Chapter 23 1834
Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace, children's room.
Franz is searching for useful materials in the piles of information.
At this time, Austria has 30 kilometers of railways, Prussia has 6 kilometers of railways, France has 150 kilometers of railways, and Britain has 600 miles (about 965 kilometers) of railways.
All countries have crazy plans for railways. The French government has introduced a plan to build 730 kilometers of railways, and by 1848, the total length of French railways will reach 1,814 kilometers.
But it is still too conservative compared to the countries of the German Customs Union. The entire alliance (excluding Austria) plans to build 6,000 kilometers of railways.
The British also approved a 6,000-mile (about 8,047-kilometer) railway construction plan. By 1870, Britain will have 15,357 miles (about 24,714 kilometers) of railways and build the world's most dense railway network.
The Russian Tsarist government had not yet realized the importance of railways and only approved a few easy-to-build routes with a total length of about 200 kilometers. Even in 1866, Russia only had a pitiful 1,488 kilometers of railways.
The Americans only had a 2,000-kilometer railway construction plan at this time, but in 1850, they would have 9,021 kilometers of railways.
Historically, Austria only approved a railway construction plan of about 350 kilometers, and it was not until 1848 that it had 1,200 kilometers of railways.
The Austrian government approved Solomon Rothschild's Northern Railway Construction Plan, and the Northern Railway Company will build 700 kilometers of railways in the next ten years.
But Solomon's dream of the Southern Railway fell through, not because Franz II disagreed.
Franz II was very satisfied with Solomon Rothschild's bribe, but on the issue of the ownership of the Southern Railway Company, the military and Count Korolov refused to give in.
Moreover, Friedrich List, special adviser to Franz II, also supported the views of the military and Count Korolov, and the intelligence provided by the secret police was also very unfavorable to Solomon Rothschild.
Finally, Franz II decided to adopt Friedrich List's opinion and contracted Austria's southern railway to three railway companies.
Afterwards, the military asked Franz II for several new railway lines on the grounds of national security. Finally, the operating rights of these railway lines were sold to the highest bidders under the operation of Count Korolov and Friedrich List.
However, Count Korolov, Latour (Minister of War) and Friedrich List did not expect that two important railway lines fell into the hands of the French.
At this time, Austria approved a total of 1,400 kilometers of railway construction.
The United States' cotton production accounts for 85% of the world's total, which forced the British to eagerly look for new sources of raw materials. Their goal was set on Egypt and India.
The number of steam looms is 1,324 in Austria, 223 in Prussia, 1,511 in France, and 7,000 in the UK (if hydraulic looms are included, the UK has 100,000 looms). It is worth noting that Saxony, as the textile industry center in Germany, has 450 steam looms.
What is gratifying is that Austria's machinery manufacturing industry is not bad. It can independently produce steam looms and export them to other German countries.
And Saxony is Austria's biggest customer, but for various reasons, the profit Austria can get is minimal.
The Austrian Army has 450,000 people, France has 500,000, Prussia has 200,000, and Russia has 600,000.
The Austrian Army has the largest number of artillery in the entire European continent, about 1,300 guns, followed by the Russians with about 900 guns, the French with only 800 guns, the Prussian artillery with less than 600 guns, and the British Army with only 300 guns.
This resulted in the annual military expenditure accounting for more than half of Austria's fiscal expenditure, but even so, Austria's investment in military technology and soldier training gradually failed to keep up with the trend of historical development.
In terms of the navy, Austria has a large number of naval ships, but lacks large ships. The actual combat effectiveness is not even as good as that of the Russians, and the French navy is far superior to that of the Russians.
However, at this time, the navies of all European countries combined are far from being the opponents of the British.
To what extent is it exaggerated? The Austrian Navy may not be able to defeat a British squadron. And the British have more than a dozen squadrons of this size.
Even so, the Austrian Navy can still win with an overwhelming advantage when facing the navies of non-European countries.
The total foreign trade volume of the Austrian Empire at this time was 300 million florins, France was 1 billion francs, Russia was 400 million rubles, and Prussia was 150 million thalers. It is expected that this figure will double one year after the Austrian Empire joins the German Customs Union.
However, due to the reduction of tariffs on some commodities and the increase in management costs, the actual impact on fiscal revenue is only about 5%.
Of course, with the expansion of trade and the improvement of infrastructure, fiscal revenue will grow steadily.
Because Austria's own monetary system is very chaotic, there are several types of marks.
The currency exchange formula of Austria in this book
1 gold florin = 3 ducats = 4.2 thalers = 5 florins = 150 groschen = 600 pfennigs
Commonly used currencies are 1 florin = 12 kreuz = 30 groschen = 120 pfennig = 0.83 thalers
The British large ships "Asnan" and "Atlantic" are under construction, and they will become the pioneers of Britain's conquest of the ocean.
Austria has a population of 31 million, but the quality of the people is worrying. There are more illiterates than war-torn Spain. The only country that can compare with Austria is Russia next door.
However, the number of college students in Austria ranks first in Europe, which may be related to the large number of universities in Austria.
Austria's pig iron production is 100,000 tons, which is one-third of France, less than one-tenth of Britain, slightly lower than Prussia, and even lower than Belgium.
Russia's pig iron production is 150,000 tons.
Austria's agricultural strength is unexpectedly strong, with grain production four times that of France and 20 times that of Prussia at this time.
Austria's agriculture used chemical fertilizers earlier, and at the same time, French agriculture was at a low point, coupled with natural disasters.
Austria has 2.8 million mules and horses, 11 million cattle, 5 million pigs, and 30 million sheep.
Austria and France are on par with each other in animal husbandry. Prussia is comparable to France and Austria in the number of pigs, cattle, sheep, and poultry, but the number of mules and horses is seriously insufficient, with the total amount being only one-tenth of that of France and Austria.
Austria's weapons mainly rely on private arsenals and imports from foreign countries.
Austria's arsenals are mainly located in Bohemia and Lower Austria. One of the small towns called Shamanzi produces half of the rifles in the entire empire.
The Austrian military almost monopolizes the ammunition trade in the Austrian Empire.
But this leads to a paradox. If the price of ammunition is too low, the military will not make money. If the price of ammunition is set too high, the soldiers cannot afford it.
The standard salary of the Austrian army is 100 florins per soldier per year.
However, due to the financial problems of the Austrian Empire, it can only be paid at half of the standard, that is, 50 florins, in non-wartime.
The saved 50 florins are used to update equipment and provide supplies.
What's more, senior officials of the Austrian army once complained that bullets are more expensive than soldiers. Why can't these soldiers use swords and spears as weapons?
This can not only solve the problem of idle homeless people on the streets, but also solve the problem of military expenditure.
Fortunately, the senior official who made the suggestion was ordered to retire early.
Successfully saved the lives of a large number of soldiers and ammunition suppliers.
It may be written in a mess, but this is the most attentive one I have written so far. It is mainly a waste of time to look up information.
Thanks to the book friends Shenzhou Buwu Tianxia Fengdao, 20210806232711729, s Yundong Bafang for the reward and the book friend lax-X for the monthly ticket, as well as the support of all book friends.