Chapter 454

The tax policy was just an intention. How far it would go in the end would depend on the actual situation. Apart from the parties involved, most people were indifferent.

The integration of the colonies and the mainland was different. As soon as the Government of Vienna got wind of it, it quickly caused a heated discussion in society.

Supporters and opponents fought in the newspapers every day. Even hot topics such as the Prussian War, the US negotiations, and the Russian Navy being bullied by pirates were suppressed.

The public opinion was not one-sided. The supporters and opponents were evenly matched. This made Franz very relieved. It seemed that the integration had a higher chance of being passed in the Imperial Parliament.

As the emperor, although he had the ability to force a decision through, Franz had never done it before.

On the surface, it seemed very impressive and demonstrated the authority of a monarch. In fact, the potential political threat was very great. The decision was right, but the emperor had to be responsible for it if it was wrong.

No one could guarantee that they would not make mistakes. Moreover, the right decision at the wrong time and place was also a mistake.

The Imperial Parliament was the highest authority of the new Holy Roman Empire. One of the roles was to take the blame. Usually, major political decisions needed to go through this place.

This was the political back-up that Franz had prepared. In case there was a big problem and he did not want the cabinet to leave, he could let the Imperial Parliament be responsible for it.

After so many years of reorganization, the current Imperial Parliament was no longer the original few people. The number of members had increased significantly, but the system of states as the unit had not changed.

Even the smallest free city had at least one seat. Every three million people would have one seat. In order to take care of the small states, one seat would be added when the population exceeded three million.

In any case, Austria would occupy half of the seats. However, the bill could be rejected if one-third of the members objected. To amend the constitution, more than 95% of the members had to agree.

It was worth mentioning that the constitutional issue was not created by Franz. It was the initiative of the states.

This was because the Imperial Constitution guaranteed their autonomy. In order to prevent the possibility of Austria interfering in their internal affairs, they directly put forward a condition that was almost impossible to meet.

Of course, the favorable clause in the constitution to protect the emperor and king was also one of the reasons for this provision. Everyone was smart. Of course, they would support the clause that was beneficial to them.

The rights of the central government were naturally limited. No matter how powerful the bureaucratic group was, their rights were restricted in the law.

Each state government had a team. Now, the new Holy Roman Empire government had great power based on the premise that they also served as the Austrian cabinet.

If Franz was unhappy one day, he could directly separate them from the family. Then the Imperial Cabinet would be embarrassed to find that they could do nothing without the cooperation of the state government.

The army belonged to the Emperor and the Kings below him, and the Cabinet had no power to mobilize it; each state had a high degree of autonomy, and the central government had no right to interfere in its internal affairs.

Only part of the financial power was left. The central government could print money, but this also needed the approval of the Empire Parliament. The seigniorage and customs duties collected by the central government had to be used to pay for administrative expenses, military expenses, royal annuities, and so on.

Of course, diplomatic power was in the hands of the central government, and the management of the colonies was also in the hands of the central government, but these were all inseparable from the cooperation of the state.

Especially when it came to the internal affairs of the state government, all policies could only be carried out with the cooperation of the state government.

For example, if the government planned to give the textile factory a tax refund, it must get the cooperation of the state government.

If a state government objected, then they could still continue to collect taxes according to their own laws. They didn't need to care about the central government's decision.

This was only in theory. In fact, the new Holy Roman Empire's economy was already integrated. Many economic problems needed to be coordinated and solved by the central government. There was no reason to refuse the terms that were beneficial to them.

This was also Franz's position in the central government. An organization and coordinator, connecting all the states together.

It was similar to the German and German empires in history, but he had much more power as the emperor. The central government had no right to interfere in the internal affairs of the states, but it didn't mean that the emperor had no right to interfere.

It was one thing to have power, but it was another thing to decide whether or not to care.

Franz wouldn't intervene unless the government of a state was so angry that the people revolted and the emperor had to intervene.

Since the establishment of the new Holy Roman Empire, this had never happened. So, Franz had always been paid and didn't do anything.

He wasn't a power maniac. Why would he do such a thankless thing? As the emperor of the new Holy Roman Empire, he just had to be a good judge.

What's more, Franz was also the emperor of Austria and the king of Bavaria. Even if he had a strong desire for power, he had nowhere to vent it.

If it didn't work out, he could still go to the colonies. There were endless things to do anyway. If he wasn't afraid of sudden death, he could work twenty-four hours a day.

Having more part-time jobs wasn't without its benefits. In Europe, a society with a clear division of property, Franz could naturally get a higher salary.

The annuity of the emperor of the new Holy Roman Empire, the annuity of the emperor of Austria, and the annuity of the king of Bavaria. If the integration of the colonies was completed in the future, he would most likely add a few more titles, which would be another large income.

As for merging the colonies into Austria? That was completely impossible.

Establishing overseas colonies was very costly. Austria obviously couldn't afford it. In the end, it was the new Holy Roman Empire's finance that paid for it.

In other words, all the states contributed money together to establish the current colonial empire.

If all of it was transferred to Austria, the investors who paid for it would definitely not agree. It was even more impossible for each state to get a piece. The colonies were far away overseas, so it was destined to be delegated.

It was enough for the states to get the economic benefits. Even if they got the nominal management rights, they wouldn't be able to manage it.

Franz encouraged everyone to establish overseas colonies. If the state government wanted to establish a colony, they could do it on their own.

After considering the terrifying capital investment and risk, everyone unanimously decided to let the central government do it! If they wanted to earn, they would earn together. If they wanted to lose, they would lose together.

The most important thing was that there was no way to do it alone without the central government. Without the protection of the Imperial Navy, how could the safety of the colonies be resolved?

Didn't they see the colonial strongholds established by the capitalists of Prussia and the German Confederation taking the initiative to join?

Even now, when Prussia and the German Confederation joined the colonial movement, they couldn't do it without the support of the new Shinra Empire.

This wasn't something that could be solved by relying on someone else. Overseas colonies were another world. Every country had a large number of civilian colonization teams overseas. These groups were not completely controlled by the national government.

If there was a conflict, the governments would stand on the side of their own people.

In the end, they would talk with their fists. If a country was strong in a certain area overseas, then it could occupy the dominant position in that area. It didn't just depend on the strength of the country.

This was also the reason why the Netherlands and Portugal were able to maintain large colonies. Although their countries weren't strong, they were strong enough in certain areas.

Since the colonial empire was established by everyone's money and effort, the ownership of the colonies naturally belonged to the empire. How to integrate them into the empire was also a problem that needed to be studied.

Autonomous provinces, autonomous cities, autonomous territories, directly administered provinces, states, aristocratic fiefdoms …

These were all alternative plans. Different names represented different systems.

Autonomous cities meant the colony would be fragmented. Autonomous territories meant the colony would retain a larger territory. Directly administered provinces meant direct control by the central government. The states were the same as the current situation of the states …

From the perspective of interests, of course, Franz was more willing to integrate the colonies into the empire as states. This would help consolidate the imperial power.

To put it bluntly, no matter if it was a duchy or a kingdom, Franz could directly serve as the king. The bond of the empire was the emperor first, followed by economic integration.

The more concurrent positions, the more stable the throne would be. Unless all the states rebelled against the emperor, it would be safe.

Under normal circumstances, no one dared to take down the emperor at the risk of splitting the country. Moreover, before the emperor was deposed, there must be a civil war.

The opposing states must be subdued by force. Otherwise, the empire's parliament wouldn't pass. If the constitution couldn't be changed, the new regime wouldn't gain legitimacy.

Under the European political system, the legitimacy of the regime was very important. Usually, the lower the legitimacy, the shorter the life of the regime.

A regime without legitimacy should be prepared to suppress rebellions every day! No, if the regime didn't have legitimacy, it couldn't be considered a rebellion. They had a reason to rebel.

On the issue of revolution, Franz was very assured. As long as it wasn't an army rebellion, it could be easily dealt with.

Just look at Vienna. There was no basis for revolution here. Even if there was a revolution in all of Europe, it wouldn't happen here.

Since Franz succeeded the throne, there hadn't been a major strike in Vienna. Even if there was a strike, it was limited to a hundred and eighty people. This was enough to explain a lot of problems.

There was a reason for this. Since more than a decade ago, the Government of Vienna banned the opening of any factories in Vienna. The established factories also moved away.

In a city without industry, there would naturally be no large-scale strikes.

Currently, the economy of Vienna was mainly based on services, scientific research, and finance. The structure of the economy determined the superstructure. The income of the employees in these industries was relatively good.

Without industrial pollution, Vienna became the most beautiful city in Europe. It was also the first major city in Europe without slums.

Small cities didn't count. In this era, small cities were large slums. There was no need to distinguish between them.

As a price, Vienna's population growth was slow. The development of the city lagged far behind London and Paris.

Even within the new Holy Roman Empire, there were now many cities that surpassed Vienna in population, such as Milan and Munich.

Of course, population didn't equal economy. Currently, the total population of Vienna was only 680,000. The urban population was only 310,000. However, the total economic output was only behind London and Paris.

With a small population and a developed economy, the people's standard of living was among the highest in Europe. Naturally, there were fewer social conflicts. With fewer social conflicts, the people's desire for revolution was also reduced.

As the foundation of the House of Habsburg, Franz attached great importance to it. As the capital of two empires, Vienna had a unique advantage. There was no need to develop any industry.

Greater London and Greater Paris looked impressive, but in reality, they were suffering. London became the capital of fog, and Paris became the capital of revolution.

Moreover, large cities were not suitable for industrial development. The land price and living costs were far higher than small and medium-sized cities. From the beginning, industrial production costs were raised.

Taking Vienna as an example, if a factory was built here, the land price would be three times higher than in small and medium-sized cities. The labor costs would also increase by at least a third.

This didn't include the transportation of raw materials. Considering various factors, the production costs of these factories would usually increase by 10% to 30%.

Franz could only lament that the competition in this era wasn't fierce enough. The capitalists didn't know how to optimize the allocation of industries, and they didn't try their best to save costs.

After all, the capitalists in the later generations would move their factories to wherever the production costs were the lowest. If anyone insisted on staying in the big cities, they would either be kicked out or shut down.

Of course, Franz was very clear that people were keen to squeeze into the capital mainly because it was close to the center of power and could gain political benefits.

However, Franz, who didn't like capital interfering in politics, flipped the table from the beginning and didn't provide them with this opportunity.

Vienna already had enough resources and didn't need these industries, but many small and medium-sized cities needed them. Under this policy, Austria added another seven to eight industrial cities.

This way, although Austria's total industrial output didn't increase much, its industrial competitiveness increased, which was very beneficial for long-term development.

In this era, it was easy to have strikes in the big cities. Most of the time, capitalists, in order to protect their own interests, passed these increased costs on to the workers.

The worse the economic situation, the more strikes occurred, and the more intense the social conflicts.

From the perspective of a ruler, as long as Vienna didn't fall into chaos, Franz's rule was stable. If there were problems in other areas, he could mobilize troops to suppress them.

This was a lesson from history. Most of the successful revolutions in Europe were realized in the capital. There might be exceptions, but they didn't exist in Franz's memory.

In short, whether it was for industrial development or to maintain his rule, Franz achieved de-industrialization in Vienna.

This was also a precaution. A stable capital, coupled with a perfect system, it could be said that Franz put safety first to the extreme. As long as you don't seek death, then you really won't die.