The problem in Franz's eyes is not a problem in the eyes of people in this era.

In terms of construction costs, the maximum gap between these four sets of standards is only 1.2%, which means that the construction cost of railways is not the main factor affecting the decision.

It's right to think about it, the railway gauge in this era was generally relatively large, and the first railway gauge of the Russians was still 1829mm, and later the bureaucrats listened to the advice of American engineers to change it to 1524mm in order to make money.

How much did you save by shrinking from six feet to five feet?

It saved 3% on the budget, and of course, with the style of the Russian bureaucrats, it was certainly not much saved in the end.

The standard gauge was marketed by the British to the world, and John Bull introduced a law from 1846, and from this time on, the 1435mm system became the standard gauge in the British mainland and colonies.

However, soon India became an exception, the standard gauge could not meet their transportation requirements, and the British were pragmatic and could not be enlarged, so most of India's railways were 1676mm standard, and there were naturally many other messy gauge railways.

After nearly 100 years of efforts by the British, the 1435mm system became the international standard gauge in the mid-20th century.

Whether there is a purpose to limit the freight capacity of mainland countries, this is unknown, anyway, Franz does not believe that John Bull would be so kind.

With the technology of the mid-19th century, the freight volume of the broad gauge railway surpassed that of the narrow gauge railway, and the safety and speed were much higher, which is completely different from the 21st century.

Later generations relied on science and technology to solve the problem of train stability, and the freight capacity and speed of narrow-gauge railways have been improved, which cannot be done in this era.

The cost of railway maintenance is actually about the same. After the completion of the railway, the structure is exactly the same, the difference is only the length of the sleepers, and the simple maintenance of the narrow-gauge railway is unfounded.

The question of floor space, then it is complete nonsense, whose railway does not leave a separation belt on both sides, does it still need to use the land under the train?

…… (Don't talk about it, it's almost becoming popular science)

"Your Majesty, since we want to unify the standards, it may be better to let the Holy Roman Alliance unify the standards together, bring everyone together, and formulate a common standard." Metternich suggested

"Is there any time, our railroad has already started construction?" Prime Minister Felix asked thoughtfully

"There is no problem, the construction of the railway has just begun, and if a decision is made within a year, it will not affect the construction." Minister of Railways Stein replied

The railway construction in this era is really slow, and now the demolition has begun, and after the completion of the digging should be dug and filled, and the roadbed construction can not be completed without a year or two of effort.

"Then pull everyone together, and the Ministry of Railways is responsible for selecting an optimal plan as our opinion, and try to persuade everyone to implement it together.

If there is a dispute, take out these sets of criteria and let everyone vote, and these plans are suitable for Austria anyway. Franz said indifferently

"Then 1676mm, this standard can already meet our needs, and the safety is also guaranteed." Stein was quick to give an answer

As for the international standard of railways, is there such a thing in this era? Who admits it?

You must know that when the British were building the Western Railway, they found that their standard system could not guarantee safety because of technology, so they switched to broad gauge, and it was not until the end of the 19th century that the technology reached the standard, and it was demolished and rebuilt.

Once the Holy Roman League established a new standard, the future of international railway gauge standards may become two.

If nothing else, the railway standards of the South German state were unified, and Prussia followed or not?

If you don't follow up, the two sides will be cut off economically; If we follow up, Central Europe and Southern Europe will unify the standard system, and the impact will undoubtedly be huge.

As an emperor, many things had to be considered political-military. For example, now, let Austria-Hungary and Maozi unify the railway standards, and Franz will immediately coax it.

Needless to say, we all know that any country that is a neighbor with a woolly bear must be cautious. Even if everyone is an ally, what should be guarded against is still to be guarded.

During this period, the major European powers actually had a bit of a foreign power, and Austria was no exception, and the social reform had just begun, and it had not yet had time to transform into national strength.

The British have also not reached their peak of national power, India has not yet been completely eaten by them, Australia and New Zealand still have indigenous powers, South Africa has only established some strongholds in the coastal areas, Southeast Asian colonization is underway, Egypt is still dominated by the French, and the great colonial empire has not yet completed the puzzle.

The French were busy with internal struggles, and the internal contradictions of the Russians were simply suppressed, waiting to be detonated by external forces.

The Kingdom of Prussia also relied on foreign wars to divert social contradictions, and its internal reforms had just begun.

Spain continues to decline, and social reforms have not yet begun; Far away on the side of the ocean, the United States was still only an agricultural country with a population of just over 20 million at this time, and its main economic income was the export of cotton.

Thinking of this, Franz suddenly had an idea, should I find an opportunity to engage in South Africa?

South Africa is so big, the British only established colonial rule on the coast, and the inland area is still terra nullius, except for the Cape of Good Hope, the British do not pay attention to it at all.

Now the British are very busy, and they can't take care of more parts of Africa, and there are so many entry points, if you join in now, maybe you can get a piece of meat.

If you really can't do it, start with Namibia, and then occupy Botswana, and play a sideshow; Or start with Tanzania, occupy Zambia and Zimbabwe, and enter the hinterland of South Africa from the land.

It's pretty good in theory, but it doesn't seem to be very reliable in practice, the African continent in this era is not cute at all, there are a bunch of diseases, poisonous insects and beasts, and you have to colonize this place before you are prepared to bear a super high mortality rate.

Theoretically, it's not very high, but as long as you are careful and control the mortality rate within 10 percent, there is probably no problem.

It's okay to say this, but if you really implement it, you will find that everyone is actually not so brave, who wants to take risks in the past if you live well?

Except for the stimulus of interests, for example, when the gold mine in South Africa was discovered, then everyone suddenly became brave, and diseases, poisonous insects, and beasts of prey are nothing.

Regrettably, when the gold was discovered, it would not be Austria's turn. Unless they occupied it in advance and then joined forces with the Boers, they would not be able to rob the British at all.

Reason to reason, as soon as this thought came out, Franz could no longer linger.

Anyway, it is still a long time before South Africa discovers gold, so it is a big deal to support the African colonialists in the country and let them go over and establish a stronghold first.

By the time the Anglo-Boer War broke out, Austria had probably risen up, and whether it was to support the Boers in causing trouble for John Bull, or to participate in the division of the war, it would need a foothold.

The timing of the move must be chosen, preferably when the British are too busy to take care of themselves, and suddenly launch it to create an established fact.

The international law of this era, the borderless land, whoever occupies it first is anyone's, and the premise is that it can be kept.

It's still early, so there's no need to rush to get started. Franz is not a blind man, and now it seems that he will still push for the construction of the Suez Canal.

Austria does not have the ability to dominate this canal, but it is still possible to turn it into an international condominium canal with a little encouragement.

Historically, when the Suez Canal was dug, the British government was against it, believing that the canal would threaten their maritime supremacy.

The British public believed that the canal was inaccessible to large ships, and the shares of the Canal Company were almost unattended in the UK.

On the contrary, it sold well in France, and the canal company was stopped by insufficient funds, and the project almost became unfinished, and finally it was successfully completed under the maneuvering of the Rothsjend family.

Historically, the canal was opened to navigation in 1869, and for such a long time, the Austrian navy had almost a bit of weight.

There is no guarantee that it is still possible to become a shareholder of the canal.

Historically, France could not withstand the pressure of the British, and was forced to give up because of financial problems, but if it had become Franco-Austrian joint dominance of the Suez Canal, the result would have been different.

How to do it, Franz had a headache. The relationship between the great powers is very complicated, and everyone is cooperating and stabbing each other.

Join forces here today, and fight again tomorrow in another place.

If you want to reduce contradictions, unless you want to do the Russian-Austrian secret treaty, everyone takes what they need and agrees on the sphere of influence in advance.

It is impossible to imagine that Austria can make concessions to Russia, and that is the core strategy of everyone.

Franz also knew that as soon as the Russians' strategy was activated, they would be besieged by Britain, France, and the Ottomans, and that the national strength of the woolly bear could not support such a long-term war of attrition, and defeat was inevitable.

Unless Britain and France invade Russia on their own initiative, Austria will be drawn into the war under the influence of the Covenant. Just open the map to know that unless Russia takes the lead in the killing, it will be difficult for Britain and France to attack Russia.

Obviously, this kind of thing can't come a second time, Austria can only choose a big country as an ally, and the two or five boys who are swaying from side to side are easily shot to death.