Franz had truly poured no small amount of money into the Two Principalities. Beyond opening the granaries for relief grain, distributing improved seeds, and reforming cultivation techniques, the costs of building waterworks and roads were also enormous.
It was hard to imagine that even in the nineteenth century, the Two Principalities still lacked a single decent stone-paved highway. Even the capital was far from luxurious; wherever one looked, the air of the Middle Ages still lingered.
The Austrian Empire had ample experience with public works, so construction began directly during the slack farming season.
It solved the problem of vagrants, increased the locals' incomes, and even opened a passage for Austrian Empire goods to enter the region.
After all, without money, there was no way to buy anything.
The locals had no resistance to paper currency, mainly because they had barely ever laid hands on money before. Even now, they only knew that these colorful paper notes could be exchanged for money, which was why they treasured them beyond measure.
After Franz's series of measures, the locals' lives immediately underwent earthshaking changes.
After paying enough rent, everything left over was their own. With no more oppression from nobles and priests hanging over their heads, they stood noticeably straighter.
Mountain bandits and brigands gradually vanished under the Austrian army's suppression. Shops, schools, hospitals, and churches rose from the ground one after another. They felt they were living well; everything else no longer seemed so important.
Back in Vienna, fifty-nine-year-old John Kempen already had a head of white hair and a face weathered by hardship.
"You're not even sixty yet. This is exactly the right age to strive."
Franz was not wrong. The average age of senior bureaucrats in the Austrian Empire was nearly sixty; fifty-nine truly was not that old.
Franz,