Holy Roman Empire

With the commissioning of the "Rome", the world's smell of gunpowder suddenly intensified. The relationship between the two giants, Shinra and Britannia, was tense, and all the countries were afraid of getting involved and being stirred to pieces.

Then, an interesting scene appeared. After the Vienna and London governments announced their plans to build ships, which opened the prelude to the naval arms race, the world came to ignore them.

Not to mention the construction of "super battleships" that followed, even conventional warships were rarely built. It was as if they had made up their minds to ignore the "arms race".

If you think about it, the superiority of Shinra and Britain was already established. Either one of them had a stronger naval power than the next two, three, four, five, six ranked countries combined.

The difference was so great that it was useless to struggle any longer, so we simply resigned ourselves to our fate. It's not going to turn over a new leaf anyway, so why go up against it and find yourself unhappy?

The most important thing is still that people want to follow, and there is no way to follow. Just because the industries of Britain and Shinra are powerful and can build super battleships does not mean that other countries can.

Let's not talk about other issues, just the power system, we can't handle it.

Don't look at the power system of the "Rome" has reached 23,000 horsepower, and think that the power technology is very developed, in fact, most of the warship power system, the power is not up to 10,000 horsepower.

The South Carolina-class battleships built by the Americans in the original space and time, equipped with multiple steam engines, had a power of only 16,500 horsepower.

That was ten years later, and at this juncture, the only breakthroughs in steam turbine technology were made by Britain and Shinra.

A lack of power means a lack of speed. When they could win, they couldn't catch up with the enemy, and when they couldn't win, they couldn't outrun them. The snail-class battleships were nothing but a waste of resources.

Not only is the power technology substandard, but the armament, fire control, armor, and a host of other technologies are all problems that prevent everyone from moving into the dreadnought era.

Of course, if a country is rich and generous, completely ignoring the wear and tear, cost, rely on money to smash is also able to smash out.

Unfortunately, this is the year 1900, and it is simply not suitable for the survival of the rich and powerful. The rich and powerful and technologically backward, that is the food of the great powers, there is no opportunity to throw money at development.

The lack of followers eclipsed the arms race. Franz, who originally wanted to make a fortune by exporting dreadnought technology, was greatly disappointed.

No way, the world is still too poor these days. Simply can not afford to play with such an expensive toy, can only let the British and Austrian two landowners to play.

Even the ambitious Tsarist government, after learning the construction cost of the "Rome", are silent, let alone other countries.

I don't know if it was the lack of support that disappointed the British and Austrian performers, but in the ensuing competition, both governments spent more time talking and less time taking action.

The announcement of two ships today, three tomorrow, and four the day after, did not happen.

The Vienna government announced a "five-year five-ship" plan, and the London government only came up with a "five-year seven-ship" plan. Counting the "Rome" already in service, the gap between the two countries was only one.

The British had the upper hand, but not the absolute advantage. After all, the Shinra navy was based mainly in the Mediterranean and had a geographical advantage.

The two governments exercised restraint in the competition, much to the dismay and relief of the masses.

There were many who wanted Britain and Austria to be unlucky, but few who wanted the two countries to go to war immediately. In particular, a group of small countries in Europe were worried that the two "devils fighting" would affect them as mere mortals.

The scene was not intense enough, and in the final analysis, the competition between Britain and Austria was not white-hot. The conflict between the two countries mainly revolves around hegemony, and the core interest is focused on currency.

The world currency dispute between the S.H.I.E.L.D. and the British pound has been going on since twenty years ago, and although the two countries have not been able to settle their differences, their respective spheres of interest have basically been defined.

Generally speaking, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the South Seas and other regions are the circulation areas of the S.P.E.D.; while the Americas, South Asia, the Far East and other regions are dominated by the pound sterling.

In addition to the struggle for monetary hegemony, Britain and Austria have also been in conflict over overseas trade, but the struggle is not as fierce.

Because of the industrial structure, the current trade pattern is: British industrial and commercial products dominate in traditional areas such as textiles; while the Shinra has the upper hand in new industries, agricultural processing and other fields.

As for the colonial strife, it is not worth mentioning. Shinra did not expand into India, and the British did not expand their sphere of influence in Africa, neither did they break the other's bottom line.

Conflicts can accumulate, and just because the current conflict of interest is not great enough does not mean that the future conflict of interest will not be great enough.

With time on his side, Franz had enough patience to wait, and it was the British who should be anxious.

Of course, with Britain's unique system, it was unlikely that the top brass in London would be too worried.

A "potential threat" is, after all, a "potential". For politicians, everything is negotiable as long as they do not explode during their term of office.

It was more important to keep the "Victorian glory" alive than it was to eliminate the "potential" threat before it was too late, no matter who was in power.

More importantly, because of the Holy Roman Empire, the "potential threat" to Britain was so great that it was like a person with "terminal cancer".

It's easy to go to surgery, but hard to get off the operating table. If you won the bet, you could live a few more years, but you would more than likely spend the rest of your life paralyzed in a hospital bed.

On the other hand, conservative treatment can keep you alive for a while. Although it will be the end, that will happen later.

The development of time is so fast, it is possible that in the last few months, medical technology suddenly made a breakthrough.

The current British government, for the most part, is thinking in this way. On the one hand, they are thinking of ways to contain the suppression of Shinra, while on the other hand, they do not want to directly tear the face, waiting for the international situation to change.

......

No matter how many calculations are made, life must go on. The cabinet government, which had been in charge of the Vienna government for more than twenty years, finally came to a curtain in this year.

This time there was no need for Franz to stay, his old body no longer allowed these old ministers to continue to fight for this empire, a new government was necessary.

The "change of government" is a major event in any country, and Shinra is naturally no exception.

In a sense, the arms competition did not expand, and it did not need to be related to this change of government.

Until the new leadership was in place, the Vienna government's first priority was to sort out its internal affairs, and it had no time to get its act together.

This also applied to the United Kingdom, where the London government had just completed a general election a few months earlier. Only this time, the British didn't toss in the towel, and the London government guys won re-election.

The London government guys won re-election. ......

At the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Vienna, Franz is enjoying art. This is, of course, an outsider's opinion. Personally, Franz felt that the word "elegant" was a more appropriate description.

"Art", this kind of lofty thing, was not something that ordinary people could taste at all. At one point, Franz even suspected that this stuff was a deliberate attempt by the elite to harvest the leeks of those who had broken out.

Doubt aside, Franz did not have the intention to investigate. As the topmost member of the ruling class, he was very tolerant of anything that was conducive to domination.

Despite his lack of artistry and mediocre creative talent, this did not prevent Franz from becoming a great artist.

Thanks to his special status as emperor, anything that bore his name, be it a calligraphy, a painting, or any other artifact, became a work of art.

Franz had no doubt that his graffiti could be sold and fetched an astronomical price.

Just think, as a wealthy emperor, Franz was not reduced to selling his works to make a living. Even if an occasional piece of artwork went unsold, it was still a gift.

Once there is a lot of art, it is not worth much. Worthless is a small matter, the key is to compel the style to go down.

As emperor, Franz can not care about the price of the work, but the compelling absolutely can not lose.

Seeing Franz leisurely wielding pen and ink, practicing calligraphy on paper, Frederick, who hurriedly arrived, was instantly bad.

For the change of government, he, the crown prince, was almost busy to death, and yet the emperor was as unbalanced as if nothing had happened.

The words "exercise your ability" were enough to block all his words.

Not having time to rest, Frederick gasped: "Father, here is the last alternative list. There are forty-six people in all, three to five candidates for each position in the cabinet."

"Well!"

"Put it down for now and find yourself a place to rest until I'm done,"

Franz replied carelessly.

"Okay."

The scene that happened in front of him forced Frederick to accept the reality that the diligent emperor of the past no longer existed.

Recalling his old memories, Frederick suddenly realized that in the depths of his own memory, it seemed that he had never seen his father busy.

Even if he had to work overtime occasionally, it was during special times. In normal times, Franz was a firm believer in the four-hour workday, or the occasional vacation.

But Frederick could never understand why his father, who had so much time on his hands, should be the representative of "hard work".

After a while, when the work was finally finished, Franz put away his pen, moved his shin, and opened the document to browse.

"Not bad, the candidate's profile is complete enough, and the evaluations given are fair enough that no substandard candidates were allowed to mix in.

It seems you've done your homework well, and these candidates are all top choices in terms of both performance and political skills.

Whoever you like more, just put their names in front of you and nominate them for election at the next imperial meeting."

Unlike the election of government leaders in other countries at the same time, Shinra's popular practice was for the emperor to nominate candidates and the Imperial Council to vote on them.

There were two eligibility criteria for the candidates: first, they had to have sufficient achievements and political skills; second, they had to be politically committed members of the Imperialist Party.

The second criterion was particularly important, as a slight lack of ability was acceptable, but any political flaw was intolerable.

As large as the Holy Roman Empire was, the last thing it needed was a competent official. According to the constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, the emperor nominated candidates for the cabinet, high officials and above.

From hundreds of people, a cabinet government was selected, which was almost one in a hundred, and there was enough room to choose.

There are no fools who can climb to this position. The lack of ability has already been pulled down in the previous competition.

All are masters who have ruled on one side, and whoever is put in the cabinet government is able to guarantee the proper functioning of the government.

Otherwise, such an important job, Franz would not have remained indifferent to it and left it all to Frederick.

After so many years of hard work, the small states in the territory of the Holy Roman Empire were almost drawn together by Franz. Individuals with discontent, forced by the situation did not dare to do evil.

You can see from the Imperial Council that all the proposals that Franz took out personally had never been rejected.

When he heard that all the responsibility was given to himself, Frederick asked incredulously, "Isn't it a bit too ...... to leave all the candidates to me to determine?"

Without waiting for Frederick to finish his sentence, Franz waved his hand and interrupted: "Not so much some. Sooner or later, you will be in charge of these tasks, but now you are just a little bit ahead of schedule.

What you need to do now is to elect the best possible governmental team and smooth the transition of power.

In addition, you need to keep an eye on the international situation. Recently, the number of laborers transported from France to Russia has decreased significantly.

It seems that the Trans-Siberian Railway has enough laborers. If my prediction is correct, it will not be long before the Russians withdraw their troops from France.

At this point, the Tsarist government has probably come to its senses. The French reparations are the moon in the water.

Out of sight, out of mind.

France has been tossed to and fro, and the Czarist government will not kowtow in France without enough profit.

Whether the Tsarist government wanted to go south or east, there was no point in continuing to station troops in France.

Had it not been for the Trans-Siberian Railway, they would have retreated two years earlier. It has not been easy to drag it out until now.

The Russian army could withdraw, but the void left by the withdrawal of the Russian army had to be filled somehow.

France is a large country with a long historical legacy. In spite of the heavy blows they have suffered in recent years, their pride remains intact.

The French have been struggling with us for hundreds of years, and it was hard to keep them down, but they must not be allowed to rise again.

The Russians have helped to do all the bad things, and the next thing we need to do is to spread anti-war ideas in France, and after weakening their fighting spirit, we can return to normal."

It's easy to defeat a great power, it's hard to crush it. The more traditional a country is, the harder it is to defeat it.

After so many years of torment, the French still did not give up resistance. The Russians were on the verge of collapse, and if the Vienna government hadn't taken over the military expenses, the Tsarist government would have been crushed.

However, the reality was cruel. The stronger the French showed their will to resist, the more the Anti-French Alliance could not let them succeed.

This is where the advantage of having many allies came into play. No matter how much you torment France, there is no need to provoke international intervention.

The Russians have already done what they should and should not do. Violence has been used, and now it's time for politics to take over.

Regardless of whether the French elite is willing to accept it or not, France will not return to normal as long as it does not accept the harmless treatment.

Only when anti-war thinking became mainstream in society and the wrongness of waging a war of aggression was realized, could France become a normal country.

Of course, the presence of troops and the limitation of armaments were still necessary. Franz did not want the French to arm themselves again and cause trouble.

This, in fact, the Russian army did just fine. They sent all the opponents to God, and got all the young and strong laborers from the affected families to build the railroad in Siberia.

In spite of the hatred of the French, under the bloody suppression of the Russians, no big waves were able to turn the country upside down.

There was no way around it, the mountains of France were too small. The guerrillas had little room to survive when they ran into a Russian general who liked to keep the mountains under fire.

In the past few years, the Russian army has been consuming hundreds of thousands of tons of fuel oil every year because of setting fire to the mountains. If it were not for the fact that the Shinra is the world's number one oil producer, such consumption would really be unbearable.

According to the current situation, the Russian army burned all the way down, sooner or later to the forest scourge finished.

With a successful case in, followed by imitation to learn is. Anyway, the Shinra other not necessarily more, but oil must be more.

We don't need to burn down all the mountains, we just need to make a gesture to scare the intellectuals and break their mind.

Frederick, who reacted, asked uncertainly, "Do you want to divide France again?"

It wasn't that Frederick was thinking too much, but mainly because France had been weakened so much in recent years, not only the economy was in a mess, but also the population in the country was plummeting.

The Viennese government wanted to continue to divide France, and as long as it had a few allies, the success rate was quite high.

Franz sternly replied: "Don't be ridiculous, France was liquidated once after the European War. Now to make another wave, how can we convince others?

Unless you want to go out and get assassinated every day. Otherwise there would have to be a valid reason for doing such a thing that would convince most people.

Besides, there is no France. Do you think Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Sardinia, etc., would still be so dependent on us?"

It is a rule in European society that a defeat is compensated by ceding land. Moreover, the land taken was the homeland of Shinra, which was legally justifiable.

Even if the French hold a grudge in their hearts, it can be slowly digested and accepted. The Russian people, who are the big bosses of hatred, are not the only ones who have put the blame on the Habsburgs.

If now engage in a wave of partition, it will not be possible to say. The French are expected to have one to settle a score, and all will hate the Holy Roman Empire to death, assassinating the emperor's warriors will be no less.

Franz really didn't dare to go out unless he could kill all these guys. Even though he had many guards, who could guarantee that he wouldn't get his shoes wet when he was walking along the river?

Without France as a common enemy, people's hearts would soon be broken.