Chapter 676 East, West, North, and South

Palmerston's so-called goodwill was to prepare to divide the Kingdom of Madagascar with Austria, and the condition was still the division of the east and the west.

However, the joint military dispatch was changed to Britain sending ships and Austria sending people. This was different from getting something for nothing, and Franz was filled with infinite emotion.

"As expected of the British Empire, this shit-stirring stick is really not something that ordinary people can touch."

Fortunately, Metternich was not as stubborn as Franz imagined. In fact, Metternich was a man who would not release the eagle until he saw the rabbit.

He could not only instigate Franz II to recruit a son-in-law when France was strong and Austria was weak, but also add insult to injury and fight back when Napoleon failed.

He and Talleyrand are known as the most shameless diplomats in the world, and are politicians who have nothing to do with the word morality.

Metternich did not agree with Palmerston's proposal, because Madagascar Island really had no appeal to the Austrian Empire.

Not to mention the more than two million mobs on the island, the cost of developing the colony alone is daunting.

In fact, the initial investment in the colonies was huge, and the Austrian Empire had limited shipping capacity. Metternich did not think that the colonies on the other side of Africa had any value, including the Tanzania Governorate.

At this time, there were not many countries that developed colonies on a large scale, and most colonists relied on plunder or the establishment of puppets to gain benefits.

So in Metternich's eyes, the most valuable colonies were Namibia and California, because these two places had gold and looked very good on paper.

As for the colonies in West Africa, they were completely dispensable, and it was better to operate some trading stations.

And East Africa was simply a bottomless pit. The trade with the Oman Empire made so much profit, but Franz used it all to subsidize Tanzania.

But the output of the Tanzanian colony was far from the investment, even so Franz was happy to do it, which made Metternich worried.

Because this colony was too far away from Austria and the area was too large, it would be difficult for Austria to keep it once a war broke out.

In fact, the Austrian Empire did have colonies in history, but the end was not good, so Metternich was not optimistic about the prospects overseas.

More importantly, the Austrian Empire was clearly the hegemon of Central Europe at this time. The German Customs Union and the Apennine Customs Union, as well as trade with Russia and the Ottoman Empire, almost quadrupled the fiscal revenue of the Austrian Empire.

At this rate, the fiscal revenue of the Austrian Empire in 1846 would catch up with France (1.4 billion francs). France had acquired large colonies in the world, especially in North America, so its economy was better than the same period in history.

However, France was also facing a huge problem at this time, that is, its expenditure was much higher than in history, and the fiscal pressure was exaggerated.

Military expenditure alone was despairing. The number of standing troops alone had reached an astonishing 700,000, which had surpassed Russia (620,000) and even the sum of Prussia and Austria (640,000).

The number of warships launched in the same year was four times that of Austria and twelve times that of Russia. However, most of these were still old-fashioned sailing battleships, with only a few new paddle-wheeled battleships.

In fact, in Franz's eyes, these so-called new paddle-wheeled battleships were not as threatening as those old-fashioned sailing battleships.

Because these paddle wheels are extremely unstable and fragile, they are almost certain to be destroyed if they are hit by a cannon. At that time, the paddle wheels that should provide power will become a burden, and even if the paddle wheels are not hit, the huge axles will affect the firepower.

In general, naval battles during this period are about who has more guns and who has thicker armor, and paddle wheel warships do not have an advantage in these two aspects.

As for the so-called speed advantage, it is more reflected in inland seas and short-distance naval battles. Because most of the early paddle wheels were exposed to the water, the ship was bumpy.

Once encountering strong winds and waves, the paddle wheel's ability to stir water may be reduced, thereby reducing power, and even idling or mechanical failure will directly cause the paddle wheel to fail.

In addition, paddle wheels consume more fuel than the propellers used by the Austrian Navy at this time, but the speed is much slower, so Franz does not care much about the French Navy.

Back to the point, Prince Metternich, who has an online IQ, is still very scary. Although he is excited about the "goodwill" released by the British for the first time in so many years.

But Prince Metternich did not step into this pit regardless of the consequences. Instead, he put forward his own conditions and kicked the ball to the other party.

Especially in the division of spoils, Metternich advocated claiming the western part of the island, not the eastern part as the British said.

The reason for the claim was also very direct, that is, there was no money. The mineral resources in the east were indeed very tempting, but they were too far away from the Austrian Empire, and the funds required were too huge to pay the fee in the short term.

The ports in the west were closer to the Austrian colonies, which were relatively convenient to manage, and there were ready-made ports that could charge fees directly.

This was undoubtedly a risky move, because it was definitely a face-jumping behavior for the British. At this time when the Suez Canal had not yet been opened, the strategic significance of Madagascar Island was self-evident.

East Africa, South Africa, the Indian Ocean, and the Cape of Good Hope were all within its radiation, especially for the maritime hegemony of Southeast Africa and the Indian Ocean.

Naturally, the British top leaders could not accept this proposal, and Robert Peel was so angry that he threw the agreement directly to the ground.

It’s not that the Prime Minister has a bad temper, but that the mess is too annoying.

Famine in Ireland, plague in London, drought in Scotland, and the appearance of the Loch Ness Monster have caused panic among the people.

(The legend of the Loch Ness Monster originated in Scotland.)

The most annoying thing is that the First Maori War was supposed to end today, but at this time, a 300-man British army was ambushed and eaten alive by a local tribe.

Now New Zealand is most famous for the wild Maori war dance, which is called the most shocking dance by some Western media.

But New Zealand and Maori in the 19th century were not interesting words, because the most closely related to them was cannibalism, which was also very shocking.

Including the casualties of these 300 people, the British have lost more than 1,000 soldiers on the island of New Zealand. But compared to the number of 1,000, the way those people died is the trouble.

Whether Robert Peel continues the war or withdraws his troops, he will be criticized by his opponents.

Continuing the war would certainly mean sending young people to die, while choosing to retreat would be considered to have frightened the natives and also damaged the interests of the British Empire.

In contrast, the famine in Ireland and the Great Plague in London were much easier to "solve", and the former could be explained from a religious point of view.

That is, the great famine in Ireland at this time was God's punishment for non-elects and lazy people.

That's right! The mainstream idea at the time was that people were poor because of sin and laziness, as well as low moral standards and lack of piety.

So whenever British capitalists saw the victims, they just had to silently say "There must be something hateful about pitiful people!" They could continue to do nothing with a firm heart.

"The laziness of the Irish is outrageous. They don't even try to save their harvest!"

- The Times

"The disaster that hit Ireland is a warning against luxury and carefree life! Only hard work can appease God's anger!"

- The Morning Post

"If we continue the "national sin", that is, the policy of tolerance towards Catholics and the poor, then disaster will befall each of us!"

- The Sun

As for the Great Plague, it is similar. This is mainly because the workers in London are unwilling to work and often engage in the Charter Movement, so they were punished.

So under the guidance of this idea, the workers' movement in the London area fell into an unprecedented low. Some people even hated the striking workers because their families were infected with the plague, and then took violent means to abuse and kill the strikers.

Although there are many troubles, the relationship with Austria is an important part of Britain's reshaping of diplomatic hegemony, so Robert Peel can only let Palmerston try his best to negotiate and ease relations with Austria.

In fact, it was Palmerston's private decision to divide the Kingdom of Madagascar with the Austrian Empire, which made Robert Peel very angry, but in view of his achievements in handling relations with France, he only issued an ultimatum to him.

Palmerston finally returned to the center of power, and he didn't want to step down again, so he decided to take a gamble.

Palmerston bet that the Austrian Empire did not have the strength to take Madagascar, and even if it could take it, it could not keep it, and it did not have the courage to compete with Britain for maritime hegemony in the Indian Ocean.

Palmerston bet on Britain's national destiny for his own future, and this time he won the bet. Neither Metternich nor Franz thought of letting the Austrian Empire and Britain compete for the western part of Madagascar.

What Metternich wanted was the north of Madagascar, and the west was just a cover. Although the other party agreed, the hot potato was obviously not eaten.

As an old fox, Metternich would naturally not show his cowardice, nor would he tell his opponent his true intentions, so this proposal was temporarily shelved.

Metternich would find another good opportunity to force the other party to accept his proposal. Metternich didn't care whether the British would eat alone or seek cooperation with other countries.

In Metternich's eyes, conquering Madagascar was just an opportunity to repair relations with Britain. As for the Kingdom of Madagascar itself, it was not important, not to mention that he didn't want to increase the number of colonies.

Franz knew the importance of Madagascar, but he was not worried that the British would think of other ways.

After all, before the death of Nero, the British had never thought about the Kingdom of Madagascar.

Even at this time, Palmerston took the initiative to propose to divide the Kingdom of Madagascar, which was more of a trap for the Austrian Empire.

As for King Louis Philippe of France, it is very likely that he will fall into the same trap twice, but Soult will not. The old marshal just wants to retire peacefully, so he will try his best to avoid such a war with too high a cost.

In general, after the easing of Anglo-Austrian relations, Austria did not benefit much. On the one hand, it was because there was not much conflict between Britain and Austria, and on the other hand, the goodwill of the British was only verbal.

However, some things can be handled more easily with the support of the British, such as dealing with the pro-British faction in Austria.

Most of these people are from the same faction as Metternich, and they have high expectations of the British morality.

Franz did not really want to take action against these people, but would slowly remove them from the diplomatic system. After all, Franz had no interest in being an ally of the British Empire.

Although the Ottomans believed that Britain would win, to be honest, no country that messed with John Bull would have a good ending, and Franz did not want to follow in his footsteps.

After the British took a shrinking stance, the happiest people were the French. The latter began to eat up the land in big mouthfuls, which made the former feel very scared.

So the British Empire, as a troublemaker, pointed out a "bright way" for the French. The French military power on the North American continent was naturally the best in the world, but the United States had a vast territory, so if it wanted to go to war, it would definitely be delayed for a long time and consume a lot of money.

Although Mexico lost a large area of ​​land, it was not easy to deal with hundreds of thousands of troops on the alert.

Then the California colony of the Austrian Empire naturally became the best direction for its expansion. You must know that gold in this era is both a wealth and a curse.

For the strong, they can use gold to arm themselves, or use it to buy everything they want.

But for the weak, gold is poison, a curse, and a reason for the strong to destroy them.

At this time, France believed that it was the strongest in North America, and California, with a population of only more than 400,000, was regarded as food in the mouth of the strong.

The French, Mexicans, and Americans had similar ideas, that is, to disguise the army as a caravan.

Then a French vanguard of 300 people disappeared, and then Guizot, the governor of Saint Philip (the new name of the French North American colony), sent another team of 500 people.

As a result, there was no news of the second team, and only a group of French-speaking workers were added to the deep mines in California.

An unfortunate incident also happened during Christmas. Pelleni Schaffer was assassinated by her own brother Henry Schaffer in her office.

The reason was similar to the honor execution in India, and the general idea was that Pelleni Schaffer violated the taboo of being a noble woman.

But in fact, she just touched the interests of some big men, and those big men could not touch Franz, so he murdered the person standing in the front.

Franz actually reminded Pelleni Schaffer a long time ago and increased the number of bodyguards for her.

However, at midnight, when people were intoxicated by the peaceful and harmonious atmosphere, the church bells rang, and with three gunshots, Perrine Schaffer's young life came to an end.

Because the visitor was Perrine Schaffer's brother, the bodyguards did not conduct a thorough body search.

Henry Schaffer's shooting skills were very poor, and none of the three shots hit the vital points, but excessive blood loss was enough to kill Perrine Schaffer.

In addition to Perrine Schaffer, Abe Masahiro, who was thousands of miles away, was also killed by God, but at this time the shogunate could no longer leave the Austrian Empire, and a new interest group had been formed.

So even if Abe Masahiro died, the new triangular trade would still continue, and partial isolation would still become Japan's national policy.