April 21, 1842.

Savoy, Northern Italy.

Vittorio's marriage to Marie Adelaide of the Habsburgs, daughter of the Doge of Venecia, as Alberto's eldest son, seems to prove that Savoy was moving closer to the Austrian Empire.

However, just one day later, the king of Sardinia, Carlo Alberto I, signed a trade agreement with the French, the contents of which were not to be mentioned, but the result was that it became another Franco-Austrian dealer after Bavaria.

The Habsburgs and Bourbons have been playing in Italy for hundreds of years, and neither side is surprised by Savoy's actions.

The Austrian Empire dragged the Papal States and a group of its own relatives into an Apennine commercial alliance, and France pulled relatives from Sardinia and southern Italy to form a Western Mediterranean alliance.

Of course, France and Austria compete for hegemony, how can the British-stirring stick not intervene? With the help of the British, the Trans-Mediterranean Free Trade Association was established.

The logic of the British is very simple, whoever is strong will beat them, maintain the independent status of these countries, and avoid any country becoming bigger. The main thing, of course, is to organize these countries and act as their own economic colonies and vanguards.

In fact, with the development of industrialization, European countries are no longer inclined to trade protection, but free trade. Because each country feels that it has an advantage and can crush the others.

Italy became the first battlefield in the name of "free trade". Why not Germany? Because the German Customs Union kept most of the power of Britain and France out, and Bavaria had a little higher "consciousness" than the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Only this time Austria was not busy investing too much manpower and material resources to seize the market in Sardinia or southern Italy, but enclosed itself as in the past.

The economy of the south of France is poor, and it is possible for the Austrians to make a gap in the south of France with all their might, and Austria is not at all afraid of the British in the competition for high-end industrial goods, but so what?

This did not bring much benefit to the Austrian Empire, and due to the problem of raw materials, domestic demand for many products was tight, and it seemed that the expansion of the market with it would be a bit more than worth the cost.

This kind of false market share can be wiped out by other powers with just a decree. Someone must ask, isn't there a spirit of contract and free trade?

But that can only be true if both parties agree, otherwise the "spirit of renunciation" teaches you to be yourself every minute.

It is not enough to rely on Austria's own industrial capacity to become the world's factory like the British, after all, the British have not been fooled by the Jewish financial consortium and engaged in deindustrialization like the Yankees of later generations.

So Franz is still working on the one-third of an acre of land in his house, and there is an unstable time bomb in Hungary at home, which comes out from time to time to flash.

Pro-Austrian nobles such as Széchenyi and Prince Elthazy once again proposed the construction of a railroad to link Hungary and Austria into the national economy, but the proposal to be once again classified as a "traitor" was also rejected.

Of course, Kossuth could not have allowed Hungary's agricultural products to rot in the ground, and since Germany and Italy could not be followed, he thought of the Ottoman Empire.

In fact, McGid also wants to expand the market, after all, reform is very expensive, and where does the money come from? Naturally, it depends on trade and taxation, so you can't cut your own use, right?

Unfortunately, both countries are agrarian countries, with a high rate of commodity duplication, and Belgrade, a major transportation route, is stuck by Austria. This trade, which did not outweigh the losses, lasted only a short time before it was declared bankrupt.

August 10, 1842.

Trieste, headquarters of the Austrian Imperial Navy.

Friedrich made a startling move when he decided to sell 11 of his second class battleships, which had been refitted, to the Omani Empire, his previous enemy.

This may be by far the largest deal in the history of human navies.

The Omani side also sent Suvini, the heir of the Saeed dynasty, and Majid, Saeed's favorite son, which shows the importance it attaches to it.

Historically, after Said's death, they split the powerful empire that their father had built, and both ended up being colonies of the Great Powers.

The reason why Said came to talk about this business was also desperate, because he knew very well that the arrival of Britain and France would indeed increase Oman's income, but once he discovered the essence of weakness, it was two of the most terrible talismans.

Said was willing to pay whatever it took to keep his foundation, but he also needed the help of the Great Powers.

It just so happened that Friedrich looked down on the Egyptian battleships, and even after the Austrian modification, the firepower, defense, speed and other performance still could not meet his requirements.

However, battleships were a weapon of mass destruction in the nineteenth century, and if you get a few of them, you may change the defense posture of your country, and even use them to kill other continents.

So who to sell to and how to deal with it became a big problem for Friedrich, but the successive visits from Britain and France stimulated Said's nerves and made him determined to strengthen his naval strength at all costs.

Friedrich immediately approached Franz.

"I'm going to sell all those second-class battleships captured from Egypt to the Omanis, what do you think?" Friedrich's words were straight to the point, and Franz was used to it.

There had always been a blank slate on the part of the Imperial Austrian Navy, and only Friedrich himself was a naval officer in the War Department, and no one else could help at all, let alone give useful advice.

"With such a big hand, what will we fill the vacancy in the Austrian Imperial Navy. The empire is different from the past, and if there is a vacuum in the sea power, or if it is too weak, I am afraid that many people will make a fuss about it. Among them are the Omanis who bought battleships from you. ”

Friedrich had thought about this a long time ago, and he had been prepared for it a long time ago.

"Over the years, in addition to refitting the tattered Egyptian ones, we have built and launched five of our own battleships, including my current flagship, the Venezia.

After the end of the Turkish-Egyptian war, the Navy built another batch of warships, and three more are expected to be launched next year. And in terms of performance, the battleships built by our country are far stronger than the garbage of the Egyptians, and their ship-building level is not even as good as Napoleon! ”

It seems that Friedrich really disliked the Egyptian battleships, and in the current world situation, Franz felt that war between Britain and France was more likely.

Although there have always been contradictions between other countries, they are far from the time to resort to war.

"Strategically speaking, there is no problem in selling battleships to the Omanis, they are not a threat to us, but I think the number of the Navy is still seriously insufficient. Because I have reliable intelligence, the French and the British are engaged in a naval arms race. ”

The French went to great lengths to keep the Texas colony, and they even approved the establishment of a naval base in Greater Texas, with a fleet equal in size to the Great Eastern Fleet (Mediterranean Fleet) and the Great Western Fleet (Atlantic Fleet).

At this time, the British faced a much more unfavorable situation than in history, the Austrian Imperial Navy suddenly rose, the Russian Navy had been expanding its armaments, the French wanted to build a large fleet to improve their maritime power, and the Americans were constantly challenging the British bottom line.

Although Britain was still confident in its ability to wipe out the combined navies of the other powers, its forces were too dispersed, and the news that France was going to build 21 battleships at a time did touch a sensitive nerve among the British.

(End of chapter)