The aftermath of Franz II's death is still spreading, and the small states that had fought fiercely with Austria are like frosted eggplants.

Many of the state governments had lost confidence in Austria, after all, their ambassadors had come to the same conclusion after meeting the new emperor and his chief advisers.

Emperor Ferdinand I was a good man, but he was afraid that he would not be able to control this vast empire.

And the chief adviser, Mr. Carl von Sluth, is a complete idiot.

The new emperor and his empire will continue to face challenges and pressures in the days to come.

If we were to side with Austria, we would have to face the challenges and pressures with them, which would not be in our national interest.

Austria has completed 20% of the 1,400-kilometre railway project, the railway between Vienna and Moravia has been completed, and the construction of the Century Project Simmering Railway has begun.

The cost of the Semerin Railway is expected to be more than three times that of a regular railway, but it is also significant in terms of not only strengthening the connection between the seaside and Vienna, but also connecting Northern Italy, thus revitalizing the overall situation.

The Prussians frantically built two hundred kilometers of railways, but they were not on their soil.

And Prussia's new economic adviser proposed a new railway standard for the member states of the North German Customs Union.

The gauge of this railway is not the same as that of the Austrians, and wider means more cargo.

Friedrich Liszt's real purpose was to help Prussia control Austria's influence in South Germany.

To be honest, Franz admired the economist in his heart and could have thought of using this method to crowd out Austria.

In fact, at this time, Austria also had a countermeasure, that is, to change the gauge, or to force the members of the German Customs Union to build railways according to Austrian standards.

But either choice would affect Austria's reputation in the German Customs Union, and more importantly a stable and strong government would be needed.

The Regency Council made the Austrian government so inefficient that even the Count of Korolav and Prince Metternich did not recognize Friedrich Liszt's sinister intentions.

But it is no wonder, because neither the Count of Korolav nor the Prince of Metternich knew very little about the railway.

When Franz saw this, the big picture was basically settled, and there was little point in remedying it now.

And Friedrich Liszt's strategy allowed Franz to see a new possibility for the future of Austria.

By this time, Britain had built more than 1,000 kilometers of railways, while France had nearly 300 kilometers of railways.

In Russia, Franz Gersner, an Austrian engineer obsessed with railways, wrote a letter to Nicholas I.

The letter described a grand plan to build a railway connecting St. Petersburg and Kazan in order to strengthen the tsar's control over Western Siberia.

The railway was more than 1,000 kilometers long, a plan that was unbelievable at the time.

However, this aroused the great interest of Tsar Nicholas I, who felt that the railway was a gift from heaven to Russia.

Tsar Nicholas I had an even more daring idea, he wanted to connect the entire Great Slavic Empire by rail.

Constantinople – St. Petersburg – Kazan – Yakutsk (Russian Far Eastern city) – Alaska

In order to realize his lofty ideals, Tsar Nicholas I set up a road-casting committee.

The result, of course, was met with fierce opposition from the ministers, who disagreed with the emperor and openly opposed the construction of any railroad in the country.

The most opposed of them was the Chancellor, Count Conklin, who, in a report to the Tsar, said that not a penny of the Treasury was left for the railways.

And Russian experts also jumped out one after another to stand up for Count Conklin.

They argued that the train was too small to carry more than three hundred horses, while the Russian Empire had five million mules and horses, which could cope with any situation.

In addition, Russia lacked coal, and had to cut down forests in order to drive the trains, which left Russian civilians without wood for fire.

Russia's pig iron production was seriously insufficient, and if such a long railway was to be cast, it would have to import large quantities of pig iron from abroad, which would put Russia's metallurgical industry into a cold winter.

Nicholas I's most trusted subordinate, Duke Lyubai, suggested that this was most likely a conspiracy by the Austrians to use the railroad to weaken Russia's national power in order to gain an advantage in the partition of the Ottomans.

In the end, Nicholas I had to abandon his grand plans, but he was not discouraged.

There are still no railways in Russia.

The railroad built by the Americans in one year was 400 kilometers longer than the total length of the French railways at that time.

Cotton prices fell as cotton production in the United States exceeded expectations.

However, at this time, both Britain and the United States experienced a super bumper harvest of wheat, and the farmers who grew wheat experienced losses and switched to cotton.

Although the price of cotton has declined, it is still popular overall, at least it will not lose money.

The revenue from the sale of land by the US government this year has been fully able to repay the debts owed by the US government, and it is expected that there will be a large fiscal surplus next year.

Saxony bought another 500 steam looms from Austria, and Austria's accession, combined with the formation of the German Customs Union, almost doubled Saxony's revenues.

This is not only because Saxony is the textile center of Germany, but also because it is the largest second-tier trader in the German Customs Union.

Prussia and Austria were constantly in friction, and Saxony, sandwiched between Prussia and Austria, became the biggest beneficiary.

After all, businessmen will not be at odds with money, and friction between the two countries cannot prevent businessmen from doing business.

Although Austria's machinery manufacturing industry has received a lot of orders, it is still in a half-dead state, mainly because of the competition of the British, because at this time the British have allowed the export of machinery.

Machinery manufacturing in Britain started much earlier than in Austria, and the level of craftsmanship was naturally much higher.

Had it not been for the protection of the German Customs Union, and for Hanover's refusal to join the German Customs Union, Austria's mechanical engineering industry would have gone further and further in the direction of agricultural technology, as it has historically been.

Austria increased the expenditure of the army due to internal chaos, but the number of Austrian land forces was reduced to 440,000.

For its own security, France added 20,000 soldiers and gendarmes, as well as a number of indigenous armies, to a total of 530,000.

Prussia remained at 200,000, and Russia waged a war against the nomads at home, and the number of troops remained unchanged at 600,000.

This was the year that both France and Austria began to update their weapons and equipment, and the new front-loading firing rifles were more stable.

France developed a new type of field artillery, a lighter and more accurate 4-pounder gun.

Austria has developed the famous suicide artifact, which has a range and power far beyond that of its contemporaries of the same caliber.

However, due to the technology and the lack of better materials for cannon casting, the probability of this cannon being blown up is as high as 20%, which is even more exciting than the Russian turntable of later generations.

The Austrian navy welcomed their fourth naval marshal in ten years, and this marshal was still not a professional soldier, but a merchant in inland waterways, Varus Tafi.

Austria's fiscal revenues amounted to 158 million florins, up from 132 million florins in the same period of history.