Chapter 374

Prime Minister Felix took out a document and handed it to Franz. "Your Majesty, considering that the African colony is rich in resources and has a lot of immigrants, we have developed a set of economic development plans for the colony. Please take a look."

Economic development plans for the colony? This statement was very avant-garde. In Franz's memory, the autonomous government should have developed a systematic economic development plan after the emergence of the autonomous territory.

Now, in everyone's mind, the establishment of a colony was to plunder wealth. The local economic development was basically left to its own devices, and there was no long-term planning.

Despite his doubts, Franz still took the document and looked at it carefully. Soon, he knew why there was such a plan.

It was not that the Government of Vienna was far-sighted, nor was it driven by interest groups. It was just an instinct of the ruling class.

As the ruling class, when formulating policies, it would naturally be inclined to themselves. Now, it was the aristocratic group that dominated the African colony, and it was also the aristocratic group that dominated the Government of Austria.

Before the farms and plantations were successfully established, many people still had doubts. Now that the early plantations had begun to make profits, and successful examples were already in front of them, everyone's emphasis was very different.

In the eyes of many traditional aristocrats, this was wealth given to them by God, which could be passed on to the family business. The better the colony developed, the more everyone's wealth would increase.

The ruling class naturally wanted to protect their own interests. Without the need for people to push, the Government of Vienna developed a colonial development plan.

Franz asked with concern, "Have you explored the terrain to build a railway from Guinea to Congo? Are there any technical difficulties? How will the funding problem be solved? "

Well, he decisively ignored the fact that there were still many areas on the way that were not within Austria's control.

In any case, in this era, one spoke with their fists. Since the Government of Vienna made this plan, they were naturally prepared to seize these areas.

Prime Minister Felix explained, "The colonial government has done a preliminary exploration of the topography and terrain. In theory, with our current railway construction technology, it is enough to complete the construction of this railway.

Considering economic needs, this railway must run through most of the cities. With the addition of the branch railway, the total mileage may exceed 10,000 kilometers. We plan to build it in sections, and the areas with harsh geographical conditions and difficult construction can be put at the back.

The construction funds are still mainly from private equity, and the insufficient part will be made up by the government.

In order to stimulate people's enthusiasm for investment, we plan to allocate unowned land within 20 kilometers of the railway to the railway company. "

Franz knew that this railway was definitely not so easy to complete. Many technologies that could be achieved in theory would be realized, but the high cost in actual construction would make people collapse.

The African colony was not the mainland, and most of the areas had not been effectively developed. A lot of raw materials had to be transported from within the country, and the construction costs would definitely increase significantly.

Based on the economic development of the African colonies, this railway, which served both strategic and economic purposes, might not be profitable for the next few decades.

The profit point of the railway was on the land on the two sides of the railway. Whoever took over the railway would be the biggest landowner.

This was the method of learning from the American railway construction. The land was naturally worthless now, but when the railway construction was completed, the value of the land would increase.

The railway company could totally build a station in every other area and radiate to the surrounding areas. The railway of College college college college college college school. College college college school school school. African of Of the railway in.

If to Of this, in College Grace, the college Would Academy Li Wang Jr. The railway was 20 kilometers on both sides, which was 40 kilometers. After the railway was built, they could own more than 400,000 square kilometers of land.

With such a large area, even if there were no resources, they could recover the construction cost just by selling wood.

Unfortunately, whether it was the wood or the minerals buried underground, they were still not worth much. Unless they found gold and silver mines, it was unknown if this investment would be profitable.

After careful consideration, Franz found that this railway was still a quality project.

Building a railway in Africa would save on labor costs. Even if there were labor protection laws, the local natives would not know where to complain.

Of course, even if they found a place to complain, it would be useless. The complainants must first learn German, or the case would not be accepted.

The natives who could learn German would not be low-level laborers. This kind of talent would have been promoted to supervisor a long time ago. If they wanted to complain, they would be the first to suffer.

Everyone cared about their reputation, and the abuse of labor would definitely be done by the supervisor. No higher-ups would lower their status and personally go to the railway construction site to whip people.

Basic raw materials such as gravel and sleepers could be obtained by themselves, and cement did not need to be purchased. It was completely possible to build a cement factory locally, saving more than half of the cost of raw materials.

Even if the machinery and railway needed to be transported from within the country, it would only increase the cost of transportation. Overall, the construction cost was within a controllable range.

The railway company owned such a large piece of land. No matter how badly it was developed, they could still make a profit just by selling the resources.

Franz said calmly, "Since these problems have been solved, let's build the railway! However, remember to control the cost. The government cannot invest a lot of money into this railway.

It was a good idea to focus on developing the plantation economy in the African colony, but there needed to be a focus.

The colonial government could organize experts to conduct field visits and guide people to plant what crops were suitable.

The government would sort out the soil quality, climate, hydrology, and other information of various places, then list the suitable crops and distribute them to the public.

As for what to plant, it would be up to everyone to choose, and the government would not force them.

According to the current international situation, the UA Civil War is imminent. At that time, their cotton and tobacco exports will definitely be affected. We can make preparations in this area first. "

This railway was in everyone's interest. Once the transportation problems on land were solved, there would be more land to develop, and they would not only be able to develop coastal and riverside areas like now.

As one of the people with vested interests, Franz naturally wouldn't oppose it. He even wanted to participate and get a share of the profits.

As for when the railway could be built and whether it would become an unfinished project, Franz was not worried at all.

The colony was not the mainland. If the terrain was harsh and the construction cost was too high, then it did not matter if it was stopped for a few years. Anyway, the construction period was not urgent.

The focus on developing cotton plantations was mainly to seize the UA cotton market. Once the Civil War broke out, UA cotton exports would definitely be affected.

In this era, the UA's cotton exports were close to 190 million US dollars, accounting for two-thirds of the global cotton export market.

Historically, the UA Civil War cut off cotton exports, and the British cotton textile industry was hit hard. In order to avoid being choked, John Bull directly forced cotton cultivation in India.

When the war ended and trade returned to normal, the UA's cotton exports had dropped to 6 million US dollars, and they no longer dominated the cotton market.

There were also many areas in the Austrian colony that were suitable for cotton cultivation. As long as they could seize one-third of the UA market share, the colonial government's finances would be reversed.

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