Friedrich List

Chapter 9: Friedrich List

Germany's thirty-eight customs barriers crippled transport within the country. They were like tying a man's hands and feet and stopping his blood from flowing. Only by abolishing internal tariffs and establishing a unified tax system across the entire federation could national trade and industry recover, to the benefit of the working class.

—Friedrich List

Friedrich List, the father of the Zollverein and challenger to Adam Smith, author of The Wealth of Nations, led a life that could only be called legendary. (I've used his full name throughout to distinguish him from the musician Liszt later on.)

On August 6, 1789, Friedrich List was baptized in Reutlingen.

(Infants were usually baptized on the day they were born.)

Friedrich List was born into a family of craftsmen. His father was a well-known tanner. During his school years, he also worked as an apprentice tanner, helping his father.

But he soon showed remarkable talent, passed the examination for a financial official in the Württemberg royal court, and became a government clerk.

After working for the government for several years, his abilities earned him a place at university, where he became a professor.

No one could have imagined that this was only the beginning of his wildly successful life. Afterward, Friedrich List left the university and became president of the Württemberg Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He then became a member of the Württemberg parliament, having just turned thirty.

After that, he left Württemberg for the New World—the United States. He established a farm in America, started a newspaper, and founded a railway company. Finally, he used his earnings to buy a mine, and in his spare time wrote Outlines of American Political Economy.

Later, he was even appointed consul general of the United States to the German Federation by Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States.

In 1832, he returned to Württemberg and began laying out a railway network that would span all of Germany.

But his plan for a nationwide railway system failed because of feudal fragmentation and the bourgeoisie's narrow, profit-seeking nature.

In the end, all he got was a butchered, 115-kilometer stretch of railway from Leipzig to Dresden.

To build the railway, Friedrich partnered with others to establish a joint-stock company. But the shares that should have belonged to him were stolen by two friends who had assured him that "the people of Leipzig" were different from "the Americans"—that Germans didn't cheat Germans.

The two swindlers convinced Friedrich List that all that remained was to go through the motions, so he didn't sign the contract.

By the time Friedrich List realized he'd been cheated, they had already cashed out and vanished without a trace.

In the end, the investment brought him no returns at all. Instead, he lost a thousand thalers.

Down on his luck, Friedrich List had no choice but to move into a cheap family-run inn.

He dragged his weary body back to his room, only to find the door ajar.

He rushed inside. An old gentleman was sitting in his room, leisurely drinking tea. The attendant standing beside him was handsome and burly, his gaze fixed straight ahead—a servant of the powerful, unmistakably.

The old gentleman set down his teacup and spoke first.

"Mr. List, please sit."

Friedrich List took off his hat and bowed deeply. "Sir, this is my room."

"It's mine now." The old gentleman smiled and took out a piece of paper, gesturing for the attendant to show it to Friedrich List.

Friedrich List glanced at it. It was a deed.

"Then may I take my things?" Friedrich List asked, pointing to a cabinet nearby.

"Mr. List, don't be in such a hurry. I'm here to give you a present."

"Are you Santa Claus?" Friedrich List asked.

"If you wish. Now, let's get down to business. My name is Berg Turner, and I'm Lord Metternich's butler. I've come for two reasons. First, to give you a gift and make up for your losses. I've also brought along two friends."

Berg clapped his hands. Two burly men came in carrying a sack each, then dropped them heavily on the floor with dull thuds.

They opened the sacks, and inside were the two swindlers Friedrich List hated with all his heart.

Friedrich List immediately stepped forward and kicked them twice. Their hands and feet were bound, and rags had been stuffed in their mouths, so they could only manage two muffled groans.

"Are they Austrian secret police?" Friedrich List asked.

"No, they're just concerned citizens who happened to be passing by," Berg replied unhurriedly. Then he added, "Mr. List, are you satisfied with your gift?"

"I am. Now tell me about the second matter." List was a sensible man. He knew the other party wouldn't be offering favors for nothing.

"My lord would like to meet you. He thinks you're very talented and should serve His Majesty the Emperor."

"What if I say I won't go?" List asked tentatively, then pointed to the two burly men beside him. "Will they stuff me in a sack?"

"No, Mr. List. My lord is a civilized man. I'm not. Whether I call you a foreigner or a dangerous element, or whatever else, this face of mine is all I need." Berg stood up and straightened his coat.

"You've convinced me, Mr. Turner."

Vienna, Hall of Mirrors.

Francis II sat high on his throne. The ministers and dignitaries below him each had their own schemes, yet somehow everything seemed orderly, with everyone attending to their duties.

Francis II said smugly, "My boy, look. The most important thing for an emperor is his bearing. First, you must have the aura of a mighty ruler, and then they'll all bow down before you."

Clearly, the old emperor was getting carried away. But Franz pretended to admire him, asking in a child's voice, "Grandpa, why do the French oppose Austria joining the Zollverein?"

"The French are all villains. They're afraid of us becoming strong. Austria is the chairman of the German Confederation and ought to protect the interests of the German States, so we must join the Zollverein." Francis II had meant to educate his grandson, but ended up talking himself into a corner.

Seeing the old emperor dig himself a hole, Franz gave him another push.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, does that mean everyone who agrees with the French is a villain?"

"..." Francis II fell silent.

Metternich nearly spat up blood. This really was Austria's savior! Who would have thought that the clearest-headed person in the entire royal family would be a child?

The dignitaries in the Hall of Mirrors, however, looked anything but pleased. Prince Windisch-Graetz in particular felt that the old emperor was staring at him, his gaze sharp enough to kill.

He quickly made an excuse and fled the Hall of Mirrors as if his life depended on it.

Seeing their two leaders—one banished to Hungary, the other slipping away to relieve himself—the remaining dignitaries lost heart too. And so, when the tree fell, the monkeys scattered.

Watching the crowd flee the Hall of Mirrors in a panic, Francis II fell into deep thought. How had he never realized that the people he trusted were a pack of treacherous flatterers?

Count Kolowrat thought this was for the best. It looked like his workload would be much lighter.

Count Latour simply carried on with his work. He thought those people wouldn't give up so easily, and they would have to stay on their guard.

Of course, that also had to do with Count Latour's personality. He was a soldier, after all. One mistake could cost him his life.

Metternich, Kolowrat, and Bruck were all thinking the same thing now: should they bring Archduke Franz along to the next council meeting?