Chapter 479

A reduced version of the African railway network plan was released. In line with the principle of saving whenever possible, except for the construction of the main road, the central government would allocate half of the funds, and the construction of other branch railways would have to be done by the colonial government itself.

The main road was a strategic necessity. It connected the colonies and could increase the ability to resist risks. Even if a world war broke out, Austria could protect the African continent.

Not to mention anything else, the gold mines in South Africa alone required the construction of this railway. It was impossible to block the spying of other countries without strength.

The Portuguese did not dare to join forces with the British because the benefits offered by John Bull were not big enough to make them take the risk. If they discovered that there were a lot of gold mines in South Africa, would they still be able to restrain their desire?

To put it bluntly, in this era, colonies were just a kind of wealth. For the Portuguese, as long as the benefits were big enough, it was worth it even if they lost their colonies in other areas to Austria's retaliation.

Otherwise, why would Franz need to fight the British in South Africa? As long as the Government of Vienna announced the annexation of the Boer Republic, Governor Delphi was not stupid. How could he continue to wage war?

The greatest value of the Anglo-Boer War was to make the Government of London realize that they really could not fight on land.

As for the Cape Town colonial government, it was estimated that it would take decades for them to emerge from the shadow of this war.

When the railway was connected, even if the gold reserves were exposed, the Cape Town colonial government would not have the guts to do anything. This was the effect of war.

Including the Government of London, they also could not raise the desire to fight. Because Austria's Africa was connected, hundreds of thousands of troops could be mobilized at any time. The price to pay to seize the gold mines from Austria was too high, and it had exceeded their limit.

In general, Franz had placed more importance on the African continent than Europe. In his view, this was the future of Austria.

There was no other way. It was too difficult to expand on the European continent. If there was no African colony, then the European continent could not have been so peaceful all these years, and Franz would have made trouble long ago.

Not to mention other things, with the enmity between the House of Habsburg and the Osman Empire, they would definitely not have survived until now.

The original Austria did not make a move on them because they were not strong enough. Because of diplomatic mistakes and fierce domestic political struggles, they had suffered successive military defeats on the European continent. At this time, they could barely protect themselves.

Because of the opening of the Austrian African colony, the resources inside were enough for Austria to digest for many years, Franz gave up the idea of provoking a war on the European continent.

This was a question of the rate of return on investment. In the First World War of the original space-time, none of the warring parties was victorious. All of them suffered heavy losses, and in the end, the fisherman took advantage of them.

World War II was even more tragic. The European countries that participated in the war were no longer just seriously injured. Almost all of them were wiped out. Only France, which was lying on the ground, barely escaped the disaster.

The risks were too great, and the rewards were too small. After all, the territories on the European continent were not easy to digest, and if they choked, it would be over.

Just look at the French. In order to digest the Italian region, they had to concentrate their efforts, and even their overseas colonial expansion activities were affected.

Austria with the World with the Africa with that of Of the African continent. The FAO of of the most powerful. Under the influence of the change in strategic focus, the expansion speed of the French on the African continent was greatly reduced, and there was still enough buffer between the two countries.

The land of the African continent was also limited. With the slow expansion of the French, Austria would not be polite.

Even if the two countries divided their spheres of influence, there were no satellite maps in this era. The African continent was so large that it was difficult to define it even if one or two hundred miles forward.

A line on a map would have a huge error when it came to the actual boundary. Fortunately, the border between the two countries was mostly a vast desert. Otherwise, the French's territory would have shrunk.

It was not only Austria that took the opportunity to grab territory. The British also stepped up their infiltration in Sudan. If it wasn't for the sudden outbreak of the Anglo-Burmese War, which delayed the energy of Britain and Austria, the French's interests in Sudan might not be able to be preserved.

Of course, with the alliance of Fao and Britain, these problems would gradually fade and everyone would try to restrain themselves as much as possible.

In Paris, with the French political decision to shrink their strategy, the power invested here was also weakened. Now, it was impossible to suppress the situation in Mexico.

Napoleon Iii was having a headache. He was still hesitant to give up the Mexican Empire. It was not a good decision. In recent years, the Government of France had invested too many resources in Mexico. It would be a pity to give it up.

If it wasn't for the fact that Austria had not expanded its power in Mexico, Napoleon Iii would have suspected that Maximilian I Of Castile was a spy sent by the House of Habsburg to cause trouble for France.

Of course, this thought only flashed by. From the perspective of family interests, if the House of Habsburg was interested in Mexico, it would not allow Maximilian I Of Castile to make an outsider the crown prince.

When he first received the news, Napoleon Iii was shocked by the operation. He even wondered if it was Maximilian I Of Castile's illegitimate child.

In his opinion, even if the House of Habsburg's direct members had no interest in the Mexican throne, it was better to abduct a collateral member and make him the heir than to support an outsider.

If it weren't for the fact that the Bonaparte family's influence was too weak to gain the approval of the local constitutionalists, Napoleon III would have supported his own people to ascend to the throne.

Napoleon Iii regretted it. If he had known that Maximilian I Of Castile was so incompetent, he would not have supported this idiot to take the throne.

The stout old man, who was over 60 years old, saw the emperor's embarrassment. After all, this political investment was led by Napoleon Iii. Now that he wanted to give up Mexico, the emperor could not propose it himself.

"Your Majesty, the investment in Mexico has failed. If we continue to invest, we may not be able to recover the cost. What we need to do now is to stop the losses.

We can take advantage of the alliance between the three countries to deter the Americans. We need to find a buyer as soon as possible and try to sell it for a good price. "

Selling the interests in Mexico was indeed a good choice. At least, it was better than losing everything.

In order to eliminate the rebels in Mexico, the French had lost tens of thousands of soldiers and more than a billion francs in loans.

This loss was almost comparable to the British loss in the Anglo-Burmese War. However, the effort did not necessarily pay off. The rebels in Mexico were being suppressed more and more, and the situation was getting worse.

After pondering for a while, Napoleon Iii asked doubtfully, "Mexico is not our colony yet, and the situation is still deteriorating. Who can we sell the interests there to?

Spain is in a civil war because of the fight for the throne, so it's impossible for them to intervene in Mexico at this time. The British are too calculative and won't pay a high price. The Austrians' strategic focus of overseas colonies is on the African continent, so they are not interested in Mexico.

The rest of the countries either don't have the strength to take over, or they are so poor that they will think it's too expensive. "

This was the crux of the problem. If they were unable to control the situation, who else could they count on to take over?

They were not fools. As long as they understood the situation in Mexico, they would know that it was a mess, so they would not jump into the fire pit.

After a pause, as if he thought of something, Napoleon Iii snapped, "Marquis Ficker, don't tell me it's the Americans. That's impossible.

We can sell to any country, but not to the United States of America and the United States of America. This is agreed upon in the treaty between the four countries.

Once we violate the treaty, we will face sanctions from the other three countries. The newly established Fao Tripartite Alliance will immediately collapse! "

On the issue of balancing the Americans, the Fao Tripartite Alliance had the same position. Right now, France was a responsible country, and they could not afford to act recklessly.

Napoleon Iii was not that short-sighted to break up the Fao Tripartite Alliance just for a few dollars.

He was very clear about the diplomatic dilemma France was facing. On the surface, everyone was reconciled, but the European countries had always been pushing each other aside.

Especially after the annexation of the Regions of Italy, their days were not easy. If the Tripartite Alliance was torn up, Britain and Austria would definitely retaliate, and it might be another anti-French alliance.

Seeing that Napoleon Iii was angry, the old man immediately shut his mouth. This was already worthy of the Americans' money. If the emperor did not agree, there was nothing he could do. He could not put himself in danger.

Seemingly aware of Marquis Ficker's request for help, Minister of Finance Allen said, "Your Majesty is right. Mexico must not fall into the hands of the Americans.

However, the Mexican issue must be resolved as soon as possible. If we delay any longer, we will only lose more.

I personally suggest that no matter who takes over the Mexican Empire, as long as they can guarantee the normal performance of our debt with the Mexican government, they can obtain the local interests we have. "

Obviously, Minister of Finance Allen was clear-headed. He was very clear that with the chaotic situation in Mexico, it was impossible to sell it at a good price. As long as the normal performance of the debt could be guaranteed, it would be a blessing from God.

Even he did not have much hope for this. After all, there were too few people willing to take over at this time. Unless they risked breaking ties with Britain and Austria to lure the Americans in, they would basically not be able to find this sucker.

The Mexican government's debt to France was not a small figure. With Mexico's financial situation, even if there was no expenditure, it would still take decades to repay.

After pondering for a moment, Napoleon Iii said, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should contact the European countries as soon as possible and test which one of them is interested in taking over the Mexican Empire.

Now is not the time to care so much. I don't want to sell it for a lot of money. I just want to get rid of it as soon as possible to avoid losing everything. "