250 Stable

On September 1, 1854, Constantinople fell in the midst of a chill, the Russians fulfilled their century-old wish, the Russian Empire boiled over, and the European continent was collectively silent.

On the day after the end of the Battle of Constantinople, the New Holy Roman Empire issued a diplomatic note to the warring parties, announcing a high-profile mediation of the war.

This responsible international attitude was immediately praised by both France and Russia. After more than two years of war in the Near East, the dawn of peace finally appeared.

The world's eyes are on - London. The Ottoman Empire and the Principality of Montenegro have been ignored by everyone, and it is better to stay calm without diplomacy for weak countries.

10 Downing Street, Prime Minister Henry angrily threw out the water glass in his hand, Constantinople just fell, so don't let it be too obvious?

As early as a week ago, the Russians stopped the attack, the French began to evacuate the wounded and sick from the city, and there seemed to be nothing wrong with stopping the attack when the plague broke out.

Two days ago, the French envoy had sworn to assure him that he would defend Constantinople to the death, and that 120,000 French troops would be enough to stop any Russian attack.

Then, last night, he received the news of the fall of Constantinople. The 120,000 French troops mobilized collectively, broke through the siege under the condition of the fall of Constantinople, and captured Taiji, which was heavily guarded by the Russian army that day. Erda.

Prime Minister Henry wanted to say: cheating should not be too obvious, you are really embarrassing for me!

Foreign Minister Thomas said with a pale face: "Everyone, the French have unilaterally ended this battlefield, we must act immediately, or we will be passive!"

Not "to be passive", but already passive. No matter what agreement was reached between France and Russia, it was very unfavorable to the British Empire.

Once the two countries were aligned, the British strategy of balancing the continent with painstaking efforts went bankrupt. In this era, there is no such a powerful ally.

War Minister Stanley said solemnly: "The French have withdrawn and even sold Constantinople to the Russians. We can no longer fight this war."

The London government has long stopped wanting to fight, but it is not so simple to withdraw from the war. If it is not easy to be caught by political opponents, it will be a lot of fun.

Stanley is the most worried. If the French sell their teammates completely, maybe before the armistice negotiations, the British troops on the front line will be swallowed up by the Russians.

Taking into account the feud between Britain and France, this situation is not impossible. If such a thing happened, it is estimated that all European countries would be happy to see it happen.

After hesitating for a while, Prime Minister Henry made a decision: "The situation is unclear now, we can only adapt to the situation, first accept the mediation of the Austrians, and then let the rest of the matter be resolved by diplomatic means!

Next, the focus of the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is to find a way to isolate the Russians. It is absolutely impossible for France and Russia to form an alliance, otherwise the situation will be completely out of control. "

suffer? In international politics, who has not suffered losses? People who just want to take advantage and cannot suffer losses are not suitable for playing politics.

Lost here today, and try to make up for it tomorrow. Being able to bend and stretch is the basic quality of a politician, and a momentary defeat will naturally not frighten the British.

With the statement of the London government, the Vienna Peace Conference was put on the agenda. After everyone's consultation, it was finally decided to officially hold it on September 21.

History has changed. On the battlefield, the Russians did not lose, but gained the upper hand. Naturally, the peace meeting could not be held in Paris, and the tsarist government also wanted to save face.

...

The port of Conakry in Guinea, the largest port in West Africa in later generations, is still a wild land.

Because of the existence of a natural port, it was fortunate to become one of the strongholds of Austria's colonization of Africa, and entered the era of civilization ahead of schedule.

Now it seems to be a large construction site. According to the plan of the Vienna government, the first step to colonize Africa is to build a city.

No, it can't be called a city, it should be a small town to be precise. According to the plan, 8,000 immigrants will be housed here, plus an Austrian infantry battalion.

Then, with the town as the core, it began to gradually expand around until it completely occupied the coastal plain area.

The Port of Conakry is now not called Conakry, but a unique Austrian name - New Brook.

This is just the beginning. If the colonization plan goes well, many city names in Austria will appear here in the future.

Lieutenant Colonel Stephen, the city owner and the commander of the garrison army, looked at the report in his hand and shook his head helplessly. New Brook, who was just starting out, lacked everything.

In particular, there is a shortage of people, and it is planned to resettle 8,000 immigrants. So far, only 1,200 people have arrived. In less than two months, 56 people have died due to various reasons, and 37 people are still in hospital beds.

This mortality rate is only slightly lower than that of the plague. If this situation continues, the average life expectancy of new immigrants will probably not exceed 35 years.

Lieutenant Colonel Stephen asked with concern: "What can the next batch of immigrants arrive?"

Assistant Gold replied simply and neatly: "I don't know!"

The African colonies are different from the mainland. When they get here, they can only rely on ships to communicate. If it is not because the supplies are sent every month, they all think they have been abandoned.

Of course, in order to maintain the connection between the colonies, Stephen still has several small boats in his hand, which can communicate with other strongholds.

Within the more than 300 kilometers of coastline in Guinea, the Austrian government has set up three colonial points, and the first colonists are all distributed here.

Drawing on the successful experience of colonization in various countries, the Austrian colonial army only stayed in the coastal areas, and it is a future thing to go deep into the inland areas.

Several indigenous tribes in the plains have been cleared, and even the captives have been handed over to the Portuguese for safety.

The slave trade in this era is still rampant. The United States is the world's largest buyer of slaves. In recent years, nearly half of the population growth in the United States is contributed by the purchase of slaves.

The slave market is still in short supply. After all, the African continent in this era is not a good place, and there are poisonous insects and beasts.

Just look at the mortality rate of immigrants. Now they are just staying in strongholds to build their homes. If they want to go deep into the inland areas, the mortality rate will increase significantly.

Lieutenant Colonel Stephen said casually, "I don't know, won't you ask?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lieutenant Colonel Stephen realized that he had done something stupid. This is a colony, not a country. If you want to connect directly with the country, wait for decades!

Cable telegraphy has only spread to cities in the mainland, and rural towns have not been covered, let alone the African continent?

Submarine cable laying technology has already appeared, but considering the high cost, the current African colony is obviously not worth the Austrian government's huge cost.

"I didn't say it!" Lieutenant Colonel Stephen added in a timely manner

Gold said seriously: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, I don't think we can continue to wait like this. If you don't want to be overtaken by other strongholds, you must take more active measures now.

Since there is a shortage of labor, we will go to catch it. You see, it has been more than two months, and we are still standing still. There is no more peaceful colonizer in the world than us.

Do we really have to wait for the enemy to come over before we can carry out passive counterattacks? Learn from our Portuguese counterparts. Even if precious minerals are not found, we must find a way to make a return.

At the current rate, I doubt very much whether we will be able to recover the cost of colonization in a hundred years. When the time comes, don't say that we will be awarded titles because of merit, our graves will grow grass. "

Unlike Stephen, who was born in the military, Gold, who took the initiative to participate in colonial activities, is not a quiet master.

Originally, he came to the colony to make a fortune, but now he is building a stronghold here every day.

The plains in the coastal areas are really good. If it is Austrian, it is enough to make people crazy. Unfortunately, this is the African continent, and the most valuable thing is the land.

According to the Austrian colonial regulations, any Austrian citizen has the right to reclaim these lands, and whoever opens up the farm will own it, provided that once the property rights are confirmed, it is forbidden to abandon the land.

Getting rich by farming is difficult in China, and Gold doesn't think that he can make a fortune by farming here. These lands are mainly used to resettle immigrants.

If you want to make a fortune in the colonies, the best way is to look for mines, especially gold and silver mines, which are the easiest way to make a fortune.

As the first colonists, if they discovered minerals and reported them to the colonial government, they could receive dividends from the development of the minerals, and they could also sell them directly to the government for a large amount of cash.

Lieutenant Colonel Stephen shook his head and said: "Gold, be patient, the mood of the immigrants is still unstable and we need to watch.

This situation will change when the first batch of grains is harvested, and then it is time for us to launch our expansion.

Now, if you have time, you can organize the young adults in the immigrants for simple training. These people are not good goods, and it is more suitable to use them as cannon fodder.

To give you a piece of advice, the African continent is not a good place, and the dangers of inland areas are far less than that of coastal areas.

There are many opportunities for the colony to make a fortune, but there is only one prerequisite, you must have a life to spend! "

One word is - steady. From the start of the colonization program, the Austrian government was not prepared to see returns in the first year, which is very unrealistic.

The South African colonies established by the British are not profitable now. Why should Guinea recover its costs in the short term?

If the colonies were so easy to get rich, they would have been overcrowded long ago. Don't underestimate the enthusiasm of the European people to get rich in this era.