In the early morning, sunlight gilded the earth, and the damp air still carried a trace of sweetness. Withered yellow trees began to put forth new buds, telling of spring's arrival.
Today was another fine day. After a simple breakfast, Franz opened a colonial development report and began his day's work.
Under normal circumstances, he would not concern himself with such details, but this time was somewhat special. The New Brook region had launched a major achievement last year, drawing the Vienna Government's attention.
For three consecutive years, the New Brook region's population birth rate had exceeded 5.1%. Aside from the Russian Bear, none of Europe's major powers could compare.
As an immigrant region, it was normal for the population to consist largely of people suited for childbearing, resulting in a higher birth rate. Yet maintaining this record for three straight years had caught Franz's attention.
This was an era of population explosion in Europe, and birth rates in every country were high.
The Russians were naturally Europe's champions. Based on the collected data, Austria's Population Bureau concluded that over the past decade or so, the Russian Bear's lowest recorded birth rate had been 4.92%, while its highest had reached 5.39%. For most of that time, it had exceeded 5.1%.
Fine, those figures simply could not be compared. The Russian Bear's birth rate was high because its death rate was equally high.
In this era, Russia's normal population death rate generally hovered around 3.6%, occasionally even surpassing 4.0%—also the European champion.
If Russia had the birth rate of an ordinary country, the Russian Empire would have run out of people long ago.
Looking at Europe as a whole, Austria's performance was also not bad. Its population birth rate remained around 4.1%, second only to the Russians.
But looking at the