Chapter 533

Bernard was speechless. No matter how big the threat was, it couldn't be more important than survival. The problems of the future could be dealt with in the future. Only after they got through this crisis would they have the capital to consider these problems.

Everyone had personally felt the threat of the Russians. The loss of property was only a small problem. The key was that there was no guarantee of personal safety.

Gagnis was in a state of depression because of the poor discipline of the Tsar's army. Everyone was on tenterhooks when they walked on the streets. Who dared to do business?

A priest suggested, "Why don't we discuss it with the nobles in the city?"

Bernard hurriedly said, "No! Father Ryan, you should know the situation of the nobles in the city now. The Russians are watching them closely. Now that we've come to their door, do you still want to leave? "

The Juncker nobles were still very loyal to the Kingdom of Prussia. Many of them were leading the guerrillas behind the enemy lines, so they were naturally the focus of the Russians.

It wasn't that Bernard didn't support the guerrillas, but that East Prussia was too small. How could they compete with 380,000 Russian Army on a mere 30,000 square kilometers of land?

The result was self-evident. The resistance team was wiped out, and the people who supported the guerrillas suffered heavy losses. The Russians used tens of thousands of corpses to teach them a lesson: don't cause trouble.

That was also the reason why the local nobles gathered together. They were really scared and worried that the barbarians of Russia would lose their minds and kill them.

If they gathered together, even if someone lost their mind and wanted to start a fight, the noble officers of the Russian Army would stop them. This was their common class interest.

The nobles couldn't even protect themselves, and it was very likely that they would get into trouble if they joined the fight. Under normal circumstances, the Russian Army wouldn't do anything to religious people, but it was possible that they would take the initiative to join the fight.

James pretended to be worried and urged, "Everyone, it's better to make a decision quickly. The Russians won't give us that much time.

There are so many old, weak, women, and children in Gurnisburg, it's almost impossible to sign a normal employment contract. It won't be easy to convince the Austrian company to hire them. "

Hearing James' words, everyone's expression changed. Under normal circumstances, the colonial company only hired young laborers, and it was difficult for the old, weak, women, and children to find jobs.

It wasn't that easy to leave through the employment channel either.

Father Prague asked expectantly, "Mr. James, you must have a way to solve this problem, right?"

James said hesitantly, "If there are only a few people, I can ask friends for help.

At the moment, at least tens of thousands of people in Gurnisburg need to be relocated. Under normal circumstances, the colonial company wouldn't hire them.

The only way is to pay for the transportation ourselves. I'm contacting my friends for help. For the sake of our compatriots, these companies will probably issue a fake employment contract. "

This was the brilliance of James. The people who had been hesitant now couldn't help but change their stance and think about how to organize everyone to leave.

Bishop Bernard frowned and said, "This is very troublesome. There are too many people who need to leave Gagnis Castle. Most of the people can't afford the fare, and our Church can't afford it either.

"God. with" He "Zhang" with's "he" Against he "he he" he "."

If tens of thousands of people were to leave, the travel expenses and relocation expenses would not be a small sum.

Before the war, the church could've raised the money. But now, the bank had been robbed by the Russians, and the church was left with only the church's property.

The most important thing about religion was faith. As long as there were believers, the money could be earned back. Without money, Bernard could only give up on the chance to strengthen his faith.

James thought about it and said, "We can only borrow money. We can ask for help from the local church or the German National Renaissance Association.

Although most of them are old, weak, women, and children, it's not like they can't work. At the very least, they can do laundry, cook, or pick cotton for the plantation owners.

I have a lot of friends over there who can provide some jobs. If there are special circumstances and we really can't find a job, we can ask the colonial government for help! "

James wanted to make money, but he really wanted to help his compatriots when he returned to Gurnisburg.

Instead of living a precarious life here, it was better to go to Austrian Africa and start a new life.

Like most people, James had lost all hope in the Government of Berlin. He didn't think the Kingdom of Prussia could win the war.

The current poaching operation, in James's eyes, was a holy rescue operation to help his compatriots escape the clutches of the Russians.

The East Prussia area had long been assimilated. Many Poles and Lithuanians had become Germans. On the official documents of the Government of Berlin, there were more than 70% of the local Germans.

The rest had long been used to speaking and writing German. Their living habits were similar to the Germans. When they arrived in Austrian Africa, they could just pretend to be Germans and ask for help. No one would be bored enough to check.

Franz was very concerned about the population, which naturally affected the officials under him. Perhaps in the eyes of the capitalists, the old, the weak, women, and children had no value, but in the eyes of the government officials, they were also population.

Taking in the old and weak could buy people's hearts. The Government of Vienna didn't lack food. Women and children were also labor force. Children could grow up, so they were all valuable.

Young people meant that they were easy to manage, and immigrants with families were the best immigrants. Once they settled down in the local area, these people couldn't leave.

Borrowing money was nothing more than setting a threshold for them to leave and extending the time they worked in the colony.

After three to five years, whether it was the Russians occupying East Prussia or the Kingdom of Prussia recovering their homeland, these places would have new residents. At that time, it would be difficult for the immigrants to survive even if they wanted to go back.

This was the only way to survive, and they couldn't refuse it. The members of the church weren't all vicious villains. There were only a few black sheep. Ordinary people were at most a little greedy and disorderly in their private lives.

In the face of the life and death of tens of thousands of people, everyone knew how to choose.

This was a characteristic of European society. To organize the people to leave, only two groups had the influence: the nobles and the church.

James didn't think he had the ability to fool the Juncker nobles to leave. The treatment that the Kingdom of Prussia could give them was something that Austria couldn't.

So from the beginning, the local nobles were put under house arrest. The outside world thought that it was the work of the Russians, but in fact, it happened after James bribed a Russian officer.

The Tsarist government didn't lack people. Keeping a group of people who could turn into guerrillas at any time was asking for trouble, so it was better to sell them to Austria.

With the cooperation of the Russians, the immigration activities organized by James went very smoothly. The Russian Army acted as if they didn't see anything and allowed them to organize.

Colonel Nikolay, who was stationed in Gnisburg, looked at the employment contract that James handed over. He didn't even bother to look at the densely packed names on it and threw it aside.

"Mr. James, according to the law of the Russian Empire, you have to pay five rubles for every worker you hire. That's a total of 448,000 rubles."

James was shocked, but he still said with a smile on his face, "Lieutenant Colonel, we only hired 12,000 people. The rest are the accompanying family members."

Colonel Nikolay sneered, "Unfortunately, this is a time of war, and the situation is a bit special. We still have to investigate the spies, so these family members can't leave for the time being. "

James, who came to his senses, immediately handed over a cheque of 5,000 Divine Shields. This was a cheque issued by the Royal Bank, and it could be cashed in major European cities.

After looking at the number and carefully verifying whether it was real or fake, Colonel Nikolay's expression softened a little, and he put it away as if nothing had happened.

He tore off the tax receipt in his hand, wrote a new one of 60,000 rubles, and handed it to James.

This was the benefit of being in a time of war. Gnisburg had pretty much been robbed, and there was no tax to speak of at all. Naturally, the Tsarist government wouldn't send tax officers.

Colonel Nikolay made things difficult for James because he wanted to make a fortune. Even though James had organized so many immigrants, there were less than six thousand young adults among them.

He filled in the employment of 12,000 people mainly because he had to ensure that each family hired one person so that they could legally leave with their family members. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, James didn't dare to skimp on the money.

After getting the first batch of notes, James heaved a sigh of relief. The Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had also set up an office in East Prussia. With this legal procedure, he could get the Ministry of Foreign Affairs involved.

After seeing James off, a young officer asked in confusion, "Uncle, didn't we agree to extort money from them? Why did you let him go?"

Tax collection? Have you ever seen an army collecting taxes? Besides, this was a newly occupied area, and there was no concept of taxes at all.

From the beginning to the end, it was Colonel Nikolay and the others who wanted to extort money, so they took the opportunity to create a temporary tax bureau.

"Boris, you're still too inexperienced. If I really wanted to extort money, I probably wouldn't even get a single ruble, and I would have to retire early. Do you remember the telegram you received last night? "

Boris reacted and said, "You mean the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already gotten involved?"

Colonel Nikolay nodded. The Government of Saint Petersburg had already received the money for this human trafficking, and it was included in the Russian-Austrian loan.

Now that it was James, a civilian businessman, who had appeared, they still dared to extort money. If it was the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the situation would be different.

Most of the logistics of the Russian Army were provided by Austria. If they provoked a dispute between the two countries at this time and affected the war, the perpetrators would definitely not have a good time.

The Tsarist government was indeed corrupt, but it didn't mean that Alexander Ii Of Russia wanted to see the government corrupt. If they jumped out at this time, they might be killed as an example to others.

Gnisburg was just an index. The entire East Prussia region was full of immigrant businessmen. Everyone was working hard to empty East Prussia.

No, it should be said that everyone was working hard to save their compatriots. To rescue their countrymen from the clutches of the Russians was the official answer given by Austria.

Regardless of whether others believed it or not, the participants believed it anyway. The people of East Prussia who chose to leave also believed it.

This was because the Russian Army cooperated well. Their completely natural performance had already scared the local people.

No one thought about living a precarious life, and the recruitment of able-bodied people was even more difficult for them to accept the war with their own country on the battlefield.