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

Chapter 1519: Whitewashing the Peace and Overturning the Table
February 1851, 2, was the first day of the first lunar month in the first year of Emperor Xianfeng’s reign.

"In the first year of the Xinhai year, I carried a banner and went to Dangyang.

I dare to wish for a long life, and only hope that all people will be healthy.

Your deep grace is silent blessing, and your great undertaking will benefit you endlessly.

I respectfully bow to the heaven for his blessing, and to the glorious rule of Emperor Xianfeng."

"Good poem! Good poem! Your Majesty's talent is so great that even Li Bai and Du Fu would be better than him if they were resurrected."

The person who spoke was Aixinjueluo Yishan (1790-1878), courtesy name Jingxuan, a member of the Bordered Blue Banner of Manchuria, a member of the Qing imperial family, and the great-great-grandson of Aixinjueluo Yinzhen, the fourteenth son of Emperor Kangxi.

Known as the Oriental Exorcist, he once tried to use a toilet as a raft to break the British evil magic, but he was outsmarted by the evil, and in the end he had to pay compensation and seek peace.

Even so, Yishan was still deeply trusted by Xianfeng and the Qing court. It has to be said that being good at guessing the intentions of superiors is really useful.

"Master Qi, Scholar Tanhua, why are you not talking?"

Ji Zhichang, whose courtesy name was Xianjiu, was a native of Jiangyin, Jiangsu Province. He was a Jinshi in the first class in the 12th year of the reign of Emperor Daoguang, and served as the Left Censor-in-Chief at the time.

Yishan knew that he was not well-educated, and he also knew that these scholars looked down on him because of his military background and the defeat in Guangzhou.

Coincidentally, Yishan also looked down on these literati. If they could please the emperor through this opportunity, that would be the best. If not, then don't blame him for being ruthless.

Qi Junzao and Ji Zhichang were helpless, they didn't know how they had offended Yishan. But it wasn't a bad thing for them, after all, it was also an opportunity.

"I have heard your Majesty's holy words, and my heart is moved, as if I heard the voice of heaven. Your Majesty has been in power for less than half a year, and you have already stopped the unnecessary expenses of weaving in Jiangnan and exempted Anhui and Henan from taxes and levies.

Isn’t this a clear proof of ‘dare to pray for a long life, and hope for the well-being of all people’? ”

"That's right! Carrying the banner and marching to Dangyang shows the virtue of our emperor respecting the heaven and following the ancestors, which is in line with the teaching of driving six horses with a rotten rope. 'Thousands of years of prosperity' and 'all the people are healthy' show his great benevolence, which is comparable to Yao and Shun. The clowns in western Guangdong today will surely be transformed by the holy master."

(It is as if a rotten rope is driving six horses. This phrase comes from "Song of the Five Sons" in "Book of Documents, Book of Xia")
Ji Zhichang suddenly realized that he had spoken out of turn. Now was not the time to talk about this. If the Taiping Religion incident really ruined the emperor's mood, his future would be in jeopardy.

"Mr. Ji is wrong! Last year, there was a flood in western Guangdong. Your Majesty issued twelve imperial edicts in succession, ordering all prefectures and provinces to open their granaries and release grain. All the people praised it. Everyone knows that the will of heaven is the will of the saint, and the will of the saint is the will of the people.

There is also the Wanmin Umbrella sent by the people of western Guangdong as proof! "

Xianfeng took the umbrella of all people from Yishan and immediately forgot about the so-called jumping clown, saying proudly.

"You are all too flattering! I have only recently learned that governing a country is like cooking a small fish."

After the emperor and his ministers in the Qing court exchanged sweet words for a while, the highlight of the day began. All 92 prefectures and 184 counties across the country reported that auspicious signs had been born.

Yishan even launched a huge porcelain bottle.

"My dear, what is this?"

"This is the Wan Guo Chao Duan Bottle! It was presented by the Western Yi countries. I heard that the Russian Tsar and the British Queen specially inlaid the gems from their crowns in it to show their respect!"

"Good! Reward!"

Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna.

Franz was also rewarded with a set of copies of the Siku Quanshu.

"My emperor has heard that the barbarians admire our culture, so he has specially granted me a set of the Siku Quanshu."

Franz looked at the pile of books, which was like a small mountain, and felt a headache. The Qing Dynasty envoys were not as servile as imagined, but were upright and upright.

Franz himself didn't have any feelings about the word "Yi", but the Qing court translator was hesitant to speak. If he knew that Franz didn't need a translator to understand, I wonder what he would think.

Officials of the Austrian Empire did not find it strange, after all, they never regarded Franz as a normal person.

He only knows two foreign languages. His Majesty the Emperor is a man of profound learning, who can predict the future. He can guide and mentor experts in various fields, and he can even ride a horse and wield a sword to lead the troops in battle.

In fact, if possible, Franz would rather have a copy of the Yongle Encyclopedia than these castrated miscellaneous books.

Before this, the Austrian Empire only had business in the Japanese Archipelago, but in order to catch up with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it still had to put in some effort.

However, what bothered Franz the most at this time was the Suez Canal. Franz thought that this time he had enough funds and excellent design, and he personally went out to kill the deadbeat Muhammad Ali.

Unfortunately, another year has passed and the progress of the Suez Canal is still very slow. From December 1848, 12 to the present, only one-tenth of the total project has been completed.

Although Franz made some magical changes to the Suez Canal, this time the Suez Canal Company not only had sufficient funds, but also had almost inexhaustible human and material resources.

According to the estimates of the Austrian Imperial Engineering Department, if the construction was carried out regardless of the cost, it could be completed in three years at most. Even if it was built step by step, it would definitely be completed within five years.

The current progress is obviously abnormal. Even the Suez Canal in history was only built in ten years.

That’s right! It was the British who were at work again. Franz had previously wondered how the British, who were well versed in business operations, could be fooled by a peddler like Muhammad Ali.

(Muhammad Ali worked as a traveling merchant in Albania in his early years.)
It turns out that the British were not fooled, but they wanted to turn themselves around.

Now that the Egyptians were kicked out by Franz, the British simply stopped pretending. As the largest shareholder, they vetoed proposals crazily and changed the design drawings more than a hundred times in a year.

They are also very picky about Egyptian laborers. They don't want tall, fat, short, or thin workers. They only want workers of standard build, 5 feet 7 inches tall and 130 pounds.

Franz originally wanted to make a fortune by building the Suez Canal, but the British had strict requirements on the standards of various tools.

This was not a big deal, as the Austrian Empire's industry even had an advantage in standardization. But the problem was that the British offered such a low price that the Austrian Empire's factories could not even recover their costs.

It is impossible for Franz to lose money and gain publicity in such a matter, and no manufacturer in the world can accept it.

But no one took the order, and the British could not explain to other shareholders, so they had to build a factory to produce these tools at a loss. Needless to say, the output of such a factory was pitifully small. However, the British did not reduce the treatment of Egyptian workers. Except for the still pitifully low wages, they were willing to spend money on food and clothing.

However, this time the British could not have the exclusive benefit, after all, the Austrian Empire's food and clothing prices were more than enough to match those of the British.

The reason why the British government is generous in purchasing food and clothing is that it hopes to subsidize domestic companies to help them overcome the economic crisis. If the prices are pushed too low, it will not just be a simple matter of losing money.

Is the Canal Supervisory Committee established by the great powers just a decoration?
The answer is, yes.

As the largest shareholder of the Suez Canal Company, the British could do whatever they wanted. At the same time, the British were able to bring in France, Spain, and private capital from these three countries, and their total shares just exceeded 50%.

At that time, France and Spain supported the British's misbehavior for certain reasons. The British government felt that after the opening of the Suez Canal, Britain's status as a world economic center would inevitably decline.

Because the trade with the Far East has huge potential, which no one can deny. Although the trade with America made the British a lot of money at this time, the trade volume with India and the Far East was also rising.

No one can say when the Far East will replace North America.
The rise of Austria, Spain and Naples also made the British feel uneasy. However, what really made the British feel threatened was that after the French established trade relations with the Far East, the trade volume between the two sides continued to rise.

Especially after the French established trade links with the Far East, the British felt a crisis. The French colony of Serampore in Bengal had become the main competitor of British opium in the Far East.

(Volume 9, Chapter 34: The Gears of Destiny.)
In fact, the British wanted to annex Serampore after the fall of the July Monarchy in France in 1848. Serampore Governor Belmondo was a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars and did not want to surrender to the British twice in his life.

So he planned to accept the British conditions and then shoot himself on the day of the handover ceremony. However, Belmondo was not the only one who had the same idea. There were less than 5,000 French people in Serampore, and one-third of them were the elderly, the weak, women and children.

However, the British have always been good at being unkind. Seeing that everything was going well, the East India Company put forward even more stringent conditions, that is, the French land and houses could not be discounted, and the East India Company would not be responsible for transporting the French back to France.

This move completely angered the French in Serampore, and the men demanded to fight to the death for their dignity.

Belmondo is a professional soldier who has participated in many wars and he understands what to do now.

Belmondo personally went to Tranquiba to purchase a batch of arms from the Austrian colony and hired 300 professional soldiers.

After returning to Serampore, Belmondo released the contract workers on the estate and promised to allow them to become French citizens after the British were driven away.

In addition, Belmondo sought help from pirates and some local princes who hated the British.

When the 3,000 Indian soldiers of the East India Company entered Serampore, they were faced with nearly 10,000 French Foreign Legionnaires and the French militia who were ready for battle.

The East India Company then organized two more expeditions, but both failed. Finally, Serampore waited until the British recognized Serampore as French territory.

Serampore also exported opium. Unlike the British who only cared about quantity, the French cared about taste. Serampore's opium won a good reputation in Southeast Asia, but it also became a major concern for the British.

In order to prevent France from rising again, the British decided to use this method of hurting the enemy by 1,000 but hurting themselves by 800. They would rather give up the more than 10 million pounds and delay the pace of France and the whole of Europe.

Although the Austrian Empire was somewhat implicated, it must be admitted that the British government at that time had a very long-term vision and was very courageous.

Although the British suffered heavy losses, as long as the losses of European countries were greater, it would be a win.

The British move was actually very ruthless, after all, capital is for profit. The reason why the French were able to raise so much money before was that many French experts believed that the Suez Canal was a highly profitable business.

Before the construction of the Suez Canal officially started, some French experts even claimed that the Suez Canal could be built with only 15 pounds and would bring hundreds of millions of dollars in returns. How could anyone not be tempted by such a high rate of return?

However, after all the trouble Egypt and Britain put in, two years had passed and there was no return, and even the completion date was nowhere in sight.

Capitalists are not philanthropists, and they will not watch their assets depreciate. So it is time to stop losses, stop losses, and it is time to withdraw investment.

The British wanted the Suez Canal to rot, and eventually they would have to abandon it due to lack of funds.

However, the British also underestimated Franz and the Austrian Empire. Franz admitted that the British were indeed very good at capital operations, but Franz never regarded the Suez Canal project as a commercial project from the beginning.

Instead, they regarded it as a national project of the Austrian Empire. However, due to the national strength of the Austrian Empire at that time, it did not dare to take advantage of it alone in front of the great powers.

Not only that, the merchants in Venice were also afraid of losing such good days, so no matter how much the Suez Canal Company's stocks were sold, the stock price never fell.

The British also underestimated Louis Napoleon, even though France had been following Britain's pace at this time, even sacrificing some of France's interests for this.

However, Napoleon III was not a king who was content with mediocrity. He understood the importance of the Suez Canal to France and would not always tolerate the British's reckless behavior.

In addition, the British overestimated the tolerance of British capitalists. The British government did this, but the Rothschild family, the Baring family, the Gurney family, these financial giants are not stupid, they will not let their money go to waste.

When the Kingdom of Sardinia challenged the British at the shareholders' meeting, the representatives of the British government were stunned, as they thought they would be facing representatives from Austria or Spain.

"Other shareholders do not question whether your country is..."

"Who said no one questioned it? I request that the shareholders' meeting re-determine the Suez Canal Company's articles of association and procurement matters for this year."

Cavour's request was reasonable, and even if the British were the majority shareholder, they could not refuse such a request. On the other hand, the British representatives also knew that the Sardinians would definitely not dare to challenge the British, and there must be someone behind this.

But no matter what the truth of the matter is, the development of this matter has now exceeded the scope of his authority to handle.

The news was soon received in London. John Russell was already numb at this time. He had no idea how many times he had heard such bad news.

Nothing good seemed to be happening in Britain at this time, but life had to go on, and John Russell, as Prime Minister, decided to continue implementing the strategy of restricting European development.

As for the so-called mastermind behind the scenes, he didn't even have to think about it. It was either Austria or France. Russia did not join the Suez Canal Company, and other countries simply did not have such great power.

Then when the British roughly counted the cards in their hands, they were surprised to find that they now held less than 20% of the shares.

Napoleon III never made any statement in response to Britain's inquiries, and Spain had already changed its flag. It would be better to expect the Austrian Empire to fight another civil war than to expect Ferdinand II to betray Austria.

Those British financiers had already sold all their shares in the Suez Canal. Even if some of them still held some shares, they could not tolerate the canal project to remain stagnant. After all, they wanted to make money.

There is no doubt that Britain's economic scorched earth policy failed at this time.

John Russell sat in the armchair wearily. He felt that he was really old, and perhaps Britain was too. He didn't know where the future would go.