African Entrepreneurship Records

  Chapter 16 Water City Venice

  The weather in Venice in December is a little cold. In the early morning, there are few people on both sides of the river, and the water is covered with steaming mist. The Gothic buildings on both sides of the river are picturesque in the mist, as if entering a dreamlike world.

What Ernst is most interested in is the arch bridge that occasionally appears on the water and connects the two banks. This reminds him of the small bridges and flowing water in the Jiangnan area in previous literary works. The arch bridge in Venice has a unique flavor, but there are also similarities that resonate .

  Sitting on the unique boat "Gondola" in Venice, Ernst admired this ancient city that retains a strong medieval style, and the buildings on both sides of the river moved back quickly as the boat moved.

  These exquisite houses that are close together and arranged in an orderly manner, together with the elegant and magnificent church, the towering and mottled bell tower, and the resplendent palace...all tell of her former glory.

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

  By monopolizing the east-west maritime trade routes, along the Adriatic Sea, the Venetians established a prosperous commercial republic, goods from the East were transferred in Venice, Venetian merchants traveled all over Europe, and wealth flowed into the pockets of Venetian merchants.

  The development of commercial trade has created the prosperity of the city of Venice. The Venetian merchants who got rich first built churches and palaces one after another. Many of the buildings Ernst saw can be traced back to that period.

  The prosperity of the economy drives the prosperity of culture, the rise of citizens, and the gathering of writers and artists, Venice has become 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 contemporary Englishman Shakespeare also used Venice as the background to create such popular classics as "The Merchant of Venice".

  However, since the era of great navigation in Europe, with the continuous opening of new routes, changes in the world's major trade routes have accelerated the decline of the entire Mediterranean port city, and Venice is no exception.

  The skinny camel was bigger than the horse, and the declining Venice could not escape the coveted ambitions, and fell into the hands of France and the Austrian Empire successively.

  At present, as one of the many regions under the rule of the Austrian Empire, Venice obviously does not receive enough attention. Continental hegemony is the main direction of the Austrian Empire, and Venice is more like being used by Austria as a buffer zone for business.

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 have produced endless heroes and countless cultures and arts. After all, they cannot withstand the progress of the times. When the wave of nationalism came, it did not change its direction in time, and in the end it fell apart, and the success or failure of right and wrong was turned around.

Ernst believes that Austria has paid too much ineffective cost for European hegemony. As a typical sandwich biscuit, Austria is feared by Britain, France and Russia. In contrast, although Prussia is ambitious, Prussia cannot restore the glory of Shinra, because Austria Germany is too big to kick Austria out, and Germany is not complete without Austria.

  If Austria completes the unification of Germany, it will produce a terrorist country that traverses the entire central part of Europe from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and the whole of Europe will tremble.

  So Britain, France and Russia would rather the Prussians realize the Little Germany plan than give in to Austria.

   And if Austria aims to maintain the balance of the European continent and joins the colonial cause, it must be much more comfortable than it is now, and the sea passage like Venice can also benefit from it.

  It is also unlucky for Austria. If the Suez Canal was opened ten years earlier, with the help of Austria's size and Venice's geographical location, Venice can at least develop into the largest port city in Austria, not to mention restoring the foundation of its ancestors.

  However, history does not allow it. In the future, Venice will return to Italy, and the Austrian Empire will become the Austro-Hungarian Empire until its collapse.

Compared with Venice returning to Italy, Ernst is more optimistic about Venice staying in the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. You must know that Italy is surrounded by the sea on three sides, and there are more than 100 ports. In the future, the Austro-Hungarian Empire will only have one side of the Adriatic Sea. .

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

  …

Venice Martin Shipyard, Ernst has now taken over here. This is a family shipyard with a long history. In recent years, it has been operating poorly and has fallen into a loss situation. The heir, Fortes Martin, is looking for a buyer to take over. down here.

As for Fords Martin, he will take the money from selling the shipyard to join the textile industry. Martin has made a lot of money in the textile industry over the years and is about to increase investment. It just so happens that the shipyard in his hand has been in a state of loss. The proper negative equity was sold to Ernst for cash.

   Ernst plans to upgrade here, expand the size of the dock, and wait until the opening of the Suez Canal to form his own ocean-going caravan.

  This family shipyard has no special advantages, but it has been around for a long time and has a group of experienced shipbuilders. The land area is not small, and it is above average in the Venice area.

   This made it easier 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 intended to train a group of German workers to prepare technology and staff for the Hamburg branch in the future. It is impossible for Ernst to fool a group of Italians to work in the North German region, and the Austrians themselves are a German nation. Not too much psychological pressure, handy.

  Now that the shipyard has been acquired, it is naturally impossible to use the original name. The old rules, the Hexingen shipyard was released. Ernst does not like to use the names of people as the names of factories and companies, so he often uses the place name Hexingen.

  As for the management personnel of the shipyard, in addition to continuing to employ the original management personnel, Ernst will transfer some go-getters from Berlin to assist in management and supervision.

  As a rural area deep in the interior of Europe, the small Hechingen accidentally owns a seaside shipyard, and at the same time owns a bank, a company and a research and development center in Berlin.

  What is in Hexingen is our own. This concept has been finalized in Ernst’s mind. Influenced by Prince Constantine, Ernst independently became the spokesperson of Hexingen.

  (end of this chapter)