It's not Franz's intention to show his face so early. If he can, he doesn't mind being behind the scenes all the time.
It is a pity that this is impossible. As the crown prince of the Austrian Empire, his every move is within the sight of those who care.
Franz has been in frequent contact with the military recently. If it weren't for his young age and lack of power, I don't know how much turmoil there has been.
Whether it interferes with the line of sight or public opinion, Franz must stand in the foreground. The difference is whether you are pushed to the front desk by someone, or stand at the front desk yourself.
Franz didn't want to be a pawn, he chose to take the initiative at this time. If history had not changed, there would have been a revolution in Vienna in March 1848, and he would have ascended the throne in December.
In order not to be smeared by the rebels and succeeded on the charge of being a gangster, Franz had to make a move first.
Everyone has preconceived notions. As long as an image of a benevolent king is created, any criticism or slander will be in vain. At this time, the reputation of the Austrian royal family has not collapsed among the people.
"Raul, how is it that I asked you to secretly recruit people?" Franz asked with concern
"Respected Grand Duke, things are not going very smoothly. There are too few people who can meet your requirements. So far, I have only dug up two people in the secret police, and their abilities only meet your minimum requirements!" Raul is embarrassed. 's answer
Franz was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect it to be so difficult to recruit intelligence personnel. Is the standard he set really high
He only put forward the most basic requirements: loyalty to the royal family, no political inclination, certain wisdom, courage, vigilance and patience, as well as keen judgment, preferably with a certain professional ability.
Even personal temperament, erudite knowledge, keen political sense, and strong analytical skills, these are the standard characteristics of intelligence personnel, he did not put forward.
"What's the main thing that can't meet the requirements?" Franz asked with concern
"Grand Duke, there are many people who satisfy one or several items alone, but when combined together, there are not many people who can meet your requirements!" Raul thought for a while and said.
Franz was dumbfounded. Thinking about it, it is true. There are very few professional intelligence personnel in this era, and most of them are amateurs.
It is very difficult to establish an intelligence organization. Even if the crown prince of his empire can dig a corner of the government, can the loyalty of these people be guaranteed
What if it was a spy sent by someone else
There is no doubt, let alone in this era, even the professional intelligence personnel of later generations have their own masters. If Franz wants to establish an intelligence organization, he can either cultivate it himself or dig the corner of the government.
"What advice do you have, don't hide it!"
Looking at Raul who hesitated to speak, Franz asked with a frown.
"Grand Duke, in fact, there is no need for you to set up an intelligence organization alone. The royal family has an intelligence organization in their hands. It's just that these years..."
Raul stopped abruptly in the middle of what he said.
Franz nodded, and he also knew about the royal family's intelligence organization. Normally, this organization is only responsible to the emperor.
This intelligence organization is small in scale, and its business scope is relatively simple, that is, to monitor the domestic situation and a few neighbors.
After his uncle came to power, this organization was almost abandoned, and many intelligence personnel were dug up by Prime Minister Metternich.
The loyalty of the remaining personnel is also a question worth considering.
When the emperor is cowardly, Franz will despise these nobles if he does not take the opportunity to reach out to these departments.
This also means that the intelligence organization under the royal family is actually a sieve that does not know how many parties it has.
Franz wanted to start anew from the start, and that's why he wanted to create an intelligence organization completely loyal to himself.
Now it seems that time is too late, and the Vienna Revolution is about to break out in a year. When he trains the intelligence personnel, he can't even feel the hair.
"Well, Raul will send someone to check first. There are those big forces infiltrating this organization. Let's do it in secret. I believe there must be people who are loyal to the royal family!" Franz said decisively.
If all the personnel were bought off, then the Habsburg family would not have to mix. Can be inherited from the 11th century to the present, has always stood at the top of Europe, the Habsburg family is definitely not as simple as it seems.
Franz can speculate on this from the situation in Austria. Now the uncle Ferdinand I cannot handle government affairs, and the power falls to Prime Minister Metternich.
However, this powerful minister behaved unreasonably, not to mention oppressing the royal family, and even many times, his policies were also influenced by the Vienna court.
You must know that Archduke Franz Karl, the most important representative of the royal family of this generation, is also congenitally defective, and his political IQ is infinitely zero.
Franz can easily obtain the support of the military. The biggest reliance is his birth, the heir of the Habsburg family and the crown prince of the Austrian Empire.
Otherwise, no matter how hard he tried, it would be useless. Did not see that after the outbreak of the Vienna Revolution in history, Prime Minister Metternich was forced to step down without the support of the military
Then the situation is not as bad as imagined. Perhaps the noble forces have reached out to the intelligence organization, but this does not mean that they have betrayed the royal family. As long as their interests are not involved, this intelligence organization can still be used normally.
Thinking of this, Franz breathed a sigh of relief. Everyone may have conflicts of interest on other issues, but on the issue of suppressing the rebellion, the great nobles in Vienna definitely stand with the emperor.
As for the bourgeoisie, it's not that Franz underestimates them. In this era, they are not qualified to infiltrate into it. You must know that most of the members of the intelligence organization are nobles.
Otherwise, if funds are not given for more than ten years, the family will have been disbanded long ago, and there will still be a hair left
These nobles are scattered all over the country, and they can easily collect domestic intelligence through their royal family, and even most of them do not need to be paid.
The intelligence organization of the Habsburg family, not Jin Yiwei, has no law enforcement power at all except to collect ordinary intelligence.
European nobles are all enfeoffed, and the emperor has no right to intervene in the affairs of the fief. Besides, these materials are provided by them themselves. If they do not want the content of the emperor to know, they will naturally hide it and not report it.
After hesitating again and again, Franz decided to get the organization first. No matter how bad the intelligence organization is, it is better than nothing. At least there is a local rebellion, and he can receive the news as soon as possible.
Moreover, a poor man like him can only afford such an intelligence organization.