Chapter 262: Suez canal

The plan will never catch up with changes. The main purpose of the Vienna government was to create conflict, use military threats to the Egyptian government, and force them to sign treaties.
Anyway, the Sinai Peninsula is not valued, and its only role is to serve as a buffer with the Ottoman Empire. The local indigenous tribes also accept the leadership of two governments at the same time.
As a result, conflict was created, but the operation was too fierce and the place was occupied. The Egyptians did not act aggressively, they just ran over to protest.
If possible, Franz would rather the Egyptians call him regardless, then the latter thing is easy to handle, anyway, singled out Egypt he did not have any pressure.
Obviously, the Egyptian government was not stupid and did not recklessly send people to reason. Military threats are no longer appropriate at this time.
Franz has always paid attention to eating, creating an excuse to come to find trouble, has refreshed his lower limit, his conscience is very unsatisfactory.
Now that they have occupied the place where they are considered a city, it is too much trouble to find another person.
The cause and effect of the matter, the Egyptian government did not care, no matter who is at fault, anyway, the parties involved are dead, and people die. Now the Austrians are evacuating, and no compensation has been claimed.
Franz asked with a headache: "What do you think of this problem?"
He acknowledged that he was not dark enough, so he could not do such a domineering thing. If possible, he is more willing to solve problems peacefully.
Unfortunately, Austria's influence in Egypt is not strong enough to compete with Britain and France, and it is compelled to make such a decision and seek a breakthrough in the Sinai region.
Metternich calmly replied: "His Majesty, the Sinai Peninsula itself is not of much value. Our occupation here is mainly to seize the opportunity to be able to step in when the Suez Canal is dug.
Now that the Egyptian government wants to negotiate, let's talk to them. It's a big deal to pay for these areas, anyway, it's sand that is worth a few bucks.
Now Britain and France do not know our purpose. Even if they interfere, they are only worried that we will continue to expand their forces in Egypt and affect their interests.
At best we assure them that we will not continue to seek expansion in Egypt. As for the issue of the Sinai Peninsula, we, the powers, also need face! "
Although the approach is a bit excessive, it is indeed very powerful. Right or wrong, everyone was very domineering during overseas colonization.
The Vienna government is willing to spend a nominal amount of money, that is to give the Egyptian government a step down. If the Egyptian government does not agree, I will take up the space anyway and see what you can do?
Is it possible to fight Austria over Sinai for a desert that has nothing? It is estimated that the Egyptian government does not have the courage. If it loses and loses to the family, wait for it to be divided up!
Don't look at the Egyptian government's preparations for modernization. It seems to be a bit rich and powerful. In fact, they recognized their strength after losing to the Ottoman Empire in the last war.
The Prime Minister Felix reminded: "The French have already obtained the right to dig the Suez Canal. Is this a hindrance?"
Metternich explained: "Don't worry, we need to pay attention to the Sinai Peninsula, and we don't need to occupy the entire Sinai Peninsula, as long as we get a foothold on it.
The Suez Canal has not yet started, and it is unknown whether the future can be navigable. Now we are just planning ahead.
As far as I know, the British strongly opposed the excavation of the Suez Canal. They are strategically located to enter the Indian Ocean via the Cape of Good Hope and do not need this Grand Canal. "
The attitude of the British towards the Suez Canal was so indifferent in this era. Many British people thought that the navigation of the Suez Canal would weaken their advantage in sea trade.
After all, from a distance perspective, the navigation of the Suez Canal is more beneficial to Mediterranean countries, and France, Austria, Spain and other countries have become closer to the Indian Ocean.
They had recently been on the shortest route and suddenly became farther than their competitors. This will undoubtedly make the cost of maritime cargo transportation in the UK exceed its competitors and reduce market competitiveness.
Whether it is worrying or not, this sense of crisis is always right. It is this sense of crisis that has brought the British Empire to where it is today.
Whether the Suez Canal is navigable is not only doubted by the British, but also by many people in the Austrian government.
The European Grand Canal has never seen such a long canal. The total length of 190 kilometers exceeds the affordability of everyone.
Franz has no way to convince everyone that the Suez Canal must be navigable. Even if this cargo capacity is navigable, it is also a test.
If you can only pass a few boats, then it also fails. For strategic considerations, the Suez Canal, which Austria needs, can handle at least 40,000 tons of ships.
Otherwise, in the era of the fearless ship, this canal will be abandoned. At that time, if the British want to continue to expand the canal, the British must hinder construction and allow Austrian warships to navigate only from the Strait of Gibraltar, thereby establishing a strategic advantage.
Franz said with confidence: "Don't worry about the navigation problem. Historical records record that in the 6th century AD, a great empire of the Sui Dynasty in the East dug a north-south canal with a total length of more than 2,700 kilometers.
Even after the change of geography, and later the diversion, the new Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is 1797 kilometers, and now it can sail 500 tons of ships normally.
With ancient technology, people can dig such a long canal without using any machinery. Can't we dig a canal less than 200 kilometers in current technology?
From the topographical point of view, the construction difficulty of the Suez Canal is far inferior to that of the Grand Canal. "
Prime Minister Felix exclaimed: "Sir, are you sure there is such a long canal in the East?"
Franz replied affirmatively: "Of course, do you think I can't lie? The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is still operating normally, just in that decaying Manchu empire, you can check the information and know.
Felix quickly explained, "No, I didn't doubt you.
It just felt that it was incredible. Some 1,300 years ago, someone dug a canal of more than 2,700 kilometers.
If true, then this should be the greatest project in human history. That great empire must be very powerful, and it can actually complete such a huge project. "
Franz didn't say a word, he couldn't explain that the excavation of the Grand Canal had consumed too much of the people's power. The empire died directly, right?
Then everyone wants to ...
Oh, no need to worry at all. Digging the Suez Canal does not require labor to be transferred from Austria, as long as money is available.
It is even possible to provide food directly. In addition to the technical and management personnel who need to pay salaries, ordinary workers can manage the food.
The largest expenditure of labor costs is thus saved. The Suez Canal has historically cost 18.6 million pounds, more than double the budgeted cost.
This is mainly because the British planned the slave labor riots and created public pressure to condemn the French. They had to pay salaries to hire people later, which caused a substantial increase in construction costs.
The price of navigating as a canal is that 120,000 workers are buried here.
This issue is not considered by the Austrian government. Franz also decisively chose to be invisible, and any major project in this era was piled up with human life.
Austria's large railway network is an example. In just five or six years, Austria's domestic railways have become the number one in Europe, and tens of thousands of workers have fallen behind.
It can be said that the faster the construction speed in this era, the greater the artificial injuries and deaths, and the efficiency is piled up by human life.
London
After receiving news from Austria on the Sinai Peninsula, the first reaction of the British cabinet was that the Austrians were going to invade Egypt and they had to stop it.
The Prime Minister Granville asked in confusion: "Who told me what the Austrians are doing. Is the Vienna government flooded with water and going to Sinai to eat sand?"
On the surface, there is no colonial value in the Sinai Peninsula. The richest places in Egypt are in the Nile River Basin, hundreds of kilometers away from the Sinai Peninsula, and there is a desert barrier in the middle that is unqualified as a springboard.
Foreign Minister John Russell laughed: "It is said that this was an Austrian civilian colonial militant who originally wanted to do things in Egypt and found that he was not strong enough.
In order to recover their colonial costs, they ran to the Sinai Peninsula to rob a tribe and occupied an abandoned city. "
Colonial Minister William mocked: "This rookie's colonial armed forces must be masters of no brains. Perhaps the trophies they have harvested are not enough to pay the lost pensions.
In the Sinai Peninsula, we have already sent people to investigate. Nomadic tribes on the island have nothing but camels and sheep.
These camels and sheep are worthless at all, unless they can be shipped back to the country for sale, and they can only sell fur locally.
The locals are so poor that they ca n’t live anymore. The Egyptian government is too lazy to send people to collect taxes in the past, and there are still people robbing them. "
Everyone laughed. This kind of thing happened not once or twice in the colonial movement. Many civilian armed forces who have just been engaged in overseas colonization often make this mistake.
Sheep and camels are indeed goods, and in some places they are very valuable, but unfortunately they are worthless on the Sinai Peninsula, because there are no buyers for these things.
At most, the animals are killed, the fur is taken away, and a fur merchant is sold. It is estimated that if these animals are to be shipped out for sale, it is not enough to pay the freight.
After laughing enough, Granville said, "Then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to stare at the Vienna government and see what they will do next. We are deciding what to do.
Anyway, the French region has the biggest interest in the French. Now that it has added a competitor, let them have a headache first! "
Throughout, Granville didn't take it seriously. Overseas colonization is a game, a game of plundering wealth, which is completely different from the situation on the European continent.
As long as it does not threaten India, the London government will not have an overreaction immediately. Otherwise, the news of the colonial conflicts every day will make them angry.
This is not a joke. After entering the 19th century, on average, there were more than 100 colonial conflicts encountered by the London government every year.
Most of the small conflicts in this area were handled by colonial officials, and only those who escalated the conflict needed to handle them themselves.
If they do not learn to exercise restraint and use force at every turn, it will not take three months for them to fight against all colonial empires throughout Europe.
They were concerned about the Sinai Peninsula, mainly because they were worried about Austria's invasion of Egypt, and they were determined to be the civilian armed forces, and their interest naturally disappeared.
For details, you can refer to the British folk colonization team, such as the East India Company, which has killed a few countries overseas. The London government does not necessarily know the news.
The weaker individuals organized the colonial armed forces, robbing one area today, and robbing another area tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, they provoked the enemy and were destroyed by the enemy ...
This kind of thing happens too much, anyway, it is profitable, the British government will go to battle to stand for them. If there is no interest, even if the group is destroyed, the London government will not bother to care about it.
...
Paris
Napoleon III confidently said: "The Austrians have deepened their tentacles into Egypt. Should we cut them off immediately?"
France's strength in Egypt is not small, just encourage the Egyptian government to expel the Austrian invaders.
Of course, it is estimated that the Egyptian government will not listen to them now. After all, in the last war with Ottoman, the Egyptian government was miserable by the French.
The aid was promised, but under pressure from European countries, the Paris government resolutely advised. Without their assistance in weapons and equipment, the Egyptian government was quickly prostrated by the Ottoman Empire.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Auvergne persuaded: "Your Majesty, let's negotiate first! We can mediate this conflict, and if we can't reach an agreement, we can take extreme measures."
He was not as confident as Napoleon III. He encouraged the Egyptian government to rush forward and the matter was resolved.
In case the situation exceeds the control, the Vienna government refuses to admit defeat and arrests the Egyptian government for a moment. Are they up or not?
The French government, which had just fought the Russians and suffered heavy losses, did not want to fight another battle with Austria, and everyone did not want to do such a loss-making sale.
Napoleon III was just talking, he didn't really want to take risks. Now he is already wearing shoes, otherwise he dare to bet on anything during the struggle in his youth.
The realities of the Near East War told him that France is no longer the French that hanged on the European continent.
Napoleon III nodded and said, "Then the Foreign Ministry will mediate this conflict, as long as it does not harm our interests!"
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