The prosperity of the market equally fueled the boom in the stock market, and in the face of favorable news, everyone’s confidence also reached its peak.


    Compared to liquidating physical industries, it’s much easier to pull out of the stock market. With buying and selling happening daily, a few percentage points of change are just normal market fluctuations.


    It’s not a period of economic crisis, so these small fluctuations arepletely within the market’s capacity to endure, most typically seen in the continued rise of stock prices.


    Candidly speaking, specting in the stock market yields far greater profits than manufacturing. However, with advantagese disadvantages; high returns are also apanied by high risks.


    Without leverage, you can’t make much money, but ying with leverage brings immense risks, and oftentimes, a single random fluctuation in the market sweeps away arge number of spectors.


    By contrast, the physical industries are much more stable, especially so in the 19th century.


    No matter how the market changes, as long as there are no issues within thepany itself, the losses stay within controble limits. If business is poor, just cut back on production capacity.


    "Bankruptcy" usually urs when apany has internal problems, such as excessive debt requiring significant profit to repay loans; or there are management issues, failing to rece equipment in time, resulting in products losingpetitive market edge; or perhaps inventories are too high, tying up substantial capital...


    If there are no issues within thepany, being squeezed into bankruptcy is quite rare. inly put, everyone is in business to make a profit.


    Artificially deting prices to make a noise at a loss, capitalists aren’t that foolish. Except for those wishing to monopolize the market. Incurring losses to gain market exclusivity can only be counted as an initial investment.


    For most industries, the conditions for monopolizing are just not there. The barriers to entry are too low; suppress one group ofpetitors, and new ones will emerge, making monopoly unachievable.


    Business isn’t a matter of personal pride, and capitalists usually won’t engage in Pyrrhic victories that harm themselves as much as the enemy.


    Marketpetition is harsh, meaning only that profits are thinner. If an entire industry enters a state of loss, it means it’s on the verge of being eliminated.


    Under normal circumstances, even if an economic crisis sparks a Great Depression, only some enterprises will incur losses, while most will see a decline in performance and profit reduction.


    As long as operations are normal, and there are no substantial debts, enterprises with strong marketpetitiveness can still survive.


    After all, it’s just thete 19th century, and there are fewer than 10 industrialized nations worldwide, with only two and a half true industrial powerhouses; the market remains in a state of untamed growth, andpetition is far less fierce than inter times.


    Under thew of the jungle, after eliminating a portion of the weaker entities, the market will normalize. A new round of conflict won’t erupt until the victors have digested their spoils.


    One could say this is the golden age of capitalist economy; as long as opportunities are grasped, there are abundant chances to be wealthy.


    ...


    With the market flourishing, factories sprung up from the ground, with job advertisements stered all over, yet there were few applicants.


    As thergest city on the Austria-France border, Mn is also the preferred destination for Italian workers entering Austria. The advantages of being close to home and having higher wages attract arge number of Italians each year.


    In the face of the British textile industry’s dominance, Mn’s rise as one of the world’s three major textile centers was significantly aided by the cheapbor from the Italian Area.


    While Austria has restrictions on foreignbor, it doesn’tpletely prohibit it. Passing anguage test and being epted by apany allows entry.


    This is exceedingly inconvenient; it’s very troublesome for enterprises to recruit cross-border, not to mention teaching them German, which requires too much time.


    "For every policy, there is a countermeasure." Many foreign workers are brought over by friends and rtives, seeking work in Austria after they enter.


    Compared to other regions in Austria, the Mn Kingdom is less strict in managing foreign workers due to its uniqueness.


    Many people are employed first and then learn thenguage. After all, many factories operate semi-closed, so as long as they don’t get caught by the police, no one will probe too deeply.


    Under such circumstances, the underground job market emerged. Newfounnd Street, just outside Mn City, is one of the venues where factories recruit cheapbor.


    Normally at this time, Newfounnd Street would already be bustling, with many job seekers forming long lines for an opportunity to work.


    Suddenly, it quieted down without any apparent reason. Not just Newfounnd Street, but manybor recruitment markets in Austria got quieter, with some areas even experiencing odd situations where there were more recruiters than applicants.


    Mirko was one such recruiter, employed at the Daniel Group Machinery Factory. Typically, he would not be in Newfounnd Street, which was considered the lowest end of Mn City’s job market, primarily attracting foreignborers.


    Not only was their educational level inadequate, but it also required a significant amount of time to train them in skills. After expending much effort, at best they were turned into basic industrial workers.


    Byparison, Mirko preferred the recruitment centers outside the city. Even though higher wages were demanded, the applicants were of higher quality; after a few years of training in the factory, the outstanding ones could be junior technical workers.


    For a machinery factory, such workers with some technical skills are far more valuable than pureborers.


    Only industries that requirergebor forces and involve repetitive, unskilled work would recruitrge numbers of theseborers.


    Mirko might look down on this, but manypanies were expanding production capacity and there was a big gap in thebor market, making thepetition for workers fierce.


    After attending several job fairs in the city withoutpleting his recruitment task, with the equipment all ready and waiting for workers to start working, Mirko had no choice but to lower the recruitment standards.


    Looking at the scene before him, Mirko could hardly believe his eyes. Was this still Mn’s hottest job recruitment market? Why were there so few people?


    Having been engaged in recruitment work for a long time, Mirko had a broadwork of contacts and quickly ran into acquaintances in the same line of work.


    "Ferren, what’s going on? Did you guys hire everyone already?"


    The middle-aged man rolled his eyes and retorted, "Do I look like I’ve had any sess?"


    Mirko nodded, "Indeed, with the sries offered by your textile factories, it must be somewhat difficult to coerce people. However, you could certainly cheat the naive foreigners."


    Ferren furrowed his brow, discontentedly responding, "Enough, Mirko, we’re all in the same boat, saving costs for the boss, that’s our inherent duty."


    ```


    "Every time I recruit, I make the terms clear and sign contracts ording to legal requirements. How could that be considered cheating?"


    Mirko gave a faint smile but didn’t continue the topic. If he didn’t know this middle-aged, chubby man better, he would really think he was a good person.


    Back in the day, Mirko was nearly bamboozled into signing a servitude contract right after he started his career. Fortunately, he was a local and a high school graduate, which counted as a highly educated individual. Once Ferren understood his background, he didn’t want any trouble and gave up.


    Although Mn was a subordinate sub-state, with the push for legal unification, the Labor Protection Law still had to beplied with.


    These egregiously unfair servitude contracts would go unnoticed unless someone took them to court. If that happened, the business would be in for real trouble.


    Byparison, it was much safer to trick foreign workers. As long as the contract was signed abroad, it would be considered an international case, subject to thews on the other side as well. The Mn government wasn’t so idle, and at most, the contract would be dered void.


    Without having been swindled, the two men didn’t have a good rtionship. It was only because of business that they had to interact frequently, and they slowly became acquainted, but there was still ayer separating them from friendship.


    Mirko changed the subject: "Ferren, I heard your boss has opened two new branches, and there’s a big shortage ofbor. What’s your n to deal with it? Are you interested in organizing a group to recruit from the ind areas?"


    These days, recruitment activities had limited funding, so to save costs, it was mostmon for severalpanies to act together and share expenses.


    Ferren didn’t even think about it, he just shook his head: "Mirko, you’re too optimistic. Right now, the entire country is short ofbor, even the whole of Europe iscking people."


    "You seldome to Newfounnd Street, so you wouldn’t know, but in thest two months, the number of workersing into Mn from the Italian Area has declined by nearly seventy percent."


    "I asked them, and it turns out that many factories have recently opened in the Italian Area. People are finding work close to home, so they’re noting here anymore."


    "If it’s like this even in the Italian Area, you can imagine what it’s like in the rest of the country. Thebor shortage reported in the newspapers is no joke. I’ve already suggested to the boss that we should dy the n for the new branches."


    "In the past few years, the big emigration strategy moved a lot of our surplusbor to Africa. To solve thebor shortage, we’d have to encourage farmers to move to the cities."


    Mirko was at a loss for words. Encouraging farmers to move to the cities wasn’t as simple as it sounded. The farmers were doing well, and it wouldn’t be easy to get them to leave theirnd and the rural life to work in the cities.


    The best approach would be for the government to intervene, creating more favorable policies to speed up urbanization.


    Unfortunately, the Vienna Government believed there was excess capacity within the country. The government was struggling to contain the rapid growth of production, so how could it introduce policies that would exacerbate the crisis?


    Urbanization carries risks—faster isn’t always better. If a crisis erupted and businesses copsed, leading to widespread unemployment, the entire pressure would fall on the government’s shoulders.


    In conditions that weren’t mature enough, Franz preferred a slower pace of urbanization. Whenpared to workers, farmers were easier to rule over.


    As long as they hadnd and enough produce to feed themselves, people wouldn’t rebel. With the government lowering some taxes, they could also win some public favor.


    Workers were different. Once the tide of unemployment hit, a crisis would follow. Without a way to feed them, a revolution could erupt in minutes.


    With current productivity, they couldn’t support a high level of urbanization. To enter an era of urban economic transformation, it would take at least another fifty years.


    Even in the United Kingdom, which had the highest level of urbanization, one-third of the poption was still employed in agriculture. Austria, arge agricultural country, was even more reliant on farming.


    After a pause, Mirko finally said slowly, "Tell me, Ferren. I know you’ve got a n. As long as it’s workable, there will be a reward for you."


    Mirko was aware that Ferren was the type who wouldn’t cast his hawk until he saw the rabbit. If there wasn’t enough benefit, he definitely wouldn’t share his n.


    ncing at Mirko, Ferren shook his head: "It’s not a matter of reward; it’s that our twopanies can’t do this together."


    "To recruit people from the countryside, we’d have to deal with the Nobility. You should be aware of the changes in the country in recent years. With their intervention, it’s very difficult for us to get cheapbor."


    Mirko nodded in understanding. This was one of the characteristics of Austria. The Nobility had given up serfdom and some of theirnds, but they still had significant influence locally.


    If it were just minor affairs, it wouldn’t matter, butrge-scale recruitment always involved dealing with the big local yers.


    Even now, many traditional Nobility resented the capitalists.


    Whether it was to vent their anger or to increase their local prestige, they found ways to get involved.


    For example, they would act as representatives for the workers during wage negotiations and signbor contracts collectively.


    Deceiving ordinary workers was easy, but fooling the Nobility was not so simple.


    If trouble arose, it would be the Nobility who would lose out.


    Going by the book,bor costs would rise by at least fifteen percent. It wouldn’t matter for one or two people, but once the numbers increased, the expense was no small matter.


    The increased costs were only one problem. New workers getting higher wages than the existing staff would create unrest sooner orter.


    After thinking for a while, Mirko shook his head: "Dealing with the Nobility involves too much, and I can’t decide on something like this on my own. It needs to be reported and decided at thepany’s headquarters. I’m not sure if it would be approved."


    Mirko knew his ce. This wasn’t something he could get involved in, and even if many worked together, they might not achieve their goal.


    Although Austria was a capitalist state, political power capital wielded was very limited. Topete with the Nobility for influence, the risks were just too great.


    Noticing Mirko’s difort, Ferren quickly tried to reassure him: "No, Mirko. You’re thinking too much. I haven’t lived enough yet; I’m not nning to court death. What I meant was that we could pool our money and try to find a solution abroad."


    As he spoke, Ferren was sweating bullets. It was just an attempt to show off, but it had been misconstrued as a challenge to the strife between capital and Nobility.


    That was something deadly to touch; it was not something that small fry like Ferren, or even their bosses, could get involved in and survive.


    It was simply too difficult.


    ```