It was impossible for Franz to distribute land to the released serfs for free since that would earn him the ire and hatred of the nobility. His reform plan was already fairly advanced for the time. Not to mention, Austria’s nascent industry also needed more workers. If all of the released serfs received a lot of land without any strings attached, few would be willing to move to cities and work in factories.

Unlike in Asia, the value of each inch² of land was very high in Europe since the income from even a small amount of land was enough to keep its owners adequately fed, so, naturally, the living standard of farmers at this time was a lot higher than workers.

After listening to Franz’s reform plan, the cabinet ministers breathed a sigh of relief. Obviously, their Imperial Crown Prince had taken the interests of the nobles into consideration. Even though they might have to part with their land, it was not too unacceptable since they would be compensated. Naturally, they didn’t care to consider the losses suffered by the nobles who had participated in the rebellion.

“Your Imperial Highness, your reform plan has no major problems, but limiting the land lease to 50% of the land revenue seems a bit unnecessary. I believe it would be better to allow free market competition.” Interior Minister Archduke Louis suggested.

Franz shook his head and replied, “I’m afraid that without such a restriction this reform will become meaningless. We cannot vouch for the moral integrity of all the nobles. If a few greedy fools mess around and set the land lease unreasonably high, the released serfs would likely start an uprising.”

Considering Austria’s special national conditions inherited from the Holy Roman Empire, Franz had already made concessions. He’d done his best to take into account the interests of all people. He had not even mentioned the abolition of the prerogatives held by nobles. For the sake of social stability, Franz would take a gradual approach, prioritizing the resolution of the biggest issue.

Minister-President von Schwarzenberg slowly said, “I think most nobles can somewhat accept this reform plan, and I can convince the rest. If someone still continues to oppose it, we will not force them, however, they will need to be responsible for their personal safety and property. We won’t waste our resources on protecting such greedy fools!”

As the Minister-President of Austria, Prince von Schwarzenberg had to view every problem from the standpoint of the government, not the nobility. As long as his own interests were not harmed, he wouldn’t waste his time on people who hindered Austria’s progress. In contrast, the older Archduke Louis remained somewhat reactionary.

The former State Chancellor of Austria and its current Foreign Minister, Prince von Metternich watched Franz and smiled bitterly. If he had insisted on reform like him, it was likely that the situation in Austria would’ve been quite different.

**********

Under the strong push of the Imperial Crown Prince Regent and the Minister-President, the two most powerful men in Austria, the Cabinet finally reached an agreement on the issue regarding the abolition of serfdom. This also set a precedent which indicated that many policies implemented by the previous government would be overhauled.

Neither of them would tolerate the existence of incompetent officials which meant the civil officials in Austria would soon face a great purge. Franz had decided to charge them for the crimes of bribery and corruption. There were few officials in Austria who were honest and upright, so more than 90% of the officials in Austria could be sent to prison.

Of course, the range of investigation would not be so wide. Only the foolish officials who were greedy and incompetent would be investigated. As long as the official could prove his competence by effectively completing his work, he would be spared.

Franz also planned to use the anti-corruption investigation as a means for allowing the Cabinet to crack down on the nobles in Italy and Hungary. Once they opposed the authority of the central government, he would receive the justification to deploy troops. Such severe actions were necessary because the situation in Austria was already quite serious.

The cities of Milan and Venice had rebelled against Vienna, and were, for the time being, under martial law. There was rioting in the region of Galicia, while the region of Bohemia wanted autonomy. Meanwhile, the Hungarians had proclaimed their own independent nation, which was equivalent to a coup, but still claimed that they were willing to negotiate with Vienna.

There was turmoil and unrest in other regions of the Empire, as well. The Croats were confused; originally they had been part of the Kingdom of Hungary, but suddenly, the newly built Kingdom of Hungary took away all of their rights. As a result, the Croats were divided: some wanted to stay in Hungary, while others wanted to join Austria as an autonomous province.

The people of Dalmatia were barely surviving. They had already been impoverished, yet the nobles and capitalists continued to exploit them harshly; as a result, more and more anti-hunger riots took place. The revolutionaries had appeared in the region of Bosnia; Transylvania and Slovakia were also in varying degrees of chaos. There was almost no place in Austria where peace remained.

Historically, the numerous rebellions had forced the Austrian government to carry out reforms. However, at the time, Vienna had been occupied and the prestige of the Habsburgs had fallen to its lowest, so they had to depend on the local nobles to calm the unrest. This forced them to make the reforms favorable to those nobles. At the same time, the government continued to make concessions to them, which planted the seeds of the Empire’s eventual collapse.

The situation this time around was very different: the rebellion in Vienna had been quickly suppressed and the prestige of the Habsburgs had remained intact. Instead, the influence of the nobles had waned, allowing the government to expand its authority. The government’s control of the military had also been strengthened.

On March 21, 1848, the Vienna government passed the Abolition Act of 1848. This act finally resolved the controversial issue of serfdom. From now, Austria banned forced labor by humans, with the exception of criminals. In addition, according to the act, all released serfs would automatically obtain citizenship to Austria and all the corresponding rights and obligations.

The next day, on March 22, 1848, the Vienna government passed the Resettlement of Serfs Act of 1848. This act required the nobles to provide minimum living security for the released serfs and solve the problem of the employment of the farmers. They could not deprive the released serfs from their right to live in their existing houses, and they had to lease the land to farmers or employ them to farm their lands.

The following day, on March 23, 1848, the Vienna government passed the Land Lease Act of 1848, which stipulated that nobles could lend their land to the released serfs to farm, but the maximum lease could not exceed 50% of the land revenue. This was to protect the most basic survival rights of released serfs who would turn into farmers. If there were no restrictions, most nobles would set the land lease no lower than 90% of the land revenue, leaving nothing for the farmers.

Later that day, the Vienna government passed the Land Redemption Act of 1848, which encouraged the nobles to sell their land to the government, but did not make it mandatory. The government would then lease that land to the released serfs who could purchase it through payment in installments. The maximum period for installments would be set to 40 years. After the payment was complete, land ownership would be transferred to them.