The much-discussed Austrian civil service examination did not end until February 1849. When the final results came out, some rejoiced while others mourned.
Franz let out a sigh of relief. It had finally concluded smoothly. With such a good beginning, Austria's system for selecting talent had been changed from this point onward.
With the central government uniformly selecting talent and dispatching them to local posts, the power of local strongmen was greatly weakened, while centralization was strengthened.
On February 6, 1849, the Austrian National Assembly officially opened, marking the beginning of Austria's various ethnic groups jointly participating in politics and deciding the nation's fate.
A total of 115 representatives from Austria's various ethnic groups attended the assembly. In theory, the seats had been allocated according to population proportions, but practical circumstances had been taken into account, and fifteen additional seats were added.
Many of Austria's ethnic groups lived scattered across different areas. Naturally, Franz could not gather them all together, so this election of representatives was conducted by region.
The candidates were, naturally, nominated by the great His Majesty the Emperor, then elected through local voting. If a certain ethnic group had no representative, do not worry, do not panic—they had merely been represented.
Amid the cheers of the public, Austria's nominally highest authority—the Austrian National Assembly—was thus established.
The first matter addressed upon the opening of the National Assembly was the passage of the Austrian Compulsory Education Act. Compulsory education, watched eagerly by countless people, was finally established in Austria in the form of law.
The government's solicitation of opinions from all sectors of society also came to an end. Before and after, it received hundreds of thousands of suggestions, though most of them were naturally duplicates.
What surprised Franz was that there were so many people opposed to