Chapter 1055 Best Ally
As the economy picks up, the fiscal revenue of the Vienna government has also risen accordingly. The government will not keep the money for children, and the fiscal revenue must be spent.
Less than halfway through 1897, departments were already gearing up to compete for the next year's budget.
The emperor went on vacation, and the decision-making power for budget allocation fell to the crown prince. Everyone can see that this is obviously the emperor paving the way for his son.
There is nothing to object to, and although the emperor is still in good health, he is still 67 years old. In this era when the average life expectancy is less than 50, it can be called "longevity".
No one can guarantee that the old emperor will suddenly meet God one day. From this point of view, it is also very necessary to exercise the crown prince in advance to avoid being in a hurry.
Unlike the bloody struggles of Eastern imperial power, European inheritance laws are relatively perfect, and even if there are occasional struggles, they are not so cruel.
At least the internal struggles of the Habsburg dynasty were not so fierce, otherwise Franz's uncle Ferdinand I would not have been able to inherit the throne.
In this context, it is not without precedent for the crown prince to act as the emperor in advance, although there are not many occurrences
The most typical example is Franz himself. Since the Great Revolution, he has assumed the power of the emperor as the crown prince, and the Regency Committee obediently handed over the power.
Rules are rules, and as long as everyone sticks to them, there will be no problems.
It's the same when it comes to Frederick, and the situation is even better.
After all, Franz was alive and well, but had just gone on vacation. Although the vacation was a little long, it didn't hurt.
There is a highly respected emperor pressing down on it, and no matter what ideas the people below have, they have to be suppressed first.
Don't look at Franz seldom tossing, but the bureaucrats of the Vienna government will never forget the wonderful scene of "ten thousand people dismissed from office, and a hundred people in the crematorium".
If someone really counts carefully, he will find that there are more bureaucrats who fell in the Franz era than the sum of the hundreds of years since the founding of the Habsburg dynasty.
Of course, times are different and there is no comparison. The number of public officials in the Holy Roman Empire now far exceeds any previous period.
In the face of an emperor who dared to break the convention of "the law does not blame the public" and who wanted to increase the punishment, no one dared to act as a monster.
These are the lessons learned by the predecessors in exchange for blood.
Since the establishment of the civil service examination system, everyone has a group of substitute candidates. The detached position of the bureaucratic group in the past has long since ceased to exist.
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Putting down the official document in his hand, Frederick asked helplessly: "Dear Minister, can you tell me what is the purpose of the Navy's shipbuilding this time?"
The word "respect" obviously accentuated the tone. It can be seen that Frederick was very unhappy with the "shipbuilding plan" submitted by the Ministry of the Navy.
On the surface, there are only a few battleships, dozens of cruisers and destroyers. Judging from the scale of the Shinra Navy, some warships have to be replaced every year, and it is not too much to build so many warships at one time.
The problem lies in the "renewal of warships".
There are also strict regulations on the retirement of Shinra's warships. Either the performance cannot keep up with the times, or the second-hand warships can be sold, otherwise they have to wait until the service period is completed.
After continuous upgrades in the past few years, it is now just in a window period, and no capital ship will be retired in the next three years.
If there is no retirement, there will be no replacement. With the navy's establishment unchanged, the government will not allocate additional funds to build capital ships in the next two years.
Without additional funding, the navy can get limited military expenditures every year, so naturally it cannot support the current shipbuilding plan.
If it is just to build dozens of warships, it is nothing more than a matter of 10 to 20 million Aegis. As a master who personally manipulated the listing of an oil company worth billions, Frederick would not have such a big reaction.
The problem is that the navy has never been just a matter of warships. Once the number of warships increases, the naval establishment will also increase accordingly.
It seems that they just want to build a few more ships, but in fact they want to expand the army. That's not something that can be done by 10 to 20 million, but the cost of Aegis will increase by tens of millions every year.
The Holy Roman Empire is a country with land power. If the navy increases its military expenditure, the army will definitely not be ambiguous, and the air force will most likely join in the fun.
These domestic problems are only minor problems, and the most troublesome ones are international ones. The British are watching closely, and the expansion of the Shinra Navy to the Royal Navy will definitely follow up.
There is no doubt that a new round of naval arms competition has been ignited. At that time, whether they like it or not, the Vienna government will passively follow the British to play the "Dumpling Contest".
After thinking about it a little bit, Frederick knew that the Admiralty's shipbuilding plan was a huge pit, a huge pit that could swallow up all the new financial revenue of the Vienna government.
Leaving aside the international influence, the money is spent on military expenditures. What else does he, the crown prince, do for political achievements?
Franz asked Frederick to supervise the country, so that he could take the opportunity to improve his political achievements, prove his ability to govern the country to the outside world, and increase his prestige for future succession.
If all the money is used to play the "dumpling contest" with the British, it is estimated that everyone except the navy will be dissatisfied with him as the crown prince.
Frederick was not William II, and he had a naval dream since he was a child. Frederick, who grew up in Vienna, was deeply influenced by mainland culture and was a typical land rights advocate.
Frederick has always been very disdainful of the British maritime hegemony. No matter how powerful the maritime hegemony is, can it compare to the hegemony of Asia, Europe and Africa?
In the Holy Roman Empire, the most popular theory is still "the one who wins the world island wins the world". As for maritime hegemony, it is only an accessory of continental hegemony.
After the Holy Roman Empire has finished digesting the fruits of victory, the British's maritime hegemony must be given up, or it must be given up.
So Frederick looked at the Secretary of the Navy now, saying, "This is a bad guy, and he actually wants to harm me."
As if his dissatisfaction with the crown prince had already been prepared, Castagni replied unhurriedly: "Your Highness, the British are too busy recently, we must find something for them to do.
Seeing that the Central Asian Railway is about to open to traffic, it is necessary for us to create an opportunity for the Russians to consume the national strength of the British through the hands of the Russians.
If things go well, we will be able to take over from the British the heavy responsibility of ocean supremacy before the end of the new round of the Anglo-Russian War.
Before that, if we don't build more warships, how can we fulfill our overlord duties? "
I don't know when the Vienna government liked to use the Russian allies as pawns.
Now to replace the British maritime hegemony, the first reaction of the Admiralty is: let the Russians go first.
If you open the history books, you will find that in recent decades, the Russians have stepped up to help beat all the enemies of the Vienna government.
In the first Near East War (Crimean War), the British and French Ottomans were defeated, which laid the foundation for Austria's annexation of South Germany;
During the two Prussian-Prussian Wars, he helped to abolish Prussia and successfully avoided the outbreak of civil war for the reunification of Shinra;
The next few Near East wars were also fought by Russia and Austria, and successfully killed the Ottoman Empire;
Although the Russians were absent in the European war, they still made outstanding contributions to suppressing France, and they are still fighting;
Now it's time for the confrontation between Vienna and London. I didn't expect the Russians to come in handy again. Before it was time for a decisive battle, someone in the Vienna government wanted to provoke the Anglo-Russian war.
Judging from the current situation, with the opening of the Central Asian Railway, the probability of an Anglo-Russian war is also increasing day by day.
Therefore, Russia-Austria friendship is also inevitable. Where can I find such a caring ally?
Although it is very expensive to maintain the friendship between Russia and Austria, compared with the contributions made by the Russians, it is not worth mentioning at all.
Frederick admitted that he was tempted, but he quickly realized it. The opening of the Central Asia Railway is two years away, so what's the rush now?
Even if it is to provoke the Anglo-Russian war, it must wait for the railway to pass through.
Before that, let the British be idle first, they will be busy in the future, and there is no rush at all.
Especially the recent actions of the London government are constantly challenging the bottom line of the tsarist government. Over time, these small conflicts will turn into irreconcilable hatred between the two countries.
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