Chapter 88, "The Shinra Faction in Action

On December 4, 1852, the opening of the Vienna to Salzburg railway was reported in the newspapers, but it did not cause a sensation.

In recent times, there had been a fair number of railways coming into operation in Austria, and apart from the initial surprise, the Austrian population had already become used to it.

The railway companies were the most affected; they had invested so much money, and now they were finally seeing returns, directly reflected in the stock market. The bustling railway operations stimulated a further rise in stock prices.

As for the strategic value of this railway, not many people were paying attention. Even if railway transportation were convenient, could it compare with the transportation capacity of the Danube River?

Franz, of course, was pleased with the situation. The idea of German unification was already heating up, and it was time to initiate the next phase of the plan.