Chapter 691 Opening up wasteland
Galicia in 1846 was actually one of the poorest provinces in the Austrian Empire. At this time, the Austrian Empire would not be in violation of any scapegoat placed on the local nobles.
The same was true in Galicia, where the local nobility still maintained the production model of the eighteenth century.
Agriculture is inefficient, industry is almost zero, and the mining industry is dominated by a few ancient families who have nothing to do with their lives.
Due to the lack of foreign immigrants, the entire region was like a backwater. Everyone was accustomed to poverty, while the nobles were accustomed to relative wealth.
The previous governor of Galicia was an outstanding military strategist, but he was extremely distrustful of the Galicians.
At the same time, as a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, the governor felt that his mission was to completely eliminate this terrible disaster.
So under the guidance of this idea, Prince Lorenz began to build fortresses in Galicia, demarcate no-man's land, and suppress and attack dangerous elements.
In order to facilitate control and prevent contact between dangerous elements, he divided Galicia into grids so that problems could be discovered and solved in the shortest possible time.
Although the railway built by Franz received his full support, the entire railway line was built along military fortresses, so its role in economic development was very limited.
However, the Free City of Krakow ushered in its second spring due to the construction of the railway. Factories were built one after another, and a large number of workers and businessmen poured in.
Coupled with its special geographical location and transcendent free city status, Krakow's development rate was terrifying, and it even once replaced Warsaw's position in Poland. At its peak, the population once reached nearly 300,000 people.
Although Count Stadion carried out a series of "effective" reforms after taking over as governor, he had no choice but to miss the best opportunity for development.
Coupled with the obsessive behavior of the local nobles and the ignorance of the serfs, these reforms did not bring much change.
It is precisely because of this that Franz is so confident that he can directly digest these one million refugees locally.
Just in the middle of the Dniester River that runs through Galicia, there is a large area of floodplain that has been barren for many years.
The local land prices are very low, but this does not mean that these lands are not fertile. On the contrary, this land that has been eroded by floods for many years has become a famous agricultural base in later generations.
It's just that in this era, the Galician nobles had almost zero ability to transform the land. In fact, even if they had the ability, they were not willing to pay the corresponding price.
In fact, even if they were willing, they could not afford the price. Historically, it was the Austro-Hungarian Empire that completed the regulation of the Transnistria River, thus opening up a large amount of farmland, which in turn led to the collapse of Galicia in the 30 years from 1880 to 1910. The population increased by 57%.
Franz's large-scale purchase of land not only did not cause any dissatisfaction among the local nobles, but also received considerable support.
In particular, those nobles who were still in contact with the Polish Restoration Army tried their best to promote this matter. After all, in their hearts, as long as they won the Restoration War, these lands would still be theirs.
And there is no point in having these uncultivated lands in your hands, especially in an era when livestock and firewood businesses are in decline.
The transaction was a hit, and the price per hectare of land was finally settled at 10 florins. Although this price was twice as expensive as the Hungarian land purchased by Franz, it was still much lower than the price of land in Netalegna.
In the end, Franz purchased 2 million hectares of land for 20 million florins, which was definitely considered a crazy move at the time.
The nobles and forces in the country have different opinions on this. Some people think it is a manifestation of kindness and royal responsibility, while others think it is a complete waste of money. People in other countries should be saved by the monarchs of other countries.
However, Franz didn't care what others thought or commented. He gathered the refugees who had been confirmed to have no signs of infection and went there.
In addition, the Transnistria River in Galicia has begun to build dams and regulate river channels. Ensuring safety is a top priority. The next step is to deal with those barren beaches and wastelands.
At this time, the heavy-duty tractors developed by Franz could finally be put to use. Although they had been repeatedly improved several times, the weight of these tractors was still more than ten tons.
In fact, these tractors were not called tractors in the Austrian Empire at this time, but full-coverage crawler locomotives.
In fact, this is a very local name, because at this time, the Austrian tractor was like a locomotive with tracks. There were two huge coal boxes on both sides of the steam, and a huge water tank, so that workers could pump water into it at any time. Add coal, add water.
Each of these giant steel monsters can pull 15 heavy plows at the same time and move at a speed of eight kilometers per hour. There is almost nothing that can stop these guys.
Normally, each heavy plow required two oxen or three strong draft horses to pull it. This time, the newly renovated steam tractor directly uses the configuration of a train, and its horsepower is greatly increased. If it is not for land reclamation and deep plowing, it can pull 26 heavy plows.
However, considering that this was land reclamation, stones, tree roots, and vines would all act as resistance, so Franz reduced the number of heavy plows to fifteen for the sake of safety.
Although there is help from the steel behemoth, the use of manpower is still indispensable. Rather than saying that it is indispensable, it is better to say that it requires a lot of manpower to do preliminary work.
People need to clear trees and large rocks from the ground first so that steam tractors can pass.
As one of the first refugees to pass inspection, Harry Zahn was assigned to the cleanup team. Compared with the "difficult" work of building dams and dredging rivers, he prefers to use shovels and picks to clear debris.
Harry Charn was originally a serf from Little Russia. What he was best at was clearing the weeds of the landowner's house.
But unfortunately, the original master resold him to a Jew. This was nothing. Although the tsarist government explicitly prohibited the sale of slaves alone, there were always smart people who would find a way.
At this time, Russian serfs and land could not be bought and sold separately, but they could be mortgaged, and then through a series of complex transactions, some serfs could be bought and sold.
Just like Harry Zahn was originally called Marlev, but after the deal was completed he became Harry Zahn.
Harry Zahn originally wanted to show off his farming skills in front of the new owner, but the Tsar's military police arrived before spring came.
The soldiers hanged the man and then dragged the mistress into the house. One soldier took a book and asked Harry Charne's name before driving him away.
Harry Charn was walking aimlessly on the road, but he was not alone. There were many people walking on the road like zombies on the endless road.
Some people were crying along the way, some were excited and shouted "Freedom!", but more people were silent, they had no purpose or ideas.