Chapter 787: The Beacon Fire of the Peaceful Country

So if the British government continues to "do nothing" this year, the number of people who starve to death will increase exponentially.

Even with the guarantee of O'Connell, a banner figure, most Irish people are skeptical.

This has to be said that the British propaganda machine is quite successful. They have successfully discredited Austria as an Arab country that is more barbaric than Russia.

However, with the help of O'Connell, the national leader of Ireland, Franz believes that the locals will have a great change in the image of the Austrian Empire.

After the famine, the 8.5 million Irish people were less than 6 million. If the population that should have grown naturally is taken into account, 3 million is a reasonable number.

If one-sixth of the three million people who disappeared could go to Austria's colonies, it would greatly alleviate the problem of insufficient manpower for land reclamation. As long as one-quarter could come to Franz, he could complete the infrastructure project of the colonies.

If one-third could be obtained, Franz could recreate a medium-strength country in Central America.

If half of them (1.5 million people) could be sent to West Africa, Austria could connect all the West African colonies together.

Ideally, if all three million people were to immigrate to America, then within twenty years Franz would dare to push Americans east of the Mississippi River and completely isolate them from the Pacific Ocean.

But this is of course impossible.

In fact, the first group of people who set foot on the road to Austria were those girls who were used by the British government as reproductive machines for the colonies, also known as "famine orphans".

Because most of these people were alone or had cut off contact with their families, they had a strong desire to leave Ireland.

Moreover, the British Parliament and the Anglican Church were also willing to see that O'Connell, the national leader and spiritual leader of Ireland, had to defile himself as a "pimp".

Sending a group of young girls to a foreign country, no matter how low the moral bottom line of British politicians is, they know what it means.

As long as O'Connell did this, his life would be ruined, and this stain would be constantly mentioned even hundreds of years after his death.

The crime of trafficking women from his own country to foreign countries for entertainment is unavoidable.

At the same time, this will also cause huge moral and public opinion pressure on the Austrian side, but there is no room for maneuver at this point, and every step back will be a bigger whirlpool.

Austrian senior officials hope that O'Connell can cherish his reputation at this moment. After all, he is old and it is not good to lose his integrity in his later years.

But O'Connell still did it, and the Austrian side had to accept it. Fortunately, this is a deadlock problem for most countries in the world, and it is not difficult to solve in Austria.

Franz can directly build a girls' school in Venice, a German school where all teachers and students are women.

This is completely a fantasy for other countries at this time, but it is completely feasible in Austria.

Because Austrian girls' schools have been running for many years, and among the graduates, only a few outstanding or well-connected ones can enter the government, scientific research institutions and shopping malls.

Most of them can only take care of their husbands and children or do nothing, and opening such a literacy-level girls' school is a great thing for them. After all, teachers are a very decent job in this era.

At the same time, with the royal family behind them, their status and level will be raised. With the church and newspapers advocating, they naturally had no reason not to go.

Of course! Although Franz was tricked by the British, his original purpose was not to invite Ireland to enjoy the good life.

The agriculture and industry in the Venetian region are relatively developed, so it is not difficult to find some jobs for them.

In fact, only a part of the famine orphans can reach the Austrian mainland. Some who are too weird or too difficult to serve are directly sent to the colonies.

So when the upper class of the Austrian Empire visited the girls' school later, they saw some gentle, considerate, well-educated and sensible women. At least this would not make the nobles feel that they were at a disadvantage.

At the same time, the power of example is also helpful in planning for later generations.

The cost of transporting refugees is not high, because all the ships transporting refugees are actually merchant ships. After selling Austrian goods at a high price, they buy some of the required goods and use the remaining space to transport people.

In fact, this is mainly because most British goods are not attractive in Austria. Instead of running empty, it is better to bring some people, so that you can get a good reputation and make a little money.

For the Austrian side, as long as the price of British food does not drop, there will always be money to be made in this business of saving people.

Once again, although France and Spain also suffered from disasters and grain prices were high, the tariffs were even higher, and selling them there would be a loss.

January 1847, Swiss Confederation.

At the Federal Assembly in Geneva, the Free Alliance and the Legitimacy Alliance quarreled fiercely. As a country with 11 units of length, 82 units of grain measurement, 50 units of weight, and more than ten currencies, it would be abnormal for them not to fight.

In fact, Lucerne is nominally the capital of the Swiss Confederation, but due to the opposition of the Free Alliance, the Legitimacy Alliance agreed to hold the Federal Assembly in Geneva (on the territory of the Free Alliance).

Such weakness is naturally difficult to gain the respect of the other party. At this time, the representative of the Free Alliance, Joseph Roy (later the President of the Swiss Confederation), just threw a document on the table of the representative of the Legitimacy Alliance, and didn't even bother to say a word.

The representative of the Swiss Orthodox Union was a very senior mayor who stood up with great difficulty and leaned forward to get the document that was thrown a little far away.

The mayor was immediately shocked after reading it, and almost fell off his seat to the ground. After a long while, he stammered a few words.

"Our power is guaranteed by... by Austria, Prussia, France, and Sardinia.

You are challenging the European order."

The mayor was not stuttering, but was frightened and his mouth was a little clumsy.

Not to mention the existence of the Orthodox Union in the Swiss Confederation, even if the entire Swiss Confederation was gathered, it would be impossible to defeat the three powers.

He thought the person in front of him was crazy.

But Joseph Roy sneered.

"Fool! We have the support of the British Empire! If any country dares to interfere in our internal affairs, it will be an enemy of the British Empire! Do your masters have the courage to do this?"

"You are crazy! Britain is far away, and the great powers are right next to you! You will destroy yourself if you fight a civil war!"

The representative of the Orthodox Alliance was still trembling with fear, but he still said it with all his strength.

"Mr. Representative, our Switzerland is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even if Austria, Prussia, France, and Sardinia join forces, what can we do? As long as we block the mountain pass, they can't attack!"

"Block the mountain pass? You are really crazy! How can we survive if the mountain pass is blocked?"

"Don't bother with that. If you don't sign the document now, you can't even leave this room."

Joseph Roy lit the cigar in his mouth with a candle, took a puff, and then blew out a few smoke rings leisurely.

"Hurry up, okay? If you don't sign your name before I finish this cigar, you are not needed here."