Chapter 798: The Growing Peasant Class
Chapter 781 – The Growing Farmer Class
“Why is the budget so high?”
It wasn’t that Franz was making a fuss, the upfront investment for the Near East Development Program was as high as 200 million Shenduan, and if the overhead was calculated according to that, the original plan of 1 billion Shenduan wouldn’t have been able to complete the infrastructure construction at all.
Infrastructure can not get up, immigration is not in place, private capital will not naturally come over. Attracting the private capital influx, relying solely on the government to finance the development, the government of Vienna can be dragged bankrupt.
Prime Minister Felix explained: “The major wars have damaged the Near East too severely, beyond the government’s previous expectations.
The vast majority of cities are in ruins, and the cost of repairing many of them is higher than rebuilding them.
Mines, roads and bridges, and water facilities have all been destroyed in the fighting and must be rebuilt.
Most problematic is the complete loss of local production, and much of the raw material for the preconstruction has to be transported from the country.”
Franz was speechless, building a new city was nothing, but the vast Near East was more than a city could do?
To resettle immigrants, it was also impossible to keep everyone in the city, and it was agriculture, mines, and factories that could most easily take root and recover.
There are jobs to keep people. These days the tertiary industry, has not developed at all, the core pillar is still the primary industry.
Money must be invested, take the Ottoman Empire is to get a stable rear. If you don’t build, a blank rear is like what Alaska is to Russia.
After hesitating for a moment, Franz slowly said: “Announce the plan to the public, see if you can attract some investors.
If we can restore some of the local industries and reduce transportation from the mainland, the cost should be able to be pushed down a bit.”
Today’s times are different, now the government of Vienna, is not the year that can not wait for a Shield divided into two flowers of the poor pussy.
Even if the upfront budget was overspent by tens of millions, Franz was only slightly surprised. Increasing expenses by tens of millions of guilders is nothing more than issuing tens of millions of guilders more in bonds, and it’s not enough to talk about a financial crisis.
It was normal for there to be errors in the government’s previous budget. Everyone was sitting in the office, analyzing the battle report information coming from the front line and looking at the map for the made budget.
Now that the Near East has been taken over and first-hand information has been gathered, it is natural that there will be gaps when the budget is redone.
……
Army Minister Fislav handed over a document: ”Your Majesty, this is the list of officers and soldiers who have made war merit in the Near East War, as well as the Ministry of War’s disposition program on post-war retirement and casualty pensions.
In this war, the total number of officers and soldiers who have accumulated enough military merits to be knighted is 286, of which 71 are knighthood promotions.
After the war, a total of 286,000 officers and soldiers needed to be retired, of which 278,000 would be transferred to the reserve after retirement, requiring the payment of subsidies of 87,689,000 divine guilders.
The total number of killed and disabled soldiers in this war was 18,134, requiring the payment of 13,653,600,000 Shendian in pensions.
According to the local 2x military field reward standard, including the fallen soldiers, the total number of people who are eligible to apply for the military field is 66,424, and the total number of people who have part of the military field is eligible to make up for the difference in granting the field is 84,376.
According to the wishes of officers and soldiers or families of fallen soldiers, the number of officers and soldiers applying for military fields totaled 150,359, and the number of fields applied for was 11,764,800 hectares.
Because some of the officers and soldiers applied for the premium, this amount can basically offset the retirement allowance and casualty pension.”
Undoubtedly, the cannon fodder troops were not included in the statistics, or the number of disabled and killed in action could have increased tenfold.
In a country like Austria, war is the best chance to change one’s fate. A war in the Near East, and more than two hundred more lucky people came out on top.
Compared to knighthood, title promotion was actually more difficult, the previous step often required several times the military service, and the higher up the ladder, the more difficult it became.
But this was a minor problem, as was the case in any world, the higher up the road the narrower it became.
The military fields were as popular as ever, which put Franz’s hanging heart at ease. The Near East was full of unclaimed land anyway, and Franz didn’t mind spreading it all out.
The popularity of military fields was not only because these lands enjoyed favorable tax treatment, but also had a high social status attached to them.
As long as one was in a position to apply, no one would give it up. Although they could not be bought or sold, there was no problem at all in turning them over for rent.
The Near East was a bit more remote compared to the mainland, but the standard was also relaxed, and you could get double the area compensation, or even more if it was a mountainous area.
Compared to overseas colonies, this kind of area next to the mainland is still more popular. Not everyone likes to go far away, but it’s always good to be close to home.
Moreover, although the Ottoman Empire is a little bit barbaric, everyone still recognizes them, and their position in the mind is slightly higher than the poor countryside.
In this regard, it is still good to work for the Ottoman Emperor. There was both money and land to take.
As long as you don’t die, a few wars down the line, you’re a farm owner, and with a bit of luck, you can even directly reverse the trend and become a noble.
Even if the military service is not enough, as long as you have this, you can still apply for a grant of land, only the area is limited.
In the non-core territory area, are allowed everyone to buy part of the land at a low price, and also enjoy the treatment of military honor fields.
This is a special policy adopted by the Vienna government when it was in financial difficulties and Franz could not afford to pay pensions.
Originally, it should be canceled later, but the Austrian Empire is too inflated, has a large area of landlessness.
No development of the land is no value, only by the government’s power to develop is certainly not enough, Franz does not want to do that kind of big landowners with no real name, so this kind of policy is continued.
The addition of more than 100,000 new farmers, counting the family members 1,800,000 immigrants will be there. There are these first family as the ruling core, in the immigrants a few million over, the Near East is stable.
According to Austrian sociologists, farm owners are the best at creating people, and the best of them are even able to give birth to a soccer team.
Relatively favorable material conditions, low stress of life, and few recreational activities in the countryside, became the main force of population growth in Austria.
Against the background of the rise of the bourgeoisie throughout the world, the Austrian agrarian class also grew. The newborn military aristocracy injected new vitality into this class.
Austria’s perennial position as the world’s number one exporter of agricultural products, monopolizing three-quarters of the agricultural exports on the European market, in turn provided the material basis for the development and growth of the farm owners.
Franz did not pay attention to the problem of the growth of the farmer class, where the congenital ceiling was placed, constrained by land resources.
To be able to grow against the times, that was Austria’s acquisition of a large amount of land in the process of expansion. When these lands were developed, that was the upper limit of the farmer class.
Of course, as long as Austria does not decline, by virtue of the geopolitical advantage, continue to monopolize the European agricultural market, the farmer class is an important force.
Together with the political alliance formed with the nobility, it would still be no problem to suppress the bourgeoisie for a long time to come.
As the loyal supporters of the imperial power, these people can always carry a gun to the battlefield, is the country’s force to bear.
With these pillars in place, even if they can’t be suppressed, they can still overturn the table.
Theoretically, such a thing was impossible.
The Austrian bourgeoisie can’t stiffen its back, and in addition to the lack of force, the presence of state enterprises and royal consortia is an effective check.
Anyone who drifted away didn’t know the sky was the limit. Within the rules, Franz would be able to bankrupt him in minutes, and the consortium was no exception.
The capitalist world will be able to speak with capital, water, electricity, energy, transportation are stuck, even the most powerful capitalist can not pocket.
Unless you give up the real thing and specialize in finance, if that’s the case, you won’t be able to make it. The consortium is powerful because they have money, but also control a large number of people’s rice bowls.
Leaving these roots, money is just a number. Influence in society, it is very limited.
Receiving the document, roughly scanning through it, Franz: “First send out the cash, and the government will implement the work of granting fields as soon as possible.
Considering the special situation of the Near East, the area can be determined first, and the specific land distribution is put on hold. The relevant departments do a good job of explaining and explaining.
The knighthood ceremony for the nobility is scheduled for the day before Christmas. The cabinet is responsible for making arrangements for related matters.”
……
(End of chapter)