On June 18, 1861, the Austrian ocean-going fleet visited Korea. The two sides reached an agreement on friendly exchanges between the two countries, and diplomatic relations were upgraded to the level of ministers.

During this period, Korea was under a feudal system and excluded foreign trade. Previously, Austria had little interest in North Korea, there was no embassy, only one office.

After this goodwill visit, Hummel signed a friendly trade agreement with the DPRK Government, and the two countries granted each other the most-favored-nation status.

This is the norm, and along the way Austria has signed commercial most-favored-nation treaties with more than a dozen countries, including Britain and France.

By the way, several military purchase orders were made, and in addition to army equipment, Hummel also sold five ironclad ships.

Thailand and the more difficult they each ordered one, and the Manchu government ordered three in one go. Obviously, they were frightened by the British and French and wanted to consolidate the coastal defenses. No matter how expensive an ironclad is, it's better than being a lost dog.

Austria was not ready to expand in the Far East, and business had to be done. As for whether this will cause problems for the European colonial empire, it is not within Hummel's consideration.

Unable to fool the North Korean government, Hummel is still a little unwilling, and can only see if Japan, the last country in East Asia, can gain something.

After all, everyone is selling army equipment, and under the competition with each other, the profit has been suppressed. And Austria is the only one that sells ironclad ships, and twice the pure profit is really not high.

If someone is willing to pay a high price, the active equipment can also be *** like this ocean-going fleet, as long as someone bids more than 30 million Aegis, Franz does not mind packaging and selling.

Anyway, the production cost of these warships will not exceed 7 million Aegis, and it will take more than a year to build such a fleet.

With the adoption of the gold standard in Austria, the international gold-silver ratio has also been impacted, and the value of silver against gold has depreciated to 15.3:1, and now 1 Aegis is equivalent to 1.5 taels of silver.

Obviously, in this era, there are very few countries that have the strength to come up with 45 million taels of silver at one time. Unless it is a last resort, no one will come to be the culprit.

……

Edo, Hummel had just made a friendly visit with the shogunate government, and Austria's MFN added one.

The envoy to Japan, Charried, asked suspiciously: "Your Excellency, why don't you take the opportunity to expand our interests in Japan?" ”

Hummel smiled and said, "Isn't it already expanded?" We have signed a treaty of reciprocal most-favored-nation treatment, and any of the powers that expand their rights and interests here directly enjoy the same treatment. ”

This is a fact, a treaty that is completely equal on the surface, because of the difference in the national strength of the two sides, the final outcome is not the same.

The most-favored-nation treatment signed with Britain and France was a pure treaty of equality, with each side taking what it wanted. Anyway, no one in this era has the ability to force them to sign unequal treaties and sell out their domestic commercial interests.

In the case of Japan, it was different, and Austria automatically enjoyed the commercial privileges granted by the Japanese government to any country.

However, compared to the practices of other countries, Austria is actually quite modest. There is no coercion and occupation by force, there is no damage to everyone's sovereignty, and it is only limited to commercial cooperation.

Minister Charried shook his head and said, "Your Excellency, this is not enough. We could have set up a concession, a port, or occupy a few islands here. ”

Hummel explained solemnly: "Your Excellency, we do have the strength to do this now. The ocean-going fleet is currently the strongest armament in East Asia, and even turning Japan into a protectorate is not a problem.

However, the ocean-going fleet cannot be stationed here forever, and it will not be long before we leave. Will Britain and France then watch us occupy so many interests?

Without the use of force, will the local natives still accept our rule? With our strength in the Far East alone, we simply cannot eat such a big benefit.

In that case, it is better to have a good relationship with everyone from the beginning. East Asia is not the center of gravity of our expansion, and doing business here is fine. ”

Minister Charridad said unwillingly: "Aren't there still Russian allies? If our two countries join forces, it will not be a problem to protect these interests. ”

Not long ago, Charried helped the Russians occupy Tsushima Island, and there are considerations in this regard. The introduction of the Russians is for the two countries to join forces to win the biggest cake.

Hummel sighed and said: "The Russians are too greedy for a Japanese to satisfy their appetites." If you cooperate with them, the future will be tied to the chariot by them.

It's too far away from Austria to be beyond the scope of our efforts. Do not forget that the ocean-going fleet was able to reach East Asia without any problems, borrowing ports from various countries along the way for supplies. ”

The Russians are too greedy, this is a fact recognized by all. When it came to territorial expansion, the tsarist government never seemed satisfied.

The dissolution of the Russian-Austrian alliance was also very popular in the Vienna government. Many Austrians believed that cooperating with the Russians would not outweigh the losses, and that it would be better to cooperate with Britain and France to suppress the Russian Empire.

After pondering for a while, Minister Charridad said, "Well, you convinced me. It's just that we don't do anything, or it won't be long before the Russians will be in big trouble. ”

Pit the Russians? Charried is also a veteran of diplomacy, and he has never made any promises to the Russians.

Out of the obligation of allies, they unconditionally helped the Russians occupy Tsushima. Now that the Nagasaki region had fallen into the sphere of influence of the Russians, Austria had not benefited at all.

After the departure of the Austrian ocean-going fleet, it was a question for the Russians to resist the pressure and keep the Nagasaki area.

After the departure of the ocean-going fleet, Austria's closest fleet was far away in the South Seas. At that time, the support that Austria will be able to provide will really be limited to words.

After Charried took stock, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief after making sure that there were no hidden dangers left.

Hummel smiled slightly, stood up and took two steps forward, turned his back to Charried, and said, "Your Excellency, don't you think that Anglo-Russian relations have been too good recently?" ”

Charried was slightly stunned, and reacted casually. Provoking the Anglo-Russian contradiction is also one of the responsibilities of the Austrian Foreign Ministry.

Not only the Anglo-Russian contradictions, but also the Anglo-French contradictions, the Anglo-Spanish contradictions, and the Franco-Russian contradictions...... All are the work of the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Foreign ministries of various countries are doing this, and if it weren't for the European countries stabbing each other, where would there be so many contradictions in the world.

It's just that all this work is done in secret, and everyone maintains a gentlemanly demeanor on the surface. In this era, there are still many people who think that the countries of Europe are one.