Chapter 130 The Tsar’s Distress

This sudden heavy rain caused heavy losses to Austria, but Prussia did not take advantage. The Elbe River overflowed and submerged several towns. Prussian agriculture may have suffered heavy losses this year. The drought coupled with the current floods in some areas even There may be no harvest.

The flood rushed through Vienna and went straight downstream, which was very painful for the Hungarians. Although the Hungarians opened the sluices immediately, the flood directly destroyed the river embankments on both sides and changed the flow direction on the Hungarian plains.

Serbia downstream of Hungary also suffered heavy losses, and the Danube River Basin was wailing.

The worst disaster in Eastern Europe is Poland. Since many cities in Poland are built along rivers, this flood destroyed many cities.

The Russians, on the other hand, had a nonchalant attitude and were even prepared to raise taxes and completely eliminate the Polish nobility.

This natural disaster helped the Russians a lot. It not only weakened the power of the Polish nobles, but also made a lot of money. The Poles, French, and Prussians were all waiting for Russian food.

The drought and floods of 1838 had very little impact on Russia. The only thing the Tsar was worried about now was his eldest son, Alexander.

Alexander liked to flirt with women everywhere, and his reputation for being carefree had spread throughout Europe, and Nicholas I felt deeply powerless about it.

Alexander recently arrived in the UK, and as soon as he arrived in the UK, he saw people celebrating on the pier.

At first Alexander thought it was a welcoming ceremony held by the British, but it was actually the dock workers celebrating. The Queen had promised the people that they would limit working hours and double wages for any form of overtime.

Alexander immediately stated that if he waited for him to ascend the throne, he would also implement a twelve-hour work system.

Alexander expressed his love for Victoria when he first saw her. In fact, the two were similar in age, and he was only one year older than Victoria.

Alexander's absurd behavior did not arouse Victoria's dissatisfaction, but the Queen praised him for his humor.

The British officials were so frightened that they must not let these two random guys get together, otherwise Britain would be doomed.

Word of Alexander's crazy behavior quickly reached St. Petersburg, and Tsar Nicholas I requested that Alexander be brought back to Russia to avoid further embarrassment.

When the St. Petersburg envoy arrived in London, Alexander tied the Tsar's envoy and his chamberlain together and threw them into the Thames, causing the latter to resign in anger.

However, Alexander's absurd journey was not over yet. When he met Queen Victoria again, Alexander directly broke a red rose in the Queen's garden and used it to propose to the Queen.

The handsome and aggressive prince always easily captures the hearts of young girls, even for the Queen of England, who has just turned nineteen.

Just when sparks were about to fly between the two, British officials and Alexander's entourage stopped everything.

In fact, some British officials are quite supportive of the combination of the Queen and Alexander, which would make it possible to unite the two most powerful countries in the world and avoid war.

If Britain, which has the strongest fleet in the world, and Russia, which has the strongest army in the world, unite, they will be invincible.

However, most officials were worried about whether the Tsar would kill people indiscriminately. I heard that the Tsar liked to eat brains, especially those of Jews. British officials with Jewish ancestry expressed their uneasiness. Moreover, the Tsar had too much power. Will they let him go? Is Britain's constitutional government in ruins?

Although the British officials did not know whether the Tsar liked cannibalism, they knew very well that the Tsar would kill people.

In fact, the conflict between two world hegemons cannot be resolved by marriage. It can only be achieved by one party defeating the other, or by dividing the sphere of influence and implementing a short-term peace.

Victoria rejected Alexander, but Alexander was not discouraged. He rode horses, hunted, and danced with the queen every day.

Victoria also enjoys this feeling of being pursued, which is at least happier than her pursuing others.

The two often hang out on the dance floor and attend review events together.

One day at the Queen's estate, the stubborn Queen found herself unable to climb onto the tall white horse after she refused to be offered stirrups by a servant.

At this time Alexander, without saying a word, picked up Queen Victoria and placed her on the horse.

Alexander's behavior made the British officials present eager to drive this guy out of the UK immediately.

However, the queen issued an invitation to Alexander, inviting him to stay in the queen's castle.

Alexander even publicly announced that he would give up his status as the Russian crown prince, which made British officials feel threatened.

Servants and maids in Windsor Castle were told to report the movements of Alexander and Queen Victoria at all times and to block all secret passages in the castle to prevent them from doing anything.

Finally, the Russian envoys entered Windsor Castle with the Queen's consent. They tied Alexander, who was still sleeping, into a rice dumpling and prepared to take him back to Russia.

The Queen looked at the carriage slowly driving away from the window, a tear shed from the corner of her eye.

Maybe she was thinking that it would be nice if she were not the queen, and maybe she could be with the one she loves. However, the Queen of England has no right to choose. She must be a cold political animal.

The conflict between Britain and Russia for world hegemony cannot be reconciled, and there will inevitably be a war between the two countries. Even if Alexander gave up the Russian throne, as a member of the Romanov family, he would not like an enemy of a family, right?

Alexander returned to Russia after all. He hated the Russian court, but there was no way, that was his home. He hated the autocratic tsar, but there was no way, that was his father.

Fate seemed to want him to accept all this, but Alexander did not want to give in. This relationship with Queen Victoria was just a small episode in his life, and soon he fell in love with someone else.

Zhenla, Kompong Som.

In the battle in early 1837, 1,300 Zhenla puppet soldiers were captured. The strong ones were left as coolies, and the others were sent to mines.

In fact, Kompong Som is adjacent to the Xiangshan Mountains, and there are really many mineral deposits, including copper, iron, manganese, zinc, lead, phosphoric acid, lime, and even red and blue sapphire mines, but the only thing lacking is coal, so it is almost impossible to develop large-scale industry here.

However, small factories can still be built. The Austrians built a small arsenal, a smelter and a steel plant here, just to maintain the normal operation of Kompong Som and reduce costs.

At this time, the only goods that Zhenla could provide to Austria were copper, rubies, sapphires, and high-quality wood. As for the rubber trees planted, it would take many years before they could be tapped.

Because of this, the Austrian imperial government had no interest in this place at all, and only the church would spare no effort to develop such a place.

Even for the church, Franz had to paint a rosy picture for them every day, saying that this place was adjacent to Siam in the west and Vietnam in the east, and the future was great. They were filling the gap of Catholicism in Southeast Asia.