Chapter 16: Venice
The weather in Venice in December is a bit cold. In the early morning, there are few people coming and going on both sides of the river. 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 dream world.
Ernst was most interested in the arch bridges that occasionally appeared on the water, connecting the two banks. This reminded him of the small bridges and flowing water in the Jiangnan region in the literary works of his previous life. The arch bridges in Venice have their own unique flavor, but they also have something in common that resonates with people.
Sitting on the gondola, a unique boat in Venice, Ernst admired this ancient city that still retains a strong medieval style. The buildings on both sides of the river moved rapidly backwards as the boat moved forward.
These exquisite houses, closely leaning against each other and arranged in an orderly manner, together with the elegant and magnificent churches, the towering and mottled bell towers, the magnificent palaces... all tell of her former glory.
Venice in the Middle Ages has an extremely glorious history in Europe. Its unique geographical location and natural harbor have shaped the character of the city of Venice. The Venetians at that time were just like the Dutch today, full of desire and pursuit for wealth.
By monopolizing the maritime trade routes between the East and the West, the Venetians established a prosperous commercial republic along the Adriatic Sea. Goods from the East were transited in Venice, and Venetian merchants traveled all over Europe, and wealth flowed into their pockets.
The development of commercial trade led to the prosperity of the city of Venice. The wealthy Venetian merchants built churches and palaces one after another. Many of the buildings that 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 writers and painters used words and paintings to record the wealth and freedom of Venice. His contemporary Englishman Shakespeare also used Venice as the background to create popular classics such as "The Merchant of Venice".
However, since the beginning of the Age of Discovery in Europe, with the continuous opening of new shipping routes, the 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 lean camel is still bigger than a horse. The declining Venice could not escape the covetousness of ambitious people 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 has obviously not received enough attention. The competition for hegemony in Europe is the main direction of the Austrian Empire, and Venice is more like a buffer zone used by Austria for operation.
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 produced countless heroes and gave birth to countless cultural arts, but they were ultimately unable to withstand the progress of the times. When the wave of nationalism came, they did not change direction in time and finally fell apart, with all their successes and failures in vain.
Ernst believed that Austria had paid too much ineffective cost for its hegemony over the European continent. As a typical sandwich, Austria was feared by Britain, France and Russia. In comparison, although Prussia was ambitious, it could not restore the glory of the Holy Roman Empire because Austria was too large. The only way to get rid of Austria was to kick it out. Germany would not be complete without Austria.
If Austria completes the unification of Germany, a terrorist country will be created, stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, across the entire central Europe, and the whole of Europe will tremble.
Therefore, Britain, France and Russia would rather the Prussians implement the Little Germany plan than make any concessions to Austria.
If Austria joins the colonial enterprise with the goal of maintaining the balance of the European continent, it will definitely be much more comfortable than it is now, and sea outlets like Venice will also benefit from it.
It was also Austria's bad luck. If the Suez Canal had been opened ten years earlier, with the help of Austria's size and Venice's geographical location, Venice could not only restore its ancestral foundation, but at least develop into Austria's largest port city.
But history does not allow for ifs. 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 was more optimistic about Venice remaining within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. You must know that Italy is surrounded by the sea on three sides and has more than a hundred ports, while the Austro-Hungarian Empire will only have access to the Adriatic Sea in the future.
Italy also came at the right time. Just a few years after it recaptured Venice, the Suez Canal was opened to navigation, and the status of the Mediterranean became important again.
…
The Venice Martin Shipyard is now taken over by Ernst. It is a family shipyard with a long history. It has been poorly managed in recent years and has fallen into a loss-making situation. The heir Fortz Martin is looking for a buyer to take over, and Ernst invested in buying it.
As for Fortz Martin, he was going to use the money from selling the shipyard to invest in the textile industry. Martin had made a lot of money in the textile industry over the years and was about to increase his investment. However, the shipyard he owned had been in a loss-making state and was a definite negative asset, so he sold it to Ernst for cash.
Ernst planned to upgrade this place and expand the size of the dock so that he could form his own ocean-going merchant fleet after the Suez Canal was opened.
This family shipyard does not have any special advantages, but it has a long history, has a group of experienced shipbuilders, and occupies a fairly large area, which is above average in the Venice area.
This made it easier for Ernst to upgrade the shipyard. He planned to recruit some Austrian workers to work in the shipyard to buffer the number of Italians.
Of course, the plan was also to train a group of German workers to serve as technical and employee reserves for the future Hamburg branch. Ernst could not possibly trick a group of Italians into working in northern Germany, and the Austrians themselves were of the German ethnic group, so there would not be much psychological pressure in future personnel transfers, and it would be easy to do.
Since the shipyard had been acquired, it was naturally impossible to use the original name. As usual, when the Hechingen Shipyard was established, Ernst did not like to use people's names as the names of factories and companies, so he often used the place name Hechingen.
As for the shipyard's management personnel, in addition to continuing to employ the original management personnel, Ernst will transfer some capable people from Berlin to assist in management and supervision.
The small rural area of Hechingen, deep in the interior of Europe, unexpectedly has a shipyard by the sea, as well as a bank, a company and a research and development center in Berlin.
Hechingen's own property is theirs. This concept has already been formed in Ernst's mind. Influenced by Prince Constantine, Ernst took the initiative to become the spokesperson for Hechingen.
(End of this chapter)
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