The essence of the colonies was to make money, and for the Austrian government, there were only two kinds of colonies that were valuable: those that were profitable and those that were strategically valuable.

There is no doubt that Lan Phuong Autonomous Province is profitable, and at the same time, it also has a certain strategic value.

Together with the rest of Austria's South Seas, the Autonomous Province of Lan Fong established Austria's regional hegemony in the South Seas.

It is not that the Vienna government is without the call of the autonomous province of Lanfang, and the key is that no one can guarantee that it will be able to obtain more lucrative benefits after the direct administration.

The economic value of the autonomous province of Lan Fang to the Vienna government is much more than the 3,764,000 shields per year.

Since joining the Austrian system, there has been no security threat, and the province of Lan Fong has quickly entered the fast lane of development.

Perhaps the two neighbors of Spain and the Netherlands have done too well, as early as more than ten years ago, Lanfang Autonomous Province has become the base camp of overseas Chinese businessmen.

The influx of a large amount of capital has naturally led to the development of the local economy, and if it were not limited by geographical conditions, the development of Lanfang Autonomous Province would be better.

At present, Lanfang Autonomous Province imports tens of millions of Aegis industrial and commercial products from Austria every year, and at the same time exports rubber, sago, dried coconut, kage dyes, cereal flour, pepper, gold and silver and other raw materials.

If it is listed separately, in terms of total trade, the autonomous province of Lanfang is enough to rank in the top five of all Austria's trading partners.

The greater the stakes involved, the more cautious the Vienna government became.

If there is a mistake in the operation, the situation is turbulent, someone pries the wall, and loses the hegemony of the South Seas region, then there will be no return.

Under the impetus of interests, the status of Lan Fang Autonomous Province is naturally different, and it has now become a special existence higher than the colonies and lower than the state states.

If it weren't for the fact that the local ruling class, heavily influenced by tradition and dislike to participate in politics, would have now added one seat to the Imperial Diet.

Lanfang Autonomous Province is not without people of insight, as early as more than ten years ago someone proposed to build a railway, but the traditional force is too strong, the "ancestral tomb" is really inextricable.

In addition, Lan Phuong Autonomous Province is an island, the sea transportation is developed, and the inland area is not much developed, and the demand for railways is not large, so it was shelved.

This also shows from the side that the ruling class of Lanfang Autonomous Province is garbage, these guys in the original time and space are compradors of the Dutch, and the discipline is naturally not as high as there.

Franz had no intention of interfering in Lanfang's internal affairs, and he was a reputable emperor who took people's money and used people to eliminate disasters.

Even for the sake of the annual tribute, Franz was also a supporter of Lanfang's autonomy.

It's not that Franz is greedy for money, it's mainly that he understands the traditional culture of the East. If he, the emperor, didn't take the money, those guys would be so anxious that they cried.

In this era of worse people, as long as you don't get angry and resentful, you can be considered qualified.

I don't know what will be written in the history books in the future, but now everyone takes what they need, and the cooperation is very pleasant.

……

Seeing that the parties had reached an agreement, Franz, as the arbiter, put forward a new demand: "Let the railway plan be like this first, but it is still not enough."

The economic crisis is expected to last for a long time, and to get out of it, the government will have to create more jobs while spending as little as possible. ”

It's not hard to reduce spending and create jobs, but it's not easy to do both.

The Vienna government's construction plan is essentially aimed at better economic development, and the investment projects must also consider profitability.

If the time is postponed to twenty years later, Franz University could upgrade the road and build a highway.

Not now, not long after the birth of the automobile, people's main means of transportation is still horse-drawn carriages.

Running a carriage on a concrete road?

It's very touching to think about, but the problem is a waste horse! It's so hard that the horse's hooves won't last long.

Building water conservancy projects?

This thing has been built in the previous economic crises for a long time. If you haven't started construction yet, it has no economic value.

Not only have these projects been completed, but even the upgrading and transformation of the city has been basically completed, and there is no need to consider these problems for at least 30 years.

Austria is such a big part of Europe, and after so many years of infrastructure construction, there is really nothing to toss.

Africa is large enough, but unfortunately the population is limited and there is not enough need. Government investment should also consider the economic rate of return, and it is impossible to build blindly.

This is a problem that a country will inevitably face when it has developed to a certain extent, but Austria has faced it earlier.

Prime Minister Felix: "The country's infrastructure is becoming more and more perfect, and the days of relying on government investment in infrastructure to boost the economy cannot last forever.

It is likely that our economic growth rate will slow down for a long time in the future, and it is expected that the next period of rapid economic growth should be the completion of the African localization strategy.

For the sake of long-term development, we must now embark on as many long-term and sustainable projects as possible. ”

This is a fact, and the current major projects in Austria, namely the canal project and the hydropower plant plan, have already been launched, and it is naturally impossible to do it again.

After a pause, Prime Minister Felix continued: "In recent years, the technology of the internal combustion engine has developed rapidly, showing great potential in many fields, and may even replace the steam engine.

If this happens, then oil will replace coal as the most important industrial raw material.

The only question is whether oil production can meet demand, and as it stands, the world is starved of crude oil production.

In continental Europe, in particular, there are hardly any large oil fields found. Despite our traditional oil production region of Ploiesti, we imported 110,000 tons of crude oil from the Russian Empire last year.

This figure seems insignificant, based on the current international oil price, but it is only a few hundred thousand Aegis.

But just three years ago, we were an exporter of crude oil. In just three years, domestic demand for crude oil has increased by at least 200,000 tons.

According to scientists' estimates, our demand for oil will double in five years, and it will double again in ten years, leaving the market with a shortfall of millions of tons.

Many scientists in the field of energy have issued early warnings to the government about the energy crisis. To solve this problem, the government organizes oil exploration teams.

In general, the harvest is still good, and many oil fields have been discovered in the country, but unfortunately the production is not high.

The biggest harvest was the discovery of a large oil field in the lower reaches of the two river basins, with reserves more than all the oil fields in the country combined.

After analysis by geologists, it was believed that there may be a large amount of oil buried in the two river basins, and the government sent an exploration team to verify it.

The discovery of oil on the border between the Ottoman Empire and Persia not so long ago confirmed this speculation. As the area is outside our control, no further exploration has been undertaken for safety reasons. ”

Needless to say, the meaning is very obvious, it is not within the scope of control, so find a way to get it within your control.

If the oil is buried in the ground and cannot be moved, it will only allow Austria to expand its control, which is the consistent style of the Great Powers.

Frankly, Franz never thought that Austria would be short of oil, and he never cared about it.

The emperor also has a lot of things, and unimportant things naturally have to be ignored. At present, Austria's sphere of influence already covers half of the world's oil reserves, and the lack of oil is not a joke?

And yet the joke did happen. Oil in Africa has not been discovered, and the oil in the Middle East has only been revealed, and after realizing the importance of oil, it is inevitable that the Vienna government will take precautions.

And then the Ottoman Empire is going to be tragic, there is already a deep feud in the sea of blood, and now they are guilty, who is unlucky if they are not unlucky?

Franz wanted to say that it was only a matter of time before he made a move against the Ottoman Empire. The energy crisis only provided an opportunity to silence the anti-war wing in the government.

Prime Minister Felix did not directly say that he wanted to start a war, but the "sustainable and long-lasting" project, coupled with the repeated emphasis on the importance of oil, has already provided the answer.

Compared with other projects, waging a war against the Ottoman Empire is indeed the most economically valuable.

The most important thing is that the opportunity is rare, the European continent is caught in the wave of revolution, and countries are busy putting out fires.

It's all too busy to take care of itself, who can take care of the Ottoman Empire?

By this time, there was no one left to stop the pace of war. Even if there is no opportunity for oil, there will be other reasons.