Chapter 82 Bottom Line (Part 1)

There are two things to be thankful for for Austria:

First, several important railways were completed.

Second, due to the economic crisis, the international price of precious metals rose, and the silver mines in Tyrol became worth mining again.

Vienna to Bayreuth, Vienna to Dresden, Vienna to Udine, these routes strengthened the connection between central Austria, southern Germany, and northern Italy.

The former is Austria's most important foreign trade zone, and the latter is Austria's most important tax source.

Although northern Italy has declined at this time, it is still a tax-intensive area. As one of Austria's most important tax sources, it provides more tax revenue than Hungary, which accounts for 40% of the empire's land area.

In 1833, Austria's fiscal revenue was 130,269,877 florins, while Hungary only contributed 23 million florins, even lower than Bohemia's 25 million florins, and far lower than Northern Italy's 30 million florins.

By 1836, Austria's fiscal revenue soared to 170 million florins. Benefiting from joining the German Customs Union, Bohemia's economy grew explosively, and its fiscal revenue soared to 35 million florins, which was already on par with that of northern Italy, while Hungary's revenue fell by 1 million florins.

As time went on, as a region close to Germany with rapid industrial development, Bohemia's openness would only increase, and its importance would become more and more obvious.

It's just that when Austria was generally making great strides, Hungary seemed a little different. A group of young nobles and emerging capitalists led by Szechenyi hoped to join this feast.

However, Hungary's joining the German Customs Union violated both the agreement of the German Customs Union and the agreement between Austria and Hungary.

Count Korolav and Metternich were unwilling to intervene in the Hungarian issue again. After all, the current situation was already a mess for the Austrian Empire, so they had to give up.

Britain and France were deadlocked over the Spanish issue, Prussia tried every means to create trouble for Austria in the German Customs Union, and Russia was ready to move in the East.

Carlo Alberto, the new king of the Kingdom of Sardinia, was an uneasy person. He developed the economy and expanded the army, and at the same time he was dissatisfied with both France and Austria.

You should know that the existence of the Kingdom of Sardinia was just a buffer zone between France and Austria. At that time, it was generally believed that Alberto's ambition was an unrealistic delusion.

But even so, Austria had to re-employ the veteran Radetzky and let him serve as the commander-in-chief of the Austrian army in northern Italy.

Radetzky had retired in 1829, but the Minister of War Tural felt that the old general could still fight. At the same time, Radetzky himself was poor after retirement and was worried about the livelihood of his eight children.

However, the old general who took office in Italy in 1831 married an Italian noblewoman in the same year to show his deep love for Italy and imply that Austria would treat Italians equally.

Radetzky himself did this. He never thought that Alberto and his 20,000 troops were a problem.

But this veteran who had experienced the Napoleonic Wars knew how terrible it was to incite the serfs and poor people who could not survive.

Radetzky still remembered how the poor were deceived by Napoleon's unrealistic promises and turned their guns against their compatriots.

But Radetzky asked the army to help the poor at the beginning of his term. When his soldiers broke the law, he would not choose to cover up, but immediately punish the soldiers who made trouble. Sometimes it was even unfair, but this earned him and his army a good reputation among the poor.

In this era, in order to maintain the combat effectiveness and loyalty of the soldiers, generals would usually choose to cover up some of their subordinates who made mistakes in order to win people's hearts.

Radetzky chose to buy the hearts of the people, but his approach was a bit extreme. Even when his own son was treated unfairly, he chose to endure it and asked his son to apologize to the Italians.

Anton von Radetzky was the third son of Marshal Radetzky. He had no talent and did not yearn for life outside the army, so he always stayed with Marshal Radetzky.

One day, Anton Radetzky was ordered to patrol the street. When he passed by a cafe, he heard people inside promoting Mazzini's anti-Austrian ideas.

Italy at that time was just a geographical term. Most of its land belonged to Austria, and the core of Mazzini's thought was to expel the Austrians from Italy.

This made Anton Radetzky furious. After all, the mission of the Italian Legion was to defend Italy. How could he allow someone to promote the idea of ​​making Italy independent?

"Gentlemen, please stop talking about this immediately. This is treason."

"You German pigs, don't even think about managing us. This is private territory." A tall man said in Italian, "May God bless him to understand what we are saying."

The man's words caused a burst of laughter. After all, in the eyes of these people, Austrian soldiers are only bluffing and there is nothing to be afraid of.

Anton Radetzky corrected, "First, I am Czech. Second, this is a cafe, a public place."

The man turned over the sign that said it was open for business, and then said to Anton Radetzky very calmly.

"It's closed now. You can leave."

There was another round of laughter. Anton von Radetzky was so angry that he rushed forward and wrestled with the man.

The military police came and separated the two men, and then they were sent to Marshal Radetzky's office.

Before Anton von Radetzky had time to explain, he was kicked by his father and asked to apologize to the Italian.

Anton von Radetzky was naturally angry. Marshal Radetzky could only order him to apologize to the Italian as a marshal. In the end, the Italian left proudly.

It is said that the Italian was an abbot and very influential.

Radetzky used this almost dog-licking method to make the poor people at the bottom of northern Italy accept the existence of the Austrian army.

But in the eyes of some self-esteemed Italian nobles and businessmen, these soldiers were a group of lowly wimps, and it was a meaningless waste to give them funding and respect.

Middle and high-level Italians often showed an arrogant attitude in front of the Austrian army.

As the commander-in-chief, Radetzky actually tolerated the unfair treatment of his subordinates by the Italians at the middle and high levels.

The reason why the old marshal did this was because he had always regarded the French as an imaginary enemy. He also wanted to build a militia like Napoleon to use in wartime.

However, Radetzky was not Napoleon, and the Austrian Empire did not have enough funds. At this time, the lower classes of Italy were not at the point where they could not survive, so his plan could only end in failure.

Vienna, Hall of Mirrors.

Ferdinand I looked at the imperial order in his hand.

"My stupid brother, who wrote this decree?"

"My poor brother, your eyesight has been bad lately? There is my son's signature on it."

"My stupid brother, the name on it is clearly Franz."

"My poor brother, have you forgotten that my son is also called Franz?"

"My stupid brother, you have never lied since you were a child, do you think I will be fooled?"

"My poor brother, why are you blowing bubbles from your mouth?"

"My stupid brother, I am sick, why don't you call a doctor."

Ferdinand I stamped the emperor's seal on the decree before he lost consciousness.

That day, an investigation team left Vienna and went to Milan to arrest the traitors who beat Captain Anton Radetzky.