Metternich to abolish the industrial protection law unilaterally formulated by Hungary.

This seemed very reasonable to Metternich, and Hungary would certainly be happy to accept it.

But the next words made him break out in a cold sweat.

"Prime Minister, we should renegotiate the tax rate with Hungary."

Franz had been waiting for this day for a long time. In fact, he thought it should be longer, but he didn't expect the Hungarians to do so much.

In fact, in history, the Hungarians also formulated a very strict industrial protection law, such as imposing heavy taxes on imported goods, establishing a protection association to supervise everyone, and both nobles and civilians had to buy expensive and low-quality Hungarian goods.

But it didn't cause any waves at the time, because Austria's industry was also weak, and there was nothing to dump.

At this time, Metternich smelled a hint of danger. The kingdom's local taxes were the lifeblood of the Hungarian Parliament. They had the courage to challenge the central government of the Austrian Empire because of this.

"Archduke Franz, I know you will be a very ambitious monarch, but please wait a moment and don't rush. Joseph II was also an ideal monarch, but he was betrayed by the people in the end."

Franz naturally understood what the other party meant, but from several incidents, Hungary was rotten to the core. If you want to cure it, you must cut the flesh and drain the pus, remove the dead and regenerate the flesh.

Of course, Franz will not make a heroic move and let Austria withdraw directly from the historical stage of hegemony.

"Prime Minister, we can't rush, but we can't let it go. Today, Hungarians want to protect industry, and tomorrow they may want to protect agriculture. The lives of the Magyars are lives, but aren't the lives of other ethnic groups in our country lives?"

"Archduke Franz, you misunderstood me. We can severely reprimand and warn them that Hungary will be sanctioned by the empire if it makes such an outrageous law again."

"Does that mean they can continue to make new laws as long as they are not outrageous?"

Franz asked back.

"But this is tradition"

"The Austrian imperial government needs the approval of the Regency Council to make laws, but the Hungarians only need to make a law that is not too outrageous. What's the reason? If a civil war breaks out between Austria and Hungary one day, which side will the weak forces stand on?"

Metternich was speechless for a moment. He didn't know how to answer, because his idea was always to prevent the civil war from happening.

"God bless Austria, Archduke Franz, why do you have such an idea?" Metternich's words seemed weak, but in fact they were unusually tough. He was questioning Franz.

"Prime Minister, do you still remember the previous crises? The war may not be as far away as you think." The latter did not retreat, but instead implied the Austrian imperial government's shameful performance in the face of crises.

If Franz had not taken advantage of the situation in the previous crises, I am afraid that the reputation of the Austrian Empire would have been ruined long ago.

Metternich frowned.

"Archduke Franz, if you think that the power of the Hungarian Kingdom Parliament is too great, shouldn't you directly limit their power? Why is it renegotiating the tax rate instead of the law?"

"Your Majesty Prime Minister, the kingdom's finances and taxes are where their courage lies. As long as they have money and food, the 12 million people in Hungary are their soldiers. If they want weapons, merchants will find ways to send them to them. Therefore, their power must be weakened. "

Metternich nodded with relief. He knew that his student was no ordinary person, but to be honest, he had nothing to do with the Hungarian problem.

Every time, the Hungarian nobles could only be frightened by "liberating the serfs", but Kossuth, who had just come to power, did the opposite. He actually inherited Széchenyi's mantle and demanded the initiative to abolish serfdom. This new enemy made Vienna The government is terrified.

"Archduke Franz, what are you going to do? If you just negotiate tax rates, the Hungarians will not agree to policies that are unfavorable to them."

"My Lord Prime Minister, there have never been only Magyars in the territory of St. Stephen's Crown. There are also Illyrians, Transylvanians and Ruthenians. Strictly speaking, the so-called Kingdom of Hungary should only be Central Hungary. That’s just the area.”

After listening to Franz's words, Metternich couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, because if only Central Hungary was left, it would be a quarter of its original territory, which would be very easy to control.

"But the Magyars would not agree." Metternich said subconsciously.

“Yes, but if any one of the Illyrians, Transylvanians, and Galicians agrees, that’s our victory.

Mr Prime Minister, I also want to tell you some good news, that is the opening of the St Stephen's Crown Line. "

Metternich suddenly realized that the railway was really a good thing. It could project Austria's power to farther areas faster.

Although there is no railway in Hungary, the military built a railway around St. Stephen's Crown on the border of the Kingdom of Hungary under the pretext of supporting Belgrade and homeland defense.

(Illyrians are the collective name for Slovenians, Croatians, and Serbs.)