Chapter 1115 Progress
Kossuth was not a mediocre person, but a historical trendsetter. He ordered the confiscation of the assets of the opposition and the surrenderists, and promulgated a new land law.
This time he planned to completely eliminate serfdom, confiscate the land of the great nobles, and realize the real meaning of "land belongs to the tiller".
Serfs could pay off their debts in 20 years, but the money was no longer collected by the nobles, but collected by the state and transferred to the nobles.
Linking land with military service, those who did not serve in the military had no right to obtain land, and at the same time granting land for military merits to encourage soldiers to fight bravely.
Revise the price limit order to crack down on price alliances.
Crack down on local forces and strengthen centralization. Encourage industrial production.
After some operations, the so-called Hungarian Revolution finally had some signs of progress, but Franz was quite happy.
Because Kossuth always did some good things. After all, Franz had to do these things that offended people, and it would be good if someone could do it for him.
Kossuth's series of operations also caused a large number of nobles to flee to Austria. In the past, they were reluctant to leave because of the ties of land and property. This time, they fled to Austria without hesitation.
The nobles were very experienced. They had already thought of a lot of excuses and brought a list of their family's property.
However, this time the emperor did not choose to meet them in person, nor did he personally promise them that he would help them get back what belonged to them.
In fact, those who received them were not members of the royal family or high-ranking officials of the empire, and they could not even be called entertained.
The officials responsible for receiving them were officials of the Refugee Office. These young or not so young new officials did not smile at them, the noblest people in Hungary.
This was not because the new officials selected by Franz were of low quality or arrogant, but because the Austrian Imperial Refugee Office was the busiest place in the entire Austrian Imperial Government in 1848.
Especially these officials sent to Hungary, they had to worry about being shot or stabbed from time to time.
It would be strange if their mental state was good, but the refugees still needed to be received, otherwise the reinforcements coming from all sides would kill all of them without leaving a single one.
Killing is only a means, not an end, and Franz will not put the cart before the horse.
Those Hungarian nobles were obviously dissatisfied with the actions of Austrian officials, but they could not be arrogant since they had already mixed into the refugee camp.
A group of militiamen who were temporarily recruited went up and whipped them. The Hungarian nobles who had just tried to threaten and beat the officials were immediately shriveled.
The Hungarian refugees affected by the war were gathered together. Officials from the UNHCR distributed food, clothes and bedding to them, and then medical priests treated them and calmed their emotions.
Due to the rapid development of Chinese medicine and herbal medicine in the church, most priests can handle some common minor illnesses, but some complex diseases need to be handed over to more professional medical teams.
At this time, it was the turn of the Austrian army doctors and interns to appear on the scene. The development of medicine is inseparable from practice. The phrase "one general's success is the result of the sacrifice of thousands of bones" also applies to the medical community.
Every major advancement in medicine is based on countless failed experiments and clinical cases, and countless experimental animals and patients who unfortunately passed away have also built up a pile of bones.
But isn't every disaster and war an opportunity for medical progress?
Of course, whether it is external or internal, when promoting it, it must be said that the angels in white are saving lives and the imperial government is doing its duty and not abandoning any of its subjects.
The most important thing is that this kind of propaganda is impeccable. Whether it is the refugees who receive assistance, the doctors who provide rescue, or even the imperial officials and soldiers who execute orders, they all believe it.
This is the justice in the mouth of the people. If a country, a government, and an emperor can meet the expectations of the people for simple values, they will gain great support and trust from the people.
Similarly, this support and trust will also feed back to the government, allowing the government's behavior to be more widely accepted and coordinated, thereby improving administrative efficiency.
Of course, too high expectations are not a good thing for the government, although officials will say that this pressure is the best motivation for their own progress.
But in actual operation, most Western governments wish that the people have no expectations, so that the government and officials will be the most relaxed and most in line with human nature, which will lead to the frequent issuance of abstract and bizarre decrees in some regions.
For the people, it is now the turn of the church to appear.
Religion plays a very positive role in stabilizing social order and alleviating social contradictions. Most religions have the content of promoting good and abandoning evil and moral education.
The biggest and most direct role of this for the country is to cultivate "obedient citizens", and for the people, it will prevent some people from going to extremes and retaliating against society.
In short, social harmony is beneficial to all parties, so the rulers in the past would promote religion.
Another point is that religion can provide cheap and widely effective spiritual comfort.
Some officials may be unwilling to say what they say, but for the country, this kind of pressure is indeed the best motivation for its own progress. Franz can clean up the garbage inside the government in a timely manner.
On the one hand, it can kill the chicken to scare the monkey and improve efficiency, and on the other hand, it can also calm the public anger, just like the ancient corrupt officials were dragged to the vegetable market for execution.
However, if you want the government to operate truly effectively, you can't always rely on Franz as an emperor. He must establish a truly effective supervision and inspection mechanism.
Let officials completely self-examine? This joke is too cold.
As for public supervision.
In the 19th century, when the social system was not sound, the status of officials and the people was not equal. The former had many ways to make the latter shut up or not speak at all.
Do officials supervise each other?
Officials protecting each other and party-building against dissidents are not just eight big words but also countless bloody history. Letting officials supervise each other is undoubtedly creating a community of interests for officials, which leads to collective corruption or even institutional corruption.
(The two most effective ways to unite a group are to make money together or to commit crimes together. Collective corruption undoubtedly meets the above two points at the same time. It is the law of great harmony of life and is extremely difficult to eliminate.)
Franz needs a group that is both absolutely independent and trustworthy. This group should not be easily corrupted and even more difficult to be targeted by others.
It is not easy to get such a group of people. Franz can only come in person.
Back to the point, most Hungarian refugees are no longer suitable to be described as satisfied with the Austrian Empire's operation. It is more appropriate to say that they are grateful and prostrate.
After all, they had food to eat, a house to live in, new clothes and bedding, and the high priest and doctor personally visited and treated them.
They would never dare to think about this in normal times. Hungary's economy was very bad, so bad that there was a group of single-clothed nobles.
If the nobles were like this, the lives of serfs and civilians would be even worse.
So these people really couldn't hate the Austrian Empire at all, but instead they gnashed their teeth at the national elites who started the war. After all, it was those so-called big men who exploited and persecuted them and made them fall to this point.