Chapter 580: Removing the Wall
Milan's old city wall, which is full of traces of time, is very heavy and once played the role of a security defender for city residents.
However, with the rapid development of weapons and equipment, the role it can play is becoming more and more limited, and it has hindered the further development of the city.
After all, the purpose of building the city wall was to deal with the invasion of barbarians in the early Middle Ages, but it could not even defend against trebuchets, let alone modern artillery.
In the future, its defensive capabilities will only weaken with the passage of time, and even large bastions like Vienna and Paris have withdrawn from the stage of history.
Of course, this does not mean that the city wall is useless, at least the ordinary people living there do not think so.
Once this inertial dependence on luck is not eliminated, it can provide an effective reassurance for the defending party to rely on the city and refuse to surrender.
Once the attacking party starts to attack the city, it usually means a massacre, at least for the residents in the city, a catastrophe is inevitable.
In view of the possibility of falling into such a dilemma in the future, Franz felt that the development of so many years could not be destroyed in one fell swoop, so the right way was to demolish the city walls and widen the roads. After all, street battles and the like were a headache.
Not only Milan, but the traditional big cities of the entire empire had this common problem, so he planned to make a comprehensive transformation.
However, there were still three years before the legendary Spring of Nations, so there was still plenty of time, so there was no need to rush for the time being.
In addition, while the demolition work was progressing, some important fortresses needed to be repaired, such as the four corner fortresses in northern Italy (Verona, Mantua, Peschiera and Legnago), and other important strategic locations also needed to build new fortresses, strongholds and storage rooms.
After the plan to demolish the walls and build fortresses was announced, the gentry from all walks of life in northern Italy came to "offer advice" with great interest and planned to get a share of the pie.
For this reason, the enlightened Archduke Franz announced a five-year plan deadline to these people on the spot; the demolition and construction plan should be completed within five years. As for the wages, the imperial government in Vienna will settle them all at once after the expiration of the term.
As for whether these people will still be there after five years, there is no way to know. In addition, he did not forget the matter of comforting the troops, but the money sent by all walks of life in Milan only added up to more than 200,000 florins.
It seems that he really regarded himself as a fool. It's a pity that he originally planned to help these people.
But it doesn't matter. Franz still rewarded all the soldiers who participated in the suppression operation according to the plan, and the soldiers will receive a reward equivalent to their 20-month salary.
The officers will receive roughly 10 months' salary, double for the wounded, and double for the dead. In the end, Franz spent a total of 2.3 million florins.
Franz did this for two main purposes. One was to tell the old marshal and his troops that they did nothing wrong, and they should make persistent efforts next time. They need to treat the enemy as cold as winter and as ruthless as the wind.
The other was to publicize the matter of comforting the troops in newspapers, and spread the news that the money used by the young archduke to comfort the troops was provided by the local gentry in Milan.
In fact, fake news like this may not be so easy to believe, and those who gave gifts will not admit it.
But the information attached to a series of projects contracted to individuals and business organizations makes bystanders have to wonder whether there is a secret operation.
Of course, secret operations are not uncommon in this era, or it would be strange if there is no secret operation.
But this is a big deal in the eyes of some people. After all, they were conspiring to overthrow the corrupt rule of Vienna before, and then turned around to donate money and materials to those "executioners"?
And why can the Austrian army, which has always been in a state of disrepair, destroy this perfect plan? The blood of Italian warriors cannot be shed in vain!
In fact, the previous riots had the background of a multi-faceted joint organization, and the organization called Young Lombardy was responsible for recruiting manpower.
Overseas "friends" are responsible for providing weapons and financial support, while the local gentry are responsible for formulating plans and coordinating.
They can use their power to help open the green light, transmit intelligence, and obstruct the Austrian soldiers by the way. Even if they fail, they can "fish people out".
However, this group of eloquent "orators" finally stood by and watched. Not only the participants of this riot were arrested, but also the organizers of the second riot and the participants who fled when they saw the situation was not good were arrested.
It was agreed that there was only one company of garrison troops, but in the end they faced thousands of soldiers who were ready for battle. Those arrested were all insurgents from poor backgrounds and foreign friends who provided friendly sponsorship, but the local leaders were unscathed.
All this has to make people suspicious. After all, while the two parties suffered a devastating blow, the third party was not only fine, but also benefited. How can people not be jealous?
The truth is that the Austrian government did receive a lot of letters of complaint and obtained a lot of intelligence through investigation, but it was precisely because of the large amount of information that it was difficult to distinguish the authenticity.
In this case, the authorities would not act rashly, let alone arrest all the suspects. Although that would not necessarily paralyze the Lombardy region, the impact would definitely be worse than random arrests.
Instead of guessing like a headless fly, it is better to wait and see how they fight each other. When they are almost exhausted, take action. By then, whether you accept them as your dog or reap some profits from them, it will be a natural outcome.
In fact, Franz didn't need to interfere, because there was never any trust between the three parties; almost every party had different factions.
Many people in the Young Lombards did not support Mazzini's doctrine, and they didn't even want to unify Italy, but let northern Italy be independent. After all, in their eyes, their relatives in the south were too poor and a burden.
Among the "foreign friends", there were many stars, including Britain, France, the United States, Prussia, Sardinia, and even the shadows of Russia and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
As the world's number one troublemaker, it was normal for Britain to come to the Apennines to get involved. As for France and the United States, one was an old enemy for hundreds of years, and the other was a newly-emerged power that had been offended badly.
In fact, the grievances between Austria and the United States were not just the Mexican-American War and the former's leading violation of the Monroe Doctrine.
Italy and Germany have always been important sources of immigrants to the United States, but now, thanks to the two customs unions established by the Austrians, the economic development of the two places is much better than in history.
This greatly reduced the local people's willingness to immigrate. Not only that, the latter also joined forces with German and Italian states to directly intervene in immigration activities.
Another point is the trade issue. Austria has been reducing the proportion of cotton imports from the United States. Although Franz did a very careful job, that is, the total amount did not decrease, and even increased, but the flaw was still discovered by someone with ulterior motives.