War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

Franz had to admit the sophistication of the British, and at the same time he was reviewing his bad habit of relying too much on the experience of later generations.

Because in his memory, Liberia has always been an independent country. Although its economic development is in a mess, it is a non-aligned country.

In fact, I was misled by some short videos, thinking that Liberia has always been so tough.

Liberia's choice to ally with the British would directly threaten the security of Austrian Guinea. In fact, in addition to Austria, there are also French, Spanish and Portuguese forces in Guinea.

Although the Liberians have received support from the British, there is no need to worry too much, because this country is still too weak to stretch its hands too far. At least the local indigenous people must be dealt with before they can consider moving further north or east.

The Austrian Empire was the largest colonial force in Guinea at this time, with more than 4,000 people, but it was the worst of all Austrian colonies.

One reason is that there are too many countries that have come to colonize here, and the other reason is that the strong influence of the Tire Order has made the local chiefs reject and avoid the Austrian Empire.

In addition, Guinea at that time was also considered a country lacking mineral resources. Gold and diamonds had not yet been discovered, and the tropical rainforest also prevented further exploration by colonists.

After all, the interior of Africa was still a death zone for ordinary white people at this time.

As a result, the Austrian colonists could only carry out hopeless reclamation activities without the help of local people. Although they signed land treaties with countless tribes in five years, the actual territory they controlled was less than 20% of their sphere of influence. one part.

Franz knew that in order for Guinea to truly develop, it was necessary to contact the Tire Order. Whether the two parties reached an agreement or completely eliminated it, the problem of colonial development could be solved.

However, with the medical level at this time, Franz did not think it was necessary for Austria to go deep into the interior of Africa to annihilate a feudal kingdom. After all, this would not be worth the gain.

So there is only the first way to choose, and that is negotiation, whether it is a promise of protection, cheap industrial products, or using gold as a bribe.

At this time, Guinea was most lacking in manpower. Franz knew very well that as long as the colony developed, he would be able to regain what he had lost in a few decades or even a few years.

In fact, Franz had already sent people to Bolivia to collect the seeds of the cinchona tree and planted them extensively in Chenla and Kalimantan.

Historically, it is the legend that quinine helped African colonists defeat the "white man's grave".

(The African interior was once known as the White Man’s Graveyard.)

Although quinine was introduced to Europe as early as the seventeenth century, Europeans did not realize quinine freedom until the mid-nineteenth century.

It was not until the British introduced the cinchona tree to India in 1860 that Europeans finally had stable access to this anti-malarial drug ten years later.

It was precisely because of this premise that Europeans were able to start the wave of colonial partition in the 1870s.

But this time, Franz had started experiments on planting cinchona trees in the warm and humid rainforests of Southeast Asia as early as 1836. He believed that it would not be long before he could get rid of his dependence on quinine from countries such as Brazil.

At this time, quinine in Brazil cost nearly one hundred pounds per kilogram, which was beyond the reach of ordinary people, and just like rubber, it was often out of stock.

Without rubber, the Austrian Empire would have to stop production, reduce production, and reform technology, but without quinine, people would die.

Although Artemisia annua and turtle soup can be used as a substitute, Franz is not prepared to put the backup solution into use prematurely. After all, malaria drug resistance is a major issue concerning all mankind.

Back to the main story, Franz actually has someone who can negotiate with the Tire Order, and that is the Karamanli family who have been raised in Tripoli by the Austrian Empire.

After the Near East crisis ended, the Karamanli family returned to Tripoli with the help of Friedrich, and those who helped them get started were the craftsmen rescued by Austria from Egypt.

This group of people has a very high degree of loyalty to the Austrian Empire, and the reason why the Karamanli family can gain a foothold in Tripoli is because of the protection of Austria, so the United Kingdom and the Ottoman Empire will turn a blind eye to them. Eye.

At this time, when Franz made his request, the leader of the Karamanli family immediately agreed.

The negotiation process went very smoothly, and both parties quickly reached an agreement.

The Tire Order is actually very poor. They lack everything. Weapons, clothes, food, salt, sugar, and tools can all be traded, and they only have human power, animal skins, and ivory.

The Tire Order, like other Arabs, attaches great importance to business and has no sense of guilt in trading with any pagans.

The reason why they were hostile to the Austrians and refused to communicate with them before was actually because they were frightened and deceived by the Portuguese.

Although the number of Portuguese colonists was only 500, they were overwhelming to the Tire Order, which was still in the early Middle Ages.

In the past, the Portuguese, French, and Spanish regarded them as slaves, often cheating in transactions, and even directly snatching them by force.

Therefore, the Tire Order placed great trust in Austria, an honest and reliable business partner. After all, their asking price was very low, and Franz was not prepared to engage in a slave economy in Africa. He had no control over what other countries did.

With the help of these locals, the colonial development speed of the Austrian Empire will be greatly improved.

As for when other countries want to poach others, they will find that Franz has kept the price of goods very low. He is not prepared to play short-term arbitrage tricks.

What Franz wanted was an economy dependent on the Austrian Empire, except that the labor in this economy was very cheap.

Moreover, the first thing the Tire Order did after receiving the support of Franz was to conquer those weak tribes to increase its own strength, and at the same time began to try to expel the colonial forces.

Among them, Portugal and the tribes that relied on it suffered the most serious losses. However, given Portugal's poor strength at this time, it had no plans to retaliate.

The Portuguese governor here was a smart man. He quickly found the person in charge of the Austrian Empire in Guinea, and finally the two parties finalized an agreement to sell the colony for five thousand pounds.

Of course, the Austrian side needs to help the captured Portuguese. Although the bottom level of the Tire Order is fiercely opposed, the top brass are well aware of their dilemma.

In fact, during the transactions with the Austrian Empire, some of the top leaders of the Tire Order began to be corrupted. They even began to secretly convert to the Catholic Church, and those Portuguese Christians were their certificates of surrender.

Franz was surprised by the conversion efficiency of the Austrian Church, but Archbishop Rauscher said that the senior leaders of the Tire Order took the initiative to request conversion, and he did not send anyone to contact them.

Ever since, Franz could only lament the horror of sugar-coated bullets.