Chapter 264 Escape from Venice
The pier of Venice Port is crowded with people.
“Don’t crowd, don’t crowd, everyone should line up, register your information first, and then you can get your number plate to board the ship. People behind you should not jump in the queue or get in the way. We will all be here these days. Here, so don’t worry!” the staff of the East African Immigration Department stood on the top of the wooden box and shouted to the crowd.
As the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Italy, the fools in Venice who had not yet boarded the ship woke up from their dreams - war is coming!
In fact, after the smart people discovered that the Kingdom of Italy had sent more troops to Venice and Lombardy, they had already tried to find a way to escape from here.
According to the experience of previous years, most people with connections chose to flee to the hinterlands of Austria-Hungary and Italy, or simply seek refuge in France or Switzerland.
This year is different from previous years. The Kingdom of East Africa and the Hechingen Consortium have made arrangements in advance, and many ports in Italy have already parked ships bound for East Africa.
Ordinary people avoid war, which means they are unemployed. If they want to survive this period, they must either seek refuge with relatives and friends, or find another job in a peaceful place.
Among these people, the workers in the Venice area can be said to have some skills after all. But now that industrialization is accelerating in Europe, many places are short of workers. The unlucky ones are the farmers. Many of them will only farm in their lives. In the past, When the war breaks out, a few people have relatives abroad and can defect to the country, but most people can only stay where they are and be screened out by the war.
East Africa has been recruiting immigrants in Italy for some time, and the results are generally average, because Italian people go to more places, and there are a large number of Italian immigrants in North and South America. Now that the war has broken out, the people in the Venice area don’t care about the three I chose the ship to East Africa without any thought. In addition to being free, the most important thing is that Hechingen has the most immigrant ships here.
"What is your name? Where do you come from in Venice? Are there any relatives who follow you? What is your original occupation? Do you have any specialties?"
"Sir, my name is Thomas. I come from the village of Timostro, east of Venice. , I’m followed by my wife and two daughters. I’m just a farmer. If I’m good at fishing, does it count?”
“Of course!” the staff member replied.
Then he wrote in the occupation column: farmer part-time fisherman.
"This is your number plate. Take it and bring your family with you. When you come back here later, have you seen the yellow sign? Meet there and someone will take you on the boat. "Yes!" The staff handed Thomas a yellow sign with the number 3303 on it.
"Sir! Excuse me..."
"Don't ask now! If you have anything to do, go and tell the person leading the team. I'm only responsible for registration here, so hurry up! There are still many people queuing up behind you. !” the staff urged.
"Okay, sir, I'm sorry!" Thomas apologized, and had to turn around and pick up his family first with the number plate.
Thomas struggled to squeeze through the crowd, turned several corners, and finally saw his wife and daughter under a streetlight.
"Jenny, I'm back, I got the boat license, look at it!"
"Dear, there is only one sign, don't I and my child use it?"
"The person recruiting immigrants told me that you can go gather with your family with this sign, so one sign should be enough "
My wife took the sign and wanted to see if there were any logos on it, but there was only a bunch of German on it and she couldn't understand it.
“Maybe this is a sign for families. I saw that many people got signs with different colors from ours, but those who bring their families are all yellow.”
Thomas scratched his head and said, "Maybe that's it! I originally wanted to ask, but there were too many people, and the staff member was a little impatient. He said we can just ask the team leader after we gather at the designated place."
< br>
As he spoke, he pointed to the three-meter-high yellow sign erected on the pier. There were signs of other colors not far away.
"Mom and Dad, where are we going? There are many people here." Thomas's youngest daughter, little Jenny, asked.
Thomas knelt down and said to little Jenny: "We are going to a very distant place, and we have to take a big ship and pass through the sea. That place is called East Africa, and our home will be there from now on."
< br>“What about our previous home!” “The previous home is gone.”
"Why?"
"Because there..." Thomas didn't know how to describe to his daughter that the war was so cruel.
My wife Jenny came to the rescue at this time and said: "Because two bad guys broke into our previous home, it is no longer suitable for us to live there. We have to live in a new place."
"Then why doesn't Dad knock them down, so we don't have to change homes?"
Both the couple fell into silence.
...
“Don’t crowd, please be quiet!” Mars, an employee of the Venice Shipyard, began to maintain the order of those boarding the ship.
"Before boarding the ship, let me introduce myself. I am the person in charge of immigration on this ship. You can call me Mars. If you have any questions about the next voyage, you can ask me." Si said loudly in broken Italian.
"Before I want to warn you, the place you are about to go to is East Africa, a country with order and the rule of law, so some loose and idle people can get off the ship now and don't regret it again after arriving in East Africa. To be honest, public security is stricter than in Europe, and there is a lack of entertainment venues, no casinos, and pubs, so gamblers and drunkards can get off the boat now, and at the same time, East Africa is targeting It was not a free market before, and there was no cash transaction, so thieves and robbers could get off the ship early, and there was no room for you to play.”
Mars’s words worked, and several families withdrew, all of them. The childless couple seemed to be planning to "start a business" in East Africa, but Mars' words blocked their expectations of East Africa. They should go to the United States and Argentina!
After these people quit, no one quit.
At this time, a person asked in the crowd: "Mr. Mars, why do you describe East Africa as feeling like a prison?"
Mars said calmly: "East Africa is a prison." It is a country ruled by law, and the law serves the interests of the majority of people. At the same time, the enforcement of laws in East Africa is much stricter than in Europe. This environment is of course a good place for ordinary people, as long as you abide by the law, be honest and relatively It's natural to live a happy life if you work hard. We just don't welcome those who are idle, have poor control, or like to take 'shortcuts'."
"I don't care about these, I just want to know about us and our families. It doesn’t matter if I can have enough to eat when I get to East Africa, it won’t matter if it’s difficult or tiring.” Someone asked the question they were most concerned about.
“As long as you are willing to work, you can eat wherever you go. I can tell you clearly that East Africa is short of manpower, so you don’t have to worry about work. It just depends on whether you can accept it.”
"I would like to know what the main job is in East Africa?"
"Generally speaking, it is farming, which is similar to what many of you have done for generations. Of course, you can also sign up to join the army, and the military benefits will be better. If you have skills that are needed in East Africa, you can apply for corresponding jobs with the government.”
“Sir, you said before that there is no currency in East Africa. How can we deal with the cash we brought from Europe?”
"There are also banks in East Africa. You can deposit your money in it, or exchange it for East African-specific shopping vouchers, which can be used to purchase some daily necessities."
……
Mars answered some questions about immigrants in detail. Finally, Mars gave these people a last choice. If they feel that East Africa is not suitable for their families, they can disembark.
No one chose to quit this time. From Mars’ few words, these people obtained a lot of effective information. The most important thing is that the quality of life of most people in East Africa has not changed much from that in Europe. Compared with Europe, life is more monotonous, but it doesn't matter to them. The prosperity of Europe has nothing to do with these low-class people in the countryside.
The immigrants who passed the secondary screening were absorbed by the East African Kingdom. Afterwards, it was estimated that the Italian-Austrian War resulted in the exodus of about 300,000 more people from Italy than in previous years, 90% of which went to East Africa, including Venice. most.
(End of this chapter)