Chapter 1003 The Chaotic World

It was another day of returning in vain, and Ives's heart became more and more heavy. With no income for more than five months, his poor wallet is about to bottom out.

Reaching out to his parents, not to mention whether he can let go of his poor self-esteem, the problem is that Ives' parents are just ordinary people. The grandparents above need to help, and there are younger siblings to support.

Now that we are catching up with the wave of layoffs and salary cuts, everyone wants to spend one dollar in half. The savings in the past are the last guarantee to survive the crisis. No one will use it until the end of the mountain.

The old Ives, who couldn't eat it, returned to the rental house and stared blankly at the world map on the wall in a daze.

The map was left by the landlord. It is said that it was given by the merchant to celebrate the victory of the European War. Frankly speaking, judging from the map, the Holy Roman Empire is indeed domineering.

Excluding the areas where humans cannot live, the Holy Roman Empire has occupied nearly a quarter of the land and one-twentieth of the ocean. It is one of the only world empires in the world today.

Ives was also passionate, fantasizing about fighting on the battlefield with gold and iron horses, and finally returning home to become a distinguished nobleman.

Unfortunately, he was born at the wrong time. When Yves enlisted in the army to serve in the army, just in time for the end of the European War, the French surrendered before the training of recruits was completed.

Not to mention military exploits, he didn't even have a chance to go to the battlefield. I completed the last few months of military service smoothly, and then I was discharged and went home to find a job.

It doesn't matter if the aristocratic dream is broken. The probability of ordinary people becoming aristocrats is not high, and those who can stand out are "possessed by the European Emperor". Even if the vast majority of people encounter opportunities, they end up with a farm.

Ives wasn't envious at all, really really wasn't. As long as he worked hard, he would have a chance to buy a farm in his lifetime.

Under the beatings of the society, Ives felt that it would be good to be a great engineer. After all, he got full marks in the mechanical operation class when he was in school. With a dream in mind, he came to this strange city with his retirement fee.

I originally thought that a talent like him could easily enter a large company with good remuneration, and then quickly be appreciated by "Bole", and then get the key training of the company, and finally become a great engineer.

Facts have proved that this is entirely his own overthinking. The job hunting career has just begun, and the economic crisis has already arrived.

Under the background of companies laying off employees one after another, not to mention entering a large company with good treatment, Ives didn't even get the job of washing dishes in a street restaurant.

Overseas, what a distant place that is. Although airplanes have appeared, they are only used in the military, and most of the civilians are flying clubs.

If you want to fly between Africa and the mainland, there is no problem in theory, but it is not realistic at all in practice. Regardless of safety, the high operating costs alone make airlines daunting.

At present, all airlines in the Holy Roman Empire are based on airships, mainly undertaking short- and medium-distance express freight. Passenger transportation is also available, but the price is not affordable by ordinary people.

According to the normal rhythm, it takes a month at the fastest to go back and forth from the mainland to the African continent by boat, and it may take half a year for a single trip in some remote areas.

Needless to say, the Southeast Asia and the Americas are farther away. It can be as fast as a few months, or as slow as a year and a half.

With such a long journey, the cost is naturally expensive. After many people left their hometowns, they did not return to their hometowns for more than ten years. It's not that they don't want to go home and have a look, the problem is that the cost of a round trip is a year's income.

Ordinary people can't afford such a toss, especially if they have a small family. In order to let the family live a better life, everyone has to let go of their homesickness.

After many immigrants leave the country, they will only take their whole family back to their hometown in their later years. There is no way, only at that time will it be possible to make up for free family leave.

The five-year family leave promised by the colonial government or the employer is only for the employee himself, and is limited to one person. If you want to bring family members, you must either accumulate the number of family visits or pay for them yourself.

It's not that you can't give better conditions, the problem is that you leave with the whole family, and people are worried that you will never return!

Except for the outstanding ones who can return several times, when ordinary people return to their hometowns, it is already "children who don't know each other, laughing and asking where they come from". The childhood hometown, the good memories are no longer there.

Looking at his nearly dry wallet, Ives knew that if he couldn't find a job again, he would have to compromise with his life.

Maybe there is a better life overseas, but the taste of home is never found again. Once you step out, your relatives and friends will become passers-by in your life.

That night, Ives suffered from insomnia. Along with him, there are tens of thousands of unemployed troops who suffer from insomnia. Whether to go out to make a living has become another choice in their life.

...

The economic crisis is raging, not only is life difficult for the people, but also for the governments of various countries.

The bankruptcy of the Prussian government was just the beginning. In May, the governments of Modena, Parma, and the Two Sicilies also went bankrupt. In June, the governments of Sardinia, Lucca, and Tuscany couldn't hold on anymore and joined the bankruptcy in the tide.

In the entire Italian region, only the Pope's family is struggling to support it. After all, it is a religious country, with donations from believers, the situation of the Papal State is still better than that of its neighbors.

But that is only better. If the economic crisis continues and the believers have no money to donate, the Papal State may also join the wave of bankruptcy.

The collapse of the Italian region is just the beginning. As far as Franz knows, the four governments of Belgium, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland that are still insisting are also struggling.

Because Belgium suffered heavy losses in the war, the reconstruction work was only halfway through, and it encountered an economic crisis. It is not bad to be able to persist until now.

Switzerland is struggling to survive. In order to build up the newly acquired territory, the poor Swiss government borrowed heavily in the financial market.

Now that it's raining, the banks have suddenly taken away their umbrellas, and the financial problems are suddenly exposed, and the Swiss government is also in a dilemma. If the project is unfinished, the initial investment will be wasted; if it continues, the government's finances will not be able to support it.

As for Portugal, it's the huskies who got in by mistake. The republicans and monarchists in the country are having so much fun that no one cares about economic construction.

Unlike other colonial countries, Portugal's colonies were losing money, and they were losing money for many years in a row.

Don't ask why they lost money, they lost money anyway. And it still loses more and more. Interestingly, the more loss-making colonies, the more reluctant the Portuguese are to give up.

Even if someone pays a high price for this "inferior" asset, they still insist on holding it. As long as you know the reason, there is no need to say it.

In short, in the face of rising colonial expenses, Portugal has become more and more weak. In order to maintain the colonial empire, the Portuguese owed huge foreign debts, and the high debts had already weighed down this small European country.

Spain was originally the wealthiest of these countries. Unfortunately, a Philippine war not only emptied the treasury of the Spaniards, but also tore through their "great powers" disguise.

Although the Philippine war is still going on, Spain has not been defeated, but the strength they have shown is really difficult to hook up with the great powers.

If it hadn't been for Vienna's repeated side-tracking, Spain would have collapsed long ago. Now it is not so much that Spain is at war with the Japanese, it is better to say that Shinra is blocking the Japanese.

Looking at the situation on the battlefield, we can see that the Spanish fleet, which suffered heavy losses, not only completed the replenishment, but even added a capital ship.

Needless to say the army, now the main force on the battlefield has become a mercenary army, and the ones who are fighting the Japanese are the former elite of the French army.

You can tell by looking at the record. Originally, the exchange ratio between the two countries was 1:1.4, but now it has directly risen to 1:2.7, which is a qualitative breakthrough.

The Spanish Expeditionary Force, which had been beaten to shame by the Japanese army, has now gradually taken the initiative. Although victory is still nowhere in sight, at least it is developing on the favorable side.

In contrast, the Japanese, who are also impoverished from the empire, are now much miserable. With the support of the British, the navy is naturally not a problem, but the army has nothing to do!

The British can find a way to solve the gap in weapons and equipment, but it will take a long time to wait; the problem of soldier training can only be solved by the Japanese themselves.

Originally they learned from the French, and now there is a master-apprentice battle happening in the Philippines. Originally, the Japanese army would not suffer such a big loss. The key is the trouble caused by the expansion of the army.

Not every country has the ability to maintain hundreds of thousands of standing troops in peacetime. Japan has only a few army standing divisions, which add up to hundreds of thousands of people.

After the outbreak of the Philippine War, it quickly expanded to more than 800,000, an increase of five times. Whether it is officers or veterans, they are all in short supply.

Even if it is made up for by bushido thinking, the professional quality has not been improved. You can tell by looking at the hit rate of the soldiers. Even the Spanish Army beat them when they were shooting each other on the battlefield, let alone the French elite.

Their only advantage lies in their courage, and they are unambiguous in their lives. It's a pity that Japan is so poor these days. The environment in which soldiers lived since they were young limits their growth. Many soldiers are sallow and thin, and they can't keep up with nutrition at a glance.

If the nutrition is not up to date, the physical fitness will naturally not be able to keep up. Originally, in terms of physical fitness, Asians were inherently slightly inferior to Europeans, but now the gap is even more obvious.

If there were no jungles to use, no matter how brave the Japanese army was, they would not be able to survive now. However, the jungle is not a panacea, and if the enemy does not come in, they will not break.

Unlike the Spanish army, mercenaries came to fight for money. Everyone's morale is bursting when they see the city, and they push back when they encounter the jungle.

Then, an interesting scene appeared. With the help of hundreds of thousands of mercenaries, the Spanish expeditionary force successfully captured many cities in the Philippine Islands, but the jungle became their forbidden area.

Mercenaries were unwilling to fight where there was no oil and water, and the Spanish army was taught a lesson, and they were also unwilling to enter the jungle to suffer.

The Japanese army who made an ambush ahead of time was feeding mosquitoes in the jungle in vain. As a last resort, the Japanese army could only play guerrilla warfare, emerging from the jungle from time to time to carry out attacks and obtain supplies from the enemy.

If the situation does not change, it is estimated that after another year or so, the expeditionary force will be able to take down all the important towns in the Philippine Islands, and the Japanese troops occupying the vast jungle will really become guerrillas.

Obviously, this is not something the Japanese government can tolerate. In order to win the war, they have wooed the locals and formed a solid "anti-white alliance".

It's just that during the Spanish rule, conflicts among the indigenous tribes were deliberately provoked, and now there are many hidden dangers within the big alliance. Many people suffer from deep white phobia, and it is okay to help wave the flag, but it is still far away to expect them to contribute to the war.

For the Japanese government, military troubles are only minor problems, as long as they are willing to die

Everything is not a problem, the loss now is just not understanding the rules of the game in Europe.

I didn't know that the Spaniards would use mercenaries as the main force, and they were caught off guard. As long as you let this breath go, the situation will improve later.

Financial troubles, by contrast, are the real troubles. The Japanese government, which has never been rich, has long exceeded its financial limits by maintaining a large navy and a large army.

Although the Japanese army made a lot of money in the Philippine Islands, most of the wealth went into the pockets of individuals, and the government got only a small part. This part of the spoils alone is obviously not enough for war funds.

You can still borrow foreign debts in normal times, but you don't have to think about it now. During the economic crisis, cash is king, and banking consortiums are tightening their monetary policy, so they will not lend money easily.

There is no need to think about issuing bonds. Unemployment is rolling in. Ordinary people rely on the funds on hand to survive the crisis. Who has spare money to buy bonds?

"British support", just listen to it. Not everyone is the stubborn Louis XVI. The matter of selling blood to aid the United States only happened once in history. It is impossible to want the support of the British at any cost.

What's more, the London government is now overwhelmed. Economic crises are breaking out all over the world, and Britain, the world's second largest economy, is no exception.

Perhaps because the financial industry is too developed, along with the economic crisis, Britain also experienced a financial crisis.

Of course, war is not all bad. At least this war allowed the Japanese government to survive the economic crisis. Compared with the Great Depression in the European world, Japan's domestic economy is still "thriving" except that the smell of gunpowder is a bit heavier.

...