Time Spares No One

The turbulent international climate had not affected Austria's Near East development plan; all work was proceeding in an orderly fashion.

In the first quarter alone, the Vienna Government relocated 128,000 immigrants from the homeland to the Near East, nearly half of them newly risen military-merit farm owners.

Everyone was highly enthusiastic about developing their own land. If they had not feared remnants of the "Black Death," and if the government had not stopped them from going, they would have gone long ago.

After all, the earlier they began development, the earlier they could reap a harvest. Generally speaking, the earliest immigrants received preferential treatment and could choose their land in advance.

This was still the nineteenth century. The industrial-agricultural price gap was nowhere near as extreme as it would be in later generations, and the global shortage of food had not improved—especially in the Asia-Pacific Region, where food was at its scarcest.

Agriculture was still an industry with a "bright money road" ahead of it, especially against the backdrop of Europe's population explosion, as international grain prices began slowly climbing once more.

In fact, Austria, the world's largest exporter of agricultural products, was also its largest food importer.

This was the added market demand brought about by population growth. After domestic grain met domestic needs, the amount available for export had fallen sharply.

Under these circumstances, agricultural processing enterprises engaged in international trade had no choice but to import raw grain from overseas in order to ensure their orders could be delivered smoothly.

This situation had, in fact, already emerged during the Prusso-Russian War. At one point, the Vienna Government had prepared to lift restrictions on the colonies, allowing grain cultivation and exports across the African Continent.

But Franz stopped it after considering the political repercussions. Instead, they imported grain