In fact, when he heard that the British and Argentina had jointly invaded Uruguay, Franz was really surprised, but he quickly recovered as before.

Because this decision is really not a wise move, the resistance of the Latin Americans is one thing, and the attitude of the great powers.

Britain had too many enemies at this time, and in addition to Brazil and France on the surface, the United States and Austria actually did not want the British to dominate Latin America.

The Americans, of course, are not for some bullshit "Monroe Doctrine", but they do see Latin America as their big tonic, hoping that one day they can swallow it and then catch up with Europe.

And because of Palmerston's radical strategy and strong attitude, the contradictions between Britain and the United States continued to increase, and the US President John Taylor at this time was not an easy person to deal with, he was not intimidated by the former's behavior, but rose to the challenge.

Except that Oregon has not directly declared war, what the two sides are doing is no different from fighting.

The United States has a large number of people on the ground, but after the collapse of Palmerston's division, this advantage is already very weak. But the advantage of the British was not great, because there were too few of them, and the Americans who came over were not at ease.

In contrast, the Austrian side had a much more bizarre starting point, in addition to not wanting Britain to be too strong, and most importantly, they were too close to Brazil.

At this time, Brazil was the world's largest rubber producer, and Austria's rubber industry was far ahead, in addition to the technological advantage, it was the exclusive advantage of raw materials.

Almost all of the natural rubber produced in Brazil was sold to Austria, but this still did not meet the needs of its industrial development at this time, and it was stuck.

It's not that Franz is short-sighted and doesn't know how to plan ahead, but that the rubber industry is developing much faster than he imagined.

The technology that Franz thought would take decades, or at least a dozen years, to develop was successful in less than a year. The reason for this, in addition to the fact that Franz has a large number of talents, reasonable guidance, and clear goals, is mainly that some technologies are really not technical.

Franz, who felt like a miracle to the layman, was really nothing in the eyes of true experts, scholars, and master craftsmen.

In fact, in a few years, Austria will become the world's largest rubber producer, but even then he does not want to give up Brazilian rubber.

After all, the technology iteration at this time is too fast, and who knows if there will be a sudden growth point that will catch Franz off guard.

Franz has re-expanded the area under rubber cultivation in line with the current rate of industrial growth. However, the cycle of rubber is too long, and even if there is a plan, the situation of raw material tension will not change instantly.

Central Asia, Afghanistan.

In fact, the British were fighting proxy wars in Afghanistan, and Shah Shuga, a descendant of the Durani dynasty that once ruled Afghanistan, was a proxy for them.

The British were more orthodox than Dost Muhammad, and the early years of the war were as they expected.

"This war is like an outing." - a British soldier in the Afghan Expeditionary Force wrote in his diary.

However, the British soon ran into problems, high maintenance costs and terrible guerrilla warfare. When the British needed this agent to solve their troubles, the agent's family was at odds with each other, fighting over who could be the "agent".

When the family finally decided the winner, the British operation in Afghanistan also failed, tens of thousands of troops died tragically, and the Duke of Orange was forced to resign.

The new head of the Durani family was strangled to death in his palace, becoming one of the many victims of the war.

Dost Mohammed's eldest son, Akbar Khan, effectively controlled Afghanistan, and the only one who could compete with him was Aminullah Khan, who was in fact far less powerful and prestigious.

Akbar Khan was a modest statesman and a scheming general on the battlefield who, if he became the king of Afghanistan, would have gone south to attack India.

At this time, Akbar Khan's slogan was to go south to deal with his father, Dost Muhammad, and the British released the latter.

Akbar Khan was of such good personal character that he surrendered his power upon the return of Dost Muhammad and was genuinely pleased that his father was back in power.

But soon Dost Mohammed began a purge of the Akbar faction and quickly marginalized it, and even Akbar Khan himself was repeatedly criticized for unfounded rebuke.

At this time, the Akbarites remembered the prophecy of a dervish monk many years ago.

"The kings of the past and the kings of the future will kill each other, and if the past wins the future, then there will be no tomorrow in Afghanistan, the earth will be covered with blood and sand, and the wind will blow away those screaming souls."

(As mentioned in the previous document, Franz was once a covert operation.) ）

After many years, these Akbar's subordinates suddenly remembered that they couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, wasn't that what Dost Mohammed had to do at this time?

In fact, these tribal leaders are not concerned about the future of Afghanistan, but about their own lives and the lives of their people. Dost Mohammed was brutal and suspicious, not as generous as Akbar Khan.

If this kind of person really intends to eliminate the son who is a threat to him, then he will definitely eradicate the roots of these people as well.

"Tiger poison does not eat children, but the cannibalism of fathers and sons in the royal family is nothing new."

Akbar Khan may hesitate to think about the love of father and son, but his men will not sit idly by for their lives and property.

Sure enough, not long after, Akbar Khan suddenly contracted a cold and was confined to bed, and Dost Mohammed sent a doctor to treat him.

But when the doctor entered Akbar Khan's room, he found the prince, the hero of the Afghan people, sitting on the floor drinking tea.

Realizing that something was wrong, the doctor was held down as soon as he tried to escape, and Akbar Khan's men searched the doctor for a medicine bottle, which contained a pungent and unpleasant smell of medicine.

"What is this?" One of Akbar Khan's tribal leaders shouted.

"It's. . . It's a cure." The doctor replied tremblingly.

His expression had betrayed him, and no one would believe what he said.

One of the guards poured a drop of the medicine from the vial into the water and gave it to the camel outside the door, and within a few minutes the stout camel was foaming at the mouth and falling to the ground.

The guard drew his scimitar and pressed it against the doctor's neck, a faint line of blood drawn by the force he had exerted.

"Say"

Before the guard could finish his sentence, the doctor burst into tears.

"The emir sent me, and if I don't do it, he will kill my whole family, and for Allah's sake, spare me."

"Master, please decide."

The tribal leaders around Akbar Khan flocked around him, naturally hoping that he would become king. He also knew that if he didn't follow these people's wishes, he was afraid that they would not give up, so he could only sigh helplessly.

"Doctor, go back and tell my father that you saw me drink the medicine with your own eyes. You have to believe that it wasn't just my father who could kill your whole family, but you know that doing what I say will at least ensure that your family will survive. ”

(End of chapter)