Author: Seven Years Period

Vienna, Schonbrunn Palace

Franz didn't know about the earth-shattering events happening in the far east, so he picked up a newspaper and read it carefully.

I soon found today's "fun". The plague broke out in London, and France promulgated an African version of the "Homestead Law." I don't know if it was stimulated by Austria.

The plague in London did not attract his attention at the time. In his subconscious, the plague was a medieval disease; after all, in the era when he lived, this disease had long gone away from people.

Moreover, the population of London at that time exceeded one million, and all kinds of terrible industrial wastewater, permeated chemical gases, and various unknown germs and microorganisms adulterated in food could be seen everywhere.

Of course there are curses from all over the world, such as Tasmanians, Irish and indigenous peoples in Africa and Asia and Oceania

Every year, Franz would see various outbreaks of epidemics in London on his desk, such as typhoid, cholera, plague, dysentery, etc., so he was already used to it.

Europeans at that time even generally believed that if the Arctic melted one day and the ancient viruses contained in it spread to the civilized world, it would not be surprising that only the British would survive in the end.

As for the French "Homestead Law", I had long expected it, because France had gone to any lengths to conquer Algeria.

Since the invasion of Algeria in 1830, they have never shown mercy. Let alone all-out war and conventional means of creating no-man's land, the French's brutal policy towards Algerian civilians is shocking.

They also established a local management system similar to the Baojia system, to the effect that if one person made a mistake, the entire village would be raised to heaven. Rebels and agitators were regularly executed in markets and town centers, and the punishment used was not the usual hanging in Europe, but the execution of owl leaders.

Bougueaud, the French governor in Algeria, described this behavior as "doing as the Romans do."

Since Algeria is relatively close to the French mainland, the Paris authorities have always wanted to immigrate from the mainland rather than assimilate and absorb. This idea has deeply harmed the Algerians.

But at that time, the French did not like to leave their homes, even if they were only separated by a sea.

Then the "smart" Bugeaud thought of a new way to close the brothels and encourage French soldiers to rape local women to increase the population.

The brutal behavior of the French shocked the journalists sent from the European continent. Franz's newspaper "Good Night, Vienna" also sent reporters.

Of course, since the relationship between the two countries is not so harmonious, most of the reporters sent there are employed Frenchmen or Austrians of French descent. This can avoid accidents as much as possible.

Although these reporters were surprised and angry, most of the reports they wrote were about how many people the French had killed today or recently, how many villages they had destroyed, how many women they had insulted, and they even invited civilized people like them to participate in this beastly act.

hunting feast.

However, this description is not shocking enough.

One set of data shows that after France invaded Algeria, the local population dropped from more than 4 million to 2.3 million, and the population was almost cut in half in less than 20 years.

At this time, the French colonists instituted the "Homestead Law" not only to attract immigrants and increase government revenue, but also to eliminate the Algerian people's will to resist.

Paris stipulated that Algeria's wasteland would be regarded as unclaimed land, and French settlers could purchase large tracts of land here at extremely low prices.

In fact, due to geographical climate, technological limitations, coupled with wars and massacres, much of Algeria's land remains fallow and undeveloped.

This wave of operations directly allowed the French government to obtain 70% of Algeria's land. At the same time, local Algerians who owned their own land had to report their names, properties, family information, and attitudes towards the rebels.

The French colonial authorities registered them and then announced their attitude toward the rebels outside each village. They even issued so-called "good citizen certificates" so that these people had to become lackeys of the French.

The Governor of Algeria, Bougueaud, dedicated so much land to his monarch, Louis Philippe, that the latter was so happy that he couldn't help but praise his love for the future, but the former only said it modestly.

"Algerians are too lazy. They don't deserve these lands. The glory belongs to France!"

Although the French have insufficient grain production, they still choose to use high-quality farmland to continue growing grapes. After all, the returns from growing grapes are much higher than growing grain.

In fact, because Europe as a whole is in a relatively peaceful rising period, people's consumption levels have actually increased, and France's high-quality red wine has always been in short supply.

But the high profits only belong to the French, and it is a disaster for the Algerians. A large number of grapes have been planted, causing local food prices to skyrocket.

This has produced a strange phenomenon, that is, the better the wine business, the harder the life of Algerians.

In other respects, the French colonial authorities were also very inappropriate. For example, when a European reporter asked about the atrocities committed by the French army against local women in Algeria, French officials shamelessly publicly condemned the Algerian women for being too "loose", especially the black veils on their faces.

, is completely a "hint".

So Governor Bugaoud asked local women to ban covering their faces with black gauze to avoid unnecessary body friction.

At the same time, the French also sold low-quality alcoholic beverages to Algeria, claiming that they were drinks and not wine. This behavior greatly damaged the local social atmosphere and increased the crime rate.

But this group of French pioneers didn't care about this. They only knew that their wallets were bulging. In the face of wealth, everything else was just a cloud.

In addition to Algeria, Morocco next door is not much better.

The French army adopted equally extreme measures when attacking Morocco. In fact, the King of Morocco took in Algerian refugees, which greatly aroused Bougueaud's anger.

This "loving father" of the Algerian people intends to let the Moroccans also feel his "love".

So he ordered the massacre of "Tlemcen". This city is an important border town between Morocco and Algeria, and it is also the base camp of the Algerian rebels.

In fact, the war between Morocco and France had been on and off before this, because the former had mastered the latter's "Achilles' heel", which was the British.

Abd al-Rahman (the Sultan of Morocco) bribed the British again and again to mediate between Morocco and France.

Before, the French were still busy with matters in Central America and Algeria. Now that they have finally freed up their hands, they will not let go of Morocco, the piece of fat that is brought to their lips.

At this time, the British Consul Lamond was also a real person. Seeing the resolute attitude of the French side, he rushed to the Moroccan Palace overnight to inform the French of their intentions and returned the bribe.

This greatly moved Abd Rahman, and what moved him even more was that the British consul planned to sell arms to him, and the price was naturally very touching.
Chapter completed!