Holy Roman Empire

On the surface, this era is the era of the gold and silver standard, and the currency does not seem to have depreciated.

In fact, although social wealth is increasing, it is difficult for this increase to catch up with the speed of currency printing, and inflation is simply unavoidable.

Price stability is also relative, ten years is enough to change many things.On the cusp of the second industrial revolution, as long as the investment is right, it is not easy to make several times the profit.

There are too many projects involved in the industrial revolution, and it is impossible for Franz to take over all of them. At this time, venture capital companies can come out.

Although the concept of "venture capital" has not been proposed, it has actually always existed.The one who is familiar is Lu Buwei, and the strange goods can live is a successful venture capital investment.

In Europe, Spain also sponsored Columbus to discover the New World, thus opening the age of great exploration and establishing the first empire on which the sun never sets.

These are just successful cases, and there are many more failed cases.History books have told the world that venture capital is a high-risk investment.

Franz can bear the risk, and the cost of investing in emerging industries is very low in this era.Basically, it is to fund technology research and development, and then invest in the construction of factories after the results are obtained.

Even if the investment fails, as long as the harvest has relevant patented technology, the business will not be too bad.

Unfortunately, it is hard to find projects. This is the second industrial revolution, and there are not as many projects as later generations.Moreover, affected by the inconvenience of communication, it is difficult to achieve effective supervision.

After much hesitation, Franz abandoned his plan to establish a venture capital firm.There has never been a shortage of smart people in the world, and venture capital in this era does not exist, but they are all limited to a small area.

It is completely impossible for a venture capital firm to invest in hundreds of projects like later generations.The operating costs of an enterprise alone can overwhelm the company.

After all, the real economy is not the Internet, and it is impossible to get rich overnight. Before the profits are not seen, it is difficult to go public to collect money.

……

The actions of Wells Fargo Securities quickly attracted the attention of interested people.At first, everyone thought that Wells Fargo Securities was deliberately releasing good news, or that the Russia-Austria negotiations had turned around.

However, in September, the negotiations between the two countries were settled.The Russians would continue to pay their debts, but with a five-year delay.The collateral that was originally promised is now only honored in name.

For example: Mortgage tariffs, now part of the Russian tariff revenue will be used to repay debts.The specific amount is a bit touching, about 20 Aegis per month.

Adding up all kinds of collateral income, the total amount does not exceed 50 Aegis, which is less than one-sixth of the actual funds that need to be paid.

Naturally, liquidated damages did not exist. The tsarist government had no money, and it was considered a face to be able to repay the principal and part of the interest.

There is no way, the one who owes the debt is the uncle.The Vienna government can only charge as much as it wants, and the rest will be paid back slowly after the Tsarist government's finances return to normal!

There is only so much money in total, and of course the priority is to honor the policy loans guaranteed by the government.As for private loans, it is a pity that we can only wait for the future to consider.

Not to mention the bonds, it is impossible to discuss this issue after it expires, and it is impossible to pay it in advance, and the tsarist government is not good at talking.

Since you dare to think about the high interest they give, you must be prepared to lose your principal.When the Russo-Prussian War broke out, some financial experts issued warnings.

Although the Russians did not say that they would not pay back, everyone still knew very well that these bonds might be difficult to pay normally.

It is a false proposition that the Tsarist government's finances are improving.As long as the Russian bureaucracy is not purified and the problem of official administration is not resolved, the finances will never improve.

It is a hundred times more difficult than system reform to eradicate the administration of officials.No matter how the rules are formulated, people need to implement them. This is a loophole.

It is a good way to kill people to build prestige. Unfortunately, there is no tradition of killing nobles in Europe, and Alexander II did not have the courage to start a precedent.

Franz fiddled with the civil service examination system, which also failed to solve the corruption problem.Even bureaucrats of civilian origin are more ruthless in corruption.

It's just that this created the conditions for Franz to kill people and stand up.When the Anti-Corruption Bureau has something to do, it can often catch a few idiots to scare the chickens and monkeys, and set up a model to deter the bureaucracy.

After the comparison, when we deal with nobles and bureaucrats, everyone will not feel that the emperor is cruel.

Look at other people who committed crimes and were beheaded. The nobles only seized titles and went to prison for committing crimes.

What's more, this seizing of the title is only the end of the life-long nobles, and the hereditary titles of nobles will still be inherited by the second heir.

The reason was not a crime, but an insult to the honor of the nobility.That's right, European aristocratic culture also has requirements, and it is still a high standard.

It doesn't matter what you do in secret, anyone who violates the noble code of conduct on the surface will be criticized by everyone.

After many aristocratic bureaucrats were arrested for committing crimes, they couldn't bear the pressure of public opinion and directly chose to commit suicide.When people die, things will naturally pass.

Perhaps in the eyes of future generations, this is ridiculous. Anyway, you can't die. After spending a few years in prison, you can come out after the limelight and continue to live the life of an upper class. Why do you need to commit suicide?

But in this era when glory is higher than life, in order to maintain family glory, personal life is secondary.

Under external pressure, although corruption cannot be eradicated, at least they have been restrained.Few officials in Austria dared to do things like the tsarist government's direct embezzlement of public funds and blatant extortion of bribes.

This kind of operation is something that the Russians cannot learn.On the one hand, the aristocracy is too powerful, including the reform of Alexander II, which is also a national salvation movement initiated by the aristocratic class.

On the other hand, it is a question of popularization of knowledge.Compared with European countries, the literacy rate of Russians is generally low. Even if they take civil service examinations, there are not many civilian children.

Without enough quantity, how can it bring pressure to the noble bureaucrats?If there were only a few people, they probably would have been suppressed as soon as they entered the officialdom.

Compulsory education has been carried out for so many years. Even if only one percent of the population enters university, 3 to [-] people enter university in Austria every year, and this number can be magnified by more than ten times in middle school.

A large talent pool is Austria's biggest advantage.

Quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes. Many unknown existences in time and space have now become leaders of the era;

Facts have proved that the environment can really change a person.Franz is no longer superstitious about the celebrity effect, he believes that the effect of the butterfly effect is huge.

Before he came up with the results, in his eyes, the celebrities in the original time and space were not much different from ordinary people.

After all, scientific research is full of coincidences. Maybe if you change a day or a laboratory, the final outcome may change.

Even Austrian scientists who were born a little later may be killed by butterflies.This kind of thing is too common. As long as the original parents have an accident, or the time of intercourse changes, the sperm and eggs that are finally conceived will change.

Even with the same name, the person has actually changed.To do this, just one overtime, or a vacation is enough.

The celebrity development program was a fallacy from the very beginning.Instead of engaging in these uncertainties, it is better to carry out momentum.

As the number of talents increases, the number of geniuses naturally also increases.In fact, those who can go to college in this era are the elite of the elite.

If you are not capable enough, if you want to go to university, you can only pay to attend. If you are a late bloomer and finally pass the graduation examination, you can also get a diploma.

As far as Franz knows, there are currently a bunch of auditors in various universities in Austria.These people are not for graduation certificates, they just want to improve their abilities.

After all, those who can afford the money are all properly rich and powerful, and it doesn't matter whether they have that paper diploma or not.

Not everyone can afford the tuition fee of tens of thousands of Aegis, which is the price of a villa in Vienna.If it is converted to the 21st century, it will be several hundred million.

The Ministry of Education intends to increase the number of universities to provide a platform for these rich children to receive education.After all, these people are funders, they can charge high tuition fees, and they can make a lot of money every year.

Franz knew that it was only a matter of time before this kind of university appeared.It has never been difficult for rich people to get higher education.

If you don’t have it in China, can you still study abroad?It is not popular to study abroad in Austria now, because the quality of education in the country is already the top in the world, and it has a lot of network resources.

For many capitalists, sending their children to study is to accumulate personal connections and lay the foundation for future development.

If there are no such benefits, at least most of the cost of studying abroad can be saved. Why do they have to compete with domestic universities?

Take the University of Vienna as an example. For those who are formally admitted to the university, the sum of tuition fees for several years is only more than 1000 Aegis, and they can also apply for student loans.

And the auditor's fee was directly fired up to [-] Aegis, don't think it's too expensive, there are only [-] places in total, and the supply is completely in short supply.If it doesn't matter, you can't get it at all.

This price is not only the price of learning knowledge, but also the added value brought by the network of contacts.As the top university in Austria, it is worth the price.

There are more than 600 universities in Austria, large and small, and each university admits only [-] people each year, and the most is only [-] people.

Under the condition that the university does not expand its enrollment, this quota is naturally very precious.Unless it is really a relationship, otherwise, no matter how rich you are, you will only have one spot as an auditor.

As far as Franz knew, every year the children of great aristocrats entered the university through the back door, all in single digits, and most of the time there was none.

If the children of the great aristocrats have passed the family education but are still unable to enter the university, then there are only two situations: either they are not suitable for studying; or they are playboys.

Think about it, the teacher who gave you the question gives you lessons every day, and you won't be able to enter the university. What can you say?Not to mention 100% original questions, at least you have done every question type.With such a big advantage, there is really no way if you can't go ashore.

Since they are trash, for the sake of face, everyone will not put these children into the university to be ashamed.

It is easy to add a university, but does anyone really buy it?While entering university to accumulate personal connections, why don't parents have the heart to hope that their children will become successful?

And a school full of such people will be lowered in grade.Franz was very skeptical about how much knowledge he could learn besides the mixed diploma.

The reputation of auditors is indeed not good, but every year, some auditors achieve a counterattack and finally get their diplomas.

These successful cases are also a factor that drives everyone forward.

Accumulating a network of contacts, to put it bluntly, means getting in touch with people who are stronger than yourself. If you are surrounded by the same or lower level, this kind of relationship will not be so effective.

The grade has been lowered, but the cost cannot be lowered.Otherwise, the Ministry of Education will need to allocate funds to maintain the operation of the school. Franz might as well use the money to build a university to cultivate talents useful to society.

……

Chapter 26 South Africa rises

In the winter of 1869, the war-torn world suddenly became peaceful.In order to divert the domestic economic crisis, the aggressive wars launched by the major colonial empires all ended in this season.

There is a huge gap in strength between the warring parties. In the face of hot weapons, bloody courage is not worth mentioning at all.

If it weren't for everyone holding back each other, the war would end sooner.The pattern of the African continent after the war has become more obvious.

France occupied Egypt, settled Algeria, and carved up Tunisia with the British; Austria also completed its set goals, occupying Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania and other regions.

There is no doubt that the British are at a disadvantage in this round of competition.Although John Bull defeated Ethiopia and killed Aldo II, it still could not change their disadvantage in the competition for the African continent.

Killing an indigenous emperor does not mean that the British have occupied Ethiopia, and they cannot even rule in name.

Ethiopia, without the central government, has become fragmented, and the British are also troubled by warlords.

There are fearless internationalists who secretly support Ethiopia to fight them. The British also paid a heavy price for this two-year war.

A total of 13.6 troops were invested before and after, and the loss of personnel alone exceeded 3000. Nearly [-] of them stayed on the African continent permanently, and the military expenditure was an astronomical figure.

This casualty is only the loss of white soldiers in the statistics. The servant army is worthless, and their casualties are naturally not included in the statistics.

In any case, it was finally won, and the face of the British Empire was not lost this time.

The absolute gap in strength is not so easy to make up.No matter how much Fao helped, Ethiopia only caused a little trouble for the British.

Without the Anti-British Emperor Aldo II, Franz did not count on the remaining warlords.With the means of the British, it may not be long before they will break out of civil war.

That's not too bad, at least in the short term the British won't be able to loot much wealth from Ethiopia.

Strategically, the British increased their influence in the Gulf of Aden, but unfortunately the price they paid was a little too high. It is estimated that the anti-war forces of the London government have grown a little bit more.

According to the current structure of the African continent, Austria has become a general trend and occupies an absolute dominant position.The total area of ​​the colonies exceeds 300 million square kilometers, which is already half the size of the African continent.

If it’s just occupying land, it’s easy to handle, and everyone can look for another opportunity to grab it.The problem is that there are more than 800 million white immigrants living on this land.

The colonies of all countries have a common feature, that is, everyone has a gun, and anyone who can carry a gun can become a soldier.

If there is a fight, it is really uncertain who will grab who in the end.Unless Britain and France can invest millions of troops into the African continent, they will have a chance of winning.

Obviously this is impossible, the French simply did not dare to throw the main force on the African continent, otherwise their hometown would be in danger.

As for the British, not to mention an army of one million, even if the army is expanded to 50 million, the army and navy will start to do it first.

The Royal Navy will not let the army rob resources. For them, this is a disaster that is more terrible than Fao's total.

Austria did not continue to expand on the African continent. The main reason is that it is still eating and needs to digest the fruits of war.

There are still many hidden dangers in this vast land, threatening the rule of Austria, and clearing the place is the top priority.

If you can't stabilize the colonial society, how can you create wealth?A colony that cannot create wealth is a burden.

In this round of carve-up activities, the French also performed very well, closely following Austria.

If the French can achieve the set goals, their colonial area will also exceed 1000 million square kilometers.

Obviously, the European strategy has restrained a lot of energy of the French, and they are somewhat powerless in the African colonial expansion, otherwise Tunisia would not divide the British in half.

Now their actual control area is less than half of the plan.Regardless of the inland areas, there are also many areas in Austria that do not have actual control.

For example: Morocco has brought together the spheres of influence of Britain, France and Spain. How to drive Britain and Spain out is a difficult problem.

In any case, the nominal sphere of influence of the French is still not small, including Sudan, which was turned into a protectorate by Napoleon III.

Of course, this was only announced unilaterally by the Paris government and has not been recognized by the international community.The British also claimed to have signed a treaty with the Sudan, and directly regarded themselves as the suzerain.

These documents were basically signed by the colonists, and they might even be forged.Don't think about the integrity of the great powers, colonization has always been by force, and it doesn't matter whether there is a treaty or not.

This kind of fancy trick is just for self-decoration, to make one's eating look better, and it does not have much legal effect in itself.

Obviously, the Sudan region has become the focus of contention between Britain and France.

The French want to connect Sudan and Egypt, and it is best to occupy Ethiopia and Somalia to gain the dominance of colonial East Africa.

The British are vying for the Sudanese region, and at the same time they are also attracting the attention of Egypt, and the Suez Canal makes them even more coveted.

In short, the Sudan region is very important to Britain and France.Falling into the hands of the French, the British are likely to be squeezed out of East Africa and can only defend South Africa.

If it falls into the hands of the British, the British occupying the southeast corners will not only reverse their unfavorable strategy on the African continent, but may also further seize the Suez Canal and regain their dominant position in the Mediterranean.

This is an overt conspiracy. As long as Austria does not reach out indiscriminately, it will be a matter of time before Britain and France clash around the Sudanese region.

The African continent was temporarily stabilized, and the Mexican Civil War fell into a period of underestimation.After contracting the counter-insurgency mission, the French army quickly defeated the rebels.

A mob is just a mob. Without the Mexican government troops adding to the chaos, the French army has shown its true strength, which is simply beyond the reach of the rebels.