The news of the German-Austrian marriage came out, and the political situation in Europe was turbulent for a while. All countries attach great importance to the changes in the situation in Europe that this marriage may lead to. Russia reacted the most to this, and in 1887 it was forced to suffer a loss in the Balkans when it gained the upper hand, and Russia's bitter hatred of Austria-Hungary was deeply rooted in the bone marrow, and as the biggest obstacle to Tsarist Russia's dominance in the Balkans, fighting against Austria was already the established policy of the Tsarist military leadership. The neutrality of the Germans was a reassurance for Russia, but now that the German-Austrian marriage had not been exposed, the Russians knew that if they wanted to fight Austria-Hungary, they might have to face Germany, the "European arbiter", which represented a large-scale change in the Russian military plan. However, at this time, the "German-Russian Tariff Adjustment Agreement" was implemented smoothly, and Germany imported a large amount of grain from Russia, which brought great benefits to Russia's domestic economic situation, and due to the expansion of the scale of Russian naval shipbuilding at this time, the import of a large number of German industrial products also made up for the lack of Russia's own industrial capacity. Therefore, although the Russians began to vigilantly examine and consider how to deal with relations with Germany, they did not make any drastic moves. But Russia needed to find an ally, an ally that could counter Germany, and this strategy had begun to take root in the Russian upper echelons.

The French are ecstatic about the German-Austrian marriage, but they are worried that the German-Austrian relationship has become closer, and the pressure on France is becoming more and more severe. Fortunately, the rift between Germany and Russia was getting bigger and bigger, and in 1887 France was worried that Germany would abandon Austria-Hungary and join forces with Russia, but now it is no longer necessary to worry about it. The Russians need an ally, and the French need an ally, and the alliance between the two sides will hit it off right at the sight.

As for the British, they said that there was no need to pay too much attention to German-Austrian relations, that it was the national policy of the British to maintain the balance of power on the continent, and that the Austro-Hungarians wanted to balance Russia in the Balkans, and the British knew from the conflict of 1887 that this was impossible, and that the Germans were willing to do it for them, so it was naturally better. And Queen Victoria also wrote to congratulate her grandson on his engagement.

And Austria-Hungary, after experiencing the horror of 1887, realized that without the support of Germany, it was impossible to face the polar bear, and rejoiced that its princess could marry the German crown prince, not to mention that this thigh was not ordinarily thick. The Austro-Hungarian nobles, who were originally extremely dissatisfied with Marie's "deviant" pursuit of their love, changed their tune and began to praise Her Royal Highness for "reforming her ways" as a model for the royal family. But not everyone is in favor of this. When the Austro-Hungarian Empress Elizabeth learned of this, she rushed back to Vienna in a rage and quarreled with Joseph I, accusing him of "selling his daughter for a good price." Joseph I, who knew that he was wrong, took the wrath of his wife and asked her to stay in Vienna with her daughter to wait for the marriage, and Elizabeth agreed.

As for Germany, there were two factions, and a group of German Foreign Ministry officials, headed by Bismarck, believed that the marriage would help the development of German-Austrian alliance relations, and therefore expressed their approval. Sure enough, some of the old Junker aristocrats opposed the marriage by citing Frederick the Great's unhappy married life as an example. But with Bismarck here, these people can't make any big waves.

No matter how turbulent the outside world is, the two parties are like the eye of a typhoon, no matter how stormy the wind is, the center is calm. As a client, Jochen was actively involved in the design of naval vessels and the design of weapons for HK Company, as usual. Mary changed her previous liveliness and agility and began to live a simple life. This attitude of non-cooperation and non-resistance to the Austro-Hungarian princess also made some people who knew the inside story begin to worry about whether this marriage would go smoothly. Frederick III is one of them, but after all, the marriage contract has been decided, and whoever repents at this time will definitely be a big scandal, and it will also seriously affect the relations between the two countries, so Frederick III can only ask God to bless his son from repeating the mistakes of Frederick the Great.

In fact, Jochen has actually heard of such a thing as Mary having a sweetheart. But he didn't care, even if he swore an alliance at the beginning, in the face of the pressure of the German Empire, Mary could only honestly be the future empress of Germany, and the bloody elopement and martyrdom had to consider whether Austria-Hungary could withstand Germany's anger before doing it. As for the future married life, it is a big deal to learn from Frederick the Great. Although he sacrificed his marriage, he was able to achieve the unification of the Germans, and such a deal was a good deal for Jochen. She was married to the identity of the Austro-Hungarian princess, and as for who this princess was, Jochen didn't care. Or that more than 40 years of single life in his past life and present life have made Jochen no longer have too much desire for finding a good partner, as a future emperor, if he just wants to satisfy **, it is too easy to find a beautiful woman.

Now, Jochen has a lot of things to do, so there's no time to think about it. In addition to technical research and equipment testing, Jochen is also considering the implementation of Germany's foreign strategy, such as returning the German naval power to the Pacific. In September 1861, the Qing Dynasty signed the Sino-German Treaty of Commerce with the Kingdom of Prussia, allowing Prussian warships to enter Chinese waters. With the economic development and political importance of the Far East, in 1881 the Far East Fleet of the German Imperial Navy was established and stationed in the region, and the Far East Fleet became the only German naval formation independent of its home port at that time. However, due to the rapid development of Cameroon and the construction of the port of Douala, the Imperial Navy had an excellent foothold in Africa, and with the strong support of Jochen, the African Fleet of the German Navy was established, and the home port was located in Douala. As a result, most of the ships of the Far East Fleet were recalled, and after the disbandment, some of the ships returned to the domestic fleet sequence, and some joined the German Navy's African Fleet. Compared with the port of Douala, which has grown by this time and has quite complete maintenance facilities, as its home port, with the 3,980-ton Leipzig-class light cruiser Leipzig, the 2,850-ton Bismarck-class light cruisers Blucher and Stosch, the 1,700-ton Ariadne-class light cruisers Louiser and Freya, a total of five cruisers, and the armored gunboats that have been kicked out of the Imperial Navy's coastal defense forces, the African Fleet is formed, The Far Eastern Fleet maintained its existence with only a few small gunboats in the Pacific Ocean, and the situation was bleak. Since the empire's colonial enthusiasm at this time was entirely focused on the development of Cameroon, even German East Africa and German South-West Africa did not invest much, let alone the small islands of German Guinea and German Samoa in the far Pacific Ocean, which were remote and worthless to the Germans.

However, Samoa is not to mention, Guinea is very rich in resources. And not only because of the resources here that make Jochen excited, but more importantly, with Guinea and Samoa as support points, the German navy will be able to quickly exert influence in South America and Southeast Asia. From the Sino-Japanese War in 1894 to the Spanish-American War in 1898 to the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, the alternation of power on this ocean has always been accompanied by bloody rain. This is an opportunity for Germany, and if it maintains a strong enough military presence, it will have a greater chance for Germany to fish in troubled waters. And in Jochen's plan, in the future, the naval fleet that has always had a certain strength in the region will be retained, which is enough to contain the Far East Fleet, the Australian fleet, and even the Indian Ocean Fleet, and take advantage of the complex natural environment of the sea here, and it is not a big problem to defend and contain the islands, and in this area with many islands, it is much easier to use destroyers and torpedo boats for near-shore defense, and to use submarines to be small and large, than in the vast ocean. In addition, Britain did not have a large army here, so only a small number of troops were needed to hold it, and it also made it impossible for Australia to send troops to participate in the European theater of war.

And this is also a good time, 1890 is the world economic crisis, Germany will also be affected, and in this crisis a large number of Germans will begin to immigrate to the United States because of unemployment, this kind of thing Jochen obviously can't let him happen, then these people in addition to arranging work opportunities in Germany itself, immigration to the German colonies is also an excellent choice, and these excellent German citizens, to participate in the expansion of power in the Asia-Pacific region is very good. Moreover, the power in the Pacific region is complicated, and the British are not the only one, and the old colonial powers such as the Netherlands and Spain are now much worse than before, but they still have enough influence in the region, so it is not difficult to take advantage of their weak national strength to infiltrate through the exchange of interests. South American countries, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil, are also unable to interfere with the actions of the Germans, and Germany can even take advantage of this opportunity to reap the benefits of the three South American powers, ABC. At this time, the Qing State, which is the strongest in the Western Pacific, will not care about the bad things in Southeast Asia. And Japan, which would become a hegemon in the Pacific Ocean in the future, would have to launch a war in the face of the Qing State at this time. As for the United States, which regards the Pacific Ocean as its own backyard in the future, it is just a war scumbag at this time. Therefore, expanding our presence in the Asia-Pacific region at this time is the best time to enter the country.

Now that the ships of the Imperial Navy are being replaced at a rapid rate, it is useless for some old ships to stay in Europe, and it is also good to send them to the Pacific Ocean first to show a sense of savings. But the idea is beautiful, the reality is cruel. Now there was a very fundamental problem before Jochen - even if the navy passed, there would be no place to stay. Guinea and Samoa were only nominally German territories, in fact they were not developed at all, and the navy went without ports. Historically, after Germany reorganized the Far East Fleet in 1894, it was under the fence for a long time, relying on Hong Kong, the home port of the British Far East Fleet, to carry out its activities, for which the German ambassador to China once said that "our fleet cannot sail here forever like homeless orphans", and it is precisely because of this that the Germans are so concerned about seizing Jiaozhou Bay. However, it is impossible to grab Jiaozhou Bay at this time, not to mention anything else, just relying on those few small gunboats, it is not enough to stuff the teeth of the Beiyang Naval Division. So Jochen has set his sights on two places: Western Australia and the Philippines.