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

Chapter 1506 Dream

Victoria and her husband were very satisfied with their remuneration. To be honest, Franz didn't know that Victoria liked diamonds so much. If the other party was willing, he would like to pay with all diamonds. After all, the Austrian Empire was not short of diamonds at that time.

As to why not pay with gold.

Then the problem returns to the starting point. The Austrian Empire wants to issue paper money and carry out gold standard reform, so it needs a large amount of gold as a value anchor.

(The relationship between them will not be elaborated.)
The Victorias are also very supportive of the Australian company's expansion of its business. After all, only when the Australian company makes money can it continue to pay dividends to them.

After all, Australia is one of the colonies farthest from Britain. As long as Australian companies do not cause public outrage, they don't care.

The impact of rising gold prices is all-encompassing. From primary industrial and agricultural products to strategic materials, arms and industrial manufactured products, everything is rising in price.

Perhaps the only two things that are not rising in the UK at this time are wages and shares.

The most significant increase in the price of sugar is in the world. Due to the previous Cuban crisis, the world's sugar production is expected to decrease by 15%, but the world sugar price has increased by 50%.

This is the price of bulk trade. Specifically, the price of sugar in various countries has increased by almost 100%. All of Europe was in a sugar shortage, and the Austrian Empire had a plan to deal with it.

Quantity and price limits are completely unacceptable to citizens of many countries, but they are commonplace for Austrians.

Although every time this happened it would cause opposition from some people, the voices of these people were very small in the Austrian Empire, and few people even paid attention to it.

The so-called limit of Franz was enough for most civilians, and there was even some surplus. Although the nobles needed a large amount, the limit itself was less restrictive to them.

The amount that nobles can purchase at the original price is three to five times that of commoners, and even the lowest-level honorary nobles can purchase twice the amount of commoners.

As long as you are not the kind of person who is addicted to sugar, it is enough to meet your daily needs.

The most affected were the wealthy non-nobles, but they didn't necessarily care about this little money. Also, non-citizens, foreigners who had not obtained Austrian imperial citizenship could not enjoy national treatment.

These people either chose to join the Austrian Empire or pay a premium to purchase necessities.

The Austrian Empire's purpose of attracting foreign population has always been to increase its own population and bring more labor and technical talents to the country.

The Austrian Empire can provide preferential treatment to those who have already become citizens, but for those who do not want to become citizens of the Austrian Empire, the two sides only have a transaction relationship and everything just needs to go according to the process.

Compared with the high wages in the Austrian Empire, the increase in sugar prices was nothing, but the difference in treatment between citizens and non-citizens of the Austrian Empire was not limited to the price of sugar.

Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna.

Olga has been suffering from insomnia recently. Whenever she closes her eyes, she dreams that she is riding in a sedan chair pulled by elephants and walking on the Ganges Plain.

The river water sparkled, as if covered with a golden light. The grass and trees were lush and green, stretching from the sky to the ground. Countless unknown birds were circling and singing in the sky.

People on both sides of the road were singing and dancing as if to welcome him. The dancers' red skirts were spinning in a dazzling manner, and the snake charmer's flute music was also intoxicating.

People on both sides were constantly throwing colorful petals into the sky. Suddenly, a piece of warm and sweet cheese fell on Olga's face. She just touched a little with her finger to taste it, and let the sweet cheese hang on her face.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, a magnificent temple appeared at the end of the road. The priests lowered the heavy suspension bridge as if to welcome its master back.

In the temples, countless scholars are discussing complex religious and philosophical issues, and gorgeously dressed warriors are practicing fighting skills in the arena.

Finally, she reached the top of the temple and found that it was a huge pyramid. Then, a beautiful priest who was difficult to distinguish between male and female came and asked Olga to go to the top of the altar to receive the blessing of the gods in a neutral and magical voice.

So that her children could inherit the land of India, the colorful clouds in the sky were parted on both sides, and the sacred glow poured down like a waterfall.
At this moment, Franz's voice echoed in Olga's mind.

“India is not like this”

In just a blink of an eye, there was thunder and lightning in the sky, and the colorful auspicious clouds had long disappeared, replaced by inky black water pouring down.

The magnificent ground beneath her feet turned into lifeless and bare stones. Seeing the insoluble black water getting closer and closer, Olga immediately ran as fast as she could.

When she passed by the beautiful priestess, she wanted to call her to run away together, but at this time, the beautiful priestess had grown five arms and three eyes, and was waving at her and giggling from time to time.

Suddenly, a sharp axe chopped off the head of the priest, and Olga was so scared that she fell off the pyramid. As she fell, she saw countless strange-looking people studying strange runes, and the noble warriors in the competition field turned into monsters and fought bloody battles.

Only then did Olga realize that the entire pyramid had become upside down, but fortunately the elephant was still waiting for her.

Olga rode the elephant out of the temple. The scene in front of the door shocked her again. Countless [indescribable] tentacles stretched out from the snake charmer's pot. The dancers in red dresses were still dancing tirelessly, but under the veils they had turned into skeletons.

At this moment, something warm smeared on Olga's face, but this time what she smelled was not sweetness, but a disgusting stench.

Olga pulled off the warm thing and was shocked to find that it was actually a pile of cow dung, which was even steaming.

At this time, Olga found that the healthy people who had been sprinkled with beautiful petals before had now turned into a group of rotten and swollen corpses. They were throwing cow dung at each other (Indian Cow Dung Festival). The singing gradually became devilish and harsh. Crows were circling in the sky. The Ganges River not far away was filled with corpses and feces, and it was shining with a green glow from time to time.
Olga sat up suddenly, gasping violently, and the maid in the compartment came out immediately.

"Your Majesty, how are you?"

Olga took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. She really hated Franz's description.

"I'm fine. I need to shower."

"Yes. I'll get ready right away."

Olga just wanted to wash herself clean at this moment. She felt that her whole body smelled like cow dung, although she had never seen cow dung.

the next day.

"I feel our child belongs to India and he should be the king of Jhansi."

Olga said stubbornly.

Franz was also helpless about this. He had explained to Olga countless times that this was most likely a scam. Even if it was not a scam, the chances of their children inheriting the land were slim.

"That's all your guesswork. You can't always be right. India is a land flowing with milk and honey. I've dreamed of it!"

"Your hormone levels are so high that they're affecting your judgment."

"what is that?"

Franz's casual remark puzzled everyone. No one knew what hormones were. Franz rubbed his forehead. He was not going to dwell on this matter any longer.

"I now make him the King/Queen of Tranquiba. How do you do that?"

Olga rolled her eyes.

"Isn't that the Austrian Empire's own land?"

“Isn’t Tranquiba better than that illusive Jhansi?”

In response to Franz's answer, Olga nodded without comment.

"Or you can write a letter to your father and ask for his opinion."

Olga was still a little afraid of herself, Nicholas I, she said in feigned anger.

"You are all in the same group!"

"You have to trust the emperors' judgment."

After these words were spoken, Olga no longer dared to act willfully.

In fact, she felt ashamed to act coquettishly in front of Franz, who was younger than her. If she really brought this family matter to the attention of Nicholas I, she would not be able to hold her head up.

In Franz's opinion, Nicholas I would 100% oppose this matter. After all, Russia has always had ambitions for India. Olga had too little exposure to politics, and she thought it must be a good thing for her son to rule the good place her father talked about.

But in fact, Nicholas I would never want his descendants to fight to the death in India, and he would rather Russia monopolize India.

Although bringing the Austrian Empire to India could weaken the power of the British, it would also increase their own opponents. Nicholas I did not want to do this. He preferred to divide the east and west with Franz.

"What about Anna's little friend?"

Franz rubbed his forehead. There were some things he really didn't know how to say. Gangadhar Rao's shamelessness was far beyond his imagination.
"It's okay, she's a strong child. If you really feel sorry for her, we can train a group of international students for them for free."

"International student?"

Olga didn't quite understand.

"Isn't Zhangxi going to be destroyed? What's the point of training foreign students? If a fly gets into your house, you need a fly swatter, not a table."

"India needs a fly swatter, but we need a table. And haven't you heard that a country can only be strong through science and technology and can only be strong through education?"

Franz's scientific explanation made Olga dizzy, but she finally agreed with Franz's approach.

In fact, the saying that science and education can make a country strong is not wrong, but given Zhang Xi's situation, it is difficult to wait until that day.

As for the plan to send overseas students, it was naturally something Franz had planned for a long time.

The students who could be sent to the Austrian Empire either had extraordinary family backgrounds or extraordinary talents. After completing their studies in the Austrian Empire, these people would most likely be able to climb to high positions when they returned to their home country.

If they have a bad life in India, they will probably think of the Austrian Empire. There are not many options before them, either return to Austria or turn India into Austria.

In addition to infiltrating and cultivating pro-Austrian senior officials, it can also intercept talents and even reverse the strategy of overthrowing weak countries.

After all, the talents that weak countries urgently need to cultivate also reflect the policies of weak countries to a large extent.

Although India has always been a very strange country on the Internet, this country also has a long history and has produced many geniuses who have left a significant mark in the history of science.

Franz admitted that quantitative change leads to qualitative change, but he never denied the role of people. The emergence of some geniuses can indeed advance some technologies, which is very important for the Austrian Empire.

As the impact of the European Monetary Union's gold standard reform continued to spread, the Americans were once again cheated by the British.

As soon as the news of the gold standard reform of the European Monetary Union came out, the British government, together with several major banks, went to the United States across the ocean to obtain gold, and tried their best to block the news from the United States.

The British's behavior of buying large amounts of gold and selling silver in the US market naturally attracted the attention of American bankers.

But forget about contributing to the country. American financiers will only blame their British counterparts for getting rich without taking them with them, causing them to lose several points in profit.

When the financial tsunami hit the United States, the US government lost tens of millions of assets before it even knew what was happening. The American people suffered even greater losses. The landowners in the South were fortunate that they had signed a long-term contract with the Austrian Empire, so their losses were not great.

But the factory owners in the north were in a miserable situation. The funds they had accumulated with great difficulty shrunk significantly overnight.

Fortunately, the US government of this era was quite courageous, and they once again replicated the operation of 1837. The government directly prevented foreign capital from leaving the market, and the British could not take away the money they made.

But this time, European financial groups were well prepared. They used compradors in the United States to make the money they earned legal, and then quietly left.

As mentioned earlier, the new President of the United States at that time, Daniel Webster, was not a strong person. Even if someone played such tricks under his nose, he did not dare to expose it forcefully.

The result of this is that the US government has not only been branded as a company that embezzles foreign capital and is a financial black hole, but has also failed to retain foreign capital, leading to a massive outflow of precious metals.

Vanderbilt and a group of American financiers saw the opportunity and decided to make the storm even more violent.

As a result, the US stock market plummeted, and many people lost their fortunes, but many high-quality assets also appeared on the market at this time.

Vanderbilt had long been determined to build a railroad that ran across the east and west of the United States. Taking advantage of the financial tsunami, he began to acquire the railroad companies that he had long admired.

Historically, it was thanks to these railways that Vanderbilt became the second richest man in American history, and his net worth once accounted for 1/87 of the US GDP.

Unfortunately, this time he had a new competitor, a little-known railway company.

At first, Vanderbilt wanted to use a two-pronged approach to force the other party to retreat. This was what he was best at. On the one hand, he carried out a hostile takeover, and on the other hand, he made the other party feel malicious, such as family members disappearing one by one, missing arms and legs, etc.

But this time, Vanderbilt, who had always been successful in the business world, hit a wall. His money failed to defeat the opponent, and those desperadoes were even hung at his doorstep.

Vanderbilt, who was hit hard in the face, wanted to retaliate, but then he realized that he didn't even know who his opponent was.

Furious, Vanderbilt went to the state legislator to get all the information about the railway company - the Emperor Southern Railroad Company of America, with a registered capital of 50 million US dollars. Among the shareholders, the name of Wildcat Bank was prominently listed, and even the name of former President John Tyler was also listed.