"He was still too impatient," Charles sighed inwardly.
In short, his values were fine; it was just that his methodology had a slight flaw. His father, Joseph II's reforms and ideas were largely influenced by his grandmother, Empress Maria Theresa, and Frederick II.
Therefore, to use a modern term, Joseph II took the 'mass line' approach.
After all, in this era, monarchs in European Countries practiced 'enlightened absolutism,' also known as enlightened despotism or benevolent despotism. This was a form of absolutism or absolute monarchy advocated by Enlightenment thinkers in Europe. Ideologically, it rejected the divine right of kings, believing that people should obey the king's commands or laws, rather than the king himself.
The trend of enlightened absolutism emerged in France during the reign of Louis XIV. This idea was mainly promoted and flourished by physiocrats led by François Quesnay, as well as Montesquieu.
At that time, the monarchical absolutism in the continental European Countries was in decline. To consolidate their autocratic rule, monarchs embraced the banner of reform demanded by French Enlightenment scholars, declaring their intention to carry out top-down reforms. They used Voltaire's advocacy for an enlightened monarch, assisted by philosophers, to reform social life, portraying themselves as 'enlightened' monarchs and shouting 'enlightened' slogans. 'Enlightened absolutism' became a characteristic of autocratic governments in European Countries at the time, with only Britain, Poland, and France as exceptions. For Britain, the anti-absolutist revolution had already been completed; Poland did not yet have the social forces demanding reform; and for France, the forces demanding reform were so powerful that they could lead to revolution, making any reform impossible to resolve social contradictions.
Later, after the French Revolution erupted in 1789, a life-and-death struggle between democratic forces and autocratic powers began across continental Europe. All pretenses became useless, and the era of 'enlightened absolutism,' along with its reforms, almost entirely disappeared.
Reform was necessary, but how to reform was the question.
Currently, Austria's administrative, military, educational, economic, and religious reforms are all proceeding systematically according to Empress Maria Theresa's plan.
Joseph II also allowed freedom of the press, but with corresponding censorship of publications and newspaper regulations, and established a secret police force.
In Charles's view, Austria's biggest problems currently were only two: the ethnic question and the lingering issue of serfdom.
As Europe's third most populous country, with over twenty-six million people, Austria had a pitifully small Germanic People as its main ethnic group, numbering less than nine million. The country lacked cohesion and centripetal force. If this continued, after the Napoleonic Wars ended and nationalism blossomed across European Countries, Austria would face an abyss.
If Austria did not want to be torn apart by nationalism like in later generations, it had to transform this classical universal empire into a nation-state before nationalism truly took hold.
In Charles's view, implementing freedom of belief and religious tolerance, and encouraging inter-ethnic marriage among the empire's subjects, was superior to his father Joseph II's assimilation policy, which carried an air of ethnic superiority.
Encourage inter-ethnic marriage among the empire's subjects; then, with 'you in me, and I in you,' how can nationalism take root? Then, subtly promote German language education. After all, Austria already has a compulsory education system. Once those stubborn Hungary nobles are dealt with, there won't be much of a problem.
As for serfdom, it couldn't be rushed for the time being. Although Austria had already effectively abolished serfdom in the imperial hereditary lands and loosened the personal attachment of serfs in the entire country, including other noble territories, noble opposition remained strong, and the lingering issue of serfdom still existed.
This could only be taken one step at a time.
A month later, the British wedding delegation arrived in Vienna. Princess Auguste Sophie was formally baptized as a Catholic at St. Stephen's Cathedral and married Charles.
After the wedding, Charles curiously observed Auguste Sophie, then reached out and gently took her hand: "Well, I know it's been very difficult for you to come to Austria alone. Don't worry, I will treat you well."
Hearing this, Auguste Sophie's tension eased somewhat. She nodded gently: "Mm, I understand."
After the marriage, the couple's life was quite pleasant. Joseph II and Empress Isabella were also very satisfied with their daughter-in-law, who came from such a noble lineage.
After all, the Hanover Dynasty was a prominent family in Europe, and marrying into the Habsburg Dynasty was not considered a disgrace.
A few days later, Charles eagerly went to see the dowry his wife brought: a steam engine and spinning machines.
Furthermore, Charles invited his parents, Joseph II and Empress Isabella, to observe the British craftsmen operating these intricate and ingenious machines.
After watching, Emperor Joseph and Empress Isabella were surprised and astonished by the entirely new production method these machines offered: "My goodness, my dear, the weaving efficiency of these machines can be more than eight or nine times that of human labor."
"I think these steam engines and spinning machines can be widely applied in our country. We should leave it to professionals to manage," Joseph II said. "As for the coke steelmaking method you just mentioned, if it can indeed increase steel production as you claim, then we should popularize this smelting method."
"Yes," Charles said, nodding with a smile.
In recent years, Austria had also been actively engaged in water conservancy projects, continuously excavating and widening several canals along the tributaries of the Danube River to enhance the Danube River's inland navigation hub capacity.
"Father, regarding the ethnic policy you are currently implementing, I have an immature idea." After a long hesitation, Charles carefully began to speak.
"Oh, do you also think my ethnic policy is wrong?" Joseph II asked.
"Not at all. The empire's policy of assimilating other ethnic groups is correct, but the methods are a bit too radical," Charles said.
"Then what good suggestions do you have?" As one of the few enlightened emperors and fathers in Europe, Joseph II was not a stubborn emperor but one who was good at accepting advice. Upon hearing that his son had some suggestions and ideas, he adopted a posture of willingness to listen.
"I believe we can conduct a nationwide census and classify all individuals with Germanic People ancestry as Germanic People. Then, we should strengthen moral education in schools, prioritize hiring staff who can fluently speak and write German in government, factories, and other units, and encourage inter-ethnic marriage and migration," Charles said.
"Your method is highly feasible; we can try it," Joseph II said, his eyes lighting up after hearing his eldest son's suggestion. Due to the establishment of an efficient bureaucracy, the census work was completed in less than nine months. According to Charles's method, the officials responsible for surveying and auditing the population used a simple and crude classification system: anyone whose parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, or any one of their ancestors was German or had Germanic People ancestry was classified as Germanic People.
This led to many people with only 1/2, 1/4, or even 1/8 Germanic People ancestry, and even those who didn't know their own ethnicity, being classified as Germanic People. Since nationalism had not yet emerged, the common people at the bottom did not care what their ethnicity was; they only knew that Germanic People were the empire's main ethnic group and first-class citizens.
After some statistics, Germanic People accounted for over 40% of the empire's total population of over twenty-six million, exceeding twelve million. At least it was much more than before.
With Charles's strategizing, Joseph II subsequently issued several more edicts: every community in the empire's territory must have at least one German teacher responsible for teaching German to the empire's subjects, and a large number of German everyday phrasebooks must be printed and distributed.
After all, if you don't know what ethnicity you are, that's fine; then you are a Germanic People! And since you have become a Germanic People, isn't it only natural for a Germanic People to learn German?
