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

Chapter 1493: Three-legged Bike and Riding a Donkey Upside Down

In fact, in addition to the princes and merchants of various states, the top executives of the East India Company were also major customers of the Austrian Empire. After all, the Austrian Empire was really unrivaled in the luxury goods market at that time.

Especially in India, no matter how expensive, bulky, and prone to malfunction Austrian air conditioners were at that time, dignitaries all over India were flocking to it.

Small ice machines are also popular, but they are very expensive.

In fact, the British had already developed a prototype of an ice-making machine in 1834, but it was used to lower the temperature in the laboratory at the time, so it was very bulky and was not widely used.

The so-called air conditioning of the Austrian Empire was actually an upgraded version of the patent of this British inventor. Although it was still very bulky and inefficient, it at least had commercial value.

The heat is killing people in India, and it is not an exaggeration. This place is really hot and deadly. Every year, the number of people who die from heat in India is ten times that of Africa, and more than the rest of the world combined, which is enough to prove the heat in India.

Ice machines and air conditioners were almost a necessity for the ostentatious maharajas and merchants of India, and Tranquilla was the only place in the Indian subcontinent where they could be bought.

Of course, in addition to ice makers and air conditioners, other goods from the Austrian Empire also attracted them.

Lakshmi Payi knew that the prince spent at least two-thirds of his income every year on purchasing goods from the Austrian Empire. Even so, Gangadhar Rao was considered a relatively frugal prince. Some people would even take out loans to make purchases, and even mortgage their land, cattle and horses for this purpose.

However, the Austrian Empire would not take away land as tyrannically as the British did. They would help solve the problem and increase the income of the princes to repay the debts.

If the repayment was not possible, the Austrian Empire would only ask some Dalits to work as laborers.

This seemed incredible to Lakshmi Payi and almost all upper-caste Indians. The Austrian Empire was not doing business but charity.

After all, those untouchables were considered garbage, even unrecyclable. The Austrian Empire not only solved the garbage problem for the various states, but also forgave their debts.

In the eyes of these high-caste Indians, Franz was simply the embodiment of love and compassion, and even represented justice. After all, Austria often beat Britain.

Of course, there are also people who completely believed these rumors and wanted to use them to make a fortune or become famous. Then they saw what the angry eyes of a diamond, the thundering means, and the violent mercy were.

At least Tamil Nadu and Kiran Vasjid have seen it and paid a heavy price for it.
Lakshmi Payi did not see any kindness or compassion in Franz, but it was true that the Austrian Empire was powerful.

Take the Vienna Central Railway Station alone. Even if all the skilled craftsmen in India were put together, they could not build such a magnificent building.

The mud in the Austrian Empire was harder than rock, and steel was free. She was sure that if someone laid rails on Indian soil, they would be stolen in three days.

Buildings like Vienna Central Station are not even the tallest buildings in Vienna. The taller the buildings are, the further out into the city you go.

Even the palaces of princes and nobles pale in comparison to these tall buildings, but fortunately the imperial palace of the Austrian Empire is not very tall, which gives her some comfort.

Lakshmi Payi was a very perceptive person and she quickly discovered the unusualness of the city of Vienna. She couldn't even see a piece of cow dung or horse manure.

If a monarch has mysophobia, he can command the people, but he cannot command animals.

The whole city is very clean and beautiful. Music can be heard everywhere and occasionally people can be seen painting on the roadside. Overall, it gives people a peaceful and comfortable feeling, completely different from the busy scene in the train station.

Before she knew it, Lakshmi Payi had arrived at the gate of Schönbrunn Palace, where she had to get out of the car for inspection.

The palace seemed to have grown bigger, at least the gate had been expanded a lot.

Horses and carriages can only be used outside the palace, and people could only walk in this huge palace before. But now it is better, Franz has distributed bicycles to the Schönbrunn Palace.

Of course, in this era, women riding bicycles was considered indecent, so rickshaws were once again revived in Austria.

Only this time, instead of stepping on the ground with both feet, you just need to step on the pedals. It is really a progress in civilization.
Franz also designed two new types of bicycles, or more precisely, tricycles, which were divided into two types: one for carrying cargo at the back and the other for carrying cargo at the front.

The words that are easier for Chinese people to understand should be "three-bengzi" and "riding a donkey in reverse".

Some people may think that the two types of vehicles are exactly the same, which is a big mistake. The former is suitable for transportation on normal roads, but this is not the modern era with wide asphalt roads.

This was the 19th century and there were many narrow alleys, coupled with exaggerated obstacles, making it a bit inconvenient for the cart to be in the back.

At this time, the donkey with the front of the car should be used.

The advantages of riding a donkey backwards are mainly in two aspects. On the one hand, it is convenient for turning, and on the other hand, it is suitable for high-frequency loading and unloading of goods.

Riding a donkey backwards is most suitable for street vendors, while ordinary tricycles are a substitute for horse-drawn carriages. Once there is a large cargo, the human-powered tricycle is definitely unreliable, and at this time you have to rely on horse-drawn carriages.

However, out of curiosity, Lakshmi Payi still sat on the donkey.

This gave her a very novel feeling, but it made Franz and Anna laugh.

Lakshmi Payi looked a little funny sitting in the cart. Of course, Anna was just laughing because she was sitting in the wrong seat, while Franz was thinking about certain things in the future.

"What are you laughing at? What's so funny?"

Lakshmi Payi asked in her broken German.

Anna: "Jansi, you have become more beautiful."

Franz: "Yeah, I've grown taller."

"You called me from the other side of the world just to praise me, didn't you?"

Lakshmi Payi asked with her chin raised, and she seemed a little proud.

"Anna misses her playmates. You should spend more time with her."

"elder brother!"

Anna didn't like Franz saying that.

"Alright. Try not to leave Schönbrunn Palace. If you must go out, bring enough guards with you. I have some things to take care of so I won't accompany you."

After Franz finished speaking, he was ready to get up and leave. In fact, he was doing this for his sister's sake.

Otherwise, although Queen Jhansi was very famous in history, she could only be used as an unimportant chess piece in Franz's hands. After all, there were many people in India at that time who wanted to be chess pieces for Franz, or even abandoned pieces.

"That's all?"

Lakshmi Payi asked in disbelief.

"Of course. Is there anything else you want to do?"

(End of this chapter)