Chapter 1139 Thorn in the Flesh (Part 1)
Vienna, Hofburg Palace.
To be honest, Franz didn't have much affection for this palace. He preferred the Schönbrunn Palace where he had lived for more than ten years.
The people around Franz also changed a lot. After all, there was no so-called gender equality in this era. Most women were not even allowed to appear in the Hofburg Palace most of the time.
Unless there were grand balls and dinners, some women of noble status were allowed to enter.
Even if Mrs. Sophie entered the Hofburg Palace, there would be some gossip, as if natural disasters and man-made disasters were caused by them, and even affected the country's destiny.
However, these people obviously found the wrong target. Franz's mother was not a person who was prone to self-doubt. Mrs. Sophie would usually choose to fight back on the spot. The staff and scholars she brought would refute the other party until they were speechless. If some hard bones were going to stick to it, then Count Schüssel would help them loosen their muscles.
However, even the historical Mrs. Sophie who liked to meddle in politics would not directly participate in the imperial meeting and direct discussion of national affairs.
At this time, Madame Sophie had no interest in intervening in politics, but the prolonged civil war would always cause some criticism.
For example, when Madame Sophie visited her "sisters"' house, she was occasionally regarded as a refugee, and she was even blamed for being so ostentatious when escaping. Did they forget the tragedy of "Queen Antoine"?
(Queen Antoine refers to the famous beheaded queen, Marie Antoinette. At that time, the German nobles would mostly call her Queen Antoine when they mentioned her in order to avoid the Habsburg family.)
The ladies may have just talked unintentionally, but they frightened their husbands. After all, the Austrian Empire controlled the German Customs Union and the German Confederation, as well as the most newspapers and clergy in the German region.
The Austrian Empire also had the largest army in the entire German Confederation. If the Austrian Empire needed to deal with a family or a country in the German region, it would be too easy.
In addition, Madame Sophie herself was also notorious. After all, if Franz did not allow her to harm Austria, she would harm other neighboring countries.
Especially with the opening of the railway, the Austrian Empire's transnational law enforcement capabilities were greatly enhanced, and Madame Sophie was more confident.
It was really embarrassing to be regarded as a refugee, but she couldn't vent her anger on her sisters who were not well-informed.
So Madame Sophie could only come back to settle accounts with Franz.
"Franz! Why are those Hungarian traitors still alive? Are they more powerful than the French and the British?"
Franz shook his head
"No."
"What are you still hesitating about?! Don't say you still want to be soft-hearted in this matter! Only by taking thunderbolt measures can the virtue of a saint be revealed. That's what you said, right?
The sooner the war ends, the less suffering the people and the country will suffer. You will sacrifice more people and cause greater damage if you do this now.
This is a civil war. You should kill those who should be killed and exile those who should be exiled, just like you did to Prague and Vienna."
Mrs. Sophie could not understand Franz's approach. She felt that according to the latter's usual style, he should have rushed into Budapest long ago, and then crushed those rebels to ashes. It is not impossible to even close the city gates for a thorough purge.
To be honest, Mrs. Sophie felt that the Habsburg system was outdated. If you don't have enough strength, you need to compromise. If you have enough strength, you should defeat the enemy in one battle, just like the Romans did to the Carthaginians.
Franz did have the ability to end the war quickly. He could even let the Hungarians kill their own leaders without spending a single soldier.
But what's the point? It's just a new compromise, and then the cycle continues until the accumulated contradictions erupt again, or collapse directly under external pressure.
Franz can also adopt the so-called strategy of killing all, but the effect is still very limited.
Before the war, Hungary had a population of nearly 7 million. After more than a year of war, natural disasters, and mutual killing among ethnic groups, the population of Hungary is still nearly 6 million.
Even if Franz slaughtered Budapest with a bad reputation and implicated all Hungarians who might have participated in the rebellion, there would still be more than 5 million Hungarians who remembered the massacre and the hatred.
Even if the Hungarians chose to forget, the great powers and ambitious people would help them remember, and then it would not be as simple as fighting a few more days.
As the saying goes, the sword cuts the flesh, the heart cuts the soul. Franz not only has to kill people, but also has to kill their hearts. Otherwise, not only can the problem not be solved, but it will also increase the problem.
However, it is useless to tell this to Madame Sophie. Not only her, but most people in this era will not understand Franz's true intentions. Instead, they will think that Franz is mentally abnormal or hesitant and can't achieve great things.
"Uncle Stefan is still in their hands."
Stefan Franz Victor Habsburg is the eldest son of Franz I's fifth brother and the head of the Habsburg family's collateral branch.
Franz's reason sounds outrageous, delaying the war for one person, but it is actually quite reasonable at this time. At least from Madame Sophie's position, it cannot be refuted.
Archduke Stefan is just 30 years old, in good health, and has no offspring. His brother is weak and not very smart.
Once Archduke Stefan has an accident, it means that this bloodline is directly cut off, which is a major loss for the Habsburg family with a small population.
If Franz launched an attack by force, it would not only be the blood of the Habsburg family that would be lost, but also the family's reputation, and Franz would be accused of killing his relatives.
Although Mrs. Sophie did not care about this relative who had no sense of existence, she did not dare to instigate Franz to attack desperately.
Franz did not care about this archduke who sat on the wrong side of his butt, and even wished that he could die early.
Archduke Stefan and his father Archduke Joseph Anton John Baptiste have always been the biggest supporters of Hungary. From the perspective of later generations, people prefer to discuss nationalism, national heroes, and those politicians and capitalists.
However, from the perspective of Austria at that time, it was these two who really made the Hungarian Revolution out of control.
During his time as the vice king of Hungary, Archduke Joseph colluded with Hungarian nobles to sell official positions and titles, intercepted taxes in the Hungarian region, and withheld military expenses and other funds issued by the state.
The success of this policy has kept the tax revenue in Hungary at around 20 million florins for decades, but it has also led to the disuse of Hungary's military and its infrastructure lagging far behind other regions.
(The Viceroy of Hungary is the court minister stationed in Hungary, and has always been a member of the Habsburg family.)