Chapter 160: Investing

Vienna, Royal Garden.

Friedrich took a lot of effort to stop Albrecht.

The guns Albrecht mentioned obviously did not include pistols, but Franz forced himself to take advantage of the loophole, which made him feel very embarrassed.

But Franz was right. Before the appearance of revolvers, who could imagine that a gun with six rounds in five seconds would really appear.

At this time, the Colt revolver can directly achieve continuous firing without pressing the hammer.

Maybe one day, a rifle that can fire continuously will appear.

Thinking of this, Albrecht calmed down.

"Are you talking about the breech-loading gun?"

Franz nodded and admired in his heart.

"As expected of a military family and a famous general, his reaction speed is indeed far beyond that of ordinary people in this era."

"The breech-loading rifle looks beautiful, but it is expensive, has a short range, and poor accuracy. The most important thing is that this type of gun is prone to various accidents. In the mildest case, the gunpowder will burn the face, and in the worst case, it will cause disability or even death."

Albrecht's words contain the shortcomings of the breech-loading rifle.

First of all, it is expensive. The price of a breech-loading rifle is almost three times that of a muzzle-loading rifle. For a large organization like the Austrian Army, the funds required to update equipment are even more massive.

The range of the breech-loading rifle is only 400 yards, while the main Austrian smoothbore rifle has a range of 1,000 yards.

Since the Minié bullet had not yet been invented, the accuracy of the breech-loading rifle at this time was not as high as imagined by later generations. Instead, due to the problem of the bullet, the barrel often jammed, and even the barrel of the rifled rifle was straight.

As for the accident, the most serious problem was the airtightness. The gunpowder burned rapidly in the barrel, and the hot gas sprayed from the breech gap to the shooter's face, leaving the shooter with a very painful memory.

So much so that the test shooters were unwilling to operate this weapon, and many generals believed that the breech-loading rifle was a lowly weapon.

"A noble gun should eat with the mouth, and a gun that eats with the anus is lowly." This was the consensus of the European military at that time.

"Uncle Albrecht, believe me, the technology will definitely improve. Leave the breech-loading gun to me. I plan to build an arsenal. Are you interested in investing?" Franz asked.

"Investing, are you short of money?" Albrecht took out a check and filled in the amount of 100,000 florins on it.

At this time, the maximum denomination of the check was 100,000 florins, and only two banks in the Austrian Empire had such checks, one was the Rothschild Bank and the other was the Austrian Imperial Chartered Bank.

And 100,000 florins is definitely not a small number, it is about 1,000 years' salary for an ordinary soldier. (*500 is about the current value.)

Franz's annual pension was 12,000 florins, the highest in the entire royal family except for the emperor himself, followed by his father and Grand Duke Louis with 10,000 florins, and his mother with only 5,000 florins.

This money was nothing to Albrecht, after all, his father was the richest nobleman in the Austrian Empire.

Franz wanted to buy shares not for money, but to keep the secret of the breech-loading rifle.

After all, Franz couldn't tell them that there would be a storm sweeping across Europe in 1848, and the center of that storm was the Austrian Empire.

As far as Franz knew, the entire Austrian Empire, except for Tyrol and Galicia, had a large-scale rebellion.

Franz, who had lived in Vienna for many years, knew very well how strong the city was. Not to mention the large number of military facilities and artillery, there were 8,000 gendarmes and 20,000 city defense troops in the city, and there would be 1-2 armies stationed outside the city, guarding the heart of the empire in turn.

Such an impregnable city would fall. There is no doubt that there was a traitor in the army. Who was the traitor? How many people would rebel? Franz didn't know.

But he knew very well that Albrecht and Friedrich in front of him would never participate in the rebellion.

Albrecht was a thorough conservative. Although Friedrich had liberal ideas, he looked down on those liberals and was even less likely to directly participate in the rebellion.

Although the breech-loading rifle was a major advancement in the history of rifles, it actually did not have too high a technical barrier. Perhaps countries like Zhenla and Vietnam could not imitate it, but in Europe, even small countries like Sardinia and Serbia could easily make it as long as they were willing to invest manpower and material resources.

So Franz hoped to use the breech-loading rifle as a secret weapon and a killer at a critical moment. He now needed some people who could be absolutely trusted, just like the brothers in front of him.

Although Franz was not without money, he still quickly put the money into his pocket.

"Uncle Albrecht, in fact, Grandpa Karl has already provided financial support. I will regard this 100,000 florins as an additional investment."

Albrecht and Friedrich did not care about Franz's naked money-making behavior. It is better to say that this family has a very indifferent attitude towards money.

"Franz, how do you want us to invest?" Albrecht asked.

"Are you asking me and my eldest brother to hold billboards and stand on the streets of Vienna to help you shout? I think your two nannies are more suitable." Friedrich said nonsense.

Albrecht punched Friedrich in the head again.

"Miss Ajani is Franz's attendant, and Miss Talia is Franz's enlightenment teacher. You kid, be respectful." Although Albrecht looks rough, he pays great attention to etiquette.

Friedrich looked very unconvinced. Of course, he would not continue to contradict his elder brother. After all, he knew that "a good man would not suffer a loss in front of him", so he just said.

"Franz, don't keep us in suspense. What do you want us to do?"

"I need you to keep this secret and continue to oppose breech-loading rifles in front of others."

"Why?!" The two brothers asked in unison.

They all felt that if it was an advanced weapon, it would only gain the greatest value if it was fully promoted in the Austrian Empire.

Of course, Franz could not tell them that there would be a big rebellion in a few years, and the entire Austrian Empire would be as chaotic as Werewolf and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.

"Because this is a secret weapon! Of course, it must be used by the trump card to maximize its value. And we must also prevent other countries from imitating it and causing adverse effects on our country."

"The breech-loading rifle is nothing new. The British have made it, and the Americans are also making it. It can't be concealed." Friedrich said disdainfully.

"No, the breech-loading rifle Franz is talking about is not the British or American kind, but a breech-loading rifle without obvious defects. Although the current firing rate of the breech-loading rifle cannot reach 3 rounds in 10 seconds, it may be possible after long-term training." Albrecht said.

The firing rate of the breech-loading rifle at this time is actually generally 4-5 rounds, and a skilled shooter can shoot 7-8 rounds. Of course, with progress, the firing rate of the breech-loading rifle will become faster and faster.

"Yes, I hope our weapons can crush the weapons used by the enemy. The spirit of fair competition is worthy of appreciation, but it does not belong to war. For war, only victory is the only goal." Franz said.

"Bullying? I like it!" Friedrich said.

Albrecht nodded without comment.

The protagonist will come forward to solve the problem of Hungary.

As for the fact that Austria is weak and annoying, the Austrian history is even weaker than in the book.