The ministers quietly digested Franz’s words, especially the last sentence. They were tactful people, so no one asked the identity of the “experts” who came up with the suggestion. Since Franz was being discreet with his knowledge of the piece work system, they decided to take his words at face value.

Anyways, he had passed on the credit of the piece work system to the non-existent “experts” and, thereby, to them. In this era, the piece work system would be undoubtedly revolutionary in increasing the productivity of lazy workers.

The piece work system was harmless in comparison to the harsh measures taken by capitalists to crack down on lazy workers. These measures could range anywhere from deduction of wages to being beaten to being killed, especially in faraway mines where lazy workers were outright murdered as a way to deter other lazy workers.

It was obviously impossible for the government to adopt such cruel means. Finance Minister von Bruck’s worry that the government would lose money from state-owned businesses actually stemmed from his worry of the emergence of lazy and wasteful workers on a large-scale.

Similar cases were prevalent in the future: a healthy privately-owned business was sold to the government, and while it created many jobs as the number of employees doubled within a year, the previously-thriving business fell into a deep loss as its productivity steeply dropped. On the other hand, a loss-making state-owned business became a privately-owned business and laid off over 50% of the employees, yet the business’s productivity doubled within a year.

**********

“Now that we have a solution for the unemployment crisis, let us move on to another pressing matter. My Lords, what are your plans for sentencing the prisoners?”

Franz had decided to ignore the nobles and capitalists who took part in the rebellion since most of them had managed to escape. Anyways, they had already received a harsh punishment in the form of confiscation of their titles and property. As for the “frontline leader” of the rebellion, he had already been killed during the fighting, so no trial was needed for him.

Trans_Later

TL Note: “frontline leader” as opposed to the capitalists and nobles who controlled the rebellion from the shadows.

In fact, most middle or senior officers of the rebellious “Freedom Army” had been executed at the hands of the City Defense Force. Except for those who surrendered without firing a single shot or causing any bloodshed, all rebel officers who led more than 20 people had been executed. During the suppression of the rebellion, only 3,000 rebel soldiers were killed, but the number of executed rebel officers exceeded 2,000.

In this day and age, human rights was a topic which had only just begun to emerge, and even those human rights were only for honest people, not criminals. Thus, the rebels had no human rights. As long as they were involved in the rebellion, the higher their station, the sooner they died. On the other hand, ordinary people were not punished too harshly.

Let alone the rebels, even the students and professors from the University of Vienna who had advocated for the revolution were not spared. After the City Defense Force took over the university, all those who’d advocated for revolutionary ideas and helped the rebels had the same destination: the guillotine.

This strict order had been passed  by Franz, but the one who took the blame was not him. Even before the cabinet had been formed, he’d already issued orders in the name of the cabinet. Historical documents would attest that these orders were passed by the Minister-President with the agreement of the cabinet.

Nevertheless, these mass executions didn’t attract any outcry since the people of Vienna had suffered terribly at the hands of the revolutionaries, so no one cared to help them. Instead, large crowds gathered to watch the executions and cheered each time the guillotine fell and a head rolled.

“Your Imperial Highness, this rebellion was very severe. These prisoners must be severely punished as a warning to others and to deter others in the Empire with similar ideas!” Interior Minister Archduke Louis answered in a gloomy voice as a hint of vengeance flashed in his eyes.

He displayed a deep hatred towards the rebels and wished to execute them all. He was not alone; several cabinet ministers shared in his bitter hatred. To be a noble was to have many relatives. Franz was aware that these old ministers had lost many relatives and friends in this rebellion.

If this had been all, they wouldn’t have reacted so fiercely. Their hatred stemmed from the fact that the rebels had ransacked their houses, robbed their property, and killed their loyal servants. Even worse, Archduke Louis’s youngest son, who had been unlucky to run into rebels, had been murdered in cold blood.

Previously, he’d advocated for lighter punishments for the rebels, appeasing the people, and stabilizing the situation as soon as possible, but after going through the pain of losing a child, his outlook vastly changed. He’d even proposed that all the nobles who had participated in the rebellion be executed, let alone the commoners rebels.

Franz was very clear regarding the cause and effect of this rebellion, and he was even more clear about his own social class and what position he should take. Therefore, after arresting the nobles involved in the rebellion, he did not execute them right away but left their fate to the cabinet.

These nobles may have participated in the rebellion to serve their own interests in recovering their losses from the economic crisis, but they had committed a serious offense by burning the documents in the banks. Not only had the domestic banks in Austria been hit hard, but even the branches of international banks in Vienna.

The stakeholders of these banks, which included many nobles from the Court of Vienna, were the main force lobbying for passing severe punishment against the rebels. The profits in finance and banking had always been very large, so it was natural that the senior nobles would be a part of it. In fact, the Habsburgs also held shares in many Austrian financial institutions.

After considering Archduke Louis’ words for a few minutes, Franz replied, “We certainly should strictly punish the rebels, but most of the rebels in custody are workers. Instead of letting them continue to be a burden to Austria, it is better to use them.

According to the seriousness of their crimes, they will be fined. Their punishment will be that they will be sent to work in the factories until they have paid off the fine before they can be free.”

This was the lightest punishment he could fight for while still keeping in mind the feelings of the people who suffered losses due to the rebellion. Even the cabinet could not refuse so much free labor.

“This is a great idea, Your Imperial Highness. We can’t kill all of them, so it’s better to put them to work!” Finance Minister von Bruck took the lead in supporting Franz’s suggestion.

Following the Vienna rebellion, a lot of money was required for the reconstruction of Vienna. Naturally, as the Finance Minister, he wouldn’t oppose a motion which saved money.

“But what about the hard-line rebels? What if they cause damage to the factories?” Archduke Louis countered, unwilling to concede so easily.

Finance Minister von Bruck quickly suggested, “We can use the system of “collective punishment.” We will divide the rebels into small groups where they will work, supervise and report on each other. As a reward, the sentences of those who correctly report on others can be reduced.

If anyone in a group is arrested for causing damage to the factory, but no one reported on him, everyone in that group will be sent to work in the mines as punishment.”

In fact, if he weren’t aware that there would soon be many more rebellions in Austria, he would’ve already sent these prisoners to mines or to build railroads. Considering that there would be many more prisoners in the future, so long as they were not hard-line rebels and they surrendered quickly, they would receive a light sentence.

“If no one has a better idea, we will proceed with this!” Franz announced firmly.