Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 19: The Storm

It had to be said that Prime Minister Metternich had some ability. The Austrian government at the time was so aggressive that the capitalist class's strikes could not frighten them.

After all, the great nobles supported the government, and their power was no less than the capitalists. However, they did not have many resources, save for food.

All of them were major landowners with large numbers of serfs. In that case, who could possibly have no food in stock? If the government needed a large emergency delivery of food, they could provide it.

It was not possible for the capitalists to keep their plan a secret because of the way they cooperated, so the Vienna government knew to finance a batch of grain from the nobles long before the crisis broke out.

At the beginning of the strike, the government had already been selling grain in the market to maintain the food supply in Vienna. But the prosperity of the old days was no more, and many in the government were upset.

Interior Minister Fisher said perplexedly, "Your excellency! If this situation persists, other resources will be still in short supply, even though the problem of food has been solved.

Moreover, now the capitalists have closed their factories, so the workers have lost their income. I'm afraid their money will soon run out, and then..."

Metternich said with a cold smile, "Don't worry, this situation cannot last long. You have to know that thanks to the strike, the capitalists lose money every day, and small businessmen can not hold on much longer!

Still, we can't just stand by. There also are nobles striking, so I will ask Archduke Louis to talk with them. If they stand with the capitalists, they will be removed from the nobility."

As long as someone took the lead, everything else would follow. Even if they were very dissatisfied, he could still find a way to deal with them. At the very least, they didn't have a problem with money!

...

Ultimately, the strike lasted less than a week and ended with the failure of the capitalist class.

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The nobles who took part in the strike were persuaded first.

Do you care about the glory of the nobility or not?

For the sake of a little profit, you people actually sunk to the level of the capitalists, which was simply a shame to the nobility.

Either way, profit was easier said than done for most nobles, because the majority of them had not yet become capitalists. They had long felt uneasy when they saw others like themselves becoming upstart businessmen, so this was an opportunity for righteous accusation.

As a result, the strike participants were no longer invited to any banquets, and other nobles would refuse their invitation in return. Not to mention that relatives and friends continued to come to persuade them.

The radical nobles were clamoring to kick these rotten nobles out, which frightened a lot of people.

Austrian capitalists, though loaded with money, had no political status! It was not easy to get a hereditary title, and so it would be a serious issue for any noble to lose it.

The striking nobles, who could not stand the pressure, had to draw a line between themselves and the capitalists, then quit the strike immediately.

Some of them even thought, "All right, then! Improving the treatment of the workers was worth it! If nothing else, I could use serfs instead of workers!"

Thankfully, only a few such idiots existed. The majority knew that if a compromise was made, labor costs in the future were bound to rise.

Planning to use serfs? What a grand delusion! The daily call for the abolition of serfdom was not just a slogan; it had already become fact.

Because of the profit-seeking nature of capitalists, it was simply impossible to sustain their alliance, especially given that some people had already taken the initiative to quit.

None of the capitalists were selfless people. When they saw someone open a business and make money, the others naturally felt an injustice had been done: "We were the ones who were fighting for our profit, risking our lives, while you people just sat idle and then enjoyed the fruits of our work!"

The first wave of the capitalists' counterattack was quickly defeated because it was not organized enough and had no binding effect on its members.

Even with all this news, Franz did not feel surprised. Unless they cut off necessary daily supplies like food and coal, it would be difficult for the Vienna Government to compromise anytime soon.

This was just what the capitalists could not do, however. At that time, Austria's nobles were just too strong. The food and coal could be all produced from their own land. If the capitalists didn't sell these supplies, the nobles would simply bring their own goods to the market.

Did you have an acquisition contract? If not, how could you expect people to abide by the rules of the game? The nobles made the rules, so they could change the rules!

Franz knew that none of this was over yet, as the capitalists would never resign themselves to defeat. If the government was not prepared, they would suffer greatly in the upcoming economic war.

When these thoughts came to him, Franz felt regret that he had kept hidden deep within his heart. He really should sell a great stock of supplies, because the prices of supplies in the market had almost doubled at the time of the strike.

"Raul, how much food left in the stock can I sell?"

"On your orders, we didn't sell any grain yet this year, but some time ago, when the strike broke out, we did sell half a million pounds of wheat to the government for its emergency, leaving enough food for consumption, and then about 3.86 million pounds extra in stock," Raul replied.

Franz knew of the grain sold to the government, and his estate was only thirty kilometers from Vienna. When the country confronted a serious situation like this crisis, Franz, as Crown Prince of the Empire, had no choice but to help.

It sounded like a big amount, 3.86 million pounds. That was more than 1,750 tons, which was something like two or three thousand gold coins.

But Franz could not collect that amount, because the cost of production was so high. All the serfs in royal estates had been released, so labor was no small expense.

"Be prepared. Once the price of wheat rises by more than 20%, sell it!" said Franz, after a moment of thought.

He knew that capitalists would not let go of the defeat, and pushing up prices was one of their most commonly used tools. Food prices in Vienna were definitely going to soar.

As industrialization had begun, wheat could only be sold to flour mills; no matter how high food prices soared in the market, the price offered by the mills could not be too high compared with the market price.

The greatest advantage of Franz's estate was its proximity to Vienna, but when a rebellion might erupt at any time, it became a disadvantage. The estate was more exposed to the rebels and could be destroyed easily.

In this case, stocking up on grain was risky. Even if he knew that next year the Hungarian revolution would break out and Austria's grain prices would skyrocket, for now, he had to silently bear the pain of selling it.

As he could see, in the game between capitalists and the government, speculation on high-priced stock could definitely collect money fast, but unfortunately, Franz's status was doomed to keep him from playing the field. Otherwise, all the nobles would follow him, and Prime Minister Metternich would not be able to contain the situation.