When Disaster Strikes, Each Flies Their Own Way

Before both sides could reach a result, news reached the Hofburg Palace that the City Defense Force had returned to Vienna and had already begun suppressing the rebellion.

The negotiations immediately hit a stalemate. As the balance of power shifted, the initiative in the talks changed hands, and the Vienna Court was no longer in a hurry to reach an agreement.

The conditions proposed by the bourgeoisie were seen as an insult by the Archdukes. Had they been left with no other choice, they might have held their noses and accepted them for the sake of their own lives.

Now, however, the main force of the City Defense Force had returned, reinforcements from around Vienna were on their way, and a regiment of troops was guarding the palace.

With the danger gone, everyone's mindset had shifted, and Archduke Louis was no longer willing to compromise with the capitalists.

Even if political reforms were to be carried out, they had to be initiated by the nobility themselves, not forced upon them by others; this point was of the utmost importance.

The speed of the suppression was faster than Franz had imagined. A rabble is a rabble; upon encountering the suppression army, their first reaction was not to defeat the enemy, but to flee.

There was no helping it; after the rebels organized a few initial resistances, they were terrified by the City Defense Force. Albrecht even deliberately let the routed soldiers escape to spread the fear of defeat.

While launching the military offensive, Franz also initiated a political campaign. In his capacity as Crown Prince, he declared: "The chief culprits shall be punished, but those coerced into participation will not be held accountable."

In this era, the Habsburg Family still held significant sway in Austria. With Franz's guarantee, many rebel soldiers who had been coerced into the fray surrendered cleanly and decisively.

The citizens of Vienna, who had been victimized by the rebels, now took the initiative to provide assistance to the suppression army. Having lost the support of the populace, the rebellion had become like duckweed without roots.

Although the suppression army was making smooth progress, Franz could not bring himself to be happy. Looking at the broken walls and ruins, he knew that because of this battle, Vienna's economy had regressed by at least five years.

However, Franz had no time for sorrow; he still had to soothe the hearts of the people. After being ravaged by the rebels, the spirits of the Viennese were fragile.

As Crown Prince, it was only natural for Franz to bring them the warmth of spring and rescue them from their suffering.

"Your Highness, the road to the palace has been cleared!" a guard said excitedly.

Franz smiled faintly. This was good news, meaning the overall situation was settled. Since the rebels had failed to control the Emperor, their defeat was a foregone conclusion.

"Send word to His Majesty the Emperor; I will go to him once I have finished handling matters here!"

Politics is a dark business. To reap the greatest fruits of victory, Franz had to suppress the rebellion and stabilize the situation in the city before returning, wielding the prestige of his triumph.

Otherwise, if he went now, the Regency Council might try to seize the initiative from him. When it came to power, he had no interest in gambling on the integrity of these politicians.

Clearly, Franz did not yet know that Prime Minister Metternich had already fled, nor that Count Kolowrat was absent from the palace, leaving only Archduke Louis and his father on the Regency Council.

At this point, even if Archduke Louis wanted to seize the initiative, he could not. Unless Ferdinand I took the field himself, the greatest political capital gained from this rebellion belonged to Franz.

A young man urged impatiently, "Father, let's go! It will be too late if we wait any longer!"

The middle-aged man's expression was dim. He looked at his estate one last time before climbing into the carriage with a sigh of resignation.

Indeed, this was Owen, a wealthy capitalist and one of the masterminds behind the rebellion. At this moment, he had lost his former vigor, appearing to have aged a dozen years.

When the City Defense Force first returned to suppress the rebellion, they hadn't taken it seriously; in just a few short days, the number of rebels had swelled to over fifty thousand.

But as soon as they clashed, everyone knew it was over. Once the army took off the gloves, how could this rabble possibly be a match for regular troops?

Unlike the start of the rebellion, when the soldiers had been very cautious and afraid to strike hard, the style of play had completely changed. The cannons were brought out and fired directly into crowded areas. The rebels had never seen such a formation; they were defeated in a daze before they could even react.

"To leave like this... I don't know when I'll ever be able to return. A family business built up over decades, lost in a single day!" Owen sighed.

"What's the point of saying all that now? At worst, we'll just start over somewhere else!" the young man said dismissively.

If not for the worry etched between his brows, one might have truly believed he didn't care.

Although capital knows no borders, in this day and age, it was not so easy to pull up stakes and start anew elsewhere.

Without the connections cultivated over a long period, arriving in a strange place could easily lead to being devoured until not even the scraps remained.

They had done such things themselves; it could be said that all primitive accumulation of capital is bloody.

Logically, a major capitalist like Owen had no reason to involve himself in a revolution. Unfortunately, they had invested too much capital when they were driving up prices earlier. They had hoped to make a fortune, but instead, they had gambled away their entire foundation.

If they didn't incite a revolution, most of their assets would become the property of the banks, leaving them severely weakened and in decline.

Greed moves the heart. Encouraged by his peers, Owen decided to take a gamble—if he failed, he would simply run.

And now, they really had to run. If they remained in Austria, even if the government didn't trouble them, their fellow capitalists—who had suffered heavy losses—would surely take their lives.

The reason this rebellion escalated internal conflicts so quickly, aside from Franz's arrangements, was also due to the infighting among the capitalists.

Peers are enemies; even at a time like this, the capitalists wanted to strike at their competitors to monopolize the market.

Borrowing a knife to kill is naturally the best choice. They used the opportunity of the revolution to plunder their rivals' wealth, even taking their lives, and then shifted the blame onto the government army.

If the revolution had succeeded, their schemes would have naturally succeeded as well. Unfortunately, they fell short at the final hurdle. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the smart ones fled before the rebellion was even fully suppressed.

In Austria, as long as you have money, most things can be smoothed over—but rebellion is the exception.

At this point, even money couldn't buy a way out. Once involved, one could not expect the Vienna government to show mercy.

It was not just Owen and his son who were fleeing; anyone who had participated—whether capitalist, aristocrat, or opportunistic politician—was now scrambling to escape the vortex that was Vienna.