Holy Roman Empire

At this time, we extended an olive branch, and the tsarist government had no way to refuse it.

Anyway, our large farm plan cannot be completed in a day, and at worst, part of the later projects will be reduced.

We can reach an agreement with the Russians to import part of the grain from the Russian Empire every year in exchange for domestic industrial and commercial products entering the Russian market.

There are problems in the common interest chain, and no matter how good the relationship between the Russia-Austria alliance has been for a long time, problems will also arise.

As long as the relationship between Russia and Austria is alienated, the strategic crisis we are facing will no longer exist. "

The Paris government's large farm plan actually sounds nice, but it will require a lot of manpower and financial resources to be implemented.

With the financial resources of the Paris government, it is simply impossible to start this big plan in the short term, which is doomed to shrink the big farm plan.

It is undoubtedly a big profit to use a plan that would have shrunk to drive a wedge between Russia and Austria, or even dismantle this alliance, and get rid of the strategic crisis in which France is isolated in the European continent.

Napoleon IV nodded. He really couldn't find a reason to refuse this kind of thing that serves multiple purposes.

"However, how to persuade the British? The prerequisite for all this is that the British government is willing to cooperate and create enough pressure on the Russians."

Here comes the crux of the problem. Abandoning the Russia-Austria alliance also requires paying a heavy price. If it is not a last resort, the Russians will definitely not do this.

Foreign Secretary Terence Bulkin replied calmly: "Your Majesty, the Russian-Austrian alliance is not only a threat to us, the British are also uncomfortable.

Don't you think Russia and Austria are a little too close to India?

In the eyes of the British: India is the best colony, and any country will be tempted.

In order to dismantle the Russian-Austrian alliance, the British government can do a lot.Now the opportunity is presented and I don't believe the British government will turn it down. "

Even if the Russia-Austria alliance is not a common enemy of Britain and France, it is a common threat to both countries, and everyone's interests are the same on this issue.

Chapter 72 Automotive Industry

The little action of the French did not exceed Franz's expectation.As Austria continues to grow, it will be a matter of time before the French feel threatened.

There are not many qualified allies of France on the European continent. Compared with the British, the French government is naturally more inclined to win over the Russians.

This is determined by geographical location. The spheres of influence of France and Russia do not border each other. Even if there is a conflict, it is a problem left over from history. There is not much conflict of interest between the two countries.

In contrast, the conflict between Britain and France is not just a historical legacy, but also a large number of direct conflicts of interest.

From the colonies to the homeland, there are serious strategic conflicts between Britain and France.The contradiction between Britain and France is still the main international contradiction these years, and even the contradiction between France and Austria has to be sidelined.

In addition to the French government feeling threatened, the French people are still immersed in the glory of the Napoleon era, and they don't take Austria, the defeated general, as one thing at all.

The general environment also affects people. Otherwise, the French government would have already taken action to win over the Russians, and it would not have waited until now.

In the face of interests, any ally is unreliable.As long as the French bid is high enough, it is inevitable that France and Russia will move closer.

It's just that he didn't experience the failure of the Franco-Prussian War. It would be too embarrassing for Napoleon IV to let the French government sell everything to win over the Russians.

You must know that in the original time and space, the French-Russian alliance was brought over by a large loan.As a price, the French navy fell behind directly, and was surpassed by Germany and the United States in the early 20th century.

The so-called deviation of the navy and the development of submarines and small ships are not only the brains of the French navy's top executives, but also the lack of military spending.

No money, what kind of big navy are you playing?

The cost of building a battleship alone is tens of millions of francs. Adding in a series of issues such as follow-up maintenance costs and port construction, it is not surprising that the amortized cost exceeds [-] million.

While maintaining the Continental Army, if dozens of battleships are produced, the government's money will be spent, and private financing will also be spent. How can there be money to win over the Russians?

Although the Russian Empire in this year is not as powerful as it was in the same period of history, and its pockets are much shrunken, it is bigger than the original time and space!

Alexander III was not as easy to fool as Nicholas II. If the French did not bid high enough, they would not be tempted at all.

Of course, wooing will definitely have an effect. After all, "hands are short for grabbing people, but mouths are soft for eating people", so it will definitely be no problem to ease the relationship between France and Russia.

If the bid is higher and the political methods are more powerful, it is still possible to find a suitable entry point and disintegrate the Russia-Austria alliance.

Wanting the tsarist government to work for the French, this is not something that can work with a little bit of interest.

Think of the Russians as the mercenaries of this era, and they are also the most expensive mercenaries.

However, the reputation of this exorbitant mercenary is not good, and he took money for more than one time and did not do anything. How can this make employers feel at ease?

Since it was safe for the time being, Franz was not in a hurry.At the moment, he is trying out his own car, the Royal One.

Not a battleship, that thing is not suitable for a seasick emperor to play with.The Royal One is a luxury car owned by the Austrian Automobile Group. It is a status symbol and is specially designed for local tyrants.

Pure handmade, high-end works of art, not comparable to the common goods on the workshop assembly line.

Of course, "car art" is not popular these days, and a family car itself is a super luxury, which is not something ordinary people can expect.

The real competitiveness of Royal One lies in its excellent performance.Since this is produced for the emperor, there is no need to consider the cost.

The technology and craftsmanship used are the limit that can be achieved in this era.

4 cylinder engine, 90 hp, top speed 120 km/h.After filling up a tank of fuel, it can run at full speed for 3.5 hours.

In addition to its super speed, Royal One also has unparalleled stability, as well as super safety protection facilities, including special steel and epoch-making bulletproof glass throughout the entire shell...

Franz has tested it himself, and it is not a problem for the bulletproof glass to block the rifle, and the protection of the body can resist the grenade.

Of course, this is limited to throwing it outside to explode. It can block the shrapnel. If it is thrown under the tire, it will still be lethal.

In a sense, this thing can be used as an assault tank on the battlefield after modification.

However, after seeing the terrifying cost, Franz decisively gave up this tempting idea, and the tank army is still in the foreseeable future.

There is no way, most of these high-tech equipment are limited to laboratory products, not to mention the high cost of industrial production, the key is that the defective rate is still terrifying.

Take the engine as an example. Of the 90 engines produced in the same batch, only 2 have a horsepower of 80 horsepower, and most of the rest are between 90 and 70 horsepower, and some of them have dropped below [-] horsepower.

This gadget is similar to the copycat machines of later generations, and its performance depends entirely on luck.It's not even as good as a counterfeit machine, at least the defective rate of others cannot reach 90.00%.

The defective rate of small-scale production is so high, let alone large-scale industrial production, the data is even more appalling.

Looking at ordinary cars in the world, we know that cars with a speed of 40 kilometers per hour are high-quality and conscientious products.

The speed of most cars can only be achieved theoretically, or in the first two years they can reach a speed of [-] kilometers per hour, but in the later period, only [-] to [-] kilometers per hour are left.

If you are in a hurry, there may not be any horses that can run fast.The only advantage is that it has better battery life.

If it's just a little slower, it's nothing, after all, it's faster than a carriage, and it's more convenient than a train for short-distance travel.

However, the failure rate of automobiles is surprisingly high.When it was first sold in the world, on average, every [-] kilometers, or [-] kilometers at a time, needed to be overhauled.

Let's put it this way, to be able to drive a car in the 19th century is not just about having money in your pocket, you must also learn how to repair the car, or you can only hire a driver.

In order to sell cars better, the Austrian Automobile Group is now setting up a maintenance and rescue point every [-] kilometers, which relieves everyone's worries, and this has laid the foundation for the vigorous development of the Austrian auto industry.

There is no doubt that these messy problems will not happen on the Royal One.

If something breaks down after running for [-] kilometers, the people below will not dare to send it up to the emperor. If something happens, it will kill people.

You get what you pay for, and the Royal One with excellent performance was also made with money. The total cost is close to one million Aegis, which has already caught up with the construction cost of the former dreadnought battleship.

This epoch-making product is still very valuable for collection.That's right, it's a collection.Franz is a dead house, and he rarely goes out.

There is a special train for traveling far away, and the Austrian railway covers every city, which is convenient enough; if you go hunting closer, you can ride a horse instead of a car.

Franz really wouldn't mind selling this sky-high priced car if a rich man paid for it.However, this is impossible.

The manufacturing cost alone is as high as 60 Aegis. The most important thing is that a lot of new technologies are used, which is the highest embodiment of Austrian industrial level.

After all, it's not just the product that's being sold, the product is only worth a few hundred thousand Aegis at most, the real value is the new technology used in the car.

Take this car and disassemble it as a research and development template, and reverse reverse these technologies, which is much faster than self-development.

There is no doubt that this is impossible.Not to mention how much technology is in it, which is highly confidential and cannot be sold outside. Just by looking at the price, you can tell that no buyer can be found.

Although the technology is good, not everyone can eat it.Including the powerful Anglo-French consortium, no one's technical system has been perfected to this point and can digest all the technologies in it.

Restricted by research and development capabilities or differences in industrial systems, many technologies are not a template in essence, and can be reversed and restored.

Of course, if the number of templates is large enough, experiments can be carried out many times, and basically all of them can be reversed.

The derivation of technology does not mean that it has the ability of industrial production.This also needs to test the industrial level of a country. Products that transcend the times are definitely not so easy to imitate.

If these technologies cannot be applied to industrial production to create wealth, then buying this car is buying a super luxury.

It's really extravagant. Seventy-eight million Aegis is equivalent to gold, which would cost more than 8000 tons.

Such local tyrants can only exist after the collapse of the gold standard, and it is impossible to appear in the gold standard era.

Then, there is no more.The super-luxury car that pushed the Austrian auto industry forward a big step, the Royal One, could only be kept by the emperor as a collection.

Even if it is to be sold, it will have to wait more than ten or twenty years. These technologies are almost widely used, and there is no need to keep them secret.

It's just that when the time comes, Royal One's worth will plummet.Perhaps at that time, only tens of thousands of Aegis, or even a few thousand Aegis, can be produced.

When Royal No. [-] only has collection value left, it is only valuable in the hands of the emperor. If it falls into the hands of ordinary people, its value will drop sharply.

This is similar to antique cultural relics. Even ordinary bottles and jars, as long as they are used by the emperor and have the word "court" on them, their value will rise sharply in an instant.

Without artistic value, experts can find artistic value; if it is not possible, historical value can also be involved.

After wandering around the palace at a speed of [-] kilometers per hour, Franz got out of the car decisively.

There is no way, it has been too long since I have driven such a fast car, and Franz found himself showing signs of motion sickness for the first time.

Theoretically speaking, the driver would not get motion sickness, but unfortunately no one dared to let the emperor sit in the cab and be the driver himself.

Chapter 73 Monopolies

The birth of Royal No. [-] is not just a simple luxury, nor is it built by the people below with a lot of money just to flatter the emperor.

After all, it is their own property, and it is Franz himself who pays the final bill.Without the permission of the emperor himself, he would be held accountable.

There is no doubt that the Austrian Automobile Group has put all its efforts into creating this ultra-luxury sedan, and it is certainly not for showing off its wealth.

It is impossible for Franz to go out for a drive in this car, and even the information about this car will not be disclosed to the outside world.

This request is not only to promote the development of automobile technology, but also to test the domestic industrial strength.

As an emperor who has been bombarded by various information, Franz is very clear that data and reports can be fabricated out of thin air, but the real thing in front of him cannot be faked.

In the world these days, only Austria has a complete automobile industry, and other countries are still following behind.

Even if the people below want to fake it, there is no room for it.

For the sake of the Royal One, Franz also personally inspected the largest automobile production base of the Austrian Automobile Group - the Prague Automobile Plant, which can produce 2 vehicles per year at full speed.

This number is not surprising in later generations, any car factory can easily do it.

However, this factory, which can only produce less than 55 cars per day on average, is already the largest car factory in the world, not one of them.

In fact, it's even more exaggerated than that.This humble annual production capacity of 2 cars has already accounted for one-third of the total production capacity of the Austrian auto industry.

The production capacity of this Prague automobile factory directly exceeds the combined automobile production capacity of Britain and France, and is equivalent to the automobile production capacity of all countries except Austria.

Well, this is the result of Franz's cheating.At present, the only company in the world that can industrially produce automobiles is the Austrian Automobile Group.

There is no way, the one who makes the move has long been an advantage.When everyone did not pay attention to the automobile industry, Franz began to spend money.

The Austrian Automobile Group has been immersed in research and development in the laboratory from the very beginning, and has never announced the news to the public, and the colleagues in the industry have not responded.

No, to be precise, before the product came out, there was no so-called peers at all.

Before that, everyone was rushing to the research and development of steam cars.And the internal combustion engine vehicles of the Austrian Automobile Group are completely two species.

The earliest internal combustion engine car in the original time and space was launched in 1888. The founder of Mercedes-Benz, who set a precedent in history and will be awesome in later generations, still doesn't know what he is doing.

Oldsmobile, the earliest automobile company in the United States, was established in 1897; Cadillac, the earliest automobile company in Japan, was registered in 1902.

……

After the Austrian Automobile Group's first product, the "Beetle", went on sale, everyone suddenly discovered that cars can still be built in this way.

The Austrian Automobile Group, which has no competitors, naturally became the dominant player in the automotive field.

There is no doubt that under the background that patent protection does not cover the whole world, followers will soon appear.

I can't make it out for a while through research and development by myself, but if I plagiarize with a template, can't I still copy it?

Then, most of the first batch of products of the Austrian Automobile Group became parts, contributing to the development of the world's automobile industry.

Essentially, this is just a conceptual breakthrough.As long as you open your mind, industrial powers can make cars.

It's just that the car is not simply assembled, and the production technology does not mean that the quality of the car can be produced.

It also needs the cooperation of relevant industries. If there is a problem in any link, the final result will be a tragedy.

Followers quickly discovered this, but it was too difficult for them to develop technologies in multiple fields at the same time and overcome a series of difficulties.