Chapter 891

As expected by the British, the war dragged on until the end of 1874. Seeing that Austria had no intention to continue the war, the Tsarist government decisively chose to compromise. Perhaps they were worried that no one would feed them, or perhaps they were in a hurry to go home for Christmas.

On December 18, 1874, Austria, Russia, and Osman signed the Treaty of the Near East in London.

The contents of the treaty:

1. The Osman Empire admitted defeat and took responsibility for the war;

2. Return the Kingdom of Jerusalem and transfer the sovereignty of the Arabian Peninsula to Austria as compensation; (Note: Excluding the Mesopotamia region, but including Kuwait)

3. Cede the Caucasus region to the Russian Empire and compensate the Russians with two million rubles;

4. Open the Black Sea as a free strait. The three countries shall not block the strait at any time and under any circumstances;

5. The Austrian Navy will lift the coastal blockade of the Osman Empire;

6. From the date of signing the treaty, the two sides will exchange prisoners within a month and withdraw from each other's territory within three months;

…

The treaty was sent to the Palace of Vienna, and Franz approved it without hesitation. The Osman Empire itself was poor. It was enough to cede territory. It was a waste of time to ask for war reparations.

The Russians fought hard for so long, but in the end, they only got 2 million rubles as compensation. For an individual, this was a huge sum of money, but for the country, it was insignificant.

The most interesting thing about this war was not the appearance of the airship troops or the overwhelming power of the allied forces, but the sky-high transfer fee for the Arabian Peninsula.

Although the specific amount of compensation was not written in the treaty, the newspaper still reported the three billion DND compensation proposed by Austria.

This headline was the most popular news among the onlookers. From the astronomical compensation of three billion to the sovereignty of the Arabian Peninsula, the difference in value was more than ten times.

Normal people wouldn't think that the Arabian Peninsula was worth that much money, and no one thought that Austria could claim that much money.

Asking for a sky-high price and asking for a low price. This was a normal method in negotiations, and it was normal for the final result to be different from the initial request.

Franz was glad that he didn't ask for the compensation amount to be written in the treaty. Otherwise, this topic would be debated for the next century.

As the winner of the Near East War, Austria's biggest gain was neither territorial expansion nor economic benefits, but the strengthening of religious influence.

The achievement of recovering Jerusalem was enough for Franz to leave his name in the history of religion. Even his titles became longer, such as' Holy Land Reaper ',' Saint ',' Protector of Christ '…

The Vatican was very generous this time, selling of honorary titles for free. Not only the Emperor, but also the soldiers who participated in the recovery of Jerusalem were all given the honorary titles of 'Holy Land'.

If it weren't for the reaction of the Government of Vienna, the Vatican would probably sell of the holy knights. Pope Pius IX had arrived in Jerusalem with a group of archbishops, waiting for Franz to be crowned. They were going all out in order to revive the Vatican.

They were forced to do so. In recent years, the Roman Curia had been badly suppressed by the French. Even the headquarters of the Vatican had to be controlled by them.

When Napoleon Iii made an example of the Pope, he even sent the Cardinal who broke the law to prison, leaving no face for the Vatican.

They had no choice but to go to Jerusalem to establish a diocese. At least Franz had offered them more favorable conditions, and they could make decisions in the Church's own territory.

The situation in the Middle East was complicated. It was not good without someone to take the blame. With the reopening of the Jerusalem diocese, there would be someone to take the blame in the future.

In Vienna Palace, Prime Minister Felix reported, "The battle of Jerusalem was mainly a siege. There was no war in the city, and there was little damage to the buildings.

The palace has begun to repair, and it will be completed in two months at most. It won't affect the coronation next April.

But recently, there have been more local religious conflicts. Even though we have repatriated the Osman, there are still some who have slipped through the net to cause damage.

The government is preparing to implement a security crackdown. They will implement real name registration in the local area, and investigate the saboteurs who are staying in the area illegally.

… "

Recovering Jerusalem did not mean the matter was over. Franz still had one last step to be king. Legally, he would only be considered the true legitimate monarch of the Kingdom of Jerusalem after the coronation in Jerusalem.

Franz asked, "How are the people from the Vatican doing? Are there any targets to support?"

After thinking about it, Prime Minister Felix said, "They are behaving well. It seems that they are afraid of being tortured by Napoleon Iii. They are basically operating within the scope we agreed on.

Judging from the current situation, the few cardinals are performing about the same. It doesn't matter who they support. Next is the restoration of Jerusalem, which is the time to test their abilities. "

The restoration of Jerusalem was not only about repairing the damaged buildings, but also rebuilding the ancient buildings destroyed by the Osman Empire.

The Vatican had the most say in this regard. They had a complete record of it. The restoration of the Holy Land was not a matter of one family or one country. Franz was not prepared to be a sucker.

The Vatican was the most suitable in Europe for this, so the task of raising funds and rebuilding the city also fell to the Vatican.

After the Holy Land was rebuilt, the diocese of Jerusalem also needed a religious leader of some weight to be in charge of the local religious indoctrination work. It would not do without ability.

Franz nodded. "The reconstruction of Jerusalem is completely delegated to the Vatican. If they do a good job, even the management work can be handed over to them.

We will be responsible for tax collection and public security. Austria does not lack a small city. The focus of the government's work is still on land fallow. The land in the Middle East is seriously desertified. If it is not treated, it will not be long before it becomes a desert.

It does not matter if the Holy Land becomes a desert in the hands of the Osman Empire, but if it becomes a desert in our hands, then we will be sinners.

The government needs to organize people as soon as possible to turn the local arable land into forests and grasslands, and to plant windproof and sand-fixing plants on the desertified land. The funds are mainly from donations from believers, or directly encouraging pilgrims to do it themselves. "

Franz was not very interested in Jerusalem. Even if the ancient city developed, it would only be a tourist city. However, he could not ignore the oil resources in the Middle East.

Protecting the Holy Land was only in name. In reality, it was to lay the foundation for future oil extraction. The natural environment in the Middle East was not as bad as it would be in the future. As long as there was a little protection, there would not be a special situation where water was more expensive than oil.

Anyway, it did not cost much. After the local population was relocated, the land would be fallow, and the desertification problem would be mostly solved.

Then, they would call on pilgrims to participate in meaningful activities such as afforestation. It was still possible to increase the oasis by 180 square kilometers every year.

Naturally, no one knew what Franz was planning, but it did not affect their execution. Since Jerusalem was in Austria's hands, the Government of Vienna could not let it become a desert, even if it was for the sake of face.

The Colonial Minister Stephen suggested, "Your Majesty, there is also a serious desertification problem in the Arabian Peninsula. The Colonial Department suggests that the local people be relocated and the land fallow as well."

Franz nodded with satisfaction. This learning ability was really fast. The Arabian Peninsula was more seriously desertified, and it was more difficult to control. However, this was not the point. The key was that the nomadic tribes on the peninsula were not easy to rule.

Now, Austria wanted to control the Arabian Peninsula mainly because of the strategic location of the peninsula. They did not expect to plunder the wealth from the peninsula.

The nomadic tribes on the peninsula were so poor that their main economic pillar was raising camels. Even if they sent people to collect taxes, they might not be able to support the tax officer.

If left alone, as long as there was support in the dark, these tribes would threaten Austria's rule over the local area. In this context, relocating the local tribes was undoubtedly the best way to reduce the cost of ruling.

Franz replied, "The Arabian Peninsula has long been overexploited. In order to protect the natural environment, it does need to be fallow for decades.

However, the Arabian Peninsula is not small, and there are many small countries on the peninsula. It will not be easy to achieve this. Has the Colonial Department made a plan? "

The Arabian Peninsula was not small. Even though it was sparsely populated, it had at least two to three million people. It was not something that Jerusalem could compare with. It was not that easy to relocate the local people.

(Note: The densely populated areas of the Euphrates and Tigris River Valleys are not included in the treaty.)

The Colonial Minister Stephen explained, "Your Majesty, the Arabian Peninsula is dry and short of water. The population is distributed along the water source. We only need to control the water source.

The Colonial Department plans to leave some young and strong laborers to the African continent to mine and build railways. The rest will be sent back to the Osman Empire. "

Water shortage was the biggest shortcoming of the Arabian Peninsula. Once the water source was lost, the nomadic tribes would not be able to swim.