Chapter 695

Vienna

Prime Minister Felix frowned and said, "Your Highness, the rebellion in Hungary is over. However, some of the nobles did not participate in the rebellion, but their land was divided during the war.

According to the Land Redemption Act, the Government of Austria will have to pay a total of 2.37 billion guilders for the land. "

(1 guilder = 11.69 grams of silver)

"Why is there so much?" Franz asked in surprise.

After the rebellion, nearly 70% of the nobles in Hungary were destroyed, including those who had already received their bento boxes and those who were involved in the rebellion and were stripped of their titles.

Felix explained, "Your Highness, several big nobles in Hungary did not participate in the rebellion. Nearly half of the ransom was paid to them.

In addition, there are some enlightened nobles in the country who are willing to give up their land for us to pay the ransom.

In addition, there are also some nobles in the Regions of Italy who are loyal to us, but their land was also divided during the war.

Adding all of these together, the initial estimate is 2.37 billion guilders for the land. If there are people who continue to give up their land, then the number will increase. "

Franz rubbed his forehead. In order to encourage the nobles to give up their land, the ransom was evaluated according to the market price. If converted, it was equivalent to 550 million taels of silver.

This amount of money was obviously not something that the Government of Austria could take out in one go, even though the Government of Austria now had a lot of assets because of the confiscation.

However, these immovable assets were not equivalent to cash, and there was no way to convert them in a short period of time. The Government of Austria was still poor.

According to the Land Redemption Act, the ransom paid by the peasants was collected by the government, and the government was responsible for directly compensating the nobles who gave up their land.

This huge debt fell on the Government of Austria. Franz could not pay this huge debt in one go, and it was even more impossible for him to renege on it. This was related to the credibility of the government.

Franz asked with concern, "How much land ransom can we collect every year?"

Prime Minister Felix thought for a moment and said, "About 180 million guilders."

This 180 million guilders was not just for the land, but also included a lot of land seized by the government and the land of the extinct nobles.

If it was only this land, the ransom at 30% of the output would at most be 40 to 50 million Rhine guilders.

After thinking about it, Franz helplessly realized that farming was indeed not a good business. Even if he did not calculate the cost of capital and time, it would take him ten to twenty years to recover.

The land ransom collected by the government was probably not even enough to cover the interest of the capital.

Franz thought for a moment and said, "Let's pay in installments. Explain to the nobles and tell them about our difficulties so that they can understand.

For the enlightened nobles who voluntarily gave up their land, half of their ransom would be paid first, and the rest would be paid in installments over the next twenty years.

Several big nobles in the Hungarian region told them that the government would not pursue their petty actions in the rebellion, but as punishment, the ransom for their land would be extended to be paid in installments of forty years.

As for the rest, give them a warning and prolong their ransom payment time. If there's no problem, we'll deal with them according to the plan of voluntarily giving up their land! "

After the revolution, the interest groups in Austria were reshuffled. The nobles who were forced to buy their land were naturally the losers.

The money was in the hands of the Government of Austria, and the land was in the hands of the peasants. They had no choice.

The money was in the hands of the Government of Austria, and the land was in the hands of the peasants. They had no choice.

Before this, the Government of Austria was afraid of them because each of the great nobles had a lot of land, serfs, and a large group of small and medium-sized nobles under them. They could arm thousands or even tens of thousands of troops at any time.

Now, the situation had changed. The serfs were free and no longer under their control. The small and medium-sized nobles under their command were hit hard.

A tiger without teeth would only be left with its might. They were not exterminated because Franz was also a member of the vested interests and was not willing to break the rules.

"Yes, Your Highness!" Prime Minister Felix replied.

The Austrian cabinet and Franz were on the same side when it came to cracking down on the local forces.

The so-called installment payment did not include half a cent of interest. If it was paid over 40 years, it would not even be enough to pay the interest.

Even if it was paid in installments, it was unknown when they could get the money. As long as the payment was completed within the promised time limit, it would not be considered a breach of contract.

The specific situation depended on whether these nobles were smart people. If they were willing to cooperate with the government, then everything would be fine. The Government of Austria would return the money as soon as possible.

If they continued to go against the government, it was estimated that they might not see the money in their lifetime.

Not everyone was so optimistic. Metternich was frowning at the side. After a long while, she said hesitantly, "Your Highness, so many nobles suddenly have no land and lost their source of income. It is not easy to transform.

If we can't find a way out for them, I'm afraid they will become a hidden danger to society in the future. "

This was a realistic problem. It was impossible to make all the nobles become capitalists. Business would also lose money. If they were to transform blindly, they would most likely vomit blood.

Don't expect these people to become honest workers after going bankrupt and go to work in the factories.

It was more likely that after going bankrupt, they would join the revolutionary army in an attempt to break the social order and redistribute the wealth of society.

The Minister of Education, Count Leo, thought for a moment and said, "Our Ministry of Education can hire some nobles as language teachers. Most nobles can do it, but this will require a higher salary!"

The salaries of nobles and non-nobles were different for the same position. This was the general situation on the European continent.

"This is just a drop in the bucket. Small nobles without ambition may accept the teaching position, but most nobles will not give up their pride and become a village teacher!" Felix said, shaking his head.

Grand Duke Louis suggested, "Why don't we open up colonies and let them go overseas so that they won't stop at home?"

During Metternich's era, Austria did not open up colonies overseas, but it did not mean that Austria did not have the strength to do so.

As one of the top four countries in the world, as long as the government was free, it was not difficult to obtain a colony overseas.

How could the Austrian nobles not be envious when they saw how Britain and France were conquering overseas territories and even small countries like the Netherlands and Portugal had colonies?