Chapter 807

Overseas colonization was never an easy task, especially for a new colonial empire like Austria. There were too many things to learn.

The African continent in this era was not a good place. The most terrifying enemy was not the local natives, but the harsh natural environment.

The presence of poisonous insects and beasts, as well as the ravaging of diseases, were the core factors that restricted countries from colonizing the African continent. Otherwise, the African continent would have long been divided up.

Frankly speaking, if it was not for the breakthrough in the production of quinine and the initial solution to the problem of malaria, Franz would not have dared to step onto the African continent.

For the sake of safety, all the Austrian soldiers were receiving health education. Personal hygiene and camp hygiene had to be strictly followed.

In order to avoid contracting the local diseases, Franz even distributed face masks. The soldiers were warned not to have casual contact with the natives. They were also prohibited from having sex with the natives. Marriage was also not allowed.

Franz had to take it seriously. There was no shortage of hardcore people in any era, not to mention the military camp. Fortunately, there should be more young and middle-aged women in this batch of immigrants, which could solve this problem.

After more than three months of preparation, on the 28th of April, 1854, the first Austrian colonial advance team set off from the Trieste port.

With two second-level battleships as the core, five cruisers, and more than ten auxiliary ships, they took the first step of colonization with an infantry regiment. Their target was Guinea.

This time, their opponent was the native tribes. The navy was only equivalent to a training exercise. They might even have to fight against canoe-class enemies. It was mainly the land forces.

Originally, Franz was prepared to form a marine corps, but it was opposed by the army and navy. The army did not want to weaken their voice in the colonization activities, and the navy simply could not afford to support them.

This was not a joke. The Austrian navy was indeed insufficient. If they wanted to increase the funding, they had to first prove their value.

Politics was often this realistic. The amount of money allocated would depend on the amount of value one had.

If the overseas colonies could bring a large amount of profit to the empire, then the navy could also change from a stepmother to a son.

Franz had no objections. This was the most rational approach. Without sufficient benefits, expanding the navy was a complete waste of resources.

Instead of that, it was better to invest the precious funds into the domestic economic development. Although the domestic economic boom did not dissipate, the railway stocks were about to skyrocket with the opening of several main lines.

If it was not for Franz's insistence to prohibit the duplication of railway construction, Austria's railways would have learned from Britain and America.

Of course, it was also because a railway line was only authorized to one company that it was popular. What was the most profitable in this era was, of course, monopolization.

With this kind of good news, the government forced a few unpopular routes under the high-quality ones, and everyone could accept it.

In order to attract foreign investment, the price of railway transportation was freely determined by the market. Franz was not worried at all that the price would rise to the sky.

The market was determined by the market. The society's prices were determined by the supply and demand. The capitalists naturally knew what to do.

The capitalists naturally knew what to choose. Now that the railway had just appeared and was competing with traditional transportation, if there was no price advantage, how could they grab customers?

Being able to save money and time compared to traditional means of transportation was an improvement. If the freight was too high, it might affect the circulation of goods. They had to wait until the railway was completed!

Now all the railway companies in Austria were in a state of pure investment. Although the main lines that had been opened were busy and profitable, it was also a drop in the bucket.

These profits were invested by the railway company into the construction of the new railway line. Franz knew very well that since the establishment of the Austrian railway companies, there had never been a profit.

They had never made a profit. How could they reduce the price? If they really did it, the railway, which was still popular at the moment, would probably become unpopular.

At this time, the Government of Vienna would certainly not come out and drag them down. The promise of ten years of tax exemption had been fulfilled. The government did not charge any fees and was encouraging people to continue building the railway.

"Time is life. Time is money."

This slogan had become the motto of all the railway companies in Austria. The earlier the railway was put into operation, the earlier they could get profits.

So far, all the railway lines in Austria had not disappointed everyone. In the context of free pricing, there were no loss-making lines. This greatly stimulated the nerves of some people.

Who knew how many British and French capitalists wanted to control Austria's railway network and monopolize it. Then they jumped into the beautiful illusion created by Franz and destroyed themselves.

Profits were really confusing. Everyone was frantically building railway lines. In many people's view, it was the time for horse racing. Owning more railway lines meant more stable profits in the future.

Anyway, there was no railway bubble. With a monopoly, no one thought it would be a loss.

In this context, Franz, who monopolized the supply of sand and stone raw materials, naturally made a fortune. It was estimated that by the end of this year, the total mileage of Austria's railway would exceed 10,000 kilometers.

When Franz first succeeded the throne, the total length of Austria's railway was less than 3,000 kilometers. On average, more than 1,400 kilometers were completed every year.

In this era, only the Americans on the other side of the ocean could compare. Like Austria, the United States also had a railway investment boom. However, because Austria diverted some funds, it was not as crazy as in history.

The entire new Holy Roman Empire had more than 12,000 kilometers of railway mileage. That's right, even the small states in Germany had more than 2,000 kilometers of railway mileage.

It was not crazy. In history, the most active railway construction was in the German Region. In 1850, the total railway mileage of the German Region reached 5,856 kilometers, more than twice that of Austria.

If it was not for Franz's promotion of Austria's railway construction, the fastest railway construction in Europe would be in the German Region. Only the French could be on par with them.

Of course, this was only in France during the era of Napoleon Iii. In 1854, the total railway mileage of the German Region was more than 3,000 kilometers more than France.

From 1854, the French railway began to grow rapidly. During the Franco-Prussian War, the total railway mileage of France and Germany was only a few hundred kilometers apart.

Among the major European powers, the slowest railway construction was still the Russians. Because of the Near East War, their railway construction almost stopped. In 1860, it was only 1,626 kilometers.

It could be called the shame of the major powers. Belgium and Spain had more than them. At the same time, England, France, and Germany had more than 10,000 kilometers. They were not on the same level at all.

The land area had increased, so the original railway network plan had naturally expanded. There was no need for the government to push for this. The private railway companies had already taken action on their own.

The railway bidding in Austria was very interesting. The faster the construction started and the earlier the completion time, the easier it was to win the bid.

Anyway, the railway line was free of charge. The railway company had to start construction and complete it within the promised time limit. If the deadline was exceeded, there would be a fine. If the case was serious, the government had the right to take back the right to build the railway. There would be rewards for early completion.

The test was everyone's capital chain. Franz did not play any tricks. As long as the railway company was operating well and could be completed on time, there would be no problem.

Once the capital chain was broken, it would be terrible. If the construction had not started, it would be fine. At most, they would pay a fine and return the unbuilt railway line.

If the construction had already started, or even completed more than half of the project, but there was no capital to support the second half of the construction, it would be a big loss.

All the investment would be wasted, and the government would take over the unfinished project and continue the construction. Whether the railway company would go bankrupt and reorganize or just die was not within Franz's consideration.

Anyway, it was all an open scheme, and it was placed in front of everyone. It was not the government deliberately cheating people. The tender notice said it clearly.

All these risks, under the temptation of a monopoly, everyone still rushed forward without a care for their own safety. British and French capital had entered, and so had Austrian capital. Speculators were all scrambling to get a piece of the action.

Because the government provided free labor, the cost of Austria's railway construction was artificially reduced in this era. On the surface, the financial statements of the railway companies were very good.

It could be said that Franz was also worried about the railway construction in Austria. They had to speed up, because the new economic crisis was only a few years away.

If they could not use foreign capital to promote the domestic railway construction in the economic boom, the economic crisis would erupt, and the railway bubble would explode. In the end, the unfinished project could only be taken over by the Government of Austria.

How serious was the Austrian bubble economy? No one could give Franz an answer to this question, but one thing could be seen, and that was the speed of economic growth.

If a product worth 100 duns was inflated to 1,000 duns, then the wealth would increase by 900 duns. It was fine if the market could accept it, but if the market could not accept it, and the product fell back to the original price of 100 duns, the 900 duns added in the bubble would evaporate.

This was the reason why so much wealth could evaporate overnight during the economic crisis. In essence, the bubble was burst, and the market returned to reason. But because of the relationship between supply and demand, the product would often fall below its original value in the end.

Now, Austria's economic growth was very fast. In fact, even if all the industries in Austria stopped, the economy would grow at least 1% every year just by relying on the bubble in the stock market.

This era was different from the future. The government used administrative means to intervene in the market economy and avoid a major economic crisis.

Now, the market economy was completely left to develop naturally. On average, there would be a small economic crisis every seven to eight years, and a major economic crisis every few decades.

Every time a crisis occurred, the total industrial output would fall by 20 to 30%, and it was not impossible for it to fall by 40 to 50%.

Anyway, the bigger the bubble, the more it would fall in the end, and the faster the economic growth would be in the early stages. It was a bit like a roller coaster.

In 1854, the new Holy Roman Empire had a total railway mileage of 23,000 kilometers under construction. The situation of blind investment in railways was very serious.

However, Franz had no intention of stopping it. Instead, he wanted to give it a push, wanting to make the market even hotter.

The explosive economic development model has always been irresistible. Every industry in Austria was experiencing explosive growth. Since the start of the Near Eastern War, the average annual industrial growth rate was more than 15%, and the economic growth rate was more than 10%.

If it wasn't for the strategy of westward expansion, this figure might be one or two% higher. Rationality no longer existed, and the market had gone crazy. It was almost to the point where investing in anything would make money.

Russia's contribution to this was huge. Since the start of the Near Eastern War, Austria had entered an era of trade surplus. Before that, Austria had been in a trade deficit for almost a long time.

Obviously, the factor that created the illusion of "investing in anything would make money" in the capital market was the sudden Near Eastern War.

Because of the war, a large amount of cash flowed from Russia into Austria, stimulating the economic market. Many capitalists were blindly expanding production, wanting to make a fortune before the end of the war.

Opening overseas colonies in advance was also a means to divert the domestic economic crisis. However, the African colonies had just started, and their role in the upcoming economic crisis was negligible.