Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 55: Bitter Days Coming

Bardolio surely underestimated the impact of defeating Austria, and for political reasons, King Charles personally awarded him the military rank of marshal.

For the Italians, defeating Austria in that era was really exciting. If they continued to win, it was certain that all the other Italian states would also award him the rank of marshal.

Thanks to the campaign of the Kingdom of Sardinia, Bardolio soon became a hero of Italy, which was not easy, and he had to be careful with his new status.

For example, since people in Milan could not obtain food, they would find him to solve the problem, as he had planned the burning of food supplies.

As a hero of Italy, he must stick to his word. He had to fulfill his promise of food.

General Bardolio's political skill was adequate. No, it should be Marshal Bardolio now. Although it had not yet been officially awarded, it would be soon enough.

The Lombardy region was so large that it was impossible for the Austrian army to collect all the food in the short time allotted. The food in the hands of the grain dealers was gone, but still, there must be something left to eat in the noble manors.

First, he emphasized the domestic transportation of grain; then, he also coerced the nobles in the Lombardy area into sharing some grain from their manors.

It was a pity that, since the light industry in Lombardy had developed well in this era, most of the nobles sold their grain to the processing factories. At the time, the spring plowing period was just beginning, and no one had much grain on their hands.

After searching around helplessly, Bardolio found that what he could rustle up was only a drop in the bucket. Anywhere that had been searched before by the Austrian army didn't have much left.

"Marshal, domestic food transports have not been delivered yet. The food we collected in the city is very limited. In the current situation, all the food plus our military's supply will last only three days.

The grain-collecting team sent out may find something yet. But since it has already been searched by the Austrians, I am afraid that there will not be much to find in the areas surrounding Milan!" Major General Manstu said unhappily. (He had already been promoted to general.)

At the time, the grain of the Kingdom of Sardinia was actually on its way to Milan, but the transportation in Italy in that era was not very good, and its capacity was limited.

It was not so easy to meet the needs of the 100,000 people in the city. This was only the beginning. It wouldn't be long before there was a food shortage in the countryside, too.

It could be said that in the short term, the Kingdom of Sardinia's occupation of the Lombardy region was not an enhancement to its strength, but a heavy economic burden.

Bardolio had already felt the pressure: democrats in Milan had already asked him for independence, which he'd put aside for the time being.

Besides, at the time, they had to rely on the Kingdom of Sardinia to stabilize the area. Once the crisis was over, there might be another option.

"I will explain the situation to the public. At present, many residents in the city still have a little food in their homes, and from tomorrow on, everyone will only receive seventy percent of the food they need.

In addition, the grain collected from the surrounding areas of Milan should be able to support the city for five or six days, and then the domestic grain will arrive," Marshal Bardolio analyzed.

There was no doubt that reducing rations would arouse people's dissatisfaction with them, but he could not produce food from nothing, no matter how he racked his brain.

The Kingdom of Sardinia had no foundation in Lombardy. To maintain the stability of Milan, they had to rely on the nobles and capitalists in the city.

These local leaders were also responsible for distributing rations to the people. These people were not nice ones. They could live well under Austrian rule, which was not possible for honest people.

Under the condition that Marshal Bardolio knew nothing about it, the underground black market had already opened. If someone checked, they would find that the food sold here was the relief food from the city.

Corruption was a tradition left over from the Austrian era. The local nobles were also tools for the Austrian government to rule the local area, so naturally, they had inherited this "fine" tradition.

Not to mention the capitalists: their state of moral integrity was that they had no moral integrity, and none could refuse to profit from the present situation, even some of the officers in the Sardinian army.

When distributing food, they could make a big profit by deducting a little food every time. How could they resist such an opportunity?

They had to make up for the losses caused by the war. It was a perfect opportunity for them to become rich.

Marshal Bardolio might have really not known, or he might have just been pretending to be confused.

Ultimately, the seventy percent of rations everyone should have received became less than fifty percent by the time they got it. And in that last fifty percent, the bread was mixed with a mess of other things.

For the lucky ones, it was just bran and some wheat straw powder; for the unlucky ones with "black bread," wood chips, leaves, pebbles, and other materials could be found in the loaves.

To us, that seems impossible. Fortunately, the people at the bottom had long been used to these things. It was the same as the black bread they usually ate. When fighting, they could even use it like a brick! It was multipurpose.

People with means became customers of the black market one after another. It could not be said to be a real black market; they did their business openly.

However, the price was a little higher, especially the price of grain, which quickly soared to more than ten times what it was before the war. Even some capitalists could not bear it.

Of course, for the poor, there was only one option: to endure it. Anyway, Marshal Bardolio assured them, they only needed to wait another few days.

Everyone was a patriot. For the sake of the country and the nation, they could surely endure hunger for a few days.

...

Paris, France.

At the time, the capitalist interim government was busy with an internal struggle.

On March 17, 150,000 people were organized by the Blanquist Party, and they took to the streets to demonstrate. The conflict between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie was ignited in Paris.

When the Kingdom of Sardinia decided to send troops to attack Austria, the interim government still supported it. Of course, this kind of support was limited to words, as they were unable to give practical support.

Franz obviously underestimated the situation in France, which was not good. The interim government, which represented the interests of the capitalists, had issued a series of policies that favored the capitalists, which naturally damaged the interests of ordinary people.

For example, on March 9, the interim government issued a decree stipulating that cash payments from savings banks should be reduced. Anyone who withdrew more than 100 francs would be paid in devalued national securities.

Another example: on March 16, the interim government issued a decree stipulating that the farmers should pay four kinds of taxes on land, movable property, doors and windows, and business, on which 45 centimes were added per franc for surtax.

(1 franc = 100 centimes, about 0.29 grams of gold, though the value of the franc changed during the Great Revolution.)