Restoring Market Confidence?

Inside Bolton Manor in Vienna, over a dozen well-dressed bigwigs gathered together. Despite their best efforts to restrain themselves, they could not hide the aura of the nouveau riche.

A gorgeously dressed middle-aged man asked hesitantly, "Mr. Owen, will those mud-legged peasants actually be of any use? Even if we provide them with weapons, a rabble like that won't amount to much, will it?"

The atmosphere in the room was somewhat stifling. The graceful and noble man sitting at the head of the table stood up slowly, smiled faintly, and spoke in a measured tone:

"Mr. Love, of course they won't suffice on their own! However, at this moment, we are not the only ones in Austria who want a revolution!

Everyone here has felt the extent of the damage this economic crisis has inflicted on Austria, haven't you?

It can be said that eighty percent of Austria's capitalists have suffered heavy losses, and hundreds of thousands have become unemployed as a result.

With the Vienna government failing to act, what other choice do we have but revolution if we want to survive?"

This was the crux of the problem. By this point, the vast majority of capitalists had been backed into a corner, though many had yet to realize it.

Currently, many Austrian capitalists were hoarding large quantities of goods; if they could not offload them in a short period, their capital chains would snap.

The question now was: to whom could they sell these goods?

The common people could not afford them; at this time, there were simply too few people in Austria with any purchasing power.

The bankers were never easy to talk to; as the vampires of the advanced stage of the bourgeoisie, they were the type to eat people without spitting out the bones.

If the capitalists did not want to go under, breaking the existing order and cutting into the flesh of the nobility to survive the crisis was their only option.

Facing the same problem were the masses of unemployed workers. They might not have wanted to revolt, but their stomachs could not be deceived.

When people are hungry, they lose their reason. As long as someone incites them, a revolution could erupt at any moment.

Compared to history, the social contradictions in Austria at this time had shifted. It was no longer a revolution launched because the government failed to reform, but one forced by the reality of the situation.

An old man of about fifty or sixty shook his head and said, "Mr. Owen, we are using the mud-legged peasants for an uprising, but what if they decide to establish a proletarian government and revolt against us as well?"

This was a concern shared by all the capitalists. In this era, proletarian ideology had already begun to sprout; once the proletariat established a government, it would be the end of them.

Owen smiled and said, "That problem is simple. Our counterparts in France have already solved this puzzle for us. Once the revolution succeeds, as long as we seize power at the first opportunity, there will be no issues.

Currently, there are nearly 120,000 workers in Vienna. Under our deliberate control, the trade union organizations have been divided into hundreds of large and small groups based on industry and factory.

As long as we don't let them unify, the new government will inevitably be led by us. You don't think there is anyone among those mud-legged peasants capable of organizing them, do you?"

Organize them? In an age where communication relied on shouting, it was doubtful whether the members of these various trade union organizations even knew each other.

These trade unions were mostly spontaneous and lacked any binding authority over their members; who knew how many capitalist plants were buried within them?

Before the October Revolution in Russia, the combat effectiveness of trade union organizations was very limited, and a large portion of them were secretly controlled by capitalists.

Trying to organize all the workers was certainly not something that could be accomplished overnight. As long as they seized the initiative to establish a government and controlled the power of the state, the situation would be settled.

This could be seen from the February Revolution in France; after the revolution succeeded, the capitalists seized power immediately. Their first priority was not to settle scores with the former government, but rather to suppress the working class that had participated in the revolution alongside them.

In the eyes of the capitalists, the concept of integrity had long since ceased to exist.

Late at night, the Vienna government was brightly lit. Prime Minister Metternich was fretting over the current situation; at this point, at least one interest group had to make a sacrifice.

Whether to take the knife to the capitalists, the nobility, or the common people was a difficult choice.

Prime Minister Metternich had dominated Austrian politics for over twenty years and was inevitably bound by the rules, otherwise, he would not be suffering such a headache.

The revolution had broken out in Paris, and undercurrents were surging in Austria as well. Unfortunately, Prime Minister Metternich's mindset remained stuck a decade in the past, believing that a conservative Austria was different from an open France.

Aside from strengthening defenses in the Italy and Galicia regions, he did not believe there was any danger in Vienna. In his view, even if a revolution were to break out, it would happen elsewhere first, such as in Hungary.

"Your Excellency, judging from the current situation, the opposition will not make concessions this time. I fear they are planning large-scale demonstrations!" Archduke Louis said with a grim expression.

If it were merely a matter of forcing Prime Minister Metternich to step down, he would raise both hands in favor. But if the Regency Council were to be kicked out as well, and power transferred to a parliament after constitutional reform, then there was no room for discussion.

No matter how much he disliked Metternich, Archduke Louis had to stand with him at this moment; their political lives were tied together.

Prime Minister Metternich sighed and said slowly, "Indeed, unless we accept their terms in full, they will not stop. I fear the enemy is still coordinating even now; tomorrow, I will face even larger protest crowds!

Unless we strike first, arrest the ringleaders of this incident, order the garrison into the city, blockade the intersections, and forbid them from coordinating!"

He was old now and lacked the boldness of his youth; otherwise, he would not be hesitating now and would have already ordered the arrests.

"Then let's arrest them first. If we let them carry on like this, I fear we won't be able to control the situation later!" Archduke Louis said without hesitation.

In any case, the order had to be issued by the Prime Minister; if something went wrong, Metternich would be the one to take the blame, and he would not need to be held responsible.

Metternich smiled bitterly and said, "That only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. If the domestic economy does not improve, today's events will continue to happen.

Gentlemen, let us abolish serfdom. At this time, we need to create a market, and even if that market exists only on paper, we must restore confidence in the market!"

Indeed, announcing the abolition of serfdom nationwide at this time could restore confidence for many; after all, it would increase purchasing power by over twenty million people at once, even if their individual purchasing power was very small.