Chapter 39 1835

The aftermath of Franz II's death is still spreading, and the small states that had previously fought fiercely with Austria are like eggplants hit by frost.

Many state governments have lost confidence in Austria. After all, their ambassadors have come to the same conclusion after meeting the new emperor and his chief adviser.

Emperor Ferdinand I is a good man, but he may not be able to control this huge empire.

And the chief adviser, Mr. Karl von Slote, is a complete fool.

The new emperor and his empire will continue to face various challenges and pressures in the days to come.

If we stand on the side of Austria, we will have to face challenges and pressures with them, which is not in the interests of our country.

Austria has completed 20% of the 1,400-kilometer railway construction plan. The railway between Vienna and Moravia has been built, and the century-old project Semmering Railway has also begun construction.

The cost of the Semmering Railway is expected to be more than three times that of ordinary railways, but it is also of great significance. It can not only strengthen the connection between the coastal area and Vienna, but also communicate with northern Italy, thereby revitalizing the overall situation.

The Prussians frantically built 200 kilometers of railways, but they were not on their territory.

And Prussia's new economic adviser proposed a new railway standard for the member states of the North German Customs Union.

The track gauge of this railway is different from that of the Austrians. Wider means that more goods can be loaded.

And the real purpose of Friedrich List is to help Prussia control Austria's influence in southern Germany.

To be honest, Franz admired this economist from the bottom of his heart, and he could think of using this method to exclude Austria.

In fact, Austria also had a way to counter at this time, that is, to change the track gauge, or to force members of the German Customs Union to build railways according to Austrian standards.

But either choice will affect Austria's reputation in the German Customs Union, and more importantly, it needs a stable and strong government.

The Regency Parliament greatly reduced the efficiency of the Austrian government, and even Count Korolaf and Prince Metternich did not realize Friedrich List's sinister intentions.

But this is no wonder, because both Count Korolaf and Prince Metternich have very limited knowledge of railways.

When Franz saw this, the situation was basically settled, and there was little point in remedying it now.

And Friedrich List's strategy allowed Franz to see a new possibility for Austria in the future.

At this time, Britain had built more than 1,000 kilometers of railways, and France had nearly 300 kilometers of railways.

In Russia, Franz Gerstner, an Austrian engineer obsessed with railways, wrote a letter to Nicholas I.

The letter described a grand plan. He planned to build a railway to connect St. Petersburg and Kazan to strengthen the Tsar's control over Western Siberia.

The total length of this railway is more than 1,000 kilometers, which was an incredible plan for people at the time.

However, this aroused great interest in Tsar Nicholas I, who felt that this railway was a gift from God to Russia.

Tsar Nicholas I's idea was even bolder. He wanted to use railways to connect the entire Great Slavic Empire.

Constantinople - St. Petersburg - Kazan - Yakutsk (Russian Far East city) - Alaska

In order to realize his lofty ideals, Tsar Nicholas I established a railway construction committee.

The result was of course fierce opposition from the ministers. The dignitaries disagreed with the emperor's opinion and openly opposed the construction of any railways in the country.

The most opposed was the Minister of Finance Count Conklin, who said in a report to the Tsar that the Ministry of Finance did not have a penny left for the railway.

And Russian experts also jumped out to support Count Conklin.

They proposed that the freight volume of the train was too small, not as much as the freight volume of 300 horses, and the Russian Empire had 5 million mules and horses, which could fully cope with any situation.

In addition, Russia lacked coal, and had to cut down forests to drive trains, which would result in Russian civilians having no wood for fire.

Russia's pig iron production was seriously insufficient. If such a long railway was cast, a large amount of pig iron would have to be imported from foreign countries, which would bring Russia's metallurgical industry into a cold winter.

Nicholas I's most trusted subordinate, Duke Liubai, even suggested that this was most likely a conspiracy by the Austrians to use the railway to weaken Russia's national strength so as to gain an advantage in the action of dividing the Ottoman Empire.

In the end, Nicholas I had to give up his grand blueprint, but he was not discouraged.

Russia still had no railways.

The railways built by the Americans in one year were longer than the total length of the French railways at that time, 400 kilometers.

Because the cotton production in the United States exceeded expectations, the price of cotton fell.

However, at this time, wheat in Britain and the United States experienced a super bumper harvest. After experiencing losses, farmers who planted wheat switched to planting cotton.

Although the price of cotton has dropped, it is still popular overall, at least it will not lose money.

The land revenue sold by the US government this year has been fully enough to repay the debts owed by the US government, and a large fiscal surplus is expected next year.

Saxony purchased 500 steam looms from Austria. The joining of Austria and the establishment of the German Customs Union almost doubled Saxony's fiscal revenue.

This is not only because Saxony is the textile center of Germany, but also because it is the largest middleman in the German Customs Union.

Prussia and Austria have been in constant friction, and Saxony, sandwiched between Prussia and Austria, has become the biggest beneficiary.

After all, businessmen will not go against money, and friction between the two countries cannot prevent businessmen from doing business.

Although Austria's machinery manufacturing industry has received many orders, it is still in a half-dead state. This is mainly due to the competition from the British, because Britain has allowed the export of machinery at this time.

Britain's machinery manufacturing started much earlier than Austria, and the craftsmanship level is naturally much higher.

If it were not for the protection of the German Customs Union, and Hanover's refusal to join the German Customs Union, Austria's machinery manufacturing industry would have gone further and further in the direction of agricultural technology as in history.

Due to internal chaos, Austria increased its military spending, but reduced the number of Austrian army, which is now 440,000.

For its own security considerations, France added another 20,000 soldiers and gendarmes, as well as several native troops, with a total force of 530,000.

Prussia still has 200,000 troops. Russia launched a war against domestic nomads, and its troops remained unchanged at 600,000.

This year, France and Austria began to update their weapons and equipment, with more stable new muzzle-loading rifles.

France developed a new field gun, a lighter and more accurate 4-pound gun.

And Austria developed a famous suicide weapon in history. This artillery has a range and power far exceeding the same caliber artillery of the same era.

However, due to the casting technology and the lack of better casting materials, the probability of this artillery bursting is as high as 20%, which is more exciting than the Russian roulette in later generations.

The Austrian navy ushered in their fourth naval marshal in ten years. The marshal's identity is still not a professional soldier, but a businessman engaged in inland shipping-Varus Tafy.

Austria's fiscal revenue is 158 million florins, higher than 132 million florins in the same period of history.