Chapter 408

In 1859, the British occupied Queensland, and all of Australia fell under British colonial rule.

Watching the British occupy the Gold Coast, Franz could only sigh. For Austria, Australia was too far away, and they had no ability to compete for it.

In the world, only the French had the strength to compete with the British for Australia. Obviously, Napoleon Iii was not interested in exiling the mainland.

The French were not idle either. They continued to step up their infiltration into the Kingdom of Sardinia. Most of the areas bordering France had been controlled by the French army.

The number of peacekeepers was limited, and the troops promised by various countries did not materialize in time. They only controlled the Turin area.

As for the French infiltration, in addition to the British appealing with a group of underlings, the Russians, who were out of reach, became spectators. The Austrians were busy catching the murderer and ignored the actions of the French army.

The Government of London was furious, but unfortunately, they were busy suppressing the Indian rebellion and could not devote more energy to intervene.

It was true that the Government of France was pro-British, but it was based on the premise that there was no conflict of interest. The Kingdom of Sardinia was a fat piece of meat, and there was not much risk.

The opportunity to expand territory in Europe was too rare. Once this opportunity was missed, Napoleon Iii might not encounter it again in his lifetime.

As for the problem of offending the British, the century-old feud between Britain and France was not a joke. Were they afraid of adding to it?

Now they were just nibbling away. They did not swallow the Kingdom of Sardinia in one bite, which was already giving the British face.

While expanding in Europe, the French also stepped up their expansion on the African continent, such as invading Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and other areas.

At the end of 1859, Spain, who was unwilling to decline, sent 50,000 troops to invade Morocco, captured Toulon, and approached Tangier. Under the mediation of the British, the two countries signed the Treaty of Toulon.

In contrast, this year, Austria behaved quite well. Of course, the colony still expanded a little, but it was all normal progress, and there were no major military operations.

The biggest move was probably the crazy immigration to the American countries.

It was worth mentioning that in this year, Franz held three state funerals, two of which were of the highest standard.

First, Marshal Radski died, followed by Metternich, and then Marshal Julius went to meet God.

Marshal Radski was well respected, and no one objected to holding a state funeral for him.

Metternich's political career was tainted by the Vienna Rebellion of 1848, and he had offended many people over the years.

When he was alive, these people did not dare to cause trouble, but after he died, many of them jumped out. After his death, many people jumped out and found a bunch of reasons that he did not deserve a state funeral.

There was no doubt that this little disturbance could not affect Franz's decision. He suppressed all the opposing voices.

No matter how much the government publicized it, Marshal Julius's reputation as a butcher couldn't be washed away. When suppressing the rebellion, he killed all the rebels and offended even more people.

After the announcement of the state funeral, there were also demonstrations and protests. There was no doubt that these people had misunderstood the concept and were thrown into prison to reflect on it.

Franz wanted to show everyone that he was giving Marshal Julius a high standard of treatment. His goal was to tell everyone that as long as they worked for him, even if their reputation was ruined, he would still protect them as the Emperor.

The purpose was to tell everyone that as long as they worked for him, even if their reputation was ruined, he would still protect them.

Illegal collusion, rioting, disrupting public order, endangering public safety …

These crimes were enough for them to reflect for more than ten years in prison. This was similar to a life sentence. Under the current conditions, more than 90% of people would not live more than ten years in prison.

Those who joined in the fun would also be criticized and educated, fined, or sentenced to prison if the circumstances were serious.

Those who accepted money or property from others and were hired to participate in the demonstration would face a heavy fine and at least a year in prison.

That's right. Protests also had benefits. Many demonstrations, because they did not attract enough people to participate, the organizers would hire ordinary people to participate.

Franz cracked down on this behavior.

He made it clear in the law. A fine of one thousand times the illegal profit, and one year of labor reform depending on the seriousness of the case.

The organization or person who paid the money would be multiplied by ten.

In order to crack down on the consortium's manipulation of politics, Franz also put in a lot of effort and often added targeted laws.

Now that it was a period of severe punishment, criminals who were not serious would be exiled. Felons who had served more than three years would all be sent to the road construction army to serve their sentence.

During the period of severe punishment, the punishment was that heavy. You could only blame your bad luck. Who asked you to stir up trouble at this time?

Although the constitution had not been released, everyone already knew that any organization or person with a criminal record would be deprived of political rights.

Franz was not lenient when it came to fighting the enemy. In this era of rapid change, if strict order was not established, Franz doubted that Austria could withstand the impact.

…

The maid, Jenny, said softly, "Your Majesty, the munitions factory has sent another machine gun sample. Please take a look."

Franz said calmly, "Okay. Arrange for the gun test tomorrow."

Machine guns had been around for a long time. In 1851, the Belgian engineer Gatling designed the world's first machine gun. Unfortunately, the machine gun's actual combat value was too low.

The appearance of the Gatling machine gun immediately attracted Franz's attention. He ordered the munitions factory to research and improve it.

In total, there had been four or five generations of machine guns. The designers let their imaginations run wild and came up with more than 30 different types of machine guns.

However, with so many machine guns, none of them could satisfy Franz. It was not that he had high requirements, but these guns were too deceptive.

How could a machine gun that jammed when moved be used? A machine gun that weighed 1.5 tons, who could carry it? A machine gun that cost tens of thousands of God Shields, who could use it?

In short, none of the cheap and good quality that Franz had imagined could be met. These machine guns could barely be used to defend a stronghold. Because there were not enough corners, they could only fire in a fixed direction.

This was the case with the development of new technology. There was not even a reference object. It was all based on exploration. The Maxim machine gun that Franz wanted was nowhere to be seen.

The Gatling machine gun was almost completed. It barely met the requirements of actual combat in the African colony.

It was not installed in the army mainly because the armies of the various countries did not have machine guns. Moreover, it was an era of peace and there was no rush.

Franz wanted to wait and see if there was a machine gun with better performance. One had to know that the lightest machine gun now weighed a few hundred pounds and had to be pulled by a car.

The cost of changing equipment in the army was very high. Many countries' weapons and equipment were outdated. It was not that the government officials did not know, but they simply could not afford to change.

In this era, weapons and equipment changed very quickly. New weapons that had just been changed would be outdated after a few years.

If they were unlucky, more advanced equipment might come out right after the change.

What should they do?

If they did not change, they would fall behind. If they changed again, the finances would not be able to bear it.

Moreover, even if they changed, who could guarantee that there would not be more advanced weapons?

In this case, everyone's judgment would be tested.