After a brief lecture from the management, they began to assign tasks to the employees.
As for Viscount Otliss, apart from appearing at the welcome banquet, he disappeared from everyone's sight. Many people who wanted to ride on his coattails felt dejected.
Amani was not disappointed by this. The difference in status was too great, and he did not have the ability to rule the world. No matter how good he was at flattery, it was useless.
Most importantly, Amani did not know how to flatter, and naturally did not want others to flatter him.
Not to mention the high and mighty lord, even the managers in charge of assigning tasks were surrounded by a large group of people, wishing they could follow him at all times.
It turned out that flattery also required talent, and not everyone could do it. If you blindly tried to curry favor, you might end up kissing the horse's hoof instead of flattering him.
The end result was obvious. Some unlucky guy used half-baked Austrian to curry favor, but the wrong choice of words angered the manager, and he was almost chased out.
It could not be helped. The people of Shinra might not have much artistic talent, but they had one advantage, and that was — — rigor.
The lords were all born in the military, and it was inevitable that they brought in some military style when managing the territory.
Unlike ordinary people who had a job, the laborers were all paid by the lord, so Amani directly enjoyed semi-military treatment.
Apart from the lack of military training, the management model was directly based on the military model. Simply put, do what you're told, don't ask about anything else, and don't worry about it.
After being reprimanded by the manager, Amani began his day's work. There was nothing unfair about it. It was inevitable to be scolded at work, especially when it was not him who was scolded, so he felt even less.
Whether it was good or bad luck, Amani's group was assigned to the road construction army.
This meant that from now on, they would be spending a long time in the wild.
"Poisonous insects and fierce beasts." Thinking of the local media's propaganda, Amani had a bad feeling.
However, looking at the armed guards, they decisively swallowed their words of rejection. It was impossible to reason with them. They were all good young people who loved to work.
In fact, Amani was thinking too much. This was the African continent. Without the protection of the army, it would be difficult for ordinary people to survive in the wild.
Perhaps in the coastal areas, lions, elephants, crocodiles, and other ferocious beasts were already extinct. However, in the inland areas, these ferocious beasts that were about to become protected animals were still the overlords of the jungle.
Because the land was vast and the population was sparse, even if the noble lords fully utilized their hunting talents, they were unable to avoid the fish that slipped through the net.
On the African continent, labor was extremely valuable. The death of a single Viscount Autreuse would cause him to feel the pinch. After all, labor also had to pay a pension.
When they arrived at the construction site, everyone was dumbfounded.
Was this still the "Barbaric Continent" that he remembered?
A row of construction machinery appeared in front of everyone. Amani only recognized excavators. The rest of the machinery was both familiar and unfamiliar.
Although he was shocked, he still had to do his job. Compared to the European continent, Africa's economy was indeed very backward. However, a backward economy does not necessarily mean that productivity must be backward.
In essence, it was still a matter of money. As long as one had money, anything that could be found in Europe could be bought here. It was just that the price was a little bit higher.
Amani was now sure that the recruitment advertisement wasn't all lies. At least one thing was certain, and that was that there really was no need to work overtime.
There was no large lighting equipment in the entire construction site. Even if they wanted to work overtime at night, it was impossible to do so.
"Work at sunrise, rest at sunset."
Ever since humans entered the industrial era, it was difficult for ordinary people to enjoy a lifestyle that completely adhered to the laws of nature.
In a sense, Amani and the others could be considered lucky. If it wasn't for the fact that the territory didn't produce coal, and there were no coal mines within hundreds of miles, resulting in the high cost of electricity generation, it would be a dream not to work overtime!
…
Viscount Autreuse didn't care about what the laborers thought. Right now, he was worried about the railway.
Because of its geographical location, Viscount Autreuse's territory perfectly missed the main artery planned by the government.
Needless to say, the central government didn't even collect taxes on their territory, so naturally, they had no obligation to solve their transportation problems.
Of course, this "no taxes" was only limited to the direct taxes within the territory. The central government still had to collect taxes on the circulation of goods.
In theory, as long as they achieved self-sufficiency. They didn't buy goods from the outside world, and they didn't sell products to the outside world, they would truly not have to pay taxes.
In reality, this naturally didn't exist. If they really didn't trade with the outside world, they would return to a primitive society.
The rights and obligations were equal. The central government didn't directly collect taxes from the territory, and it was exempted from the obligation to invest in the territory's administration and infrastructure.
When planning the main line of the railway, it was only natural to do what was reasonable. In fact, even if they were lucky enough to encounter the main railway line passing through their territory, it didn't mean that the noble lords could just sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Everyone knew that the main railway line in Africa was a loss-making business. For strategic purposes, Vienna definitely had to build the main railway line, but it didn't mean that they had to maintain a lot of trains.
In order to reduce operating costs, reducing the number of trains on the loss-making route was a basic operation. If there was a railway without a train, it would be better not to have one.
In the end, these expenses still had to be borne by the central government and the local lords. Therefore, the African Railway Company, which was responsible for building the African railway network, was from the beginning a joint venture between the lords and the central government.
Viscount Autreuse had subscribed to the shares, and in return, the main line reserved an interface for him to build a branch railway to connect with the main line.
Of course, this wasn't just a matter of his family. The surrounding lords also had a share. It was only right and proper to say, "Whoever benefits should pay for it."
In order to build the branch railway, Viscount Autreuse and his colleagues also followed suit and established a railway company.
If the main line was not profitable, then the branch railway was even more so. The railway shares, which were fought over by everyone in other places, had become a hot potato here.
The more shares they got, the more money they would have to lose in the future. As for profits, they didn't even dare to think about it.
It wasn't that Viscount Autreuse was belittling himself, but the population of the African continent was really too small. Take his own territory for example, including the laborers, it only had more than 10,000 people.
Among the dozens of noble partners, the population of the most developed territory was no more than 50,000 people. Their territory added together was more than 50,000 square kilometers, and the population was less than 200,000.
200,000 people divided into dozens of stations, a proper inter-village railway. If they wanted to rely on the railway to make money, it was estimated that the population would have to increase by at least 30 times.
That was almost half the population of the African continent. How long would it take for Shinra to achieve the results of more than 30 years of operating the African continent on their own?
No matter how much the railway company lost, in order to be able to transport their own products, the railway must be repaired.
The key was the investment in the construction of the railway. No matter how high the maintenance cost was, it was cheaper than using carriages to transport goods. In the long run, overall, it was still profitable.
In fact, it wasn't that they didn't think about leaving the branch railway to the central government to manage and pay a sum of money themselves.
However, no matter how good the plan was, it still needed the cooperation of the other party. The Government of Vienna was also afraid of losing money.
If the inter-village bus had to lose money, the inter-village railway would lose even more money. Although the population was small, the distance was not short at all.
If the entire African continent's railway network was completed, the operating cost would be higher than the entire European continent's railway network.
If the "inter-village railway" really lost money, then the taxes that the Government of Vienna received from Africa each year might not even be enough.
Even so, there was still a possibility that the effort would be fruitless. A series of problems such as "high fees", "low number of trains", "late trains" and so on could make the people curse the Government of Vienna.
From the perspective of Vienna, controlling the main railway line was equivalent to controlling the African railway network. As for the branch railway, it was better to leave it to the nobles to solve!
If it was a little slow, then so be it. They would be able to do it sooner or later. In the original timeline, when the Americans developed the West, the problem was even more serious than this. They also completed the infrastructure construction, so there was no reason why Shinra couldn't do it.
The operating costs were high, and the worst that could happen was a few fewer trains. The nobles managed their own railway company, and they could get a full load of goods before sending another train. It was scientific and rigorous, and there was no need to worry about people shirking responsibility.
Deep in his heart, Viscount Otliss envied his fellow nobles downstream more than once. Although they were both in the Niger River basin, the nobles could rely on river transport to develop, but he could only bitterly build the railway.
If the river downstream was deep and wide enough, it would naturally be navigable, but the upstream was a tragedy. The few small rivers in Otlenburg not only had rapid water flow, but the flow was also very unstable. There was a flood in summer, and only a small stream was left in winter.
There was no other way, the road was chosen by his father. In the past, he found a small gold mine, and tried to use his connections to set the current location of the fief.
In the end, it was king at the beginning, but bronze at the end. The gold mine did exist, but the reserves were very low. After mining for less than half a year, it was declared dead.
Not to mention making money, they didn't even recover the cost. At one time, it was still an uproar in the circle of African nobles.
To quote the headline of the newspaper, it was "a territory in the depths of the jungle." It lived alone for many years, until the end of the European war, when the nobles of the fief were everywhere, Otlenburg finally welcomed its current neighbors.
Of course, being remote had its advantages. After other nobles were promoted, their territories were scattered here and there.
If they wanted to gather together, they had to find a way to find someone to replace them. As long as one family didn't agree, there was no hope.
Viscount Otliss didn't have such troubles. In the past, the surrounding land was unowned, so he could just directly draw a piece over.
Not only was the territory concentrated, but the area was also very large. If it was in the economically developed coastal area, it would be a blessing from God if the viscount's territory could be half the size it was now.
Whether it was a loss or an advantage, no one would be able to figure it out in a short period of time.
For the issue of the distribution of shares, everyone had discussed it many times. For many days, Viscount Otliss's wireless telegraph seemed to be on steroids, beeping non-stop.
This was a by-product of the war. The breakthrough in radio technology in the late European war allowed communication to be carried out hundreds of kilometers away. The army had only been equipped for a few days before the war ended.
In order to strengthen control of the African continent, and not to waste resources. After the general disarmament, Franz distributed the extra radio stations as a reward to meritorious officials.
Perhaps because the radio stations didn't have to pay communication fees, it quickly became a tool for the nobles to discuss, chat, and boast.
Putting down the telegraph in his hand, Viscount Otliss gave up on the idea of building the railway immediately. The distribution of shares was only one aspect, the key was the difficulty of financing.
There was no other way. After obtaining labor, there were many people who wanted to build the railway. One by one, they ran to apply for loans, and the Royal Bank was also worried.
Unless the economic crisis ended and the financial world of the Holy Roman Empire acted together, no one could raise the funds for the construction of hundreds of thousands of kilometers of railway.
Even if it was just the start-up capital, it would still be an astronomical figure.
Not being able to build the railway didn't mean it was not going to be built. There was no need for an agreement. Everyone was doing the preparatory work, and some had even started.
After all, the distribution of the railway company's shares was mainly related to the later operation. At most, they would do some partial construction.
The specific construction of the railway would definitely be the road of the territory, and whoever would be responsible for the construction would not be able to take advantage of it.
There was no need to worry about people causing trouble. The constitution stipulated that all citizens must support the construction of infrastructure, and the nobles and lords were no exception.
If there was a dispute, the governor's office would come forward to mediate. The real problem that everyone needed to solve was still money.
Knocking on the table, Viscount Otliss ordered the administrative officer, "Don't stop the road construction. The investment in the railway is too large, and we can't raise enough funds in a short time. Let's build the road first.
With the current income of the territory and the bank loans, it shouldn't be a problem to support it for a year. Once the economic crisis is over, the funding problem will be solved. "
It was obvious that Viscount Otliss was conflicted.
On the one hand, he wanted the economic crisis to last longer to attract immigrants from the mainland; on the other hand, he hoped that the economic crisis would pass sooner so that it would be easier to get more bank loans.
Who asked the Royal Bank's construction loan interest to be so low?
A mere 2% annual interest was equivalent to no interest at all. One had to know that the ordinary commercial bank loan fee was more than 2%.
In fact, the conditions in Otlenburg were not bad. Although it was a bit remote, the land was fertile and water resources were relatively abundant.
His colleagues in North and East Africa were even more miserable. They were all busy building reservoirs and did not even have the time to think about the railway.
According to the African construction goals issued by the Government of Vienna, in order to solve the water shortage problem, the number of reservoirs alone was as high as 180,000.
Otlenburg also had a reservoir plan. If Viscount Otliss wanted to build a power station, the reservoir would be an essential project.
But that was a problem for the future, and there was no need to think about it now. Since the population was small, it was fine to use gas lamps and oil lamps. Currently, the only place that needed electricity was the lord's residence.
"Yes, Your Excellency. But with the arrival of labor, the balance between men and women in the territory was completely broken.
If we don't take measures, I'm afraid there will be a lot of security disputes in the future, which may affect the morale of the people in the territory. "
Administrative officer Martin reminded.
Labor was also an ordinary person. As long as they were human, they would have emotions and desires. The ratio of men and women was seriously out of balance, and problems were inevitable.
Viscount Otliss rubbed his forehead and fell into deep thought. After a while, he slowly said, "Then first strengthen the management of labor and adopt a completely closed military management.
I heard that there are also female workers in this labor dispatch. I will use my connections in the country to find a way to get a batch of them. "
It was not that Viscount Otliss deliberately ignored the imbalance between men and women, but the construction of infrastructure was heavy labor, so naturally, he preferred the stronger male workers.
…
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
