The scorching sun is in the sky, and a luxurious train is speeding by. On both sides of the road, the ripe grains seemed to be frightened, bent over, with their heads bowed, and still trembling from time to time.

In the luxury carriage on the special train, a young man in gorgeous clothes was reading the newspaper intently, frowning from time to time.

The young man was Alexandrovich (Alexander III), who was visiting abroad, and he had high hopes for this trip to Paris, and he did not forget to collect information on the way.

The information provided by the tsarist government, he was too lazy to read. In Aleksandrovich's view, there is a clear tendency to do so, or to be politically correct.

In his opinion, in order to have a preliminary understanding of France, it is enough to look at the French economic and political newspapers. Aleksandrovich is not an expert scholar, these basic materials are enough.

The more you know, the more Alexandrovich sighs. From the news in the newspapers, he knew that there was a huge gap between France and Russia.

This gap is "qualitative", and it is by no means what the St. Petersburg bureaucrats say in words, and it can catch up with and surpass it in three or five years.

What gave him a headache was that the French people did not have a good impression of Russia, just look at the adjectives in the newspapers.

"Barbarian", "liar", "scoundrel", "rotten"......

These adjectives pierced Alexandrovich's heart deeply. His grievances have no effect, the French newspapers will not be under his control, how they should be written or how they should be written.

Although most of the content is exaggerated, it is not completely fabricated out of thin air, and Russia does have a lot of black history.

Under normal circumstances, people will not turn over these old accounts. This is not that Alexandrovich is coming to visit, and the hot newspapers are lively.

There is no such thing as "Franco-Russian friendship," and at least these newspapers do not think that there is a traditional friendship between the two countries, and that there is a lot of hatred.

What's even more infuriating is that they are still losers, and everyone still clearly remembers that it was the Russians who single-handedly buried the First French Empire.

The French were very dissatisfied with the failure of the war in the Near East to take revenge, and the French people donated the most to Prussia in the recent Russo-Prussian War, more than the German Confederation + Austria combined.

What is there to be proud of, Aleksandrovich is not clear. In short, he understood that there were many French people who did not welcome him to visit.

At home, Aleksandrovich did not know that Russia was so unpopular in Europe.

Originally, he was still haunted by the defeat in the Russo-Prussian War, but now he understands how he can not fail when he is fighting with the whole of Europe at the same time?

Each went to the newspapers, and Aleksandrovich fell into deep thought. A voice deep down kept telling him that something had to be done to change the perception of the Russian Empire in Europe.

Isolation means danger, now the Russian Empire has many enemies, but only one ally, and even now the last ally is moving away from them.

If this situation does not change, it will still be difficult for the Russian Empire to win the next major war.

Although the war had not yet broken out, Alexandrovich already knew that in the next war there would be at least Poland + Prussia + Ottomans, and several khanates of Central Asia could also appear, and even the Far East would not necessarily be stable.

Modern warfare is all about logistics, and in the last war the Russian Empire lost in transportation. Although some people at home accuse the ally Austria of paddling, Aleksandrovich knows very well that the cause of the defeat of the Russian army lies in himself.

Supplies were bought from Austria, but they were unable to transport them to the front in time, resulting in a shortage of troops at the front, which allowed the Prussians to take advantage of it.

If there were no logistical constraints, and at the same time a million Russian troops were thrown to the front, even if the whole of Europe provided Prussia with logistics, they would not be able to stop it.

There is no fairness in war, and if there is an army that does not have to play to win more with less, it is a fool, and usually such fools die miserably.

In the history of war, almost all the strong won the war, and the reason why the weak defeated the strong was respected was because there were few occurrences.

In the case of equal strength, in terms of military combat effectiveness, the Russian Empire was indeed at the bottom of the European powers.

The reason for Aleksandrovich is clear, it is nothing more than a gap in weapons and equipment and training, and in the final analysis, there is no money.

Most of the tsarist soldiers were conscripts, and these troops did not need to pay salaries, but a symbolic little was enough.

Cheapness became the hallmark of the tsarist army, and from an economic point of view, an increase in numbers brought about a greater increase in combat power than increased training and the replacement of the most advanced weapons and equipment.

This account has long been calculated, and the cost of one French soldier is enough for the tsarist government to recruit two such cheap soldiers, and there is still some leftover. On the battlefield, one French soldier would never be able to defeat two Russian soldiers.

That's how the gray cattle came about, because of the economic cheapness, so the Russians fell in love with the crowd tactic.

The train slowed down slowly, and Aleksandrovich knew it was Paris. Looking at the buildings on both sides of the road, Aleksandrovich showed a hint of fascination.

Paris was definitely one of the most desirable cities in the world in the 19th century, and of course Alexandrovich was interested in Paris, not because it was a revolutionary mecca.

As a crown prince, especially one of the tsarist governments, he was born a member of the reactionaries, and it was impossible to play with the revolutionary party.

The reason for Alexandrovich's interest was simply because Paris was the capital of France and had the most developed industry in France.

As one of the three most famous cities in Europe at this time, Paris was famous as a revolutionary mecca, but it was not bad in other respects.

After the renovation of Napoleon III, Paris has now shed its dirty and messy hat, and the urban environment is not much better than stinky London.

……

Aleksandrovich's trip to Europe, Franz had no interest, and even this famous man in later generations could not move him.

History is the easiest to deceive, and exaggeration has always been the favorite of literati. For example, the three Italian heroes, who were highly praised by later generations, became nothing because of changes in the international situation.

Franz admits that they are really good, but unfortunately they were unlucky this time. Just such a small change has changed their lives.

Garibaldi and Mazzini failed to lead the revolution and were forced into exile. The famous Prime Minister Cavour was even more miserable, and the trick of combining vertical and horizontal was just beginning to hit the streets.

Austria's position was different from that of history, allowing France to expand in Italy, and Napoleon III felt that annexing Italy would be more beneficial than cooperating with the Kingdom of Sardinia.

A decision made by the top made all his efforts useless. There is no way, the success of the original plane is based on luck, and now it is a little bit of luck.

Countless real-life cases have taught Franz that losers are not necessarily incompetent, and they are often just a little bit away from success.

The slightest difference is often the difference between heaven and hell.

Napoleon III is also an example, the original plane has already hit the streets. As a result, because of Franz's butterfly effect, Napoleon III is now called "Napoleon the Great" by the French.

Looking at the information in his hand, Franz frowned, if nothing else, his unlucky brother was about to be unlucky.

Unable to find a buyer internationally, the Paris government decided to withdraw its troops from Mexico. Without the backing of French soldiers, Franz did not believe that Massimiliano would be able to stabilize the situation.

Without hesitation, a secret order flew from the Vienna Palace to the Austrian Central American colony. In any case, this is a brother in name, and it is impossible to really sit idly by.

Even the issue of placement, Franz thought about it. Forget it in the castle in the countryside, anyway, there are not many other Habsburgs, but there are many castles.

Maximiliano, an idealist who did not have the courage to come back to meet people after encountering failure, was just right to live in the countryside.

Massimiliano refused to run away, and Franz suspected that he was afraid of losing face and being ridiculed, and did not dare to return to the European continent.

This kind of heart is not strange, just like people who don't make money from part-time jobs and are embarrassed to spend the New Year at home all year round.

Massimiliano's heart was in trouble, and Franz was not a psychiatrist. Knowing and knowing, how to treat it, is beyond his ability.

Perhaps we can leave this question to the Queen Mother Sophie, just to find her something to do and share the nagging in Franz's ear.

Mexico City is not far away, and as long as you prepare in advance, it is not too difficult to have an armed intervention, and the new government of Mexico can pay for it in the end anyway.

Unlike the French, the Austrian colonial empire of Central America was right next door to Mexico. The farmers there have long wanted to annex the Yucatan Peninsula. It's just that for the sake of face, Franz is embarrassed to do something to Mexico.

By the time Massimiliano I hit the streets, there would be no more obstacles. Beat the rabbit with grass and bite as much meat as you want.

For the Americans, the strength of the Austrian Central American colonies may be equivalent to one or two large states, and even if the Germans can fight a little, it is equivalent to the strength of two or three major states, which is not worth mentioning at all.

But for the beginning of the Mexican Empire, this little power was enough to sober them up. Of course, this was based on the fact that the Mexican rebels were looking for their own fights.

If they were smart enough to send Massimiliano I out of the country directly, there would be no pretext for war, and Franz, who was mindful of his appearance, would not have done anything to them.

To put it bluntly, the Americas were not the focus of Austria's expansion. The Vienna government has limited energy and cannot take care of so many places at the same time.

Even in the strategic Panama region, Franz can ninja without moving, let alone Mexico?

Now Franz is already thinking about which son to go to the Central American region to be king.

With the rise of nationalism, it is still too difficult for the central government to control this kind of colony thousands of miles away, and it is easier to establish a state.

This is also in line with the Habsburg tradition, when the ancestors could divide Spain and Austria, and now Franz can naturally divide a colony.

Not only the Central American colonies, but also the South Seas may also establish states in the future. Anyway, it's better for the meat to rot in the pot than to throw it out.

Attaching these states to the name of the HRE Empire, and everyone playing in an economic circle, is not considered a failure.

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