Chapter 733

The turbulent situation in the The Balkans did not affect Franz's mood. Even the destruction of the rebel group did not attract his attention.

After being an emperor for so many years, he had seen his fair share of storms. If someone wanted to rebel, wasn't it suppressed before it started?

Franz was used to this kind of thing. Almost every few years, there would be a few people who would take things too hard and seek death. Usually, they were suppressed by the police. Even if they occasionally raised the flag of rebellion, they were quickly extinguished by the local feudal forces.

Almost all the feudal remnants were very wary of revolution. Since the gunshots of 1848, the situation in Austria had changed.

Anyone could suppress a rebellion, no matter when or what the reason was. Suppressing a rebellion was just. Even if there was an accidental injury, there was no need to worry about being held accountable.

The butcher general could be promoted to marshal and held a state funeral after his death. Public opinion in Austria had been reversed.

This change naturally mobilized the enthusiasm of the people below. Suppressing a rebellion was a great achievement, and there was no need to worry about being held accountable. There was also no need to worry about retaliation. Since he was a feudal emperor, naturally, if one person rebelled, the whole family would suffer.

Affected by the environment, Austria's revolutionary groups had moved to overseas activities, almost cut off from the country.

The warriors who dared to return to their country to cause trouble had gone to add bricks and tiles to the country's construction. Maybe the Government of Vienna would not have a record of their death.

The government might not have a record, but the intelligence organizations must have a record. As an emperor who cared about his reputation, Franz did not want to see the record in the history books: killing millions of rebels.

This was not a joke. After so many years as an emperor, the number of rebels killed by Franz was close to a million. Otherwise, how could Austria stabilize?

The The Balkans, which was a powder keg, did not explode. Lombardy and Venetia, which had always wanted independence, did not move. Hungary, which was active and noisy, became the most stable place in the empire.

Behind the stability, there was naturally no lack of swords. These dangerous places were purged again and again, the ambitious and idiotic people who wanted to rebel were all killed, and a new ruling class was replaced. Only then did the country truly stabilize.

To some extent, the revolution of 1848 provided Austria with an opportunity to rise from the ashes. Taking advantage of the suppression of the rebellion, Franz could make a big change in the ruling class.

The turmoil in the Balkans did not affect Austria. Franz could naturally read leisurely, but far away in St. Peter's Castle, Alexander II Of Russia could not sit still.

Alexander II Of Russia did not care about the Greek coup. That was within Austria's sphere of influence. But the Bulgarian rebellion was not something he could do.

In terms of geographical location, Bulgaria was far from the heart of the Empire and could be considered dispensable. But with Constantinople next door, Bulgaria's position was immediately elevated.

The Tsarist government had a special feeling for Constantinople, and Alexander II had invested a lot in the city over the years. Today, Constantinople had been reborn from the flames of war.

Due to its geographical advantage, Constantinople once again became the largest and most prosperous city in the Near East. It was also an important financial center for the Tsarist government.

Throwing the report in his hand on the table, Alexander II Of Russia roared, "A bunch of good-for-nothings. A division of troops can't even win against a group of mobs. What a disgrace …"

Throwing the battle report on the table, Alexander II roared, "A bunch of good-for-nothings. A division of troops actually couldn't defeat a bunch of mobs. What a disgrace …"

An infantry division of the Russian Army ran to suppress the rebellion but was defeated by the rebels. Minister of War Kafkos lowered his head and waited for Alexander II Of Russia to finish cursing before explaining, "Your Majesty, this Bulgarian rebel army is not simple.

Minister of War Kafkos lowered his head and waited for Alexander II to finish cursing before explaining: "Your Majesty, this Bulgarian rebel army is not simple.

According to the intelligence received from the frontlines, the enemy was a regular army. Even though they were still immature, they were still well-organized and did not have the slightest hint of the chaos of the ordinary rebel army.

There must be someone supporting them from behind the scenes. Otherwise, their weapons, equipment, and officers wouldn't have dropped from the sky. "

Kafokis did not lie. The Bulgarian rebels behaved like a regular army. However, they did not rely on external support. They had their own forces.

There was also the contribution of the Russians. During the Near Eastern war, they recruited a large number of Bulgarian guerrillas as cannon fodder. The unlucky ones who died were blown away by the wind, while the survivors became veterans. Many of the higher-ups of the guerrillas even became qualified officers.

Now that the battle was over, these people naturally returned to the countryside. The Tsarist government was poor. They could not even settle their own people well. The treatment of these second-class soldiers was even worse. They were only given a small reward.

Except for a few high-ranking officers, most of the guerrillas did not gain much. Naturally, they did not have a good impression of the Tsarist government.

In the end, most of the land fell into the hands of the nobles of the Russian Army stationed in Constantinople. Many Bulgarians once again became serfs.

After Alexander II Of Russia's reform, the land problem was solved by reclaiming wastelands. If no one stirred up trouble, the people's hearts would be at peace.

Unfortunately, nationalism was already rampant in Bulgaria. The revolutionary's bluff aroused the dissatisfaction of the guerrillas veterans. Many of them started a revolution in a daze.

The Near Eastern war had only happened a few decades ago. Most of these people were only in their thirties or forties. With these backbone and a group of strong youths, the Bulgarian rebel army was born.

Some of the weapons were left behind by the Russian Army. Others were sponsored by the Bulgarian "patriotic merchants".

The rebels might not be stronger than the Russian Army, but their morale was definitely higher than the Russian Army. The Russian Army that went to suppress the rebellion was unlucky. They dared to go against the rebels when their morale was at its peak.

If they fought a few battles or dragged on for a while, the morale of the Tsarist government would be depleted. At that time, the rebels would be the easiest to deal with.

Of course, the prerequisite was that the rebels could not win. If they won a few more times, they would believe that victory was right in front of them. They would be able to establish an independent Bulgaria.

Alexander II Of Russia glared at him: "I don't want to listen to this nonsense. No matter what, the rebels must be immediately extinguished.

If someone is up to no good, then find the mastermind and not complain to me here. Don't tell me you want me to find the mastermind myself? "

Minister of War Kafokis had a helpless expression. Investigating the mastermind behind the scenes was not his specialty. If you want to ask, you should ask the intelligence department!

Well, the Tsarist government did not pay enough attention to intelligence work. They did not spend much effort to build it. The intelligence organization was scattered and had many part-time jobs.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had their own intelligence gathering team. The police had their own intelligence gathering team. The division of authority was not clear. Most of the time, it was decided by the will of the chief.

"Your Majesty, the information we received is very vague. There are too many suspicious countries.

The merchants who provided the weapons and equipment to the Bulgarians came from the Osman Empire. The Government of Sudan was the biggest suspect. But the hatred between the Bulgarians and the Osman Empire was so deep that it was impossible for them to cooperate.

We checked the weapons and they were all standard Arcana equipment. Other than us, Austria, Greece, Montenegro, and the German Federal Empire are also equipped with these weapons.

These small countries can be ruled out. They could not have planned this conspiracy. The Austrians are the biggest suspect. But we had just joined forces with the Government of Vienna to attack the Osman Empire. They should not have done this at this time.

Later, we investigated the source of the merchants' funds and found that it was provided by a French bank. But the French have no need to stir up trouble. Without enough benefits, they have no reason to support the Bulgarian Revolutionary Party. "

After listening to this explanation, Alexander II Of Russia felt dizzy. They were all suspects, but they could all be overthrown. Who knew who the real mastermind was?

Kris Basham asked in surprise: "Why is there no British?"

Kris Basham could not help but be surprised. Shouldn't all the big countries be involved in this kind of thing? Why was there no British?

Cafoukis explained: "It's not that there is no one, but the suspicion is relatively small. The ship responsible for the transport is British. The ship departed from the port of Karasu in the Osman Empire and was directly sent to the port of Burgas to be handed over to the rebels.

The British FAO is also involved, and the merchants who provided the weapons and equipment to the Bulgarians have disappeared. The Ministry of the Army really does not have the ability to make a judgment. "

This was a muddled account. There were suspicions everywhere, and there were smoke bombs everywhere. But compared to the first aid, the information of the weapons aid this time was more exposed.

Alexander II Of Russia slammed the table and made a decision: "Continue to investigate secretly. At the same time, announce to the public that the Bulgarian rebellion was planned by the Osman Empire. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will send a note to the Government of Sudan to make them responsible."

The current Russian Empire was no longer as domineering as it was in the past. When it was time to feign ignorance, it was time to feign ignorance.

The best result was to make the real culprit the Osman Empire. Otherwise, if the investigation led to Britain, France, or Austria, what would the Tsarist government do?

Of course, it was also important to investigate secretly and find out who the enemy was. It was just that they could not open the lid to prevent the situation from becoming irreparable.

Not only were the Russians investigating, but the Austrian intelligence organization was also not idle. Since the second time the Black Hand supported the Bulgarian rebels, many things could not be hidden anymore.

First of all, it was impossible for such a large amount of firearms to not leave traces. It was quickly determined that it came from the Ferde Munitions Factory.

Initially used by the Austrian army, it was decommissioned more than a month ago and sold to a Deklas arms dealer. Through the Osman Empire, it entered Bulgaria.

In this era, the export of firearms was not so strict, especially for ordinary weapons like second-hand rifles. There was no need to carefully examine them.

However, to be able to complete a series of operations in such a short period of time, it was obvious that some power was used. Once these things were investigated, many things would be exposed.

Looking at the information in his hands, Franz could not help but mourn for the Russians. It was fine if they could not find the real culprit, but if they did, the Tsarist government would probably not be able to sleep at night.

The British led the way and were responsible for arranging the transportation. The French provided the funds, and the Austrian capitalists provided the firearms.

Alright, the ones who really contributed were the British. The total value of this batch of firearms was less than 100,000 Divine Duns. It was not even worth mentioning to the financial giants.

Capital had no borders. Franz secretly increased his vigilance and decided to strengthen the surveillance of private capital.

It seemed that the Austrian capitalists did not participate much in this operation. They only pushed for the firearms trade. From the beginning to the end, there was only one cannon fodder arms dealer.

However, a deeper investigation would reveal that someone had already colluded with the British and French capitalists. Although Franz had already expected this, he still felt uncomfortable.

Austria did not have enough capital. In the process of development, they used British and French capital. It was inevitable that they had connections with the capitalists.

Now, for the sake of benefits, they could quietly cooperate with the British. In the future, if they encountered a greater benefit and betrayed Austria, they probably would not care.

Of course, there were two sides to this. The British could buy off the Austrian capitalists, but Franz could also buy off the British capitalists. The loyalty of this group had always been the lowest.

Although he was vigilant, other than increasing the surveillance of the big capitalists, Franz still did not take any targeted actions.

No matter what, this was still within the scope of the rules. Outstanding arms dealers would sell their weapons to their enemies. They did not directly provide delivery services to the Bulgarian rebels, which proved that they could still be salvaged.