Chapter 500 The Frenchman Who Wants to Stop Loss

A scaled-down version of the African railway network plan has been released. In line with the principle of saving as much as possible, except for the central government's half of the main road construction, the construction of other branch railways must be done by the colonial government itself.

The main road is a strategic need, connecting the colonies together and increasing the ability to resist risks. Even in the event of a world war, Austria was able to keep the African continent.

If nothing else, only the gold mines in South Africa need to build this railway. To block the prying eyes of various countries, it is impossible to have no strength.

The Portuguese did not dare to join forces with the British, because the benefit given by John Bull was not large enough to make them take risks. Would they be able to hold back their urges if they found out that South Africa was rich in gold?

To put it bluntly, colonies in this era are only a kind of wealth. For the Portuguese, as long as the benefits were large enough, it would be worthwhile to throw away colonies in other regions under Austrian retaliation.

Otherwise, why would Franz need to fight the British in South Africa? As long as the Vienna government announced the annexation of the Boer Republic, and the Governor of Delphi was not stupid, how could it continue to wage war?

The greatest value of the Anglo-Boer War was to make the London government clearly realize that they really couldn't fight on land.

As for the Cape Town colonial government, it is estimated that it will not be able to come out of the shadow of this war for decades.

Once the railway is connected, even if the gold reserves are exposed, the Cape Town colonial government will not have the courage to do anything. This is the effect of the war.

Including the London government, also can not afford to fight the desire. Because the connected Austrian Africa can mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops at any time, the price needed to seize the gold mines from Austria is too great, and it has exceeded their tolerance limit.

In general, Franz's emphasis on the African continent has surpassed that of Europe, which in his view is the future of Austria.

There is no way, it is too difficult to expand on the European continent. Without the colony of Africa, the European continent would not have been so peaceful for so many years, and Franz would have done things a long time ago.

If nothing else, due to the grudges between the Habsburg Dynasty and the Ottoman Empire, they will definitely not survive until now.

The original time and space Austria did not attack them, that is its own strength is not good. Due to diplomatic mistakes and fierce domestic political struggles, they have suffered successive military defeats on the European continent. At this time, they can barely protect themselves.

Because the Austrian African colonies were opened up, and the resources inside had been enough for Austria to digest for many years, Franz gave up the idea of ​​​​provoking wars on the European continent.

This is a question of return on investment. In the First World War in the original time and space, there was no victor in the warring parties, and everyone was severely damaged, and in the end, the fisherman was cheap.

The Second World War was even worse. The European countries participating in the war were no longer suffering from serious damage. Almost all of their troops were wiped out. The only remaining French, who was lying dead, was barely escaped.

The risk here is too great, and the gain is too small. After all, the territory on the European continent is not easy to digest, and if you choke, it will be over.

If you look at the French, you can see that in order to digest the Italian region, they had to concentrate their efforts, and even overseas colonial expansion activities were affected.

The most likely Fao collision on the African continent, there is no sign of it now. Affected by the change in the strategic center of gravity, the expansion of the French on the African continent has been greatly reduced, and there is still sufficient buffer between the two countries.

The land of the African continent is also limited, the expansion of the French is slow, and Austria will naturally not be polite.

Even if the two countries have divided their spheres of influence, there is no satellite map in this era, and the African continent is facing such a large continent, no one will know it even if it advances one or two hundred miles.

A line on a map, when it reaches the actual boundary, the error is much larger. Fortunately, the borders of the spheres of influence of the two countries are mostly vast deserts, otherwise the French turf would have shrunk long ago.

It’s not just Austria that took the opportunity to grab territory, the British have also stepped up their infiltration into the Sudanese region. If the sudden outbreak of the Anglo-Bosch War dragged the energy of the Anglo-Austrian countries, the interests of the French in Sudan might not be able to be preserved.

Of course, with the alliance of Britain, France and Austria, these problems will gradually fade away, and everyone will try their best to exercise restraint.

Paris, as French politics decided to shrink its strategy, the power invested here was also weakened. Up to now, the situation in Mexico has been unable to be suppressed.

Napoleon III is now very headache, he is still hesitating whether to give up the Mexican Empire. This decision is not good. In recent years, the French government has invested too much resources in Mexico. It is a pity to give up directly.

If it wasn't for Austria's failure to expand its power in Mexico, Napoleon III would have wondered whether Massimiliano I had sent a spy from the Habsburg dynasty to cause trouble for France.

Of course, the thought just passed by. From the point of view of family interests, if the Habsburg dynasty was interested in Mexico, it would be impossible to let Massimiliano I appoint an outsider as the crown prince.

After receiving the news, Napoleon III was stunned by the operation of this god, and he once doubted whether it was the illegitimate son of Massimiliano I.

In his opinion, even if the direct members of the Habsburg family have no interest in the Mexican throne, it is better to abduct a collateral member to be the heir than to support an outsider in the throne.

If the influence of the Bonaparte family was not too weak to be recognized by the local constitutionalists, or Napoleon III would have supported his own people in the first place.

Napoleon III regretted it, he should have known that Massimiliano I was so incompetent

, he will not support this idiot to ascend.

The wealthy old man who has passed his sixtieth year in the next year can see the embarrassment of the emperor. After all, this political investment was led by Napoleon III. If Mexico is to be abandoned now, it must not be proposed by the emperor himself.

"Your Majesty, the investment in Mexico has failed. If we continue to invest, it may not be able to recover the cost. Now we need to stop the loss.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of the alliance of the three countries, the Americans can be deterred. We need to find a next home to take over as soon as possible, and strive to sell at a good price. "

Selling the interests of Mexico is indeed a good choice, at least better than losing everything.

In order to annihilate the rebels in Mexico, the French have lost tens of thousands of soldiers before and after, and have also taken in a loan of more than one billion francs.

This loss is almost on par with the loss of the British in the Anglo-Boers War. However, efforts may not be rewarded. The more and more Mexican rebels are suppressed, the situation is still deteriorating.

After pondering for a while, Napoleon III asked suspiciously: "Mexico is not yet our colony, and the situation is still deteriorating. Who can we sell our interests there?

Spain had a civil war because of the battle for the throne, and it was impossible to intervene in Mexico at this time; the British calculated too much and could not make high prices; the strategic focus of the Austrians in operating overseas colonies was on the African continent, and they had no interest in Mexico.

The rest of the country, either has no strength, it is impossible to take over; or it is a poor ghost who has no money, and it will be too expensive to give to them. "

This is the crux of the problem, they are powerless to control the situation, who can they expect to take over?

Everyone is not a fool. As long as they understand the situation in Mexico, they all know that this is a mess, and they will not jump into this fire pit at all.

After a pause, as if thinking of something, Napoleon III snarled: "Marquis Fickel, don't tell me I'm an American? This is impossible.

It can be sold to any country, except to the United States of America and the Confederate States of America, which is agreed in the four-nation treaty.

Once we violate the treaty, we will face sanctions from the other three countries, and the newly established British, French, and Austrian tripartite alliance will collapse immediately! "

On the issue of checks and balances against the Americans, Britain, France, and Austria have the same position. Today's France is a responsible big country, and it must not be messed up.

In order to sell a few dollars, it is necessary to dismantle the British, French, and Austrian Tripartite Alliance. Napoleon III was not so short-sighted.

He is very aware of the diplomatic dilemma that France is facing. On the surface, everyone has reconciled, but the secret exclusion of European countries has always existed.

Especially after the annexation of the Italian region, their life is not easy. If the tripartite alliance is torn up, Britain and Austria may retaliate, and it may be another anti-French alliance.

Seeing that Napoleon III was angry, the old man immediately shut up. This is already worthy of the Americans' money, and the emperor can't do anything if he doesn't agree to it. He can't put himself in.

Seemingly aware of Marquis Fickel's request for help, Chancellor of the Exchequer Allen said: "Your Majesty is right, Mexico must not fall into the hands of the Americans.

However, the Mexican issue must also be resolved as soon as possible. If we drag it on, we will only lose more.

Personally, no matter who accepts the Mexican Empire, as long as it can guarantee the normal performance of our debts with the Mexican government, they can get the benefits we have locally. "

Obviously, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Allen is sober. He is very clear that with the chaotic situation in Mexico, it is impossible to sell at a good price. As long as the normal performance of the debt can be guaranteed, God bless.

He didn't even have much hope for this, after all, there were too few people willing to take orders at this time. Unless the Americans are brought in at the risk of a break with Britain and Austria, there is basically no such thing as a scapegoat.

The debt the Mexican government owes to France is not a small amount. Given Mexico's fiscal revenue, it will take decades to repay even if it does not have any expenses.

After pondering for a while, Napoleon III said: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will contact European countries as soon as possible to test who among them is interested in taking over the Mexican Empire.

Now I can't care about that much anymore, I don't ask for how much money to sell, as long as I can get rid of it as soon as possible to avoid losing everything. "