Holy Roman Empire

The problems in Franz's eyes are not a problem for people in this era.

From the analysis of construction cost, the maximum difference between these four standards is only 1.2%, which means that the construction cost of the railway is not the main factor affecting the decision.

It is also correct to think that the railway gauges in this era were generally relatively large. The first railway gauge of the Russians was still 1829mm. Later, the bureaucrats only changed to 1524mm after listening to the suggestions of American engineers in order to make money.

How much did you save by shrinking from six feet to five feet?

Saved 3% on the budget. Of course, with the style of the Tsarist Russian bureaucrats, in the end, it certainly won't save much money.

The standard gauge was marketed by the British to the whole world. John Bull has introduced laws since 1846. From this time, the 1435mm system has become the standard gauge of the British mainland and colonies.

However, soon India became an exception. The standard gauge cannot meet their transportation requirements. The British are enlarged if they are pragmatic, so most of the Indian railways are 1676mm standard, and there are naturally many other messy gauge railways. .

After nearly 100 years of hard work by the British, the 1435mm system became the international standard gauge in the mid-20th century. The original purpose of Niuniu was to promote the British technology system.

Whether there is a purpose to limit the shipping capacity of the mainland countries, this is unknown, anyway Franz does not believe that John Bull would be so kind.

With the technology of the mid-19th century, the freight volume of wide-gauge railways exceeded that of narrow-gauge railways, and the safety and speed were much higher. This is completely different from the 21st century.

Later generations relied on technology to solve the problem of train stability. The freight capacity and speed of narrow-gauge railways have been improved. This era cannot be achieved.

Railway maintenance costs are practically the same.After the railway is completed, the structure is exactly the same, the gap is only the length of the sleepers, and the simple maintenance of the narrow-gauge railway is unfounded.

The question of land area is completely nonsense. Whose railways do not leave isolation zones on both sides of the railway? Do we still have to use the land under the train?

… (No more, it's almost popular science)

"Your Majesty, since you want to unify the standards, it is better to let the Holy Roman League unify the standards together, to call everyone together, and to develop a common standard may be better." Metternich suggested

"Isn't it time? Our railway has already started construction?" Felix asked concernedly.

"No problem, the railway construction has just begun, and a decision will be made within one year, which will not affect the construction." Railway Minister Stein replied

The railway construction in this era is really slow, and the demolition is only beginning now. After the completion of the excavation and filling, the subgrade construction cannot be achieved without a year or two of effort.

"Then pull everyone to work together, the Ministry of Railways is responsible for selecting an optimal plan, as our opinion, try to persuade everyone to implement together.

If the disputes are endless, these sets of standards will be put out for everyone to vote, anyway, these plans are suitable for Austria."Franz said indifferently

"Then 1676mm, this standard can already meet our needs, and security is also guaranteed." Stein quickly gave the answer

As for the international standards for railways, is there something in this era?Who admits?

We must know that when the British were repairing the Western Railway, because of the technical relationship, they found that their standard system could not guarantee safety, and they all used wide-gauge rails. Only when the technology reached the standard in the late 19th century did they overthrow the reconstruction.

Once the Holy Roman League has established new standards, then the future international railway gauge standards may become two sets.

If nothing else, the railway standards of Southern Germany have been unified. Will Prussia follow up or not?

If you do not follow up, the two sides will be cut off economically; if you follow up, the central and southern Europe will unify the standard system, and the impact will undoubtedly be huge.

As an emperor, many things have to consider political and military.For example, now, let the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Mao Zi unify the railway standard, Franz will immediately counsel.

I do n’t know why, and any country that is a neighbor to a bear bear must be careful.Even if everyone is an ally, you should be prepared for it.

During this period, the major European powers actually appeared to be somewhat strong and dominated. Austria is no exception. Social reforms have just begun, and they have not yet been transformed into national power.

The national strength of the British also did not reach the peak, India has not been completely eaten by them, Australia and New Zealand also have indigenous forces, South Africa has only established some strongholds in the coastal areas, Southeast Asia colonization is in progress, Egypt or the French dominate, The Great Colonial Empire has not yet completed the puzzle.

The French were busy with internal struggles. The internal contradictions of the Russians were only suppressed, only to be detonated by external forces.

The Kingdom of Prussia still has to rely on foreign wars to transfer social contradictions. The internal reforms have just begun. The military strength on the surface is good, but the domestic economy is weak.

Spain has continued to decline, and social reforms have not yet begun; the United States, which is far from the ocean, is still an agricultural country with a population of just over 20 million. The main economic income is the export of cotton.

Thinking of this, Franz suddenly came up with an idea. Do you want to find an opportunity to engage in South Africa?

South Africa is so big, the British only established colonial rule along the coast, and the inland area is still a land of no ownership. Except for the Cape of Good Hope, the British did not pay attention to other areas.

Now that the British are very busy, they don't care about more regions in Africa. There are so many entry points. If you join now, you may be able to divide a piece of meat.

If it is not possible, start with Namibia, and then occupy Botswana to play a sideline; or start with Tanzania, occupy Zambia, Zimbabwe, and kill South Africa from the interior.

Theoretically, they are pretty good. The actual operation seems unreliable. The African continent in this era is not cute at all. There are a lot of diseases and poisonous beasts. To colonize here, first prepare to withstand the high mortality rate.

Theoretically, it is not very high. As long as you are careful to control the mortality rate within 10%, there is probably no problem.

It's okay to say this. If you implement it, you will find that you are not so brave. Who is willing to take risks in the past?

Except for profit stimulus, for example, the gold mine in South Africa was discovered, then everyone became brave at once, and diseases, poisonous insects, and beasts were nothing.

Regrettably, when the gold is discovered, it is not up to Austria.Unless it was occupied ahead of time, and then joined forces with the Boers, otherwise they would not be able to rob the British.

When reason comes to mind, Franz will never be lingering again.

Anyway, it is still a long time before South Africa finds gold. It is a big deal to support the African colonialists in the country and let them go to establish a stronghold first.

By the time the British-British War broke out, Austria might have risen. By that time, whether it was to support the Boers to add chaos to the John Bulls, or to join in and share a share, a foothold was needed.

The timing of the hands-on must be chosen, preferably when the British are overwhelmed and suddenly set off to create established facts.

The international law of this era, no land, whoever occupies first, even if it belongs to someone, the prerequisite is to be able to keep it.

It's still early, don't rush.Franz is not a blind acter, but it seems that he still wants to promote the construction of the Suez Canal.

Austria alone does not have the capacity to dominate this canal, but with agitation, it is still possible to become an international condominium.

When the Suez Canal was excavated in history, the British government opposed it with all their might. They believed that this canal would threaten their maritime dominance.

British people think that this canal cannot pass large ships, and the canal company's stock is almost nobody in Britain.

On the contrary, it sold well in France. The Canal Company also had insufficient funds to stop work, almost turned into a bad project, and finally completed successfully under the care of the Rothschild family.

Historically, the canal was open to navigation in 1869. For such a long time, the Austrian navy is almost a bit weighty.

Others dare not guarantee that being a shareholder of the Canal can still be done.

In history, France could not bear the pressure of the British, and it was forced to give up because of financial problems. If it became the joint domination of the Suez Canal by Fao, the result would be different.

How to operate, Franz has a headache.The relationship between the powers is very complicated. Everyone has both cooperation and stabbing each other.

Join forces here today, and we will fight another place tomorrow.

If you want to reduce contradictions, unless you are like the Russian-Austrian secret treaty, everyone will take their own needs and make clear the scope of influence in advance.

As long as it is impossible to imagine, Austria can make concessions to Russia, that is everyone's core strategy does not conflict.

Franz also knew that as soon as the Russian strategy was launched, it would be besieged by the three countries of Britain, France, and Ottomans. The national strength of Mao Xiong could not support this long-term war of attrition. Failure was inevitable.

Unless Britain and France actively invade Russia, Austria will be drawn into the war under the influence of the covenant.Just open the map and know that unless the Russians dominate, it will be difficult for Britain and France to attack Russia.

Obviously, this kind of thing cannot come for the second time. Austria can only choose a big country as an ally.