Before the construction of the railway, there was another problem before the Austrian government, the standard gauge of the railway.

This standard cannot be arbitrarily formulated, whether it is better for broad-gauge or narrow-gauge railways, which should be determined according to actual needs.

From the narrowest railway gauge of 610 mm to the widest railway gauge of 2141 mm, these are all options. Of course, if the reality requires, you can continue to reduce or enlarge the track gauge.

The advantage of broad-gauge railway is that the stability of the train is improved, it is not easy to overturn, and the smoothness and comfort of the train operation can be improved. The disadvantage is that the turning radius is too large, and the construction cost increases.

Of course, when the track is wider, the carriage can also be widened, and the load capacity will increase, the premise is that the railway can carry a larger load capacity, which requires comprehensive consideration, not just the track gauge can be determined.

In general, the carrying capacity of broad-gauge railways is larger, but due to other factors, the carrying capacity does not necessarily increase.

In terms of passenger transportation, broad-gauge railways are obviously more dominant, with more space and a more comfortable experience.

The tall things of the god horse of orbit change technology do not need to be considered in this era, including the high-performance trains of later generations, which can also not be produced in this era.

Perhaps in later generations, narrow-gauge railways could also run trains more than three meters wide, which was obviously not possible in this era. If there are not many problems in the plains, once you go up and down the hill, it will be a few minutes to overturn.

In addition to this, there are also political and military factors to consider. For the sake of national defense and security, railways of different standards from those of neighboring countries are deliberately built so that the enemy cannot quickly use their railways in times of war.

……

"Your Majesty, why do you have to unify the gauge of all railways? Let's go to a fixed station to change trains, isn't it?

In this way, we can build railways according to different needs and reduce construction costs to a minimum. Minister of Railways Stein asked suspiciously

Franz explains: "We have to be efficient, think about how long it takes to unload the goods from one train and reload them onto another, and how much more labor does it take? ”

Stein thought for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, this little time is nothing, the speed of train transportation is much faster than traditional transportation.

The increased labor costs are not worth mentioning compared to the cost of railway construction. We have limited funds, and there is no need to waste them here. ”

Franz rubbed his forehead, he finally knew what was going on in the railway chaos in various countries in this era.

Limited by the times, the people of this era are different from later generations in terms of thinking and cognition.

People have not yet entered the era of fast-paced life, and people do not feel that time is precious. The labor cost is even lower, and the value of labor is not felt.

Still, Franz had to find a way to convince them. Don't think that the Germans are stubborn, in fact the Austrians are not much worse, especially such engineers with low emotional intelligence.

As senior talents in this era, they have their own persistence. If he couldn't convince them, Franz had no choice but to force them to do so.

Obviously, this is not what he wants. If these people are not allowed to do their best and slack off a little in the design of the railway, the losses caused will be tens of millions.

In order to avoid being cheated, the core designers of the Austrian railways are a group of technical nerds from their own country, even if they are external technicians, they are all from Germany, and they are all "three correct views" in thought.

Franz replied: "Is there any question about the needs of the future development of the country, which is related to the next step of the country's strategy?" ”

"No, Your Majesty." Stein replied

The difference in ideology and cognition was inexplicable for a while, and Franz didn't bother to explain it, so he just found a reason to fool around.

Anyway, it is much easier to fool this kind of technician with a tendon than to fool politicians, and he has to take the design basis given by the Ministry of Railways to persuade the government, which is a headache to think about.

There is no way, here the Austrian Empire. Although the imperial power is high, the ministers below also have a high status, and if the emperor does too much and makes them unhappy, they will go straight to the seal.

Is it easy to make a substitution?

It's really easy, and there are people everywhere who want to be officials.

It's just that it's hard to find ministers who are capable, loyal enough, and prestigious enough.

If you do whatever you want, it won't be long before all that is left around you is a group of sycophants, and the emperor's order is a holy decree, unconditional support.

Whether it can be implemented or not, no one knows. Franz knew that 80 percent of the world's good policies were in place, but when he got to the bottom, he changed his taste.

Without strong government supervision, bureaucrats interpret it from their own interests, and end up with a disrespectful view.

No one likes principled subordinates, such people often hurt the face of the leader, and since the emperor took the lead, they naturally had to follow suit, and in the end the rest of the government was slick.

What the consequences would be, Franz did not dare to think. Anyway, in a country, as long as the upper strata rot, the lower strata will fall faster than ordinary people imagine.

To avoid this, then there is only one set of rules, and as the maker of the rules, you must also be bound by the rules.

"Based on the actual situation in Austria, is there a problem that you have designed a standard system suitable for Austria based on the annual economic growth rate of 5 percent, taking into account our transportation needs in 50 years?" Franz asked

"Nope!" Stein replied

He is still confident in technology, but as for the economic growth rate, it is a matter of the government, whether it can reach 5 percent, it is none of his business.

Franz seemed to have something in mind, and added: "Wait a minute, we also have to consider the connection between the Holy Roman League and the Balkans, and we will promote this set of standards to them in the future, and eventually everyone's railway network will be connected." ”

The ultimate goal of the Holy Roman League was to achieve economic integration, and the unification of railway standards was naturally an indispensable part.

You can't want other areas of the Balkan Peninsula, but Belgrade must take it, this is the gateway to the Balkan Peninsula, and if you control it, you will control the lifeblood of the Balkan Peninsula.

The two principalities of the Danube Valley also had to be in their hands, as they were vital to Hungary's grain exports and were an important import and export route for Austria. (Principality of Wallachia, Principality of Moldavia)

Before the railway was opened, Hungarian grain was transported to European countries through the Danube River basin into the Black Sea, and the import and export trade of Hungary was also heavily dependent on the Danube.

This is also why Austria is categorically opposed to the Russian occupation of the Black Sea straits, which threatens Austria's national security.

Professional things are still left to professionals, and Austria's big railway plan is still a bit hasty.

Who made Franz underestimate the investment enthusiasm of the aristocracy?

Perhaps in many sources, the aristocracy is decadent and backward, but in fact, they are conservative and have a progressive side.

The aristocracy received the best education from childhood to adulthood, received information that ordinary people could not reach, and broadened their horizons.

In this case, how can the next generation cultivated be all fools and idiots?

They are conservative in their opposition to political change, which is determined by their own interests, how can they allow vested interests to oppose their own interests?

The real fools have long since seen God, and in the Austrian Revolution of 1848, there was also a major reshuffle within the aristocratic group, and many nobles who had made mistakes in judgment and were blinded by greed had been removed.

The concept of the aristocracy also changed at this time, or rather, reality forced them to change.

In order to quell the rebellion as soon as possible, Franz promoted the emancipation of serfs and the redemption of land, which was actually a concession made by the aristocratic class.

The example of the French showed them that if they did not give in to the spread of the revolution, the final losses would be even greater, so they made concessions on the one hand and helped the government to suppress the rebellion on the other.

Some of them were unlucky in the whirlpool of revolution, and they chose to escape in this change, and when the overall situation was decided, the land had been forcibly ransomed.

After losing the pillar of land, these people took the lead in finding new projects to transform. At this time, railways appeared, and many people saw the potential of this new type of transportation.

They need a new industry to keep their family business from falling, and the railway is the choice of many people, and with the efforts of so many people, the speed of railway construction has been artificially accelerated.

The front line is already beginning to prepare for construction, and the standards for railway tracks have not yet been released.

The Government has provided basic information on transport requirements. It's not difficult for railway designers to calculate capacity requirements, and it's even easier for capacity requirements to determine rail standards.

Soon the design standards were placed in front of Franz, and he could not understand other parameters as a layman, and the only thing that attracted his attention was the track gauge.

The Ministry of Railways has put forward four schemes, namely: 1524mm standard system, 1600mm standard system, 1665mm standard system, and 1712mm standard system.

The main roads that started construction in the early stage are all prosperous commercial areas. Both passenger and freight demand are the highest.

When establishing the railway standard system, it was natural to focus on the requirements of this region, and after considering it for 50 years, this standard naturally rose a lot.

There was no narrow-gauge railway, and in this era, limited by train manufacturing technology, the transportation volume of narrow-gauge railway was limited, and due to insufficient stability, it was prone to safety accidents, and was rarely used in the construction of main road railways.

The final choice is in the hands of the Austrian government, and theoretically all of the above options are now feasible, and it becomes a difficult question which one to choose.