On July 11, 1849, Franz proposed at an enlarged meeting of the Austrian government: "Establish the Austrian core industrial system".

Immediately afterwards, the Austrian government began to conduct field research and put what industries as the core development focus, which is not something that Franz can decide with a pat on the head.

Even if the reason is sufficient, it is necessary to collect enough information and analyze it to ensure that everything is safe before it can be determined.

The reality is a slap in the face, and there is enough evidence to show that in this era, the focus should be on the development of the military industry, and the focus should be on the naval military industry.

For the hundreds of thousands of rifles in the army, it adds up to the price of one or two battleships. Artillery was more expensive, but not much higher, and the army's biggest military expenditure in this era was personnel salaries and training costs, not weapons and equipment.

The focus of military enterprises is on R&D and production capacity, and production capacity does not need to be considered, the domestic market is so large, and the international arms market is even smaller.

R&D doesn't cost much money, how much money do you need to invest in a few artillery, rifles? Is Rp 1 million a year enough?

If it's not enough, 10 million guilders will definitely not be spent.

In this era, the total R&D expenditure of all European countries in army weapons and equipment, whether there is 10 million dong, is a big question mark?

Franz estimates that no, most of the military enterprises in Europe are private enterprises, all for the purpose of profit, and the investment in research and development is too large, and the cost cannot be recovered at all.

As long as the profits are good, don't expect the capitalists to carry out scientific and technological innovations.

In this era, scientific and technological innovation is not a good word, with a failure rate of more than 99 percent, and capitalists are very cautious when investing.

This is also why there is a saying that war promotes the development of weapons, and only in times of war is everyone willing to invest in the research and development of new weapons and equipment.

In contrast, the navy is the gold-swallowing beast, but unfortunately the navy of the Austrian Empire seems to be too small, and it can probably be ranked six, seven or eight in the world.

If the focus is on developing the navy, it is estimated that it will not be long before it will rush to the third place in the world, ranking behind Britain and France.

Then they can't rush up, these two are different from the scum behind them, whether it is the accumulation of technical strength or the comprehensive national strength, they are much stronger.

Considering the terrible naval arms race, Franz was cowardly in an instant. The Austrian Navy can only go around in the Mediterranean, what is the use of a large fleet coming out?

Britain and France were both colonial empires that built large navies, and now several naval powers are all colonial countries. Even if Austria is ready to participate in colonial activities now, it doesn't need to explode its navy immediately?

Franz was not ready to rob India with the British, so why should he play an arms race with them?

The final investigation report shows that it is enough to attach importance to the development of the military industry, and the government can ensure the world's advanced level by allocating several million yuan in research and development expenses every year.

The level of basic industry is here, not that the more the government attaches importance to it and invests more, the greater the final harvest.

Looking at this report, Franz could only scold in his heart for the unscrupulous experts and professors of later generations for tampering with history.

Think about it, what other new weapons that Prussia invested in the Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War could get hold of it except a new rifle?

Could it be that the military industry developed with all the strength of the country will end up with a breech-loading rifle?

Isn't that? Could it be that the leaders of the Prussian government were all fools?

Don't dare to say anything else, Franz dares to promise to smash hundreds of thousands of guilders, and Austria can even get a machine gun now.

In other words, the plate of the military industry is still small, and as long as the government allocates a small part of its energy, it will be able to maintain the world's advanced level.

That's right, the Austrian military industry in this era is still at the advanced level in the world, and compared with any country, it is not backward.

Franz was not prepared to develop across the eras, and he was not ready to develop high-tech products such as airplanes and tanks immediately.

In fact, it has been developed and cannot be produced.

It's hard to make a tank, but it's the legendary steam tank, although it's a little magical, but it's theoretically feasible; But has anyone ever heard of steam airplanes?

Slap in the face, slap in the face, anyway, Franz has a thick skin. Fortunately, the Austrian government is pragmatic, otherwise when the national policy is decided, it can only break its teeth and swallow it in the stomach.

On September 11, 1849, the Austrian government established the Ministry of Railways as the Ministry of Railways, which became the core industry of Austria for the next 20 years.

On September 13, the Austrian government confirmed the core position of the manufacturing and agro-processing industries, which are under the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry.

At this point, the troika that propelled the Austrian Empire forward was all in place. The question now is how to develop these industries.

"Your Majesty, this is the draft of the Ministry of Railways on the rapid construction of the national railway network, please take a look." Said the new Minister of Railways, Baron Stein

After saying that, a document was handed over to Franz. The document is not very thick, only a thin dozen pages.

Franz took the document and flipped through it, there was not much content in it, but it was very informative. There are tables and text descriptions, all the content is handmade, maybe it was too rushed, and some lines are still curved.

After spending more than ten minutes, Franz skimmed through it roughly, and said expressionlessly: "Jenny, get a map of Austria." ”

This is a plan for a national railway network, involving many cities, and Franz does not have such a good memory that he can remember every place clearly.

Looking at the map, Franz found that once this plan was implemented, all the major cities of Austria were connected in series, and some railways were extended to the frontier areas, and it was clear that the Ministry of Railways had also taken military needs into account.

"There is no problem with the plan, the question is whether it can be achieved technically? In many areas, the railway has to pass through the mountains, which will bring a very severe test to the railway construction. Franz thought for a moment and said

"Your Majesty, this is only a draft, in fact, before construction, engineers must be sent to conduct field visits along the way, and we cannot guarantee that it can be implemented without these data.

We are prepared to take a detour if some sections of the road are geographically restricted and cannot be repaired. Now it's just a matter of what we're trying to achieve, to extend the railroad to the major cities across the country. Stein explained

Franz nodded, strictly speaking, Stein was not a qualified manager, he should be more of an engineer.

However, the main task of the Austrian Ministry of Railways is now to build roads, and the management of railways is carried out by subordinate railway companies and is supervised by the Ministry of Transport.

If it weren't for the government's emphasis on railways, it might not have been as high as the Ministry of Railways, but a railway construction company.

Since it was a simple road construction, Franz naturally did not mind appointing an experienced engineer to preside over the work, at least without worrying about the emergence of fanciful railway construction plans.

Stein was involved in the design and construction of many Austrian railways and was one of the most famous railway engineers in Austria at this time.

He was originally the chief engineer of the railways at the behest of the Austrian government, but now he has become the minister of railways.

The title has changed, the power has increased, but the content of the work has not changed. He is still responsible for building the railway, and has to participate in the design and construction.

Railway designers in this era had a hard time, they had to personally participate in the field exploration of important areas, but they did not have the benefit of sitting in an office and blowing air conditioning.

Franz is not at all worried about whether the plan for this railway network can be completed, but it is a question of when it will be completed.

The 19th century is not the 21st century, and there are more than 38,000 kilometers of railway network, including more than 12,000 kilometers of main roads.

It is not so easy to build so many kilometers of railways. There are only 1,359 km of railways in operation in Austria and 896 km of railways under construction.

"How long will it take to complete this project?" Franz asked with concern

"At least twenty years, if you have enough money, that time can be significantly shortened."

Stein didn't say anything, building railways is not another industry, as long as you are willing to spend money, you can still start construction on multiple lines, and the speed of construction can naturally be doubled.

Franz didn't speak for a long time, this answer is equivalent to no answer, more than 38,000 kilometers of railways, if you build it slowly, 20 years is really not enough.

If the construction is carried out in separate sections and divided into 30 small projects, then each project will only have more than 1,000 kilometers, and if it continues to be divided, it may be completed in a few years.

If you really think so, you must be a layman. First of all, this requires a large capital investment, and secondly, a large number of railway workers.

In addition to ensuring these two basic requirements, a series of factors such as the availability of technical personnel, transportation, raw material supply, and geographical conditions should also be considered.

"Then I will give you 20 years, in terms of funds, I can guarantee that the government will have a financial allocation of no less than 20 million dong every year, and the government will also introduce relevant laws to allow private capital to participate in the construction of railways.

I hope that in 20 years, I will see this rail network all over the country, can you do it? Franz asked cautiously

"Your Majesty, please rest assured, I promise to complete the task ahead of schedule!" Stein said excitedly

As long as there is money, railway construction is not a problem.

Do you know that the Austrian government still has a group of laborers in its hands? These unlucky people who participated in the rebellion were destined to be sacrificed from the start.

Franz did not believe that 38,000 kilometers of railways could not be built with these 200,000 lives. If it's not enough, let's continue to provoke wars, bully the Ottoman Empire, and the labor won't roll in?

The industrialization of any country is full of blood, either internal or external, without sacrificing where the success comes?