Chapter 1302: The Stieler Society
Lukas had been living a stable and comfortable life with his father in Paris, even earning a degree in philosophy from the University of Paris.
However, after the war concluded, he suddenly realized his responsibility to help the Austrian people escape their suffering, determined to extend his own fortunate life to every Austrian citizen.
Thus, he made the most momentous decision of his life, bidding farewell to Baron Schérer and his mother, and set off for Vienna with his accumulated two thousand francs.
He was no longer the impetuous young man who had participated in the recruit camp riots years ago. During his time in Paris, he had witnessed France's steady rise in power and prosperity, leading him to deeply understand that violent uprisings alone couldn't resolve all issues. Fundamental changes to Austria's foundational rules were essential.
This, he knew, first required a transformation of people's thoughts and perspectives.
In Vienna, he soon encountered an old acquaintance of his father's. The man was quite successful, currently working under the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and was also a Liberal.
This senior introduced Lukas to a liberal movement organization, the "Stieler Society," and furnished him with considerable inside information on the Austrian government—it was he who divulged the Emperor's use of 1.2 million florins for diplomatic bribes.
Lukas, familiar with the corruption endemic to Vienna's bureaucracy, believed that 1.2 million florins for diplomatic expenses would ultimately cost the taxpayers at least 2 million. Consequently, he based his speeches on this higher figure.
While he evidently hadn't inherited his father's literary talent, during his stay in Paris, he had learned impressive public speaking skills from Monsieur Varennes, an orator and a new friend of his father's.
"Just look at this! These are France's enlightened ideas!" Lukas declared, offering pamphlets about the Declaration of the Rights of Man to the onlookers. Yet, more than half didn't reach out, as they were illiterate.
Lukas, undeterred, lowered his voice. "Regarding this magnificent declaration, we'll provide detailed explanations every Sunday at three and five in the afternoon, at the Morning Mist Café on the south bank of the Vienna River. It will open your eyes to an entirely new world..."
As he spoke, a piercing whistle echoed from the street corner, and the surrounding crowd scattered instantly like startled rabbits, vanishing without a trace.
Lukas calmly pulled down his hat, entered the café behind him, and then slipped away through the alley behind the building.
Austrian law prohibited any public speaking without prior government authorization.
At the corner of Forest Street, a middle-aged man with a grim expression was declaiming loudly, "Our Emperor has launched several meaningless wars, sending countless young men to die on bloody battlefields, while every single one of us is forced to pay exorbitant additional taxes for these conflicts!"
"It is high time we seriously consider how to prevent such tragedies from recurring..."
Lukas pushed through the crowd and gestured to the middle-aged man. "The hounds are out searching; we need to pull back immediately."
The two boarded a waiting carriage across the street, drove in circles around the city for a while, and finally ducked into an iron workshop on the outskirts.
Inside the workshop, people were silently engrossed in their tasks, as if they were invisible.
Lukas entered the warehouse, where scrap materials were piled, and tipped his hat to the elderly "storekeeper" seated within.
The old man nodded in return. "You're back early today. Did you encounter the police?"
"A large-scale sweep. They rounded up twenty or thirty people on Tuchlauben Street alone. Say, are the pamphlets for tomorrow ready?"
The old man waved a hand. "Monsieur Brandauer is ill, so they haven't been printed yet."
Lukas frowned. "Is he alright? Perhaps I could help with the printing."
"Monsieur Brandauer has a fever; he should recover after a period of rest." The old man rose to his feet. "Are you certain you wish to go down? The printing press fumes aren't exactly pleasant."
"Don't worry, that's no trouble for me."
The old man turned, pushed aside a dilapidated cabinet, cleared away some rusty iron implements from the floor, then lifted a felt cloth and, using a key from his belt, twisted something on the floor a few times.
With a *clatter*, a downward passage opened in the floor.
"Thank you," Lukas said, nodding to the old man, and stepped into the basement, where he found several individuals busily working around a printing press.
"Monsieur Schérer, what brings you here?"
"I've come to lend a hand."
Lukas rolled up his sleeves, stepped forward, and deftly pulled down the printing press's lever.
He often saw this type of printing press, manufactured in Paris's Antoine Industrial Zone, at the offices of the Paris Business Journal.
Indeed, this very printing press had been supplied by the French Security Bureau.
In fact, over half of the Stieler Society's funding also originated from the Security Bureau.
Concurrently, other liberal movement organizations in Vienna, such as the "Constitution Research Society" and the "Vienna Student Corps," also received sponsorship from the Security Bureau.
Joseph, a man who bore grudges, would not let Austria repeatedly instigating wars against France be resolved merely by losing some territory and paying minor reparations.
The old European royal etiquette of "limited conflict" held no sway with him.
If he didn't seize this moment of Austria's weakness to utterly disarm its ability to challenge France, was he supposed to wait for it to recover and organize the next Anti-French Coalition?
Joseph understood perfectly that an empire was rarely shattered by external forces, but it could easily be imploded from within.
These liberal organizations were the "gunpowder" he had planted within Austria.
Of course, he chose this strategy knowing full well that Austria wouldn't achieve a bourgeois revolution or embark on a path to prosperity through these means.
The Habsburg dynasty, a feudal bulwark of Europe, had historically shown no mercy to liberal reformers.
Furthermore, Austria lay beside another bastion of conservative power: Russia.
Should Austria's domestic situation spiral out of control, Russia would intervene without hesitation.
Austria was thus destined to rapidly exhaust its national strength in the mutual conflict between its feudal powers and the liberals.
...
Schönbrunn Palace.
Count Spielmann, the Austrian Minister of the Interior, gravely waved a German-language pamphlet of the Declaration of the Rights of Man. "Recently, these have been distributed widely throughout Vienna. The Liberals' influence is expanding rapidly... We must take action."
Franz II turned to Cobentzel. "How do you believe we should best handle this situation?"
Cobentzel hesitated, then bowed. "Your Majesty, some of the Liberals' reform proposals are not entirely without merit, and the Empire does require certain reforms at this time. Therefore, we could issue decrees to regulate their activities."
Metternich, standing behind the Minister of Foreign Affairs, immediately interjected, "Your Majesty, these instigators of rebellion must not be appeased. Have you forgotten the Vienna riots from just a few years ago?
"The Empire certainly needs reforms, but those ought to be spearheaded by Your Majesty and your experienced ministers, not by allowing those verbose Liberals to cause chaos."
Seeing that Spielmann and Stadion did not cut him off, he boldly added, "I propose expanding the Secret Police, implementing stricter publication censorship and assembly registration, and eradicating all sources of rebellion!"
Immediately, several ministers echoed, "Your Majesty, we must prevent a repeat of the Vienna riots."
"I, too, support a rigorous crackdown on those inciting rebellion!"
...
Paris.
The week-long victory celebrations finally drew to a close. The crowds parading in French military-style attire had largely dispersed from the streets, leaving behind only scattered ribbons and discarded bouquets.
However, thousands of people still thronged the squares of Paris's new districts. Everywhere, individuals could be seen holding placards or speaking loudly from atop chairs, creating an atmosphere no less vibrant than the recent celebrations.
Inside the Palace of Versailles, Joseph listened to the persistent cheers wafting in from outside his window, asking Mirabeau, who was presenting a report on post-war industrial development, with a touch of surprise, "What are they celebrating?"
Mirabeau quickly replied, "Your Highness, the latest 'Demobilization and Pension Decree' was just announced yesterday afternoon."
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