Chapter 266: A Year Goes By

A year had passed since Adela's birthday, and while the world changed around him Berengar had been living in Kufstein, overseeing the reconstruction of the Duchy of Austria. The war with the Bavarians had left much of the land ravaged, and it was through great effort that the fields began to be restored, and the people returned to rebuild their homes with assistance from the State that Berengar had been establishing.

Over the past year, Berengar had focused on four critical areas of development; agriculture, industry, infrastructure, and the Military. In regards to agriculture, over the past year, the fields were resewn, much to the help of the mechanized seeders that Berengar had begun to employ across the realm. 

The use of the steel plow and the mechanical seeder had greatly aided in the amount of farmland that could be utilized while the fields were worked by significantly less population than was needed before. The four-field system was implemented throughout the realm, semi-modern irrigation was constructed across the fields, advanced fertilizers had begun to be employed, and selective breeding was introduced to livestock. 

Due to the massive amount of animal power needed to utilize combine harvesters, Berengar had spent a significant sum acquiring farm horses and mules to power these devices. In the end, he felt that this would be an essential investment as the combine harvester combined the critical components of grain harvest such as reaping, threshing, gathering, and winnowing into a single process. 

With this invention, the work of thousands of farmers could be done by a handful of men. The only downside was that each combined harvester required 20 or more beasts of burden. To Berengar, it was well worth the price; the thousands of farmers who would typically be working in the fields doing all of these functions were now replaced by a single machine and a few men to operate it. 

The men who were previously employed in the fields could be put to work in industry, construction, mining, the Military, or any other number of jobs needed in a semi-modern society. They could also undergo public education and further add to Berengar's scientific network.

The Agriculture of Austria had made a significant process towards the early 19th century from Berengar's previous life. Within a decade, every field of Austria would be fully mechanized while utilizing advanced irrigation and fertilizers. 

The towns and cities destroyed or damaged during the Bavarian Occupation had undergone reconstruction under Berengar's infrastructure initiative. It was a process that might take a decade, or possibly two. Still, in the future, every city and central town of Austria would be made to a similar degree of security and sanitation that Kufstein now found itself in. 

Roads were being constructed across Austria to connect the major cities and towns of the realm. Roads were an essential feature for commerce, and Berengar intended to make sure that his roads stretched across the entire Duchy. 

As for the industry, several critical industrial cities had begun to pop up aside from Kufstein. Innsbruck had long since been established as an Industrial city; within it, the arms and armor Berengar manufactured for the Byzantine Empire were mass-produced.

Arkubuses, pikes, falconets, and mirror pattern armor were mass-produced there and supplied to the Byzantine Empire under the agreement to be paid for in the future, after their conquests. The Emperor had agreed to Berengar's terms and unknowingly fallen into a debt trap. 

As for Vienna, it had begun the production of even earlier arms and armor, which could be sold to any medieval army Berengar chose. They focused on the production of brigandine armor, hand cannons, primitive medieval cannons, and any number of other medieval weaponry. Most of which was being given as military aid to the Hussites, under the terms that they would pay for it in the future, creating a sizable debt among the Hussite forces.

Within Istria, the glass and salt industries had greatly expanded over the past year, and Berengar had stolen a large portion of the market from the Venetians, much to their ire. Berengar had more than once received an unfriendly letter from the Venetian Doge demanding he cease production of his superior glass. 

Of course, being the terrible aggressive, and arrogant man that he was, Berengar's response to the Venetian's outrage was to politely tell them to go pound sand. This had worsened the relations between Venice and Austria to the point of a Naval Arms race. 

As for Berengar's Cathedral, and Grand Palace, he had decided not to go with concrete and steel construction; as such, he had the buildings entirely rebuilt from scratch in the form of more traditional materials such as granite and mortar.

In particular, Berengar had used his chemistry department to formulate modern type M mortar, the most robust and most durable type of mortar in existence within Berengar's previous life. It was also much quicker to set into stone, and as such, despite the traditional materials, the production rate of these structures was still more significant than that of the era.

He would prefer that his cultural monuments last the test of time. Thus, it would be many years before he moved into a Palace befitting an Emperor; then again, it would be many years before he became an Emperor, or so he thought.

During this era of peace, Berengar had also begun to reconstruct the City Walls of Kufstein with Granite and type M mortar. Though the reinforced concrete walls allowed a greater level of protection against threats such as cannons, Berengar wanted his city walls to last the test of time, like that of the Theodosian walls of Constantinople. 

One day when people looked back upon the City of Kufstein, Berengar wanted these walls to be in place as a sign of his wealth and power during his reign. Thus construction efforts across the realm were being made with more traditional materials, and the fortifications that Berengar had built with concrete and steel were being replaced and recycled. Austria held more than enough wealth to undertake such ventures, and Berengar knew it.

However, out of all of Bernegar's exploits over the past year, the most important was finished, and that was the construction of the shipyards. Berengar had poured an enormous amount of manpower and resources into the rapid construction of his three shipyards, and since then, they had been completed. 

Two of his ports in Trieste and Pola were currently producing Berengar-Class Frigates at an unprecedented rate. Due to the prefabricated parts that Berengar had made during the last year, he had enough stockpiled in warehouses near those shipyards to construct dozens of vessels. With the assembly lines in place, Berengar had already built five frigates to comprise his First fleet. 

As for Fiume, the shipyard in that region had dedicated its production to manufacturing Berengar's merchant fleet, comprised of clippers. Though they had yet to set sail and bring his goods across the Meditteranean, it was only a matter of time before Austrians goods were sold around the sea. 

The Grand Army of Austria had expanded to 50,000 men at this point, half of which were volunteers. The Army paid well, and conscription would be mandatory the moment they went to war again. As such, many young men joined its ranks to prove their loyalty to the new Regime, which had already begun to lift the peasants out of poverty. 

Berengar's forces were equipped with the 1417/18 Rifled Musket, triangular bayonets, and quick loading tubes. The artillery comprised 1417 12 lb Cannons, but they were also equipped with 1418 Schmidt Guns. There was no need for a dedicated howitzer since the 1417 12 lb Cannon could act as a field gun and a howitzer. 

As for the Cavalry, they were split into Cuirassiers, Lancers, Dragoons, and Hussars. Out of all the units of Berengar's Army, he had the least amount of Cavalry. Horses were expensive to purchase and maintain, and frankly, he did not need a massive amount of Cavalry; his infantry was already so effective that Cavalry was overkill. 

A year's worth of progress had been achieved, and it was no small amount. If things continued to progress in such a manner, Berengar would soon be able to proclaim himself King of Austria and stand on his own.

Though he still desired to expand his wealth, influence, and power before that happened. After all, the moment he did so, there was a potential for war to break out; and Berengar was rather enjoying the progress he was making at the moment.

Thus, for now, he would continue to develop his land until no army could challenge him. Border forts were still being constructed, and they would need to be finished before he ever thought about fighting a war for independence against the Holy Roman Empire. 

Thus at the moment, Berengar was sitting in his study, enjoying a sip of fortified wine as he gazed at the documents in his hands that described all of the progress that had been made in a single year. Money kept flowing into his treasury, and he spent a great deal of it to invest in his country.

Now that his First Fleet and his merchant fleet were constructed, he would begin his expansion into the Mediterranean and its trade. If he could sell his goods to every Kingdom with a shoreline, he would be sure to make a vast fortune.  Thus his immediate plan for the future was to expand his trade network, even if it angered those around him.