Chapter 688

On the bulletin board of the Government of Vienna, a surprising recruitment notice was posted. It was not strange for the colonial government to recruit public officials. It was done every year. What was strange was the content.

It was human nature to watch the excitement. Every time the bulletin board was updated, it would attract many people. There were not many entertainment activities in this era. Gossip was also one of the joys of everyone.

Although there were many people gathered, the scene was not chaotic. Everyone consciously followed the rules. There was no disturbance or conflict.

With so many people, it was obviously impossible to see the content on the bulletin board at the same time. The people inside had already read the content of the notice.

"The South African colonial government commissioned the Austrian Organization Department to recruit public officials. This time, a total of 4,800 people are recruited, including 1,000 government employees and 3,800 police officers.

Application requirements: 1. Must be an Austrian citizen, healthy, with no criminal record; 2. Received a complete compulsory education and all subjects are above the passing line; 3. Able to work hard, with a minimum of eight years of service.

Note: Those applying for the police post must have a certain degree of military literacy and have at least received reserve training. Retired officers and soldiers are preferred. Age under 30 years old. Officers can be relaxed to 40 years old.

Remuneration: Salary is doubled on the basis of the domestic average level of the same position. Welfare benefits refer to the Vienna standard. "

Leaving aside the salary, the conditions in the colony were bad, and there was the possibility of danger at any time. The salary was naturally higher than in the country.

The problem was the application requirements. It was not that the requirements were too high, but too low. According to the above standards, more than 90% of Austrian youths of the age met the requirements.

If it was in the mainland, with the treatment given above, the final restrictions would definitely be a university degree, military merit, or aristocratic status. Generally, one of the three was fine.

The colony naturally did not have such requirements, but it was usually a high school degree or an outstanding retired officer as the threshold.

This time, there were almost no restrictions. Of course, this was not a surprise. The fewer the restrictions, the more applicants, and the final competition increased.

No one went because the conditions were bad? That was because the price you offered was not high enough. As long as you were willing to spend money, how could there be no one?

According to this recruitment standard, not to mention 4,800 people, even 4.8 million people could be easily gathered in Austria.

Of course, there would not be that many willing to go to the African continent. The South African colonial government lowered the recruitment standards, mainly due to the influence of the gold rush.

In order to ensure the stability of the administrative system, restrictions were set. Once the contract was signed, it would be a compulsory service and could not leave before the end.

This would definitely dissuade many people. Africa was different from the mainland. If the conditions were bad and they could not leave early, most people would not be able to bear it.

After hearing the restrictions, there was a lot of discussion. Most people were just watching the show and were not very interested in the recruitment test this time.

At the same time, some people's eyes lit up and wanted to try their luck. In this era, the worse the conditions were, the greater the opportunities.

The colonial government was not stupid. They would not set up an administrative agency in a worthless place. In recent years, Austrian Africa had developed very quickly. Many of the remote and desolate villages had become booming cities.

Every time there was a great development, there would be a group of lucky people rising up along with it. There were not many opportunities for ordinary people to enter the ruling class. The minimum requirement for civil servants in China was to graduate from middle school.

Ordinary people would that. for them was that they would to have. of them. Geniuses were always in the minority. If ordinary people wanted to improve, they would have to work hard and rely on a certain amount of luck.

Stevie was one of them, the kind that could not be found on the street. Steve Steve was that he work. day after day was a day job job. Steve was very. day after day for day.

Working day after day made the fledgling Stevie very uncomfortable. However, reality did not allow him to be willful. He went to work every day.

Steve's eyes lit up when he heard the recruitment conditions. However, he didn't rush to squeeze in. The Austrian people were already used to lining up because of the discipline they had cultivated for a long time.

The people in front of him who read the announcement left. The people in the back filled in. The scene was orderly.

This was one of the results of compulsory education. From the first day of school, they had to learn to follow the order. After so many years, everyone had developed a good habit of following the order.

Time passed quickly. Soon, it was Steve's turn. After carefully reading the announcement and making sure he did not miss anything, Steve was not calm.

Did he dislike the poor conditions in Africa? Sorry, Steve was not qualified. As a member of the general public, it was not easy to have an opportunity. What right did he have to be picky?

The local conditions were indeed good, but the ordinary Stevie did not have any advantages. The best way to stay in the country was to hone his skills and advance from an ordinary worker to a skilled worker. It was too difficult to enter the management.

If he wanted to stand out, he had missed the best opportunity. From the moment he failed to enter a higher school, Steve was destined to struggle for three meals a day.

He had to work hard every day to survive. It was nonsense to talk about development. Although they were now in the midst of the second industrial revolution, it had nothing to do with Steve.

He had no capital, no connections, and no ability. Even if he saw an opportunity, there was no way to join and make use of it.

There were a few lucky people who rose overnight by inventing and creating. If you looked at the whole of Austria, the chance was only one in ten million.

Many young people who were unwilling to be left out chose the biggest gamble of their lives and went on an adventure in the colonies.

Steve was going to do the same, but his parents stopped him. His family was not rich, but they could still get by. His parents naturally did not want him to go out and take risks.

These days, it was not dangerous to simply want to migrate to the colonies to make a living. However, if you wanted to get rich, you still had to fight with your life.

The death rate of adventurers had never been low. Every year, there were countless adventurers in Austria who died on the way to making a fortune, but there were only a few who became rich overnight. Most of them only earned more than ordinary people.

There was no other way. The golden age of colonization was over. Now, if you wanted to expand a colony, it was much more difficult than in the past.

Unless it was a remote area, most of the rich land had an owner. The kind of land that could not even recover the cost of ruling, even if it became a colony, there would be no return. Reality was so cruel.

Steve regarded this recruitment as an opportunity to turn things around. Even if the conditions were bad and there was not much room for promotion, it was better than continuing to work in a factory, at least in terms of salary.

There were many people with dreams, but only a few succeeded. For ordinary people, in any era, it was very difficult to obtain an opportunity.

…

Vienna Palace. The House of Habsburg was still immersed in joy and a banquet was being held. Perhaps it was because he was going to be a father, Massimiliano's mental state was a lot better.

Franz was absent, and the Russians could not wait to act with Austria. He still had a lot of things to deal with.

War was never a child's play. Those who looked down on war would not end well.

The Russians had many enemies. From the west to the east, there were enemies everywhere. If they wanted to ally with Austria, it went without saying that their target was Prussia, Poland, or the Osman Empire.

This was not an easy choice. They had to weigh the pros and cons and consider the impact it would have on the international situation.

Franz first ruled out the Kingdom of Prussia. He cared about his reputation. In any case, the Kingdom of Prussia was also part of the German nation. It would not be easy for them to collude with outsiders to attack their own people.

If they really did it, Franz's reputation in the German Region would be tarnished. The nationalists would not accept such a government, and the people of Prussia would not admit defeat.

This was the aftereffect of nationalism. When establishing the new Shinra Empire, Franz used nationalism, so he naturally had to bear the consequences.

Moreover, the strategic position of the Kingdom of Prussia was too bad. There were enemies on all sides, and there was no place to defend. To occupy the Kingdom of Prussia, they must first be prepared to be enemies with the whole world.

Unfortunately, Franz was not prepared to be enemies with the whole world. As a member of the vested interests of the world order, Austria had no need to challenge the world order.

The remaining Poland and the Osman Empire needed to carefully weigh the pros and cons. He must be wary of being dragged down by the Russians and eventually evolve into a European war.

Limited by national strength and transportation, the major powers in this era might not be able to fight a war of extermination, but it was still possible for them to sink because of the war.

In the conference room, Franz stared at the world map on the wall and asked with his back to the crowd, "The Russians want to ally with us. What do you think?"

Russia and Austria were allies, but this alliance did not include joint expansion. The previous strategic deal had been completed by both sides.

If they wanted to continue to cooperate, they must communicate. Otherwise, it would be like during the Russo-Prussian War, where the Russians provoked the war while Austria happily slacked off on the side.

Foreign Minister Wesenberg: "Your Majesty, the situation in Europe has finally stabilized. Once war is provoked, it will be difficult for us to control the scale of the war.

From the perspective of interests, whether it is the Osman Empire or Poland, the returns we can get are very limited.

If we attack the Kingdom of Poland, the people of Prussia are bound to participate. If Britain and France insist on supporting Poland, the final enemy is likely to evolve into Britain, France, and Prussia.

Even if the French need to digest the Regions of Italy and won't take military action, it will only recreate the situation of us, Prussia, and Russia jointly dividing up Poland.

Frankly speaking, I don't think there is anything worthy of our attention in the Kingdom of Poland. Even if we gain something, it will only be icing on the cake. The only effect is probably to further the conflict between Prussia and Russia.

There is not much benefit in taking action against the Osman Empire. Unless we join forces with the Russians to kill them in one fell swoop, the benefits that can be divided are bound to be very limited.

It is almost impossible to do this step. The Osman Empire is still a big country, and the European countries will not sit back and watch us divide it.

The current Russian Empire is no longer as domineering as it used to be. In the face of the intervention of the European countries, I am afraid that the final pressure will fall on our heads. "

There was no doubt that Wesenberg was opposed to provoking a war now. Not only him, but many people in the Government of Vienna did not want to start a war at this time, including Franz.

It was just that in many cases, the problem could not be solved by not thinking about it. If there was no movement in Austria, a lot of people would not be able to sleep.

It was not like they could say: The Government of Vienna loves peace and has no ambition for Europe, so everyone can sleep peacefully.

Franz himself did not believe this statement. The definition of "ambition" was very vague. Most of the time, strength was ambition. As long as you had strength, in the eyes of the outside world, you had ambition. It was not something that an individual could control.