There was no way to convince Massimiliano, Franz threw the other two younger brothers directly into the barracks for a closed education. Perhaps it was a lesson learned, and the Queen Mother Sufi did not intervene.

Until Franz succeeded to the throne, the Austrian army had been a place where the nobles gilded their children. Now the Austrian army is also the place where the children of the gentlemen go, but not gilded, but living like a year.

Not to mention the closed management, once you enter the barracks, you will say goodbye to the bright lights of the city, and train in the Alps every day.

Because of the strict management system, many families regarded the military as a school to educate the next generation, and the number of children active in Vienna fell to an all-time low.

The statutory period of military service is only two years, because of population growth, usually ordinary soldiers can retire home and transfer to the reserve after one year of service.

The exception is the children of the nobility, whose length of service starts at 3 years. It takes more time to train officers than ordinary soldiers, and the service time is naturally longer.

The training of noble officers was much stricter than that of ordinary soldiers, and there were many more training subjects. Usually the first year is spent in the Alps or the Balkans.

I'm tired and half dead from training every day, so I naturally don't have the energy to think about it. After a long time, many bad things will be corrected in the army.

Originally, Massimiliano and Franz were only more than a year apart, and at the time of the military reform, he had already completed the gilding and became a naval officer, and missed this opportunity to polish.

Because the training was so hard, I couldn't go home once a year. The sophie queen mother, who loved her son, asked Franz to open the back door but failed, so she dragged it down.

Fortunately, the nobility of the German region had a tradition of military service, and the nobility who had not served in the army could not gain a foothold in society at all.

So the Queen Mother Sophie can only delay time at most, and she doesn't dare to really let the two little guys hide from military service.

The specific situation can be referred to, every year, several gentlemen are tied up by their families and sent to the barracks, and occasionally there will be scenes of crying and crying as if they are parting from life and death.

Of course, most of these scenes are among the emerging aristocracy. This is also the reason why it was despised by the old aristocracy and was considered a manifestation of unculture.

To some extent, Franz's military reform also relied on the power of tradition.

Although Austria did not reach the point where the Prussian army owned the state, most of the top levels of the government came out of the army.

If a certain place needs to mobilize to the limit, government officials can also become officers in seconds and form an army in the shortest possible time.

Because of the glory of the nobility, no nobleman complained in front of Franz that the training was too hard, which made him very satisfied.

Rights and duties are equal, and if you refuse to fulfill even your own obligations, then this class is really degenerate.

According to the statistics of the Ministry of Defense, more than 95 percent of the children of the Austrian aristocracy serve in the military, and the rest are physically defective and congenitally deficient, and there is no way to enter the army.

Before the military reform, this figure was 100 percent, and the cultural tradition of the German region was to be proud of being a soldier, and now this fine tradition has naturally been preserved.

From the beginning of compulsory education, there are basic military training courses. The unconditional areas are just queue training and long-distance running, and the aristocratic school is a copy of the junior military academy.

saint petersburg

After years of struggle, the reformers finally prevailed over the conservatives and gained the upper hand. On March 25, 1863, Alexander II issued the General Decree on the Peasants Breaking Away from Serf Dependence.

Provisions: Abolition of serfdom, the attainment of freeman status by serfs, personal liberty and general citizenship, including the right to own property, to hold public office, to conduct litigation, and to engage in industry and commerce.

On the premise that all the land is owned by the landlord, the peasant can use a certain amount of land, but must pay a ransom to the landlord.

Before signing the redemption contract, the peasants also had to perform labor for the landlord or pay the rent in lieu of labor.

Obviously, this reform of the Russians was imperfect, and the ransom money for the land was determined by the landlords, which far exceeded the market price of the land, and in some places even several times higher than the market price.

The high price of land purchase has laid a hidden danger for future social conflicts. In fact, after the redemption price was determined, conflicts arose in many places.

Alexander II also had a great headache, on the one hand, he wanted to carry out more radical social reforms, so that the Russian Empire could quickly enter capitalist society; On the other hand, he was reluctant to break with the landed aristocracy.

There was also a difference between "landlords" and "landlords", the landlords of the Russian Empire were nobles, and ordinary freedmen rarely owned land.

It is clear that carrying out social reforms now will harm the interests of the aristocratic class. The nobles who ruled the country were naturally reluctant, and they wanted to pass on the losses.

This is not only the will of the conservatives, but also many of the reformers who are prepared to sacrifice the interests of the peasants in exchange for the success of this social reform.

As for the social contradictions that may be brought about after doing this, they have ignored them, and they can't really cut their own flesh, right?

The Minister of Police, Levves, said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, there were 38 serf riots in the country last month, and all of them have been suppressed. ”

Serf revolts were no longer news in the Russian Empire, if they did not break out several times that year, it would have been news.

But with dozens of eruptions a month, Alexander II still felt the pressure. The abolition bill was issued, but the reform did not satisfy the serfs.

The revolutionaries were not idle, they encouraged the serfs to rise up in revolution, declaring that if the tsarist government was overthrown, everyone could own land for free.

The liberals were not so radical, at least they were not prepared to push the Tsar. Liberals believed that the government should put laws to price the land, and that the aristocracy should not be allowed to exploit the peasants.

At present, most of the serf riots in the country were carried out by these two factions.

Alexander II said: "Continue to be on high alert, and now is the critical moment to not let them make a mess and undermine this reform." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The Minister of Police replied hurriedly

Fortunately, the Russians won the war in the Near East, and taking advantage of the opportunity to reward the heroes for their victory, Nicholas I liberated a number of serfs.

These people were now the main force of the tsarist army, and although most of them were at the bottom of the army, as long as these people were loyal to the tsar, then the Russian Empire remained tsarist Russia.

Otherwise, the nobles, who had long been taken aback, did not compromise with the tsar so easily, and the conservative forces in Russia have always been the most powerful in Europe.

This is not the same as the abolition of serfdom in Austria in the midst of widespread rebellion. At that time, the Austrian aristocracy was frightened by the revolution, and watched the extermination of the nobles of the family, for fear that it would be their turn and had to agree to abolish serfdom.

In the face of survival, everyone's expectations naturally decreased. The price of land was cut down, and it was cut, and in order to save their lives, everyone had to choose to compromise.

Now the tsarist nobles did not feel the pressure to survive. Despite the serf revolt in Russia, these were not on a large scale. There is no pressure, everyone naturally wants to make up for the loss, and is even ready to take the opportunity to make another profit.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Kurdasiabi said anxiously: "Your Majesty, because of the reforms, it is expected that our tax revenue will fall by another five percentage points this year, while fiscal spending will rise by 15 percent.

If we continue like this, I am afraid that before the domestic reform is completed, we will go bankrupt first. The Ministry of Finance proposes to postpone the abolition of the tax package system in some remote areas to reduce fiscal spending. ”

The tax package system was also a problem for the tsarist government. The Russian Empire was so large that the tsarist government had no way to manage this huge empire because of communication and transportation, and had to implement a tax system.

Now because of the advent of the telegraph, the problem of communication has been solved. The tsarist government was ready to abolish the tax package system and clear the way for the development of the capitalist economy.

However, in this way, the administrative overhead is greatly increased. Many remote areas do not receive enough taxes to cover administrative costs.

Alexander II asked rhetorically: "I'm afraid that simply delaying the abolition of the tax package system will not solve the problem, right?" Our funding gap cannot be solved by a few million rubles a year. ”

Chancellor of the Exchequer Kurdasiabi replied: "Yes, Your Majesty. This year's fiscal deficit should exceed 40 million rubles, and a delay in abolishing the tax package system could save 8 million rubles. ”

Alexander II thought for a moment and said: "Even if the abolition of the tax package system is delayed, what will happen to the remaining funding gap?" ”

The Russian Empire's main areas of the tax package system were in Siberia, the Far East, and Central Asia, where the economy was not very good because of transportation, and the delay in reforms had little effect.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Kurdasiabi proposed: "Your Majesty, I personally propose to sell Alaska in order to save administrative overhead and at the same time to make up for the financial shortfall. ”

Alexander II shook his head and said: "There is no problem in selling Alaska, that land does not actually bring us any profit except for its large area."

Because of our relationship with the British, if there is a conflict in the future, we will not be able to hold it at all.

But the problem is that we can't find a buyer at all, and the only Americans who can buy this land are now mired in a civil war. ”

It's true that before the discovery of gold, Alaska was a barren land, with less than 10,000 Russians on more than a million square kilometers of land.

Even if there is a piece of land in the central basin that can be cultivated, the land is not worth much in this era, especially the land that has not been developed.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Kurdasiabi proposed: "Your Majesty, we are looking for buyers all over the world, and if we can't find a buyer, we will pay Austria the interest on the loan next year!" ”

Alexander II shook his head: "No, if you do this, it will affect the relations between the two countries." Austria is now not only our ally, but also our largest trading partner. ”

This has nothing to do with discipline, it is completely determined by interests. The existence of the Russo-Austrian alliance allowed the Russian Empire to retain its hegemony in Europe, and even now that it is busy with internal reforms, no one has shaken its position.

But once the alliance was dissolved, it was different, not only the French would challenge their supremacy, but even Austria would become a challenger to the supremacy.

Turning a potential enemy into an ally was the tsarist government's greatest diplomatic achievement in recent decades.

When Austria was mired in the revolution, Nicholas I did not fall into the trap, so the Russian Empire won the Near Eastern War with the support of Austria and captured Constantinople.

Before his death, Nicholas I repeatedly warned him about the importance of the Russian-Austrian alliance, Alexander II was not stupid, knowing that this was an alliance that would benefit both countries, and it would not be good to affect relations between the two countries for some interests.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Kurdacia explained: "Your Majesty, there is no need to affect the relationship between the two countries. All you have to do is write a weeping letter to His Majesty Franz, explaining our difficulties and asking him to help.

Back then, when the Austrians suppressed the Hungarian rebellion, Nicholas the Great was also ready to send troops to help, but as soon as they arrived at the border, the Austrians did it themselves.

In any case, the Habsburgs received this favor. Therefore, in the later wars in the Near East, the Viennese government was always on our side. ”

Kurdasiabi was a vague reminder to Alexander II that he valued the royal relationship between the two countries and that he could not ignore national interests because of his pro-Prussian personal stance.

Alexander II nodded, he was personally pro-Pu, but not a fool like Peter III, who disregarded the interests of the country.

Don't you see that the current Prussian-Russian relations are still not improving?

After Bismarck's death, the Kingdom of Prussia, Wilhelm I, who was deeply humiliated, never bowed his head to Russia again. Alexander II, likewise, did not show goodwill to Prussia.

This is all determined by the national interest. On the one hand, as the hegemon of Europe, the Russian Empire could not take the initiative to bow its head; On the other hand, the emotions of the little brother of Denmark should also be taken care of, and with the fact that the Kingdom of Denmark has successively provided loans of 20 million rubles to the tsarist government over the years, it is clear at a glance that the proximity is close and close.

Alexander II calmly replied: "There is no problem, I will write this letter as soon as possible." ”

Seeing that Alexander II accepted this suggestion, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Kurdasiabi breathed a sigh of relief and lamented that the money was really not profitable.

His efforts to encourage Alexander II were not only aimed at deepening relations between Russia and Austria, but of course there were such factors.

More because of the 100,000 Aegis public relations fee received from the Austrian ambassador to Russia. Kurdasiabi is a smart person who knows what money can be collected and what money cannot be collected, and when he collects money, he has to do things.

The Austrians want to further deepen relations between the two countries, and Kurdashiabi will naturally not refuse, which is also in the interests of Russia.

As for the problem of Alaska, it was decisively ignored by him. This is just a pretext for continuing to deepen the relations between the two countries, a wild land.