Holy Roman Empire

There are so many old and weak women and children in Königsberg that it is almost impossible to sign a normal employment contract.It is not so easy to convince Austrian companies to hire them. "

After hearing what James said, everyone's expressions changed drastically.Under normal circumstances, colonial companies employ young and strong laborers, and it is difficult for the old, weak, women and children to find jobs.

Now it is not that simple to leave through the labor employment channel.

Father Bragg asked expectantly: "Mr. James, you must have a solution to this problem, right?"

James said slightly hesitantly: "If the number of people is small, I can still ask my friends to help.

Now there are at least tens of thousands of people in Königsberg who need to be transferred, most of them are old and weak.Under normal circumstances, no colonial company would employ them.

The only way is we pay for the shipping ourselves, I am contacting my friends to help.For the sake of compatriots, these companies should issue a false employment contract. "

This is the brilliance of James. The people who were still hesitant at first, now involuntarily changed their positions, thinking about how to organize everyone to leave.

Bishop Bernard frowned and said, "This is very troublesome. There are too many people in Königsberg who need to leave, most of the people can't afford the travel expenses, and our church can't afford the money either.

What's more, on the African continent, without jobs, everyone's life is also a problem. "

Tens of thousands of people have to leave, and the travel expenses and resettlement expenses required are not a small sum.

If the church had been able to raise this amount of funds before the war, it would be impossible for the banks to be looted by the Russians now, and the church would only have its property left.

The most important thing about religion is belief. As long as there are believers, money can be earned back sooner or later.With no money in his pocket, Bernard had no choice but to give up this opportunity to strengthen his faith.

James thought for a while and said, "We can only borrow money for the travel expenses first, and we can turn to the local church for help when we get to the place, and we can also turn to the German National Revival Association for help.

Although there are mostly old and weak women and children, everyone is not unable to work.No matter how bad you are, you can wash and cook, or help planters pick cotton.

I still have many friends over there, who can provide some jobs.If there are special circumstances and you really can't find a job, we will apply for relief from the colonial government! "

The truth is revealed in critical moments. Although James wants to make money, after returning to Königsberg, he really wants to help his compatriots.

Instead of staying here and living a precarious life, it is better to go to Austrian Africa to start a new life.

Like most, James had despaired of the government in Berlin, and he did not think the Kingdom of Prussia could win the war.

The current poaching operation, in James' view, is a sacred rescue operation, helping compatriots escape the clutches of the Russians.

The assimilation of East Prussia has long been completed, and many Poles and Lithuanians have become Germans. According to the official documents of the Berlin government, there are more than seven layers of local Germans.

The rest have long been accustomed to speaking and writing German, and their living habits are similar to those of the Germans.When you go to Austrian Africa and pretend to be a German, you just need to apply for assistance, and no one will be bored to check.

Franz was very fond of the population, which naturally affected the officials below.Perhaps in the eyes of capitalists, old and weak women and children are of little value, but they are also population in the eyes of government officials.

Taking in the old and the weak can buy people's hearts, and the Vienna government has no shortage of this kind of food; not to mention women and children, women are also laborers, and children can grow up, and they are all valuable.

Young and young means good management, and immigrants with their families are the best immigrants.Once settled in the local area, these people can't leave.

Borrowing travel expenses is nothing more than setting a threshold for leaving and prolonging their working time in the colony.

After three to five years, whether the Russians occupied East Prussia or the Kingdom of Prussia regained its homeland, there will be new residents in these places, and it will be difficult for the immigrants to survive if they want to go back.

The only way of life cannot be rejected by everyone.Not all members of the church are vicious villains, there are only a few black sheep, and ordinary people are at best greedy for money and careless in their private lives.

In the face of the life and death of tens of thousands of people, everyone still knows how to choose.

This is a characteristic of European society. To prevent the people from leaving, only two groups have such influence: the nobles and the church.

Flicking the Junker nobles to leave, James didn't think he had the ability.The treatment that the Kingdom of Prussia can give them, Austria can never give.

So from the very beginning, the local nobles were put under house arrest. The outside world thought it was the work of the Russians, but it actually happened after James bribed the Russian officers.

The tsarist government has no shortage of people, and keeping a group of guerrillas who may turn into guerrillas at any time is completely asking for trouble. It is better to use waste and sell it to Austria.

With the deliberate cooperation of the Russians, the immigration activities organized by James went very smoothly.The Russian army didn't seem to see anything, allowing them to organize in series.

Colonel Nicholas, who was stationed in Königsberg, looked at the employment contract submitted by James. He didn't even bother to read the densely packed names on it, so he threw it aside.

"Mr. James, according to the laws of the Russian Empire, you need to pay an employment tax of 5 rubles for every worker you hire, a total of 44.8 rubles."

James was taken aback, and said with a smile still on his face: "Your Excellency, Lieutenant Colonel, we only hired 1.2 people, and the rest are accompanying family members."

Colonel Nicholas sneered and said: "Unfortunately, it is a time of war, and the situation is a bit special. We still have to investigate the spies, and these family members cannot leave for the time being."

After reacting, James immediately handed over a check for 5000 Aegis.This is a check issued by the Royal Bank and is payable in major European cities.

After looking at the numbers and carefully identifying the real ones, Colonel Nicholas calmed down a little and put them away as if nothing had happened.

He tore off the tax stamp in his hand, reissued a tax stamp of 6 rubles, and handed it to James.

This is a benefit during the war. Almost everything that could be robbed in Königsberg was robbed, and there was no taxation at all. Naturally, the Tsarist government would not send tax officials.

Colonel Nicholas made things difficult for James, naturally to make a fortune.Don't look at James organizing so many immigrants, but the real number of young people is less than 6000.

Fill in the employment of 1.2 people, mainly because it is necessary to ensure that each household employs one person before they can legally leave with their family members.In order not to cause unnecessary complications, James dare not save this money.

After getting the approval slip, James breathed a sigh of relief.The Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also has an office in East Prussia. With this legal procedure, he can let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intervene.

After sending James away, a young officer asked suspiciously: "Uncle, it wasn't a good plan to blackmail them, why did you let him go?"

Collecting taxes, have you ever seen an army collecting taxes?What's more, this is still a newly occupied area, and there is no concept of tax at all.

From the beginning to the end, it was Colonel Nicholas and others who wanted to blackmail a fortune, so they took the opportunity to fiddle with the temporary tax bureau.

"Boris, you are still too immature. If I really want to blackmail, I may not get the last ruble, and I have to go home early to retire. Do you remember the telegram you received last night?"

Boris reacted and said: "You mean, the Austrian Foreign Ministry has already intervened?"

Colonel Nicholas nodded. The St. Petersburg government had already collected the money for this population transaction, which was included in the Russian-Austrian loan.

Now it is James, a private businessman, who dares to blackmail a fortune. If the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is replaced, the situation will be different.

Most of the logistics materials of the Russian army were provided by Austria.If a dispute between the two countries is provoked at this time and the war is affected, those perpetrators will definitely not have good fruit.

The tsarist government was indeed corrupt, but this does not mean that Alexander II wanted to see the government corrupt.If they jumped out at this time, they might be killed as an example to others.

Königsberg is just an index, and the entire East Prussian region is full of immigrant businessmen, and everyone is working hard to evacuate East Prussia.

No, it should be said that everyone is working hard to save their compatriots.Rescue one's countrymen from the clutches of the Russians, that was the official answer given by Austria.

Believe it or not, the participants believed it anyway.The people of East Prussia who chose to leave also believed it.

This is due to the good cooperation of the Russian army. Their performances in their true colors have frightened the local people.

No one thought about the precarious days, and it was even more emotionally unacceptable for them to recruit young men to fight against their own country on the battlefield.

Chapter 80 Learn to be a fisherman

The suddenly prosperous East Prussian docks soon attracted the attention of the Berlin government.There was no way to keep such a big immigrant secret, and the news naturally leaked out early.

Franz did not take the letter of protest from the Kingdom of Prussia seriously at all, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs replied directly: It has nothing to do with us, go to the Russians.

That's right, if the Russians hadn't gone against the grain, no matter how foolish they were, such a large-scale escape would not have been possible.

One million people in East Prussia can testify that they left to escape, and Austria was only doing humanitarian relief.

Is there evidence for the "Russia-Austria deal"?There is a price to be paid for talking nonsense without evidence.

From beginning to end, the Vienna government did not show their faces.Those who organized the people to leave were businessmen from East Prussia, as well as the local church.

In Berlin, since receiving news from the East Prussian region, William I's face has never been better.

The Russians don't care about the population of East Prussia, because they have a lot of people, and these people are themselves a trouble for them.

After sending all the locals away, Alexander II can also use the land of East Prussia to award meritorious officials, which is simply killing multiple birds with one stone.

The Kingdom of Prussia is different. They have a small population, and East Prussia is the core area of ​​their painstaking management.If there is no population in East Prussia, they have no way to find people to fill them.

Except for the occupation of the two principalities of Schleswig-Holstein and the addition of some Germans, there are not many Germans in other areas.

Prime Minister Frank persuaded: "Your Majesty, the issue of East Prussia is still to be considered later. It is important to win the war now. At present, we are beyond our reach."

Prime Minister Frank is very accurate in seeing the problem. The population of East Prussia has disappeared, and the sequelae are very serious, but that is based on the premise of winning the war.

If this war is lost, it will not be their territory anyway, so these troubles will naturally disappear.

William I shook his head and said: "No, we must take action to delay the immigration of the Austrians. Otherwise, when our army passes by, the local area will become a blank land."

Fortunately, this war was provoked by the Junker nobles. Otherwise, the core area of ​​the Junker nobles would be lost, and William I would really have no way to explain it to them.

Now, what he did was nothing more than expressing his position and performing a political show for the Junker nobles to see.

Stopping Austrian immigration is a joke.From the beginning of the Russian occupation of East Prussia, immigration activities have already begun.

In the beginning, hundreds or thousands of people left, but now tens of thousands to 10,000+ people leave together.If you really plan to stop it, you don't have to wait until now.

It's just that William I knew very well that he couldn't stop it at all, and it might cause more trouble, so he chose to pretend to be confused.

Now that things are getting serious, the lid can no longer be covered, so I have to bring the problem to the surface.

……

The final result is of course no result. Apart from calling on the local people to resist immigration, they actually can't do anything.

Even this call may not necessarily reach the public.The Russians will not help them propagate. Once the people of the Prussian government enter East Prussia, they will face the Russians.

For the people in East Prussia, the Russian army has already made a decision for them.In order to speed up the pace of immigration, the Russian army organized a grain requisition team and began to go to rural households.

Different from just looting property before, this time it is completely to cut off the possibility of them staying.If you don't leave quickly, you will be hungry soon.

The large immigration operation continued until the end of September. Most of the population of East Prussia had arrived in Austrian Africa, and a small part was allocated to Southeast Asia and Central America.

Centralized placement does not exist, and Franz is not stupid, so how could he give them a chance to form a group?Of course, in name only to allow them to find jobs better.

After all, most of these immigrants are old and weak women and children, and it is not easy to find a job.If they are placed together, where are there so many jobs suitable for them?

It is easy to disperse, but difficult to gather.These immigrants are all over the world. After the war is over, it is estimated that many Prussian soldiers will embark on the journey of thousands of miles to find their relatives.

……

Schönbrunn Palace, looking at the collected data, Franz is very satisfied.According to incomplete statistics, during this war, Austria deceived about 80 immigrants from the Kingdom of Prussia, including 73 in East Prussia.

It was impossible to evacuate everything, there would always be diehards who didn't want to leave, and Franz never liked bullying.

Since he chose to stay, it's none of his business.Whether these people can survive this war depends on God's blessing.

The only regret is that the Danes lost too quickly, otherwise they could have fooled a large group of people from the Schleswig-Holstein Principalities to immigrate.

Now, what Austria lacks is no longer land and resources, but a high-quality population is what Austria needs most.

Franz wanted to unify the German region, mainly for the sake of population.Otherwise, the [-] square kilometers of land is not worthy of attention.

Especially the poor strategic location is even more prohibitive.If Austria is caught in the middle by France and Russia, then the North German region is caught in the middle by Britain, France, Russia and Austria.

It can be said that with the unification of the German region, Austria's national defense pressure will at least double, or even more.

At least the Mediterranean region does not need to face the British. Once the Suez Canal is opened, Austria's strategic environment can be further improved.

As for worrying about the British blockade, it is completely unfounded.It is impossible to block the Strait of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal at the same time unless the Royal Navy is fully deployed.

This is the 19th century, not the 21st century. It is simply a myth to deploy a fleet to block the coastline.

I dare not say anything else, Franz still has the confidence to raise a navy with half the strength of the Royal Navy.

As a land-power country, Franz dared to use the Navy Stud to fight a war that would hurt both sides. Would they dare to take the risk if it was the British?

Once the Royal Navy is seriously injured, how can they defend the vast colony?In the face of interests, European countries will not be polite to them.

This is also a factor of Franz's crazy immigration, just to worry that one day he will fight with a naval power, and the navy will not be able to guard the safety of the colony.

Then it's time for the army to go.A decent army can be formed in any important colony, who would dare to touch this nail?

From a strategic point of view, the stronger the strength, the harder it is to fight a war.Especially after all countries are made aware of the high cost of war, the possibility of war will be further reduced.

Farming is the kingly way these days, bullying the weak is all right.If you go shopping with a powerful country, even if you win the war, you will lose strategically.

This is the experience that Franz summed up. For details, you can refer to the Near East War and the ongoing Prussian War. The final victors are all fishermen watching the show.

Franz admitted that he was addicted to being a fisherman and didn't want to take the risk himself.This is not a bad thing, a good politician must learn to be a fisherman.

Chapter 81 The Turning Battle

After entering October, the Prussian-Prussian War has entered a new stage.Both sides fought hard again, the sky was dark and the blood flowed like a river.

In East Prussia, the Prussian army had the upper hand; in Poland, the Russian army overwhelmed the Prussian-Polish coalition.

Austria also sent military observers, looking at the intelligence collected from the battlefield, Franz secretly rejoiced.

Sure enough, there are no worthless soldiers under the prestigious name, the name of the Russian Empire's European overlord was earned, and the combat effectiveness of the Russian army is definitely in the forefront of the world in this era.

In the original time and space, the Russian Empire rushed all the way to the street, and was still feared by all countries, not just what the joke said - winter and vast territory.

The strategic advantage brought by geography is only useful when defending.War mainly depends on people, and geographical conditions are only auxiliary.