Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

However, the situation in Austria is becoming unmanageable.

In recent years, Austria has consecutively engaged in the Southern Netherlands War, the Silesian War, the war against France, interspersed with suppressing rebellions in Serbia and other places.

The enormous military expenses can only come from taxes.

The Empire’s taxes are nearly 20% higher than in the era of Joseph II, and an additional “war special tax” has been imposed, which has almost drained the lower classes.

At this moment, there are rumors that the Emperor wants to increase the number of days of labor service for serfs, and that the war special tax, originally said to be collected for only one year, will be levied indefinitely.

This “straw” finally crushed the serfs completely.

A younger serf leaned forward and, in a low voice, said, “I heard that the serfs in Seuoden have robbed the house of Viscount Hammer and burned all his land deeds and human contracts…”

Seuoden is a village more than 30 kilometers away, with 70% of the land owned by Viscount Hammer.

“God! They are so bold!”

The young serf said, “At worst, they’ll be thrown into jail, and they can’t possibly arrest the whole village. Anyway, not being able to pay taxes means going to jail, or being forced to death by usurers!”

The serfs beside him all bowed their heads and fell silent.

Two days later.

The bell of Trondheim Village’s church was randomly rung, and over a hundred serfs from Seuoden, carrying hoes and clubs, poured into the village.

Soon, the serfs from their own village joined in, and the mob quickly expanded to nearly 300 people.

They charged straight into Baron Scheller’s manor, knocking down anyone who dared to block them, before starting to loot.

Fortunately, the Scheller couple had gone to Vienna, thus avoiding injury.

An hour later, everything in the manor was looted, not even a single floorboard was left.

The rampaging serfs, like locusts, swept through the homes of several landlords in the village and then shouted as they rushed towards the neighboring village to the west.

That way leads straight to Vienna, less than 4 kilometers away.

…

Vienna.

In a small alley next to Graben Street, Baron Scheller opened his eyes with difficulty and looked around blankly.

The severe pain in his forehead made his mind work again.

Protest.

Police.

Army…

Yes, a soldier had fiercely hit him with a buttstock.

Scheller struggled to get up from the ground, the crowd of protesters had long since disappeared, the street not far away was in disarray, with bloodstains everywhere.

What to do? He felt only despair in his heart, clearly, His Majesty the Emperor did not want to end the war.

He staggered out of the alley, and suddenly a man wearing a black felt hat, with both hands in his pockets, walked past him.

The man glanced at him, stopped, walked over, and said in a hoarse voice, “I think you must be an educated gentleman.”

Scheller nodded in confusion.

The man in the black felt hat immediately took a booklet from his pocket and stuffed it into Scheller’s arms.

“This is, what?”

Scheller was shocked and wanted to touch the booklet, but the man in the black felt hat stopped him: “Find a place where no one is around to read it.”

The man turned away, took two steps, and then turned back to say in a low voice, “Since the Emperor can only bring disaster to the country, we must find another way.”

After the man’s departure, Scheller nervously took out the booklet and saw the cover printed: Meaning of Freedom and Human Rights.

He immediately wanted to throw that thing away, but hesitated for a second, stuffed it into his pocket, and then walked home step by step, distractedly.

On the roadside, two young people were excitedly discussing, “People are protesting that the price of bread has risen by 40%, yet Her Majesty the Queen said, ‘If there is no bread, why not eat cake instead?'”

“I heard that the Emperor’s uncle, that Baron Walter, insists that his hunting dog’s water must have three spoons of honey added!”

“Damn, these vampires, snakes!”

Scheller, thinking of his youngest son and how to sell the family manor, returned home in a daze.

Mrs. Scheller, seeing his face covered in blood, was so frightened that she was at a loss, and in the end, it was the maid who cleaned his wound and simply bandaged it.

Baron Scheller, leaning on the bed, suddenly remembered the booklet, got up to lock the bedroom door, and then took it out.

[All men are free by nature and should be equal…

Any form of government should uphold people’s natural, imprescriptible rights. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.

Even the emperor cannot arbitrarily deprive people of their inherent rights…

The sovereignty of the state belongs to all the nationals, and no one, including the emperor, may exercise the powers not explicitly granted by the nationals, let alone the powers opposed by the nationals…]

Scheller’s heart was beating wildly, these rebellious words, at this moment, seemed to him like the most profound truths.

Yes, why does the Emperor have the right to start a war and send his David to face the French cannons?

Why must his Lucas be sent to the battlefield?

Why can that damned fat man extort 3,000 florins from him?

This is simply unfair!

Listen to the voices of those on the street, everyone wants to end the war and opposes conscription.

The Emperor also needs to listen to the people’s opinions.

No, he should follow the people’s opinions, those clearly correct opinions!

Excitedly, he continued flipping through the booklet, and by two in the morning, he still hadn’t slept.

The next day.

Scheller put on a big felt hat, pressing the brim down low, and went to the café he usually frequented.

He waved to the passersby and shouted loudly: “Listen to me, everyone!

“All of us are free by nature and should be equal…”

In less than 20 minutes, several Secret Police officers rushed over blowing whistles.

Scheller had never encountered such a situation and was immediately petrified on the spot in fear.

At this moment, the café owner yanked him inside, then guided him to a side alley near the back door, signaling him: “You better leave quickly!”

In less than a week, Vienna was engulfed by a sea of protesters.

Serfs continuously poured into the city, looting and destroying everywhere.

The nobles led merchants, workers, and families of fallen soldiers who were not receiving pensions, even minor officials whose salaries were withheld, to demonstrate and protest everywhere.

The police were quickly defeated in confrontations with countless demonstrators.

Schonbrunn Palace.

Franz II looked grimly at the protesters surrounding Schonbrunn Palace and said to Kobutsel beside him, “How do you plan to solve this matter?”

In recent times, Vienna has been completely in chaos. The bureaucratic system is almost paralyzed, and tax collection, conscription, and the like cannot be carried out.

Every street is filled with demonstrators, and every day numerous shops are looted.

The most deadly is that people have already started to incite the public on the streets with speeches about “legislating to restrict the Emperor’s power” and “forming a Congress to govern the country”.

Similar brochures have even found their way into Schonbrunn Palace.

“This…” The Minister of the Interior bowed his head and said, “Your Majesty, it’s already difficult for the police to control the situation, for now, only deploying the military into Vienna to pacify the chaos will suffice.”

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