The results of the civil service examination for the Austrian Empire had been announced some time ago, yet many posts were still unfilled.
This infuriated Prince Schwarzenberg. The Austrian Empire had a mountain of state business and a shortage of officials. Even the new Minister of the Interior, Giovanni Battista, was such a workaholic that he had worked himself into exhaustion.
With no head of the Ministry of Interior, every matter had to be brought to him, the prime minister. Prince Schwarzenberg could feel the immense pressure.
With no means of instant communication, and the Austrian Empire being so vast from the perspective of its central government, local officials remained indispensable.
Franz had held the civil service examination hoping to ease the shortage of officials. Ironically, those who desperately wanted government posts failed the exam, while those who passed did not necessarily want to serve.
Some felt the offices they had been awarded were too low-ranking and refused to take them up. Others were unhappy with their scores and wanted to keep taking the exam year after year. And many had simply come for the excitement, to test their abilities, or to see the world.
In other countries, candidates lower on the list might have filled the vacancies. But the Austrian Empire had a system of imperial appointments: no one could refuse the emperor's gift without his personal permission.
There was another small problem: the number of qualified candidates was limited. Those who had failed could not possibly be granted office.
And so, scenes like the following unfolded across the Austrian Empire.
A middle-aged man wearing thick glasses was squatting on the ground, haggling with an old man selling potatoes.
"Old fellow, these potatoes weren't this price yesterday. Why have they gone up today?"
The old potato seller said impatiently,