Chapter 352 Big Business

April 21, 1842.

Northern Italy, Savoy.

As Alberto's eldest son, Vittorio married Marie Adelaide of the Habsburg family, the daughter of the Governor of Venice. This seemed to prove that Savoy was moving closer to the Austrian Empire.

However, just one day later, King Carlo Alberto I of the Kingdom of Sardinia signed a trade agreement with the French. I won't talk about the content, but the result was that it became another middleman between France and Austria after Bavaria.

The Habsburgs and the Bourbon had been playing a game in Italy for hundreds of years, and both sides were not surprised by Savoy's actions.

The Austrian Empire pulled the Papal States and a group of its relatives to form the Apennine Commercial Alliance, and France pulled Sardinia and relatives in southern Italy who had a bad relationship to form the Western Mediterranean Alliance.

Of course, how could Britain, the troublemaker, not get involved in the struggle between France and Austria? With the help of Britain, the Pan-Mediterranean Free Trade Alliance was established.

The logic of the British is very simple. They will beat whoever is stronger, maintain the independence of these countries, and prevent any country from becoming bigger. Of course, the most important thing is to organize these countries and make them their own economic colonies and vanguards.

In fact, with the development of industrialization, European countries are no longer inclined to trade protection, but free trade. Because each country feels that it has an advantage and can crush other countries.

Italy became the first battlefield in the name of "free trade". Why not Germany? Because the German Customs Union shuts out most of the power of Britain and France, and Bavaria's "consciousness" is also higher than that of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

It's just that this time Austria is not busy investing too much manpower and material resources to seize the market of Sardinia or southern Italy, but like in the past, it is like a circle of self-sustaining.

The economy in southern France is poor, and the Austrians are likely to make a gap in the south with a full-scale attack. In the competition for high-end industrial products, Austria is not afraid of the British at all, but so what?

This can't bring much benefit to the Austrian Empire, and due to the problem of raw materials, the domestic demand for many products is very tight, and it seems to be a bit of a loss to use it to expand the market.

This kind of false market share can be cleared to zero by other powers with just one decree. Someone will definitely ask, isn't there a spirit of contract and free trade?

But that can only be established when both parties agree, otherwise the "spirit of breaking the contract" will teach you to be yourself in minutes.

If you want to be the world's factory like the British, it is not enough to rely on Austria's own industrial capacity. After all, the British have not been fooled by the Jewish financial consortium and deindustrialized like the Americans in later generations.

So Franz is still working on his own little piece of land, and there is also Hungary, an unstable time bomb, which flashes out from time to time.

Pro-Austrian nobles such as Szechenyi and Prince Ertházy once again proposed to build a railway to connect Hungary and Austria to participate in the national economy, but as expected, they were once again identified as "traitors" and the proposal was also rejected.

Of course, Kossuth would not let Hungary's agricultural products rot in the fields. Since the two roads of Germany and Italy were not feasible, he thought of the Ottoman Empire.

In fact, Magid also wanted to expand the market. After all, reforms are very expensive, and where does the money come from? Naturally, it depends on trade and taxation. You can't cut your own expenses, right?

But unfortunately, both countries are agricultural countries, with a high duplication rate of goods, and the main transportation route Belgrade is blocked by Austria. This trade that is not worth the loss only lasted for a short period of time before it was declared bankrupt.

August 10, 1842.

Trieste, the headquarters of the Austrian Imperial Navy.

Friedrich made an amazing move. He decided to sell 11 modified second-level battleships to his former enemy, the Oman Empire.

This may be the largest deal in the history of human navy so far.

Oman also sent Suweini, the heir of the Said Dynasty, and Majid, Said's favorite son, which shows how much they value it.

Historically, it was after Said's death that they split the powerful empire built by their father and finally became colonies of the powers.

Said was desperate to negotiate this deal, because he knew very well that the arrival of Britain and France would indeed increase Oman's income, but once the weak nature was discovered, it would be the two most terrible death warrants.

Said was willing to pay any price to preserve the foundation he created, but that also required the help of the great powers.

It just so happened that Friedrich looked down on the Egyptian battleships. Even after the Austrian modification, the firepower, defense, speed and other performances still could not meet his requirements.

But battleships were a killer in the 19th century. Just getting a few of them could change the country's defense situation, and even use them to kill people in other continents.

So who to sell to and how to deal with it became a big problem that troubled Friedrich. Fortunately, the successive visits of Britain and France stimulated Said's nerves and made him determined to strengthen his naval strength at all costs.

Friedrich immediately found Franz.

"I plan to sell all the second-class battleships captured from Egypt to the Omanis. What do you think?" Friedrich came straight to the point, and Franz was used to it.

The Austrian Empire Navy has always been blank. Among the generals in the War Department, only Friedrich himself is from the Navy. Others can't help at all, let alone make useful suggestions.

"With such a big hand, what can we use to fill the gap in our Austrian Empire Navy? The empire is different from the past. If the sea power forms a vacuum, or is too weak, I am afraid that many people will come to make a fuss about it. Among them are the Omanis who bought battleships from you."

Friedrich had thought about this a long time ago, and he had been prepared.

"In addition to modifying the Egyptian rubbish over the years, we have also built and launched five battleships ourselves, including my current flagship Venetia.

After the end of the Turkish-Egyptian War, the Navy built another batch of battleships, and it is expected that three more will be launched next year. Moreover, in terms of performance, our self-built battleships are far better than the Egyptian rubbish. Their shipbuilding level is not even as good as Napoleon!"

It seems that Friedrich really doesn't like the Egyptian battleships, and as far as the current world situation is concerned, Franz thinks that the possibility of a war between Britain and France is greater.

Although there have always been conflicts between other countries, it is far from the time to resort to war.

"Strategically speaking, there is no problem in selling battleships to the Omanis. They pose no threat to us, but I think the number of navies is still seriously insufficient. Because I have reliable intelligence that the French and the British are engaged in a naval arms race."

The French have taken great pains to keep the Texas colony. They even approved the establishment of the Great Texas Naval Base, and the size of the fleet will be equal to the Great Eastern Fleet (Mediterranean Fleet) and the Great Western Fleet (Atlantic Fleet).

The situation faced by the British at this time is much more unfavorable than in history. The Austrian Imperial Navy has suddenly risen, the Russian Navy has been expanding its arms and preparing for war, and France wants to build a large fleet to enhance its maritime strength. The Americans are also constantly challenging the bottom line of the British.

Although Britain still has the ability to destroy the sum of the navies of other powers, its strength is too dispersed, and the news that France wants to build 21 battleships at a time has indeed touched the sensitive nerves of the British.