War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

Franz was not surprised that the true identity of the insider secretly supported by the US government was a spy sent by the Austrian church.

At this time, there was no help from relatively complete counterintelligence systems such as the well-known FBI and National Security Agency (NSA) in later generations. It is not surprising that there was a lack of experience in instigating rebellion, and it is understandable that there were inhumane negligence.

Not only will he not take the initiative to lend a helping hand to help Washington correct this serious mistake, on the contrary, he plans to use the plan to prepare for both sides. On the one hand, he will take the funds provided by the Americans, and on the other hand, he will take action to clean up those internal unstable factors.

"Archduke Franz, the output of Nicaragua and Costa Rica is very pessimistic. If we continue to invest, it is very likely that our colonial enterprise in Central and North America will fall into loss. And according to church informants The intelligence seems to be difficult for the locals to control.”

Adjani has questions about the mess that Franz took over the Central American Federation. The people living on this land have a strong will to resist, and its complex terrain is far more difficult to conquer than those of African countries.

The strong Spanish cultural legacy left over from hundreds of years of colonial rule would probably take dozens or even hundreds of years to completely erase its imprint.

"I know. How much will it cost?" Franz said casually, planning a very important voyage in his mind.

"It's probably between 2 million and 3 million florins, but 15 million florins need to be invested in the early stage. If you include the previous 10 million francs war compensation, the total is about 20 million florins.

Based on this calculation, it will take us about ten years to recover the cost. But coupled with the expenditure on public security maintenance and dealing with special events such as possible uprisings and natural and man-made disasters, it may take longer.”

In fact, Adjani left out the worst-case scenario. Years of war have almost turned Nicaragua and Costa Rica into ruins. It is still unknown how long it will take to resume production.

Another important factor that has long troubled and restricted local development is the scarcity of population (number of indigenous and immigrants). In the past, the authorities of the two countries have relied on indentured slaves and imported black slaves to solve local development problems.

Obviously, this road is unavailable now, because like other European countries, the Austrian Empire explicitly prohibits the slave trade, not to mention that Archduke Franz himself seems to be extremely disgusted with it.

"Well, it's a lot better than I thought." Franz responded still absentmindedly.

He was still thinking about the information from the Admiralty. It seemed that this voyage would be full of uncertainties. This is still under the favorable situation that our side has already controlled the local situation, otherwise this voyage would be impossible to talk about.

"Archduke Franz, what's wrong with you? Are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?" Adjani began to realize something was wrong. After all, the Grand Duke's thinking had always been quick, but today his behavior was a little abnormal.

Franz looked down subconsciously, and then said very calmly.

"Oh, it's nothing, don't worry, it's not the worst case scenario."

His inconsistent words left Adjani a little confused.

"So what do you think is the worst case scenario?"

“Britain and France joined forces to completely exclude us from Central America.”

Adjani was speechless for a while. According to the information and intelligence she had in hand, the chance of that extreme situation happening was so small that there was no need to discuss it.

"So do you already have a response plan?"

Franz shook his head, and now she was speechless and felt even more depressed.

"Then I can only remind you that you need to pay 10 million florins in advance for construction and other expenses in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The empire's colonial institutions there are simply empty frames, because the relevant funds have been Archduke Riedrich appropriated the navy given to him."

"I don't blame him. Who makes the navy itself a gold-eating beast? But having said that, this has no impact on our plans in Central and North America."

Adjani is a little confused. There are no local tyrants and evil gentry in Nicaragua and Costa Rica who can suck blood, and a small number of wealthy landowners have either fled to other areas, or been absorbed by the church and developed into insiders.

“But without any initial capital investment, it would be difficult to reach even 700,000 florins per year just through taxation and those inefficient plantations.”

"Don't worry about this. Nicaragua and Costa Rica are already part of the expansion territory of the Imperial Church. In this case, all expenses and expenses will be borne by them. They are not short of money anyway. In addition, the indigenous people are not without it. Do you like imperial rule? Then send them to California."

Franz's behavior made Adjani even more confused, because Nicaragua and Costa Rica themselves are very short of labor. If workers are sent to California, a vast and sparsely populated place, will the plan to colonize these two places remain unchanged? Is it meaningless?

"With all due respect, what exactly are you planning to do?"

"Empty the cage and change the bird."

Franz looked at her with puzzled eyes and said slowly:

"In fact, it is not difficult to understand that it took Spain hundreds of years to gain a foothold in the Americas. But we do not have hundreds of years to slowly assimilate the local indigenous people, and with the intervention of Britain and France, Central America will sooner or later become a major power. A key area of ​​competition.”

At this time, Adjani suddenly remembered the previous agreements signed between Austria and Mexico. She thought that Franz would attract locals from Spain and Mexico to immigrate to California. She never expected that Nicaragua and Costa Rica would become the To transport the main force.

But she still couldn't understand why he said that Central America would become one of the battlefields for great powers to compete for hegemony in the future. Maybe it was because of precious metals?

But judging from the usual methods of the great powers in the fight for colonies at this time, they would not go to the point of starting a war if they disagreed just because the other party used some shady means.

But facing the questions from his subordinates, Franz seemed very helpless. He couldn't tell her directly that a big canal would be dug here in the future and he would directly control the fate of the two continents.

In fact, Panama is not the only region suitable for canal construction, Nicaragua is also suitable; and the transportation capacity of Nicaragua's canal is far greater than that of the Panama Canal, and of course the cost and engineering volume are also greater.

However, it is more appropriate to give this role of being taken advantage of to other countries. After all, it only hurts when someone is hit with a stick.

"But as a result, the local population will be even less sufficient, and I am afraid that even the existing tax revenue and output cannot be guaranteed." Adjani continued.

"Don't worry, leave these things to the church. We should give God's servants the opportunity to show themselves."

Franz's words made Adjani silent for a while, but she knew very well that once he insisted on his opinion, once he made a decision on something, it meant that everything was within the plan, and there was usually no chance to change it, so there was no need. Let's continue to struggle with this, not to mention that she has other important things to report at the moment.