Christmas Eve in 1868 was a memorable day, and this night opened a new era for mankind.

August is an ordinary Vienna citizen. He was overwhelmed with these changes in Vienna, as if he was in a dream.

Taking the children at home and looking at the bright street lights, this is the best gift for Christmas.

"Dad is this an electric light? Why is it so bright?"

When August heard his son’s question, he didn’t know where to start. There was no Internet in this era, and knowledge dissemination was entirely dependent on books.

Although August has a good education, his major is not suitable. As a doctor, he does not need to study electric lights, so he naturally cannot answer this question.

Not only him, but not many people in Vienna know why. Vienna is not an industrial city. It has studios engaged in research in this area, but there are no factories that produce such products.

Vienna is an inland city and capital, integrating the political center, financial center, cultural center, scientific research center, education center.

With so many titles, it is impossible to add an industrial center. Otherwise, the skyrocketing population will squeeze out this beautiful city and collapse.

Since Franz succeeded to the throne, Vienna's population has tripled in just twenty years and is still growing at a high speed at 8.

This is obviously not a natural growth. If the natural growth rate of population is so fast, then unifying the whole world is not a dream.

Even with the shutdown of factories, Vienna, as the capital of the two empires, still has a large influx of people every year.

Population growth is the driving force for urban development. To this day, Vienna has become the most prosperous and beautiful city in the world, no doubt about it.

Per capita income jumped to the top of the world, and neither Paris nor London could compare. Although their economy was also very developed, a large number of workers lowered the average.

This is also the reason why Vienna was the first to become a city that never sleeps. The income of the people of Vienna can already afford the lighting costs, while other cities can't afford it.

In this era, electricity bills are not cheap, as long as the middle class and the rich can enjoy it. The annual income of an ordinary worker is not enough for the money to open an account for the power company.

Since the breakthrough in large generator technology in 1866, Austrian power companies have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. If a city does not have a power company, then it must be a small city.

Nowadays, every city in Austria with a population of more than 100,000 has electricity companies settling down, and at least one branch.

As a new energy industry, the Vienna government has always supported it, and now is the golden period for power companies to capture land.

Unfortunately, the cost remains high and it has not been able to achieve universal access to the public. The biggest obstacle to the popularization of electricity is not the cost of power generation, but the cost of wires, or copper and rubber.

Even if the utilization rate is low, one kilogram of coal can generate one kilowatt-hour of electricity. Austrian coal is not valuable and is not picky about food in power generation, so any coal can be used.

The simple power generation cost does not exceed 5 Groshen per kilowatt-hour, but when it is transported to residents' homes, the price of electricity at one kilowatt-hour became 8 shillings, an increase of 159 times.

(1 shield 100 shillings 10000 Groshen)

There is no way, the number of users is not large, the cost of wires is high, and the amortization cost will naturally increase.

The most direct benefit of the development of new energy is that under the depression of the economic crisis, Austria's copper smelting industry and rubber industries grew against the market.

Many companies in the related industrial chain benefited from this, and at least a 500 million ASCH market was driven, contributing to Austria's economic recovery.

Touching his son's little head, August said lovingly: "I don't know about this problem, and my little scientist needs to study it myself."

The academic atmosphere in Vienna is still very strong, and scientists have a very high social status in Austria. Especially after Franz, an emperor who is keen to award scientists, he was even more sought after by all walks of life.

Of course, the title is not that easy to get, and there may not be a place every year. Franz is a realist. Before he saw the results, he would not pay attention to it even if he was blown away.

This is harmless and still cannot stop the enthusiasm of the people. August is no exception and always leads his son's interests to scientific research.

Obviously, the little guy didn't buy it so much. He shook his head and said, "No, the laboratory is too boring. How can I compare to galloping around the world? My ambition is to become a great soldier."

Looking at his son who was dancing, August could only accept this reality helplessly. It is not a top student, and it is too difficult to become a scientist. Being a soldier is also a good choice.

The German region's tradition is strong, and becoming an excellent soldier is the goal of most people.

Don't look at August as a doctor. In fact, he was also a soldier, but he has retired.

In the civilian military service system, basically every adult male will enter the army to serve. Men who have not served in the military service are vulnerable to discrimination in society.

Now Austria's service rate is still as high as 95, and the remaining five percent are naturally defective. Even if ordinary people cannot enter the regular army, they will enter the reserve service.

This is not just an obligation, but also a right of everyone. The legal definition is: every citizen has the right and obligation to defend the country, and the right to serve in the military is also one of the rights of citizens.

This is not Franz's pot, but the core decision of Austria's constitution: rights and obligations are equal.

Having not served in the military also means not fulfilling the rights and obligations of defending the country, and naturally losing political rights, including a series of social welfare.

There are not many social welfare now, and I can’t see how much impact it will have, so the future will be different.

Now the issues of unemployment assistance and pensions have been put on the agenda. Napoleon III set the stage, and Franz had to follow the trend.

Just like Austria was the first to formulate a labor protection law, it is now the standard for European countries, including the Russian Empire, which has a labor protection law.

In this regard, the European proletariat is still very powerful in fighting for its own rights and interests. Everyone is very active.

The delay has not been completed yet, mainly because of the burden on enterprises. To increase these two expenditures, taxes are naturally necessary, otherwise what will you pay if you don’t have money?

It is not surprising that Napoleon III would lose the throne. Most of the hats he held on his head in later generations were false. There is only one real reason: the capitalists have been suffering from Napoleon III for a long time.

Socialist emperors also come at a price, and are definitely not an understatement in history books. Whether it is the reconstruction of Paris or the improvement of working class welfare, these require money.

Although economic development can increase tax revenue, the accompanying expenditure also increases. When Napoleon III succeeded to the throne, France's fiscal deficit was as high as 1 billion francs.

Now, not only can we eliminate the expenses, but we can also spare no effort to pay benefits to workers. This money is not just a matter of printing money directly.

The problem can be seen from the tax changes before and after his ascension to the throne. The taxes paid by the large capitalists during the Orleans dynasty were less than one percent of the fiscal revenue, and now it has exceeded 30 percent of the fiscal revenue.

Whether it is unemployment assistance or retirement pension, these money are taken out of the pockets of capitalists.

Just by looking at the establishment of the two major central banks of France, "Land Credit Banks" and "Mobile Property Credit Banks", and the establishment of land banks in Paris and provinces, we can tell how much meat the financial capitalists have been cut.

I dare not forget the lessons of the past, and Franz is also doing the same thing, and even going further. However, the Austrian capitalists are not good at fighting power and are politically suppressed by the nobles.

In order to reduce pressure, Franz regularly recruits big capitalists. No matter how much power there is, these people become members of the ruling class and their class position changes.

It is impossible to take out the rights they have gained with their original bourgeois companions.

Capitalists and capitalists are naturally opposed to each other, and competition has caused this group to be divided. As long as monopoly consortiums are not allowed to appear, the group will not have the strength to fight against the government.

Christmas Eve in 1868 left a shocking scene for this era. The scene of "City Never Sleeping" that exists in science fiction has become a reality in Vienna.

Telegram is definitely one of the greatest inventions of the 19th century. Thanks to the efficient spread of telegrams, the news of "Vienna never sleeps" the next day seized the front page of European newspapers.

This Christmas, there is only one "city that never sleeps" in the eyes of European people.

Electric light lighting has long appeared in the European continent, but many people dare not think about it.

In fact, Vienna did not all light up, but street lights were installed, and many residents still had oil lamps in their homes.

The newspapers naturally would not explain these issues in detail, but would just mention them, making Europe take it for granted that electric light lighting has been popularized in Vienna.

It’s enough to watch the fun in a small country. Everyone has a good attitude. Vienna is the richest city in Europe, so it’s normal to become a city that never sleeps first.

It is different in the eyes of some people. For the British and French people of this era, this is unbearable.
Chapter completed!