Holy Roman Empire

All benefits in the New Brook area are linked to having children, and the more children you have, the more benefits you get.

For example: Only parents who have given birth to children are eligible to receive unemployment benefits issued by the government. (There are no restrictions on those who have made contributions to the country, or those who have made significant contributions to society)

There is also a very humane regulation, one child is counted as one share, and parents with two children can receive two shares, and there is no cap on cumulative accumulation. (If one of the husband and wife is unemployed, a [-]% discount will be paid.)

This is just one of them. As an immigrant city, the housing in the New Brook area is provided by the municipal government, which is also one of the preferential conditions to encourage immigrants.

Anyway, the land is worthless, the main cost is the construction cost, and housing is not a big problem.The New Brook municipal government provides small houses, usually no more than fifty square meters.

As for the large houses, the government deliberately set a high price, which is almost on par with the housing prices in Vienna. In short, ordinary people cannot afford it.

Then a regulation was issued: Anyone who has three or more children can enjoy a house purchase discount, and each additional child will be given 40 square meters. For families with more than eight children, the government will provide free decoration and a set of furniture.

In addition to these, there are also a series of preferential policies, such as maternity leave and maternity subsidies. Although the money is not much, the local government still pays attention to it.

Even pensions have come out. Austria has pensions, but now only those who have contributed to the country are eligible to receive them.

The New Brook Municipal Government has expanded the scope of the benefits. As long as five children are born, and above are eligible to receive, this standard is still calculated according to the number of births, and one more child increases by 30.00%.

This one can be skipped. In this era, the average age is still hovering around 40 years old, and those who can live to 60 years old to receive pensions are rare.

Austria did not establish a pension insurance system, not because Franz did not pay attention to this issue, but because there was no need for it at all.

Those who can live to be over 60 years old usually have good family conditions. If they are poor and can't get rid of the pot, it is impossible to have such a long life span.

A series of birth-encouraging measures are very unharmonious for single dogs, DINK families, and families with few children.Unless they have made contributions to the country, these social benefits have nothing to do with them.

Franz even doubted whether this was the intrusion of traversers.Because of being frightened by the low birth rate of future generations, such extreme population stimulus measures were brought up.

Whatever it is, it works.As long as the people do not object, Franz will naturally have no objections.

Now that it has been implemented in the New Brook area and has achieved results, it means that the resistance of the people will not be too strong.

It makes a lot of sense for Austria to use limited funds to stimulate fertility and increase population growth.

If you continue to play like this, maybe Austria's birth rate will be able to counterattack Russia.

Franz is very skeptical that if this policy becomes a national policy, will European countries follow suit? If everyone does this, the world will not be ruined?

Soon he dispelled this worry, and if he was born, he had to be able to support him.There are so many families with five or six children in this era, how much they can support is a problem.

Pregnancy is usually uncontrolled without a condom.The birth rate in all countries is very high, and the rate of abandoned babies is also very high.

At this time, Franz suddenly discovered that the compulsory education in Austria has also stimulated population growth. After all, the school manages meals during the compulsory education stage, which saves family expenses.

This is a surprise. The school decided to manage meals at the beginning to encourage parents to send their children to school. For this reason, students still have to rely on sand table learning for a long time.

It was not until 1860 that all students could be guaranteed textbooks.Since last year, I have been able to receive free exercise books.

Austria plays the poorest compulsory education, and it is estimated that it will be touted by many literati in the future.After all, there are stories that can be passed down.

Even now, the sand table is not lost.After all, paper is still very expensive now, and the homework books issued by the school still cannot meet the demand.

Franz immediately decided to pass on this meaningful sand table.Whether to make a show and let the sons use it is a question worth thinking about.

In the end, he decided to save face. This is so fake, no one will believe it if it spreads out, and most of them will be laughed at.

Franz was not prepared to promote this perverted population stimulus plan by himself, and handed it over to the Prime Minister directly.

A good emperor cannot take over the cabinet job. Anyway, the prime minister is about to retire, and it is time to implement this job before leaving.

Otherwise, it would be hard to say whether a newcomer would come up and his prestige would not be enough to withstand the pressure and promote this plan.It is inevitable to be scolded, at least the liberals will spray the government with blood.

Chapter 32 Adapting to Local Conditions

Looking at the gray-haired old prime minister, Franz hesitated in his heart, and asked himself, "Is it really good to do this?"

He quickly dispelled this idea, and there is no room for indecision in politics.Besides, Prime Minister Felix still looks very energetic and handles government affairs with ease.

Nostalgic Franz doesn't like frequent replacements. Except for those who leave early for health reasons, the rest of the cabinet members have worked for more than 20 years.

The stability of the top level ensures the continuity of the policy to the greatest extent.Austria has been able to maintain rapid development in recent years, and they are all heroes.

As for the master of high meritorious service, worrying about the expansion of the cabinet is something only a mediocre king needs to consider, and Franz is not worried at all.

As long as it is done properly, it is possible to turn the "high meritorious master" into a good story about "sage kings and wise men". Most of the time, famous officials set off the famous king.

To guide the public opinion a little bit, the credit of the courtiers is all the emperor's knowledge and good use, and there is no need to compete with his subordinates for credit.Unless the position is not right, you need to worry every day.

In this regard, Western emperors are much happier, and don't have to worry about their subordinates rebelling every day when they grow up.Legal consciousness has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and now it is popular to look at bloodlines, which is not a world where princes and generals have relatives.

Of course, the Revolutionary Party is an exception. They are rebel professionals and cannot be generalized.

The information has already been passed on to the cabinet members. Over the years, Franz has developed a tacit understanding with them. What the emperor wants to do is to charge the cabinet.

Everyone who has doubts will discuss it secretly in the palace first, and only after the results of the discussion will they raise it in the government.In addition to the responsibility of the problem cabinet, Franz is responsible for the aftermath.

After reading the information, Prime Minister Felix objected: "Your Majesty, there is no problem with encouraging births, but we have to consider the actual situation.

Judging from the current average income of the domestic people, in theory, it is not a big problem for a couple to support five or six children.But in fact, for some people, it is still very stressful.

Especially for the working class, once they have children, it is difficult for the couple to go to work together, which reduces their income and increases family pressure.

At present, the areas with declining birth rates in China are all cities with rapid industrial development.Due to the pressure of life, many working families dare not raise children.

If we want to increase the birth rate, we must first solve this problem.Otherwise, with the development of the times, the number of workers will increase, and it will be more difficult to deal with. "

The poorest people in Austria now are the working class. Perhaps their income is comparable to that of farmers, but their living standards are far from comparable.

After all, housing expenses and daily living expenses consume a large part of their wealth.

On the contrary, farmers feel more at ease. With the opening of colonies, domestic land conflicts have been completely resolved, the per capita land area has increased greatly, and their income has also increased.

Most of the families have already repaid the land ransom in advance, and now is the most prosperous stage for farmers.But Franz knew that such a good time would not last long.

With the development of productivity, the scissors gap between industry and agriculture will become larger and larger, and these advantages will soon be offset.

Now it's just that there are few industrial products, and everyone's demand is also small.The income on the land is enough for daily expenses, but as people's needs increase, the money is not enough.

It is too difficult to increase the income on the land. In fact, the income on the land is still in a state of continuous decline.

Just look at the tsarist government who worked hard on farming. In a few years, the Russians will return to the grain market again, and a large amount of grain from Russia will hit the market.

Changes in supply and demand will directly affect grain prices in the international market, which in turn will affect the income of Austrian farmers.

Franz has been doing the work of planning for a rainy day.Increasing internal consumption is the most effective way, and the policy of encouraging births is the most favorable measure.As the population increases, food consumption naturally increases.

Franz asked directly, "What's the Prime Minister's plan?"

From what he knew of Prime Minister Felix, since a problem was raised, a solution was prepared.

Prime Minister Felix replied: "Your Majesty, it is actually not difficult to solve this problem, but the financial pressure will be a bit heavy.

Prior to this, we have introduced relevant laws, for example: the legal situation mandates paid maternity leave and prohibits dismissal, but these are just a drop in the bucket.

After the baby is born, it still needs to be taken care of. During this period, the female workers cannot go to work normally. Usually, after the paid leave, they will be suspended by the company.

It's okay to have parents to help take care of them, but these are a minority, and most of them are couples who take care of their children.

That being the case, it is better to simply let the wife go home and take care of the children.Part of the government subsidy relieves their living pressure. "

This is very German. Later generations of Germany also encouraged their wives to take care of their children at home. I did not expect this kind of concept to exist in this era.

This concept is not advanced, but a practical need. Babies cannot be separated from human care, otherwise the little one will starve to death after working overtime.For fertility activists, that's effectively unemployment.

Franz has no problem with distributing subsidies, the wool comes from the sheep.Now that companies have undertaken paid maternity leave, it can also be replaced by taxation.

Paid maternity leave can be completely abolished, and maternity subsidies can be directly issued by the government.The part of the insufficient tax revenue will be borne by the government.

As for the reduction of the labor force, Franz was not worried at all.The impact of this is really not big. In this era, male workers are still the main workers, and the number of female workers in Austria does not exceed 200 million.

Can't so many people have children at the same time?If it was, Franz didn't mind either.This subsidy is not long-term, but limited to a period of time.

After thinking about it, Franz said: "There is no problem in distributing the subsidy. There is still time for the subsidy standard. The cabinet will determine it as soon as possible."

Originally, Franz was preparing to leaven the flour, which was economical and affordable.The monthly subsidy is 20kg, which has been distributed for 5 years, and the words are taken back.

In terms of cost, it is the cheapest to distribute flour directly.As a major food producing country, the price of food in Austria has always been low.

If the government supplies flour uniformly and subsidizes 20 kg per person per month, the cost can be controlled within 25 shillings, and the subsidy per person per year will not exceed 3 Aegis.

The purchasing power of Aegis is so strong. 1 Aegis is about 3.66 grams of gold. If the purchasing power is not strong, there will be problems.This is because chemical fertilizers have not been born, otherwise the price of food would not have been so high.

Based on this figure, the five-year childcare subsidy is only 15 Aegis.Using 15 Aegis to increase a population is very cost-effective no matter how you look at it.

Things are not that simple, doing so will cause a series of effects.For example: the price of flour in the market will be affected.

The bread made of 20 kilograms of flour plus ingredients is enough for a couple to eat for a month, and everyone does not just eat bread.

Since enough is enough, there is no need to buy any more.The business of selling flour has dwindled, and the business of selling bread has shrunk.

Don't look at it as seemingly inconspicuous, but the market economy affects the whole body, and these changes will also affect other industries. Franz is not sure what the consequences will be in the end.

Breaking the economic cycle system rashly will definitely do more harm than good to a country.It was originally intended to save money, but as a result, fiscal expenditures were saved, and fiscal revenue was also reduced.

This account must be calculated carefully, and Franz naturally would not take it for granted.If the amount of tax reduction caused by this exceeds the cost savings, wouldn't it be a big loss?

Chancellor of the Exchequer Carl proposed: "Your Majesty, it is best for the local government to formulate specific policies, and we only need to guide them.

The situation in each region is different, and there is no uniform standard.For example: in Vienna we cannot reward housing, otherwise the population of the city would explode within a few years. "

Soon Franz realized that it was indeed not possible to cut across the board.These measures can only be used as a reference. The conditions that the colonies can provide cannot be achieved in many places in the mainland.

Take Vienna as an example. If you follow the example of Neue Bruck, the biggest problem is not the population explosion of the city, but the financial bankruptcy of the government.

Unless Franz, a big landlord, releases an unlimited amount of land to suppress housing prices.Otherwise, according to the current price, each square meter is more than 20 Aegis, and 40 square meters is 800 Aegis. It is difficult for the Vienna government not to go bankrupt.

It is unrealistic to suppress housing prices, and Vienna is a special case.The name of the city that never sleeps has brought a brand effect.Unlimited land supply is even more nonsense, and if the infrastructure cannot keep up, it will be a disaster.

Another example: urban-rural differences, geographical differences, income differences, these issues need to be considered.If something goes wrong, it won't end well.

It is much better to let the local government formulate policies according to the actual situation.Different regions give different incentives, which is most in line with the actual situation.

Anyway, it is related to political achievements, so I am not afraid that the bureaucrats will not work hard.Those who can't do a good job should be replaced by those who can do a good job. There is no shortage of officials in Austria now.

In this way, the cabinet has changed from an executor to a supervisor, without even responsibilities.Even if the people are dissatisfied, they only catch the local government and scold them.

After all, the standards are different in different places, which is enough to prove that the central government's intentions are good. The problem is that the local governments have made mistakes in implementing them.

It is conceivable that in the future, there must be high subsidy standards in rich places and low subsidy standards in poor places.

And the birth rate just happened to lose its position. The birth rate in economically developed areas is low, and the poorer the place, the higher the birth rate.

……

While Franz was working hard to increase the population, a meeting on the re-division of European regions was also going on in the Vienna International Hotel.

What was unexpected was that the foreign ministers of Britain and France were present at this low-level international meeting.As the host, Austrian Foreign Minister Weisenberg can only preside over the meeting himself.

The foreign ministers of the three major countries gathered together, and the level of the meeting was suddenly raised, embarrassing the representatives of the countries who came to make soy sauce.

Diplomacy also pays attention to the principle of reciprocity. If your status is too low, you will not have the confidence to speak.In addition, small countries have no confidence in international diplomacy, and the right to speak has been compressed even more.

Fortunately, it is only the division of European regions. In the final analysis, it is a matter of appellation, and the big deal is to change to a geographical term.

We first determined that geographic terms do not represent jurisprudence, and signed an international convention.Without affecting the actual interests of everyone, the meeting went on very happily.

The host Weisenberg was very satisfied. Just when he was about to announce the successful conclusion of the meeting, a staff member hurried over and whispered in his ear.

Wesenberg, who was originally smiling, suddenly became gloomy.The person who broke the scene came, if he hadn't taken into account that there were too many representatives present, he would have exploded on the spot.

The international conference just confirmed that the Lombardy and Venetian regions belong to the German region, and now the Italians are protesting outside.

The news leaked out so quickly, obviously it was well prepared.Especially when this kind of thing happened under the nose of Austria, the Vienna government fell directly into a passive position.

……

Chapter 33 Alliance or not?

Under the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, more than a hundred people gathered, took out the slogans they had prepared, and shouted: "Protest", "Protest"...

There were still journalists from various European countries waiting for the results of the meeting in the building, and at this time they all watched the excitement.Photographers are busy adjusting their cameras, preparing to record this historical scene.

Without any hesitation, Weisenberg immediately ordered the suppression.After receiving the name, the police who heard the news rushed forward with batons and dealt with the demonstrators as quickly as possible.

The protesters are gone, and Austria has lost all face.This premeditated demonstration made the international meeting awkward.

Italian protests did not affect the outcome of the conference.Under the condition that France and Austria had the same position, the General Assembly quickly passed a new international law that divides regions based on cultural traditions.

To some extent, this law is also beneficial to the British.They can use this as a basis to bring the English-speaking area into their sphere of influence.

The great powers usually don't shame much.Even for this international agreement, there are still many versions of interpretations, which are intentionally left loopholes.

When needed, it can be interpreted according to the aspect that is most in line with its own interests, so as to obtain the greatest benefits.