The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1266 Transformation

The biggest problem that Lieutenant General Varner is facing now is that the Austrian influence is rapidly spreading to the entire southeast coast, and it is said that Austrian troops are also beginning to appear in the Pyrenees.

For Lieutenant General Varner, he felt that he had discovered the truth. The Austrians must be trying to confuse him and then launch a sneak attack from behind.

Catalonia has many mountains, hills and rivers, and the complex terrain is both an advantage and a disadvantage for the Spanish.

The complex terrain was not conducive to the Austrians' march and made it easier for the Spanish army to set up ambushes. But it also meant that the Austrians had many attack routes to choose from, and once they were divided into small groups, it would be difficult to detect them.

The Austrian imperial army's coming and going and recruiting troops in the city must have been a false alarm.

Feeling that he had discovered the truth, Lieutenant General Varna immediately ordered troops to be deployed to garrison at various mountain passes in the northeast.

Although there are many attack routes in theory, Catalonia is the home ground of the Spanish. How can the Austrians compare with the Spanish in terms of understanding of the terrain?
Lieutenant General Varner felt that everything had been arranged properly and was ready to relax, but he did not expect that there was a pair of cold eyes staring at him.

Mario Alvarez Casal became a castrato at a young age. His singing voice was pure and flawless, and his appearance was androgynous, just like an angel in the legend.

However, Mario's fate was very bumpy. He was first noticed by the regional bishop, and after finally escaping from his clutches, he joined a wandering theater troupe.

Although his wandering days were hard, he finally felt the warmth of his family. However, the good times did not last long, as a local official took a fancy to Mario.

After learning of Mario's difficulties, the troupe decided to help him escape from the clutches of the devil. However, how could a wandering troupe defeat the local tyrant?

In the end, Mario's friends were executed on various trumped-up charges, the troupe leader chose to hang himself due to huge debts, and he himself was locked in a "birdcage".

After an unknown amount of time, Mario was given to Isabelle II, who loved this beautiful girl very much.

But Isabel II had an unpredictable personality, and after staying with such a person for a long time, Mario's personality became even more irritable.

"Keep an eye on Varner and kill him if he dares to betray Her Majesty the Queen."

"As ordered!"

The number of troops in the Barcelona area has exceeded 50,000, which is more than the Spanish government army. Every day, a large number of Spaniards come to join the army, and there are even more people who come with their families to avoid disaster and beg for alms.

In fact, many people in Barcelona did not welcome the arrival of the Austrian Empire, but their self-proclaimed clever tricks were easily dispelled like child's play in front of Franz.

However, this is not the end. Franz does not intend to let bygones be bygones. Forgiving them is God's business, and Franz's duty is to send them to see God.

Thanks to the efforts of the Austrian Empire's torture experts, those who had caused trouble in the city quickly confessed the mastermind and everything they knew.

The original owners of the city wanted to continue to be the masters, so they decided to teach the Austrians a lesson, telling them how barbaric the Catalans were and that only the local nobles and officials could control them.

So for the sake of Barcelona's security, the Austrian Empire should show some sincerity.
Generally speaking, making peace with the local gentry is the fastest and most effective way to stabilize the rule, but Franz is not going to repeat the old path. Since these people like to make trouble, then he will make them destroy their families and people.

Franz had no good feelings towards these so-called local tyrants, and he continued to push them directly to the square as before.

If someone has a good reputation, he will be detained and investigated before being dealt with. As for those notorious guys, Franz will let the local officials judge them according to the law.

Of course, the verdict must be approved by the jury, and the jury is the citizens of Barcelona.

Franz did not want to kill them all, otherwise it would be easy to exploit the public sentiment. Just like those local gentry, even if they did good deeds in their daily lives, wasn't there anyone who envied their wealth and background?
But Franz doesn't want to be like those scum. He is willing to give people a chance to correct their mistakes, but the prerequisite is that they are not too wrong and are willing to correct them sincerely.

But no matter what, the Austrian Empire will take over these people's industries in the short term and transform them. One of the main purposes is to solve local employment problems.

Relying solely on relief from the Austrian Empire is not a long-term solution. The local area's hematopoietic function must be restored in order to achieve long-term stability.

The most effective way is to directly utilize the existing local industries, so Franz is still worried that the locals will cause trouble.

Of course, there were also areas that truly welcomed the arrival of the Austrian Empire, such as Valencia. Instead of making trouble, the local nobles lined the streets to welcome them and even began to become relatives.

Then Franz is also willing to make money with them. Franz can reduce the normal taxes they need to pay and even provide some subsidies, on the condition that more jobs are created to solve Spain’s current difficulties.

However, at this time, no matter which country in the world, paying taxes has little to do with the rich, and the subsidies provided by the Austrian Empire are also very limited.

So some people have become disloyal, after all, it is human nature to pursue fame and fortune. However, it is also reasonable for a government to implement its own laws and policies.

Soon they understood what those seemingly insignificant privileges and subsidies meant. They meant absolute advantages in a fair environment and meant more wealth and power.

After all, there are limited jobs in the city, and it would be too hasty to ship Spaniards to the colonies now. Spain is an agricultural country, so the focus is still on the countryside.

Spain, which had been ravaged by war for years, had already become a wasteland. It was not that no one was willing to cultivate these lands. Both landlords and farmers wanted to cultivate more land.

However, there is a very strange phenomenon: farmers cannot farm without land, and landlords who have land cannot cultivate so much land.

In fact, the reasons are both complicated and simple. The bottom line is that Spain is too closed, land annexation is too serious, and the so-called national government is too weak, which has led to the current situation.

Franz's solution was simple: the Austrian Empire would take the lead, with the church acting as the middleman, to call all the landlords to the church.

In fact, most landlords were reluctant to come, but on the other hand they were embarrassed by the church's reputation. After all, the church in Spain was deeply rooted, and the birth, aging, sickness, death, marriage and funerals of the Spanish people were all inseparable from religion.

On the other hand, they were intimidated by the military power of the Austrian Empire and the countless armed vagrants and landless peasants.

These landlords knew very well that as long as the Austrians gave the order, the vagrants and landless peasants would immediately kill them without leaving a single survivor.