Chapter 156 The Punishment of Incompetence
This is exactly what the saying goes.
If it were just an ordinary kidnapping case or a human trafficking case, it would not shock the entire top level of the Austrian Empire.
But when these cases involve nobles and the royal family, their nature is completely different.
Count Korolaf and Prince Metternich took it together and decided to hand over these cases to Archduke Karl.
Although Archduke John was more famous than Archduke Karl, the former had given up his royal status at this time and was more like a peacemaker in personality.
This matter involves the royal family, and two of the Grand Dukes are the sons of Archduke Karl. By handing this matter over to Archduke Karl, one is to satisfy the nobles of Vienna, the other is to give an explanation to the subjects of the Austrian Empire, and the third is to force the Hungarian government to hand over the matter quickly. people.
Regarding this matter, Prince Metternich originally planned to strictly block the news. However, what was helpless was that this mighty team had already spread the news after landing in Venice and all the way to Vienna.
Everyone from Italy to Moravia is talking about this matter. Even the imperialists in Croatia are shouting to seek justice for the royal family. Transylvania is even more worried about the chaos in the world. The serfs in Galicia even wanted to raise troops to serve the king immediately.
When the news reached Hungary, the nobles and officials involved in the slave trade felt as if the sky was falling and the earth was falling.
Originally, if the Hungarians signed a slave agreement with the Texas slave traders, the matter could be passed off in the name of labor export.
The problem is that the Hungarian government and nobles also want to save face. They are clearly said to be immigrants, but they become indentured slaves. This will definitely attract a lot of criticism.
So the Hungarian nobles, who wanted both face and money, chose to take a desperate risk and transported the refugees directly to Texas, handing this hot potato to the slave traders.
But before those slave traders could threaten or induce them, they were caught off guard by the royal guards and noble bodyguards mixed among the refugees.
This matter involved both people and the Austrian imperial family, and even the French were unwilling to wade into this muddy water, claiming that the person who did it was an American from Texas and a Protestant.
The trafficking of Christians also caused an uproar in France. People, churches and even nobles protested, forcing the French government to reiterate that "France will always be a filial son of the Catholic Church and will never engage in slave trading."
What the Hungarian nobles want to do most now is to find the Jew who has been giving them bad ideas, but the cunning Jewish businessman has long since disappeared, and a group of noble bodyguards can only be furious.
In fact, Franz also wanted to meet someone who could come up with such a vicious plan and bring together this group of arrogant nobles in Hungary.
It was a pity that the Jewish businessman had friendship with the Rothschild family, and the news of Solomon Rothschild was faster than the courier of the Austrian Empire.
This Jewish businessman was a descendant that Solomon admired very much. Solomon even predicted that he would achieve great success, but at this time he had to choose to flee.
The young man fled to the Ottoman Empire under the pseudonym Soros. This was also his first encounter with Franz and the Austrian Empire.
The Hungarian side originally wanted to find a few people to take over, but this was what Franz had expected, and the interrogation of the slave traders and the Hungarian government commissioner was completed on the road.
The secret police also visited Hungary, and batches of seemingly insignificant people were secretly arrested and interrogated.
Many nobles observed the interrogation, and the results of the interrogation made people angry. This transaction did not just start today, but has been ongoing.
In the past ten years, at least 50,000 Hungarians have been trafficked. This time the planners originally planned to play a big game, so they roped in many nobles as their protective umbrella.
However, this plan was disrupted by the sudden appearance of the royal family. In the end, the plan had to be temporarily changed. In order to have enough money and avoid the refugees' regret, they did not sign a slave agreement before boarding the ship, but chose to transfer the white slaves directly. Sold to Texans.
The sudden decrease in profits caused dissatisfaction among the Hungarian nobles, and the planners had to find ways to increase profits.
There are only two ways to increase profits. One is to raise prices. At this time, no one around the world is interested in the white slave trade. The main reason is that the profits are not high and the goods are in trouble.
The second is to reduce costs. The price of indentured slaves is obviously not worth that of white slaves without freedom. Moreover, once the indentured slaves accidentally gain freedom and return to the Austrian Empire, it will be a devastating blow to the reputation of the Hungarian government and nobles.
The entire layout is almost seamless, allowing those Hungarians who were sold out to be grateful to their government. Not only that, it can also solve the refugee crisis and prevent the Austrian army from taking the opportunity to enter Hungary. It can be said that it kills three birds with one stone. Bird, and this planner can make a lot of money.
But now the Hungarian nobles have to face the wrath of the entire Austrian Empire, including even their own compatriots
The Hungarian government's subcontracting behavior made the Austrian Imperial Government even more outraged.
The entire case involved 570 members of 136 Hungarian families. The Habsburg royal family had always been benevolent and naturally would not go on a killing spree. However, the five principal culprits had to be exiled and the remaining 565 people paid a fine of 10,000 florins each.
This punishment can be said to be very light, but it still makes many Hungarian nobles hold a grudge.
Kossuth, who was in prison, even shouted that this was a violation of Hungarian law. The Austrian Empire must pay the price for its stupid actions. The future of the Hungarians is at hand.
There were many people who had the same idea as Kossuth, and they even organized demonstrations to protest against the atrocities of the Austrians.
At this time in Hungary, no matter what the Austrian Empire did or how it did it, it would be regarded by the other party as interfering in internal affairs and undermining its independence.
However, this time the great nobles of Hungary did not participate, because they knew that the punishment this time was already very light, and at the same time, the entire noble circle of the Austrian Empire had some opinions on Hungary.
If it were the past, at least the Bohemian nobles would stand on Hungary's side, but this time the Hungarians obviously went too far, and even the Bohemian nobles did not bother to stand on their side. What is needed at this time is to be patient, rather than jumping out and continuing to fight the empire.
Franz had already anticipated the weakness of the Austrian imperial government, but he did not expect it to be so decadent.
Fortunately, Franz had already prepared generous gifts for the extreme democrats in Hungary, and the clergymen on the ship were not going to the theater.
The news soon reached Rome, and Pope Gregory XVI immediately announced the excommunication of 570 Hungarians involved in the slave trade. At the same time, he once again declared that the church would never tolerate or condone the trafficking of Christians, and recommended The Austrian Imperial Government impartially judges those who deserve their crimes.
As a result, some extreme religious figures launched an assassination operation against the slave traders. The streets almost turned into battlefields, and the killings on both sides quickly exceeded the bottom line.
Count Széchenyi watched the killings on the streets with concern. He did not understand why Hungary had become like this.
Franz had no interest in this kind of low-level killing. What he wanted was the redefinition and legislative protection of the slave trade in the Austrian Empire.
The Austrian Empire announced a new anti-slave trade bill, which classified the illegal export of labor as slave trafficking. At the same time, it made some regulations on the wages and treatment of foreign labor. Anything that failed to meet the standards was regarded as human trafficking.
In the end, Hungary had to accept the new bill, but this did not satisfy everyone.