Chapter 558

The Government of the United Kingdom was carrying out internal reforms, and the Government of Vienna was also busy with internal construction, but international conflicts did not stop because of this.

If the enemy couldn't do what they wanted to do, it would be a victory. The two big bosses started to set each other up again.

It was not easy to set up a trap. In the field of setting people up, London and Vienna were all masters, and ordinary traps could not bury people.

Because of the reform, the Government of the United Kingdom was currently in a fierce internal struggle, but this did not mean that the Government of Vienna could do anything.

Britannia and Shinra had been at odds for so many years, and the two countries had already unified their thoughts and labeled each other as "enemies."

Today, there was no pro-British faction in Vienna, and there was no pro-Austrian faction in the Government of the United Kingdom. Traditional friendship and whatnot had long been exhausted in the conflicts of interest.

If the Government of Vienna really got involved, perhaps the Government of the United Kingdom would reach a compromise in advance due to the threat of foreign enemies.

But Frederick The Great was not willing to do nothing and waste this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The Government of Vienna had not taken action against the British, but the Government of the United Kingdom had never stopped playing tricks against Shinra.

"Shinra's threat," "anti-dumping," "freedom and security" … a series of international hot topics were all created by the British.

Rumors and slanders were something that could be proven to be true. Once too many people started talking about it, it would be impossible to clear one's name.

Frankly speaking, Frederick The Great was not afraid of rumors. For a big country, international public opinion was not a big deal.

The problem was that the British did not simply create rumors. A lot of things did exist, but they were slightly exaggerated.

For example, the problem of "product dumping" was a real thing. Under the free trade system, the Holy Roman Empire, with its strong industrial strength, did have a big advantage, and it carried out dumping in certain areas.

The earliest large-scale dumping of goods was led by the British, and they were even more extreme than Shinra.

At that time, the British used cotton as a weapon to dump goods all over the world, destroying the textile industry of various countries. They were not satisfied with the profits, so they started to trade in opium.

In a sense, the glory of Britannia was built on the "colonization," "dumping," and "drugs."

Now that the lid was opened, it was not because the British found their conscience, but mainly because in the cruel market competition, they had become the dumped.

What you sow, what you reap. Great Britain fell behind during the second industrial revolution, and the emerging industries were completely outclassed by Shenluo. Some of the subdivisions were simply left blank.

The cotton textile industry, which originally had an advantage, was also impacted by the national capital of various countries, and it had not developed smoothly in recent years.

It couldn't be helped. The first step of industrialization in every country was the textile industry.

Rather than saying that Shinro was competing with Britain, it would be more accurate to say that all industrialized countries were competing with Britain.

In comparison, Shinro's situation was much better.

Whether it was the electric power industry, the internal combustion engine automobile industry, the petrochemical industry, the pharmaceutical industry, or the manufacturing of various mechanical equipment, they all needed the support of science and technology. The innate threshold was higher than that of the textile industry.

Countries that had just begun to industrialize did not have the ability to develop in these areas, so naturally, there was no impact.

Since the country could not eat this bowl of rice, the British, as a troublemaker, naturally wanted to flip the table.

It seemed that the British were "opposing commodity dumping," but in fact, they were paving the way for the "disintegration of the free trade system."

Not only the British had done this kind of thing, but the Government of Vienna had also done it.

Franz was the first emperor to publicly call for the prohibition of opium, and he led the world to play drug control.

This directly led to the early collapse of the British drug empire. Otherwise, Britannia's foreign trade deficit would not be as serious as it is now.

According to the progress of the original time and space, the British drug empire gradually collapsed after the development of the opium plantation industry in various countries, and the profits were diluted.

Now it was the Government of Vienna's turn to have a headache. As the world's largest industrial country, the demand for the commodity sales market was self-evident.

Once the free trade system collapsed, the era of trade barriers would come, and the import and export trade would be greatly affected. This would definitely be a major blow to the economy of Shinra.

In contrast, the other rumors were not worth mentioning. In this era of the law of the jungle, the "Shinra threat theory" not only brought suspicion to the countries, but also deep fear.

I can't make you submit to me, but making you fear me is the same. In a sense, this kind of shamelessness was also learned from the British.

It could only be said that the times can change people, and it can also change a country. As the hegemon of an era, there was always something to learn from.

No matter how deep the conflict between Shinra and Britannia was, it could not prevent the Government of Vienna from learning from the British, and how to be a good hegemon.

To be precise, Crown Prince Frederick The Great wanted to learn from the British. As for Emperor Franz, who was already in a semi-retirement state, he was now past the age of learning.

When the Holy Roman Empire completely gained hegemony, Franz would officially retire. The problem of how to be a good hegemon was something that Frederick The Great needed to consider.

"When you encounter something that you don't know how to start, hold it in first."

This principle was instilled in Frederick The Great since he was a child, so he did not lack patience. In fact, any guy who had been a crown prince for more than 40 years would not lack patience.

Just by flipping through the history books, one would know that crown princes with a bad mentality usually died young. Compared to many of his peers, Frederick The Great was already considered lucky. At least he was in power early.

One had to know that Edward VII, who was also a crown prince, was only allowed to be involved in politics after he was 50 years old.

As for the future Prince Charles, who was said to be in the living series, it was unknown whether he could survive the Queen's ultra-long standby time.

Of course, the more tragic thing was that this prince did not even have the chance to be in power. All he was waiting for was a rubber stamp crown.

…

Palace of Vienna

Foreign Minister Frankel: "Your Royal Highness, the United States of America has sent a diplomatic note, hoping to obtain the right to dig the Panama Canal."

The "Panama Canal" had been excavated by the French decades ago. Unfortunately, when Napoleon Iii was busy expanding into the Regions of Italy, the Panama region fell into the hands of Austria.

With a colonial government that did not cooperate, the Panama Canal naturally would not be smooth sailing. After struggling on and off for several years, the canal company finally went bankrupt.

The departure of the French did not mean the end of the Panama Canal. In fact, many people in the Holy Roman Empire also wanted to dig this golden waterway.

Unfortunately, no matter what kind of digging plan, it was eventually rejected by the Government of Vienna.

Anyone with a discerning eye would know that this was a political issue. The capitalists in Shinra had been beaten by society and did not have the courage to go against the government.

In the following days, the Panama Canal seemed to be forgotten and no one mentioned it again.

This situation persisted until recent years. With the rapid development of the capitalist world economy, transportation had become an important factor restricting the development of the western states of the United States.

Rail transportation could not meet the demand, and sea transportation had to go around the world. The United States urgently needed to dig a canal to shorten the distance between the east and west coasts.

Hearing this unsurprising news, Frederick The Great smiled and said, "What did the Americans offer? They can't just come here empty-handed, right?"

It was necessary to talk about conditions. Not developing the Panama Canal was in itself a way for Shinra to suppress the development of the Americans.

Now that the American government had spoken, even if it was just a test, there was no way they wouldn't offer any conditions.

It was fine to bully a small country without risking anything, but to do that to an overlord country was just asking for abuse. Not only would it not work, but it would also worsen the diplomatic relationship between the two countries.

Foreign Minister Frankel smiled and said, "The Americans did not give a clear condition, but during the process of contact, their Secretary of State hinted.

As long as we are willing to give up the Panama Canal Zone, they will support us in the battle for supremacy.

Of course, this should be part of the condition. They should want more.

After all, it is not common for superpowers to fight for supremacy. The Americans probably think they are very important and want to take the opportunity to tear off a piece of meat. "

Naturally, the United States did not make such a condition without thinking.

In terms of economic output, the United States was already the fourth most powerful country in the world, behind only Shinra, Britannia, and the Russian Empire.

The total industrial output was above that of Russia, second only to Shinra and Britannia. Because of their rivalry with the Southern Federation, the United States also maintained a continental army.

According to the current internationally recognized view, the United States was the fifth most powerful country in the world, second only to Spain. Many people even believed that the United States was stronger than Spain.

With such a strong background, the United States would naturally have the confidence to support Shinra and Britannia in the battle for supremacy.

At least that was the case in the American region. Whichever party the United States supported, that party would have an advantage in the competition in the American region.

Especially in recent years, the Government of London's continuous efforts to rope in the United States made the Americans realize their importance and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to make a profit.

There was no doubt that for the seller, the more buyers, the better. The British obviously couldn't compete with the Shinra and Britannia bidding together.

Frederick The Great nodded. "The Americans' appetite is not that big. They didn't ask us to support their annexation of the United States, which should be considered a sign of restraint.

Unfortunately, we don't need them now, and we have no interest in helping them carry the sedan chair and ask for benefits for their master in England. "

It could be seen that Frederick did not have a good impression of this kind of traitor. The closer he was to becoming the hegemon of the world, the deeper Frederick The Great studied.

When it came to choosing an ally, Frederick The Great was more inclined to choose a country that could be allied with for a long time, rather than a traitor who was destined to rebel.

The Government of Vienna did not rope in the United States, not because the United States was weak, but mainly because there was a serious conflict of interest between the two countries.

The reason was very simple. Once the Holy Roman Empire became the hegemon of the world, its control over the world would be far stronger than the British.

After all, the British were only a country with sea power, while Shinra developed its sea power and land power together. Not only was its military strength stronger, but Shinra's overall national strength was also stronger.

For small and weak countries, this was not a bad thing. At least the Government of Vienna was much better than the British, and they did not like to cause trouble. Everyone's life would be better.

For a regional hegemon like the United States, things were not so good.

"America for the Americans." Go back to sleep first. Everything will be fine once you sleep.

Not to mention other things, at least there was no hope of reunification.

If the British wanted to stop the reunification of the United States, the most they could do was to provide economic sanctions and equipment support to the south. If it was the Holy Roman Empire, they would send troops themselves.

Facing an opponent with little potential like Britannia, they could slowly catch up by farming. If they encountered a giant like Shinra, they would always be suppressed.

The facts were in front of them. Therefore, when it came to wooing overseas allies, the Government of Vienna was quite lenient.

In general, when the Government of the United Kingdom finished wooing people, the Government of Vienna would directly take over their enemies.

For example, before, when the United States was wooed by the Government of the United Kingdom, the Allied countries went to Shinra themselves, even saving the cost of wooing allies.

Although the Allied countries were slightly weaker, the Government of Vienna was not prepared to use the strength of their allies in this hegemony struggle. It was enough as long as someone followed them.

Prime Minister Chandler reminded, "Your Highness, we should still contact the United States. At the very least, we have to look very sincere and put pressure on the Allied countries.

As far as I know, the Allied countries have been restless recently and have extended their hands to northern Mexico. If we don't give them a warning, they might invade Mexico again one day. "

"Ambition" was something that every country had. It was just a matter of size.

The United States wanted to reunify, and the Allied countries also wanted to strengthen themselves. Especially in recent years, the land in the Allied countries had been almost developed, and the farmers had turned their attention to overseas.

Opening the map, one would know that there were only a few neighbors in the Allied countries. They had no choice at all.

Frankly speaking, the farmers' desire for land was far stronger than that of the capitalists. For the farmers, land was wealth.

In contrast, the capitalists didn't have much need for land. They were more interested in economic benefits.

Of course, this was also directly related to military strength. Generally speaking, capitalists were usually more afraid of death. It was too difficult for them to take guns to the battlefield.

After a moment of contemplation, Frederick The Great slowly said, "If that's the case, then we might as well give the right to dig the Panama Canal to the Americans.

Anyway, the canal can't be dug in a day or two. We can also put some restrictive conditions to delay the progress of the project.

I estimate that before the canal is open to navigation, the game between us and the British will come to an end.

If the United States really falls to our side, then it's fine. If they flirt with the British, then as punishment for standing on the wrong side, we will naturally take back the Panama Canal. "

The premise of all this was that Shinra won the hegemony battle. Only the winner had the right to speak. However, if they really lost the game, the Panama region would be lost.

It wasn't the first time the Government of Vienna had done something like taking away the ownership of the canal. The Suez Canal was originally owned by the Fao and France. After the European War, the canal had nothing to do with the French.

In the long run, the Panama Canal would be opened sooner or later. Once the hegemony of the Holy Roman Empire was stable, the Government of Vienna would also dig the canal.

This was decided by interests. The golden canal was not only flowing with gold, but it was also the lifeline of the American economy.

With this lifeline in hand, coupled with the powerful strength of Shinra, the Americans had no choice but to obey.