Chapter 1198 Railway (Part 1)
Due to the establishment of the Europa Monetary Union, the Austrian Empire is now fully capable of forming a huge commercial entity with the German Confederation, the Austrian Empire, and the Apennine Commercial Alliance.
This is a supermarket with a population of nearly 100 million, and only such a large market can digest all the goods shipped from the colonies of the Austrian Empire.
In fact, it is not only the goods that need to be consumed, but also the gold and silver in Franz's hands. Only when the scale of trade continues to expand and the demand for precious metals continues to increase, can Franz quietly send them to the market and solve the debt problem at the same time.
At this time, the only debt of the Austrian Empire that has not been repaid is the British. It is not that Franz cannot pay back 490 million florins, but it is more cost-effective not to pay it back.
After all, the British are secretly making trouble behind the scenes all day long. If Franz still greets them with a smile, I am afraid that the other party will be more unscrupulous.
The amount repaid by the Austrian Empire has actually exceeded 490 million florins, and the two countries reached an agreement many years ago that the Austrian Empire only needs to pay the interest.
At the same time, this debt is also a kind of restraint on Britain. Unless there is a big enough temptation of interests, Britain will not rashly go to war with the Austrian Empire.
The British authorities must consider whether to tear their faces with Austria for a little bit of petty profit. Those so-called think tanks will also be cautious. 490 million florins may not be a big deal for a great power, but it is an unbearable burden for an individual.
Railways are the blood of industry. Without railway industrialization, there is no way to talk about it.
The railways of the Austrian Empire were severely damaged in the war, and Franz never stopped repairing them.
At this time, the length of the Austrian Empire's railways has reached 8,500 kilometers, ranking first in continental Europe and third in the world.
The world's first is Britain with 12,500 kilometers, the world's second is the United States with 11,000 kilometers, the world's fourth is Prussia with 2,100 kilometers, and France ranks fifth in the world with 1,600 kilometers.
The benefits of railways in this era are unimaginable for weak countries. Compared with the main transportation routes of this era, carriages and canals, the speed of trains is too fast and the volume is too large.
At this time, a train can usually carry fifteen carriages, transporting a thousand passengers or four or five hundred tons of cargo.
Although this is not comparable to the freight trains with dozens or hundreds of carriages in later generations, it is still not comparable to horse-drawn carriages and inland ships.
(In fact, fifteen carriages can carry more than three thousand passengers at most, but according to the standard ticket, there are only one thousand seats.)
At this time, inland ships can usually only carry 50-300 people. A cargo ship of about 100 tons is a large ship. According to the Bavarian standard at that time, the cargo ship on the canal cannot exceed 150 tons.
And the heavier the weight, the slower the speed. For cargo ships over 50 tons, the daily distance they can travel is only 20-30 kilometers.
If the weather is bad or it is narrow, human or animal power is still needed for traction, and this situation is nine out of ten.
Don't think that only Russia has trackers, and don't think that Emperor Yang of Sui used trackers. In fact, before the 20th century, the profession of trackers was common on both sides of the canal.
In addition to the slow speed, the price is also very expensive.
Even so, it is still more reliable than carriage transportation. The two main types of carriages at that time were light carriages pulled by 1-2 horses and heavy carriages pulled by four horses.
The cargo capacity of light carriages is usually only one ton, and even the cargo capacity of heavy carriages usually does not exceed three tons.
And the speed is also not fast. The speed of carriages is usually 25-50 kilometers per day, depending on the number of horses, the weight of the cargo, the road conditions and other factors.
At this time, the new trains of the Austrian Empire can reach 50 kilometers per hour. In the past, it took more than ten days or even a month to take a carriage or a boat. Now it can be done in one day by rail.
In terms of transportation volume, trains are several times or even dozens of times that of inland ships; it is hundreds of times the load of carriages.
And the most important thing is the decline in transportation costs, which often makes those merchants who try to hoard goods lose their fortunes.
The rapid population growth in the German region is inseparable from the credit of Franz. After several major disasters, many people who wanted to hoard goods were scared away by the cheap goods of the Austrian Empire.
If it was before the emergence of railways, even if Franz had grain, he would not be able to lower the price, because it was impossible to transport it, and even if it was transported, it would not be worth the loss.
With the railway, Franz could transport a large amount of grain into the disaster area in a short period of time, and those who hoarded it were usually local gentry.
If it were someone else, they would definitely be made difficult in every way, and even threatened their own government with armed uprising to prevent grain from entering the disaster area.
But Franz was different, no one dared to stop his goods. The Austrian Empire, the chairman of the German Confederation, was not in vain, and the honor of the Habsburgs could not be insulted.
The most important thing was that Franz could really send troops to escort the grain, so in 1848, the opponents and supporters of the Austrian Empire were equally crazy and all looked like they were fighting to the death.
This was not unrelated to Franz's frequent "doing good deeds and accumulating virtue" on weekdays.
With the emergence of railways, price barriers between regions were gradually broken, and powerful countries could more effectively mobilize domestic resources, complete the rational allocation of resources, continuously expand their advantages in competition, and occupy the market.
Weak countries can only passively accept all of this. Eventually, with the formation of a unified large market, they will either choose to depend on powerful countries or become the source of raw materials and dumping grounds for goods for powerful countries.
As time goes by, this situation will become more and more serious until all autonomy is lost.
Railway lines can even create new cities. At this time, there are only 20,000 Czechs among the 500,000 people in Prague, and the railway lines have brought countless German immigrants.
Not only Prague, but almost all important railway intersections have emerging cities, and the industrialization and urbanization of the Austrian Empire are advancing rapidly.
In military terms, the significance of railways is even more extraordinary. It completely breaks the inherent military concept. In the past, it took a month or even several months just from mobilization to assembly.
For example, in the previous military conflict between the Austrian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, Orma Pasha began to gather troops to deal with possible conflicts almost as soon as he received the remnants of the Hun Empire crossing the border.
However, when the Austrian Empire’s army entered the Ottoman Empire to pursue, or even completed its strategic goals and left, the Ottoman Empire’s army had not yet assembled.
For example, in the series of fierce battles in 1848, the Austrian Empire’s army could often gather a large number of superior forces in a short period of time to deal a heavy blow to the enemy, and the coalition forces did not need to worry about not having enough food.
Railways can also promote employment. In addition to building and operating railways, railways can also send surplus labor to where they are needed, indirectly increasing employment.
All departments of the Austrian Empire have tasted the sweetness brought by railways, so the top leaders of the Austrian Empire reached a consensus internally.
Prince Schwarzenberg brought their ambitious plan. They plan to double the railways of the Austrian Empire in ten years. By then, the total length of the Austrian Empire's railways will reach 17,000 kilometers.
"Your Majesty, what do you think? Is it a bit radical?"
Franz rubbed his forehead. He didn't know what to say.
"How can one time be enough? Ten times."