With the economic recovery, the Vienna government's fiscal revenue has also followed the rising tide. The government will not keep the money to give birth, and the fiscal revenue will be spent.

Less than halfway through 1897, the departments were already grinding their fists and preparing for the next year's budget.

The emperor went on vacation, and the decision-making power for budget allocation fell to the crown prince. Everyone can see that this is obviously the emperor paving the way for his son.

There is nothing to object to, although the emperor's health is still healthy, but he is also 67 years old. In this era when the average life expectancy is less than 50, it can be called "high life".

No one can guarantee that the elderly emperor will suddenly see God one day. From this point of view, it is also very necessary to train the crown prince in advance to avoid being in a hurry.

The bloody struggle for imperial power in the East, the succession laws in Europe were relatively perfect, and even if there were occasional struggles, it was not to the point of cruelty.

At least the internal struggle of the Habsburgs was not so fierce, otherwise Franz's uncle Ferdinand I would not have been able to inherit the throne.

In this context, the appointment of the crown prince to act as the emperor's authority in advance is not unprecedented, although it does not occur very often

The most typical example is Franz himself, who has acted as the crown prince since the Revolution, and the Regency Council still obediently handed over power.

Rules are rules, and as long as everyone insists on following them, there will be no problems.

It was the same with Frederick, and the situation was even better.

After all, Franz was still alive and well, but he just ran out for a vacation. Although it took a bit of a long time, it didn't hurt.

There is a respected emperor pressing on it, and no matter what thoughts you have below, you have to hold it back first.

Don't look at Franz's seldom toss, but the bureaucrats of the Vienna government will never forget the wonderful scene of "10,000 people dismissed from office, 100 people crematorium".

If anyone were to count carefully, they would find that more bureaucrats fell in the Franz era than the Habsburgs were founded in the hundreds of years combined.

Of course? Times are not the same, there is no comparison. How many public officials are there in the Holy Roman Empire now? Far more than any other period in the past.

In the face of an emperor who dares to break the convention of "the law does not hold the people accountable" and has to increase the punishment? No one dares to be a demon.

These are the seniors? Lessons learned in exchange for blood.

Since the establishment of the civil service examination system, everyone has a bunch of substitutes. The transcendent status of the bureaucracy of the past? Long gone.

……

Putting down the official document in his hand, Frederick asked helplessly, "Your Excellency, Honorable Chancellor?" Can you tell me? What is the purpose of the Navy's construction of ships this time? ”

The word "respect" obviously accentuated the tone, and it could be seen that Frederick was very unimpressed by the "shipbuilding plan" submitted by the Admiralty.

On the surface, it was just a few battleships, dozens of cruisers and destroyers. Judging by the size of the HRE Navy? A part of the warships will be replaced every year? The construction of so many warships at once is not excessive.

The problem lies in the "replacement of warships."

There are also strict regulations on the retirement of Shinra's warships, either the performance really can't keep up with the times, or the second-hand warships can be sold, otherwise they must wait until the service period is completed.

After a few years of continuous upgrading, now happens to be in a window period? No capital ships will be decommissioned for the next three years.

There is no replacement without retirement, in the case of the same establishment of the Navy? In the next two years, the government will not allocate additional funds for the construction of capital ships.

No additional appropriations? The navy is limited in military spending every year, so it naturally cannot support the shipbuilding plan in front of it.

And if it's just a couple of dozen more warships? It's nothing more than a matter of one or two million Aegis? As a master who personally manipulates the listing of billions worth of oil companies? Franz would not have had such a reaction either.

The problem is that the navy is never just about warships, and once the number of warships increases, then the strength of the navy will also increase.

It seems that he just wants to build a few more ships, but in fact he wants to expand the army. That's not something that one or two million can do, but it will increase the cost of tens of millions of Aegis every year.

The Holy Roman Empire is a land power, and if the navy increases military spending, the army will certainly not be ambiguous, and the air force will most likely join in the fun.

These are only minor problems at home, and the most troublesome ones are international. The British are staring at each other, and the expansion of the HRE Navy and the Royal Navy will definitely follow.

There is no doubt that a new round of naval arms race has been ignited. At that time, whether they want it or not, the Vienna government will passively follow the British to play the "dumpling contest".

With a little brain-thinking, Frederick knew that the Admiralty's shipbuilding program was a huge crater, one that could swallow up all the new revenues of the Vienna government.

Putting aside the international influence, all the money is spent on military spending, what else does he, the crown prince, use to make political achievements?

Franz put Frederick in charge of the country, so that he could take the opportunity to brush up on his political achievements, prove his ability to govern the country to the outside world, and increase his prestige for the future succession.

If all the money is used to play the "dumpling competition" with the British, it is estimated that everyone except the navy will be dissatisfied with him, the crown prince.

Frederick was also not Wilhelm II and had a naval dream. Frederick, who grew up in Vienna, was deeply influenced by mainland culture and was a typical landist.

Frederick had always been very disdainful of the British supremacy at sea. No matter how awesome the hegemony at sea is, can it compare with the hegemony of Asia, Europe and Africa?

In the Holy Roman Empire, the most popular theory was that "whoever wins the island of the world wins the world". As for maritime hegemony, it is only an appendage of continental hegemony.

When the Holy Roman Empire had digested the fruits of victory, the British maritime supremacy was to give up, and not to concede.

So when Frederick looked at the Admiralty now, he was, "This is a bad guy who wants to harm me."

As if he had been prepared for the dissatisfaction with the crown prince, Castagni replied unhurriedly: "Your Highness, the British have been too idle lately, and we must find something for them to do."

Seeing that the Central Asian Railway is about to be opened, it is necessary for us to create an opportunity for the Russians to use the hands of the Russians to consume the national strength of the British.

If it goes well, we will be able to take over the responsibility of maritime supremacy from the British before the new Anglo-Russian war ends.

Until then, if we don't build more warships, how can we fulfill our hegemonic duties? ”

I don't know when the Vienna government liked to use the Russian allies as pawns.

Now to replace the naval supremacy of the British, the Admiralty's first reaction was: let the Russians go first.

If you open the history books, you will find that in recent decades, the Russians have taken the lead in beating all the great enemies of the Vienna government.

In the First Near Eastern War (Crimean War), he defeated the Ottomans of Britain and France, laying the foundation for Austria's annexation of South Germany;

In the two Russo-Prussian wars, he helped abolish Prussia and successfully avoided the outbreak of civil war for the unification of the HRE;

The next few wars in the Near East were also fought by Russia and Austria together, and they successfully killed the Ottoman Empire;

Although the Russians were absent from the European War, they still made outstanding contributions to the suppression of France, and they are now persisting in fighting;

Now it was time for the confrontation between Vienna and London, and it was not expected that the Russians would come in handy again. Before the decisive moment came, someone in the Vienna government wanted to provoke an Anglo-Russian war.

Judging from the current situation, with the opening of the Central Asian Railway, the probability of the outbreak of Anglo-Russian war is also increasing day by day.

Therefore, Russian-Austrian friendship is inevitable. Where can you find such a caring ally?

Although it is very expensive to maintain Russian-Austrian friendship, it is not worth mentioning at all compared to the contribution made by the Russians.

Frederick admits that he was tempted, but he quickly reacted. The opening of the Central Asian Railway was two years later, so why is there a hurry now?

Even if it were to provoke a war between Britain and Russia, it would have to wait until after the opening of the railway.

Until then, then let the British be idle first, and in the future they will be busy, and there is no rush at all.

In particular, the recent actions of the London government are constantly challenging the bottom line of the tsarist government. Over time, these small contradictions will evolve into irreconcilable hatred between the two countries.

……