Holy Roman Empire

These domestic problems are only minor problems, and the most troublesome ones are international ones.The British are watching closely, and the expansion of the Shinra Navy to the Royal Navy will definitely follow up.

There is no doubt that a new round of naval arms competition has been ignited.At that time, whether they like it or not, the Vienna government will passively follow the British to play the "Dumpling Contest".

After thinking about it a little bit, Frederick knew that the Admiralty's shipbuilding plan was a huge pit, a huge pit that could swallow up all the new fiscal revenue of the Vienna government.

Leaving aside the international influence, the money is spent on military expenditures. What else does he, the crown prince, do for political achievements?

Franz asked Frederick to supervise the country, so that he could take the opportunity to improve his political achievements, prove his ability to govern the country to the outside world, and increase his prestige for future succession.

If all the money is used to play the "dumpling contest" with the British, it is estimated that everyone except the navy will be dissatisfied with him as the crown prince.

Frederick was not William II, and he had a naval dream since he was a child.Frederick, who grew up in Vienna, was deeply influenced by mainland culture and was a typical land rights advocate.

Frederick has always been very disdainful of the British maritime hegemony.No matter how powerful the maritime hegemony is, can it compare to the hegemony of Asia, Europe and Africa?

In the Holy Roman Empire, the most popular theory is still "the one who wins the world island wins the world".As for maritime hegemony, it is only an accessory of continental hegemony.

After the Holy Roman Empire has finished digesting the fruits of victory, the British's maritime hegemony must be given up, or it must be given up.

So Frederick looked at the Secretary of the Navy now, saying, "This is a bad guy, and he actually wants to harm me."

As if his dissatisfaction with the crown prince had already been prepared, Castagni replied unhurriedly: "Your Highness, the British are too busy recently, we must find something for them to do.

Seeing that the Central Asian Railway is about to open to traffic, it is necessary for us to create an opportunity for the Russians to consume the national strength of the British through the hands of the Russians.

If things go well, we will be able to take over from the British the heavy responsibility of ocean supremacy before the end of the new round of the Anglo-Russian War.

Before that, if we don't build more warships, how can we fulfill our overlord duties? "

I don't know when the Vienna government liked to use the Russian allies as pawns.

Now to replace the British maritime hegemony, the first reaction of the Admiralty is: let the Russians go first.

If you open the history books, you will find that in recent decades, the Russians have stepped up to help beat all the enemies of the Vienna government.

In the first Near East War (Crimean War), the British and French Ottomans were defeated, which created the foundation for Austria to annex South Germany;

During the two Prussian-Prussian Wars, he helped to abolish Prussia and successfully avoided the outbreak of civil war for the reunification of Shinra;

The next few Near East wars were also fought by Russia and Austria, and successfully killed the Ottoman Empire;

Although the Russians were absent in the European war, they still made outstanding contributions to suppressing France, and they are still fighting;

Now it's time for the confrontation between Vienna and London. I didn't expect the Russians to come in handy again.Before it was time for a decisive battle, someone in the Vienna government wanted to provoke the Anglo-Russian war.

Judging from the current situation, with the opening of the Central Asian Railway, the probability of an Anglo-Russian war is also increasing day by day.

Therefore, Russia-Austria friendship is also inevitable.Where can I find such a caring ally?

Although it is very expensive to maintain the friendship between Russia and Austria, compared with the contributions made by the Russians, it is not worth mentioning at all.

Frederick admitted that he was tempted, but he quickly realized it.The opening of the Central Asia Railway is two years away, so what's the rush now?

Even if it is to provoke the Anglo-Russian war, it must wait for the railway to pass through.

Before that, let the British be idle first, they will be busy in the future, and there is no rush at all.

Especially the recent actions of the London government are constantly challenging the bottom line of the tsarist government.Over time, these small conflicts will turn into irreconcilable hatred between the two countries.

……

Chapter 67 Full Heavy Artillery Battleship

Although the shipbuilding plan of the Admiralty was not approved, the strategic plan to provoke the Anglo-Russian War was highly praised by Frederick.

In any country, what fears most is bureaucratic inaction.Only busy bureaucrats are good bureaucrats.

Although the Admiralty was a little more concerned and didn't consider the issue so thoroughly, after contacting the actual situation, Frederick also understood the Admiralty's approach.

Although the navy of the Holy Roman Empire has reached the second level in the world, it is far from the first.

Originally, the Shinra Navy was expected to catch up with the British, but unfortunately the French warships were sold to the British by the government, which further widened the gap in strength between the two navies.

Of course, everything has two sides, and there are advantages and disadvantages.The Royal Navy, which got the French warship, also failed to please.

The original purpose of purchasing these warships was to suppress the Shinra Navy and consolidate maritime hegemony.

However, the situation later changed a little bit. The expected arms race did not break out. The Royal Navy, which has a large number of warships, could only choose to seal up some warships.

I bought a bunch of big toys and went home, but in the end they had to lock them in a drawer. The British also suffered.

However, there is no way to do this. Knowing that there is a pit, the British can only jump in, otherwise the warship will fall into the hands of the Shinra Navy, and the Royal Navy's dominant position will be difficult to guarantee.

After all, warship construction also takes time.If the Royal Navy has no advantage, it will be a tragedy if the Vienna government suddenly has a headache and comes to play with the Royal Navy one day.

Shinra is a land power country that can afford to lose, but Britain can't stand it.If the Royal Navy suffers heavy losses and the international situation is overthrown and reshuffled, it will be difficult for Britain to regain its maritime hegemony.

After missing an opportunity to quickly catch up, the biggest economic crisis in human history immediately ushered in. All the money was spent on the economy, and military expenditures naturally decreased.

Since the end of the European War, Shinra's military spending has remained stagnant.The total amount of military expenditure has not increased, and the amount of military expenditure allocated to the navy is naturally impossible to increase.

After the war, in order to raise military expenses, both the army and the air force sold second-hand equipment.Not to mention making a lot of money, but it is still possible to improve your life.

The navy is struggling, because the international market has long been saturated due to the previous sale of warships, and there is no room for them to play.

In fact, even if there is room to play, it is useless.The Army and the Air Force sold their equipment in a big way, which was left over from the anti-French war. No matter how much they cried and sold it, it was better than dismantling and selling scrap iron.

The navy is different. Not only does it not have a bunch of warships left, but it also faces competition from the British.

The military budget of the Shinra Navy has not increased, but the naval budget of its competitors has increased every year.The Admiralty saw it and was anxious.

It's just that "urgent" is useless. The government's annual budget is so much that it can't take care of the other. The government budget can only be given priority to places that are more needed.

There is no doubt that the Shinra Navy is obviously not the most urgent development.The Royal Navy's advantage is already great, and it doesn't matter if it is bigger, anyway, they dare not enter the Mediterranean Sea.

The Royal Navy's prestige is too strong, including Frederick, many high-level people in the Vienna government lack confidence in the navy.

On the issue of confrontation with the British, there has always been another voice in the Vienna government, that is: build more airports in coastal areas to deploy air force defenses, and at the same time vigorously develop submarines as a supplement.

There is no need to sink all the enemy warships, as long as the air force can damage the enemy warships, the navy can go up and pick up the leaks.

With such low requirements, the difficulty is naturally not too high.Now the main force of the Royal Navy does not dare to enter the Mediterranean Sea, it is done under this theory.

After all, the air force is far more mobile than the navy, and the Vienna government has built a large number of airstrips in coastal areas.

If the Vienna government wanted to, it could assemble hundreds, if not thousands, of aircraft in any one area.

Facing the dense fleet, anyone's scalp would feel numb.Although the Royal Navy is powerful, it still fears the enemies overhead.

The Ministry of Air Force even formulated a strategic bombing plan for Britain, that is, to concentrate thousands of bombers at one time, launch air strikes against the Royal Navy, and end the British maritime hegemony.

Although it is impossible to do it under the current technology, considering the development speed of aviation technology, it may not be impossible to do it in the next 30 to [-] years.

After all, the English Channel is only a short distance away, and Shinra, as the hegemon of the European continent, can deploy fighter jets in France and Belgium, and it is not difficult to launch air strikes.

Although the plan is full of ideals, everyone has more confidence in the air force than a decisive sea battle with the British.

In this context, the life of the Shinra Navy is naturally difficult.It's fine if the army can't win the battle for military expenses. Even the air force has come to compete with them for resources. It's normal for the Ministry of the Navy to be anxious.

The military budget is limited, and the original plan of the Ministry of the Navy to "rely on Shinra's industrial advantages and directly pile up the strategy of smashing the British to death" is obviously not feasible.

After another attempt by Frederick, Castagni took out a new document and handed it over: "Your Highness, this is the alternative plan prepared by our Admiralty.

There is a huge gap between the Imperial Navy and the British Royal Navy, and it will take a lot of money to catch up.

Considering the limited financial revenue of the empire, in order to save military expenses, the Ministry of the Navy is preparing to promote the technological revolution of the naval industry.

This is a new type of battleship that we have designed using a new design concept, which is different from any previous warship.

We have abandoned the previous concept of a variety of artillery coordination, and instead equipped all of them with heavy artillery.The firepower is three times that of traditional battleships.

If this attempt is successful, then the traditional battleships of the past will all be swept into the garbage dump of history. "

"Test ship", this is important.Although the Vienna government invested heavily in the navy, in order to encourage technological innovation in the navy, it was extraordinarily generous to the "test ships" that adopted new technologies.

The direct consequence is the Shinra Navy, and many wonderful designs come out every year.However, these efforts are necessary to promote the development of naval technology.

Throughout the history of the development of the human navy, you will know that every technological revolution is stepped on by thunders.

For this reason, Franz also specially set up a navy weird design exhibition hall, which is specially used to exhibit various technological innovations on the development path of the navy.Successes and failures are all put into it in one go.

No accusations, no bashing, as if everything was taken for granted.After a long time, everyone will get used to it, and the brain holes of the designers have been opened, and the more they play on the road of playing tricks, the more fun they will be.

Of course, more than 90.00% of the warship design drawings were left in the archives in the end, and less than one percent of them could actually be turned into warships.

Dare to try is not the same as trying without brains.At least it must conform to the most basic mechanical principles to ensure that the warship will not sink before it can enter the next step of demonstration.

After internal screening, the final design scheme used is actually quite reliable.

Frederick didn't have a deep understanding of naval technology, but he still had the most basic common sense.Looking at the design drawing of the warship in front of him, Frederick asked suspiciously: "Sweep all the previous battleships into the garbage dump, are you sure you can do it?"

It's not that I feel sorry for the warship being eliminated. In fact, no matter how the technology of the warship is changed, it will not affect the value of the previous warship.

After all, not every country can keep up with the naval technological revolution.The only ones who can be regarded as opponents now are Shinra and Britain, and the rest are younger brothers.

If you want to participate in the naval technological revolution, let's talk about it when you grow up. It's not their turn to join in the fun right now.

If the naval technological revolution really breaks out, just like the birth of the ironclad ship back then, it will definitely have only benefits and no harm to the Holy Roman Empire.

Today is different from the past, starting from the same starting line, with strong industrial strength, Shinra is not afraid to compete with the British at all.

Although the old battleships will suffer heavy losses if they are eliminated, the British will lose the most.In terms of financial resources, "killing one thousand enemies and harming oneself by eight hundred" can still be tried for Shinra.

Secretary of the Navy Castagni shook his head: "Your Highness, the birth of new technology is always inevitable. Before it comes out, no one can guarantee that it will work.

I can only tell you that this new battleship has such potential.With three times the firepower of traditional battleships, it is theoretically possible to do massacres. "

Just "potential" is enough.For an opportunity to quickly close the gap in strength with the British Navy, it is completely acceptable to take out more than 400 million Aegis for a test.

After a little thought, Frederick said slowly: "I will keep this document for the time being, and I have no objection in principle.

As for when to start the plan, let's talk about it after the cabinet discusses it! "

More than 400 million Aegis is not a small amount, it is already close to one percent of the Vienna government's fiscal revenue, and it occupies an important proportion of the government's fiscal budget.

Frederick felt that it was better to be more cautious, and no one knew whether there would be more important projects in the future.If you can't preside over budget allocation for the first time, you're screwed.

Especially after the successful test of the new ship, it will bring about an arms race of unprecedented scale, so it cannot be sloppy.

Frederick didn't think that the British could not build warships that Shinra could build.Although Shinra's comprehensive industrial strength is stronger, Britain is the king in terms of naval technology.

Even after the European War ended, Shinra inherited the French naval technology and made up for some shortcomings, but that only brought the two sides to the same level, and still failed to surpass the British.

Chapter 68 Big Fudge

As the budget battle intensified, Franz returned to the Vienna Palace at the end of October, ending the vacation early.

You can go on vacation at any time. As an emperor, you always put state affairs first.Although training the crown prince, that doesn't mean letting go of it completely.

We must know that there are not many other things in politics, but there are many pitfalls on the road ahead.It's okay to step on small pits, just take it as a lesson learned.

However, there are also some pits that must never be stepped on. If you step on it, you may sink into it and never get out.

For example: the ongoing annual budget allocation, once it gets out of the basket, it will be a fatal flaw.

If you can't balance the needs of all parties, make a budget for granted, or invest the budget in one or more aspects only from the ideal and benefit, then it will be over.

In case someone pushes the flames, even if Frederick is the crown prince, he can't afford to go around.At least the hat of incompetence cannot be taken off.

A crown prince who wears the title of "incompetent" before succeeding to the throne is hard to be convincing even if he inherits the throne.

Similar things have not happened before.Including Franz suffered a loss at the beginning of his succession, but at that time, he just happened to catch up with the counterattack against the Sardinian Kingdom, and blamed the war on the war.

Now the world is at peace, and there is no war to help take the blame, and the allocation of financial budgets is quite a test.

Of course, if you don't want to take responsibility, you can also defer this work to the Prime Minister.It's just that this will lead to greater power, and the emperor will become a rubber stamp if he is not careful.

Then put the fate in the hands of others. If you meet someone with a dark heart, maybe the royal family will become a clown at the front desk.

In the end, it became the people below to reap the benefits, and the emperor was responsible for taking the blame, and if he didn't obey, he would die suddenly.Similar things have happened in history.

On this issue, countries and enterprises are actually the same.

Many people worked hard to start a business, but in the end they were fooled into missing out. Instead of training their own descendants to take over, they left it to professional managers to take care of them.

It seems very scientific, but the final ending usually ends in tragedy.

Just look at the performance of listed companies.In the past 37 years, the delisting rate of U.S. listed companies has been as high as "72%, and the delisting of these companies is almost all the credit of professional managers.

And with the loss of morality and the continuation of the fast-paced society, this rate is still rising.

Although the enterprise was tossed and ruined, the professional managers who managed the enterprise made their fortunes in the process.Only the shareholders are the ones whose real interests are damaged.

Even if a few companies develop occasionally, the owners of the companies have changed, and they have nothing to do with the founders of the companies.