Chapter 461

Early in the morning, the roar of the steam engine could be heard. No one was surprised. This was the Port of Venice, the largest trading port of the new Holy Roman Empire. There were more than a hundred ships entering and exiting the port every day.

The roar of the steam engine had become a part of people's lives here. The workers at the dock had already gathered together, waiting for the ships to dock.

Life wasn't easy. In this era where productivity was limited, it wasn't easy to fill one's stomach.

Arnaud was an ordinary dock worker. He had worked here for three years. His youthful dreams were destroyed in the face of reality. There were a few times when he wanted to travel overseas, but he gave up after thinking about his wife and children.

The work at the dock was tiring, hard, and physically demanding. Those who couldn't carry a load of 80 to 100 kilograms wouldn't be able to make a living.

This wasn't a problem for Arnaud. He wasn't afraid of hardship or tiredness. He just wanted to take on more work to earn more money and let his family live a better life.

It would be best if he could send his son to school. Although Austria had implemented compulsory education, Arnaud wasn't a part of it.

This was because he wasn't a local resident and didn't have Austrian citizenship. In his daily life and work, it didn't affect him much.

After all, he was a laborer. No one would care which country a laborer was from. However, when it came to social welfare, it had nothing to do with Arnaud.

More than ten years ago, he followed his father from Ancona to Venice to make a living. He had only returned to his hometown three times. One of them was for his marriage, and the other two were on ships.

Austria had strict regulations on citizenship. If one was of the German nationality, it was easy to become a citizen as long as he didn't have a criminal record.

It was different for other nationalities. Even though Arnaud had lived in Venice for more than ten years, he still didn't meet the requirements.

Apart from scientists, designers, engineers, and doctors, there were many restrictions for other occupations to immigrate to Austria.

Arnaud could recite all of them clearly.

1. No criminal record, correct political ideology;

2. Resided in Austria for 20 years, or was born in Austria and has lived here for a long time;

3. Have made a certain contribution to society (those who have made significant contributions can be naturalized directly);

4. Must have a college education (Outstanding students in science and engineering can lower other standards);

5. Proficient in German and inherited the Austrian cultural tradition;

6. Personal wealth must not be less than 8,000 Divine Shields;

…

Franz didn't reject immigrants on purpose. The main reason was that when he inherited the throne, the proportion of Austria's population was seriously unbalanced.

Under such circumstances, wouldn't it be troublesome enough to accept immigrants from other ethnic groups?

In order to avoid this situation, the government of Vienna made an immigration condition that was almost impossible to satisfy.

The facts proved that this policy was very correct, and it had an obvious effect on improving the proportion of the main ethnic group.

If there weren't any restrictions, there would be hundreds of thousands of Italians in Austria. Currently, there were more than 500,000 foreign Italians living in Lombardy and Venetia.

Not only Italians, but there were also Austrians., Austrians, Jews, but they were also.

"Austrians," Franz, and "of" was "., but Austria., Austria. Austria, It wasn't easy for ethnic integration to begin with. Wouldn't it be asking for trouble if another million people were to come in?

Austria was Austria ', and of Austria. Austria didn. Austria Austria of Austria. in.

Day Austria Empire state, of Austria, Austria of Austria. Austria Austria was. of the world. Austria of. of Austria.

Arnaud had become a victim of this policy. Unless God was looking out for him, it was almost impossible for him to get Austrian citizenship.

Austria had very little social welfare. Other than compulsory education, Arnaud didn't feel much of a difference.

No matter what, his income in Venice was much higher than his hometown. Not only could he fill his family's stomachs, but he also had some savings.

The food at the docks was good, at least for this era. There was enough black bread, and there was meat every day.

Don't get me wrong. The meat was fish. This was Venice. The price of fish wasn't much higher than black bread, and it wasn't even as expensive as white bread.

In order to ensure the workers' stamina, meat was a necessity. The capitalists who contracted the docks weren't stupid. They knew that only when the workers had strength could they make more money.

On the surface, there didn't seem to be any technical skills involved in the docks. In fact, those who knew the ropes knew that skilled labor could reduce the rate of wastage.

The rate of wastage was insignificant. This was the competitiveness of the docks. There were many ports in Austria, and there were even more docks.

Most of the docks were owned by the government. When they were contracted to individuals, they were intentionally split up to break the regional monopoly.

If the loading and unloading of goods at a certain dock was too much, it wouldn't matter if there were disputes with customers. The most important thing was that the docks' reputation would be ruined, and no ships would come to them.

In this aspect, Arnaud was lucky. This kind of competition increased their weight in the eyes of the capitalists. Although they were still insignificant, at least they weren't treated as disposable goods.

For example, they basically paid their wages on time, paid their overtime wages according to the law, and met the industry standards set by the state.

…

"Arnaud, do you recognize that flag?"

It was Facher, Arnaud's hometown friend, who had just come from his hometown and was full of curiosity about everything.

He looked at Arnaud and said enviously, "I don't know. It looks like a noble family's emblem."

Ships with noble family emblems were usually private ships. They didn't accept commercial transport, which was the standard for rich nobles.

Of course, there were exceptions. Some of the unconventional nobles would hang their own family emblems on their merchant ships.

Facher sighed, "When can I have a ship like that?"

Arnaud rolled his eyes. He didn't want to daydream like that. He had had this kind of dream many times, but it didn't work.

A middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes had already come forward to negotiate with the owner of the ship. If the price was settled, Arnaud and the others would have work to do.

"Honorable Baron Facher, Manar is honored to be of service to you!"

Baron Facher nodded tiredly and ordered, "Manar, arrange for people to unload everything on the ship and send it to the train station.

Will, bring them along and work with them. I'm going to Viscount Obila's house now. We'll return to Vienna in three days. "

After that, Duke Ficney closed his eyes to rest his mind. As the first person to go to the colonies to discover gold, Facher was now returning to his hometown in glory.

Back when he went to the colonies, Facher was so poor that he even mortgaged his family's fief and owed a lot of money. Now, he was a millionaire with a net worth of several million DND.

After so many years, there wasn't much gold left. However, while he was mining, Facher didn't stay idle.

He didn't know if it was a racial talent, but he originally started his farm to satisfy the needs of the gold miners. He didn't expect it to snowball.

Now, his farms and plantations added up to more than 4,800 hectares, and he was a famous landlord in the area.

Looking at the large piece of land, Baron Facher helplessly realized that he could no longer leave! The main purpose of his return was to promote the integration of the colonies and the mainland.

With so many Austrian colonies, it was impossible for all of them to be incorporated into the mainland. However, it was very possible to merge the developed lands into the mainland.

In order to promote this plan, many nobles who had opened up plantations in Africa had returned to the mainland to do public relations.

Once the African colony's localization was approved, Baron Facher planned to turn his farms and plantations into his family's fief.

All these years in Africa, he had accumulated quite a lot of merits. If he were to change his fief to Africa, not only would he be able to turn his own land into a fief, but he would also be able to include the land of the people who had followed him.

The total area added up would be larger than most of the earls in Europe. With this foundation, after a few generations, the family would be able to enter the aristocratic circle.

It wasn't just Baron Facher, many nobles had the same plan. The competition in the mainland was too intense, and there was no way for more aristocrats to be born.

However, it was different in Africa. As long as they were willing to invest in it, a few generations later, another aristocrat would be born.

Many colonial capitalists were prepared to use this opportunity to transform. Once the localization was approved, their opportunity would come.

In Europe, nouveau riche like them would never be able to enter the upper class. Even if they used money to become aristocrats, they wouldn't be able to gain recognition.

It was different in Africa. Other than the old aristocrats, there were many nouveau riche who could form their own aristocratic circle.

Capitalist era? In fact, it was the aristocrats who didn't allow the capitalists to enter the upper class. Then, the capitalists flipped the table and pulled the aristocrats down from their pedestal.

Now that they had the opportunity to enter, they naturally wouldn't flip the table. After all, they had already obtained the aristocratic license and were transitioning from rule challengers to rule defenders. Once the colony was localized, their status would be confirmed.

This was also what Franz wanted to see. The capitalists were never his enemies. Only those who opposed him were his enemies.

If it was just a blow and not leaving a path for them to rise, even rabbits would bite when cornered, let alone the capitalists who were growing stronger day by day.

Leaving a path, the capitalists who were already in a state of disunity would no longer be able to unite.

Of course, this was only a part of the localization of the colony. In fact, this was an opportunity for all levels of society.

Austria's colony was ten times the size of the mainland. Just Austria's Africa alone was seven to eight million square kilometers. Even if only a small part of it was incorporated into the mainland, it would increase a lot of opportunities.

At this time, if one dared to fight and break through, there was a high possibility of crossing the class limit.

If one had to use data to show it, the success rate of fighting now was 10%. After the class solidification, the success rate of fighting was less than 1%.

Of course, this was only a small step forward to cross the current class.

If one wanted to reach the sky in one step, it was better to stop dreaming. Other than rebellion, there was no such shortcut in the world.