Holy Roman Empire

On November 14, 1873, the Southwest African Railway was completed.This great artery from Guinea in the west and Pretoria in the south was built, and Austria's rule in South Africa was completely consolidated.

From exploration to completion, this strategic railway has spent more than ten years on the front and back. It is the longest time spent in Austria, the most difficult construction, and the highest investment.

Of course, only the main road is completed, and the branch line along the way will not be repaired for another 20 years.The main reason is not that the construction is difficult or that the labor force is insufficient, but that the colonial government has no money.

The development of the African continent is relatively lagging behind, and government revenue is limited, and it is unable to support the railway construction.The construction of main roads is a strategic requirement, and is allocated by the central government.

This railway, with a length of up to 7476 kilometers, cost a total of 74.286 million Aegis.On average, the construction cost per kilometer is almost 10,000 Aegis, which is far more than the local cost.

This is still based on the premise of free labor use.In order to build this railway, the colonial government recruited millions of workers, and maintained a huge construction team of more than 200,000 people all year round.

After the construction of the main road is completed, the following branch railways can only come slowly.Railways with high economic value and high strategic value are given priority, and those with low value should be placed on the plan first.

This Southwest African Railway has created many records, such as: the largest investment, the most labor force, the longest distance, the most development and application of new technologies ...

If the labor force is converted into money, one more item can be added: the long-distance railway with the highest cost.

It may be easy to build such a railway in the 21st century, but in this era, it is a well-deserved world record and a manifestation of Austria ’s comprehensive national strength.

Despite the significance of the Southwest Railway in Africa, Franz did not go to the opening ceremony. Seasickness had no choice. In case of bad luck, he died halfway down.

In order to express their importance, Crown Prince Frederick and Prime Minister Felix personally went to the opening ceremony.Frankly, Franz is against it.

Prime Minister Felix is ​​73 years old. Although his health is good, medical technology is limited in this era. In case of a cold or a cold on the way, he will just hang up.

No way, the old guy had the stubbornness of the Germans, and he had to go to the African continent to visit the field in person, and Franz couldn't stop him.

This has something to do with Franz's "African Localization Strategy". Many people in the Vienna government are skeptical. In recent years, the government has continuously sent people to visit the field to ensure their peace of mind.

No matter how good the information is, don't take a peek at it.In a responsible manner, Prime Minister Felix has always wanted to visit the field in person, but things have been delayed.

Frederick can only be regarded as an accident. It was originally his turn. After all, he was only 17 years old. After he went, he just played soy sauce and could not make a decision on behalf of the emperor.

It's just that the princes of the Habsburg family are very busy, neither of the two younger brothers are in the country, and they can't let the railway wait for traffic.

The only thing that was relatively idle was Massimiliano, but after thinking about it, Franz felt that sending his son was more reliable than him in the past.

Besides, Massimilino is now also the emperor of Mexico and no longer the Grand Duke of Austria.

If you are younger, you should be younger. Anyway, there is Prime Minister Felix, and he can decide for major emergencies.

In fact, after so many years of Franz ’s teaching, Frederick ’s ability is not bad, but lack of experience.

Franz's health is okay, there is time to train the next generation, naturally will not rush to promote seedlings.

That's how he walked by himself, and he felt a little difficult as a traversal.Without the assistance of an old minister, Franz could not have been so easily in power.

After so many years of no commutation, in addition to political continuity, the sentiment established at the time of the crisis was also an important factor.

Those heroes of that year, even if they were incapable, were offered a lot by Franz.In addition to affection, there are actually too many helplessness.

The emperor also needs to buy people's hearts.It ’s true that the bird tries to hide, but it is often necessary to show it and show its glory to the latecomers.

Franz can proudly say that the "rabbit dead dog cooking" has not been done, he still has a dog to watch.There is no such thing as Ma Fang Nanshan in this great battle.

...

Paris, compared to Franz's calm and calm, Napoleon III is a hero late.Although there was no defeat of the Franco-Prussian War, he did not end in depression, but his body could not deceive people.

The indulgence of the young age, the sequelae left behind, are now revealed.If it wasn't luck, with the crown prince Ou Ren, he was fortunate to have worked hard all his life, and he would make a wedding dress for others.

European illegitimate children cannot inherit the throne. Napoleon III lived unchecked in his youth. When he was in his forties, various diseases began to appear, including kidney disease, bladder stones, chronic bladder disease, prostatitis, arthritis, gout and obesity.

In front of the disease, there is no distinction between high and low.I Xiaoxiong, Napoleon III was still knocked down by the disease, and now he is trying to instill his experience with his son.

This is not a brain tragedy, let the son grow up happily.As the heir to the French Empire, Louis XVI is a ready-made example if he has no wrists.

In this regard, Napoleon III is proud to be able to counterattack all the way from the exiled royal children. His life is a legend.

There is still another person behind the original time and space, and it is almost a while to complete this great cause again.However, under the intervention of foreign forces, the last moment chose to retreat without forcible restoration.

Napoleon III put down the newspaper in his hand, and asked in the test: "What do you think of the storm in the Balkan Peninsula?"

With a little thought, Crown Prince Eugen: "The Greek coup and the Bulgarian uprising happened almost at the same time, which is too coincidental.

According to the information we collected, just days before the incident, the Austrian police killed an independent Balkan organization in the Macedonia area.

Viewed separately, there is no connection between these things, and it is problematic to look at them together.According to preliminary judgment, someone should instruct behind this.

It's just that the people behind the scenes made mistakes and overestimated the Balkan independent organization and failed to set off a rebellion in Austria."

Napoleon III nodded and shook his head again: "The analysis is good, so who do you think this is doing? Or who is the most suspected, and what is the ultimate purpose?"

Without any hesitation, Crown Prince Eugen made a judgment: "I guess it was the Ottoman Empire. Affected by the agricultural crisis, both Russia and Austria suffered heavy losses, and they needed to transfer the crisis to the outside world.

The Ottoman Empire happened to be their common enemy. The hatred of the two sides lasted for hundreds of years. Now Ottoman has fallen and has become the meat of the mouths of the two countries.

Some time ago, there was also news that the two countries would join forces to avenge the Ottoman Empire.There is not much movement in Austria, but the Russians are already preparing for war.

The accuracy of this news is as high as 80%. The Sudanese government felt the crisis and took action in advance to trouble them and earn time for themselves.

However, some of them feel wrong.The Bulgarians and the Ottoman Empire have a deep hatred. Even if they want to be independent, they will seek the support of us or the British."

Napoleon III smiled slightly: "Yes, on the surface, the Ottoman Empire is the most suspected. In fact, the most unlikely thing is the Sudanese government.

If they have this strength, they will not fall into the present field.Simultaneously manipulating the Greek coup, the Bulgarian uprising, the Balkan independent organization, and not showing anything at all, this is not so easy.

Without long-term preparation, it is impossible.There are not many countries in the world that can do this. We count as one, but it is certainly not what we did.

There are also Britain and Austria, and they are experts.The child remembered that if there were riots or revolutions that could not be detected in the future, more than 90% of them would be done by Britain and Austria, and it would be right to stare at London and Vienna."

When speaking, Napoleon III also showed a deep sense of fear.If possible, he also wanted to kill the two biggest enemies, leaving a solid empire.

It's a pity that neither of these two enemies slipped, and did not give Napoleon III a shot.After being the emperor for twenty years, France was rejected by European countries for more than half of the time.

The leaders in charge are Britain and Austria. Napoleon III is sure that as long as he takes carelessly, the war against France will start.

Fighting alone, France is not afraid of any enemies, but the enemies have to fight in groups!This made Napoleon III have to be cautious, for fear of another anti-French war.

As a military emperor, he has never been able to survive a war, and it is a pity to say that.

Ou Ren asked doubtfully: "Why is there Austria, this Balkan storm, they are also victims, there is no reason to do so?"

"Cough, cough, cough ..."

Napoleon III coughed for a while, and Ou Ren quickly patted his reserve.Then he poured a glass of water and handed it to Napoleon III.

After a sip, he paused for a while, and Napoleon III said: "You think about it, what did Austria lose and what did you gain?

To deal with Franz in the future, you must have a little more thought.Especially when it comes to benefits, the benefits delivered to the door, weigh the pros and cons before deciding, if you do n’t understand, simply do n’t."

This is a lesson summed up by Napoleon III himself. Since the annexation of the Kingdom of Sardinia, France has been broken up and annexed Italy.

At first, Napoleon III found no problems, but as time went on, he gradually understood.

Everything in Italy is good, but there are no resources.It looks very fat, but the actual value is not comparable to the land west of the Rhine.

A conspiracy brought France into an awkward position. Now many resources in France need to be imported, especially coke for steelmaking. The output of the French African colonies can not meet domestic demand, and can only be imported from Britain or Prussia.

It is hard to tell, but in everyone's view, the annexation of the Italian region is a great victory for France.Now I don't want to let go, I can only digest it daringly.

Before digesting the Italian region, France needs a strategic contraction.The pace of overseas expansion has slowed down, not to mention the European continent, which has moved all over the body?

Looking at Ou Ren's thoughtful look, Napoleon III added: "The same is true of the British, and they should not be taken lightly when dealing with them.

Don't look at the fact that the three countries of Britain, France and Austria are allies. In fact, everyone wants to stab them in the back and kill each other.

Franz is not a reputation-saver, and he has never breached a contract for so many years. It is not because his reputation is good. The main reason is that the interests are not big enough to make him breach the contract.

Not to mention the British, being an ally with them is more vigilant than being an enemy.The Near East War is an example. We would n’t lose unless they were stabbed behind them."

Even now, Napoleon III is still cherished by the failure of the Near East War and records this account on the British heads.

There is no way, who made the French army chess a trick and was sold by the British and the Sardinians?Sardinia did not say that, they had paid the price and became part of France.

The seemingly defeated Englishman became a winner after the war, and the pitted Napoleon III naturally couldn't swallow this breath.

...

(Remarks: Eugen ’s full name Napoleon Eugen, Louis Jean Jean Bonaparte, Napoleon III ’s first illegitimate child is also called Eugen, not a person)