Countless cases in past lives have taught Franz that you don't need to really stand with the majority, at least you have to make them think that you stand with them.
This is what Franz is doing now. Reform is the mainstream in Austria. He naturally wants to send a signal to the outside world that he supports reform.
At this time, the strength of the Austrian conservatives should not be underestimated. The Vienna court was the stronghold of the conservatives, and Franz could not betray his own class.
At this time, age is the best weapon. In the eyes of the reformers, he supports reform, and this is enough. No one expects a 16-year-old boy to lead the reform in Austria.
Franz did not express his opinion on specific reforms. In the eyes of conservatives, he was a prudent performance. Everyone knew that Austria must reform, but there were endless disputes about how to reform.
As the crown prince of the empire, there is nothing wrong with Franz's support for reform. If he foolishly throws out his own reform plan, it is estimated that he will be handed over.
In contrast, Franz's concern about the living conditions of the people at the bottom is nothing. A benevolent king is good for everyone.
Before the mystery is revealed, neither the capitalists nor the nobles will mind Franz's reputation among the people, and no one knows that he is Xiangzhuang dancing the sword.
Bowenfield was persuaded by Franz, or by reality, and there was nothing wrong with doing things for the young archduke.
It would be even better if it could influence Archduke Franz to accept his own ideas.
Franz, of course, was clear about his plans, but he didn't take it to heart. Now he just needs to use Bowenfield's influence to start the newspaper in the shortest possible time.
They don't need to worry about the issue of Austrian political reform. Franz already has a preliminary plan in mind. Before implementing this plan, the power of the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy must be weakened.
Things that elevate the status of capitalists will never appear in his reforms.
"Capital knows no borders," Franz had still heard of it.
The capitalists will never be fed enough, and as long as the interests are right, they can betray the class in minutes, Franz dare not let them become the backbone of the country.
Austria's special national conditions have determined that this reform must take into account the interests of the vast majority of the people at the bottom in order to truly integrate the country, which requires the nobles and the bourgeoisie to make sacrifices.
That is to say, in this special period, the contradiction between the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie has intensified, and Franz has a chance to succeed.
The more he learned about the country, the more Franz became sure that the empire had been undercurrent.
In 1846, the grain failure in the German region also affected Austria.
It stands to reason that the Austrian Empire was originally the most important grain exporter in Europe, and the Hungarian Great Plain was there, and the impact of the reduction in grain production was not great.
However, the reality is quite the opposite. For their own interests, the capitalists over-hyped the grain shortage, raising the price of grain on the market, and at the same time driving down the price of grain purchases in Hungary, because the local grain harvest was bumper.
By the beginning of 1847, the price of food on the Vienna market had risen by 54%, and ordinary Vienna citizens had already felt the pressure of survival.
Behind the capitalists' manipulation of grain prices, a large number of farmers went bankrupt, and even some nobles suffered heavy losses, and the Hungarian region has begun to surging undercurrents.
Recently, Franz noticed that there are more and more foreigners in Vienna. He didn't need to think about it. Most of these people were bankrupt peasants who had to enter the city in order to survive.
Some of them may still be serfs in the hands of the nobles, but by now, the population of Austria has already exceeded 30 million, and there is no shortage of serfs in the hands of the nobles, so the control has been relaxed.
Although serfs are also wealth, they also need to eat. For the nobles, as long as the number is similar, they can guarantee the completion of production tasks. Too many serfs are also a burden.
The success of the liberation of serfs in European countries is not as simple as it seems. It is more about the emergence of machinery, so that the nobles do not need so many people to cultivate the land, such as power harvesters and so on.
In the middle and late 19th century, the aristocracy's demand for labor declined, and the resistance to the abolition of serfdom became less intense. Most enlightened aristocrats hoped to free the serfs in exchange for a compensation from the state.
Prime Minister Metternich promoted the abolition movement in Austria. The reason why the nobles resisted was because the bid was too low. Franz supported the Prime Minister on this issue.
Austria's finances are not rich, and it is unable to pay high compensation, so it is inevitable to lower the compensation price.
However, it is not impossible to solve this problem, such as giving preferential tax treatment to abolitionist nobles, or sacrificing the interests of capitalists, the government intervenes in the market to set a food protection price to protect everyone's interests.
As long as the interests are appropriate, there is no conflict that cannot be resolved. It's just that Franz will not come up with these ideas now, and he is also preparing to exchange interests with Prime Minister Metternich.
On January 11, 1847, the newspaper "We want bread, we want cheese" by Franz was officially published.
He personally fiddled with an article "Caring for the bottom people and creating a better Austria" as a pioneering work.
There is no doubt that this is a complete chicken soup article. The article uses a lot of space to emphasize the role of the bottom people in the country, and clearly states that only if the basic living needs of the bottom people are met, the Austrian Empire will be better.
The effect is naturally unquestionable. This is the first time the chicken soup text appeared, and many people were fooled.
Aristocrats and capitalists think that Franz is a crown prince who is full of love and cares about the lives of the pariahs, but they do not reject such emperors.
A benevolent emperor is always better than a tyrant, and everyone doesn't have to work with their heads.
The influence caused by the people at the bottom will be greater. A crown prince who cares about their living conditions is completely the standard of Renjun!
The only pity is that the crown prince is too young and has no say in politics. It would be nice if he became an emperor.
…
"Pity!"
Franz sighed to himself, if only a group of people could guide public opinion across the country, the influence would be even greater.
It's not that Franz didn't send someone to guide public opinion. The problem is that he has few people and his influence is limited to Vienna, and he can only wait for it to spread to other places.