Chapter 605 Black Technology

The eternal theme of this world is only - interest. Britain and France have serious conflicts of interest, and there is not enough external pressure, so it is naturally impossible to truly unite.

The former two empires of space-time and Germany put so much pressure on the French, and the Paris government would rather spend a lot of money to win over the Russians rather than move closer to the British at the first time, which is enough to explain the problem.

After the Franco-Prussian War, the Germans and the British became France's biggest enemies at the same time, and in the following decades, Britain and France almost went to war several times.

The contradiction between Germany and France can surpass the contradiction between Britain and France. It is because of the death of William II that it stimulated the national sentiment of the French again and again and was used by the British.

After realizing that the Germans threatened their own interests, the British took the initiative to release goodwill to the French.

Even so, the Paris government hesitated for a long time before putting down its face and becoming a younger brother, otherwise the two sides would not be so easy to compromise.

Needless to say now, the flourishing France can feel no threat, so why should he be the younger brother of the British?

Thinking of this, Franz felt relieved. The conflict between Britain and France, the conflict between Britain and Austria, and the conflict between France and Austria are intertwined, which is the most stable pattern.

In the case of serious conflict of interests, the three countries of Britain, France and Austria can sit together, and it has to be said that diplomacy is really delicate.

After the external problem is over, it is the turn of the internal problem. In recent years, the Austrian economy seems to have wings and is booming with the east wind of the second industrial revolution.

Not only Austria, but the economy of the entire European continent is booming. Take the railway industry as an example. From 1870 to 1875, the total mileage of European railways increased by 58%.

Among them, the Commonwealth and the Russian Empire grew the fastest, followed by the Greater France and the Nordic Commonwealth. The British and Austrian railways developed earlier, and the current growth rate has tended to moderate.

Of course, this growth rate has something to do with the foundation. Austria's slow growth rate does not mean that the construction of railway mileage is less than that of other countries.

The growth rate of the Russians is the most unbelievable. Everyone else is a percentage of growth. They directly use how many times they have increased to describe it.

This is not because the tsarist government has built railways badly, but mainly because the development of the Russian railway industry is slow. After the Russian-Prussian War, the total mileage of railways opened to traffic in the Russian Empire was less than 3,000 kilometers, and it is really not difficult to double it.

In 1870, the total mileage of Austrian railways opened to traffic exceeded 60,000 kilometers. The base number was there, and the growth rate naturally slowed down.

The large railway plan proposed by Franz is no longer just a plan. After more than 20 years of efforts by the Vienna government, it is coming to an end.

Maybe 20 years ago, 100,000 kilometers of railway was just a dream, but today, the total mileage of Austria's railways in operation + railways under construction has exceeded 100,000 kilometers.

By the end of 1875, the total mileage of Austrian local traffic was as high as 76,000 kilometers, and the mileage of local railways would exceed 100,000 kilometers within five years.

Of course, in addition to the rapid development of the domestic economy, the main factor causing the explosion of data is the "African localization strategy".

Up to now, there have been as many as 23 cities and regions that have been approved by the Imperial Parliament to join the mainland, and this part of the territory has an area of ​​close to one million square kilometers.

The local area has become larger, and the demand for railways has naturally increased. Nearly 10,000 kilometers of railways have been opened to traffic in this part of the territory, and the number of railways under construction is as high as 8,000 kilometers.

These data are strictly confidential, and once released, it will definitely shock the world.

Of course, secrecy is relative to ordinary people. It is not a secret to politicians. The railway can't be hidden there. It's easy to investigate if you want to know.

In this era, railways do not represent national strength. Austria has the largest railway mileage in the world, followed by not John Bull, nor France, but the United States of America.

If it weren't for the division of the United States, they would be the ones with the most total railroad mileage now, because the third-largest railroad mileage is the Confederate States of America.

This makes people very helpless. European countries have a limited area, and the regional railway density may be higher than that of Americans, but the total mileage cannot be compared.

Now the country with the highest railway density is Britain. The British Isles are surrounded by the sea on all sides, and there are still an astonishing 23,000 kilometers of railways open to traffic.

This density is beyond the reach of Austria. Don't say that now, even Franz's big railway plan, fully implemented, can't catch up with the British.

Knowing is knowing, Franz has no intention of following suit. One of the main reasons for the high density of railways in the British is the serious duplication of construction.

You must know that the distribution of British railways is extremely uneven. Capitalists only invest in railways in economically developed areas, while no one cares about economically backward areas.

The British Isles are surrounded by sea on all sides and are only economically developed areas. Why do they need so many railways? If it is planned and distributed reasonably, the transportation in the UK can also go to a higher level.

Obviously, this is not possible. Capital seeks profit, profitable business is robbed, and loss-making business is not asked.

If Franz had not used the monopoly as a bait from the very beginning to fool the capitalists into the trap, tying the railways of developed areas and backward areas together, the current domestic railway construction would probably follow in the footsteps of the British.

Austria's railway bundling plan encountered an economic crisis on the eve of the dawn. Capitalists who thought they had made a profit in blood turned into a blood loss because of the break of funds.

The same routine can only be played once. Before that, Austria had not completed its industrialization, and even qualified for the economic crisis.

No, everyone's vigilance is naturally not strong.

The capitalists ignored the risks of long-term investment, and were fooled by the word "monopoly" before they fell into the trap.

Don't say that local capitalists are inexperienced, and even international capitals such as Britain and France are no exception. They are fooled by the word "monopoly", and hundreds of millions of Aegis investments are directly tied up in railway construction.

Those with strong financial resources persevered, and those with insufficient strength were forced to sell, allowing the Austrian government to copy the bottom and continue the unfinished railway project.

By now, railroad investment is still hot, but it has nothing to do with madness. The most important thing is policy. The Vienna government has already intervened in the pricing of railway freight.

Every place has a price ceiling. At the same time, the government also stipulates that railways are public infrastructure with a certain public welfare nature. The annual profit of railway companies shall not exceed 30%.

Frankly speaking, this figure is still very tempting. Except for the financial industry, few industries can have 30% profits.

However, this is completely different from the huge profits the capitalists are chasing. After all, the railway is a big investment project, and when calculating the profit, it is based on the turnover, not the total investment.

If the total investment is calculated, there is no railway in Austria with an annual rate of return of more than 30%, not even in the world, which is impossible.

The only advantage is probably the stable income. The turnover of Austrian Railways has been growing steadily, and the annual growth rate is generally not less than 3%.

Affected by economic development, the turnover of some road sections has skyrocketed by tens of percent in one year.

In addition to freight, the railway company has other profit models. For example, the real estate projects around the station are owned by the railway company, or they have participated in investment.

The station is not a tall thing, many places can be repaired. The railway company is not stupid. If there is no profit, why should the station be built there?

Moving forward or backward will also not affect the normal operation of the railway. There is no competition between planes, cars and railways these days, and even if the station is a few kilometers away, people still have no choice.

After flipping through the report, Franz showed a satisfied smile. In 1875, Austria's economic growth rate exceeded 8% again, and the dividends brought by the second industrial revolution had already begun to ferment.

Among them, the power industry has the most outstanding performance, with an astonishing annual growth rate of 23.6%.

In contrast, the development speed of traditional industries is dwarfed by that. For example, the textile industry, which emerged at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, is now growing at a measly 1.8%.

However, behind this data, the production capacity of the Austrian textile industry increased by 5.6%. What this means is too obvious. The growth rate of production capacity far exceeds the growth rate of industry output value, which means that industry profits are declining.

Of course, technological progress has also led to a decline in production costs. When specific to a certain enterprise, profits may increase instead.

However, the slowdown in industrial growth is an indisputable fact. Competition in traditional industries is intensifying and profits are declining.

This cannot be changed by human beings. The further development of science and technology, the higher the added value of products. For primary industries without any technical content, the profits will only become thinner and thinner, and in the end, only costs can be paid.

Of course, there are exceptions. For example, the steel industry has a history of thousands of years. It is a traditional industry, but the steel industry is still developing rapidly.

In 1875, Austria's steel production exceeded 8 million tons, leaving the British behind and ranking first in the world.

During the same period, the steel production of the world's major countries:

Austria 8.23 ​​million tons, steel output 960,000 tons;

UK 7.42 million tons, steel production 760,000 tons;

France has 2.74 million tons, and my steel output is 235,000 tons;

German Federal Empire 1.556 million tons, steel production 315,000 tons; (added Rhineland)

United States of America 1.54 million tons, steel production 146,000 tons;

Russian Empire 1.042 million tons, steel production 24,000 tons

Pubo Federation 968,000 tons, steel output 126,000 tons;

Confederate States of America 346,000 tons, steel production 38,000 tons;

...

The rest of the countries can be ignored. Big data shows that the French have fallen behind, and the gap is still widening.

This is not because the Paris government will not develop the economy. It is completely forced by reality. The coal mines in France are buried relatively deep, and the coal seams are shallow and accompanied by gas.

The mining cost itself is high, but the quality is not good. It can be used to make iron, but let's forget about steelmaking. Importing is the only way out.

In this context, the French also played with black technology, that is - charcoal iron making. As far as Franz knows, French steel companies are still working on that - charcoal for steelmaking.

It's no joke, a sizable portion of France's steel production is made from charcoal. Many French metallurgists swear by newspapers that charcoal produces the best iron.

Don't be surprised, charcoal ironmaking is a traditional craft that has been around for thousands of years.

Now the French are still researching charcoal steelmaking technology, and have also achieved staged results. The French have used charcoal to make qualified steel in the laboratory.

It is a pity that mass production cannot be achieved. In industrial trial production, not only the quality of the steel produced by this technology cannot be guaranteed, but even the cost will kill people.

These practical problems did not dampen the enthusiasm of the French capitalists, and they continued to work hard on this road of no return.

The capitalists have reasons for doing this. The coal production in France is insufficient and the quality is poor, but the forest resources are abundant. Once the charcoal steelmaking technology breaks through, it will be able to get out of the predicament in an instant.

If we learn from Britain and Austria, coke can only be imported. This cost alone has made the French steel industry lose its market competitiveness.

In France, a country with a developed financial industry, most steel companies are listed companies. Whether it is successful or not, it must be drawn to convince investors that charcoal steelmaking is not surprising.

Under the trend of interests, capitalists must also firmly believe that this is correct, otherwise how to drive the stock price?

Compared with the same period in history, the development of the French iron and steel industry in this era was quite good, and the United States was the most affected after the division.

The United States of America has inherited most of the American industry, but its development has not been smooth. Without the markets of the South and the wounds of war, the economy of the United States would not be able to get better.

The United States, which inherited two-thirds of the United States, has less than half of its comprehensive national strength in the same period in history. Shrinking market and insufficient labor force are the main factors restricting the economic development of the United States.

Affected by the butterfly effect, the number of European immigrants to the United States in the past two decades has been less than one-third of the same period in history.

No one has no market, and the industry will inevitably shrink. This cannot be changed by manpower.

Coupled with political factors, the federal government has lost its prestige due to the defeat, and many federal states do not care about the central government.

Each federal state has a set of leadership teams, and everyone formulates policies around the state. The so-called big picture concept, sorry, this thing does not exist at all.

It is often seen that some federal states set up trade barriers to protect the industry and commerce of their own states; it can also be seen that some states open their doors to allow industrial and commercial products from all over the world to come in.

These policies are all for self-interest, and the government sets up trade barriers to protect industrial products that can be produced locally.

Industrial products that cannot be produced locally and must be purchased from outside are naturally bought from those who are cheap and easy to use.

Affected by this series of factors, in order to restore the economy after the war, the United States of America, which lacked labor, had to introduce people of color on a large scale.

In particular, cheap contract labor is the most popular among capitalists. The labor provided by these labor export companies is essentially no different from slaves except for the nominal personal freedom.

These foreign cheap laborers are also indispensable for the steel industry of the United States of America to have its current scale.

It's just that the sequelae are also quite serious. This kind of predatory exploitation has made the racial conflicts in the United States increase day by day.

Solving these problems cannot be accomplished overnight. At least there must be a strong government that brings the states together.