9. Chapter 9: Crafting a Persona

Countless cases from his past life had taught Franz that you didn't necessarily have to stand on the same side as the majority; at the very least, you had to make them believe that you were standing with them.

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

At this time, the strength of the Austrian conservatives could not be underestimated; the Vienna court was their stronghold, and Franz could not betray his own class.

In this situation, his age was his best weapon. In the eyes of the reformers, he was a supporter of reform, and that was enough; no one expected a sixteen-year-old boy to lead the reforms of the Austrian Empire.

Franz had not expressed any opinions on specific reforms, which, in the eyes of the conservatives, was a sign of maturity. Everyone knew that the Austrian Empire had to reform, but they were locked in endless disputes over how to do it.

As the Crown Prince of the Empire, it was perfectly fine for Franz to support reform. If he had foolishly thrown out his own reform plan, he would likely have been taught a harsh lesson.

By comparison, Franz's focus on the living conditions of the lower classes was nothing. A benevolent monarch was good for everyone.

Before the mystery was unveiled, neither the capitalists nor the nobles would mind Franz building his reputation among the common people; no one knew that he was merely "performing a sword dance to strike at someone else."

Baunfeld had been persuaded by Franz—or perhaps, he had been persuaded by reality. Working for this young Archduke wasn't such a bad thing after all.

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

Franz was naturally well aware of his intentions, but he didn't take them to heart. For now, he just needed to use Baunfeld's influence to get the newspaper up and running in the shortest possible time.

As for the problems of political reform in the Austrian Empire, there was no need for them to worry. Franz already had a preliminary plan in mind, but before executing it, he had to weaken the power of both the bourgeoisie and the nobility.

Raising the status of capitalists was something that would never appear in his reforms.

"Capital has no borders," Franz had heard that saying before.

Capitalists were never satisfied; they were a class that could betray you in a heartbeat if the profit was right. Franz dared not let them become the pillar of the nation.

The unique national conditions of the Austrian Empire dictated that this reform must take into account the interests of the vast majority of the lower classes to truly integrate the country, which meant the nobility and the bourgeoisie would have to make sacrifices.

It was only in this special period, where the conflict between the nobility and the bourgeoisie had intensified, that Franz had a chance of success.

The more he understood this country, the more certain Franz became that the Empire was already rife with undercurrents.

In 1846, the Germany region suffered a poor harvest, and the Austrian Empire was affected as well.

Logically speaking, the Austrian Empire was one of the most important grain exporters in Europe, and with the Great Hungarian Plain, the impact of a reduced harvest should not have been significant.

However, the reality was the exact opposite. For the sake of their own interests, capitalists were simultaneously over-hyping the grain shortage to drive up market prices while suppressing the purchase price of grain in the Hungary region, where the harvest had actually been bountiful.

By early 1847, the price of grain on the Vienna market had risen by fifty-four percent, and ordinary citizens in Vienna were already feeling the pressure of survival.

Behind the capitalists' manipulation of grain prices, a large number of farmers were going bankrupt, and even some nobles had suffered heavy losses. The Hungary region was already beginning to seethe with unrest.

Recently, Franz had noticed that the number of migrants in Vienna was increasing. He didn't need to think twice to know that most of these people were bankrupt farmers forced into the city to survive.

Some of them might have been serfs belonging to nobles, but by now, the population of the Austrian Empire had long since exceeded thirty million. The nobles were not short on serfs, so they had relaxed their control.

Although serfs were wealth, they also needed to eat. For the nobles, as long as the numbers were sufficient to ensure production quotas were met, having too many serfs was actually a burden.

The success of the abolition of serfdom in various European countries was not as simple as it appeared on the surface; it was driven more by the emergence of machinery, such as horse-drawn harvesters, which meant nobles no longer needed so many people to work the land.

Entering the mid-to-late 19th century, the nobility's demand for labor declined, and their resistance to the abolition of serfdom became less intense. Most enlightened nobles preferred to exchange the release of their serfs for a government compensation payment.

The reason Prime Minister Metternich's promotion of the abolition movement in the Austrian Empire was resisted by the nobles was that the offer was too low. On this issue, Franz supported the Prime Minister.

The Austrian treasury was not wealthy and could not afford high compensation payments; lowering the compensation price was inevitable.

However, this problem was not unsolvable. For instance, tax incentives could be given to nobles who freed their serfs, or the interests of the capitalists could be sacrificed by having the government intervene in the market to set a protective price for grain, ensuring everyone's interests.

As long as the interests were aligned, there was no conflict that couldn't be resolved. It was just that Franz wouldn't bring these ideas out now; he was still preparing to conduct an exchange of interests with Prime Minister Metternich.

On January 11, 1847, the newspaper Franz had been tinkering with, We Want Bread, We Want Cheese, was officially launched.

He had personally concocted an article titled "Caring for the Lower Classes, Creating a Better Austrian Empire Together" as its debut piece.

Undoubtedly, this was a piece of pure, unadulterated "chicken soup" for the soul. The article used a great deal of space to emphasize the role of the lower classes in the nation, clearly stating that only by meeting their basic living needs would the Austrian Empire become a better place.

The effect was beyond doubt. Since this was the first time such "chicken soup" had appeared, many people were completely taken in.

The nobles and capitalists thought Franz was a Crown Prince with an overflow of compassion, bored enough to worry about the lives of the "lowly," but they didn't mind having such an Emperor.

A benevolent Emperor was better than a tyrant; at least they wouldn't have to work with their heads on the chopping block.

The influence among the lower classes was even greater. A Crown Prince who cared about their living conditions was the very definition of a benevolent ruler!

The only pity was that this Crown Prince was a bit too young and had no say in politics. If only he were already the Emperor, that would be perfect.

"What a pity!"

Franz sighed to himself. If he had a team of people to guide public opinion across the country, the impact would have been even greater.

It wasn't that Franz hadn't sent people to guide public opinion; the problem was that he didn't have many men, and his influence was limited to Vienna. In other places, he would just have to wait for it to spread slowly.