Chapter 840

After the Vienna Conference, the European continent once again returned to peace.

The signing of the Four-Nation Convention was a good thing for most countries. The international order was re-established, and everyone could sleep in peace.

Order meant stability. Since the European continent was stable, it meant that the Kingdom of Prussia and the Kingdom of Sardinia's expansion on the European continent was cut off.

If they broke the international situation, they would definitely suffer the backlash of the international order. This price was not something they could afford.

In Turin, Prime Minister Gafur looked at the Four-Nation Convention in his hand with mixed feelings. A stable international situation was conducive to their economic recovery, but it would be more difficult to unify the Regions of Italy.

After the Austrian War, the Kingdom of Sardinia's unification route had changed. Most people thought that it was too difficult to take back Lombardy and Venetia from Austria, so it was better to start with Tuscany, the Papal Kingdom, and the Kingdom of Naples.

Gafur was also a supporter of this route. The unification route was in line with the actual situation of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Although they had suffered heavy losses after the Austrian War and had yet to recover, their strength was still among the best among the several states in the Regions of Italy.

Now that the Four-Nation Convention was out, their plan was ruined. Even the British who supported them would not let them break the situation on the European continent at this time.

Since Britain and France had lost in the Near Eastern War, as one of the investors, the Kingdom of Sardinia would naturally suffer losses as well. Thousands of lives were lost for nothing.

Without the strength to give them benefits, they would not dare to take it. The French could take away a piece of the Balkans, but that was based on their valiant strength.

In the Near Eastern War, the combat effectiveness of the French Army was widely recognized by all countries. It would not be a problem for them to keep one-third of the The Balkans. Whether it was Russia or Austria, they would not fight the French to the death for such a little benefit.

The high cost of modern war had already told everyone that it was best not to go to war with a big country unless it was a last resort.

"Prime Minister, did you say you want to make peace with the Austrians?" Vittorio Emmanuel II asked in disbelief.

In order to drum up everyone's courage, the Sardinian government had often talked about the hatred between the two countries. Now that they suddenly wanted to change the policy, it had seriously stimulated Vittorio Emmanuel II's fragile nerves.

Gafur explained, "Your Majesty, the international situation has changed. After the reconstruction of the Vienna System, there will be no war between the big countries for a long time in the future.

It is difficult for us to defeat Austria with our strength alone. Continuing to be hostile to the Austrians would not bring us any benefits other than making them more vigilant.

Because of the political rivalry between the two countries, we have also suffered economic blockade by the enemy, which has brought us huge losses. "

As a qualified politician, Gafur could calmly weigh the pros and cons and would not be blinded by hatred.

At the moment, the Kingdom of Sardinia had a thousand things to do. It had only been five years since the Ausar War, and they had yet to walk out of the shadow of the war. If they wanted to recover their economy as soon as possible, continuing to fight against Austria was obviously not a wise move.

The unification of the Italian regions in history was full of coincidences. Sardinian Kingdom wanted to unify the Regions of Italy, but it was just a thought. Everyone was still uncertain.

In particular, the war launched by the German Region ended in failure, which dealt a blow to the Italians' confidence.

Apart from the British, which other power wanted to see the Regions of Italy unified? The answer was none.

Even the British's support was only verbal. It would be a fool's dream to expect the British to contribute to the war of unification of the Regions of Italy.

After hesitating for a moment, Vittorio Emmanuel II asked, "How do we explain it to the people? In order to inspire everyone's fighting spirit, the hatred we provoked against Austria has been deeply rooted in the people's hearts."

As he spoke, Vittorio Emmanuel II looked a little worried. Obviously, he was not optimistic about Prime Minister Gafur's proposal.

Gafur replied calmly, "Your Majesty, we don't have to do anything. Just deal with it. The Aurophobes in the country will explain for us. After all, the enemy is strong and we are weak. We have to endure it. "

He dared to propose to ease the relationship between the two countries because there were many Aurophobes in the Kingdom of Sardinia. These people had lost their courage and were afraid that war would break out between the two countries again.

Although the slogan of unifying Italy was earth-shattering, in fact, there were not many people who were interested in it. Most people did not believe that the Kingdom of Sardinia could unify the Regions of Italy.

Especially after the war, most of the Sardinian people were pro-peace. Every family wore mourning, and everyone cried. After experiencing it once, no one wanted to experience it a second time.

The more setbacks, the braver? No way!

Because of the war, the Kingdom of Sardinia was financially bankrupt. In order to pay off the debts, even the army was only a nominal existence. How could they take revenge?

…

Franz knew nothing about the change in the Kingdom of Sardinia's foreign policy. This was not the focus of his attention.

The war in the Near East was over, and so was Austria's chance to make a fortune from the war. The military industry had just made a fortune and gained a lot of benefits from the war. Naturally, there was no such thing as a crisis.

In this war, Austria exported to the Russians a total of 1,200,000 rifles, more than 2,000 cannons, more than 100,000 tons of ammunition of all kinds, and various assorted weapons and equipment.

The total transaction price of weapons and ammunition was as high as 250 million rubles, which set a record for weapons transactions in human history. It exceeded the total amount of weapons transactions in the international market in the past 100 years.

This data was insignificant in the future, but it was a huge sum of money now. It was enough for the Austrian military industry to carry out a comprehensive technological upgrade.

There was no need to worry about the military industry. It was a profiteering industry that would not open for three years, but once it opened, it would eat for three years.

It was not possible for other industries. Because of the end of the war, the supply and demand of products had changed, and it was necessary to adjust the production line.

Originally, post-war reconstruction was a big deal. Unfortunately, the Tsarist government was too poor and had no money to carry out post-war reconstruction.

The customers had no money, and there was nothing Franz could do. With the current international political situation, it was still very difficult for the Tsarist government to seek foreign loans.

It could be imagined that in 1855, Austria's economy would definitely be challenged. Of course, it would take time for the market to respond, and the crisis would not break out in the short term.

Even if the war ended, Austria had seized a lot of markets, and these markets could still sustain the domestic industry and commerce.

Palace of Vienna

Franz said seriously, "The war in the Near East is over, and the domestic economy is bound to be adjusted. The private enterprises will be decided by the capitalists themselves, and we don't need to worry about them. However, the state-owned enterprises must do a good job of industrial transformation.

A lot of the materials consumed during the war are no longer needed by the market, so these production lines must be adjusted. Those that need to be reduced will be reduced, and those that need to be closed will be closed.

The direction of production will be adjusted to where the market needs it. The industries that really can't be adjusted, or the industries that have too low a profit can be auctioned off.

The government only needs to control some industries that are related to the national economy and the people's livelihood. It will be fine as long as they maintain a certain influence on ordinary industries. "

If they could not make a profit, they would give up. Franz did not hold the unshakable concept of state-owned enterprises. The mainstream economy of this era was private capital.

The Government of Austria had so many industries because of special reasons. It was not that the government had planned to have so many industries from the beginning. Now, Franz did not feel any pressure to sell some of them.

Prime Minister Felix replied, "Your Majesty, I'm afraid it is not a good time to deal with these industries now. Everyone knows that the war is over. Without foreign trade orders, these enterprises will not be able to sell at a price.

Moreover, it is very troublesome to settle the personnel of state-owned enterprises. It is better to wait for the market to complete self-regulation before dealing with this problem. "

Franz shook his head and said, "No, by the time the market completes self-regulation, new enterprises will have already sprung up. Who will we sell these low-value enterprises to?

The same enterprise in the hands of the government and the capitalists are completely different concepts. According to past experience, many enterprises that the government directly manages directly turn around after selling to the capitalists.

We can't just consider the price issue. We have to look at the overall situation and ensure the rapid development of the domestic economy.

What is there to be afraid of in the personnel arrangement? Just transfer them. The Balkans still lack administrative officials, so we can send some people over.

A company in their hands has reached the point where it has to be auctioned off. Don't tell me they still have the nerve to call themselves meritorious subjects? "

Others did not know that an economic crisis was coming, but Franz felt that the capital market was not normal. Before the crisis broke out, raising funds as much as possible was the way to go.

Franz was not worried at all about the personnel arrangement. No matter who was the boss, it was the same for the ordinary employees at the bottom.

Austria's state-owned enterprises had only existed for a short period of time and had not yet formed an interest group. They did not have the ability to negotiate with the government at all.

The enterprises had already been sold. The leaders who were to be transferred were already lucky that they were not held accountable. If they wanted to enjoy the treatment of meritorious subjects, they could only dream about it!

Austria's state-owned enterprises had a very high degree of autonomy. In an environment where the economy was developing well, the operations of the enterprises were in trouble or had reached a dead end. This was proof of their incompetence.

Naturally, Franz wouldn't be nice to these incompetent people. He was already being merciful by not chasing them back home.

Of course, the serious lack of civil servants at the grassroots level in The Balkans was also an important factor. These people might have average abilities, but they were safe to use. There was no need to worry about them colluding with the Osman survivors who had escaped the net.