Holy Roman Empire

On March 26, 1861, the Austrian Navy embarked on a global visit from the port of Venice. The first stop was the Ottoman Empire.

It is a pity that the Sudanese government moved its capital to the inland area, otherwise they can feel the pressure.Even if the capital was moved, the Sudanese government was shocked.

The seven armored ships plus a dozen auxiliary warships constitute the world's most powerful fleet, which is not comparable to the sail fleet.

When it comes to visiting, it's just visiting.This time, Franz did not plan to grow out of the festival. After frightening the Sudanese government, he visited the Mediterranean countries and went straight to Asia.

Paris

Stimulated Napoleon III announced at a government meeting: "We want to build a larger armored fleet to let the world know the power of France."

There was no way for Napoleon III to react violently, even if the navy could not compare with the British.He can also comfort himself that the British are a pure sea power country, and France is amphibious, and it can't bear it compared to the Austrians.

The advantage of the French navy over the Austrian navy is only in tonnage and combat experience.

Unfortunately, these experiences have stayed in the era of sail warships, and many things have fallen behind in the era of armored ships. The tactical concept has also changed.Even if the tonnage has several times the advantage, the sail warship can not win the armored ship.

There is no way, the artillery of the sail warship is also used to deal with the sail warship, and suddenly the enemy becomes an armored ship is not enough.

Navy Secretary Dick replied confidently: "Your Majesty, please rest assured. We have begun to build an armored fleet. There are currently two armored ships in service, and there are three armored ships at the end of the year.

The Admiralty plans to build ten armored ships, which can be completed in up to two years to let the world know our strength."

The technical level has passed, and the construction of armored ships is no longer a problem.This is still the speed of shipbuilding in the peaceful era. If you are willing to hurry, the construction time of a warship will only take a few months.

During this period, the tonnage of the armored ship has not skyrocketed.The large one is 8-9 thousand tons, and the small one is only 2 or 3 thousand tons.The docks do not need to be modified, and basically can meet the needs of shipbuilding.

Napoleon III said with satisfaction: "Okay!"

The name of the world's first navy cannot be obtained, the world's second is to say that nothing can be lost anymore, and the French want face.

According to the ranking of military forces in the world, the French army and navy are second and Austria and the army and navy are third. The military forces of the two countries are very close.

Before the advent of the armored ship era, the strength of the Austrian navy was still looming.As a result, the overwhelming car arrived at the moment when the armored ship arrived, and leapt away from Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and the United States.

Many people now believe that the Austrian Navy can rival the French Navy.This concept is very popular in the Mediterranean region, and Napoleon III has no idea.

Judging from the naval tonnage, the Austrian navy is close to 70% of the French navy. Considering the increase in the combat effectiveness of the armored ship, this statement is very convincing.

Therefore, the French Ministry of the Navy announced the long-planned shipbuilding plan. After the warships are in service, the naval strength of the two countries will be pulled back again.

As for the three countries of Spain, the Netherlands, and Portugal, they have fallen behind at this time and are unable to participate in this naval feast.

After a pause, Secretary of the Navy Dike added: "Your Majesty, our navy has insufficient military spending. To build so many armored ships, the government needs to increase funding."

Obviously, the navy asked Napoleon III to visit the Austrian navy fleet in person, it is not without purpose.On the surface, the French navy is ashamed, but in fact it is still for shipbuilding expenses.

Without paying attention to the little calculations of the Admiralty, Napoleon III asked, "How much is it?"

Navy Secretary Dicko replied solemnly: "At least another 120 million francs must be allocated before we can complete the plan."

Simple shipbuilding must not cost so much money, but also consider basic training, staffing, research and development of new technologies ...

The current appropriation is only the initial cost. Once the construction is completed, the future maintenance cost of the Navy will also increase, in other words, the Navy ’s military expenses will increase.

Not waiting for Napoleon III to answer, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Monil jumped out and said: "No, you are speaking at the lion.

How much is the construction cost of an armored ship?How could it be 120 million francs, and at most it would not exceed 80 million francs. If you save a little, 70 million francs might not be enough."

Now the French Empire's financial income has reached 1.72 billion francs (about 68.8 million pounds). The French have the confidence of Niu B. At the same time, the British's financial income was 70 million pounds.

(Remarks: The statistical chronology looked up, it seems to only count local)

However, no matter how high the fiscal revenue is, money is never enough.The Ministry of Finance still has to save, and it is necessary to decisively crack down on this kind of lion's big opening.

Navy Secretary Dicko solemnly explained: "How can this be saved, Lord Count? In the era of the armored ship, we slowed down the Austrians one step, mainly because of insufficient military spending.

Now if we reduce military spending, how can we develop new technologies?

The armored ship is different from the previous sail warships. After serving, our soldiers have to be retrained to be able to operate proficiently. This is another expense.

There are also armored ships that are much larger in tonnage than sail warships, and many of our original military ports need to be rebuilt, which all cost money."

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Monier did not buy it and said: "Don't talk about these nonsense. In addition to research and development and the use of new technologies, other projects have funds allocated every year, and I would like to repeat the budget.

Even if the Ministry of Finance has allocated funds for you, you will not be able to pass the audit in the future government.Still to do a detailed budget again, we will discuss the issue of appropriation again."

This is very political art.The warship must have been built. This is the will of Napoleon III, but the funding for shipbuilding is still compressed. Otherwise, how can it reflect the serious responsibility of the Ministry of Finance?

Knowing that the two of them quarreled and played more elements, Napoleon III still watched the fun as if nothing had happened.Obviously, his emperor is still qualified in terms of power.

The emperor's life will not be easy if the people below hold the regiment.Even if it is clear that this is just a routine, such a small struggle, the contradiction will still be deeply rooted in people's hearts after a long time.

The Ministry of Finance has too much power, and all departments need their funds to offend the God of Wealth.If there were no contradictions and the Ministry of Finance would sell well, the emperor would not be able to sleep.

...

It seemed that the fire had arrived, and Napoleon III interrupted their argument: "Okay, if you want to quarrel, go back to your office and quarrel slowly. Don't affect my mood.

I remember that the United States seemed to be split, how did the Ministry of Foreign Affairs respond?"

Foreign Minister Auvergne replied: "Your Majesty, our Minister in Washington has heard from the news that we have now reached agreement with the three countries of Anglo-Western Europe, and everyone is consistent in its affairs with the United States.

Now that we have persuaded the southern government to agree to the abolition of slavery, the four countries have officially recognized the legality of the southern government and are currently lobbying more slave states to join the southern government.

If nothing unexpected happens, the United States should split this time.If we are lucky, our chances of returning to North America will also appear."

Napoleon III asked in doubt: "Since the southern government is willing to abolish slavery, why are they independent? Didn't the northern government make concessions?"

Foreign Minister Auvergne explained: "Your Majesty, the main contradiction between the North and the South is still tariffs. In recent years, the population of the northern states has grown rapidly, while the population of the South has grown slowly.

The current North American government is a spokesperson for the interests of the capitalists, and their promises have no credibility at all.

If the southern states do not take action, their interests will gradually be eroded.

After the independence of the southern states, the neutralists made a proposal to add a slave state to balance the strength of the two sides, but the northern government rejected it.

Others have proposed double tariff standards, both in the northern states to carry out trade barriers and increase the tariff rate; while the southern states implement free trade and reduce the tariff rate.

The person who made this suggestion has grown grass.The capitalists refused to compromise on this issue, they wanted to obtain cheap industrial raw materials and markets."

Napoleon III nodded, this explanation is more reasonable.There is no unreasonable love and hatred in the world. If there is no interest, do you expect the capitalists to fight a civil war for the benefit of slaves?

If there is such a Virgin, why don't you see these people treat the workers better?This is true for everyone else, not to mention ****.

"So, did the Austrian Navy go to the Americans for this global visit?"

Obviously, the political vision of Napoleon III is still good, and the real purpose of Franz can be seen at a glance.

Under normal circumstances, even if an exchange visit is required, it is impossible to send such a large team, and the Navy is very expensive to run.

"There should be factors in this regard, as well as the Vienna government's readiness to stand up.

In recent years, the Austrians have frequently opened colonies overseas and encountered many problems that may be resolved during this visit."The Foreign Minister Auvergne replied

After a moment of meditation, Napoleon III made a decision: "We can't be idle either. In recent years, the rate of overseas expansion has been somewhat slow.

This American Civil War was an opportunity for even the Austrians to fish in troubled waters.If we miss the opportunity again, we will really fall behind.

To come up with a plan as soon as possible, the interests of the Americas region must have a share of France."

In fact, the expansion of the French overseas is not slow at all. Only in the past two years has the strategic focus on the Kingdom of Sardinia slowed down.

This slowness is only relative. In addition to Austria, the fastest expansion on the African continent is the French.