Christmas Eve 1868 is a memorable day that ushered in a new era for mankind.

Auguste was an ordinary Viennese citizen, and he was overwhelmed by these changes in Vienna, as if in a dream.

Take the children at home and look at the bright street lamps, this is the best gift for Christmas.

"Father, is this an electric light, why is it so bright?"

Hearing his son's question, August didn't know where to start. In this era, there was no Internet, and knowledge was disseminated through books.

Although August's education is not low, his major is not right. As a doctor, he doesn't need to study electric lights, so naturally he can't answer this question.

Not only him, but not many people in Vienna know why. Vienna is not an industrial city, and there are studios engaged in this research, but there are no factories for such products.

Vienna is both an inland city and a capital city, a political, financial, cultural, scientific and educational center.

With so many titles, there is really no need to add another industrial center. Otherwise, the skyrocketing population can crush this beautiful city.

In just two decades since Franz took the throne, Vienna's population has tripled and is still growing at a rate of 8 percent.

This is obviously not natural growth, and if the natural rate of population growth is so fast, then it is not a dream to unify the whole world.

Even with the closure of the factories, Vienna, the capital of both empires, saw a large influx of people every year.

Population growth is the driving force of urban development, and today Vienna is one of the most prosperous and beautiful cities in the world.

Paris and London have the highest per capita incomes in the world, and although they are also economically developed, the large number of workers has pulled down the average.

That's why Vienna was the first city to become the city that never sleeps. Viennese people can afford lighting on an incomes that other cities can't.

In this era, electricity is not cheap, as long as the middle class and the wealthy can afford it. An average worker's annual income is not enough to open an account with a power company.

Since the breakthrough of large-scale generator technology in 1866, Austrian power companies have sprung up like mushrooms. If a city doesn't have an electric company, it must be a small city.

Every city in Austria with a population of more than 100,000 people now has a power company and at least one branch.

As a new energy industry, the Vienna government has always been supporting, and now is the golden age for power companies.

Unfortunately, the cost is still high, and it has not been able to achieve universal access. The biggest obstacle to the spread of electricity is not the cost of generating electricity, but the cost of wires, or copper and rubber.

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

The cost of generating electricity alone is no more than 5 groschen per kilowatt hour, but when it is delivered to a resident's home, the price of one kilowatt-hour of electricity becomes 8 shillings, a full 159-fold increase.

(1 dong = 100 shillings = 10,000 groschen)

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

The most direct benefit of the development of new energy is that the Austrian copper smelting and rubber industries are growing against the market in the face of the economic crisis.

Many companies in the relevant industrial chain have benefited from this, and at least 500 million Aegis markets have been driven, contributing to Austria's economic recovery.

Touching his son's little head, August said lovingly: "I don't know this problem, I need my little scientist to study it himself." ”

The academic atmosphere in Vienna is still very strong, and the social status of scientists in Austria is very high, especially after Franz, the emperor who is keen to give knights to scientists, he is sought after by all walks of life.

Of course, knighthoods are not so easy to get, and there may not be a quota every year. Franz was a realist, and he would not have paid attention to it until he saw the results, even if he blew them to the ground.

It doesn't hurt either, but it still can't stop the enthusiasm of the populace. August was no exception, always directing his son's interests to scientific research.

Obviously, the little guy didn't buy it that way, shook his head and said, "No, the lab is too boring." My ambition is to be a great soldier. ”

Looking at his dancing son, August could only reluctantly accept this reality. It's too difficult to become a scientist if you're not a top student, and it's also a good choice to become a soldier.

The tradition of the German region is strong, and being a good soldier is the goal of most people.

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

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

At present, the service rate in Austria is still as high as 95%, and the remaining 5% is naturally defective. Ordinary people, even if they cannot enter the regular army, will go into the reserves.

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

This is not Franz's pot, but what is determined by the core of Austria's constitution: the reciprocity of rights and duties.

Failure to serve in the military also means that you have not fulfilled your rights and obligations to defend the country, and you will naturally lose your political rights, including a series of social benefits.

There is not much social welfare now, and it is not clear how much impact it has, but the future will be different.

Now the issue of unemployment benefits and pensions has been put on the agenda. Napoleon III set a precedent, and Franz had to follow suit.

Just as Austria was the first to enact a labor protection law, it is now the standard for European countries, including the Russian Empire.

In this respect, the proletariat in Europe is still very strong. Everyone is very active in fighting for their own rights and interests.

The delay is mainly due to the burden on enterprises. To increase these two expenditures, it is naturally necessary to raise taxes, otherwise there is no money to pay?

It is not surprising that Napoleon III would lose the throne, and most of the hats that later generations put on his head are false, and there is only one real reason: the capitalists have suffered Napoleon III for a long time.

The socialist emperor also has a price, and it is definitely not an understatement in the history books. Whether it's rebuilding Paris or improving the welfare of the working class, these require money.

Economic development can certainly increase tax revenues, but it also increases expenditures. When Napoleon III succeeded to the throne, France had a fiscal deficit of 1 billion francs.

By now, not only has it smoothed out the expenses, but it has also been able to spare the resources to pay benefits to the workers, which is not just a matter of printing tickets.

The problem can be seen from the changes in taxation before and after his accession to the throne. The taxes paid by the big capitalists during the Orleans dynasty were less than 1 percent of the revenue, and now they are more than 30 percent.

Whether it's unemployment benefits or retirement pensions, the money is taken out of the pockets of the capitalists.

Just look at the establishment of the two major French central banks, the "Crédit de l'éco" and the "Crédit de chattel," as well as the establishment of the land bank in Paris and the provinces, to see how much meat he has cut the financial capitalists.

We can't forget that Franz is doing the same thing, and even further. It's just that the fighting power of the Austrian capitalists is not good, and politically they are suppressed by the aristocracy.

In order to reduce pressure, Franz is occasionally co-opting big capitalists. Regardless of the amount of power, these people become members of the ruling class, and the class position changes.

It is impossible for them to share their hard-earned rights with their former bourgeois companions.

The capitalists and the capitalists are naturally opposed to each other, and competition divides this group, and as long as monopoly consortia are not allowed to emerge, this group has no strength to confront the government.

……

Christmas Eve in 1868 left a shocking scene for this era, and the "city that never sleeps", a scene that exists in science fiction, became a reality in Vienna.

The telegraph was definitely one of the greatest inventions of the 19th century, and thanks to the efficient speed of telegraphy transmission, the next day the news "Vienna = the city that never sleeps" grabbed the front pages of European newspapers.

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

Electric lighting has long appeared on the European continent, but many people can't imagine lighting up a city.

In fact, Vienna is not all lit up, only street lights have been installed, and many residents still have oil lamps in their homes.

Naturally, the newspapers did not elaborate on these issues, but simply brushed them off, leading everyone in Europe to assume that Vienna had popularized electric lighting.

Just watch the excitement in a small country, everyone's mentality is good, Vienna is the richest city in Europe, and it is normal to be the first to become a city that never sleeps.

In the eyes of some people, it is different, and for the British and French people in this era, this is unbearable.

London