War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

When the news that the German Confederation was going to crack down on pirates in the South Seas reached Vienna, Franz was still very surprised. He did not expect progress to be so fast, nor did he expect that the German Confederation would pass this resolution.

At this time, Franz became more and more suspicious of the professionalism of Austrian diplomats. It was simply terrible that such an unreasonable resolution could be passed.

Another point is that this matter disrupted Franz's elaborate layout. In fact, due to the transportation and communication restrictions of this era, a lot of information cannot be transmitted in a timely manner.

Therefore, some ideal and exquisite layouts can really only exist in ideals.

Due to some minor deviations and accidents, today's situation was created.

Franz never expected that an extremely small person with a name that he could not even remember would once again appear on the front page of a German regional newspaper.

In fact, it is not that Austria cannot handle this crisis, but it should not be done by this person and it should not be done at this time.

Perhaps it was really a mistake not to arrest this man and imprison him until death. In fact, it was not that the secret police did not take Ludwig von Rens away for investigation.

But unfortunately, the head of the secret police who was responsible for interrogating him happened to be a big Germanist, and he was greatly helped by an economist, Böhm-Bawerk.

The "chief culprit" who directly caused the Luxembourg crisis only stayed in the interrogation room for a week before being sent home to reflect. A few months later, he even came to the temporary headquarters of the German Confederation again as a student representative.

Then he once again dragged the entire German Confederation to the brink of war. Yes, sometimes it only takes a few days for the rain to turn into a flood, and the same is true for public opinion.

Obviously with the previous experience of the Luxembourg crisis, people seemed to be more enthusiastic about the war, without any fear at all.

But they soon discovered a problem: they seemed unable to reach Asia.

In fact, Franz knew that sooner or later the British would target the small court of Nanming. After all, it was a gold mine. And with the experience of trading with the Qing Dynasty, they took it for granted that Nanming would also buy opium from them.

But one of the agreements made by Franz and Zhu Qiongying was to prohibit the Chinese from taking opium wantonly, and the use of opium as medicine was naturally not included in this.

Zhu Qiongying, who has been living in Southeast Asia for many years, hates opium merchants and human traffickers the most. No one knows better than her how hateful these two people are.

In fact, when Franz mentioned opium, Zhu Qiongying thought that the former wanted to monopolize the opium trade. But Franz's proposal was just the opposite. He asked Zhu Qiongying's Nanming to completely ban opium. Of course, this would take a process that could take ten, twenty, or even fifty years.

But in fact, Franz underestimated Zhu Qiongying's determination and the courage of this ancient nation. In just a few years, opium smokers were physically eliminated.

However, the British did not know this, but even if they knew this, they would continue the opium trade, for no other reason than to balance the trade deficit.

The products of Kalimantan are far less rich than those of Qing Dynasty, but self-sufficiency is not a problem. At the same time, it was part of the agreement with Franz and the need to maintain rule.

Most of the materials of this small court of the Southern Ming Dynasty were imported through Chenla, and Chenla was actually a clerical state controlled by Franz. This was naturally done to firmly bind the new Nanming to the Austrian war. in the car.

When Zhu Qiongying rejected the British's "peaceful trade", the two sides were bound to have conflicts. Generally speaking, when faced with such a weak country, the British will first choose gunboat diplomacy, forcing the other party to sign a trade treaty, forcibly importing goods, supporting agents, and gradually controlling

It's just that the British don't have much power in the Nanyang region. Even if they want to fight, they will not choose to land for battle. After all, Nanming can quickly defeat the surrounding indigenous forces, as well as those Qing court lackeys and local factions because it is not the gift given to Zhu Qiongying by Franz. The jade seal is not a gun, but hundreds of thousands of young men.

Of course, if the British were really smart and chose to start a war in the jungle on the island of Kalimantan, then Franz would be very happy, because it would be a bottomless pit.

But it turned out that the British were not stupid. They sent a mini-fleet to blockade several important ports in Nanming. However, no attack was launched. After all, Zhu Qiongying could send people to surround the British strongholds on Kalimantan Island at this time.

Of course, the two sides could not continue to be in a stalemate, so it was the Dutch's turn.

In fact, in a sense, Nanming and the Dutch East India Company have a hostile relationship, but the two sides have both confrontation and cooperation. For example, the Dutch will not refuse such things as making money and smuggling.

Then there was a scene where British warships seized Dutch merchant ships.

In fact, the decline of the Netherlands should be largely attributed to the Anglo-Dutch War, so the Dutch, who had an advantage in Southeast Asia, were very unconvinced by the British who had just arrived.

The result was that a Dutch fleet besieged the British port in a mighty manner, and then fled back to Jakarta in disgrace with the loss of troops.

(The Dutch actually called Jakarta Batavia at the time.)

The Dutch fleet was still at the level of the eighteenth century, and had no chance of winning against the new British warships. The Dutch soldiers, who were pampered all day long, were no match for the British navy, which was plundering everywhere.

A tragic defeat was inevitable, but Franz did not expect that the two would actually fight. He just wanted to take the opportunity to solve the trade crisis in Nanming and give the Netherlands a reason to join the German Confederation.

It's just that things have developed a bit quickly, and now Austria is being roasted on the fire again.

Yes, so far in the entire German Confederation, only Austria has colonies in Asia, and only its navy can take on the task of combating piracy in the South Seas.

The problem is that the so-called pirates are actually British, and Austria cannot actively choose to declare war with Britain, which puts it in a dilemma.

Vienna, Regency Council.

"Hurry up and arrest this idiot Pillsdorf. He actually has the nerve to come back! And that college student! I said we should strengthen the supervision of universities! You just don't listen!"

Prince Metternich complained crazily and threw blame crazily at the same time. To be honest, he was extremely disappointed with this incident. It would be fine to fight the British on the European continent, but to go to Asia and fight a naval battle with the British would be to die.

Count Korolaf also looked solemn. He had a good relationship with the military. According to Count Tural, the Austrian navy was now fully capable of defeating the British Mediterranean Fleet.

The problem is that first of all, the Mediterranean Fleet is just one of the British squadrons. Secondly, the target this time is in Asia. Thirdly, Tural has never even been in a river in his life. In theory, he should know nothing about the navy.

Finally, they were talking about the Austrian Navy at a family gathering, which meant that the other party was most likely drunk.

In fact, on the other side of the sea, British Prime Minister Robert Peel also looked at the information in his hand with a confused face.

"The German Confederation will organize a delegation to ask our country for its views on pirates in the South Seas."