Chapter 674: British "Goodwill" (Part 1)

January 1, 1846.

Vienna, Hofburg Palace.

Prince Metternich seemed extremely excited after seeing off the British envoy, as if he had returned to decades ago.

Metternich was a little worried when he learned that Palmerston had just replaced the British Foreign Secretary, but the former sent an envoy to release "goodwill" to the Austrian Empire as soon as he took office, which greatly moved the latter.

However, this so-called "goodwill" was too "dry" in Franz's eyes. The wedge that the British had nailed in Albania was not removed, and the Mediterranean Fleet was even expanded.

Others, such as withdrawing troops from southern Brazil, were entirely the result of the rebellion on the Indian subcontinent that caused the British to disperse their forces and had to consider a comprehensive contraction.

Then Britain officially recognized the Austrian Empire's occupation of Western Bosnia and Montenegro. That's right! It was just recognition of occupation, and what's more, it did not include Belgrade.

In fact, from 1839 to today, after Franz's manual screening, the Western Bosnians no longer regarded themselves as subjects of the Ottoman Empire.

In fact, the brainwashed West Bosniaks felt that they were never Ottomans, but Austrian subjects trapped in the Ottoman Empire.

Moreover, in 1845, West Bosnia and Belgrade were connected to the Greater Illyrian Line. Now, even if some people were deceived and rebelled, the Austrian army could arrive within a day to suppress it.

So the British recognition was completely insignificant, and then they moved this matter to the newspaper and wrote about it as a gift to Metternich.

In addition, if the troops are not withdrawn from southern Brazil, I am afraid that Uruguay and the Viceroyalty of La Plata will also have problems.

After all, both Rosas and La Higuera, who was supported by the United Kingdom, are typical "wise kings and benevolent rulers."

Under their governance, the people were already full of resentment, and the continuous wars killed a large number of people. If they continue to fight, I am afraid that it will become a mess.

The reason why the British Tripartite Alliance suffered such huge losses was partly due to the resistance of the Brazilians and the mercenaries of Umbrella, but the more important reason was the bad climate in the area.

The southern part of Brazil is not considered a dangerous place now, but at that time, there were uncivilized forests, rivers, swamps, mountains, poisonous insects, wild beasts, and various tropical diseases.

More than 80% of the casualties among the soldiers on both sides were caused by the natural environment, and a considerable number of the remaining people died from the "Dark Forest Law".

Whether it is the internal of the Three-Nation Alliance, the Brazilian militia and the government army, or the employees of Umbrella Corporation, they are all accustomed to this kind of melee.

This kind of war of attrition is simply a disaster for a powerful country. If such casualties were put in the future, Robert Peel's cabinet would have fallen long ago.

However, the so-called human rights in this era are still just words, not to mention that the control of information at this time is in the hands of the government.

People can only know what Robert Peel wants them to know, and only the top leaders can know the casualties of this special military operation.

But in any case, it is not a wise move to waste troops in the jungles and swamps in southern Brazil when the war in India is tight at this time.

This was not good news for the Austrian Empire. After all, if the war continued, it would not only weaken Britain, but Franz could also make some extra money and train a group of soldiers who were good at guerrilla warfare.

Pedro II was also very dissatisfied with Britain's actions. After all, they fought and embargoed, and now they don't want to fight anymore and want most-favored-nation treatment.

But even though they were dissatisfied, the Brazilian Empire had no qualifications to negotiate with the British at that time, so they almost accepted the latter's demands.

In the end, Pedro II had to take a photo with the British ambassador very reluctantly. As an avid photography enthusiast, this photo was the only one he tore up.

In history, Pedro II loved photography very much. He collected 21,742 photos in his lifetime and was the largest collector of photographic art in South America at that time.

In 1839, the French invented the first camera. In 1840, the French ambassador brought a silver plate camera, and Pedro II, who was only 14 years old at the time, fell in love with this new technology.

Then he spent a lot of money to buy a full set of equipment and became the first monarch in the world who could use a camera.

After that, the Brazilian officials catered to his preferences and searched for photographic equipment and experts for Pedro II all over the world.

Until Franz gave Pedro II a camera modified by the Austrian Empire, the latter threw away all the garbage he had collected before.

After all, the gap between French and Austrian goods is a world of difference. Not to mention Pedro II, a senior photography fan, even a fool can see the difference between the two.

This is also an important reason why Pedro II turned to the Austrian Empire. After all, hobbies can affect a person's judgment to a considerable extent.

At the same time, it is also a foil to peers. After all, Britain and France are quite unhuman in terms of being unhuman. Not only are they calculating in bilateral trade, but they are also supporting forces close to themselves.

Although they may not necessarily replace it, they must have thought about turning Brazil into their own puppet.

However, both Pedro II and the Brazilian Empire have a dream of a great power. This dream of a great power still affects Brazilians today.

Brazil has a vast territory, the largest population in South America, abundant resources, and no rivals around it.

No matter how you look at it, Pedro II would not be willing to be a puppet, so he was very disgusted by the actions of Britain and France.

It was just because of their limited strength that they could only choose to pretend to be compliant.

When Austria, a country that obviously had no intentions and could not have any intentions towards Brazil, appeared, Pedro II immediately changed his position.

Brazil needs the market to transform resources into wealth, thereby promoting domestic industrialization reforms and successfully becoming one of the world's powers.

At first, Franz was also moved by such bold words, and he wanted to see the future of the Brazilian Empire. After all, Austria and the Brazilian Empire are far apart, and the biggest headache for the latter's rise is Britain and the United States.

However, man's plans are not as good as God's plans. Brazilians are not only lazy but also like to fight among themselves. The wars that have been going on one after another, coupled with the corruption of bureaucrats and the resistance of local forces, have led to an extremely slow pace of industrialization.

Franz, in all conscience, never sold monkey-version equipment to the Brazilian Empire. Although the update speed is not as fast as that of the European continent, the materials and craftsmanship used are absolutely no different from those of his own country.

Unfortunately, these machines were not used to the local climate in Brazil, just like people. The machines often had problems for no apparent reason, and parts even disappeared.

The parts produced in Brazil could not match the Austrian machines in terms of size or strength. The result was repeated "explosions" on the spot. That's right! Steam engines can explode!

I had a heat stroke yesterday, so my mind may not be very clear now. If you find any errors or incoherent parts, please help me.