Handling Prisoners of War

No one asked who the expert behind this proposal was, and everyone tacitly agreed not to. Franz did not want to admit that he was the one who proposed the "piece-rate system," and the others assumed he was simply being principled and unwilling to take credit for someone else's idea.

In this era, the "piece-rate system" was undoubtedly progressive; it could unleash greater productivity and break the tradition of "goldbricking."

One must understand that in this day and age, capitalists used extremely brutal methods to combat "goldbricking," and docking wages was considered lenient.

More often than not, workers were subjected to a vicious beating alongside the wage cuts, and every year, a significant number of workers died as a result.

Especially in the mines, capitalists would often kill the chicken to scare the monkey, using violence to intimidate others into working harder to stimulate productivity.

The government clearly could not adopt such cruel methods, and Karl worried that if the government managed enterprises directly, they would suffer losses—precisely because he feared the emergence of large-scale "goldbricking."

There were many such cases in later generations: a state-owned enterprise suffering heavy losses could, after being privatized and cutting its workforce in half, double its production capacity and instantly turn losses into profits.

"What plans do you have for the sentencing of the prisoners?" Franz asked next.

He decisively ignored the nobles and capitalists who had participated in the rebellion; these people had mostly fled, and those who were caught were merely dim-witted fools.

As for the ringleaders of this rebellion, there was no need for a trial at all; they had already been dealt with during the suppression of the uprising.

It could be said that for any rebel officer at the middle rank or above, Franz had cut the Gordian knot and ordered their execution immediately.

Except for those who had surrendered their troops without firing a single shot, all other rebel leaders at the rank of platoon leader or higher had already "received their lunch boxes."

Only about three thousand rebels had been killed during the suppression of the rebellion, yet the number of rebel leaders subsequently executed had actually exceeded two thousand.

There was no help for it; insurgents had no human rights. The higher their status and position, the faster they died, whereas the ordinary masses were not pursued too severely.

Even the Cannon Party at the University of Vienna that had incited the revolution had "received their lunch boxes" this time. The army had taken over the campus, and for anyone who had joined the revolutionary party or preached revolutionary ideas, there was only one outcome.

These orders had been issued by Franz, but he certainly would not be the one to take the blame. The cabinet had not yet been formed, so he had simply issued the orders in the name of the cabinet.

If historians were interested, they would find that the signatory of these orders was the Prime Minister, while Franz, the Crown Prince, knew nothing of them.

These were minor issues; the people of Vienna had been severely harmed this time, and everyone hated the revolutionary party to the core, so no one would sympathize with them.

"Your Highness, this rebellion has had too wide a reach. These prisoners must be punished severely to serve as a warning to others and to intimidate the whole country!"

Archduke Louis's eyes were bloodshot as he spoke aggressively, as if he held an irreconcilable hatred for these people and wished to have them all executed.

Not only him, but the other cabinet members also wore expressions of shared hatred.

Franz knew without being told that the old-school nobles had many relatives, and among those who had perished in this rebellion, there were certainly their friends and family.

If it were just that, it might have been bearable, but the rebels had also ransacked their homes, stolen their wealth, and killed their loyal servants.

Even Archduke Louis's youngest son had been "taken care of" by the rebels because he was unlucky and too slow when fleeing, which was the main reason for his fury.

Before this, he had advocated for lenient treatment of the rebel party to soothe the public and stabilize the domestic situation as quickly as possible.

Now, however, touched by the pain of losing a son, everything was different. He had first advocated at the noble assembly for the execution of all nobles who had participated in the rebellion, and now he did not even want to let the prisoners go.

Franz was very clear about the causes and consequences of this rebellion, and even clearer about his own class position. Therefore, after capturing the nobles who participated in the rebellion, he did not execute them immediately but left them to the Noble Assembly.

Most of the nobles who participated in the rebellion did so out of greed for profit. To recoup their losses, the main work they actually did was burning bank records.

Not only had Austria's domestic financial institutions suffered heavy losses, but even the branches of international banks in Vienna had not escaped unscathed.

The backers behind these financial institutions were also the main force advocating for the severe punishment of the rebels, and this included the Vienna Court.

The profits in the financial sector were so vast that as the local hegemon, the Habsburg Family could not possibly have stayed out of it; in fact, the Habsburg Family held shares in many of Austria's financial institutions.

At this point, trying to recover the losses was clearly impossible. For this reason, Franz was in a hurry to form the cabinet; his main purpose was to let the cabinet withstand the pressure and prevent the nobles from reclaiming their losses.

After all, these assets had been confiscated from the rebels, and it was impossible to determine who the original owners were. Aside from real estate with clear ownership, Franz intended to deposit all other wealth into the national treasury.

If he were to return them to the original owners, he could guarantee that all the spoils would soon be carved up by the nobles. Franz had no intention of testing the greed of human nature.

Franz thought for a moment and said, "Severe punishment for the rebels is necessary, but most of these prisoners are workers. It would be better to let them return to the factories to continue creating value for us.

Depending on the severity of their involvement, they should be fined and made to work in factories to pay off the fines with their wages; only after the fines are paid off can they regain their freedom."

This was the most lenient punishment he could fight for. No one would turn their back on money, and the cabinet could not refuse so much free labor.

"This is a good method. We cannot kill all these people, so we might as well put the waste to use!" Finance Minister Karl was the first to agree.

Once the Vienna rebellion broke out, there were many places where money was needed, and he supported any proposal that could increase fiscal revenue.

"That is fine, but what about the die-hards among them? What if they cause sabotage in the factories?" Archduke Louis asked, unwilling to let it go.

"That is simple. We can adopt a system of collective responsibility, dividing them into small groups and having the workers supervise and report on each other. Those who report successfully can have their sentences reduced. If no one reports and they are caught, everyone will be held collectively responsible and sent to the mines," Finance Minister Karl said with a cold sneer.

Franz could not help but want to applaud. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that there would be a series of rebellions in Austria to come, he would have been prepared to send these prisoners to mine coal and build railways.

Considering that there might be more prisoners in the future, and that these people were not die-hards and had surrendered quickly under his call, he had fought for the most lenient punishment for them.

"If no one has a better suggestion, then this matter is settled!" Franz said calmly.