Chapter 439 “Utopia”

Chapter 439 “Utopia”

From the Austrian Empire joining the German Zollverein, to the death of the old emperor, to the Near East crisis, the food crisis, the economic crisis and the recent Luxembourg crisis.

Everything in this world seems to have nothing to do with this Invalides. The people inside are just waiting for death calmly.

This place is neither a paradise nor a paradise. It is more like a tomb full of maggots.

The Les Invalides in Paris was built during the period of Louis XIV, the "Sun King", while the Les Invalides in Vienna also has a very long history.

But unlike the splendor of the French side, the Austrian side seems much more lonely.

The Invalides in France was created because those French army veterans had a difficult life after being discharged from the army and had resentment towards the emperor and the country.

Those people came to the Palace of Versailles to beg Louis XIV for help, and the "Sun King" did not turn them away like other kings in history.

The reason why the "Sun King" became the "Sun King" was that he was different from ordinary people. Louis XIV happily met the veterans and gave them medals, and also announced the construction of the Invalides.

The veterans, who were originally full of anger and fear, felt honored after hearing His Majesty the King's decision, and even felt ashamed of their own rudeness.

In fact, Louis XIV did this not only to appease the veterans, but also to make people work better for him.

Because this move seemed to solve the worries of those soldiers, this move provided great help to him in his later expedition to Europe.

Later, other European countries followed the example of the "Sun King", and the Invalides in Vienna was one of its results.

It's just that this Invalides was just a decoration for a long time after its establishment. Due to the poor economic situation in Austria, the country set the threshold for entering the Invalides very high in order to save costs.

This prevents the vast majority of Austrian veterans from enjoying the benefits of this measure, but even so, the controversy over the Invalides has never stopped.

Many nobles felt that those soldiers were not worthy of this honor, because the social status of soldiers at that time was very low, and Austria had hardly won any decent wars since the rise of the Sun King, so the evaluation of the army was very low.

There is even public opinion that the reason why the Austrians could not win the war was because the soldiers were afraid of bullets.

During the Anti-French War, a large number of disabled soldiers were sent to the Invalides. However, in order to encourage the soldiers to continue fighting, the royal family and the government, under tremendous financial pressure, allocated funds to the military to maintain the operation of the Invalides.

After that came decades of peace. People seemed to have long forgotten that war, and these veterans were no longer respected, and were just a group of "old people who never died."

Vienna, Invalides.

The autumn wind is bleak, the fallen leaves have been mixed with the soil, the mottled stone walls, the rusty door, and the dull-eyed doorman.

One after another, exquisite carriages, accompanied by a large number of guards on tall horses, arrived at the gate of the Invalides.

Naturally, the carriage carried Franz and his friends. Everyone wore military uniforms according to their military ranks, which was naturally what Franz requested.

He felt that the military uniforms should make the veterans feel more friendly, and at the same time let the young people understand that the Austrian Empire had not forgotten this group of people.

When the door opened, there was a harsh friction sound. As soon as he entered, he was blocked by a tree shade and all the sunlight was blocked, leaving no light at all.

At this time, the cold wind blew again, accompanied by the rustling sound of leaves on the ground, making people feel an inexplicable sadness.

Maybe it's because the weather is a little cold and no one is moving in the yard.

But the crunching sound when walking on the ground that had already accumulated a layer of fallen leaves really made Franz a little unhappy.

Others felt a sense of novelty, jumping up and down on the ground one by one.

"Franz, it's really interesting. There are so many leaves here. It feels like we are out hunting," Taffy said.

Franz frowned even more after hearing this.

Taffy and Richard Metternich, who were close to Franz, naturally understood that this was a sign that Franz was very unhappy.

If he wasn't happy, someone was going to be unhappy.

They immediately shut their mouths, the former because of fear, and the latter because they wanted to watch the show.

Because Richard's nemesis Akadov was the one dancing the most happily at this time. If Franz wants to deal with anyone at this time, it must be him.

However, Franz did not punish anyone, he just ordered the accompanying guards to clean the yard. That's all.

Those royal guards usually don't do such rough work, and they will let servants do it even in their own homes. Usually no one in the palace would let them do this.

But this time it was Franz who spoke in person, so it was no longer a concept at all. Another point is that before coming, Franzko studied the concept of veterans and their deeds.

This made these soldiers who grew up in peacetime excited, and at the same time they also had some respect for those veterans.

There were more than two hundred guards, except for some who were guarding the door and some who were responsible for accompanying the guards. Most of them participated in this majestic cleaning work.

It’s hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice, and cleaning also requires tools.

As a result, a group of aggressive guards rushed to the warehouse. Looking at these tall and well-dressed strong men, the doorman did not dare to stop them, and the warehouse manager obediently handed over the key.

Thus began a vigorous general cleaning.

Franz's brows tightened slightly at this time, because he saw someone running towards the hall in a panic. Franz immediately asked Colonel Bordeaux to stop the man. When he was stopped, the man wanted to scream, but he was slapped hard by the colonel and had to shut up.

Bordeaux has a family background. His family has been responsible for security and confidentiality for more than ten generations, so he naturally knows how to deal with this kind of thing.

Soon Bordeaux came back with the people. Franz carefully looked at the middle-aged man with red and swollen face in front of him, and found nothing special.

"May I have your name?"

"Mordan Kirby."

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Franz continued to ask.

"I am a staff member here, let's take a breather at the door." Modan Kabi replied.

"Then why did you run when you saw us?" Franz had already guessed a lot, but he still asked.

"I didn't run, why should I run? Sir, you are wrong." Modan Kirby replied.

Although he didn't know the identity of the other party, but seeing a child traveling with such a large group of guards, even a fool knew that the other party had a lot of background.

"Did you see it wrong? Well, you can choose, confess now, or wait until I find out the matter and deal with you slowly." Franz emphasized his tone without wanting to waste time.

The man immediately panicked after hearing this, but he still said firmly.

"I don't know, I don't know anything."

"Then do you recognize it?" Franz pointed to the military uniform he was wearing.

Modan Kabi nodded.

"So, Mr. Modan Kabi, do you know that those people inside are also wearing military uniforms?"

The man was speechless for a moment.

"Since you know the military uniform, it will be easy to handle. Everything you have done must be done in accordance with military law."

Then Franz strode away, but when he entered the hall, he did not let the guards accompany him, only his friends.