Chapter 346: If you want to take it, you must first give it to me.
Chapter 336: If You Want to Take It, You Must First Give It to Me
The addition of an autonomous province did not cause half a wave in the new Holy Roman Empire, except for the publication of the news in the Vienna newspapers.
There was little reaction from the people, not so much from the government of Vienna. The hundreds of thousands of guilders per year was not much, but their payout was small!
Don’t look at Austria’s colonies quite a bit, but in reality, they don’t make much money at all.
By the end of 1861, in addition to the earliest development of the West African region, because of the possession of gold mines and plantations, realized a profit of 126,000 guilders, the other regions are in a state of loss, but it is only a question of how much loss.
The colonies in Central America made a loss of 2,164,000 shillings;
The colonial government of Nigeria made a loss of 1,448,000 shillings;
The Congo region colonies are at a loss of 684,000 shillings;
A loss of 682,000 shillings for the colonies of the Southern Ocean region;
Cameroon colonies with a loss of 342 thousand shillings;
Libyan colonies with a loss of 216 thousand shillings;
Sinai Peninsula with a loss of 205 thousand shillings;
Mediterranean islands such as Cyprus and Crete with a loss of 186,000 SHD;
Patagonian highland strongholds have a loss of 28,000 guilders;
A number of colonial strongholds in other areas have a total loss of 128,000 guilders.
All in all, the Austrian colonies in 1861 had a total loss of 5,957,000 guilders.
This is still the case when there was no large-scale foreign troops, if a war broke out, this figure will be increased several times, or even more than ten times.
The huge loss was the core factor restricting Austria’s colonial expansion, especially at the beginning of the opening of the colonies, which was completely pure investment status.
The newly added autonomous province of Lanfang was not worth mentioning, but in the annual accounting at the end of 1861, they shared 580,000 guilders in military expenses.
Nominally, it was a share of military expenses to protect the security of the state, but in reality it was no different from a direct payment to the central government.
This was just the beginning, and as time went on and the sacred shields circulated, there was a mint tax to be collected.
These revenues added up and from 1862 onwards in the South Seas, there would be a shift from an input phase to a payback phase.
The value is even higher when one considers the increased industrial and commercial markets that provided the country with raw materials for industry.
All that the Vienna government had to pay for was security protection, which need not be said at all; it was natural that the source of wealth should be protected.
Minister of Finance Karl proposed with gusto, “Your Majesty, should we not change our colonization methods, the gains obtained from this indirect rule are no less than the gains from our direct control.
If we take over Kalimantan by force, we won’t be able to make a profit for at least five years, and the profit we can bring in later may not increase much.”
Austria opened up colonization overseas, and also only on the surface of the scenery, in fact, there is a pain in the neck.
As finance minister, Karl could responsibly say: even if the combination of all aspects of increased tax revenue calculation, the Vienna government is still in the red.
Of course, the nobles and capitalists engaged in colonization activities made money, and the Austrian domestic economy also benefited.
Suddenly there was a model that could be profitable without investment, simply by providing security, and Finance Minister Karl was naturally interested.
Franz shook his head and said: “Don’t dream, how can such a good thing as the Lanfang Autonomous Province come across every day.
There are quite a few indigenous kingdoms overseas, but these countries are going bankrupt running their own operations, so can we expect them to provide us with a boost?
Lanfang Autonomous Province itself is a company, only mistaken for a republic by outsiders, and Kalimantan Island is rich in gold, so it is able to give us a boost.
Besides, if we really get a few indigenous kingdoms to enter the empire, are you sure that the states below and the nobles within the country won’t make a fuss?”
The crowd that was full of expectations instantly dismissed this unrealistic thought. If there were truly a few indigenous princes entering the empire, they wouldn’t agree.
The Lanfang Autonomous Province was originally all a bunch of commoners, and Franz had only dispatched a few low-level beings system nobles with limited political status and the ability to provide financial resources to the government, so everyone wouldn’t mind.
If a few kings came in, each with a higher status than the rest of them, it was expected that everyone would be unbalanced.
This was different from Europe, the state, where people were recognized as old nobles, and everyone had accepted it a long time ago.
Of course, it’s not like there’s no chance for these higher-ups in the government to become kings. As long as the credit was big enough, Franz didn’t mind sealing a few colonial kings.
This kind of king was nominal at best, theoretically every fiefdom noble could establish a country, but in practice most of the nobles could not establish a country.
Colonies that had already been developed would not be greatly sealed, only undeveloped and unclaimed lands.
A well-developed colony can be an undeveloped land, or even a principality or a kingdom; a poorly-developed colony can be ruled with the help of the state, and in the end, it will still be just a fiefdom aristocrat.
In this era, countries can be traded, and titles can be sold and bought from the king. Only the price is very high, and the ones for sale are usually just life-long nobles.
For example, this time, Lanfang Autonomous Province titled a few lifelong nobles, that are people sent a gift, otherwise it might not be a baron or a viscount that was titled, but an honorary knight.
This is also the gift sent not enough, if someone bid high enough, hereditary nobility is not impossible to seal. Anyway, as long as you don’t let Franz out of the fiefdom, then everything is negotiable.
It’s not like he’s alone in selling, you can buy a knighthood in the hands of almost any European king, provided you’re rich enough.
The price for this varies, for example, the New Holy Roman Empire knighthood is very hard to buy.
In order to ensure the honor of the nobility, Franz had a quota limit for the kings of the states to enthrone the nobility, and it also had to be reported to the Emperor for approval.
Those who did not contribute to the state were usually not passed over. The exceptions were those of good birth, such as the king’s son.
The people of Lanfang Autonomous Province were able to obtain knighthoods because they were instrumental in getting Lanfang to join the New Shinra Empire, and were also considered to be meritorious officials.
If you want to use money to buy a title, the great Franz will not accept anything less than a million divine guilders. This was the price he had in mind, and it was still increasing as his wealth grew.
As a direct consequence, Franz has not sold any titles since he ascended the throne. Let many people think that the emperor attaches great importance to the honor of the nobility, disdain for money, and increased his reputation among the nobles.
People tend to gravitate towards things that are harder to obtain. Not only did not being knighted without merit not stop people from becoming nobles, but it made people even more addicted to it.
In order to obtain the title of nobility, many Austrian aristocrats and capitalists organized their manpower to open and expand colonies, and then converted their merits to obtain the title.
Ordinary people didn’t have this kind of financial resources, so they could only enlist in the army and gain merits on the battlefield.
Against this background, in 1861 alone Franz created 286 noblemen, 61 of whom were fief noblemen.
The fiefs were naturally the overseas colonies, while the domestic fiefs were not much in the hands of the Emperor, but could not withstand such a division of the fiefs.
Colonial Minister Josip Jelacic proposed: “Your Majesty, the Colonial Ministry summarized the basic information of each colony, and through analysis found that the South Seas region is the most suitable for colonization.
The local land is fertile and rich in produce, and requires very little investment to gain a generous return, the Colonization Ministry suggests increasing expansion in the Southern Ocean region next.”
Franz looked at the map and hesitated. In the short term, the South Seas region was indeed the most suitable colony, rich in produce, pleasant climate and easy to rule.
The disadvantage is that it is too far away, and the British, French, Spanish and Dutch countries are mixed, so it is easy to cause diplomatic conflicts if you want to continue to expand.
Not that Franz was afraid of conflict, he was worried about the problem of payoffs and rewards. As long as Austria does not rob the colonies of various countries, aiming at the target is unclaimed land, the conflict will be within the scope of control.
Austria’s strength is not unlimited, now the spread has been very large, only after the British, and the French is not the same.
In order to guard against the rise of the United States, the strategy of the Central American region was an indispensable part; in the long run, the African continent, which was close at hand, was necessary to be controlled.
The strategy of the South Seas has actually always been at the end of the list, and even if it has gained strength in the last one or two years, it is only a limited investment.
Franz threw out all the questions straight away: ‘What does the Colonial Office have its eye on? Who are the competitors? How much investment is needed? What are the possible risks? How long will it take to anticipate the rewards that will be gained, and how long will it take?”
Colonial Secretary Josip Jelacic replied, “There are a number of alternative targets, with the Central South Peninsula including the Phnom Penh dynasty, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Sulawesi, and a number of small and medium-sized islands.
All these places are very good, and although the countries have begun to infiltrate, they have not yet established colonial regimes, and are still in the stage of free competition in accordance with international practice.
The five countries of Britain, France, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom could become our competitors, and all of them, including us, have colonial strongholds in these areas.
Initially, the Dutch have already locked up the island of Sumatra, and they have already occupied a number of areas on the island. Only their strength is limited and they can’t do anything about the indigenous regime on the island for a while.
Because of the Straits of Malacca, the British have their tentacles deep into Malaysia, and are probably the biggest rival we have to face.
The French seem to be interested in the Central and Southern Peninsula, and if we choose to crash our targets, there will be no shortage of fights.
The investment and risk depends on the target chosen. Basically, the more lucrative the area, the greater the investment required and the more brutal the competition faced.
The rate of return in these places is good, and theoretically, after establishing a colonial regime, we can break even within three years.”
There was no way around it, trying to account for costs without knowing for sure how many competitors were joining in was just too difficult.
Colonization was an uncertain investment to begin with, and many areas that looked delicious could actually be a piece of chicken ribs.
After a moment’s hesitation, Franz made a decision: “The established strategy will remain unchanged, although the South Seas region is delicious, in reality, we can not eat much.
The colonization department can focus on the small and medium-sized islands that are not owned by the government, and other areas can be attempted within our ability, and we can exchange benefits with other countries when we bump into them.
We can’t stick our noses into everything, and once we exceed our limits, colonies are not a tonic, but a deadly poison.
Doesn’t the Kingdom of Prussia want to join the colonization team? Help give them a hand, lure the Prussians into the Southern Ocean region, and give them a chance to open the door.”
Overseas colonization is not just about national power, but also about input. After Austria vigorously invested in Central America and the African continent, the strength that could be invested in the South Seas region was already very small.
Insufficient strength, blindly hard on is going to suffer. Instead of being driven away in the dust, it would be better to be a little conservative from the beginning, saving the people and money and shame.
As for helping the Kingdom of Prussia, it was only in passing, allowing the Prussians to go a little further down the road of colonizing the empire.
If you want to take, you must first give.
If they don’t see the benefits, how can the Prussians afford to invest heavily?
Prussia’s national strength is limited, the navy invested more, the army investment will naturally be less, the future of Austria’s unification of the German region of the difficulty will be reduced.
With this, it is worth Austria’s interest in the South Sea region. Anyway, after the unification of Germany, these meat is still in the pot, how will not lose.
(End of chapter)