Chapter 628 Complicated Politics

Political struggle is cruel. This Ethiopian war was promoted by Benjamin's cabinet. If you dig a hole yourself, you have to bury it yourself.

The British people are arrogant. They can tolerate losing to any European power, but they cannot accept losing to African natives.

In order not to be seized by the opposition parties and cause public criticism, the military's false battle report, Benjamin's cabinet could only recognize it by pinching its nose.

"Kick out the losses of the Indian colonial army from the casualties, and don't announce all the casualties first, and distribute the losses to subsequent wars.

Unleash all our strength, guide public opinion as much as possible, and suppress the influence to a minimum. If the situation cannot be controlled, create a big news to divert public attention. "

There was no way, Benjamin didn't want to be kicked out of office just as he took office.

After listening to Benjamin's words, War Minister Fox: "I'm sorry, Prime Minister. I got the wrong report just now. It was the last Anglo-Boer War.

This is the battle report sent back by the front line. After a month of hard fighting, our army wiped out 9,568 enemy troops at the cost of 351 dead and 1,126 wounded.

However, Ethiopia is really too big, and France and Austria are staring at each other. In order to occupy Ethiopia before France and Austria, the front-line troops requested 80,000 domestic reinforcements. "

Seeing that the Minister of War brought out a new battle report, everyone was surprised. There are so many wonderful things in politics, how can you do it without a few preparations?

This is the third time that Fox has served as Minister of War. Even after losing so much in the Anglo-Boers War, he was able to retreat completely, not to mention this small defeat?

If the cabinet wants to be held accountable, it is estimated that Fox will sell the officers on the front line; now that the cabinet government is not ready to be held accountable, as a good leader, Fox will naturally help cover up.

Benjamin asked Fox to serve as Secretary of the Army because of his ability to adapt.

The same battle report, after changing a statement, the situation changed suddenly.

The level of asking for help was originally because the frontline suffered a defeat and couldn’t hold it back, but it instantly turned into a defense against Fa Ao from grabbing the spoils.

There is no doubt that this statement is more acceptable to the British people. In the event that the British army suffered heavy losses on the battlefield in the future, an excuse has been found to deal with the censure of all parties.

No matter what kind of defeat, if the blame is thrown on France and Austria, the responsibility of the London government will be lightened by half.

Even the opposition parties have nothing to say. The British Army is so small. The main force of the colonization is the cannon fodder army. It is normal that they cannot win the army power.

Prime Minister Benjamin: "Let's announce it like this! Order Ismail to teach me a hard lesson to those bastards, we can't let the blood of the boys go in vain."

...

Foreign Secretary Edward: "The Foreign Office has just received a piece of news that may help us.

The French are restless again. They have obtained the right to develop the Panama Canal from the Colombian government and are preparing for a canal company. It seems that they are preparing to do something. "

Looking at each other and smiling, Prime Minister Benjamin made a decision: "That's right, the French forcibly seized the right to develop the canal from the Colombian government, blatantly trampling on the sovereignty of a country.

For world peace and stability, the government should inform the media as soon as possible to expose the shameless behavior of the French. "

This is when a pillow was brought in from a drowsy state. The London government was worried about how to divert the public's attention, and the French made big news.

It doesn't matter whether the French legally obtained the right to develop the canal, the point is that it is illegal for the London government to need the French now.

It doesn't matter if the reason is a little far-fetched, it's a topic if there is controversy. As long as the trouble lasted for a few months, the people would forget about this small defeat.

Anyway, Britain and France have been hostile for hundreds of years, and the civil war has never stopped. Everyone is used to spraying each other, and civil hostility will not affect the relationship between the two countries.

Even if it is influential, Prime Minister Benjamin doesn't care, as long as it can divert the public's attention, some minor issues are not worth mentioning.

The issue of the Panama Canal, in the eyes of Prime Minister Benjamin, is nothing but a farce created by the French.

The Austrians are right next door, and they have long regarded the Panama region as their sphere of influence. How could it be possible for the French to gain control of the canal.

Can't we jointly develop it again?

Unlike the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal has less strategic significance to France and Austria, and there is no indispensable argument.

The Americas have not yet developed, and even if the Panama Canal is opened, there will be no lucrative benefits in the short term.

If there is not enough interest, how can we cooperate?

The opening of the Panama Canal is not a beneficiary of Britain and Austria. Based on the principle of self-interest, the London government does not want to see the opening of the Panama Canal, and the Vienna government must also do the same.

Now everyone can watch the fun, and when the French canal is almost dug, everyone jumps out to make trouble, just to pit them.

...

At the Vienna Palace, Franz seemed to be being talked about, and sneezed a few times today.

Apart from sneezing, there are no other symptoms. Franz didn't see a doctor. He fully distrusted the level of medical care in this era. He could not take medicine or try not to take it.

Unlike later generations, almost all medicines now have side effects. Many drugs themselves are immature in their production technology, and they are rushed to the market.

Many people actually did not die of illness, but were cured. It's not that the doctor is not responsible, it's mainly that everyone's physique is different, most people can resist the side effects of drugs, and

Some people couldn't resist.

If you are wealthy and have a professional doctor at any time, most of them can find the problem and stop taking the medicine with side effects in time.

Ordinary people can't do it. Even if there is a problem, many people will continue to take the drug. It is impossible to think that the side effect of the drug will cause the death of the disease. This is also the reason for the endless emergence of medical accidents.

These problems are difficult to solve, and it is impossible to manage them. There are too few types of drugs in this era. If drugs with serious side effects are banned from the market, many diseases will become unavailable.

Not only the composition of the drug itself, but also the reason for the underdeveloped industrial technology. In the industrial production process, whether it is temperature, raw material quality, dosage errors added, it may lead to increased side effects.

Problems that cannot be solved, naturally, can only be put on hold. For the patient, it is better to gamble than to wait to die. No hope is the most terrifying thing.

Franz has been working hard for many years in order to establish a complete medical and health system, but unfortunately it still only covers 70% of the population.

This is still just an ideal number. The only patients who can be effectively treated are the upper middle class.

Ordinary people can only look at minor illnesses at most, and for slightly more serious diseases, they must rely on God's blessing. It's not that medical resources are insufficient, but that there is no money in the pocket.

The most important thing is to see a doctor, and it may not be reliable. For example, Franz often sees a doctor, but he rarely takes medicine, especially western medicine produced by chemical industry.

Many times, he would rather drink a bowl of Chinese medicine. In any case, Chinese medicine is still competitive in this era. Although it is a little slower, the side effects are small!

For the sake of his life, Franz has raised a professional medical team, which includes both Chinese and Western medicine.

The Western medicines used by the royal family are specially produced. Some medicines have high technical requirements and are directly produced in the laboratory to ensure maximum safety.

...

Colonial Secretary Stephen Hui reported: "Your Majesty, the British have decided to send an additional 80,000 troops to the African continent. It is now certain that the defeat of the British army that was circulated some time ago is true.

The size of the British Army is limited. If they want to increase their troops, they must draw some parts from the mainland, and then part of the colonial army from India.

It will take at least a month for these troops to reach the African continent. We can tear a piece of meat from Ethiopia before the British arrive, you see? "

Franz shook his head: "No need, we have already eroded a lot in Ethiopia, and if we continue to grab territory, the British will be anxious.

Moreover, Ethiopian natives are not so easy to deal with. In order to cause trouble to the British in the past few years, we have helped them improve their combat effectiveness.

Now is the time to test the results, just in time to see if our investments have been in vain and learn from our experience. "

Compared to other parts of Africa, Ethiopia is indeed progressing. Although the instructors who helped them train the army gave them very low evaluations, that was only relative to the Austrian army.

If the British did not increase their troops, Franz was still very optimistic about the "Warrior Emperor", and they would have no problem dealing with the Indian colonial army.

Now things have changed, and the London government seems to be getting serious. The core factor that determines the outcome is not how strong Ethiopia is, but the importance of the British.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Stephen replied

Foreign Minister Weisenberg: "Your Majesty, the Panama Canal Company established by the French has proposed to us a commercial cooperation, and they hope to bring in 200,000 laborers from Austria within three years to dig the canal.

The price they give is good, each worker pays a transfer fee of 30 Aegis, and they are responsible for the transportation. "

This is what everyone agreed. If the French capitalists want to make money from the stock market, they need the cooperation of the Austrian government. Naturally, they need to pay a benefit fee. Otherwise, the canal plan will not even have a chance to start.

The introduction of labor is just a pretense. Nominally the money, which is the wages of laborers, actually fell into the pockets of the Vienna government.

Franz: "Promise the French, and the labor will be recruited from the indigenous people of the Somali peninsula, and the insufficient part will be supplemented by other regions. In the future, if there is a similar situation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can directly agree."

The peak period of labor export has ended, and now there are not many indigenous people in Austrian Africa, and some of them are thugs raised by the colonial government.

If it hadn't been for the newly occupied Somali Peninsula, Franz doubted that the Austrian African continent would not have been able to collect 200,000 laborers.