Chapter 16 Water City Venice

The weather in Venice in December is a bit deserted. In the early morning, there are few people on both sides of the river, and the water is covered with steaming mist. The Gothic-style buildings on both sides of the river are picturesque in the mist, as if they have entered a dreamlike world.

Ernst was most interested in the arch bridges that occasionally appeared on the water connecting the two sides of the river. This reminded him of the small bridges and flowing water in the Jiangnan region in previous literary works. The arch bridges in Venice had a unique flavor, but they also had similarities that resonated. .

Sitting on the "Gondola", a unique small boat in Venice, Ernst admired this ancient city that retained a strong medieval style. The buildings on both sides of the bank moved rapidly backwards as the boat moved forward.

These exquisite houses that are closely leaning together and arranged in an orderly manner, together with the elegant and magnificent churches, the towering and mottled bell towers, and the splendid palaces... all tell the story of her past glory.

Venice in the Middle Ages had an extremely glorious history in Europe. Its unique geographical location and excellent natural harbor shaped the character of the city. The Venetians at that time were as full of desire and pursuit of wealth as the Dutch are today.

By monopolizing the maritime trade routes between the East and the West, the Venetians established a prosperous commercial republic along the Adriatic Sea. Eastern goods were transited through Venice. Venetian merchants traveled all over Europe, and wealth flowed into the pockets of Venetian merchants.

The development of commerce and trade led to the prosperity of the city of Venice. Venetian merchants who became wealthy first built churches and palaces one after another. Many of the buildings Ernst saw can be traced back to that period.

Economic prosperity led to cultural prosperity, the rise of citizens, and the gathering of writers and artists, making Venice one of the important cultural centers in Europe.

A large number of literati and painters used words and paintings to record the wealth and freedom of Venice. The British contemporary Shakespeare also used Venice as the background to create popular classics such as The Merchant of Venice.

However, since the Age of Discovery began in Europe, with the continuous opening of new routes, changes in the world's major trade routes have accelerated the decline of port cities along the entire Mediterranean coast, and Venice is no exception.

A skinny camel is bigger than a horse. The declining Venice could not escape the covetousness of careerists and fell into the hands of France and the Austrian Empire.

Currently, as one of the many regions under the rule of the Austrian Empire, Venice has obviously not received enough attention. Continental hegemony is the main direction of the Austrian Empire. Venice is more like being used by Austria as a buffer zone to operate.

In fact, Ernst also felt sorry for the history of the Austrian Empire. All the efforts of the Habsburg family on the European continent for hundreds of years, which produced countless heroes and introduced countless cultures and arts, could not withstand the progress of the times. When the wave of nationalism came, it failed to change direction in time. In the end, it fell into pieces, and its success or failure turned into nothing.

Ernst believes that Austria has paid too many ineffective costs for European hegemony. As a typical sandwich biscuit, Austria is feared by Britain, France and Russia. In comparison, although Prussia is ambitious, Prussia cannot restore the glory of the HRE because Austria The country is too big and can only kick Austria out. Germany is not complete without Austria.

If Austria completes the reunification of Germany, it will create a terrorist country that stretches from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea and spans the entire central Europe, and the whole of Europe will tremble.

Therefore, Britain, France and Russia would rather the Prussians realize the Little Germany plan than give in half a step to Austria.

If Austria aims to maintain the balance of the European continent and joins the colonial enterprise, it will definitely be much more comfortable than it is now, and access to the sea like Venice can also benefit from it.

Austria is also unlucky. If the Suez Canal had been opened ten years earlier, with the help of Austria's size and Venice's geographical location, Venice would have developed into Austria's largest port city, not to mention restoring its ancestral foundations.

But history cannot tolerate what if, Venice will return to Italian hands in the future, and the Austrian Empire will become the Austro-Hungarian Empire until it collapses.

Rather than Venice returning to Italy, Ernst was more optimistic about Venice staying in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. You must know that Italy is surrounded by sea on three sides and has more than 100 ports, while the Austro-Hungarian Empire will only have access to the Adriatic Sea in the future. .

It was also a good time for Italy to catch up. Just a few years after retaking Venice, the Suez Canal was opened to navigation, and the status of the Mediterranean became important again.

…

Venice Martin Shipyard, now taken over by Ernst, is a family shipyard with a long history. It has been operating poorly in recent years and has fallen into a loss-making situation. The heir, Fortes Martin, is looking for a buyer to take over, and Ernst finances the purchase. Got off here.

As for Fords Martin, he wanted to use the money from selling the shipyard to join the textile industry. Martin had made a lot of money in the textile industry over the years and was about to increase investment. It happened that the shipyard in his hand had been in a state of loss. With the proper negative equity, he sold it to Ernst for cash.

Ernst plans to upgrade this place and expand the size of the dock so that he can set up his own ocean-going caravan after the Suez Canal is opened.

This family-owned shipyard does not have any special advantages, but it has a long history, has a group of experienced shipbuilders, and the land area is not small, which is above average in the Venice area.

This provided convenience for Ernst to upgrade the shipyard. Ernst planned to recruit some Austrian workers to work in the shipyard to buffer the number of Italians.

Of course, it is also planned to train a group of German workers to reserve technology and employees for the future Hamburg branch. It is impossible for Ernst to fool a group of Italians to work in the North German region, and the Austrians themselves are Germans, so future personnel transfers will also There is not much psychological pressure and it is easy to do.

Now that the shipyard has been acquired, it is naturally impossible to use the original name. The old rule is Hechingen Shipyard. Ernst does not like to use personal names as the names of factories and companies, so he often uses the place name Hechingen.

As for the management personnel of the shipyard, in addition to continuing to use the original management personnel, Ernst will transfer some capable personnel from Berlin to assist in management and supervision.

As a rural area deep in the interior of Europe, the small Hechingen unexpectedly owns a seaside shipyard, as well as a bank, a company and a research and development center in Berlin.

What belongs to Hechingen is our own. This concept has been finalized in Ernst's mind. Under the influence of Prince Constantine, Ernst independently became the spokesperson of Hechingen.