Chapter 307 Strategic Migration

The busiest part of the economic crisis should be the Immigration Department under the Colonial Ministry. From the end of 1857 to the beginning of 1859, in just over a year, the Immigration Department's performance exceeded the sum of the previous years.

In the face of survival, many people have to choose to leave their homes. Among them, the people who immigrated to the Balkans are the most, accounting for four layers of the total number of immigrants.

This is still the result of the government's intentional control, otherwise more than 80% of immigrants will choose to go to the Balkans.

There are only two kinds of people who voluntarily go to the African colonies: one is ambitious and wants to make a fortune; the other is poor and has a problem with survival, so they have to go because of their livelihood.

Immigrants to the African continent can sign employment contracts with the government, or plantation owners and mine owners, and have a stable income without worrying about the livelihood of their families.

Many people directly regard going to the African continent as a migrant worker. Anyway, it is not a mandatory requirement to immigrate. When the contract expires, you can stay if you want to stay, and you can come back if you don’t want to stay.

For people who have eaten the last meal but not the next, as long as they can have a share of income to support their family, it is not bad, and the place is farther away.

After completing the personnel adjustment, Franz said: "Colonial Department, talk about the development of the colony."

Colonial Minister Josip Jelacic replied: "Your Majesty, we have established colonies in Guinea Bend, Nigeria, Congo, Cameroon, Libya and other regions.

Established 68 colonial strongholds, owned 18 cities, more than one million immigrants went to the colonies, and directly controlled the colonial territory of more than 3 million square kilometers.

Among them: the Gulf of Guinea has 25 colonial strongholds, including 8 cities, and the actual control area is about 700,000 square kilometers. The total local population is 1.848 million, of which 284,000 are immigrants, and the rest are local indigenous people.

The Congo region has 14 colonial strongholds, including 4 cities, with an actual control area of ​​about 680,000 square kilometers. The total population of the jurisdiction is about 3 million, of which about 318,000 are immigrants, and the rest are local indigenous people.

The Nigerian colony has just been established, and we have only established 8 colonial strongholds there, including 3 cities, with a territorial area of ​​about 280,000 square kilometers. The total population of the jurisdiction is approximately 2.18 million, of which approximately 185,000 are immigrants.

The Cameroon region was developed even later. At present, there are only 5 colonial strongholds, including 2 cities, and the actual control area is more than 100,000 square kilometers. The total population of the area is about 560,000, and the number of immigrants is only 58,000.

The Libyan region continues to implement the strategy of vacating the cage and replacing the bird. Due to the resistance of the local people, the progress is much slower than expected. About 150,000 people are still stranded in the local area, and the plan may not be completed until next year.

We have taken control of all the cities in the region, transported 86,000 migrants, taken control of the coastal oases, and nominally over a million square kilometers of desert.

The resources of the Sinai Peninsula are too barren. We did not develop it. We only sent 2,000 immigrants to nominally rule the peninsula of more than 60,000 square kilometers.

The islands in the European region are directly included in the native rule and are not counted in the colony.

In further overseas areas, colonial strongholds were established spontaneously by the people, and have not yet been incorporated into government management.

So far, except for the Gulf of Guinea colony, which has achieved a balance of payments and a small surplus due to the excavation of gold mines, all other regions are in a state of loss.

On the whole, in 1858, the total income of our colonies was negative 9.85 million Aegis, and immigration expenditures and foreign military expenditures still accounted for the bulk.

It is expected that in the next two to three years, the Congolese region, which was developed earlier, can break even. The rest of the colonies still need a certain amount of time, at least five years later, before they can deny their finances. "

Franz nodded. Obviously, the Austrian colonies still have deep potential to be tapped. Now the colonial government controls only a small part of them, and there is still a lot of land waiting for them to occupy.

Franz is not so optimistic yet, relying on colonial revenue to deny the central government's finances. As long as the colony can make ends meet, it is blood earned.

After hesitating for a while, Franz said: "The proportion of the population of the colonies is a big problem, and the number of natives is too large, which is not conducive to our long-term rule.

Next, the work of the Colonial Department can focus on immigration, sending these natives to the American countries as much as possible, and reducing the hidden dangers of our rule.

If things don't go well, then expel them, and you can control this for yourself.

Anyway, I don't care what method you use. Within five years, the indigenous population will be reduced by three levels, and within ten years our number of immigrants will exceed that of the local indigenous people. "

Normally, this is a near impossible task. However, it is not difficult to do this in this era, after all, there is no doubt about the integrity of the colonists.

Even if they don't know what to do, they can learn from their British and French counterparts, especially the British, who are the most experienced in this area.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Colonial Minister Josip Jelacic replied in a deep voice

Knowing that this task is not easy to do, but the emperor has ordered it, Josip Jelacic will not refuse. After all, it’s not easy to do it, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

What makes Franz laugh or cry is that after the outbreak of the economic crisis, the enthusiasm of the nobles to invest in plantations suddenly increased.

Compared with unfamiliar industries and finance, people are more willing to invest in industries they are familiar with. After all, the income of plantations is relatively stable and the risks are not so great.

There are so many immigrants on the African continent now, not only by government organizations, but many recruited by these plantation owners.

The royal family is one of the best. As the earliest investment colony, tens of thousands of hectares of plantations have been developed.

Everyone is keen to grow wheat, cotton, cocoa, and coffee, all of which are industries that can see returns in the short term.

In contrast, the existence of Franz, a key investment in rubber plantations, has become an alternative. Now the use of rubber is not as wide as later generations, and the investment cycle is long, so naturally it is not popular.

If there are enough people, Franz is also willing to plant cotton and coffee with faster returns, but unfortunately there is a real shortage of people right now. In a hurry, we can only plant rubber trees first.

At present, the royal plantation has recruited more than 30,000 workers, but it is still a drop in the bucket and has to use some local indigenous laborers.

Recruiting high-quality labor from overseas is still in progress. In this era, it takes more than half a year to travel to Asia, and it is difficult to think fast.

Franz is now very concerned that, if left unchecked, planters and miners will soon get hooked on using cheap local labor, and he doesn't want to see slavery revive in the colonies.

Now it is only because everyone has no experience, these indigenous people have not been domesticated, and there are frequent incidents of violent injuries and escapes that make farmers and planters doubtful about the large-scale use of indigenous labor.

The gold miners have begun to use local labor on a large scale, suppressing the resistance with the mighty force in their hands.

Franz doesn't believe how high everyone's integrity will be in the face of interests. Paying attention to eating is nothing more than learning the royal plantation and hiring people from the indigenous tribal chiefs with materials such as salt and cloth.

The ruthless, directly sent people to arrest slaves. The African continent is so chaotic, there are so many places that the colonial government cannot manage. Gold miners part-time slave owners, and then part-time slave traders everywhere.

In the short term, this is indeed a good thing, reducing production costs and getting more benefits.

In the long run, the massive use of slave labor would occupy the jobs of immigrants, which not only seriously hindered the economic development of the colonies, but also increased social conflicts.

Another reason that cannot be said is that Franz wants to pit the biggest competitor and weaken their development potential.

Historically, nearly half of the immigrants who went to the United States during this period came from Germany, Italy, and southern Europe. Now, most of these immigrants were diverted by Franz.

The labor shortage in the United States is more serious than in history. In this context, the industrial owners of the north and the plantation owners of the south were more in conflict.

Franz, who is willing to help others, naturally wants to help them. If there are not enough white immigrants, black immigrants are used to make up; if the quality is poor, quantity is used to make up.

Just think about the fact that half of the population that immigrates to America every year is black, and the future must be very interesting. What's the point of paying a little price for this?