"How so?"
Though Bismarck's tone remained as indifferent as ever, it was impossible to say he had no interest. Bismarck wanted to know what magic those colonies possessed that could drive the Austrians so mad, and even more, what the other man could possibly say.
"I'd guess you've either just lost your job, lost your wallet, or been dumped by a woman. Brother, forget the past—forget those shackles!
Rotten old Europe can no longer contain your noble soul."
The man gave his hand a sharp flick and unfurled a poster, depicting a paradise like some pastoral idyll.
The land was fertile and vast; work was easy and leisurely; one worked at sunrise and rested at sunset; one lived close to nature, amid birdsong and fragrant blossoms; one spread the Gospel for God and opened new lands for the Empire, fulfilling a citizen's sacred duty.
The entire poster had been produced by professional designers and painters. Its workmanship was exquisite, its visual impact tremendous, and its slogans all the more enticing.
"In Vienna, you can struggle your whole life and at best earn yourself two or three rooms. But in the colonies, how much land you own depends entirely on how far you can go!"
"Well, brother? Tempted? Let me tell you, the girls in the colonies are all very open-minded. Even someone like you, with a knife scar on his face, can find himself a wife."
"Black women?"
Bismarck deeply disliked others slighting his scar of glory, but he still asked instinctively. After all, blacks were an unpresentable and sensitive subject within the German Confederation.
The reason it could not be brought into the open was, first and foremost, that there were no blacks within the German Confederation. Whether by geography or ethnicity, blacks did not belong to Germany.
The