Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 828 - 91: Justified by Necessity

The sudden turnaround operation stunned many, including Franz, the initiator, who doubted his own senses.

Fortunately, his years as the Emperor had fortified Franz with a resilient heart, and he soon recovered.

"Frederick, having reviewed these files, what have you understood?"

Adhering to the principle of making the best use of everything at his disposal, Franz did not let this classic case slip away and seized the opportunity to train his son.

As long as he didn’t reveal it himself, no one would know it was a coincidence, and the outside world would only think of the Emperor’s methods as sophisticated.

Frederick, still recovering from the shock, was confused by Franz’s question.

"Understood what?"

The Emperor’s methods are sophisticated?

Not right!

This was the answer in the minds of the subjects, suitable for flattering. Frederick did not think his father’s question was meant to hear his flattery.

Bureaucratic issues in the Austrian Government?

Also not right!

Corruption has been a problem throughout history, whether comparing horizontally across European countries or vertically through historical dynasties, Austria’s bureaucracy was relatively clean.

Although the bureaucrats were also making money, they knew better how to appear fair.

The methods of corruption had evolved into transactions of power and money, avoiding embezzlement of government funds or unauthorized levying of taxes, which represented progress.

For rulers, as long as their subordinates could timely complete assigned tasks without ambitious rebellions or causing mass public outrage, it was acceptable.

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Eliminating corruption was merely a beautiful dream, only realizable in sleep until humanity evolved to higher levels where material pursuits became irrelevant.

...

This issue was too extensive, and for a while, multiple answers flooded Frederick’s mind only to be rejected by himself, leaving him unsure how to respond.

Facing Franz’s encouraging gaze, Frederick uncertainly responded, "People are selfish; they simply choose the path that is most beneficial to themselves."

Franz nodded appreciatively, "Exactly, people are selfish. This applies to most people, the rest are saints.

In the way of ruling, we can only manage the country using methods suited for the common people, not betting on the small chances of having saints."

"Witters and others are mere representations of the masses. They are equally greedy but maintain a clear head while being so."

"Frederick, if I handed this matter to you, how do you prepare to handle it now?"

After a brief consideration, Frederick firmly answered, "Fuel the flames, seize the opportunity to conduct a major purge within the bureaucratic group, and eliminate all these corrupt elements."

Franz pressed further, "And then?"

Frederick was silent, very aware that conducting a major purge in the administrative circle was easy, but corruption would still breed afterwards, making it impossible to permanently solve the problem.

It is known that Austria’s anti-corruption efforts were already very robust, to the extent that the law allowed officials to take bribes without providing services.

Simply put, an official accepting bribes without rendering services wasn’t considered criminal. As long as they reported to the supervisory department within three days, that money could become a legal income.

After reporting, the officials could enrich themselves without any qualms, and those who paid the bribes were ruined.

The reverse was also true; the bribe-givers could report the officials, which would exonerate them from any wrongdoing.

Under the influence of this, apart from the initial group of bribe-givers who were duped when this was first implemented, later everyone lost trust.

Even a saying, "Don’t take money unless it’s a matter of life and death," became popular among the public.

In some ways, this regulation also promoted the rise of covert transactions between power and money.

With the current level of productivity, monitoring these hidden transactions was exceedingly difficult.

For some deeply hidden ones, even if discovered, no evidence could be found.

Most of the interests transferred had undergone multiple turnovers, and there were no direct transactions between the involved parties.

If it weren’t for people like Witters breaking the cover from within the interest chain, even if the government wanted to investigate, it would be difficult to make any significant findings.

Even now, knowing that the implicated officials numbered in the thousands, many could still slip through the net.

As long as they had been discreet enough previously, without any direct exposure, including using an intermediary for interest transfers, by abandoning the related industries then, no evidence of their corruption could be found.

In the era of cash transactions, there were no bank transfer records. The simplest money laundering method was to directly receive unmarked gold bars, bury them, and, after a few years, dig them up as family heirlooms.

If it weren’t for this exposure, Frederick would not have known about such divine manipulations. Yet, this was still relatively primitive.

At a higher level, for example, an official’s proxy could invest in the stock market and double the value in just ten to fifteen days.

Or take random items from their own homes, which would be invaluable antiques.

Well, the issue with antiques, let’s not talk about it; the old nobility’s houses really weren’t lacking such items.

This isn’t necessarily considered as fakery; if an ancestor was remarkable enough, as long as it was old, it could immediately claim to have been personally used by an ancestor, instantly increasing its value.

Even if the ancestor wasn’t remarkable, surely a distinguished relative was there, a gift from someone. Ultimately, it all boiled down to one thing: someone would pay the price.

The buyers couldn’t be capitalists in need of favors; typically, it was a cycle of today I pay for you, tomorrow you pay for him, and the day after he pays for me.

The buyers and sellers between them absolutely had no intersecting interests. Even these cooperating capitalists didn’t know each other outwardly, nor had any trade relations.

This was still not the end; even the individuals who appeared as sellers weren’t the officials themselves, not even their close relatives. Generally, they were registered legal companies.

If problems arose, they just abandoned those industries. Since there wasn’t an internet back then, many businesses were registered under deceased persons.

The deceased cannot speak, and even if the government wanted to hold them accountable, they couldn’t ask God to return the dead. At most, the properties would be confiscated by the government as ownerless assets.

In reality, there wasn’t much worth confiscating. Most of these companies were valueless, except for a few employees who knew nothing, and the companies’ profits depended entirely on the transfer of benefits.

...

Watching his son lost in thought, Franz decided to patiently wait, knowing that this issue was too troubling. Even he himself had only come to understand it after many years as the Emperor.

However, being in the royal family, one must understand these issues. Only by thoroughly understanding them could one choose the most advantageous strategy for implementation.

Right, it is not about solving problems. Solving problems is the ministers’ job; the Emperor just needs to provide guidance. The frontline work must be left to subordinates.

After a while, Frederick slowly said, "Father, do you mean that even if we know there are problems with the rules, we must still act according to them?"

Franz shook his head, "It’s not about the rules per se; in fact, this world does not have perfect rules; the real test is the ability to adapt.

While adhering to the rules, we must also use them to serve us, not become slaves under them.

We must always remember, we are both the creators and the maintainers of the rules.

Unless it’s absolutely necessary, it’s best not to try changing the game rules, because before you change the rules, you first have to bear their backlash."

There was no choice, Franz was training a ruler meant to maintain the status quo. Those too creative and ambitious do not have the qualities a status-quo monarch should have.

Relatively speaking, being conservative is the best choice. After all, with Austria’s huge scale and substantial heritage, the margin for error was already very high.

As long as future monarchs don’t mess things up, the empire’s status would remain stable. Once the state is stable, so is the royal family.

After pondering for a while, Frederick slowly said, "Father, I understand. In politics, there’s no absolute right or wrong, only what’s necessary.

People like Witters may not be good guys, but if what they’re doing now is beneficial for the Empire, we should use them.

And the officials and capitalists currently exposed for crimes, no matter how numerous or powerful, they are criminals.

Since they are criminals, they must face legal sanctions; anyone who obstructs justice is our target.

People like Witters are the knives in our hands, used to remove the decay from the Empire’s body; their personal characters do not matter!

If this blade remains sharp, then we shall protect them and make them respected pillars of the country.

On the other hand, if this knife becomes dull or even rusty, then let them bear the backlash."

There’s nothing wrong with it; those caught with proof of their crimes are severely punished, and those not caught, it’s as if nothing happened.

Although this isn’t ideal, not having eradicated all the internal pests, this is the rule of the game.

Maintaining the dignity of the law is of utmost importance; there will be plenty of opportunities to catch those who slip through the net later.

Franz was very satisfied with Frederick’s approach; ruthlessness is a basic quality for a monarch.

Despite Franz’s seemingly approachable demeanor, he hadn’t done any drastic purges over the years, but this was only because his subordinates were keeping their heads down.

In fact, behind the glamorous facade, many more followers fell along the way due to their dishonest ways.

However, considering their past merits, Franz chose to be lenient, appearing merciful.

And this leniency was also within the bounds of the rules. For instance: those who should have been stripped of their titles were allowed to have their descendants inherit directly, and the individuals were exiled to comparatively favorable overseas colonies.

No matter how accommodating, they were still kicked out of the power circle, just without stripping the family of its foundation, leaving them some hope for a comeback.

Killing them, out of the question. Europe does not have a tradition of executing nobility unless they have committed outrageously heinous acts, so executions are rare.

Such treatment would not extend to people like Witters.

They do have merits, but unfortunately, their previous collusion with Jewish capitalists was a major taboo; not seeking their misfortune was already very generous of Franz.

From the beginning, Franz was prepared to let them and the Jewish capitalists perish together. Unexpectedly, these guys were tough enough to carve a bloody path out of a desperate situation.

Stepping over the corpses of their colleagues, they crafted a good reputation for themselves. It proved that a good reputation could indeed save lives.

Now, all the Austrian citizens think they are clean officials; no matter how much evidence the Jewish capitalists produce, it could all be dismissed as framing and entrapment.

As the price for their escape, people like Witters would have to worry about being retaliated against for the rest of their lives. To continue in their official careers, they can only rely on the reputation of being virtuous "clean officials."

Thinking of this, Franz sighed helplessly. He thought to himself, "I wonder if this counts as turning black into white?"

"Probably, possibly, it should not be considered so, using a group of pests to eliminate another group of pests, can also be seen as using poison to combat poison.

No, rather, it should be seen as saving errant officials, bringing them back onto the right track..."

No matter how he reassured himself, it didn’t change the ridiculous reality. These were the very people he did not want to use, but because of political needs, he had to reemploy them.

Seeming to recall something unpleasant, Franz continued to instruct, "Frederick, remember this. People like Witters have too low a bottom line to hold high positions.

If there is a necessity to reemploy them, then be cautious. Their limit is the director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau or a deputy minister of a department.

Before reemploying them, we must also prepare measures to counterbalance them. Once any negative signs appear, suppress them immediately.

The selections for the Cabinet and department heads must pick people with a certain level of integrity. Abilities do not need to be too strong; just above average is sufficient.

Especially for the Prime Minister, pick someone older. Keep the young ones down, no matter how capable they are."