Holy Roman Empire

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, the largest trading port of the new Holy Roman Empire, with over a hundred ships entering and leaving daily.

The roar of steam engines had become 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 contemplated 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 implementing compulsory 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 manual labor, and no one cared about the nationality of the bottom-level laborers. 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 regulations. 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 accession, there was a significant imbalance in the ethnic composition of Austria, with the main ethnic group accounting for less than a quarter.

Given this context, accepting 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 balance 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 Venetia alone exceeds five hundred thousand.

Its not just Italians; there are also large 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 not lack labor and did not need these ordinary immigrants.

As for the high-quality immigrants Austria needed, they were no joke. Those individuals could live comfortably 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 from compulsory education, Arnault didnt feel much of a difference.

Regardless, his income 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, dock labor may seem devoid of any technical expertise; however, those in the know understand that skilled labor can reduce the loss rate during handling.

Dont look at the small loss rate as inconspicuous, this is the docks competitiveness. Austria has numerous ports and even more docks.

Most of these docks are government-owned, and when contracted to individuals, deliberate splitting occurs to break up regional monopolies.

If losses during loading and unloading at a dock become 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. This competition 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, and complied with the national standards for industry catering.

Arnault, do you recognize that flag?

The one asking was Arnaults fellow countryman Faccero. He had just come 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 in commercial transportation. This was the standard for affluent aristocrats.

Of course, there are exceptions occasionally, with some unconventional members of the nobility displaying their own coat of arms on merchant ships.

Faccero 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, accompany 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 ancestral land 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, but later they expanded rapidly and it snowballed.

Now, his farms and plantations combined covered a total area of over 4,800 hectares, making him a renowned landowner in the area.

Looking at the vast expanse of land, 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 homeland.

With so many Austrian colonies, its well known that its impossible to incorporate all of them into the homeland. However, its highly likely to merge the developed land into the mainland.

To advance this plan, many nobles who had established plantations in Africa have recently returned home to conduct public relations.

Once the integration of the African colonies was approved, Baron Falkner planned to convert the farms and plantations he had developed into family estates.

During his years on the African continent, he has also accumulated numerous merits. If he exchanges the local estates for African land, he can not only transform his own land into estates but also incorporate the land of the people who followed him initially.

When combined, the land area was more expansive than many counts demesnes on the European mainland. 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 plans. Many nobles had similar intentions. Competition in the homeland 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 will come.

In Europe, these nouveau riche capitalists simply cannot enter the upper echelons of society. Even if they use money to become 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 homeland, 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 homeland. Just Austrias African territories alone were 7,000,000-8,000,000 square kilometers. Even if only a small portion was incorporated into the homeland, this would greatly increase opportunities.

At this point, if one dared to struggle and venture forth, there was a great possibility of overcoming the class restrictions.

If represented numerically, the existing chance of effort translating to upward mobility is approximately 1 in 10, yet once class structures become solidified, that probability would diminish to less than 1 in 100.

Of course, this only meant transcending their current class 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.