Holy Roman Empire

Overseas colonization has never been an easy task, especially for an emerging colonial empire like Austria, which has too much to learn.

The African continent of this era is not a good land. The most terrible enemy is not the local indigenous people, but the harsh natural environment.

The emergence of poisonous beasts and beasts and the ravages of diseases are the core factors that restrict the colonization of the African continent by all countries. Otherwise, the African continent in the immediate vicinity will be divided by everyone.

Frankly speaking, if it weren't for Quinine's production technology to achieve a breakthrough, the major problem of dysentery was initially resolved, and Franz did not dare to venture into the African continent.

For safety reasons, all Austrian soldiers are educated on hygiene knowledge, and personal hygiene and camp hygiene must be carried out in strict accordance with standards.

Even in order to avoid infection with local diseases, Franz even issued masks. Soldiers were warned against casual contact with the indigenous people. Sexual relations with local people were also prohibited. Marriage did not exist.

It's no wonder that Franz doesn't pay much attention to it. There are no shortage of people with strong tastes in any era. Not to mention the military camp. Fortunately, there should be more young women in this group of immigrants to solve this problem.

It took more than three months to prepare, and on April 28, 1854, the first batch of Austrian colonial advance team set off from the Trieste port.

With two second-class battleships as the core, coupled with five cruisers, plus more than a dozen auxiliary ships of large and small, with the strength of an infantry regiment entered the first step of colonization, the goal-Guinea.

The opponents this time were indigenous tribes. The navy was only equivalent to a training session, and it was possible to fight against canoe-level enemies, mainly the army.

Originally, Franz was also preparing to form a marine corps, which was met by the collective opposition of the army and navy. The army was unwilling to weaken their right to speak in colonial activities. The navy simply could not afford it.

This is no joke, the Austrian navy is indeed insufficient.If you want to increase the funds, first prove the value of your own existence.

Politics is often such a reality, and how much value will there be to allocate funds.

If overseas colonies can bring a lot of profits to the empire, then the navy can also be changed from a stepmother to a son.

Franz has no opinion. This is the most sensible approach. In the absence of sufficient benefits, the risk of expanding the navy is a waste of resources.

Rather than this, it is better to invest precious funds in the domestic economic construction.Although the domestic economic boom has not dispersed, railway stocks are going to heaven with several main lines open to traffic.

Had Franz not insisted on prohibiting the repeated construction of railways, the Austrian railways have long learned from Britain and the United States and began to repeat construction.

Of course, it is precisely because a railway line is only authorized to one company, so it has been popular with capital.What is most profitable in this era is, of course, a monopoly.

Under this positive news, the government has forced to add a few unpopular routes under the high-quality route, and everyone can accept it.

In order to attract foreign investment, the charges for railway transportation are determined freely by the market. Franz does not worry about whether the price will rise to the sky.

Under the market economy environment, it must be determined by the market. The price level in society is determined by the relationship between supply and demand. The level of railway freight must be determined by maximizing profits.

Capitalists naturally know the trade-offs. Now that the railway has just come out to grab business with traditional transportation, if there is no price advantage, why should they grab customers?

Can save cost and time than traditional transportation, that is, progress.Because the freight is too high, it may affect the circulation of goods, and we have to wait until the railway construction is completed!

At present, all railway companies in Austria are in a pure investment state. Although the main trunk lines that have been opened to traffic are busy and profitable, they are also in full swing.

These profits have been invested by the railway company in the construction of the new railway line. Franz is very clear that several railway companies in Austria have never received a dividend since the establishment.

No one has ever made a profit, but can they also cut prices?If it is done, it is estimated that the railway that is still popular will soon become uninterested.

At this time, of course, the Vienna government will not come out and slap them.The promise of tax exemption for ten years has been fulfilled. The government does not charge any fees, but is encouraging everyone to continue to build railways.

"Time is life, time is money."

This slogan has become the motto of all high-level Austrian railway companies.The first day of production and opening to traffic, the profit will be obtained one day earlier.

Up to now, all routes opened to traffic in Austria have not disappointed everyone. In the context of free pricing, there are no loss-making routes, which greatly stimulates the nerves of some people.

I don't know how many British and French capitalists want to control the Austrian railway network and conduct monopoly operations.Then he jumped into the wonderful illusion compiled by Franz, self-defeating.

Profits are really disorienting, and everyone is frantically building railway lines.Many people seem to be at the time of horse racing, and occupying one more railway line will have a stable income in the future.

Anyway, there is no such thing as a railroad bubble, coupled with monopoly operations, no one thinks it will lose money.

Against this background, Franz, which monopolizes the supply of raw materials for sand and gravel, naturally made a fortune. It is expected that by the end of this year, the total mileage of Austrian railways will exceed 10,000 kilometers.

At the beginning of Franz ’s succession, the total number of railways in Austria was less than 3,000 kilometers, with an average of more than 1,400 kilometers completed annually.

In this era, as long as the Americans across the ocean can compare.Like Austria, the United States has also experienced a boom in railway investment, only because Austria has diverted some of its capital and it is not as crazy as it was in history.

The railway mileage of the entire New Holy Roman Empire is more than 12,000 kilometers. It is true that the railway mileage of the small states of Germany exceeded 2,000 kilometers.

It can't be said that it is crazy. The most active railway construction in this era is the German region. In 1850, the total mileage of the railway in the German region reached 5,856 kilometers, more than double the Austrian period.

If it was not Franz that promoted the construction of the Austrian railways, now the fastest railway construction in Europe is the German region, and only the French can match them.

Of course, this is France only in the time of Napoleon III. In 1854, the total railway mileage of the German region was more than 3,000 kilometers longer than that of France.

Since 1854, the French railway has grown rapidly. The total mileage of the French and German railways during the Franco-Prussian War was only a few hundred kilometers apart.

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

It can be called the shame of the great powers. Belgium and Spain have more than them. At the same time, Britain, France and Germany have broken through. They are not at the same level.

The land area has become larger, and the original railway network plan has naturally become larger.This does not require government promotion, and private railway companies have spontaneously acted to run horses.

The tender for the Austrian railway line is very interesting, that is, the sooner the construction is started, the easier it will be to win the bid.

Anyway, railway lines are authorized free of charge. Railway companies must start and complete construction within the promised time limit, and fines will be imposed if the time limit is exceeded. The government in serious circumstances has the right to recover the right to build roads.

The test is everyone's capital chain. Franz didn't play any tricks. As long as the railway company's operation is good and it can be completed on time, there will be no problem.

Once the capital chain breaks, it will be miserable. If it hasn't been started yet, it will be a big deal to pay a fine and return the unbuilt railway line.

If the construction has already started, or even half of the project has been completed, but there is no funds to support the second half of the construction, it will be a big loss.

All the investment will be carried out, and the government will take over the construction of the tail-end project.Whether the railway company went bankrupt and reorganized or died directly is not within Franz's consideration.

Anyway, it is all conspiracy, and it is placed in front of everyone in an honest manner. It is not that the government is deliberately pitting people. The bidding notice is clear.

All these risks, under the temptation of monopoly, everyone still threw themselves up recklessly.Anglo-French capital came in, as did Austria ’s domestic capital, and speculators all scrambled to get a share.

Because the government provides free labor, the cost of railway construction in Austria in this era has been artificially reduced. On the surface, the financial statements of various railway companies look very good.

It can be said that Franz has also broken his heart for the construction of railways in Austria.It will not work without speeding up, because the new economic crisis has not happened for several years.

If in the economic boom, foreign capital is used to promote domestic railway construction, the economic crisis breaks out, the railway bubble is detonated, and the last bad project can only be taken over by the Austrian government.

How serious is the Austrian bubble economy?No one gave Franz the answer to this question, but one thing can be seen, that is, the speed of economic growth.

A commodity worth one hundred dongs is fired to one thousand dongs, then wealth has intangibly increased by nine hundred dongs, even if the market is acceptable, once the market is unacceptable, it falls back to the original price of one hundred dongs and increases in the bubble The nine hundred shields were evaporated.

This is the reason why so much wealth can be evaporated overnight during the economic crisis. In essence, the bubble is burst and the market returns to rationality.Only because of the relationship between supply and demand, the final product will often fall below its own value.

Now Austria ’s economy is growing very fast. In fact, even if all industries in Austria are stopped, the economy will grow by at least one point every year, relying solely on the bubbles in the stock market.

This era is different from later generations. Government administrative measures intervened in the market economy to avoid the outbreak of a major economic crisis.

Now it is completely left to the natural development of the market economy, with an average of a small economic crisis in seven or eight years and a major economic crisis in decades.

Every time the crisis breaks out, the total amount of industry has to fall by 20-30 points, and it is not impossible to drop by 40% or more often.

Anyway, the bigger the bubble, the sharper the last decline, and the faster the economic growth in the early period, kind of like a roller coaster.

In 1854, the total mileage of the railways under construction of the New Holy Roman Empire was as high as 23,000 kilometers, and the situation of railway blind investment was already very serious.

However, Franz didn't mean to stop it, but instead planned to push it later, trying to make the market even hotter.

The explosive economic development model is always addictive.All industries in Austria are experiencing explosive growth. Since the outbreak of the Near East War, the average annual growth rate of industry has exceeded 15%, and the economic growth rate has also exceeded 10%.

If there is no mid-west strategy, this data may be one or two points higher.Reason no longer exists, the market is crazy, and almost to the point of making money by investing.

The contribution of the Russians is enormous. Since the outbreak of the Near East War, Austria has entered an era of trade surplus.Before that, Austria had been in a trade deficit for a long time.

Obviously, the factor that caused the illusion of "making money by investing in anything" to the capital market is the sudden Near East War.

Because of the war, a lot of cash has flowed from Russia to Austria and stimulated the economic market. Many capitalists are blindly expanding their production capacity and want to make a big profit before the end of the war.

Exploiting overseas colonies in advance is also a means of shifting the domestic economic crisis, but the African colonies are just getting started, and their role in the upcoming economic crisis can be ignored.