Wanting to fan the flas, Franz went to visit another major figure of the Conservative Party, Count Koloft, to express his concern about the situation.
Everyone was well inford about the recent goings-on, and the role Franz played in this political conflict was no secret at all among the top players of the governnt.
Franz was naturally on conservatives' side because of his origin, or at least they were in the sa boat when facing the reform of the capitalist class. In addition, everyone at the highest levels of governnt was quite principled, so no one would leak information to the outside.
And even if soone leaked the information, nothing would change, since the contradiction between the nobility and the capitalist class could no longer be resolved. Everyone simply had to do what they had to do.
Should they allow the nobility to give up suppressing the capitalist class? Or let the capitalist class abandon their attempt at grabbing power?
At the mont, no one would compromise, nor would they even dare to attempt such a thing. If one were to step back, it wouldn't be a wide sea they saw, but rather a vast abyss.
If not for the advantage of being young, Franz would have to go up onto the political stage.
Really, it was less his age and more that the Regency Council did not want to give up their power so early; as a result, they had to take the pressure and the bla.
Putting Franz on the frontline against the capitalist class would advance his agenda in political affairs and result in the termination of the Regency Council of the Empire.
anwhile, Pri Minister tternich would have a tough ti of it because he, a representative of the interests of the nobility, claid to be a reformist.
When the two parties in Austria were locked in a bitter fight over benefits, Franz knocked around between them, and then, to add to the difficulty, the conservatives interfered in the reform.
Frequently in the past, people had attacked the conservatives, claiming that they used serfdom as a weapon, deprived serfs of their personal freedom, cynically exploited them, and then obstructed Austria's progress.
This was the ti for the nobles to fight back. People found there was sothing even worse, comparing the lives of workers and serfs.
The nobles, even as morally depraved as they were, would not make serfs work 15 or 16 hours a day except during the busy farming season because they simply did not have all that much work to do.
Indoor lighting was not cheap at that ti. The capitalists would make money by making workers work overti at night, while the noble would lose money if they did the sa to the serfs.
Generally speaking, the lives of workers and serfs were the sa — bitter!
But relatively speaking, the life of workers of this age was worse. The factory was like a prison. Once you got inside, it was hard to get out, and any carelessness could lead to a punishnt.
As for paynts, it was totally dependent on the moral integrity of the capitalists: one could get paid a little under a conscientious boss, while one could owe his boss a load of money after years of hard work without getting paid if under a vicious boss.
Demanding paynts had been a problem forever.
Happiness was out of the question as a way to compare things; so was misery.
Because of the manipulation of the nobility, the working class suddenly realized that they were the most miserable class of all. Then, they certainly had to support the governnt on the Labor Protection Act.
The so-called constitutional reform, national election, and the abolition of serfdom were all put off indefinitely, to prioritize matters concerning their own interests.
The sa was true of the capitalist class: they were tough and would not take one step back when it ca to self-interest. Patriotism was long forgotten by everyone.
Pri Minister tternich, caught in the middle, had a headache. He was strong in diplomacy but seed powerless to resolve internal conflicts.
Just as with the previous issue of serfdom abolition, he was still negotiating with representatives of the capitalist class in an attempt to co up with a compromise acceptable to everyone.
"Pri Minister, I would like to know: when will the Labor Protection Act be passed?" asked Count Koloft indifferently.
How could he not push him around, as a political enemy of Pri Minister tternich? Even without Franz's suggestion, he would still have taken action, but now his target was more precise.
"Count Koloft, any law will have to wait a while before it can be enacted, because we have to carry out the actual investigation and then conduct a comprehensive analysis. Please be patient," tternich said disdainfully.
He did not bother to be polite to a political opponent. Besides, they would remain enemies no matter what he did.
"Pri Minister, it is not who cannot wait; it is the workers outside. As you know, every day in Austria, hundreds of workers die due to being exploited ruthlessly by the capitalists!
Don't they claim to be patriots? What are they doing to the workers while they are accusing us of immorally depriving serfs their freedom?
Are the workers not Austrian citizens? You know, most of these workers are serfs that we have released. Instead of making their lives better, the capitalists have them in an abyss!
What's worse, this abyss is going to swallow everything and, in the end, destroy the whole of Austria!" Count Koloft roared, as he jabbed a finger up at Pri Minister tternich's face.
What a checkmate! The aim of liberating serfs was to make them live a better life, but all the evidence showed the opposite had occurred: they were suffering more.
This was a heavy blow to tternich's advocated abolition of serfdom, and the problem would stop all his work until it was solved.
But to solve this problem would an that he had to break with the capitalist class, who were in support of the abolition of serfdom, or even beat them down.
Because most of the reformists in the country were capitalists, doing that would shake his position as pri minister, unless he was totally in favor of the nobility.
Well, Pri Minister tternich himself was the representative of the great nobles and had always stood with them, save for the abolitionist movent. He did not hold anything against compromising with the nobility again. The question was, how would he do that?
He could not force them to take his side; it was a matter of leadership. What tternich wanted was to be the leader of the nobility, not their proxy.
"Well, Count Koloft. A reply will be given by the governnt as soon as possible. You can go back and wait for the news!" tternich said, frowning.
"I hope so; otherwise our Pri Minister will end up being a disappointnt," Count Koloft said pointedly.
After Pri Minister tternich dismissed Count Koloft, his face instantly darkened. It would be strange to be in a good mood after being pressured by soone like that.
After a mont of contemplation, tternich hit the table with his hand. "Count Koloft is really getting old and senile if he thinks he can squeeze out with such a little trick," he said to himself.
He said that as if he were very young, when in fact tternich, born in 1773, was already 74 years old himself.
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