Chapter 615

Reality once again proved that the butcher's knife might not be able to solve the problem, but it could definitely solve the people who created the problem.

Ever since the Government of Vienna went on a killing spree, the power to resist the government's investigation suddenly declined. On the contrary, the number of people surrendering to the investigation team suddenly increased.

Even the problem of the safety of the members of the investigation team was suddenly solved. The assassins seemed to have disappeared overnight.

Franz was dumbfounded by the shocking turn of events. It turned out that in the past half a year, the so-called toughness was just holding on. Seeing that the government refused to budge, they were all terrified.

It made sense. Although there were many people involved, there were very few people with real power.

Needless to say, most of the new aristocrats were made in the war, and their roots were in the army. There were also a small number of capitalists.

They didn't have time to operate in the government for a short period of time. Now they were in the accumulation stage, and there were very few people with important positions.

The premise of a power-for-money deal was to have power first. Without enough power, there were naturally fewer people who would be dragged down.

The old aristocrats naturally had their own way of survival. Except for a few idiots, most people knew how to pay attention to their table manners and knew when to stop.

Even if it was a transfer of benefits, it was a one-time deal, and there was no business of returning customers.

After the deal was done, they immediately cleaned up and destroyed the relevant clues. There was no evidence at all on the surface.

The occasional power-for-money deal could be said to be an accident. What would really be suspected was actually long-term cooperation, where the officials broke the rules for someone or a company many times.

If there was really no evidence at all, even if the government wanted to investigate, they wouldn't know where to start.

Even the capitalists who paid didn't necessarily know the true identity of the collaborator. The transactions were carried out through middlemen.

This could be seen from the list of people involved in the case. Most of the officials who were arrested were middle-class, grassroots, and some of the declining aristocrats. The new and old aristocrats were the minority.

When the anti-corruption case started, the most powerful ones had already stayed out of it. The rest of them naturally couldn't do much.

They dared to resist the investigation because they didn't understand the context of the government and had the mentality of a fluke. Seeing the government raise the butcher's knife, they were all dumbfounded.

If they continued to resist, they could only rebel. This kind of high-risk, low-reward work was obviously not suitable for these people with families and businesses.

This could also be seen from the many assassinations that had taken place before.

All the assassins were not even amateurs. Rather than saying they were killers, they were more like teenagers.

They didn't even have modern assassination tools. Most of them just carried a fruit knife and rushed forward. The threat and warning were obviously more important than the assassination itself.

After all, if they really killed the investigation team's officials, it wouldn't just be a matter of corruption and imprisonment, but a matter of death.

No matter who you were or how powerful your background was, if you violated the rules of the game, you would have to pay the price in blood.

…

Franz asked in confusion, "Are we going to execute so many people?"

It was not that he was making a fuss, but the execution of thousands of people in a time of peace was shocking enough in itself.

In fact, the execution of a thousand people by the Vienna government had caused a sensation. It was said to be the largest execution in Europe in the past decade.

This was not a joke. After the suppression of the Paris Revolution, the French government had not executed so many criminals. Only during the great purge carried out by Alexander II more than a decade ago had the number of people executed exceeded a thousand.

Now, more than five thousand people had to be executed. If it was completed, it would probably be an unprecedented world record.

Of course, this was on the premise of "anti-corruption" and "court trial."

Prime Minister Carr answered affirmatively, "Yes, Your Majesty! According to the criminal law of the Empire, the 5,316 people listed should be sentenced to death.

In addition, there are 4,328 people who can be sentenced to death or life imprisonment. "

Prime Minister Carr was also helpless. The evidence had been found. There was no need to target them at all. These guys could be sent to the guillotine.

The Government of Vienna was faced with a difficult problem. Killing all of them would have too big an impact. The previous execution of a thousand people had caused a sensation in the European world.

If more than five thousand people were killed, or ten thousand people were killed, the international public opinion would be in an uproar. There was no shortage of verbal attacks in any world.

They couldn't be merciful, either. This involved the dignity of the law. If they didn't deal with the evidence in front of them and set a precedent, who knew what impact it would have in the future?

Commutation of sentence existed, but the problem was that these guys were not enough! They couldn't ask the emperor to use his privileges to commute the sentence of these people, right?

Rubbing his forehead, Franz could only sigh that there were many scumbags in Austria. They easily caught so many criminals.

Franz asked, "What are the identities of these people?"

Prime Minister Carr said, "Among these felons, more than five thousand people have a background in the underworld. Most of them are gang leaders, thugs, and have murder cases.

They are mainly engaged in collecting protection fees, underground casinos, usury, drug trafficking, counterfeit banknotes, and other illegal criminal activities.

In addition, more than three thousand people are thugs raised by the capitalists. Nearly half of these people also have a background in the underworld. The business they are engaged in is similar, but there is an additional suppression of workers' strikes, less protection fees, drugs, and counterfeit banknotes.

The number of capitalists and officials who need to be sentenced to death is actually not too many. There are less than a thousand people in total. Among them, there are slightly more capitalists, and the number of officials involved is actually less than a hundred. "

This result didn't surprise Franz.

As long as the underworld had a murder case in their hands, they basically couldn't escape. Even if it was an accident, it couldn't be done. After all, other crimes would be added.

For these people, the Government of Austria had always punished them severely. Anyway, they were all scum of society, so there was no need to worry about accidental killings.

In contrast, the capitalists and officials involved in the case, even if there were problems, most of them were economic problems or involved in the underworld. Very few people were directly responsible for murder cases.

There were so many capitalists and officials who were going to lose their heads, most of them had too deep connections with the underworld. They were jointly and severally liable in the law and were implicated together.

As for whether there would be people who would lose their heads because of the huge amount of embezzlement, Franz could answer with certainty: No!

The Anti-Corruption Bureau and the police weren't idle either. There were too many industries that couldn't be covered up at all.

A huge amount of unknown wealth was itself a firefly in the night. It was hard not to be targeted.

Everyone knew that Austrian officials took money but didn't do anything. Even if it was legal, ordinary people didn't dare to bribe.

Even if someone gave you money, you had to first consider whether it was a fishing operation. This kind of thing was often done by the Anti-Corruption Bureau.

Corruption and bribery could only be extracted from a few reliable people. How much money could be squeezed out?

After careful consideration, Franz realized that it seemed like protecting these people, other than causing trouble for himself, had no value.

As for the international public opinion, if they wanted to say it, they could say it. Anyway, their mouths were on them, and there was no way to stop them.

No matter how many criminals were executed, no one would really come over and point fingers. In this day and age, there was no one who dared to interfere with Austria's internal affairs.

"The justice of justice cannot be blasphemed. This time, we will use these people to show the outside world our determination to uphold justice.

Round it up to a whole number, that will be more deterrent. Let this matter become a benchmark for Austria's law. "

Hearing the word "benchmark," Prime Minister Carr swallowed the words he was about to say. Judicial justice also needed to be forged with blood.

This was the opposite of the law not punishing the masses. If today, because there were many people involved in the case, then the deterrent of the law would be greatly reduced, and there would be more similar incidents in the future.

Instead of burying hidden dangers in the future, it was better to cut the Gordian knot now. Anyway, there was no use for these people to stay, and Austria didn't lack labor.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Prime Minister Carr replied cautiously.

…