Chapter 788: Speculation
Chapter 771 Guessing
The pros and cons were obvious, and Franz had a headache. It looked like all three options were good, but in reality none of the three options were very reliable.
On the surface, Austria had quite a few colonies and was able to settle millions of people by dividing a piece of land at random.
But in reality, if you really want to divide the land, the situation has changed. The African continent need not be considered, it was the future homeland.
The South Seas region looked good, but in reality there were not many islands that could house millions of people, and anyway, Franz of New Guinea could not afford to give it away.
Then there was no then, Kalimantan had a population of over 10 million, not so much unclaimed land.
Maybe in later times a few of the neighboring islands would be able to house a few million people as well, but not now really.
Franz still has a bottom line, dead people on the battlefield that is no way. After the war, he couldn’t deliberately create a man-made disaster that would starve millions of people to death.
Of course, this bottom line is limited to not doing it himself. If someone else is doing it, Franz can also be invisible.
Oh, a little condemnation could still be in order. Any more than that, and it can’t be helped. The world is a cruel place, and the Virgin Mary wouldn’t have survived the 19th century.
Unlike later times, when there was an abundance of material goods, if the emperor was flooded with sympathy these days, it would kill the country.
America is also the problem, Alaska is a large area, resources are also rich again, especially gold has begun to mine, the Vienna government will certainly not let go.
Austrian Central America is the strategic core of the Americas, can not be scourged. The only thing left is the Arctic Ocean that piece of island, as well as the Patagonia plateau in South America.
Everyone knows that the Arctic Ocean that piece of island is not suitable for human habitation, the average person can not survive, exile stubborn people can still.
If these millions of people are sent there, it is estimated that only one out of a hundred will survive, and there is no difference between that and a direct mutiny.
Patagonia is not a good place to live, at least not until it’s developed, and it’s more of a scourge on Chile and Argentina than a place to settle people.
The fact that Austria only immigrated a hundred thousand or so after all those years of colonization says a lot.
It’s not that the government in Vienna didn’t want to increase immigration, it’s simply that the natural conditions were so bad that the immigrants would have run off to Chile or Argentina on their own.
Those who stayed were there because of the work, there were local mineral resources to develop, and all the agriculture and animal husbandry was concentrated in the river valley plains, and large farms were developed.
The latter two scenarios are even more pitiful, according to the plan the Kingdom of Ameria is only so many tens of thousands of square kilometers, at most more than 100,000 square kilometers.
More Russians also refused to give, this land to feed hundreds of thousands of Armenians certainly no problem, and then add a few million people will be hungry.
Deportation of refugees into Persia was equally unreliable. If people leave of their own accord, Franz does not mind giving them a push, but forced expulsion is too much.
After hesitating for a while, Franz made a compromise choice: “first to the Americas to send immigrants, the government subsidies, so that the capitalists find ways to send people in.
Focusing on the United States of America, each immigrant sent over will be subsidized with 40 Shenduan, those sent to other countries will be subsidized with 35 Shenduan, and we’ll find a way to resettle the rest.”
It was an astronomical price, white slaves in the underground black market usually cost around 10 pounds, black slaves cost around 25 pounds and were all green.
Now there was no need to even venture into the slave trade, just send the people over and receive a subsidy from the Vienna government.
Franz believed in the subjective initiative of the capitalists, and nothing could be done that could not be done if the benefits were in place.
It was very troublesome to send these millions of people individually to one place to be resettled, but scattered all over the world, it was nothing.
Franz is not worried that these people will be driven out, the immigrant countries are basically more men than women, these refugees are just the opposite, the young and strong have died on the battlefield, and most of the rest are old and weak women and children.
To be exact, there are more women and children, in the Ottoman Empire, where the average life expectancy is about thirty years, more than thirty-five years old can be considered an old man, and those who are over fifty years old are rare.
……
St. Petersburg, with the war coming to an end, the question of dividing the spoils was on Alexander’s agenda.
Today’s times are different, the protagonist of this Near Eastern War has become Austria, and the Russian Empire has become auxiliary.
“Take the spoils, take the spoils.”
The Vienna government’s supplies are also not good to take, the logistics of the war all rely on Austria to provide, after the war in the distribution of the spoils of war in the tsarist government naturally have to pay the price.
Alexander III asked expressionlessly, “Outside the scope of our agreement, the Vienna government has made a new request.
They want to prepare the Armenians to establish an independent state as a buffer between the two countries, in the Caucasus region that belongs to us, what do you think?”
Anyone who knew Alexander III knew that an expressionless face meant that His Imperial Majesty the Tsar was upset, it was only good breeding that restrained him.
Of course being able to restrain his emotions meant that the situation wasn’t too bad, and that he didn’t have to worry about being driven back home to farm at the drop of a hat.
It was normal for a tsar to have a temper, and among all the tsars Alexander III was considered to be well served, at least he didn’t kill his ministers.
Minister of the Interior Zirnomayer pretended to be angry, “Your Majesty, this kind of thing can not be agreed. The border line between Russia and Austria stretches for tens of thousands of miles, where is the need for any buffer?”
Ten thousand miles was still a little bit of an exaggeration, but seven or eight thousand miles was still there.
Two big countries are right next to each other, in order to reduce the conflict naturally need buffer zone, but unfortunately Russia and Austria’s long border line decided to buffer over.
Russia and Austria are also considered to be a longtime friend, from the beginning of the war against France, the two sides have become allies. The midway covenant was broken, but the essence of the alliance, has never ended.
A few generations down the line, everyone had gotten used to it. Aside from the rulers still worrying about each other’s threats, the people simply didn’t have that concept.
Finance Minister Alisher Gurov objected, “You can’t say that, Russia and Austria are both great powers, it’s better to have a shorter border line.
As early as a dozen years ago, some people proposed that the two countries exchange territories to shorten the border line and reduce the possibility of conflict between the two countries. It was only because of their geographic location that no agreement was reached in the end.
The fact that the Austrians wanted the Amerindians to establish an independent state would certainly not be due to a nebulous promise alone, and it was likely that the Vienna government was conducting a test run.
What could not be done then does not mean that there is no way to do it now.
Didn’t the Vienna government offer compensation? It’s not likely that they want to take advantage of our financial difficulties and pay out money to buy the Asia Minor Peninsula in order to reduce the borderline between the two countries.
I think we can make contact first, and if the Austrians give the right compensation, it’s fine to carve out a piece of barren land for the Armenians to build a nation on.”
A long border line also has its pros and cons, and while it may increase conflict, it also means that the two governments will have to think more carefully about the relationship between the two countries.
If war breaks out, it’s a real defense. You can fight your way through, I can fight my way through, and it’s a lose-lose situation when you split the difference.
The friendship between Russia and Austria is no longer just a combination of interests, but also contains the helplessness of the two governments. The cost of being an enemy is too high, we can only be allies.
Every time the “territorial deal” is mentioned, the Czarist government will think of Alaska, which is far away, leaving endless regret.
Of course, Alexander III is rational, not the cynics. He knew very well that he had no choice but to take Alaska as a loan.
Not to lose Alaska to Austria, with the strength of the Russian Empire, also can not keep that piece of tundra.
Don’t look at only the Bering Strait, in fact, that is the uncrossable moat, the distance determines the tsarist government’s ability to put power is almost zero.
At that time, in the face of the threat of British Canadian colonies, the introduction of Austrian power was the best choice.
As for the gold, Alexander III did have an eye for it, but the Russian Empire was too limited to hold on to that treasure.
(End of chapter)