Chapter 83 Rebuilding Rome (Part 1, free.)
city of rome.
In the early morning, the sun rises. The sunlight has just spread on the ancient stone road, and there is still a hint of coolness in the air.
People were already standing on both sides of the supposedly quiet street, with children holding flowers and jumping up and down waving bouquets in their hands.
People shouted Franz's name loudly and flowers were thrown into the queue. If the guards around Franz hadn't been accustomed to big scenes, they would have been panicked or simply in a state of ecstasy at this time.
However, the royal guards, who were accustomed to big scenes, were still shocked by the enthusiasm of the locals. After all, in Austria, people not only lined the streets to welcome him, but also held demonstrations.
And the faces of the people here are full of enthusiasm, full of joy and excitement. Everywhere the motorcade passed, people followed behind it.
The residents of Rome seemed to welcome them sincerely, without any hint of hypocrisy. The whole city was filled with a cheerful atmosphere, and it didn't look like it had just suffered a catastrophe.
In fact, this was a talent of the Romans. They were very good at hiding their true intentions. After all, they needed to deal with the priests and foreign visitors.
However, they were not entirely trying to deal with Franz, an outsider. In fact, Franz did solve the urgent need of the city of Rome.
Moreover, Franz also brought some new things, so that the Romans could obtain the necessary materials for life without having to kowtow too much.
As for labor, it was the least valuable thing in Rome at this time.
Franz is still doing the same old work-for-relief thing, but it's still very satisfying to use other people's money to win people's hearts for himself.
The city of Rome needed to be rebuilt, which was part of the deal between Franz and Pius IX, but it was not entirely appropriate for the Austrian Empire's army to do this now.
First of all, rebuilding Rome is definitely a great achievement, but this matter is very likely to be criticized by other forces, even domestic opponents of the Pope, and those who are dissatisfied.
If Franz really takes over everything, then unless things go well in the Papal States in the future, if anything happens to the city of Rome in the future, even if someone is killed by a brick on the city wall, it is very likely that Austria will rely on it. On the head.
However, Franz would definitely not give up such a good publicity opportunity. After all, Austria and Italy were deeply influenced by Catholicism.
In addition to the Habsburg family, the link that maintains the Austrian Empire is the Catholic Church, so Franz has been carefully safeguarding the status and reputation of the church to prevent them from entering a rapid decline as they did in history.
Rebuilding Rome allows the Pope to better build the Austrian Empire into a guardian of the faith. This may be useless to other countries, but it is an additional security link for Austria.
In addition, the reason why Franz wanted the Austrian army and Roman residents to participate in rebuilding Rome was also to create a common memory of common struggle.
After all, with the development of the times, the power of religion will become weaker and weaker, and this nation's era naturally needs the help of nationalism.
As mentioned earlier, Franz's method in Rome was still to provide relief through work. In fact, even if those people did not work, they could still receive relief food.
But those relief foods can only keep people alive at best. If you want to avoid starvation, you need to work.
This was another calculation by Franz, who needed to train the Romans' obedience. It is indeed easy to win the favor of others by providing help in times of need, but if this "carbon" comes too easily, no one will cherish it.
The story of "Sign up with rice and fight with rice for hatred." has never left us.