Chapter 138 Arabian Nights (Part 1)

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

Franz successfully cheated 10.98 million florins from the Austrian imperial government. Of course, it was the old rules, and it was still the expected banknotes.

Ajani couldn't believe her eyes. The boy in front of her was obviously spending money, but the money in his hands was getting more and more.

The purpose of this money was to make more people live a good life. Even the Austrian imperial government that was cheated did not suffer any actual losses. It only paid those unconvertible expected banknotes.

The counterattack of Solomon Rothschild was so lightly resolved that his plan was completely disintegrated before it was formed, so that most people had no way of knowing that this incident had ever happened.

You must know that the Rothschild family at this time can be called the sixth power in the world, and Solomon is the head of the Rothschild family in Austria. Such a big man was played like a baby who just learned to walk in front of Franz.

A price limit order not only shattered Solomon's dream of counterattack, but also completely disintegrated the Vienna Commercial Alliance with decades of history.

Every time a price limit order appeared in history, it would be accompanied by an uproar. Merchants would try their best to ship the price-limited goods abroad in order to obtain high profits.

However, this price limit order raised the price limit to 170% of the original price, leaving merchants with huge profit margins, while not letting civilians starve to death. However, it was the end of the world for those merchants who wanted to hoard goods, because the price limit meant that all their previous efforts were in vain.

A large number of government projects provided new sources of income for those farmers who had nothing to do, which just filled the gap caused by this food crisis.

In this way, it not only solved the social problems that might be caused by too many refugees, but also solved the government projects that could not be completed for many years for the Austrian Empire. The improvement of infrastructure such as dredged rivers, re-paved roads, and newly dug water conservancy and irrigation systems will eventually better promote the economic development of the Austrian Empire.

There was just one thing that Ajani couldn't understand, which was why Franz had to let German immigrants reclaim the wasteland in Hungary.

Didn't he know that this would cause dissatisfaction on the Hungarian side? Moreover, conflicts were likely to break out between German immigrants and local Hungarians, and it was difficult for the Austrian army to provide timely protection for those royal estates on Hungarian land.

Under the strong opposition from Hungary, only the Austrian section of the Danube Dam was built, and the right to build the Hungarian section of the dam was in Hungary's hands, and of course the money had to be paid by the Hungarians themselves.

These things that clamored the Hungarians, and the people who did it in Hungary disappeared without a trace in an instant.

And people like Szechenyi who really wanted Hungary to be good, but did not have enough strength and funds, were destined to build only shoddy projects.

The only way Szechenyi could think of was to let the Hungarian nobles sell those unoccupied lands to the Austrian royal family, and use these unwanted lands in exchange for construction funds.

And this is what Franz wanted to see, because according to Franz's estimation, there would be more and more German immigrants.

Because with the development of the German Customs Union, the contacts between the German states and the Austrian Empire are also increasing, which makes the Germans realize the power of the Austrian Empire.

The country where they lived in the past was just a city or a province in the Austrian Empire.

And the fertile land of Hungary is not comparable to the poor soil in the German region.

They have only heard of this fertile land in legends across the ocean, and going to the United States will cost the family's savings, and it is more likely to encounter wind and waves and pirates and be buried in the sea. Of course, it is also possible to be deceived and become a servile to work in the cotton fields every day.

The Austrian Empire is just around the corner, and German immigrants can easily arrive by boat or train. Even if they want to regret, they can only spend a train ticket or a boat ticket.

Instead of abandoning everything, gamble their lives, and go to the New World to gamble on an invisible future, it is better to stay in Europe and try their luck in the Austrian Empire. After all, there is nothing to lose.

Some of the Germans who came to the Austrian Empire to work hard returned to their country after making money, perhaps to show off, or perhaps to build their motherland.

After making money, some people settled in the Austrian Empire and tried to bring their families to Austria.

Of course, more people could not integrate into Austrian society after making money. After spending all the money they made, they chose to go to Hungary to open up wasteland and farm.

At the same time, if the Germans who chose to immigrate to the United States could not integrate into the local life, they would have no choice but to die.

Not only the poor people like to work hard in the Austrian Empire, but also those scholars and artists who feel that they are not appreciated or ignored by others also choose the Austrian Empire.

After all, speaking German is a big advantage in the Austrian Empire, which is nothing in their own country.

At this time, the Vienna-Prague-Dresden Railway, Vienna-Linz-Salzburg-Munich Railway, Vienna-Graz-Udine-Venice Railway, and Vienna-Brno Railway have been completed in the Austrian Empire.

Under construction are Graz-Ljubljana-Trieste, Venice-Lombardy, Venice-Parma, Brno-Krakow, and Brno-Lviv.

The total length of the Austrian Empire's railways has exceeded 1,400 kilometers, more than twice that of France, six times that of Prussia, and close to half of the British railways. At this time, Britain has the world's largest railway of 3,100 kilometers.

However, soon in 1850, Britain's railway mileage will soar to 12,000 kilometers. There is no extra zero, but the British railway will enter a period of explosion in the future.

The railway construction in the United States is even more exaggerated. They will surpass Britain in 1850 to become the country with the longest railway mileage in the world, with a total length of 14,000 kilometers.

All these have laid the social foundation for the future economic take-off of Britain and the United States.

Franz does not have such a grand goal for the time being. He just wants to complete the railway network in the Nerethania region before 1848. The total length is about 5,000 kilometers, but due to the many mountains and rivers, the amount of work is much larger than it looks.

Franz drew on the map for a while, and finally stopped writing, staring at Ajani thoughtfully.

This made Adjani feel uneasy for no reason. She always felt that the child in front of her seemed to have the ability to see through everything.

Franz hoped to have this ability, so that he would have a lot of entertainment when he was free, but unfortunately he didn't.

Franz suddenly spoke.

"Miss Adjani, Namibia, Zulu, Congo, Ethiopia, you choose one."

Adjani was a little confused. These were all African countries. What did Archduke Franz plan to do? Did he plan to colonize Africa? But the Austrian Imperial Navy might not be able to support his ambition. Neither the Regency Council nor the military would support such a proposal.

"Archduke Franz, I don't know what to choose, but I want to remind you that with the current strength of the Austrian Empire, it is probably difficult to support such an ambition. Maybe Namibia can, but what is the value of that rotten land abandoned by Britain and France?"

"Okay, next question. If Egypt and the Ottoman Empire fight, who do you think will win?"