The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven Chapter 42

Vienna, Franz's bedroom.

In fact, Franz has always been curious about why Austria closed the silver mines in Tyrol, which could still be mined in the late World War II, and why the mines that were not exhausted until 1957 stopped mining in 1827.

Thalia found a report on the Tyrolean silver mine. The reason given above was that the quality of the Tyrolean silver mine was not good enough and the income could not cover the cost, so it had to be stopped in the end.

Franz rubbed his chin. Why did he lose money year after year in the hands of the Austrian government, and then transfer it to individuals to continue mining for a hundred years.

Franz compared the income statements of several mines and found that the income of the Tyrolean silver mine was not as good as that of the iron mine under his own name.

Franz thinks it is unlikely, unless the silver mines cannot be mined, otherwise the income of silver mines cannot be lower than that of iron mines, and judging from the fact that private enterprises in later generations can continue to mine for hundreds of years, the silver mines in Tyrol are far from to the time of exhaustion.

Then there may be only one, that is, the supervision is weak, just like the customs of the Qing Dynasty, there are leaks everywhere.

What made Franz even more angry was that someone who was so clever thought it up, but when he gave up the Tyrolean silver mine, he blew up the mine and buried it.

Re-excavating the mine is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also costs a lot of money.

But generally speaking, the resumption of mining of the Tyrolean silver mine is still very beneficial to Austria. After all, this is a direct benefit, and it can also be used as a mortgage to cheat loans.

The problem of the Austrian Army was easy to solve, and the order from Chenla came again. In addition to 6,000 rifles, they also wanted 20 cannons.

It's just that this time they didn't use silver to pay the bill, but some silver, some gold, and ivory, pearls, jade, and some precious wood.

It seems that Chenla has made up its mind or is in big trouble. This may be a catastrophe for Chenla, but it is an opportunity for Austria. It depends on whether Ambrosius can grasp it up.

Of course, Franz will ask the church to help. After all, Archbishop Rauscher has recently made a lot of money selling holy radiance and holy water.

Bleach powder and alcohol cost nothing. Although some people discovered it, their influence was far less than that of the church. The same products just couldn't be sold, and the church's supply was even in short supply.

In order to crowd out possible competitors, the church crazily lowered the price, which also discouraged some powerless people.

With the promotion of church products, the cholera that was supposed to break out did not appear in the slums of Vienna.

The number of deaths from dysentery in Austria is also plummeting. Coupled with the bumper harvest and economic boom in recent years, railway construction and public works have absorbed a large number of refugees, which has increased the happiness of the Austrian people a lot.

The problem of the navy is difficult to solve. If you want to build a fleet, then a few million florins just listen to it. At most, you can build a few frigates and cruisers, and if you count the training of artillery and sailors, the cost is simply sky-high. .

The Austrian Navy proposed to build a powerful formation of four fourth-tier battleships, six cruisers, and ten frigates to maintain absolute suppression of the Sardinian navy.

In fact, the Kingdom of Sardinia's navy has a second-tier battleship as its flagship, a third-tier battleship, and ten fourth-tier battleships. Although the number of ships is far less than that of the Austrian Navy, the gap between gunboats and battleships is not just the number. can make up.

In the naval battle in 1827, the British battleships "Asia" and "East" broke into the Egyptian navy queue, shattering Egypt's naval dream in just two hours.

However, they are not the strongest force of the British at sea, and they can only tremble in front of those first-class sailing battleships.

Austria's opponent is not the British, nor the Kingdom of Sardinia, but the Egyptian fleet.

At this time, competing with the United Kingdom for sea power is tantamount to courting death, and the number of battleships that Austria can use is not as good as the number of the opponent's first-class battleships.

The Kingdom of Sardinia borders Austria, so it can be pushed by the army. There is no doubt that the Austrian army has this strength.

In the two Turkish-Egyptian wars, the incompetence exposed by Austria was the real reason for the decline of Austria's international status.

Later generations always say that Metternich was weak and weak, which led the British to skip Austria and punish Egypt alone.

In fact, the fundamental reason is that Austria does not have a strong navy, and can only look at the faces of the British, the French, and the Russians, which caused Metternich to be hesitant.

But the British did not intend to accept the little brother of the Austrian Empire. They turned around and left Austria aside, and they took the blame during the Crimean War.

In order to change the fate of Austria, a navy capable of defeating the Egyptian fleet is necessary.

After the Navarino naval battle, Egypt's navy suffered a devastating blow, and at this time the power of the Austrian navy could really handle it.

But if everything develops according to history, Ottoman's fleet will defect to Egypt. At this time, Ottoman's fleet has more than 30 large and small ships, including the largest sailing battleship "Mahamoudia" in this era.

This is not what the Austrian navy can handle. Without strength, it will naturally lack confidence. Of course, it is also unrealistic to expect Austria to build a fleet that can defeat the Ottoman navy in two or three years.

But there is still hope for a mixed fleet that can quickly defeat the Egyptian fleet and project the Austrian Army into Egypt.

Of course, sending troops from Austria to resolve this dispute is only the last solution. Franz still hopes that Prince Metternich can complete the achievement of diplomatic victory.

There is good news for the Austrian navy, that is, Archduke Friedrich, the third son of Archduke Karl, will join the navy~www.mtlnovel.com~ This grand duke who likes ship models will carry out a comprehensive reform of the Austrian navy, The Austrian Navy will also usher in its first glorious period.

Archduke Friedrich graduated from the military academy at the age of 13, spent another two years studying shipbuilding, and joined the navy at the age of 16 to start reforms. He is a man of talent, enthusiasm, and financial resources.

However, such a genius would not have imagined that four years later, he would face a game that would change the fate of the Austrian Empire. His reforms were still too conservative.

Egypt was not the only loser in the Turkish-Egyptian war. Austria exposed its diplomatic weakness and weak naval strength.

In 1840, the Austrian Navy and the British Royal Navy jointly blocked Alexandria, bombarded Sidon and Beirut, and organized a landing in Acre, brutalizing the Egyptian army.

It looks very beautiful and shows off its national prestige. However, in the eyes of the old empire, the Austrian navy is like a clown, and the temporary marine corps is even more ridiculous.

As the saying goes, laymen watch the excitement, while experts watch the way.

What the nobles accompanying the Austrian army saw was the huge number of the Austrian fleet, and the artillery salvos filled the sky with gunpowder.

However, what the British and French fleet commanders saw was a group of miscellaneous fish who did not understand naval tactics, and the shipbuilding technology was terrible, and there were no large ships that could support sea battles.

The main artillery was actually an 8-pound gun, which once made the British fleet commander think that the opponent was an army.

In fact, in the Austrian Navy, most of the officers were temporarily drawn from the army, and the technicians were also recruited temporarily. As for the sailors, many of them were temporary workers recruited from the port bar.

It is difficult for such a makeshift force to make Britain, a powerful country with a deep naval tradition, look up to it.

Chapter end