Chapter 279 Frederick
The birth of the eldest son made many people relieved, and the entire Vienna court was full of laughter, telling the joy of the new life.
European names are very random, and it is astonishing. As far as Franz knows, there are still people who use the same name for more than a dozen generations.
I really don't know how they usually get along. It's okay to say that the father and son have the same name. They can be distinguished by the old and the young. If they meet five generations in the same family, wouldn't this title directly make people collapse?
Considering the dire consequences, Franz decided it was better to be cautious. The unlucky names were excluded first, and the two unlucky names who committed suicide and were killed in history were the first to be eliminated.
At the family meeting, Franz asked: "Do you think the little guy should be called Caesar, or Peter, or Frederick, Leopold, and of course other names can be mentioned?"
The Empress Dowager Sophie was the first to say: "I think it's better to call Rudolph, so as not to have too many names among the nobles."
Franz finally understood, the origin of the name Rudolph in history, and the feelings were settled by this man.
However, the situation is different now. Facing the precocious Franz, the influence of the Empress Dowager Sophie has been greatly weakened.
In terms of the child's naming rights, he himself has more right to speak, and now it is discussed, that is, Franz himself is confused, and he is not sure what the eldest son should be called.
Archduke Carl suggested, "I think it's better to call him Carl. I'm old Carl, and he's little Carl. How kind of a name it sounds!"
Franz ignored this reason for being so full. He was still not used to this kind of duplicate name.
Queen Helen suggested: "Why don't you call Franz, it's convenient to call it that way."
Franz rolled his eyes, why did he feel like he was finding fault? Looking at her cautious expression, Franz was sure it wasn't asking for trouble.
The four people who have the right to speak in the court, each has their own opinions, and no one can persuade the other, Franz decided to ignore their opinions.
"Then call Peter!"
"why?"
"why?"
"why?"
As soon as the name of his son was determined, he was questioned collectively by everyone. Looking at the three angry people, Franz felt that if he could not give a reasonable explanation, there was a high possibility that he would not be able to eat and walk around today.
"You have different opinions. For the sake of family harmony, just rule them out!"
The Queen Mother Sophie said solemnly: "Very good, then Peter will also rule it out, it's only fair to do so!"
This proposal was supported by Archduke Karl and "Queen Helen", and "Peter" was also defeated in a three-to-one situation.
Franz said indifferently: "Okay, let's vote for the remaining candidate names. The name with the highest approval rate is the name of the little guy!"
Franz thinks he has integrity and didn't come up with a strange name for his son. After all, he is the crown prince, and he also needs face.
There is a long list of names for many people in Europe. Don't be surprised. It is very likely that the parents were arguing and finally added all the names proposed by everyone.
A name is a men's team, which can only be regarded as a pediatric, and a direct copy of a football team.
What is the future called? When I met cheating parents, I said that these are all for nothing?
"Then vote!"
...
Everyone agreed to a democratic vote, and in the end, "Frederick" won with two votes. Franz guessed that it might be the Habsburg family who had more Charlemagne.
...
Admiral Philcos said excitedly: "Your Majesty, our first ironclad ship has been built, and we are waiting for you to name it."
I have to say that this ironclad ship came at the right time, just in time for the birth of the crown prince. Needless to say, Franz knew that this was deliberate.
Coincidence, where in the world are there so many coincidences?
If nothing else, the Vienna government will receive a series of good news in the coming days, and these good news will happen to coincide with the birth of the prince on the same day.
There is nothing strange, the East can be auspicious, how can the Western world be exempted from it? We are all bureaucrats, and no one is much worse than the other.
Franz said calmly: "Let's call it Frederick!"
Since his subordinates are so sensible, of course he will not object. These are not too much. At most, the ironclad ship was built and waited for the crown prince in the dock for a few days.
The purpose is naturally to improve the sense of existence, otherwise, once the crown prince was born, the media of the entire New Holy Roman Empire paid attention. Who would remember the ironclad?
The New Holy Roman Empire was a land-based country, and the people originally paid limited attention to the navy. Once you miss the opportunity to attract the attention of the ironclad, the next time there is a big news to attract everyone's attention, you don't know what year it will be.
The domestic people are more concerned about the birth of the crown prince, and everyone's attention in the world is on the "Frederick" ironclad ship.
Everyone is playing with sailing warships. Austria suddenly came up with ironclad ships, which made many people very abrupt. Will this iron lump not sink?
On December 12, 1856, the day after the birth of the Crown Prince, the ironclad Frederick set off from the port of Venice for trial voyages.
Without the presence of the media, this is a military secret, and Franz will not expose the internal information of the warship for the sake of face.
Parameters of the Frederick:
Displacement: 870
8 tons;
Captain: 118 meters (107.2 meters long between vertical lines);
Ship width: 17.6 meters;
Draft: 7.9 meters power;
Steam, sail hybrid, 1 horizontal reciprocating steam engine, 10 coal-fired boilers, output power 5770 horsepower;
Single-shaft single-propeller maximum speed: 14.56 knots
Loaded coal: 860 tons;
Armament: 10x110-pounder rear-mounted rifle, 20x68-pounder front-mounted smoothbore, 4x40-pounder tail-mounted rifle;
Armor: Armor belt 4.5 inches thick, lining wood 18 inches thick;
Crew: 695 people;
Cost: 800,000 Aegis.
Franz is just a navy novice and can't understand these messy parameters, but one thing he knows is that the era of sailing warships is over.
As soon as the "Frederick" was born, it broke many world records. It is currently the largest and most powerful warship in the world.
Before the birth of similar warships, there was no pressure to bully sail warships, that was enough.
Originally, this was used to scare people. No matter how strong the combat effectiveness is, it is impossible to use a warship to erase the strength gap between the Austrian Navy and the British and French navies.
More ants kill elephants, Franz still understands this simple truth. It can be used to scare people, why fight and kill?
London
As a sea power country, the advent of the Frederick ironclad directly shocked the London government.
Prime Minister Granville roared: "I need an explanation, why the Austrians have come ahead of us, what is the Royal Navy doing with so much military spending every year?"
If the army is surpassed, he can drink coffee leisurely, anyway, they are sea power countries, if the army of European countries is ranked, they will not be able to enter the top five.
The navy is no good. The world's No. 1 Royal Navy actually lags behind in warship technology. Thousands of sailing warships can all be eliminated overnight.
This kind of mental gap is obviously not acceptable to the British. Even if he was surpassed for a short period of time, there should be no Austrian sense of existence.
Admiral James explained: "Prime Minister, the Royal Navy is already conducting research on ironclad ships. The Austrians first came up with ironclad ships, not to say that their shipbuilding technology is more advanced than ours, but they did it earlier.
Since 1850, the Austrians have invested a lot of money in the research and development of ironclad ships. The official construction began in early 1855, and it took nearly two years to complete.
The Royal Navy only received funding this year to start research and development, and a temporary lag is inevitable. We can catch up in five years at most and surpass the Austrians. "
Prime Minister Granville shook his head and said: "I don't want to hear your explanation, if you want to explain you go to the MPs!
What you have to do now is to announce our ironclad plan. We must build an ironclad in the shortest possible time. Even if it is just a prototype, we must have it! "
This is the typical way politicians think about the problem. Prime Minister Granville does not care about an ironclad ship, but the chain political reaction it brings.
The arrogant British cannot tolerate any backwardness in the navy, and now they are being overtaken, and the opposition will certainly not let this opportunity pass.
Fortunately, shortly after the Granville cabinet took office, the Navy launched the ironclad project. Then this responsibility can be pushed to the predecessors, because they missed the opportunity to develop ironclad ships, which caused the shipbuilding technology to temporarily lag behind.
Foreign Secretary Thomas reminded: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, according to the information we have collected, this ironclad ship built by the Austrians may have a displacement of between 8,500 and 9,000 tons, and is also equipped with tail-mounted rifles.
After this ironclad was commissioned, the naval balance in the Mediterranean was broken, and our Mediterranean fleet was no longer able to suppress the Austrian Navy.
In this case, the Vienna government is likely to engage in new small moves. Of course, they did not dare to provoke us, but not necessarily for the Ottoman Empire. "
Granville rubbed his forehead. He found that the prime minister's position in the British Empire was really difficult. The Russians had just provoked trouble in Central Asia, and the Austrians were coming again.
The international order of these years is like this. When the strength is strong, it will take more benefits. After the Austrian Navy has gained a short-term regional advantage, it is normal to expand.
"Can we suppress the ambitions of the Vienna government?" asked Prime Minister Granville
Thomas analyzed: "It's very difficult, unless we are willing to spend a lot of money to mobilize more fleets into the Mediterranean, or to preempt their targets and not give them a chance."
Granville denied: "This is impossible, we don't have so many fleets to put into the Mediterranean, let alone attack the Ottoman Empire first.
We made a promise to the Ottoman Empire to ensure their territorial integrity, even if it was just for the sake of international reputation, and we can't just sit idly by at this time.
Is it possible to introduce the Austrians to other regions and make them abandon their operations against the Ottoman Empire? "
Thomas thought for a while and said: "You can try it. If we join forces with the French to put pressure on it, the Vienna government is likely to give up its expansion in the Mediterranean. After all, they don't want to break the Vienna system that has just been established."