Chapter 986

One had to admit that the Japanese were good at acting. They promised Britain and France that they would join the war against Austria, and on the other hand, they promised Austria that they would never invade Austria's Southeast Asia.

As for the rumors that spread out, it was all a conspiracy by the French, trying to use this despicable method to sow discord between Japan and Austria.

It didn't matter if it was true or not. Anyway, after a series of diplomatic maneuvers, the Government of Japan still got real benefits.

Relying on deception, on April 11, 1891, Ito Hirobumi and the French Minister Gretel signed the Japan-France Far East Treaty. At the cost of joining the war against Austria, the Government of France gave up its privileges in Japan. This marked the beginning of the Government of Japan's abolition of unequal treaties.

Then on April 18, Ito Hirobumi played the same trick and signed the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Tokyo with the British, taking back the privileges of the British in Japan.

Also relying on deception, on April 26, Ito Hirobumi signed the Japan-Austria Security Treaty with the Austrian Minister. The Government of Japan paid the price of allying with the French in exchange for Austria giving up its privileges in Japan.

With the three major countries settled, the rest naturally didn't matter. Relying on various means such as coercion and bribery, the Government of Japan miraculously abolished the unequal treaties signed by other countries and became the first country in Asia with complete sovereignty.

When the news spread to Europe, well, Japan's existence was too low these days. No one was interested at all. The media was busy reporting the news of the European war and naturally didn't have time to care.

Not to mention that the people didn't pay attention, even the governments didn't take it seriously. It was good to have privileges, but it didn't matter if they didn't have privileges. Anyway, Japan only had a small market, and there wasn't much left after Britain and France ate it.

In fact, after seeing the treaty submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Franz remembered that Austria also had privileges in Japan.

Then, there was nothing else. The Japanese were too poor these days. Only a limited number of goods could sell well here, and the most profitable was naturally the arms trade.

Unfortunately, the Japanese navy learned from the British, and the army learned from the French, so Austria didn't have a share in the arms market.

The Government of Vienna also implemented the Mineral Export Approval Act, blocking the way to sell resources. Other than Austria selling rubber and grain, there were only a small number of industrial products exported.

With less exports, less imports. Compared to the poor Japan, Austria basically didn't lack anything.

Even the Japanese's flagship product, raw silk, had lost its market after Lombardy and Venice had converted rice into mulberry.

Japan and Austria's annual trade volume was less than three hundred thousand Divine Dons, which was completely negligible. There was no reason to pay attention to them.

After being the emperor for so many years, Franz had long become a qualified politician. Apart from causing some trouble for the Japanese government in the beginning, he rarely caused trouble later on.

In fact, Austria also paid for the Emperor's willfulness. The original purpose of the Vienna government's Mineral Export Approval Act was to crack down on competitors, mainly the French.

Austria's Nanyang was too far away from Europe. If they had to travel so far to import ores, just the cost of transportation alone would go up. There was no need to impose any restrictions.

However, when he was drawing the boundaries, Franz's hand trembled and drew a big circle on the map, accidentally circling the Austrian Nanyang.

For this reason, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan made a lot of efforts. Unfortunately, for the Government of Vienna, this was just a trivial matter. No one was willing to change a law for the Japanese's feelings.

For this reason, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan had made a lot of efforts. Unfortunately, for the Vienna government, this was just a trivial matter. No one was willing to change a law for the sake of the feelings of the Japanese.

To put it bluntly, the benefits were not enough. Changing a law in Austria was very troublesome and required a new legislative session.

Even if the restrictions were abolished, it would only increase the annual trade volume by a few hundred thousand DND. The taxes that fell into the government's pocket would only be a few tens of thousands of DND.

The Government of Vienna didn't have so much time to change the law for this little money. Even if they knew it was wrong, they could only go all the way.

Affected by this, the relationship between Japan and Austria had always been lukewarm. One had to admit that Benji was still talented in this aspect. He was absolutely not careless when it was time to pretend.

Putting down the treaty in his hand, Franz slowly said, "The Anglo-Russian negotiations have begun. It seems that our actions on the African continent have aroused the British's vigilance.

According to John Bull's past style, they definitely don't want to see us connect Asia, Europe, and Africa. If nothing unexpected happens, Britain and France should be close by now.

The main force of the British Army is still in the Regions of Afghanistan. They are unable to participate in the European war in the short term. The danger will only come from overseas.

Order the Governor of Nanyang and the Governor of Central America to strengthen their vigilance and be vigilant of all the neighbors around them. Don't give the enemy a chance.

As for other regions, our strength is too weak. If a war breaks out, allow them to surrender directly. "

Although he didn't think that the Japanese would have nothing better to do and run to attack Austria's Nanyang, Franz thought of the Japanese's strategy of courting death in the original world and immediately ordered to strengthen their vigilance.

The other regions were naturally the result of imagination. In the context of the possibility of Britain and France joining forces, it was not difficult to fool a few fools to break through the enemy lines.

It could be the Japanese, but it could also be other countries. Among Austria's overseas colonies, except for Nanyang and Central America, which were well-run and had the strength to have a friendly match with their neighbors, the rest of the regions were not very good.

Especially Austria's Alaska, there was only one infantry battalion guarding there. Including the immigrants, there were less than 50,000 people, and one-third of them were criminals.

As long as the British made a move, it could fall in minutes. Since they couldn't win anyway, they might as well admit defeat.

It was not easy to run these places. If they used up all their assets, they would have to invest again.

In any case, once the European war ended, no matter who took it, they would have to spit it out with interest. There was no need to make meaningless sacrifices.

After so many years of transmigration, Franz had already been influenced by European culture. When thinking about problems, he was becoming more and more like a European politician.

Foreign Minister Wesenberg: "Your Majesty, maybe if we release the news of occupying Egypt to the outside world, we can dispel these guys' unrealistic fantasies."

Although the Austrian army had torn through the Suez defense line and even reached the city of Cairo, the war in Egypt was still ongoing.

Not long ago, the Government of France sent reinforcements to Egypt. Although they couldn't reverse the situation, they did delay the Austrian army's occupation of Egypt.

However, this didn't prevent the Government of Vienna from releasing rumors to the outside world. In any case, the Austrian army had already reached Cairo. It was only a matter of time before the city was breached.

It didn't matter if they were ambitious or opportunists. In any case, these guys were fence-sitters. They would lean to whichever side the wind was stronger.

Although the British and French combination could scare people, Austria's tiger power couldn't be underestimated either. After receiving such news, no one would easily choose a side before confirming its authenticity.

It wasn't easy to verify information these days. By the time the other countries figured out the situation, the Austrians would probably have conquered Egypt.

When the strategic situation was reversed, the fence-sitters would naturally know what to choose. The essence of politics was to increase the number of friends and reduce the number of enemies.

In the face of benefits, people couldn't stand the test. It was the same in politics. Franz wasn't a war maniac. He wasn't interested in luring the snake out of its hole and creating enemies for himself.

"Let's try, but don't make it too obvious. Release some photos of our army's operations in Egypt and release a few rumors. Let them imagine the progress of the battlefield."

Truth and falsehood were the most difficult to determine. If they released photos from other battlefields, they could naturally judge the progress of the battlefield by the landmarks.

But the battlefield in Egypt was different. The Austrians were attacking on three fronts. The French could only defend strategic locations and big cities. The remaining areas were completely free for the Austrians to attack.

Judging from the route of the Austrian army, it was easy for people to conclude that the French army was finished. As for the truth, it wasn't important anymore.

…

There were two sides to everything. Once the news of the Austrian army occupying Egypt spread, it caused a sensation all over the world.

Not only were the fence-sitters who wanted to take advantage of the situation shocked, but even Austria's good ally, Russia, was shocked.

Perhaps the stimulation was too great, or perhaps they wanted the British to be a hindrance to Austria, but the Tsarist government changed their careless attitude during the negotiations and quickly completed the exchange of interests with the British. They reached an armistice agreement and ended the war between Britain and Russia.

The European countries that were originally choking the French also changed their stance and opened the door to the export of strategic goods to France. It was as if everyone's relationship with the French entered a honeymoon period overnight.

But this was the limit of what the various governments could do. Just like how they didn't join the anti-French alliance before, they also couldn't join the anti-Austrian alliance for no reason.

Relaxing the restrictions on the French was only to balance the strength of the Fao and Russia so that they could fight more fiercely on the battlefield. It didn't mean that everyone became friends.

In the eyes of most politicians, France had always been the biggest unstable factor in Europe and was a key target to attack.

…