"Mr. Metternich, the Turkish-British Commercial Treaty is a devastating blow to Egypt's economy, and it can even be said that as long as this treaty comes into force, Egypt will never turn around. If we continue to fight the Egyptian government, it will most likely lead to an uprising.

If someone were to replace Ali, and this person would have fallen to the British, then the British would have become more powerful in the Near East than ever before, and would pose a great threat to the development of our country. They could expel the French under the guise of helping the Ottomans, and they could also expel us. ”

Metternich admired Franz's words, and he felt that the Grand Duke would be his best student.

"But the Egyptians are allies of the French, and to weaken them is to weaken France." Metternich said.

This is only half true, Egypt is indeed an ally of the French, but weakening it will only allow the French to stop in time. Once France abandons Egypt, it will be able to devote more energy and troops to Africa and the Americas, and even to Asia for Vietnam. ”

At this time, large tribes in western North Africa had fallen into the hands of France, and only Togo, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Liberia were not in French hands in West Africa.

Among them, Liberia is a colony of the United States, Togo and Guinea are occupied by the Portuguese, Sierra Leone, Ghana are backed by the British, and only Côte d'Ivoire is terra nullius.

Even in Côte d'Ivoire, there were trade wars between France, Spain, Britain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, but because Côte d'Ivoire abolished the slave trade in 1814, these trade wars were largely empty.

It is important to know that in areas where the slave trade prevailed, there must have been very warlike peoples, such as the Kingdom of Dahomey in Benin.

Although the historical Kingdom of Dahomey is not as strong as in the movie, it is indeed a country where all the people are martial.

The same is true in Côte d'Ivoire, where there are three very strong tribes that have been fighting bloody and brutal battles for a long time. However, due to the decline of the slave trade, the strength of these formerly powerful tribes was rapidly declining.

Côte d'Ivoire is rich in agricultural and mineral resources, the world's largest cocoa production in later generations, and rich in gold and oil, iron, bauxite, nickel, manganese and other resources buried underground.

However, at this time, it is still covered by grasslands and rainforests, and it takes a lot of manpower and material resources to develop, and the upfront investment is a large amount.

Franz had sent several waves of men to negotiate with the local chiefs, but to no avail, for the simple reason that Austria did not have artillery ships, and they were not afraid.

Instead, in front of Franz's emissaries, several white adventurers were executed to demonstrate their strength.

The men sent by Franz did not offend the chiefs, but on the contrary brought with them rich gifts, as well as muskets and ammunition that they needed most, as well as trade contracts.

In fact, the chieftains also wanted to trade with Austria, whatever it was, but it was difficult to gain their trust because Austria did not have sufficient maritime power.

Most of the white adventurers executed by the chiefs were in fact swindlers, many of whom posed as European businessmen in an attempt to empty white wolves, or to trade cheap Western industrial goods for huge profits.

As everyone knows, the slave trade has been going on in this land for hundreds of years, and those chiefs have long been familiar with the routines of Westerners.

To put it bluntly, if you don't have the strength, Uncle Black won't play with you. It is believed that in the near future, when the first warships of the Austrian Navy are refitted, the chiefs will be more than happy to trade with Austria.

As for the half-dead Western trading posts, Franz was ready to break the bank, after all, the Austrian navy at this time could be regarded as a deterrent at best, and not a dominant force like the British navy.

In fact, in addition to the acquisition of this road, there is also the exclusion of local natives by supporting them, which on the one hand is slow to work, and on the other hand, it is easy to arouse the anger of Western countries.

Sierra Leone and Ghana were in the hands of the British, and it was basically impossible for Austria to take them.

As for Liberia, although it has basically disowned relations with the United States, the cost of conquering this land will be relatively high.

You must know that Liberia is super brave, and even dared to detain the British and French ships, although it was finally beaten by British and French warships, but since then no major power has dared not pay taxes in Liberia.

There are still many African lands that can be colonized in this era, and it is a good time to run horses, and Franz does not want to be bled too much on a colony.

Togo and Guinea in the hands of the Portuguese could be considered. Despite their backing from the British, the two colonies remained in a state of semi-desolation, and the Germans have historically pocketed them at a very small cost.

At this time, Portugal continued to trade slaves, and as long as the slave trade in these two lands could be stopped, the Portuguese could easily sell the two colonies.

Moreover, the Portuguese did not have a strong desire to defend their territory, and Austria could send people to infiltrate it with impunity.

Getting back to business, Metternich was unimpressed by Franz's words, and he felt that as long as the French didn't keep their eyes on Italy, everything would be fine.

"Wouldn't that be better? While Britain and France were vying for colonies around the world, our Austrian Empire could better integrate the power of Italy. An intact Italy that can definitely bring the Habsburgs back to the top. ”

Franz can only complain in his heart, when you finish integrating Italy, the world will be almost divided.

And the potential of Italy is not very large, the north and the center are okay, and the south is a big rotten land. In addition, the northern and central parts were originally owned by the Habsburgs, and they were only not held in history.

"The family has reached its limits in Italy at the moment, and the Kingdom of Sardinia exists as a buffer state between Austria and France, which you set in the Vienna Agreement. The Papal States to the south, though dependent on us, have to pay a great political price to integrate their lands. ”

At this time, Austria's rapid development concealed many contradictions, and Austrian rule in Italy was far from being as strong as it had been. Now is not a good time to continue to expand in Italy, but rather to consolidate the original lands.

Sooner or later, the Papal States and the Kingdom of Sardinia, as well as the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, will show their flaws, and that is when Austria will have a real chance.

The strength of Austria inadvertently fostered Metternich's ambitions, especially after the establishment of the Apennine Customs Union, when Britain and France had almost no reaction, and he felt that the time had come to unify Italy.

Metternich's diplomatic skills were indeed very skillful, and he easily got Gregory XVI to sign the Customs Union Agreement.

And the kingdoms of Sardinia and the Two Sicilies were isolated, and they either watched their economies shrink day by day, or joined the Apennine Customs Union to be eaten away by Austria little by little.

However, with the increase in the flow of people in Italy and the deepening of trade with Austria, the national consciousness of Italian business owners is also awakening little by little.

(End of chapter)