Chapter 758

In a quaint castle in Prague, an elder in his fifties asked seriously, "Holst, are you really ready?

Once you accept the government's assignment, you'll have to live a hard life for a long time in the future. It'll be too late to regret it then. "

Holst replied seriously, "Father, the Wickers family has declined. In the last power struggle, our network in the government suffered heavy losses.

If we want to get a position in the government, we can only pass the civil service exam. There are too many competitors on this path. Besides, our family has always been developing in the army. I don't have any advantage in this aspect, and I'm not sure if I can make it.

The situation on the European continent is stabilizing, and there will be no war in Austria for a long time in the future. This has cut off the opportunity to fight on the battlefield.

Now is an opportunity. With the military merits accumulated on the battlefield, I can at most become an honorary knight in the country.

My family can only exchange a manor with the government with some money, but if I go to the The Balkans now, I can become a hereditary knight and directly have a manor with double the area.

Under normal circumstances, I may not succeed even if I struggle for 20 years in the country. If that's the case, why not take the risk? "

In order to strengthen its control over the The Balkans, the Government of Vienna mobilized in the country. As Prime Minister Felix expected, the low-level nobles who wanted to go further couldn't resist this temptation.

Compared to the opening of overseas colonies, the The Balkans were at home. Even if it was a little poor now, the future development could still be expected.

As one of the strongholds of conservatism, Austria still maintained the ancient tradition. The eldest son inherited the family business, and the second son went out to explore.

The big nobles could still provide enough titles for the direct descendants, but the children of the side branches or small nobles could only rely on themselves.

In order to limit the number of nobles in the country and ensure the quality of the nobles, the Government of Vienna was also considering the introduction of a "Nobles Law".

Once this law came into effect, the inheritance of the nobles must be examined by the Noble Parliament, and it would be difficult for the rich to inherit the title.

Except for the eldest son who inherited the title, even if the children of the big nobles obtained non-military titles, they would also lose the ability to inherit the title.

Because the impact was too great, it was still being discussed in the Noble Parliament. After all, this law was too unfriendly to the declining nobles, and it was too difficult for them to pass the examination.

Franz planned to put this law into effect when the colonies were opened, and these declining nobles would go to the colonies to fight for wealth.

The domestic plate was only so big, and it was obviously not enough for everyone. Even if the territory of the The Balkans was added, the cake was still not big enough.

The collapse of the British and French colonies, to a large extent, stemmed from the uneven distribution of benefits. The capitalists took too many benefits, but they needed others to work for them. How was this possible?

Since ancient times, the feudal system had been a powerful tool for expansion. The counties that were directly under the control of the Central Dynasty were often lost, but the lands that were enfeoffed were rarely divided again. Even if they became independent, they couldn't get away from the influence of local culture.

Of course, this was only one of the factors. The main reason was the solidification of social class. They could either make the cake bigger and leave a channel for everyone to rise, or they could only start a revolution. This was an easy choice.

After pondering for a while, the old man said, "Alright, I respect your choice, child. The family can't provide you with much help, but we can recruit a group of people from the manor to relieve the population pressure.

These people have been dependent on the family for generations, and loyalty is not a problem. With their help, I believe you will soon be able to open up the situation. "

The influence of the nobles in this era was not only because of their status, but also because they had a group of vassals.

Although serfdom had been abolished, the influence had not dissipated.

Now the Government of Austria encouraged these nobles to go to the The Balkans, not just to let the nobles go. If it was a one-on-one fight in an unfamiliar place, it was hard to say who would rule who.

Moreover, everyone's early industry was land. The nobles couldn't farm the land themselves, could they?

It was much easier for these people to organize immigration than for the Government of Austria.

The densely populated German Region had reached the limit of population capacity in the agricultural era. Now that some people were diverted, it could ease the internal conflicts.

Anyway, industrialization did not require a lot of labor. Austria was the second most populous country in Europe. Including the population in the Balkans, it was close to the 50 million mark.

The most important thing now was to promote ethnic integration. With the unification of language and writing, and a large number of mixed-race children in the next generation, who could use nationalism to cause trouble?

It could be said that the new Holy Roman Empire had a promising future as long as Franz didn't act rashly.

Another unexpected benefit of developing the The Balkans was that fewer immigrants went to the United States.

After all, it was risky to cross the ocean in this era. Compared to the unknown United States, the The Balkans were much less risky. It was connected to the Danube River, and transportation was convenient. One could come back in ten days to half a month.

Especially those with small families, immigrating to the The Balkans could bring their families with them. If they went to the United States, they would be separated by life and death.

After the Great Revolution, there was a wave of immigration in the German Region. On average, sixty to seventy thousand people left every year. About twenty to thirty thousand people left every year in Austria.

These immigrants caused the population of the United States to skyrocket. In 1850, the United States accepted 310,000 immigrants, and in 1851, 379,000 immigrants. In 1850, the population of the United States was only 23.192 million. In 1860, it grew to 31.443 million. It was simply cheating.

The immigrants of this era were all young and strong. The old, weak, sick, and disabled could not withstand the turbulence of the sea. They were all high-quality labor.

Every time Franz thought of this, he could only sigh at the failure of the South American countries. Their conditions were not bad, but they did not know how to compete with the United States for immigrants.

As long as a few countries paid attention to attracting immigrants and diverted the population of the United States, the United States would not be able to develop so fast.

In this situation, Franz could do nothing. The European countries had not yet realized the threat of the United States and had not taken any measures to limit the growth of the United States.

Of course, it was not that he did nothing. At least, he would criticize the nouveau riche of the United States in the newspapers every few days. This was also an entertainment program that the European people liked to watch and was very popular.

In any case, the number of immigrants to the United States could be reduced by tens of thousands. Even if it was tens of thousands, it would not be a small number after a long time. This could also be considered as weakening the strength of the competitors.

One had to know that with these immigrants, the Germans became the largest ethnic group in the United States. It could be said that the rise of the United States was due to the Germans.

Vienna

Franz was carefully reading the "Development Plan for The Balkans" submitted by the cabinet.

The strength of a country was not only in its large territory, large population, and abundant resources. These were only one of the necessary conditions. More importantly, it was in the degree of development of the territory.

The Russian Empire was big enough, bigger than two European countries. Purely in terms of land area, resources, and population, their strength should be as strong as the Qin Dynasty, sweeping across the world and conquering the world.

However, the reality was that the Russian Empire had so many advantages. Not to mention conquering Europe, any two big countries could make them suffer if they joined forces.

The biggest problem was that the degree of local development was too low. If the Russian Empire had completed industrialization by now, there was no doubt that conquering the European continent would not be a dream.

The new Holy Roman Empire was not as heroic as the Russians. Relying on an extensive management system, it was also able to become one of the top powers.

In Franz's view, if the territory in hand could not be effectively developed, then these territories that could not be transformed into national strength would become a heavy burden.

It was difficult to continue to expand on the European continent. Intensive cultivation and development of the existing land was the way to go.

Before this, the Government of Vienna had made many development plans. Except for a few states with a high degree of autonomy, the rest of the areas had entered the outline of the government's planning, and many places had already begun to organize and implement.

The current development plan for the The Balkans was only a preliminary concept. There was still a long way to go before it could be implemented.

Franz thought for a moment and said, "Prime Minister, according to this development outline, the two duchies in the Danube will be the empire's second granary in the future.

However, we have to consider a problem. Once the relationship between Russia and Austria deteriorates, the exports from these areas can only be sold along the Danube to the German Region, or transported by land to the sea.

Also, these supporting industries look more like customized business for the Russians. I doubt that the Russians have such a strong purchasing power.

Right now, they are still a serf empire. Even if they carry out social reforms in the future, I think the purchasing power of their ordinary people will at most reach half of the Austrian people.

If we want to target the industries in the Russian market, it is best to take two routes. Either we sell the high-end products to their nobles, or we take the low-end route to sell to the ordinary people. The prices of these products must be sufficiently cheap. "

Due to the geographical location, the economy of the two duchies in the Danube would inevitably be affected by both Austria and Russia. Internally, it would be the Austrian market, and externally, it would be the Russian market.

Economic development must also focus on these two markets. As for further, only then would other European countries be considered.

Prime Minister Felix explained, "Your Majesty, no one can say for sure about the future relationship between Russia and Austria. However, even if the relationship deteriorates, the possibility of them blocking us is very low.

Even if the Tsarist government wanted to do so, their domestic interest groups would not agree. With the execution power of the Tsarist government, it would not be able to carry it out.

This point can be seen from the current situation. Because of the war, the Russians have cut off trade with Britain and France, but in reality, only Ukraine and the central region of Russia have really been cut off.

The main reason for the cut off is not because of the Tsarist government's blockade, but because the war has blocked the Black Sea transportation channel. These areas have been robbed of the market by our goods.

The British and French goods that enter Russia from the Baltic Sea have never been cut off. The main reason they did not enter the central and southern regions is that the transportation costs are too high, and they have lost competitiveness.

As for the problem of the industry, these are just preliminary ideas. The final choice is in the hands of the capitalists. They are definitely more sensitive to the market than us.

The government only formulates corresponding policies and will not directly invest in these light industries. I believe the capitalists will do better. "

Franz nodded. He never had any illusions about the execution ability of the Tsarist government. The possibility of a blockade was indeed very low.

In history, after the rupture of the relationship between Russia and Austria, the Russians did not block the Danube River. Obviously, this could provoke a war, and the Tsarist government would not really be so reckless.

Not to mention the problem of the industry. Since the cabinet government was not prepared to personally invest, then let the capitalists do it themselves. They were responsible for the consequences of their own profits and losses. There was no need for him, the emperor, to worry about it.

From a development point of view, in the future, Russia and Austria would probably become competitors in the economy. The pillar industry of the Russians was the export of food, which was also the pillar industry of Austria.

It was just that Austria exported refined agricultural products, while Russia directly exported raw agricultural products, but the competition between the two sides also existed.

If this situation was not resolved, the competition for interests would almost inevitably affect the relationship between the two countries.

In this regard, Franz had to be glad that the Tsarist government was a dictatorship, and this kind of conflict would not erupt in the short term.