Chapter 662

In South Africa, ever since a large number of gold mines were discovered, there was a local labor shortage. Many people wanted to get rich overnight, so they joined the gold rush.

With the appearance of the first wave of nouveau riche, it ignited a gold rush. Farms closed, shops closed, and even many employees in the colonial government resigned to seek gold.

The lack of manpower became the colonial government's biggest problem. Even though there had been a sharp increase in the number of foreigners recently, it did not help the situation. These people were all gold diggers and would not work in peace in the local area.

The arrival of these foreigners even disrupted the order of the South African region. In order to maintain local stability, Governor Fickney doubled the police force in South Africa.

"Governor, 386 government employees submitted their resignation letters last month, including 136 police officers. According to the regulations, 194 people's resignations have been approved.

We can't find anyone to replace them in the short term, so we can only force them to stay. According to the regulations, this period must not exceed three months. This has put a lot of pressure on our recruitment work.

Due to the gold rush, the number of people applying for government employment has decreased significantly. The human resources department has lowered the recruitment standards to the lowest level, but we still can't complete the recruitment task.

The human resources department suggested to ask for help from the country. The central government will coordinate to transfer some people from other African regions to take over the work to ensure the normal operation of the colonial government. "

The colonial government employees could not resign whenever they wanted. The government signed a labor contract with the individual. If they wanted to leave, they had to complete the handover. Usually, this period was one month, and could last for up to three months.

The government could not recruit people. This had not happened in Austria for many years. Ever since the Government of Vienna implemented compulsory education, the government had never lacked civil servants.

Of course, the situation in the colony was special. Some positions in remote areas were still not popular. However, as long as the standards were lowered and the treatment was improved, these problems would not exist.

This time was different. The impact of the gold rush was too great. Young people wanted to get rich and were not willing to apply for government employment.

It was not that the government could not recruit people, but it was mainly because they could not find enough qualified civil servants. No matter how low the standards were, the basic abilities still had to be guaranteed. Some positions had special skill requirements.

Governor Fickney frowned. This situation had been going on for a few months, and he did not expect it to be getting worse.

"Report to the country according to your plan. In addition, ask the Central Government Organization Department to recruit 1,000 government employees and 3800 retired police officers.

Those who are willing to come will be paid twice the national average of the same position. There will also be bonuses and benefits based on the Government of Vienna's employee standards. "

It was difficult to recruit people in the colony, so they would recruit from the country. With the large number of gold mines, the South African colonial government became rich and could afford of money.

Director of Personnel Charlie: "Yes, Your Excellency!"

After pausing for a moment, Caspar Temso, the Director of Mines, took out a report. "Your Excellency, this is the report on the recent developments.

Last month, another 12 gold mines were discovered in South Africa, all of which were of relatively high quality. The ore contained more than 5 grams per ton of gold, and two of them even had reserves of more than 50 tons.

So far, 78 gold mines had been discovered in South Africa. The total gold reserves were estimated to be more than 3,800 tons.

In addition, five diamond mines, seven coal mines, two copper mines, five iron mines, three manganese mines, one chromium mine, and two phosphate mines were also discovered.

What was even rarer was that the quality of these ores was very good. Judging from the current data, South Africa had become the region with the richest mineral resources in the Empire.

This was South Africa's advantage, but it was very difficult to develop these mines. The biggest problem was the lack of manpower, followed by the transportation problem.

To solve the transportation problem, we first had to solve the manpower problem. According to the railway department's plan, if we wanted to solve the transportation problem in ten years, we would need at least 200,000 laborers.

To develop these mines, we would need even more labor. Without two to three million laborers, it was impossible to effectively develop South Africa's mineral resources.

But the reality was very bad. Not to mention two to three million laborers, South Africa could not even gather 200,000 laborers.

The current labor resources were not even enough to mine gold. If we want to continue developing, we need a large population. "

"Lack of manpower" was a common characteristic of all Austrian colonies. It was also a common problem faced by the major colonial empires.

No, the British were an exception. They had the manpower from India. As long as they were willing to invest capital, it would be enough.

Austria was different. Africa had a small population to begin with. In addition to the labor export policy, Austrian Africa had sent 4.3 million laborers to the Americas and 1.1 million laborers to the Persian region in the past decade.

The number of indigenous people had decreased drastically. In the previously developed West Africa, there were no indigenous tribes anymore.

Currently, there were slightly more indigenous tribes in Austrian East Africa and South Africa, but the total population was definitely not more than 3 million.

This could be seen during the Anglo-Boer War. In the later stages of the war, there was a lack of cannon fodder. Even if all of Austrian Africa came together, it would not be enough to use human wave tactics to flatten Cape Town.

It was not only the labor export that caused the rapid population decrease. More importantly, it was the drop in the birth rate. The infamous "labor tax" was the main culprit.

In order to increase revenue, the colonial government imposed a labor tax of one SD per person per year on all indigenous tribes, which directly led to the drop in the birth rate.

Governor Fickney smiled coldly. "The country has promised to solve the labor shortage problem for us. The European agricultural crisis has already broken out. It won't be long before farmers go bankrupt. The country will prioritize immigration to South Africa.

In addition, the Nanyang colonial government has also promised to sell us 100,000 laborers in the next five years. The Arabian Peninsula governor's district will have a big operation soon. They will sell the prisoners of war to us at a low price.

If we want to increase the labor force in the short term, we can only tap into the internal potential. How about this, raise the labor tax to one SD per person per month. Those who can't pay will be sent to mine.

The scope of the labor tax can be expanded. All non-Austrian citizens will be taxed. Foreign immigrants can be given a one-year tax period.

If they learn German within a year, they can apply for citizenship. The citizenship assessment period is not as long as three years. During this period, they can also be exempted from taxes.

Those who fail the assessment can either get lost or stay and pay the tax. It won't be so easy to take advantage of us! "

In order to increase the labor force, Viscount Fickney was prepared to go all out. A labor tax of one SD per person per month was basically forcing the locals to mine and work hard. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to collect the labor tax for a family.

Even the foreign gold diggers couldn't escape. If they couldn't become nouveau riches in the first year, it was best to learn German early and apply for citizenship. Otherwise, the labor tax would hurt their wallets.

Whether they came or not, Governor Fickney never welcomed these unruly gold diggers. As a traditional aristocrat, Viscount Fickney hated speculators and nouveau riches the most.

Although he also made his fortune from gold mining, this didn't affect Viscount Fickney's personal views. Perhaps he was ruthless during the colonization, but when he returned to Austria, Viscount Fickney strictly followed the aristocratic code.

This double standard concept wasn't only Viscount Fickney, but many colonists had it.

…

Vienna. Ever since the Government of Austria decided to find an unlucky person to divert the crisis, the cabinet had been busy.

War wasn't child's play. They had to weigh the pros and cons. It wasn't easy for the European continent to stabilize. Franz didn't want the world to be in chaos, so he had to be careful in choosing his target.

Prime Minister Felix said, "Your Majesty, the current situation is a bit complicated. The only suitable targets for us to attack are Poland and the Osman Empire. Neither is ideal.

If we attack Poland, we can eliminate one of our competitors in the international food market and alleviate the world's agricultural crisis, but the repercussions are very serious.

First of all, Russia may be involved, and the Kingdom of Prussia won't be idle. The Kingdom of Poland is very poor. If we take military action, the possibility of direct reparations is not high. We can only recover the war costs by ceding territory.

In this way, there is a 50% chance of a fourth partition of Poland between Poland, and there is a 40% chance of a merger between Poland and Poland. There is only a 10% chance of maintaining the status quo.

We also have to consider the reaction of Britain and France. They won't be willing to see us continue to grow. Moreover, Poland owes them a lot of money. If this debt is lost by them, the financial circles of both countries will cause trouble for us.

If we attack the Osman Empire, the situation is also very complicated. It still involves Britain, France, and Russia. The debt problem of Britain and France can't be avoided, and there are strategic conflicts between countries.

Especially with Britain and Russia, the Tsarist government has been waiting for us to take action so that they can hit the Osman Empire when it's down and recapture Transcaucasia.

If we don't occupy the territory of the Osman Empire, it's fine. If we seize the Middle East and extend our sphere of influence to the Persian region, I'm afraid the sensitive nerves of the British will be stimulated again.

They are still brooding over the South Africa issue. If they provoke the British again, I'm afraid the relationship between Britain and Austria will be finished. "

Franz also had a headache. The current situation was really not suitable to act rashly. No matter which unlucky person they chose to attack, Austria would not be able to maximize the benefits.

"Can't eat the lamb, but also get into trouble." No matter how he looked at it, Austria was at a disadvantage. This was not in line with Franz's style of doing things.

After a few steps left and right, Franz suddenly turned back. "If you want to reap benefits, you must pay the price. This agricultural crisis is not only hurting us, but also the Russians and Prussia.

Either everyone joins forces to face the pressure from Britain and France together, or everyone holds back and see who can withstand the pressure better.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will communicate with Prussia and Russia. Whoever offers the highest price, we will cooperate with them. If the benefits are too low, then give up the plan.

With our assets, it's not a big problem to hold on for three to five years. There's no need to be in a hurry. Prussia and Russia can't hold on for that long. Whoever can't stand it first, let's let them take the lead! "

…