Washington

Secretary of State Safar said calmly: "Your Excellency, this is the offer of arms dealers from various countries, as well as from domestic capitalists.

Of course, it doesn't make much sense to us. The federal government has prepared too hastily for this war, and both government forces and state militias are now short of weapons.

At present, many of our troops still have their own shotguns brought by soldiers. In terms of weapons and equipment, there is simply no way to compare with the southern army.

Buying all the stocks of these arms dealers now will not be enough to meet our needs. So the choice is just a fallacy. ”

President Lincoln rubbed his forehead, he very much suspected that the Secretary of State had come specifically to find fault. Since you don't have a choice, then you will buy it, what is there to say.

"Send someone to talk to them, keep the price down as much as possible, and kick out the highest offer."

Savfar shook his head and said: "I'm afraid not, the Austrians with the highest offer, their product is a breech rifle, which is superior in performance."

The most important thing is that they have the most stocks in their hands, and they can provide us with 100,000 breech rifles, 150,000 breech rifles, and 800 guns of various types at one time.

Not long ago, they had just sold 200,000 breech-loading rifles, 1,000 artillery pieces, and some ammunition to the Southern government. ”

In the eyes of Mr. Secretary of State, the government of the South is just too stupid.

In times of war, isn't it stupid not to take advantage of good relations with other countries to sweep up goods and let these weapons and equipment flow into the hands of the enemy?

As for the price paid, no matter how much money is spent on weapons and equipment, it is not comparable to the losses brought on the battlefield.

If the southern government sweeps up the goods as soon as possible, then the northern government will not be able to obtain sufficient weapons and equipment for at least the next six months.

This is the advantage of constant communication, which can hit a time difference. Don't look at the international arms dealers gathering in North America, in fact, everyone's stock is still limited.

Tens of thousands of rifles, hundreds of artillery pieces, thousands of tons of ammunition, that's a lot of money. No matter how much it is, unless it is a time-traveler like Franz, who knows how big the Civil War was?

If there is too much stockpiling, and the North and the South suddenly cease fighting and compromise, then all of them will be smashed in their hands, and the cost will not be recovered.

Except for the Americans, there is no such wronged leader in the world as a pick-up man.

It would cost less than £10 million to empty the warehouses of arms dealers active in the United States. In exchange for 10 million pounds in exchange for the enemy's lack of weapons and equipment for half a year, such a deal is completely profitable.

After listening to Safar's explanation, President Lincoln almost broke out in a cold sweat.

Half a year is enough to decide the outcome of a war. Fortunately, the southern government did not do this, otherwise the northern government would have been miserable.

After adjusting his mind, Lincoln asked rhetorically, "Your Excellency, isn't that what you're looking for me to say?" ”

Secretary of State Al Safar explained unhurriedly: "Of course not. Now the four great powers of Britain, France, Austria and Spain supported the southern government, and under their influence, most of the European countries stood on the southern side.

Most of these arms dealers have political backgrounds, and they would certainly be more willing to do business with the Southern government under similar conditions.

If we bid higher, it's a different story. In the face of profits, arms dealers do not care what the government thinks.

So, I am ready to raise the price of weapons and equipment, especially some advanced weapons. The southern states have weak industrial strength and limited production capacity, so they can only follow us and raise prices.

Unlike the traitors in the South, our own industrial capacity is not bad, and the lack of weapons and equipment is only temporary.

If nothing else, starting next year, our weapons self-sufficiency rate will reach more than 85 percent, and the southern government will probably not reach 30 percent.

Since it is impossible to achieve victory militarily, then we drag them down economically. ”

This was the advantage of the Northern government, but President Lincoln was not at all happy, and the Secretary of State's plan was to prepare for a protracted war.

Lincoln frowned and asked, "Do you have no faith in our army?" ”

Saffarid replied solemnly: "Your Excellency, it has been more than three months since the outbreak of the war, and the total number of troops lost by the federal government has exceeded 80,000.

I admit that the military has worked hard, and they have achieved a lot of results, but it is still us who is at the bottom of the list.

If anything happens on the battlefield in Maryland, the federal government will soon be fighting a battle to defend Washington. I don't think the federal government has any chance of winning the war in the short term. ”

The secretary of state's attitude, to some extent, is also representative of the attitude of officials within the federal government. Since they are ready to fight a protracted war, it also means that everyone has lost confidence in quelling the rebellion in the short term.

This is not the worst of all, if the war drags on, the voices of the domestic lords and factions will be raised.

As a qualified politician, Lincoln knew that it was the enemies inside him who were the most terrifying, these people lurked in the shadows, and he didn't even know who they were.

After a moment's hesitation, Lincoln said, "Okay, let's do what you planned!" But we have to solve the fiscal problem first, because the southern government uses cotton as collateral to issue bonds overseas, and we have no collateral. ”

It's not that the federal government doesn't have collateral, the problem is that these collaterals, they don't dare to mortgage them at all. Otherwise, the people in the country will break out first.

……

The island of New Guinea has now been renamed Novobavaria. It seems that it is a European habit to choose random names, and Franz has become accustomed to it.

The world's second-largest island now belonged to the Habsburgs, but Franz was not surprised.

In terms of resources, Novobavaria is also rich, with a lot of mineral resources, and the delta plain in the south is the most fertile land in the world.

There are no strong indigenous kingdoms on the island, and it is tentatively estimated that there will be no more than one million indigenous people on the island, and possibly less than 300,000.

However, this land was not favored by the colonizers of European countries. Obviously, this is very abnormal.

Previously, Austria's colonial activities were also to seize the islands around Novobavaria, such as the Melanesian Islands, the Sezhen Islands, and the Aru Islands......

This is a way to demarcate spheres of influence, to swear sovereignty. It's all around my territory, and you naturally can't come to the central region to grab it, otherwise you'll break the rules.

Now after the pace of colonization has been accelerated, and the colonization team has entered the island of Novobavaria in a big way, the problem arises.

1. The island has a tropical rainforest climate with large annual precipitation;

2. The downstream terrain is low and flat, and the drainage is not smooth;

3. The river has a long flood season and is easy to inundate the surrounding areas;

4. The coast is affected by tides, seawater intrusion, and many tidal flats;

5. The whole island is mountainous, swampy, and sparsely populated.

To sum up, it will cost a lot of money to develop this island.

At the very least, it is necessary to solve the problem of drainage, turn the marshland into farmland, and preferably build a seawall to protect the coastal areas from the tides.

Franz asked, "What is the Colonial Office going to do?" ”

The Minister of the Colonies, Josipp Jelačić, replied: "Your Majesty, we are ready to put aside the development of the island of Novobavaria for the time being, only to develop part of it, and to establish a few cities in suitable areas to swear sovereignty.

The focus is on the development of the surrounding islands, and the South Seas region is really very rich. The indigenous people here are not engaged in agricultural production at all, but live on the gifts of nature.

The islands are rich in tropical fruits, suitable for growing cash crops such as coffee, cocoa, copra, palm oil, tea and rubber. ”

This is the wisest choice, colonization is to make money, and it is very unwise to invest blindly.

Anyway, the island is sparsely populated and not engaged in agricultural production, and if there is no external influence, it will still be the same after a hundred years.

The island is where it is, and it will not be too late for the Vienna government to develop it again when the colonies of the world are divided.

Franz nodded and said, "That's what Novobavaria does, what about the Republic of Lanfang?" ”

If it weren't for the mention of the Lanfang Republic in the document, Franz would have almost forgotten that there was also a Chinese republic in the Nanyang region.

Josip Jelačić explained: "Your Majesty, Kalimantan is rich in gold mines, so a group of Chinese people gathered together and established the Republic of Lanfang.

Not long ago, the ocean-going fleet visited this country and signed a friendship agreement with Count Humel, so it is not good for us to turn the other cheek directly.

This small country is very weak, and the colonial government is looking for a pretext for war, and it should not be long before we can destroy them. ”

After a moment's hesitation, Franz relented.

"Don't be in a hurry to act and send a man of good speech to trick them into joining the new Holy Roman Empire.

We can give them autonomy, we can follow the standards of the kingdom in our country, and it doesn't hurt to be more lenient.

The Nanyang region is too far away, we are limited in the immigration we can provide, and it is very difficult to develop so many places.

If the Republic of Lanfang is destroyed by force, it will not only increase military spending, but it will also be difficult to obtain much benefit in the short term.

It's better to directly absorb Lanfang Company, and we can make a profit directly, and we don't even need to pay the cost of governance. ”

In Franz's view, the Republic of Lanfang is the Lanfang Company, and the rulers themselves do not regard this as a country.

Historically, it was because the rulers of the Lanfang Company took refuge in the Dutch for their own interests that the country perished.

The force of the Dutch, it's not that Franz looks down on them, it's really not bad.

The Republic of Lan Fong is located in the South Seas, which has enough immigrants and plenty of land for development. If the ruling class does not degenerate and strives to develop its own strength, it will not be a dream to unify the Nanyang region.

If you can take refuge with the Dutch, you can also take refuge with the Austrians. Several noble titles are smashed down, and it is estimated that these people will not be able to resist the temptation.

The Republic of Lanfang received Austrian protection, and the Vienna government increased its revenue.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Although he felt that Franz's style of conduct today was different from that of the past, Josip Jelačić did not object, which was in Austria's interest.

The essence of overseas colonization is to make a profit, and it doesn't matter how to make a profit.

It's not the same as the African continent. The Vienna government was preparing to establish a second German home in Africa, and naturally it was impossible to rule at will.

Franz's plan was a bit whimsical, but it was very inexpensive and it didn't hurt to give it a try.

Succeeding, nothing had to be done, and the Vienna government increased its revenue, and Austrian industry and commerce added a market.

Failure, a big deal to waste a little time.