Chapter 67: Chapter 67 – Schemes

Prime Minister Azeglio felt a cold sweat on his back. He had instructed Minister of War Ferrare without asking the King's opinions first, which had aroused the latter's dissatisfaction. Politics in Sardinia, a constitutional monarchy, has a delicate balance. If the Prime Minister becomes accustomed to bypassing him to make decisions, it won't be long before King Charles Albert will find himself as just a puppet king.

Obviously, King Charles Albert was well-versed in political intrigue, unlike the guillotined . The moment he felt like Prime Minister Azeglio was becoming too confident of himself, he demonstrated his own prestige to bring the minister back to reality.

Prime Minister Azeglio composed himself and replied, "Your Majesty, we only have two ways to solve the financial problem: either by collecting a war tax or borrowing from an international bank."

King Charles Albert glared at him as he inwardly cursed, 'Snake-like bastard!'

Prime Minister Azeglio had suggested "collecting a war tax," but he failed to mention from whom this war tax would be collected. A war tax had already been imposed on the residents of Sardinia, so doesn't that mean that this war tax would be collected from the residents of Lombardy?

Tax is the bane of ordinary people.

The ordinary residents of Lombardy were already unhappy with the Sardinians due to the meager amount of food they received as war relief, so squeezing them further would certainly not be a wise idea. In that case, this war tax could only be collected from the nobles and capitalists.

King Charles Albert wasn't fooled by the patriotic demonstrations of the nobles and capitalists within Lombardy and Sardinia. They seem to be very enthusiastic about donating money for the cause of Italian Unification, but if they were really forced to pay, it wouldn't be long before they withdrew their support.

Fraudulent donations were commonplace in the 21st century despite the highly developed Internet, not to mention the 19th century where telephones were a rarity. In fact, many people had even held grand charity auctions where they donated 10,000 lira, and earned upto 30,000 lira from the auction. Needless to say, the Sardinian government never received a single lira.

King Charles Albert then thought about the second suggestion. Borrowing from an international bank? Who would be willing to lend money to Sardinia, especially now that Austria was quelling its internal unrest in record timing? Except for Britain, no other country would lend money to them.

After all, lending international loans was a highly risky business. Without the government's participation and a stable environment, how could the banks be convinced that their loans would be repaid? In case Sardinia was defeated and ceased to exist, who would repay their loan?

On the other hand, while the British were willing to lend them more money, King Charles Albert was aware that the British would definitely rip him off since they were also aware that no one else would lend loans to Sardinia. He felt dizzy from just thinking about how many unequal treaties he would have to sign .

Suddenly, King Charles Albert had an idea. Isn't the purpose of a constitutional monarchy to force the monarch to delegate power? In that case, he would delegate power. Thus, this matter would have nothing to do with him and the responsibility would lie with the ministers.

He said, "Prime Minister, since you already have a solution in mind, implement it as soon as possible!"

Similarly, Prime Minister Azeglio wasn't willing to be his king's scapegoat, so he decided to further delegate power to his subordinates.

"As you command, Your Majesty! I will convene a meeting with the ministers to discuss this matter and implement the best solution as soon as possible!"

King Charles Albert nodded. The Prime Minister had taken responsibility for this matter. It didn't matter whether he was the scapegoat or his subordinates were the scapegoat. As long as he wasn't troubled, he didn't care about the machinations within the government.

"Now that the government is responsible for solving the issue of lacking funds, the military action for Venice must not be delayed. Minister of War, you must prepare for the war as soon as possible!" commanded King Charles Albert.

Minister of War Ferrare quickly replied, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

He understood the meaning behind his king's words. No matter how difficult it was, the battle for Venice must be fought or the people would riot. As for how to fight, that was up to him. He could launch an all-out attack or send a small unit to launch small-scale raids. All he had to do was allow the world to see Sardinia's determination to take Venice.

Minister of War Ferrare was satisfied. He had been a general who had commanded the frontline army for a long time, so he knew that it wouldn't be a problem to send elite soldiers to conduct small-scale raids and minor skirmishes while stalling for time. They could drag the war until June, by which time Sardinia's preparation and the recruit training would be completed.

 

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While Sardinia was making preparations, the Austrian army was not idle. After Marshal Radetzky had retreated to Venetia, he had first suppressed the local rebellion. After the execution of the rebel leaders, the remaining 70,000 rebels were made to serve their sentence through forced labor.

To avoid any more unrest in Venetia, the former rebels were quickly moved by the Viennese government. Due to the war, the Viennese government had no time to make a careful evaluation, so the former rebels joined the "road construction corp" made of rebels from other parts of Austria.

Thus, these hapless people began the back-breaking work of maintaining the roads for the logistical supply lines of the Austrian army. Venetia had finally been stabilized, but the cost was the stagnation of the economy. However, considering that it would soon turn into a battlefield, it didn't seem that costly. After all, no one can hope for economic development during a war.

Meanwhile, Marshal Radetzky received an expected guest.

The middle-aged man respectfully curtsied towards Marshal Radetzky and said, politely, "Your Excellency Lord Marshal, this Silvestro Libonati the Younger is honored to be in your presence."

By convention, he should've been addressed as Count, but compared to his noble title, Radetzky preferred being addressed as the Marshal. The clever Silvestro Libonati would certainly be aware of this.

"It is nice to see you, but Mr. Libonati, what is your purpose in coming to see me today?" asked a smiling Marshal Radetzky.

Silvestro Libonati calmly replied, "Lord Marshal, I am here today on behalf of the Venice Merchants Association. I'm sure that Your Excellency is aware that those involved in this rebellion-"

Before he could finish speaking, Marshal Radetzky interrupted, "Mr. Libonati, the rebels will not be forgiven. If you're here to plead for them, don't waste your breath.

The leaders who have been captured will be executed while those who have not been caught will only be spared from the death sentence if they surrender!"

Feeling that ferocity within the Marshal's voice, cold sweat trickled down Silvestro Libonati's forehead.

He suddenly felt glad that he had remained opposed to the rebellion and had not participated in it, or his head would currently be one of the hundreds of heads mounted on pikes on the city walls of Venice.

Unlike the rebels in Milan, the Viennese government had executed all the rebels in Venice, regardless of their identity.

He hurriedly replied, "Lord Marshal, you misunderstood me. How could I plead for those despicable rebels?"

Marshal Radetzky laughed and said, "There's no need to be nervous. As long as it has nothing to do with the rebels, I will try my best. After all, your father, Silvestro Libonati the Elder, is my friend. What can I do for you?"

Suddenly, Silvestro Libonati regretted making this trip to see Marshal Radetzky and getting his feet in these muddy waters.

 

-TO BE CONTINUED-

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