Chapter 7 Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph

Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Austrian Empire

A young man was running across the large hallways inside Hofburg Castle, he was panting very heavily, and his expression seems like he is running away by being chased by wild animals. Then after running frantically he reached his destination. He stops first to catch his breath and check the documents he is bringing if it is complete and arranged.

The young man then talks to the soldiers guarding the huge door in front of him, asking them to inform the people inside that he has urgent documents to report to the people inside. One of the guards knocks on the door and enters the room, after a few seconds, the guard return and tells the young man that he was permitted to enter.

After getting the approval to enter, the young man gathered his composure and entered. As he entered, he sees four men that are discussing at the meeting. Three of the men are old and one is a middle age adult talking about important matters, all of them are wearing Austrian imperial military officer uniforms. They noticed the young man entered and observed what he is carrying.

"Greetings to the Sun of the Empire, Your Majesty!" the young man saluted and pay respects to one of the persons present, the Austrian Emperor himself, Emperor Franz Joseph.

"At ease, Count Richard von Metternich," Emperor Franz Joseph replied and signals the young man, Count Metternich, to be at ease from his salute. "What is the purpose of your visit here young man?"

Then one of the men present, Minister-President Johann von Berthold, signals to the Count that he is permitted to speak to which the Count nodded and started to speak.

"Your Majesty, we received an intelligence report from the Russian Embassy sir," the Count then move forward and put the thick stack of documents on the long table where the Emperor and his advisers are present.

One of the advisers, Prince Alexander Friedrich of Schwarzenberg, the Head of the Ministry of Defense, checks and read the first few pages of the documents. As he continues to read, his expression worsens and the other people present observe his expression, they soon also check the other documents Count Metternich brought to the meeting. Only the Emperor didn't read the reports and only close his eyes, he already sensed the gist and has an idea of what the reports are.

"This… this…" Archduke Charles of Austria, the father of Justinian and son of Emperor Franz Joseph, was shocked and his face was full of disbelief as he continues to read. "This report was exactly what Justinian predicted in the letter he sent last year. I didn't expect his assumptions would become true."

Now, it is the other people present who were shocked by the revelation of Archduke Charles. The report they received was new, how would the young Crown Prince Justinian, who is sent abroad, know this? The statement of Archduke Charles was impossible to believe.

"Your highness, what are you talking about? I mean no disrespect, but I think your statement is very unlikely. The Crown Prince is still young and the report stated that the Ottomans planned this just a few weeks ago." Minister-President Friedrich von Berthold asked the Archduke.

Archduke Charles wants to respond to the question of the Minister-President but the Emperor signals them to stop talking. "Show them the letter Justinian sent to us Charles."

The Archduke follows the Emperor's order, he stands up and approached the desk in the corner, and opens one of the locked drawers where the letters are stored. Then he grabs the letters inside and bring them to the table where the other men present, including Count Metternich, read the letters that Justinian sent to the Emperor for the previous months until last year.

All of the men present are shocked and amazed at how accurate the assumptions of the Crown Prince. From the plan of the Ottomans to support the Hungarians to revolt again, then after a few months, the Ottomans would fabricate a fake Austrian attack on the border that would become a Casus Belli for war and the German secret support to the Ottomans. The plan was to also divide the Austrian Empire between the Germans, Ottomans, and Sardinians after the war. Also, the Ottoman planned to support the Indians to revolt against the British so that they would be distracted during the division of Austria, and the German plans to draw the attention of the Russians in the far east. The plan of the Germans to declare war against France if ever the French would intervene in the conflict was also part of the Crown Prince's assumptions. They were shocked by the details in the letters but they were more shocked by the Crown Prince's plans and preparations for the incoming conflict. It is arming the current Austrian army with German weapons and breaking the limitation of the Austrian military that the foreign powers imposed on them.

"How feasible is the Crown Prince's plan?" all of the people present return to reality from being dazed by the series of revelations of the meeting by the Emperor's question.

"I think it is possible to defeat the revolt immediately but fighting the Ottomans would be hard. Our forces are few and even if we break now the army size limitation in the treaty of Berlin we would still don't have enough forces to face the Ottomans for at least seven years. Any large military expansion would also be dangerous and may agitate the Ottoman to declare war earlier even without waiting for a Hungarian revolt." Prince Friedrich's response.

"Our Economy and population may be higher than the Ottomans but their military is larger than ours by leaps and bounds. And if the assumptions in the letter would come true, then we will be alone in this fight. So even if we must agitate them, we must start to expand our military even if we are sanctioned by some countries, I will send diplomats to France and Great Britain to end the army limitation they imposed on us after the war of 1839." Count Richard von Metternich says.

"I think the Crown's Prince plan to launch a counter-offensive after defeating the Ottomans in a decisive battle would be unlikely. Our army may suffer a large number of casualties during the defense and suppression of the revolt. Also, the weapons and artilleries purchased from Germany may not have the overwhelming superior advantage the Crown Prince envision," Minister-President Friedrich von Berthold added. "We need more men and allies for a counter-attack to happen."

"That's why I think I would agree with Justinian's plan, to draw the Japanese and Qing in the conflict. Count Metternich send some delegates and ambassadors to the two nations and offered them to end the unequal treaties we had with them and ask secretly for a defensive alliance from the two powers," Emperor Franz Joseph said.

All the people present were shocked again, now due to the Emperor's decision to end the unequal treaties that the Japanese and Qing signed with European nations. Even if it is Austria alone, this move would give the two Asian nations momentous and significant achievement for it means that a European power views them as equals and not inferior countries.

The action may receive some backlash and discontent from some Austrian businesses in the two Asian countries, where their privileges and advantages would be put to an end. But having the support of these two countries with a huge military even if it is not on par with other European powers is already a large advantage.

The Qing Empire has a large population that it can draw a large amount of army to fight. The Empire of Japan has also a large naval power and substantial land power. Even if the two countries would only send a token force, it would already be a large help to the cause.

"Your Majesty, we may suffer a backlash from other European powers if we do this." Count Metternich respond. The agitation and nervousness are present in his voice. This action would be seen as a prelude for other non-European countries to ask to end the unequal treaties they signed. It might cause a domino effect for other nations and a sign of weakness of European superiority and hegemony over the world.

"I know. But I trust my grandson Justinian," Emperor Franz Joseph replied. "Our decisions and plan that we agreed on here may become the reasons for the downfall or rise of Austria. But I trust in the merits on his plans, not only in this but also on reform for labor and land code he wrote."

Aside from the Emperor, all of them gulp and were agitated when the Emperor spoke about the Reform Labor and Land code. The Reform codes that the Emperor wants to become an imperial edict is very different from other labor and land code and laws from other nations and states.

The two codes that the young crown prince wrote are when he still staying in Austria. When Emperor Franz Joseph assigned a task to the young Justinian if what kind of change and reforms did he wants to be implemented when he became emperor? After that day, the young Justinian started to write the two very long codes concerning the current land and labor laws, and what needed to be changed and added. Also, the two codes are a very out-of-the-box idea for the Emperor and the ministers that they hide the drafts the young crown prince had written.

The reform labor code that the young crown prince written is very liberal and atrocious for the nobles and capitalists. Increasing the minimum daily wage of the labors and employees to an amount four times higher than the current wages they received, ending the remaining serf systems in the empire, especially in Hungary that is still practicing this system, and an eight work hours per day and if there are any extension and Overtime, an Overtime pay is due which is higher than regular day wages.

The reform land code also is a very liberal and progressive move, the government will buy the large swathes of land from the nobles and prominent persons in the empire and redistribute it to the landless farmers, leasing the land for them to use in farming and they would then pay the government in installment for 25 years. All citizens in the empire, including the nobles, have a size limit on the land they owned based on their rank and stature in the empire, but the code would not force to be implemented to those who had already owned the land for generations and instead they were encouraged to sell the excessive lands they owned.

This labor and land code would cause massive waves across the empire, labor unions and landless farmers would rejoice but the capitalist and some nobles would be against this code. For the order to pass faster and more efficiently, the emperor planned to use the imperial edicts instead of passing them through the Imperial Austrian Reichstag (Imperial Diet) or Austrian Assembly, bypassing the long and tedious process before it would be passed. They may cause some discontent and agitation to those who are at a disadvantage in the process, but the emperor weighing the pros and cons of the edict decides that it would be more beneficiary for the empire in the future.

The popularity of the imperial family is high enough so the people's support is overwhelming. For decades, Emperor Franz Joseph focused on economic and social development that he become a champion of reforms over the past few decades. Passing these edicts with his endorsement and giving the credit to the young Justinian, would ensure the passing of power would be smoother and Justinian would have achievements before even becoming the emperor.

"Charles, increase the Austrian Imperial Guard with 20,000 more troops. Also let us start the creation of Austrian Foreign Legion like those French had, but create it discreetly, better it would be in South German Confederations and not Austria," Emperor Franz Joseph. "Even we don't have enough time to create a large army but it is better than doing nothing."

"Yes, your Majesty!" All of the men present in the meeting replied to Emperor Franz Joseph vigorously.