Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

While Franz was still planning how to exploit the Transvaal's gold mines without being discovered by other countries.

The elder Pretorius's gaffe at the Congress of the German Confederation forced the former to reconsider his plans.

Austria's monopoly of the Transvaal was not good news at this time, and the Puff was not guilty, and this is how the Boers became the ghosts of the British.

Old Pretorius did not want the kingdom, whether Franz sympathized with the Boers or not, but the position of the latter was impossible to support such people.

Since they don't want to be a country, they can only become colonies, and the remaining question is how to rule this distant land.

The Boers were not a bloodless race, as can be seen from the Battle of the Blood River and the later Anglo-Boer Wars, a people who were very resilient and did not fear strong enemies.

Franz even began to regret getting involved in South Africa too early, and regretting helping this group of self-proclaimed "Germans" who did not want to be governed by the German Confederation.

In fact, this is not true, after all, the cause of this incident is entirely the work of nationalist fanaticism, not so much to help them, but to be forced by the democrats.

Compared to 1848, it was just a drizzle before the storm.

The question of how to control the Transvaal is not urgent, but it is not simple, and it is certainly not possible to take a tough approach like the British.

It's not that the war can't be won, it's that the cost is too great. Austria itself is too far from the Transvaal to be careless and could repeat the mistakes of the British.

The Anglo-Boer War was the most costly of the British's long colonial history, and even the famous Churchill became a Boer prisoner of war.

In the end, the British expeditionary force even outnumbered the total population of the region, and after paying a terrible price, it was only by relying on scorched earth policy that it was able to win the protracted war.

Although Austria had two colonies in southern Africa, Tanzania and Namibia, it did not have the ability to connect them to the Transvaal.

The Transvaal and Austrian East African colonies were separated by Portuguese Mozambique, and there were no developed routes inland.

As for the colony of Namibia, it appears to be close to the Transvaal, but it is almost impassable by high mountains, and it still has to deal with the harsh nature of the interior of Africa and the savage, warlike indigenous people.

But don't worry too much, because this is just the personal behavior of old Pretorius, and it is not representative of all the Boers.

It was not difficult for Franz to divide and disintegrate them, but it was too early to act against the Transvaal, who was far away.

And most importantly, the Transvaal and Orange at this time can be described as poor and white, and birds do not.

Otherwise, the British would not have given up such a large piece of the colony half-sold and half-given away, in fact, it is not true, because the British have not yet eaten this land.

There is really no reason why the British should not do such a generous thing.

As for the five million, or the one million to be delivered this year, it is actually a talisman for the British.

Because although the expected banknotes had the same purchasing power as metal money within the German Confederation, the British could only buy things within the German Confederation.

With 20% cash and 80% of goods, the UK's economic crisis will be even more serious.

In fact, this is also digesting the gold in Franz's hands, and sometimes a lot of money is not necessarily a good thing.

Franz had to consider the relationship between economic development and the money supply, and the market could not have too much money and not too little, in case Austria would eventually follow in the footsteps of the Spanish Empire.

However, the game will soon become unplayable, as new giant gold mines will be discovered. Although Franz also made arrangements, it was impossible to monopolize it, and it was even more impossible to keep the news from leaking.

Therefore, Franz should put his gold into the market as soon as possible and reasonably, so as to reduce the impact on himself.

For the Transvaal, Franz was only going to send a few missionaries and teachers. Franz found it easier to start with cultural ideas than to conquer by force and control economically.

Cultivating a group of "true Germans" first, and at the same time letting the locals know what the German Confederation had done, must not make people feel that this is the personal work of old Pretorius.

Franz wouldn't mind having another floating corpse in the Atlantic if necessary.

At this time, it is completely unnecessary to send officials, and it is a good idea, not to mention whether the locals will accept management.

In such a desolate, remote and impoverished place, these officials who have seen the world have either bullied the locals to death or are bullied to death by the locals.

Compared to them, it must be that the Boers, who have lived in the area for hundreds of years, are more familiar with the local situation. They don't do much other than create contradictions and add to chaos.

As for the missionaries and teachers, these people communicate more with the lower classes, know how to use things other than power to subdue others, and are more likely to integrate into local circles.

Finally, with regard to the nature of the land, Franz felt that the Transvaal (which actually included Orange) region could be considered a German Confederation colony.

For Franz's proposal, Metternich had a headache. Because other states are not prepared to pay for it, five million pounds to pay in five years, which is not a small amount of money.

"Archduke Franz, I want you to be clear about one thing. That is, the other princes are not ready to pay this money, is it feasible for our country to monopolize development? ”

The old chancellor was also helpless, after all, there were really not many countries with colonies in the entire German Confederation.

Austria is the only country with the ability to develop overseas, and even if he asks other states to apportion it, he will not be able to apportionment much money.

If it is to establish a country, then this account of the German Confederation can be credited to that country, although it is not known when it will be recovered, but everyone finally has a hope.

But a non-monarchy was not acceptable within the German Confederation, and the Boers were absolutely very poor just by looking at old Pytorius.

In addition, judging from the intelligence, the total population of the Transvaal is only more than 20,000 people, and it is impossible for them to afford this money.

Seeing that the money will be wasted, then who would want to pay this money?

"No, we are not yet capable of developing such deep into the interior, and the so-called Boers are not yet a people, they are at best named after geographical units, like the Viennese, the Venetians.

As for the money, they don't have to pay for it, but the countries must take on the task of protecting and civilizing. After the development was completed, the interests of the Austrian Empire were to be accounted for, and it had a veto on all matters. ”

Metternich didn't quite understand Franz's approach, and the vast majority of those German vassal states in Germany didn't even have a navy, so what defense tasks could they undertake?