Chapter 380: The Challengers and The Maintainers (Bonus Chapter)
In the early morning, the rumble of steam engines echoed continuously. No one was surprised about it. This was the Port of Venice, thergest trading port of the new Holy Roman Empire, with over a hundred ships entering and leaving daily.
The roar of steam engines had be a part of peoples lives here. Workers on the docks had already gathered, waiting for the ships to dock.
Life wasnt easy; in this era of limited productivity, even filling ones stomach wasnt an easy task.
Arnault was an ordinary dockworker, having worked here for three years already. His youthful dreams had faded in the face of reality. He had contemted going abroad several times, but thinking of his wife and children, he ultimately gave up.
The work on the docks was exhausting and arduous, demanding significant physical strength. Those unable to carry loads of hundreds of kilograms couldnt handle this job.
For Arnault, none of this was a problem. He wasnt afraid of hardship or fatigue. He just wanted to take on more work, earn more money, and provide a better life for his family.
It would be best if his children could be sent to school to get some education. Despite Austria implementingpulsory education, Arnault was excluded.
This was simply because he wasnt a local resident and didnt have Austrian citizenship. In his daily life and work, this didnt have much impact.
After all, he was doing manualbor, and no one cared about the nationality of the bottom-levelborers. Additionally, when it came to social welfare benefits, Arnault was out of luck.
Over a decade ago, he had moved from Ancona to Venice with his father to make a living. In all these years, he had only returned to his hometown three times; once for his wedding and the other two times he was on a ship.
Austria had strict nationality regtions. For people of Germanic descent, as long as they had no criminal record, obtaining citizenship was very simple.
However, it was different for other ethnicities. Even though Arnault had been in Venice for over a decade, he still didnt meet the requirements.
Except for scientists, designers, engineers, and doctors, other professions faced numerous restrictions for immigrating to Austria.
Arnault memorized the criteria clearly:
First, no criminal record and correct political ideology;
Second, residing in Austria for a minimum of 20 years, or being born in Austria and having lived here for an extended period;
Third, making a certain contribution to society (significant contributors can be directly naturalized);
Fourth, holding a university degree (outstanding students in the fields of science and engineering may have other criteria reduced);
Fifth, being proficient in German, and inheriting Austrian cultural traditions;
Sixth, personal assets are not less than 8000 guilders.
It wasnt a deliberate exclusion of immigrants by Franz; rather, at the time of his ession, there was a significant imbnce in the ethnicposition of Austria, with the main ethnic group ounting for less than a quarter.
Given this context, epting immigrants from other ethnicities would have exacerbated the situation, which was deemed undesirable.
To prevent such a scenario, the Austrian government established immigration criteria that were almost impossible to meet.
This policy proved to be very effective in improving the ethnic bnce of the main ethnic groups.
Without such restrictions, Austria would have seen the addition of hundreds of thousands of Italians. Currently, the number of foreign Italians living in Lombardy and Via alone exceeds five hundred thousand.
Its not just Italians; there are alsorge numbers of foreign Poles, Ukrainians, Russians, Jews, Bulgarians, and others within Austria
Faced with this situation, Franz, as the gatekeeper of immigration restrictions, dared not open the floodgates further. Ethnic integration was already challenging enough, and adding millions more people would only exacerbate tensions.
In any case, Austria did notckbor and did not need these ordinary immigrants.
As for the high-quality immigrants Austria needed, they were no joke. Those individuals could livefortably in any European country.
Arnault became a victim of this policy. Unless God suddenly favored him, the likelihood of obtaining Austrian citizenship was almost zero.
Currently, Austrias social welfare system is very limited, and aside frompulsory education, Arnault didnt feel much of a difference.
Regardless, his ie in Venice far exceeded what he could earn in his hometown. It not only allowed his family to have enough to eat but also provided some savings.
The food at the dock was quite good, at least by the standards of the time. Dark bread was plentiful, and there was meat every day.
Do not misunderstand, this meat is fish. Here in Venice, the price of fish isnt much higher than that of dark bread and certainly lower than that of white bread.
To ensure the workers physical strength, meat consumption is indispensable. The capitalists who contract the docks arent foolish; they understand well that only with strong workers can they earn more money.
On the surface, dockbor may seem devoid of any technical expertise; however, those in the know understand that skilledbor can reduce the loss rate during handling.
Dont look at the small loss rate as inconspicuous, this is the dockspetitiveness. Austria has numerous ports and even more docks.
Most of these docks are government-owned, and when contracted to individuals, deliberate splitting urs to break up regional monopolies.
If losses during loading and unloading at a dock be too significant and disputes arise with customers, the most critical consequence is a ruined reputation, resulting in fewer ships in the future.
In this regard, Arnault is fortunate. Thispetition increases their importance in the eyes of the capitalists, even if it remains insignificant. At least they arent treated as disposable.
For example, theyve managed to ensure timely payment of wages, provided the legally required overtime pay, andplied with the national standards for industry catering.
Arnault, do you recognize that g?
The one asking was Arnaults fellow countryman Fero. He had juste from his hometown and was full of curiosity about everything.
Looking over, Arnault said enviously, I dont recognize it, but it seems to be a noble familys crest.
Ships flying the coat of arms of noble families are typically privately owned vessels that do not engage inmercial transportation. This was the standard for affluent aristocrats.
Of course, there are exceptions asionally, with some unconventional members of the nobility disying their own coat of arms on merchant ships.
Fero sighed, When will I be able to have such a ship!
Arnault rolled his eyes and didnt join in daydreaming. Such dreams had been dreamt by him many times already, yet they proved futile.
A well-dressed middle-aged man had approached to negotiate with the ship owner. If they agree to a price, then Arnault and the others would have work.
Respected Baron Falkner, Manale is honored to serve you!
Baron Falkner nodded wearily and instructed, Manale, arrange for the crew to unload everything from the ship and then transport it to the train station.
Will, apany them and assist them with their work. I am now going to visit Viscount Orabis house. We will return to Vienna together in three days.
After speaking, Baron Falkner closed his eyes to rest. As one of the earliest to discover gold mines in the colonies, Falkner had now returned home with glory.
When he went to the colonies years ago, Falkner was so destitute that he had mortgaged even his familys ancestralnd and incurred substantial debts. Now, he was a multimillionaire with a fortune worth several million guilders.
Over the years, most of the gold mines had been depleted. However, Falkner hadnt been idle while mining for gold.
Whether it was due to innate talent or not, initially he had only established farms to meet the needs of the miners working in the gold mines, butter they expanded rapidly and it snowballed.
Now, his farms and ntationsbined covered a total area of over 4,800 hectares, making him a renownedndowner in the area.
Looking at the vast expanse ofnd, Baron Falkner helplessly realized that he couldnt leave anymore! The main purpose of his return this time was to promote the integration process between the colonies and the homnd.
With so many Austrian colonies, its well known that its impossible to incorporate all of them into the homnd. However, its highly likely to merge the developednd into the maind.
To advance this n, many nobles who had established ntations in Africa have recently returned home to conduct public rtions.
Once the integration of the African colonies was approved, Baron Falkner nned to convert the farms and ntations he had developed into family estates.
During his years on the African continent, he has also umted numerous merits. If he exchanges the local estates for Africannd, he can not only transform his ownnd into estates but also incorporate thend of the people who followed him initially.
Whenbined, thend area was more expansive than many counts demesnes on the European maind. With this vast estate, if managed carefully for several generations, the family can enter the circle of the greater nobility.
Baron Falkner was not the only one with such ns. Many nobles had simr intentions. Competition in the homnd was too fierce, and it was impossible to produce more major nobles.
But Africa was different. As long as they invested enough over generations, a new great noble house could emerge.
Many colonial capitalists were preparing to capitalize on this opportunity for transformation. Once integration is approved, their chance wille.
In Europe, these nouveau riche capitalists simply cannot enter the upper echelons of society. Even if they use money to be nobles, they cannot gain true recognition.
But the African continent was different. Apart from the old-established nobility, many upstarts could have their own aristocratic circles.
The capitalist era? In reality, it was the nobility not allowing capitalists to enter high society, so the capitalists wanted to overturn the table and drag the nobles down from their pedestals.
Now with the opportunity to join, naturally no one would overturn the table. After all, they had already obtained noble titles and were transitioning from challenging the rules to maintaining them. Once the colonies were integrated into the homnd, their status would be solidified.
This was what Franz hoped to see. Capitalists had never been his enemy only those capitalists opposed to him were enemies.
If he merely suppressed them without leaving any path for upward mobility, even rabbits would be driven to bite when desperate, not to mention the increasingly powerful capitalists.
By leaving a path open, the originally fragmented capitalists could no longer unite.
Of course, this was just one part of colonial integration. In reality, it presented an opportunity for all levels of society.
Austrias colonies were ten times the area of the homnd. Just Austrias African territories alone were 7,000,000-8,000,000 square kilometers. Even if only a small portion was incorporated into the homnd, this would greatly increase opportunities.
At this point, if one dared to struggle and venture forth, there was a great possibility of oveing the ss restrictions.
If represented numerically, the existing chance of effort tranting to upward mobility is approximately 1 in 10, yet once ss structures be solidified, that probability would diminish to less than 1 in 100.
Of course, this only meant transcending their current ss and taking a small step forward.
If one wanted to ascend to the heavens in a single step, then dont even dream about it. Apart from rebelling, there were no such shortcuts in this world.