The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1487 New Official
Daniel Webster was not a strong man. He was a famous compromiser in American history, and the famous Fugitive Slave Act was his masterpiece.

Daniel Webster was different from Lincoln. Although he believed that slavery was a moral mistake, he insisted that slave states had the right to hold slaves and his attitude towards abolition was very ambiguous.

This successfully offended both the North and the South. Coupled with the death of Zachary Taylor and the scandal involving Millard Fillmore, the Whig Party was on the verge of collapse.

Daniel Webster advocated raising tariffs to protect domestic industries, but he opposed expansion and tried his best to avoid friction with European powers and even American countries.

Such a talented person with both left and right brains became the President of the United States, and Franz even sent a rare letter to congratulate him.

However, this behavior was seen as a signal by other countries. Coupled with the fact that the Austrian Empire easily let the United States go during the Cuban Crisis, people had to think that Austria was trying to win over the United States.

In fact, Franz also invited Daniel Webster to visit Vienna.

However, this is not a means to divide American politics. Franz just thinks that showing enough strength and sincerity in front of such a person will reduce a lot of trouble.

However, in the eyes of American politicians, this is solid evidence of collusion between the two sides.

Cuban side.

De La Concha was dismissed by Ferdinand II, but soon he was hired by the Austrian Empire as a special adviser on Cuban issues with an annual salary of 100,000 florins.

In addition, Franz also gave the former Governor's Palace to La Concha as his office.

The Austrian Empire's actions left outsiders somewhat puzzled. They couldn't understand why Franz gave such high courtesy to De La Concha.

However, judging from the previous actions of the Austrian Empire, it is likely that they are spending a fortune on horse bones.

Some people think that this behavior is extravagant and wasteful, with low cost-effectiveness, and is just a political show that has been going on for thousands of years. However, some people think that this is the true royal model and imperial style.

There were also some people who took the opportunity to advocate the system of investing officials. This voice was very loud because the people around Franz benefited the most from the system of investing officials, so of course the voices of these people were very loud.

However, Franz was not so arrogant as to think that he could really make decisions on his own, and what he did was not to buy horse bones for a fortune.

In fact, De La Concha did a lot of things, at least he preserved the essence of Cuba, in addition to the 400,000 black slaves, there were also the best land and the best estates on the entire island of Cuba.

Although Cuba looked like a scorched earth at this time, it actually still retained 50% of its sugar production capacity, 60% of its coffee trees, and 80% of its high-end cigar fields.

Why did you exaggerate the losses before?

Of course, it is to manipulate the market and maximize their own interests. On the other hand, the losses of the Cuban people are indeed very exaggerated, but the situation is different in the heavily guarded areas.

At this time, the Austrian Empire controlled the world's most important sugar producing area, and Brazil was its ally.

At this time, the only country that could compete with the Austrian Empire in terms of production volume was India, but the commercialization rate of Indian sugar was extremely low and its market recognition was almost non-existent.

One of the biggest advantages of a monopoly market is that others have to listen to your story. Even if you are talking nonsense, you can still stir up trouble and make a lot of money.

In addition, Cuba's doctors, scholars, and skilled workers were basically preserved, and hospitals, schools, and libraries were not destroyed in the war. As De La Concha said, he really preserved the essence of Cuba.

The most important thing is that De La Concha took the huge blame for the Austrian Empire, and Franz didn't want to do something that would make the dog eat the rabbit after its death.

De La Concha had strong personal abilities. Although he had a bad reputation in history, he did a lot during his tenure as Governor-General of Cuba.

For example, they built railways, telegraphs, water conservancy projects, promoted agricultural machinery, combated rebellions, resisted invasions, and stabilized the situation in Cuba.

However, due to political considerations, Franz could not continue to let him serve as the Governor of Cuba and could only let him serve as an advisor.

In addition to the international impact caused by the bad reputation, the officialdom of the Austrian Empire itself was unwilling to accept such people. At the same time, it was also to prevent one person from ruling the same region for a long time and causing great harm that could cover the sky with one hand.

According to the estimates of Austrian Imperial agricultural experts, it will only take about two years for Cuba's sugarcane production capacity to be restored.

That’s right, it only takes two years to fully restore production capacity.

Sugarcane is a crop that does have very high requirements for the environment and soil, but that doesn't mean it is difficult to grow. In fact, it is not difficult to take care of.

There is no solution for perennial crops such as coffee and cocoa, but fortunately they are not the main crops in Cuba.

The biggest problem facing the reconstruction of Cuba is the lack of manpower. Although machinery can greatly reduce the agricultural population, it is not only the farmland that needs to be rebuilt at this time.

The war was very destructive, with forests and factories burned down and roads severely damaged. Fortunately, neither side deliberately destroyed the port, which greatly reduced the difficulty of reconstruction.

If the port is completely destroyed, the reconstruction time will start from three years, and it may not be fully restored until ten years, and the funds and manpower required will increase exponentially.

This time it was not a simple reconstruction. Franz also had to build railways, telegraphs, and replan water conservancy facilities on the island of Cuba.

Previously, due to the fact that different family forces controlled various parts of Cuba, water conservancy facilities were extremely biased and public works could not be carried out at all.

Railways and telegraph lines could only pass through the cracks and were often exploited or even destroyed by these families.

But now these obstacles no longer exist, and the Austrian Empire can maximize the utilization of Cuban resources without having to rely on anyone else.

Of course, if someone insisted on teaching Franz a lesson, he would have no choice but to fight back.

Rebuilding Cuba itself is a big business. At that time, not to mention Cuba, there was no real large-scale steel plant in North America. Even in history, when the United States was developing railways, the rails were imported from Britain.

This is undoubtedly a big business for the Austrian Empire's steel mills, and industries such as railway-related machinery and parts manufacturing will also benefit.

At this time, more than half of the rails imported into the United States came from the Austrian Empire. After all, Franz's kickback model was so advanced that Americans could not refuse it.

In order to maintain this good deal, pro-Austrians in the United States suppressed domestic steel companies at all costs. In addition to harsh tax policies, there was also an extremely strict supervision system.

In this era, you can find a lot of problems in any factory if you just pick it up casually. If someone really looks for it seriously, the results will be very explosive.