Building a Public Image

The countless examples from his previous life had taught Franz that he didn't need to truly share the majority's position. At the very least, he had to make them believe he was on their side.

That was exactly what Franz was doing now. Reform was the mainstream in Austria, so naturally, he had to send a signal to the outside world that he supported it.

At this time, the Austrian conservatives were not to be underestimated either. The Vienna Court was their stronghold, and Franz could not betray his own class.

At a time like this, his age was the best weapon. In the eyes of the Reform Party, he supported reform, and that was enough. No one expected a sixteen-year-old boy to lead Austria's reforms.

Franz had not expressed an opinion on any specific reforms. In the eyes of the conservatives, this showed that he was levelheaded. Everyone knew Austria had to reform, but they argued endlessly over how.

As the Empire's heir, there was nothing wrong with Franz supporting reform. If he foolishly laid out his own reform plan, he would probably be torn to pieces.

By comparison, Franz's concern for the lives of the common people was nothing much. A benevolent king was good for everyone.

Before the truth was revealed, neither capitalists nor nobles would mind Franz building up his reputation among the people. No one knew that he was secretly making a feint to the east while attacking in the west.

Baunfeld had been persuaded by Franz—or rather, reality had persuaded him. There was nothing wrong with working for this young archduke.

And if he could influence Archduke Franz and get him to accept his ideas, that would be even better.

Franz naturally knew what Baunfeld was planning, but he paid it no mind. For now, he simply needed to make use of Baunfeld's influence to get the newspaper up and running as quickly as possible.

They needn't worry about Austria's political reforms. Franz already had a preliminary plan in mind, but before putting it into action, he would first have to weaken the bourgeoisie and the nobility.

Raising the status of capitalists would never feature in his reforms.

"Capital knows no borders." Franz had heard that saying before.

Capitalists could never be satisfied. They were a class that would betray you in an instant if the price was right. Franz dared not let them become the backbone of the nation.

Austria's unique circumstances meant that this reform had to take the interests of the vast majority of the common people into account if the country was ever to truly unite. That would require the nobles and the bourgeoisie to make sacrifices.

It was only in this unusual period, when the conflict between the nobility and the bourgeoisie had intensified, that Franz had a chance of succeeding.

The more he learned about the country, the more certain Franz became that the Empire was already seething with undercurrents.

In 1846, poor harvests struck the German lands, and Austria was affected as well.

In theory, the Austrian Empire was one of Europe's main grain exporters. With Hungary's great plains, the impact of a reduced harvest should not have been severe.

But the reality was precisely the opposite. To serve their own interests, the capitalists hyped up fears of a grain shortage and drove up market prices, while also forcing down the purchase price of grain in Hungary, where the harvest had been good.

By early 1847, grain prices in Vienna had already risen by 54 percent, and ordinary Viennese citizens were beginning to feel the strain of making ends meet.

Behind the capitalists' manipulation of grain prices, countless peasants were driven into bankruptcy. Even some nobles suffered heavy losses, and Hungary was already seething with undercurrents.

Recently, Franz had noticed more and more newcomers in Vienna. He didn't need to think twice to know that most of them were probably ruined peasants who had been forced into the cities to survive.

Some might still be serfs belonging to the nobility. But by now, Austria's population had long since passed thirty million, and the nobles had no shortage of serfs, so they had loosened their restrictions.

Serfs were a form of wealth, but they also had to eat. As long as the numbers were sufficient to guarantee production targets, that was enough for the nobles. Too many serfs were a burden as well.

The successful emancipation of serfs in European countries had not been as simple as it seemed. More importantly, the advent of machinery meant nobles no longer needed so many people to work the land, such as horse-drawn reapers.

By the mid-to-late nineteenth century, the nobility's need for labor had declined, and their opposition to abolishing serfdom had weakened. Most enlightened nobles were more than willing to free their serfs in exchange for compensation from the state.

Chancellor Metternich's abolitionist movement in Austria had met with resistance from the nobles because the compensation offered was too low. On this issue, Franz supported the chancellor.

Austria's finances were in poor shape and could not afford generous compensation, so lowering the amount was inevitable.

But there was no shortage of ways to solve this problem. For example, the government could offer tax breaks to nobles who freed their serfs. Or it could sacrifice the capitalists' interests, intervene in the market, and set a grain support price to protect everyone's livelihoods.

As long as the interests were right, there was no conflict that could not be resolved. But Franz would not bring up these ideas just yet. He was still planning to trade favors with Chancellor Metternich.

On January 11, 1847, the newspaper Franz had put together, We Want Bread, We Want Cheese, officially hit the stands.

He had personally put together an article titled Caring for the Common People, Building a Better Austria as its opening piece.

There was no doubt that it was an out-and-out piece of feel-good writing. Much of it emphasized the role the common people played in the country, clearly stating that only when their basic needs were met would the Austrian Empire become a better place.

The effect was naturally undeniable. This kind of feel-good writing had never been seen before, and many people were taken in.

The nobles and capitalists thought Franz was a sentimental heir who had nothing better to do than worry about the lives of the rabble. Still, they had no objection to having an emperor like that.

A benevolent emperor was better than a tyrant. No one would have to work with their head on the line.

The impact among the common people was even greater. An heir who cared about their living conditions was the very image of a benevolent ruler!

The only pity was that the heir was a little too young and had no say in politics. If only he were emperor already.

"What a pity!"

Franz sighed inwardly. If only he had a team of people to guide public opinion across the country. Then the impact would be even greater.

It wasn't that Franz hadn't sent people to guide public opinion. The problem was that he had few people at his disposal, and their influence was limited to Vienna. Elsewhere, he could only wait for it to spread gradually.