Chapter 812 Auto Industry

The Frenchman's small movements did not exceed Franz's expectations. As Austria continued to grow, it was only a matter of time before the French felt threatened.

Not many are qualified to be French allies on the European continent. The French government is naturally more inclined to win over the Russians than to win over the British.

This is determined by geographical location. The spheres of influence of France and Russia do not border each other. Even if there is a contradiction, it is a problem left over from history. The conflict of interests between the two countries is not large.

In contrast, the contradictions between Britain and France are not only issues left over from history, but also a large number of direct conflicts of interest.

From the colony to the mainland, Britain and France have serious strategic conflicts. The contradiction between Britain and France these days is still the main contradiction in the world, and even the contradiction between France and Austria has to stand aside.

In addition to the threat of the French government, the French people are still immersed in the glory of the Napoleonic era, and they do not take Austria as a defeat at all.

The general environment will also affect people. Otherwise, the French government would have already taken action to win over the Russians, and would not have waited until now.

In the face of interests, any ally is unreliable. As long as the French bid is high enough, it is inevitable that France and Russia will get closer.

It's just that he didn't experience the failure of the Franco-Prussian War, and it was too embarrassing for Napoleon IV to let the French government smash the pot and sell the iron to win over the Russians.

To know the original time and space, the Franco-Russian alliance was pulled by a large loan. As a price, the French navy fell directly behind, and was overtaken by Germany and the United States in the early 20th century.

The so-called navy's deviation, the development of submarines and small ships, is not only the brain of the French navy, but more importantly, the military expenditure is not enough.

No money, what kind of big navy are you playing?

The cost of building a battleship alone costs tens of millions of francs. Adding a series of problems such as follow-up maintenance costs and port construction, it is not surprising that the amortized cost exceeds 100 million yuan.

At the same time as maintaining the Continental Army, if dozens of battleships are launched, the government's money has been spent, and private financing has also been spent. Where can there be money to win over the Russians?

Although the Russian Empire of this year is not as powerful as it was in the same period of history, and its pockets are much shriveled, it is bigger than the original time and space!

Alexander III is not as easy to fool as Nicholas II. If the French bid is not high enough, people will not be tempted at all.

Of course, wining over will definitely have an effect. After all, "holding people's hands are short, eating people's mouths are soft", and it is certainly no problem to ease the relations between France and Russia.

If the bid is higher and the political means more powerful, it is still possible to find a suitable entry point and disintegrate the Russian-Austrian alliance.

If you want the tsarist government to work for the French, this is not a matter of interest.

Think of the Russians as the mercenaries of this era, and they are also the most valuable mercenaries.

However, the reputation of this sky-high mercenary is not very good. He has not done anything with money more than once. How can this make employers feel at ease?

Since it is safe for the time being, Franz is not in a hurry. At the moment, he is trying out his own car, the Royal One.

Not a battleship, that thing is not suitable for seasick emperors to play. The Royal One is a luxury car under the Austrian Automobile Group. It is a symbol of status and is specially designed for local tyrants.

Purely handmade, high-end artworks are not comparable to those on the workshop assembly line.

Of course, "car art" is not popular these days, and a family car is a super luxury, not something ordinary people can expect.

The real competitiveness of the Royal One is still in its excellent performance. Hesitant that this is produced for the emperor, so there is no need to consider the cost.

The technology and craftsmanship used are the limit that can be achieved in this era.

4-cylinder engine, 90 horsepower, top speed of 120 km/h. After filling a tank of fuel, it can travel at full speed for 3.5 hours.

In addition to super speed, the Royal One has unparalleled stability, as well as super safety protection facilities, including special steel and epoch-making bulletproof glass throughout the surgery...

Franz has personally tested it, and it is not a problem for the bulletproof glass to block the rifle, and the protection of the body to resist the grenade.

Of course, this is limited to throwing it outside to explode, which can block the shrapnel. If it is thrown under the tire, it is still lethal.

In a sense, if this thing is modified, it can be taken on the battlefield and used as an assault tank.

However, after seeing the cost of terror, Franz decisively gave up this tempting idea, and the tank force is still a long way off.

There is no way. Most of these high-tech equipment are limited to laboratory products. Not to mention the high cost of industrial production, the key is that the defective rate is terrifyingly scary.

Take the engine as an example. Of the 100 engines produced in the same batch, only 2 have a horsepower of 90. The rest are mostly between 80 and 90 horsepower, and some have fallen below 70 horsepower.

This thing is similar to the cottage machines of later generations, and its performance depends on luck. It's not even as good as a cottage machine, at least the defective rate of others can't reach 98%.

The defective rate of small-scale production is so high, not to mention large-scale industrial production, the data is even more appalling.

If you look at ordinary cars in the world, you will know that a car that can reach a speed of 40 kilometers per hour is a high-quality conscience product.

The speed of most cars can only be achieved theoretically, or the speed of 40 kilometers per hour in the first two years, and only 20 to 30 kilometers per hour in the later period.

really in a hurry

, not necessarily a horse can run fast. The only advantage is probably the longer battery life.

If it's just a little slower, it's nothing, after all, it's faster than a horse-drawn carriage, and it's more convenient than a train for short distance travel.

However, the failure rate of the car is alarmingly high. When it first started to sell in the world, on average, every 200 kilometers, or 100 kilometers at a time, needed to be repaired.

Let me put it this way, in the 19th century, to be able to drive a car, not only have money in your pocket, but also have to learn to repair the car, or you can only hire a driver.

In order to sell cars better, the Austrian Automobile Group is now setting up a maintenance and rescue point every 20 kilometers, which relieves everyone's worries and lays the foundation for the vigorous development of the Austrian automobile industry.

There is no doubt that these messy problems will not happen to the Royal One.

If it breaks down after running for 180 kilometers, the people below will not dare to send it to the emperor. In case of any accident, it will be fatal.

You get what you pay for, and the excellent performance of the Royal One is also made by money. The total cost is close to one million Aegis, which has caught up with the construction cost of the former dreadnought battleship.

This epoch-making product is still very collectible. That's right, it's a collection. Franz is a dead house and rarely goes out.

There are special trains for long distance trips, and Austrian railways cover every city, which is convenient enough; if you go hunting a little bit, it is also horseback riding, and you don’t need a car.

If local tyrants pay, Franz really doesn't mind selling this sky-high car. However, this is impossible.

The manufacturing cost alone is as high as 600,000 Aegis, and the most important thing is to use a lot of new technologies, which is the highest embodiment of Austrian industrial standards.

After all, it's not just products that are sold. The products are only worth hundreds of thousands of Aegis at most. What's really valuable is the new technology used in the car.

Get this car and disassemble it as a research and development template, and reverse these technologies, which can be much faster than own research and development.

There is no doubt that this is impossible. Not to mention how much technology there is, it is highly confidential and cannot be sold to the outside world. Just looking at the price, you will know that you cannot find a buyer.

Although the technology is good, not everyone can eat it. Including the powerful British and French consortium, no one has perfected the technical system to this point and can digest all the technologies in it.

Limited by R&D capabilities or different industrial systems, many technologies are not essentially a template and can be reversed and restored.

Of course, if the number of templates is large enough, experiments can be carried out many times, which can basically be reversed.

Deriving the technology does not mean that it has the capability of industrial production. This also tests the industrial level of a country. Products that surpass the times are definitely not so easy to imitate.

If these technologies cannot be applied to industrial production to create wealth, then buying this car is buying a super luxury.

It is really very extravagant. Seven or eighty million Aegis is equivalent to gold, which would cost more than two hundred tons.

Such local tyrants can only exist after the collapse of the gold standard, and it is impossible to appear in the era of the gold standard.

Then, there is no then. The super-luxury car that propelled the Austrian auto industry forward a big step forward, the Royal One, was finally kept by the emperor as a collection.

Even if it is to be sold, it will have to wait for ten or twenty years. These technologies are almost widely used and do not need to be kept secret.

It's just that by then, the value of the Royal No. 1 has plummeted. Perhaps only tens of thousands of divine aegis, or even several thousand divine aegis, can be produced at that time.

When the Royal No. 1 only has collection value left, it is only valuable in the hands of the emperor. If it falls into the hands of ordinary people, its value will plummet.

This is similar to antique cultural relics. Even ordinary bottles and jars, as long as they are used by the emperor, with the word "palace" on them, will instantly increase in value.

If there is no artistic value, experts can also find out the artistic value;

After walking around the palace at a speed of 80 kilometers per hour, Franz got out of the car decisively.

No way, I haven't built such a fast car for a long time, and Franz found himself showing signs of motion sickness for the first time.

In theory, drivers will not get motion sickness, but unfortunately no one dares to let the emperor sit in the cab and act as a driver in person.