Chapter 154 Death upon Death (Part 1)

The Austrian royal estate has an incomparable attraction for farmers, because entering the royal estate means exemption from all taxes.

As long as you pay enough royal grain, the rest is yours, as the saying goes, the more you work, the more you get.

The excess grain can be exchanged for money, and the housekeeper who comes to the city can help bring goods, or follow the housekeeper to the city to purchase, pretending to be rich.

Children can go to elementary school for free, and family members can receive free treatment. There is an independent chapel, and you can go hunting and picnic during the slack season.

Watching the sunrise and sunset, watching the children grow up day by day, enjoying the good years in the homemade armchair, until one day you die peacefully.

However, in fact, this is only the case after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, when the Austrian Empire maintained peace for decades with the Metternich system.

In the past, every time there was a war, the farmers in the royal estate had to serve in the military or pay for service.

Generally speaking, no one wants to die on the battlefield, so the money in the hands of farmers dare not spend it carelessly, and they all save it to pay for service.

Even those fanatics who admired the Habsburg family very much had to get themselves good equipment when they went to the battlefield. An excellent rifle made in a large blacksmith shop usually cost 100 to 200 florins, while mass-produced bulk goods only cost 20 to 30 florins.

Dagger, bayonet, ammunition box, kettle, matchbox, tent, blanket, raincoat, military boots, close-fitting chain mail, cross, wine bottle, sewing box, and a mule or horse.

Even so, the peasants in the royal estate still lived better and more dignified than the peasants outside.

After the royal estate announced that it would accept refugees, not only a large number of refugees tried to join, but also the poor and vagrants in the city tried to fish in troubled waters.

In order to avoid bringing some dregs of society into his estate, Franz could only add some restrictions, that is, women and children were given priority, after all, these people belonged to the vulnerable group.

At the same time, it was unrealistic to let these vulnerable groups participate in the reclamation, and these people were also the easiest to assimilate.

The laborers for land reclamation need to be strong and healthy. These people need to be treated with caution. Unlike the German immigrants who left their homes, they are more susceptible to radical ideas. Once these people riot, not only will Franz's efforts be in vain, but the royal family will also be discredited.

The remaining elderly people can only be sent to the poorhouse or let them do the lowest level of work, of course not city cleaners or excrement workers, there will still be a lot of people rushing to do this kind of work.

The only jobs left for the victims are: bone pickers, dog shit people, rag people, mud diggers, gutter people, river people, and shore people, which sound incredible.

The river people usually carry a 3-4 meter long wooden stick and search for valuable items in the mud on the river beach. They usually wear loose coats with very large pockets so that they can hold more scraps.

They are usually followed by one or two less strong companions, called mud diggers, who dig for garbage that others despise, such as coal, ropes, and relatively intact wood, at the feet of the river people.

The shore people wait by the river for someone to drown or a floating corpse to pass by, and then they have business. Usually there is no business for many days, but one business is often enough for them to eat for several months or even half a year.

The bone pickers collect the corpses of various animals in the city and surrounding areas, and the dog shit people target the feces of various animals.

Although Franz's approach cannot absorb all refugees immediately, it at least gives them hope.

Ajani also successfully penetrated the inside of the human traffickers, collected a lot of evidence, and also found out the biggest buyer, who was indeed the French.

The French asked for 3,000 Hungarian laborers in one go, and these people would be sent to the Port of Houston. Each living white slave can be sold for 800 francs, and female slaves can be sold for 1,200 francs. If they can speak French and English, they can increase the price.

At this time in the book, 1 US dollar is equal to 4 francs.

The Tsar was ecstatic when he learned that his neighbor was going to buy grain from his country and transport it to Hungary for sale, because he knew that this behavior would undoubtedly add fuel to the fire of the fragile internal relations of his ally.

As a neighbor, the Tsar was naturally very willing to see this result. As for the agreement with the Americans, he threw it behind his mind. Moreover, there was too much grain in his country to eat. Selling it to Austria could not only make a profit, but also weaken it by disrupting the other party's internal relations. Why not kill two birds with one stone?

Russian grain was transported to Budapest by ship on the Danube River, which made Hungarian profiteers completely lose their temper and could only sell grain frantically. Some people tried to introduce Russian grain into Vienna, but after adding tariffs, it became a loss-making business.

Some people tried to smash the place to scare off these outsiders, but after smashing it, they found that it was the royal family's industry. Not only would they be exiled, but their property would also be confiscated to compensate for the royal family's losses.

Of course, the Hungarians would not let Franz do such a thing. Letters reporting and condemning Franz were thrown into the Hofburg Palace like snowflakes.

Hofburg Palace, Hall of Mirrors.

"My stupid brother, look at what your son has done. How can he inherit this country in the future?"

"My poor brother, why do you think it was my son who did it, not me? He is just a child."

"My stupid brother, didn't you say he was a genius?"

"My poor brother, how can you believe what a fool says."

"." Ferdinand I was a little speechless, paused and continued, "My stupid brother, in this case, I have to put you under house arrest."

"My poor brother, how can I go hunting? You can't be so cruel to your brother!"

"My stupid brother, how about you forbid me to drink?"

"Then I'd better put you under house arrest."

The Hungarian "immigrants" boarded the so-called immigrant ship at the port of Trieste, but there were only four small boats for 3,000 people.

These ships are the most commonly used ships by slave traders. They are fast and have a large cargo capacity. Usually hundreds of people will be crowded on the deck. When it rains, they will be covered with a rubberized canvas. This simple cabin is also called a living hell.

However, those brainwashed Hungarian refugees would rather endure this humiliation and pain in order to reach the new world of their dreams and board the ship one after another.

Of course, Franz would not let them do so. After all, there were some big shots among them. They were just here to experience the suffering of the people, not to risk their lives.

So the Austrian Imperial Navy suddenly appeared and seized the ship on the grounds that the ship was overloaded. After that, the Hungarian government sent people to negotiate, and the Austrian Navy decided to send ships to help.

At first, the Hungarian government was still very happy, after all, this would save even the transportation costs.

After a month of drifting, the Hungarian victims finally arrived in Houston.

After the Austrian Imperial Navy left the shore, the French slave traders came to pick up the goods according to the agreement in the contract. Soon, the victims realized that the other party was not an intermediary at all, but a slave trader. What was even more terrifying was that they were sold and the money was not in their hands.