On September 1, 1854, Constantinople fell to the sound of slaughter, the Russians fulfilled their century-old wish, the Russian Empire boiled, and the European continent collectively lost its voice.

The day after the Battle of Constantinople, the new Holy Roman Empire sent a diplomatic note to the warring parties, announcing their mediation in the war.

This responsible international attitude was immediately well received by France and Russia, and the war in the Near East, which lasted for more than two years, finally saw the dawn of peace.

The eyes of the world are on London. The Ottoman Empire and the Duchy of Montenegro have been ignored by everyone, and it is better to settle down a little if a weak country has no diplomacy.

At No. 10 Downing Street, Prime Minister Henry angrily threw out the water glass in his hand, Constantinople was lost like this, shouldn't it be too obvious to release the water?

As early as a week ago, the Russians had stopped their offensive, the French had begun to evacuate the wounded and sick from the city, and there seemed nothing wrong with the outbreak of the plague and the cessation of the offensive.

Two days earlier, the French minister had promised him that he would defend Constantinople to the death, and that 120,000 French troops would be enough to hold off any Russian attack.

Then, last night he received the news of the loss of Constantinople, and the 120,000 French troops broke through in the case of the loss of Constantinople, and conquered the heavily defended Tekirda of the Russian army on the same day.

Prime Minister Henry wanted to say: Don't be too obvious about cheating, you really make me embarrassed by doing this!

Foreign Secretary Thomas said with a pale face: "Ladies and gentlemen, the French have unilaterally ended this battlefield, we must act immediately, otherwise we will be passive!" ”

It's not that it's going to be passive, it's that it's already passive. Whatever agreement France and Russia reached, it was very detrimental to the British Empire.

Once the two countries were aligned, the strategy of balancing the European continent, which the British had painstakingly run, went bankrupt. In this era, there is not a single Allies who are so cowardly.

War Secretary Stanley said solemnly: "The French have withdrawn, and even sold Constantinople to the Russians, and we can't fight this war anymore." ”

The London government has long wanted to fight, but it is not so simple to withdraw from the war, and it is not good to be caught by political opponents, and it will be fun.

Stanley was most worried, if the French sold their teammates completely, it would be impossible for the British army on the front line to be swallowed up by the Russians before the armistice negotiations.

Considering the Anglo-French feud, this is not out of the question. If this happens, it is expected that the countries of Europe will be happy to see it.

After a moment of hesitation, Prime Minister Henry made a decision: "Now that the situation is unclear, we can only improvise and accept the mediation of the Austrians first, and then let the rest of the matter be resolved by diplomatic means!"

The next focus of the Foreign Ministry is to find a way to isolate the Russians, and absolutely not to allow France and Russia to form an alliance, otherwise the situation will be completely out of control. ”

Suffer? Who hasn't suffered in international politics? People who just want to take advantage and can't suffer losses are not suitable for playing politics.

Today I lost here, and tomorrow I will find a way to make up for it. Being able to bend and stretch is the basic quality of a politician, and a momentary defeat naturally cannot frighten the British.

With the statement of the London government, the Vienna Peace Conference was put on the agenda, and after consultations, it was finally decided to officially convene on September 21.

History has changed, the Russians did not lose on the battlefield, but gained the upper hand, and the peace conference naturally could not have been held in Paris, and the tsarist government also wanted to save face.

……

Guinea's port of Conakry, the largest port in West Africa in later generations, is still a wilderness.

Because of the existence of a natural port, it was fortunate to be one of the strongholds of Austrian colonization of Africa, and entered the era of civilization ahead of schedule.

Now it is a large construction site, according to the plan of the Vienna government, the first step in the colonization of Africa - the construction of a city.

No, it's not a city, it's a small town to be exact. According to the plan, 8,000 immigrants would be housed here, plus an Austrian infantry battalion.

Then, with the town as the core, it gradually expanded around until it completely occupied the coastal plains.

The port of Conakry is now not called Conakry, but is known by its Austrian name, Neubruck.

This is just the beginning, and if the colonization plan goes well, many of Austria's city names will appear here in the future.

Lieutenant Colonel Stephen, who is part-time commander of the garrison of the city lord, looked at the report in his hand and shook his head helplessly, New Brook, who was just starting out, lacked everything.

In particular, there is a shortage of people, and it is planned to resettle 8,000 immigrants. So far, only 1,200 people have arrived, and in less than two months, 56 have died from various causes, and 37 are still lying in hospital beds.

This mortality rate is only slightly lower than that of the plague. If this continues, the average life expectancy of new immigrants will probably not exceed 35 years.

Lieutenant Colonel Stephen asked with concern, "What will the next batch of immigrants do?" ”

The assistant Gold replied crisply: "I don't know! ”

The African colonies were different from the mainland, and when they arrived here, they could only rely on ships to communicate with each other, and if it weren't for the fact that supplies were sent every month, they would have thought they were abandoned.

Of course, in order to maintain contact between the colonies, Stephen also had a few small boats in his hands to communicate with other strongholds.

Within the more than 300 kilometers of Guinea's coastline, the Austrian government has set up three colonies, where the first colonists were located.

Drawing on the successful colonial experience of other countries, the Austrian colonial army only stayed in the coastal areas, and penetrated deep into the inland areas that was a matter of the future.

Several indigenous tribes in the plains had been cleared, and even the captives were given to the Portuguese for safety.

The slave trade was still rampant in this era, and the United States was the world's largest buyer of slaves, and nearly half of the growth of the American population in recent years was contributed by the purchase of slaves.

The slave market was still in short supply, after all, the African continent was not a good place in this era, infested with poisonous insects and beasts.

Just look at the mortality rate of immigrants, which is still just a stronghold and building homes, and if you want to go deep into the interior, this mortality rate will increase dramatically.

Lieutenant Colonel Stephen said casually, "I don't know, won't you ask?" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lieutenant Colonel Stephen realized that he had done something stupid. This is a colony, not a country, and if you want to have direct contact with the country, wait a few more decades!

The cable telegraph has only spread to the cities in the country, and the small towns in the countryside have not been covered, let alone the African continent.

Submarine cable laying technology has appeared, but considering the high cost, the current African colonies are obviously not worth such a large cost of the Austrian government.

"I didn't say it!" Lieutenant Colonel Stephen added in time

Gold said solemnly: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, I don't think you can continue to wait like this, if you don't want to be overtaken by other strongholds, you must take more active measures now."

Since there is a shortage of labor, we will go and grasp it. You see, it's been more than two months, and we're still standing still, and there's no more peaceful colonizer in the world than us.

Do we really have to wait for the enemy to come before we can fight back? Learning from our Portuguese counterparts, even if we don't find precious minerals, we have to find a way to recoup our roots.

At the current pace, I doubt very much that we will be able to recoup the costs of colonization in a hundred years. When the time comes, don't say that we will be knighted for merit, and our graves will grow grass. ”

Unlike Stephen, who was born in the military, Gold, who took the initiative to participate in colonial activities, was not a master of peace.

Originally, he came to the colony to make a fortune, but now he is building a stronghold here every day, and the town is beginning to take shape, but he has not seen the shadow of making a fortune.

The plains along the coast are really good, if it is Austria itself, it is enough to make people go crazy, unfortunately this is very continental, and the least valuable thing is the land.

According to the Austrian colonial regulations, any Austrian citizen had the right to reclaim the land, and whoever created the farm owned it, provided that once the title was confirmed, it was forbidden to abandon it.

It is difficult to get rich by farming in the country, and Gold does not think that he can make a fortune by farming here, which is mainly used to settle immigrants.

If you want to make a fortune in the colony, the best way is to look for mines, especially gold and silver mines, which are the easiest means to make a fortune.

As the first batch of colonists, when they found minerals and reported them to the colonial government, they could get dividends from the profits after the development of the minerals, or they could sell them directly to the government to get a large amount of cash.

Lieutenant Colonel Stephen shook his head and said, "Gold, be patient, the mood of the immigrants is still unstable, and we need to watch a little."

This will change when the first grain harvest is in place, and that's when we can expand.

Now if you have time, you can organize the young immigrants and do simple training. These people are not good goods, and it is only fitting to use them as cannon fodder.

A word of caution, the African continent is not a good place, and the dangers of the inland areas are far less than those of the coastal areas.

There are many opportunities to make a fortune in this colony, but there is only one prerequisite, you must have a life flower! ”

One word is - stability. From the very beginning of the colonial program, the Austrian government was not prepared to see a return in the first year, which was very unrealistic.

None of the colonies in South Africa opened up by the British have been able to make a profit, so why should Guinea recover its costs in the short term?

If the colonies had been so easy to get rich, they would have been overcrowded long ago, and we must not underestimate the enthusiasm of the European people to make a fortune in this era.