Chapter 415 in Trieste
The construction of the new Hamburg Port is even more difficult than the original construction of the Mtwara Port in East Africa. Not only is it far away from East Africa, it lacks relevant population and industrial support, and the project volume is also large. It is much larger than the Port of Mtwara, so the new Port of Hamburg must give priority to the construction of the military port.
While preparing to build the new Hamburg Port in East Africa, Archduke Ferdinand also arrived in Austria and landed at the Port of Trieste with ease.
In the Royal Shipyard, Ferdinand asked with great interest: "Is that giant ironclad ship Austria's new main battleship? What is its approximate tonnage? How does it compare to the Lissa ironclad ship?" "
The engineer said a little discouraged: "It would be great if it was really a battleship of the Austrian Navy, but according to the navy, they have no new shipbuilding plan. This ship was customized from abroad. I don’t know which country it is. The displacement of this ship is more than 200 tons more than that of the Lisa, and it is also more technologically advanced than the Lisa.”
Archduke Ferdinand: "Didn't Austria recapture Venice? Now control of the Adriatic Sea has returned to Austria. The results of this naval battle are no worse than the last Battle of Lisa. Why is there no plan to build new warships?"
The engineer said: "Well, just because the battle was better than last time, the navy captured many ships of the former Italian Adriatic Fleet. In addition to dividing them among the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples, the remaining All the ships under the Imperial Navy were incorporated into the Imperial Navy. This led the Hungarian Parliament to believe that the navy no longer needed new ships, so they refused to allocate funds. Not only that, they also requested a reduction in naval funding. Fortunately, General Tegetthov argued hard and was able to avoid it. A tragedy happened."
Archduke Ferdinand sighed: "Is the life of the Imperial Navy so bad now! Not even as good as when I was the commander of the Navy?"
The engineer said with a smile. : "Actually, since the end of our last war with Prussia, the imperial power has been divided into two. Any expenditure needs to be negotiated by Austria and Hungary. It has no impact on the economy, but things like military industry For an industry that requires financial support, there is no benefit at all. In fact, not only the navy, but also the army is having a hard time. You must know that the national defense pressure on our country's land is not small. They even have objections to the army's military expenditure. Needless to say about the navy."
Archduke Ferdinand said at this time: "Well, it seems that the internal conflicts in the empire have become more acute. Franz is really not easy."
The engineer said: "Your Majesty the Grand Duke, I also think that this contradiction has continued and it is not good for Austria. The empire's decision-making efficiency is inherently lower than that of other countries. It has been even more so since the implementation of the dual system. This generation is still It’s easy to say that everyone knows the truth of living under one roof. I’m afraid the next generation will be completely unable to hold it down.”
Archduke Ferdinand: “Then what do you think the empire should do now?”
< br>Engineer: "There are only two ways. The first is to sit back and wait, do nothing, and wait for the contradiction to break out completely. The second is to directly expose the contradiction and carry out reforms in advance. However, neither of these two methods is a good idea. Method 1 It is a slow death, and the second method is likely to cause the empire to die prematurely."
Archduke Ferdinand did not think so. After staying in East Africa for a long time, the style of the East African government also profoundly affected Archduke Ferdinand. .
“Actually, for me, method two can still be tried. Sometimes a fight can solve many problems. As for the problem of losing control, unless it is foreign interference, but in the current environment of the European continent, this The chance of this happening is negligible.”
Engineer: "Hahaha, only you, the Grand Duke, have the confidence to say this. We don't dare to think so."
In the engineer's opinion, Archduke Ferdinand can stand and speak without pain, Hungary is against the Empire The importance of the empire is self-evident. Without Hungary, the empire is nothing.
If Archduke Ferdinand knew the engineer's thoughts, he would probably be unconvinced. If a civil war really broke out, Austria would not be the loser.
At present, the Austrian army and the army, under the leadership of Albrecht, are still relatively strong in military ethics. In addition, Austria's natural terrain suppresses Hungary. If the Hungarian nobles really make trouble, they will definitely not get any favors. If Archduke Ferdinand were to take over this country, he would rather fight this war. Anyway, Hungary is very large, and when the time comes, he can directly split it up or even kick it out.
But just thinking about it, Archduke Ferdinand probably wouldn’t be much better off if he were in Franz’s position. But this is a much bigger change than before. In the past, Archduke Ferdinand acted as a peacemaker and compromiser in Austria and Mexico.
It later turned out that kindness will only be regarded as weakness, and careerists don't care whether you are really kind or not. If you reach that position, you are destined to be an enemy.
Of course, the most important thing is that Archduke Ferdinand saw Ernst's method of treating the indigenous people in East Africa, and he realized that no one in this world is disposable, such as the African indigenous people, well What Sturt did was to leave no land but no people. Likewise, the Hungarians may not be that important to Austria.
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. I want to know if there is any space left in the shipyard recently?" Archduke Ferdinand began to talk about business. Engineer: "Speaking of vacancies, there really aren't any. Although the navy has no orders, there are quite a few orders for civilian merchant ships!"
Archduke Ferdinand: "There isn't even a vacancy! How come recently? Is the civilian ship business booming? ”
Engineer: "That's right. The main reason is that the economy is so good now and maritime transportation is developing rapidly. Especially after the opening of the Suez Canal, the old fleets on the Mediterranean coast have come back to life, so now everyone is rushing to build new ships."
Archduke Ferdinand asked: "How long will it take for you guys to vacate your position?"
The engineer replied happily: "In our factory's case, it should be two years later. ”
“Two years later!”
“Yes, a group of Austrian businessmen have recently purchased several ships. I heard that they want to participate in the Far East trade, but I am not optimistic about them. Decision, after all, Hechingen Ocean Trading Company is the real wealthy one. I heard that in recent years, most of the business from the Far East to the German region has been monopolized by the merchant ships of Hechingen Ocean Trading Company.”
Ferdinand had a headache: "Is the situation of other shipyards the same as yours?"
"It's almost the same. Since Italy was defeated, most of the business has been monopolized by us and French shipyards. If the technical requirements are not high, If so, you can also go to Italy. After all, although Italy is not a very good country, , the shipbuilding industry is still good.”
Because of the two failures in the Trieste Sea, the Italian shipbuilding industry has indeed been questioned to some extent. Of course, the main reason is that the economy of the Kingdom of Italy has suffered due to the war. Huge losses, the restoration of the Kingdom of Naples also divided many industries.
“That means it is also feasible to go to Italy?”
“It’s hard to say. I heard that they have a serious brain drain. Many technical staff have gone abroad. Several of our shipyards have come from Italy. Many shipyards over there have gone bankrupt.”
Archduke Ferdinand also knew about this, and the Bagamoyo Shipyard hired many Italians at that time.
It seems that Archduke Ferdinand really can’t think of where to go to solve the problem of warship procurement. The main reason why he came to the Royal Austrian Shipyard is to get more prostitutes for free, reduce costs, and save more money for the navy. Spend some money, but you have to have the opportunity.
As a last resort, Archduke Ferdinand had no choice but to contact Ernst in East Africa to explain the situation through the dedicated telephone line installed by Ernst at his residence in Trieste.
Ernst: "There is no need to rush this matter. You can wait until their giant ironclad ship is completed before ordering it. It will be ready in March next year."
Archduke Ferdinand : "Ernst, how do you know that there is an ironclad ship in the Royal Shipyard of Trieste?"
Ernst quickly explained: "Well, after all, my company has a lot of business dealings with the Royal Shipyard, so it is normal for us to know each other. I knew this before I came to East Africa."
(End of this chapter) )