Chapter 313 An unexpected gain
Austrian warships came in a hurry and left in a hurry. But no matter what, the Dutch army hiding in the fortress breathed a sigh of relief. If the Austrians' goal was to land on the island and seize the island, then they would have only one option: surrender.
Aboard the super first class battleship Venetia.
"If you have any crooked ideas in your unusual brain, tell me. If you find this sea journey boring, we can also take a trip to Hue. Last time I was in the square of the vast palace of the Vietnamese emperor. After walking around, it’s a great place to play football,” Friedrich exclaimed.
"Play football?" Franz asked curiously.
"Yes, this is also thanks to you and Miss Agani. Now this sport is very popular among soldiers in the army."
Of course, compared to competing in person, Friedrich, a former commander, preferred to watch the battle from the sidelines and show off his ability to study tactics.
In addition, the reason why the Royal Palace in Hue became suitable for football was not the result of Friedrich's indiscriminate bombing of the city of Hue. After the Austrian troops withdrew, the fire in Hue burned for another three days and three nights.
"Uncle Friedrich, have you forgotten that we have an armistice agreement? You should keep a low profile at this time, instead of going to other people's palaces to show off your power. If you can't help it, wait a few years before going It’s not too late.”
There is no need to push Vietnam too hard at this time. It is better to wait for the other side to collapse internally before taking action. But Friedrich's remarks still make sense. This trip cannot be returned empty-handed.
However, the current Nanyang has basically been divided up; Singapore and Myanmar belong to the British; southeastern Indonesia and Java belong to the Netherlands; and the Philippines belongs to Spain.
Even on the island of Kalimantan, there are four forces that are intertwined. The only ones that have not been completely invaded are Siam, Vietnam, and Laos.
However, Laos was first eliminated because it was too far from the coast and had inconvenient transportation. Franz would not do it like the Italians did, overhauling railways in the colonies, emptying the treasury, and finally handing it over to others.
For Vietnam, due to the duration of the armistice agreement and the remaining resistance, forced occupation would outweigh the gains and losses, and would attract the covetousness of other powers.
Of course, this mainly refers to France. They sent a large number of spies, missionaries, and even merchants to Vietnam to trade with Vietnam.
In addition, the French provided weapons and instructors to the Nguyen dynasty, hoping that they could drive the Austrians out of Vietnam.
Of course, the French are not really kind. They are just preparing for the invasion of Vietnam. If the Vietnamese can have another battle with Austria, it would be best for them to take advantage of it.
Then the only option left for the Austrian Empire was Siam.
However, the "wise" Rama III is very cooperative. He has offered to help Austria more than once.
But if large-scale planting is carried out in Thailand, Austria may lose its exclusive advantage in rubber resources.
However, this is of little significance. Not to mention that the cunning British would choose to secretly test seeds in other colonies. Brazil's ever-changing domestic political situation also caused it to not fully implement and comply with the agreement.
Moreover, as far as the current situation is concerned, the biggest beneficiary of expanding rubber production is the Austrian Empire, because its industry has begun to take shape due to the advantage of starting early.
Three days later, Siam, Bangkok.
The warships flying the yellow and black imperial flags slowly sailed into the port. Even the Siamese who were used to seeing Western-style battleships were attracted by the "Venecia" as a super first-class battleship; they had never seen such a huge one. warship.
The ship had just anchored, and the Siamese officials who had been waiting on the dock for a long time with a group of coolies asked the officers above if they needed help.
After the two parties agreed on the price, labor coolies boarded the ship to unload the goods. What surprised visitors from afar was that not only the officials but also the foremen were quite a few who could speak German.
"Did we go to the wrong place? If it weren't for the help of a map and compass, I would have thought we were in Kampong Som."
Friedrich said jokingly.
"No, it seems that the king of Siam is not simple."
Franz said sincerely that he understands the difficulty of survival for small and weak countries.
Friedrich looked around and snorted.
"Really? This is simply an undefended port. If the main fleet of the empire is present, this city will be razed to the ground in one day."
"Sometimes I really don't understand your warlike heart. Why do you resort to force when things can be solved politically and economically? Furthermore, the port with piles of ruins has lost its own value. Besides, other powers will Agree?"
Franz was very speechless, and then stopped a little girl who looked like she was working hard with a fruit basket on her head. He bought her fruit basket with a gold coin, picked up a durian and broke it open with his hands.
His unintentional movement made Dai Yanshanyin on the side exclaim in surprise, and Friedrich also widened his eyes in disbelief.
"How did you do that!" the latter exclaimed in surprise.
"Your Highness, the smell of this thing is really unbearable. It is probably poison. For the sake of your health, throw it away." Da Yanshanyin said while fanning the smell from the tip of his nose.
Franz had no choice but to throw the durian aside, then turned to Friedrich and asked, "Do you want to learn?"
"I have no interest in becoming a victim of such a strong-smelling weapon."
"Okay then, let's get down to business."
At this time, Oshio Shanyin pulled the corner of Franz's clothes. The latter followed the direction pointed by the former and saw the little girl who had just sold the fruit and was about to go home. It seemed that she was in a little trouble. It must be a gold coin. Trouble caused.
"Uncle Friedrich, please send a company to follow me. I need to deal with something."
In fact, during this trip, Franz was accompanied by a small team of personal guards. But it’s a new arrival and I’m not familiar with the local environment at all, so for safety’s sake it’s better to bring more with you.
After all, even the so-called "saints" make mistakes sometimes, not to mention that he just stumbled in Borneo, so he must not be careless.
Next, surrounded by more than a hundred heavily armed strong men, Franz turned into the alley. The scene inside was naturally a scene of several gangsters robbing a little girl.
When these guys who bullied the weak and feared the strong were stunned when they saw more than a hundred soldiers in neat uniforms pouring into the alley, then a great drama of a saint descending from the sky to help others was staged.
Oshio Shanyin took advantage of this free time to quietly pull the little girl away from the center of the conflict, preparing to ask about her family situation and give her family a sum of money to let them leave this place of right and wrong.
After all, it all started because of Franz. Whether it was out of good intentions or not, this little girl got involved in unnecessary right and wrong.
Although he can help out now, the final result of chivalry and righteousness still depends on it. If those gangsters continue to cause trouble for her and her family after he leaves, then he will be harming her.
So Franz, who didn't want to be punished by his conscience, was ready to spend a sum of money to end it all, but the answer Oshio Shanyin got was that this little girl was actually an orphan.
After asking for his opinion, she took the little girl named Yakunda with her; but this did not arouse Franz too much interest.
Soon after this episode ended, Franz and Friedrich had an opportunity to meet the King of Siam. According to common practice in Siam, envoys who want to meet their monarch need to go through layers of approval and a long wait.
Just when Siam officials were lamenting the strength of the neighboring country's sovereign, an entire fleet flying the Austrian flag sailed into the harbor.
The sails that blocked the sky made the Siamese officials at the port break out in cold sweat. The Zuo Ma Ling (a secret service agency similar to the Royal Guards) who was responsible for investigating the authenticity of the Austrian envoys even ran back to the palace crawling on the ground.
Rama III knew how to survive as a small country. Although Siam was a hegemon in the Indochina Peninsula, it was nothing more than a joke in the eyes of the powerful Central Plains dynasty and the great powers that came across the sea.
After all, Siam at this time couldn't even deal with those fanatical Chenla skitarii, let alone their masters?
This time, the Austrian expeditionary fleet was even more powerful than ever before. Of course, what surprised him most was that the visiting envoys turned out to be two members of the royal family.
Rama III, who had never seen a member of the European royal family, was full of curiosity, "Do they have four eyes and three legs?"
The splendor of the Siam Palace complex blinded Friedrich; of course he did not know that although the Siam Palace in history was not much better than the Phnom Penh Palace in Cambodia and the Hue Palace in Vietnam, its special feature was This is the only royal palace that has not been baptized by war.
He was fascinated by the towering trees and Chinese-style buildings around him. This kind of majesty is completely different from the feeling brought by ordinary European-style buildings nowadays. It is more like the feeling he had when he saw the city walls of Constantinople for the first time; a heavy sense of history came to his face, making him feel He had an urge to conquer this place.
But Franz, who lived in China in his previous life, and Oshiosugin, who is more familiar with East Asian palaces, have no feeling at all. On the other hand, little Yakunda felt as if he had entered the Grand View Garden, feeling curious and scared at the same time.
Rama III was sitting on the throne of his palace, waiting for the arrival of Franz and his party while listening to the reports of his ministers.
"What are their movements and whereabouts these days?"
"Your Majesty, those Austrians taught a few gangsters on the dock a lesson."
Rama III couldn't help but sigh, "Really? I didn't expect the gangsters to be so brave now. My generals were frightened by the Austrian warships."
However, the monarch did not show a look of surprise on his face, but continued to ask calmly, "Is there any more?"
"They also took away a little girl along the way." The minister replied respectfully.
After hearing this, the corner of Rama III's mouth curled up. Sure enough, people can be bribed if they have desires, even enemies.
"Bring all the beautiful girls you selected earlier into the palace. Those distinguished guests from far away may need them."
The Siamese palace eunuch naturally understood what the king meant and immediately went down to prepare.
An hour later, the main hall of the palace.
Franz and Friedrich met the legendary Rama III.
Because they did not understand Siamese, the language talents of these two people were of no use. They originally wanted to ask Da Yanshanyin to help translate, but according to the summoned eunuch, Rama III had already learned German, so he gave up.
In the main hall, the two sides looked at each other; Rama III's initial impression was that Austria might be the legendary Lilliputian country, and the two royal families seemed to be not as tall as himself.
(Franz 150cm, Friedrich 158cm, Rama III 160cm)
In fact, this kind of looking up and down is a very rude behavior, but it is acquiesced by both parties.
Friedrich thought that the fat man on the throne was more like a shopkeeper selling groceries, and did not take him seriously.
Franz's first impression of the monarch in front of him was not good. His routine fake smile and the presence of a bunch of ugly people made him feel chilled.
However, this does not mean that the subsequent agreement negotiations between the two parties ended successfully in a friendly atmosphere. With a stroke of his pen, King Rama III decided to set aside 10,000 acres of land for development and planting of rubber.
His original intention was to cater to the Austrian Empire, but what he didn't expect was that the other party put forward the condition that the sales price should not be lower than 1,000 florins per ton.
(The market price at this time is 500 florins per ton.)
However, this small amount of money did not make Rama III take it too seriously. He just felt that Franz seemed to be slightly different from other powers.
The attentive King Rama III could see that the other party did not seem to be interested in the elaborate gifts he had prepared, so he asked the women to withdraw from the hall.
After that, the two sides had a very awkward and business-like exchange of blows. Before leaving, Franz suggested, "Your Majesty, I have one more request."
"Please tell me, Prince Franz." Rama III couldn't tell the difference between Austrian nobles.
"I met an orphan in your port and felt very pitiful. I hope that His Majesty the King can take him in."
"Oh? The orphans in our country are all my subjects, so of course they are my responsibilities."
However, the king sneered in his heart, "This foreigner is really unreasonable. He actually let someone raise a woman for him."
Of course Franz would not know his psychological activities, he just handed over the little girl named Akunda to the other party.
Franz felt that he had finally ended a bad relationship, but what he didn't expect was that it would turn into an even bigger bad relationship more than ten years later.
After the trip to the palace, Franz and Friedrich returned to the battleship carrying a batch of gifts from the King of Siam. In any case, this harvest made everyone temporarily forget about the unpleasant trip to Borneo.
10,000 acres of rubber forest may seem like a lot, but in fact, the output after rubber tapping started was only about 650 tons, which is a drop in the bucket for the exaggerated growth rate of the Austrian rubber industry, and it will take another eight years for a good harvest.
It's just that it seems a little early for a fleet of this size to go to Japan to carry out a "black ship incident" in advance.
Just when Franz thought everything had settled, things took a turn for the better again.
When the ship was about to enter the Strait of Malacca, a fearless small boat came directly towards the battleship "Venecia"; however, it was naturally impossible to force the moving battleship to stop.
There was only a crisp sound, and the boat broke into pieces. Although Franz and Friedrich did not know what the other party's purpose was, they decided to organize the officers and soldiers on the ship to rescue the people who fell into the water first.
Soon a wet oriental woman was pulled up, but she no longer cared about that.
"Are you here for me, the Ming Dynasty? I am Zhu Qiongying, the legitimate daughter of the Zhu Ming Dynasty! Where is the Yi chief?"
A 4,000-word chapter.