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

Chapter 1537 Governor of Alaska
It is obvious that Alexander has hit the nail on the head this time. Over the years, Nicholas I abolished the Polish Constitution, closed the University of Warsaw, banned the use of Polish in schools, removed trade barriers, suppressed Catholicism, and enforced conscription in order to completely assimilate the Poles.

Now what Alexander did was obviously contrary to the policy of Nicholas I. Nicholas I urgently recalled Alexander to St. Petersburg to find out what his son was thinking.

"Father, His Majesty the Great Nicholas I."

Alexander spoke to Nicholas I in a slightly teasing tone, and the latter immediately began to look for a suitable "weapon" to give the former some long-lost fatherly love.

Alexander said, stepping back quickly.

"Father, what you see is just the surface. I have a big plan!"

After hearing this, Nicholas I calmed down a little and felt that his son should not be so stupid.

"Tell me your plan. I will."

"I want to free the serfs!"

Nicholas I's blood pressure suddenly rose, and he immediately picked up the candlestick at hand and smashed it over.

"Get out of here right now! Get as far away as you can!"

Not only Nicholas I and the conservatives could not accept Alexander's approach, but even some reformers felt that Alexander's approach was too extreme.

The Polish rebellion had just ended not long ago, and Poland's power had been taken back with great difficulty, but now it was being given back. Almost no one could accept this approach, and they believed that this was undoubtedly creating a breeding ground for rebellion.

In Russia, whether reformers or conservatives, the first thing they needed to pay attention to was the attitude of the Tsar.

If Alexander was not the crown prince of Russia, they could all consider whether to advise the Tsar to suppress the rebellion.

However, what the Russian side did not expect was that Alexander's actions actually split the relationship between the Polish nobility, civilians and serfs.

This requires us to talk about the characteristics of Poland. The Polish nobles and landlords fear the common people and serfs even more than they fear Russia.

At least before Russia implemented its policy of extermination, most of the Polish nobles and landowners were unwilling to stand with the "lower class".

The war with Russia was over at this time, and the Polish nobility was more afraid of losing their few remaining privileges than destroying the so-called united front.

But Alexander's actions also offended both the Polish nobles and the common people. The common people did not gain enough power, while the Polish nobles only got the opportunity to become city dumas in theory, but had to accept the so-called liberation of serfs.

In Franz's view, Nicholas I transferred Alexander away from Poland entirely for the sake of Alexander and Poland.

Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna.

"And your father sent you to Vienna? Are you going to be a diplomat? You will like it here very much."

Olga asked with interest. She felt that the colorful world of Vienna was very suitable for Alexander. At least Olga had not visited all of Vienna in the past two years, and the city was still expanding and changing.
"Hehe. It's not that simple. You know, my father always keeps his word."

Alexander said with a self-deprecating and somewhat proud smile, "That is? Siberia?"

Olga had already imagined Alexander digging a hole in the snow. After all, when he was in the Winter Palace, Alexander often did this with his younger brothers and sisters.

But she began to blame her father in her heart, wondering how he could send her brother to such a snowy place? After all, Alexander was the crown prince.

I don't know if my little Karl will quarrel with Franz in the future. There are many scary places in Austria, such as the Gate of Hell, the Skeleton Coast, the Death Desert, the Devil's Throat, the Weeping Forest, the Cannibal Valley, and Dracula's Castle.
"Siberia? Do you think our father is so kind? The old man asked me to be the governor of Alaska and to form the First Alaska Army."

Alexander said helplessly.

“Alaska?”

It took Olga a while to remember the place called Alaska. It was not because she lacked common sense, but because the land of Alaska was not in the common sense of Europeans at that time.

In fact, until 1846, there were only about 1200 Russians in Alaska. Even if people from other countries were included, the total number of Europeans in Alaska did not exceed one thousand.

(These are Russian data, and are probably exaggerated.)
According to the historical data of RAC, the company officially registered only 1851 employees in Alaska in 793. However, the historical line in the book is different, and the French also developed a section of Alaska.

Louis Philippe spent more than 100 million francs on this, so how could they not want to find a way to get it back?

According to the treaty between Russia and France:
"Russia mortgaged Alaska to France for a loan of 7 million francs. France paid million francs in advance and paid the remaining million francs within three years. The term was eight years, with an annual interest rate of %.

At the same time, after the first batch of funds arrived, France obtained the right to develop all resources in Alaska.

On the day the loan matures, Russia must redeem all buildings owned by French merchants at their cost.”

According to the treaty, if Russia failed to redeem Alaska, France had to consider how to make a profit from this block of ice. So France had to go deep inland to find resources, even if it meant selling tens of thousands of indigenous people as slaves.

Otherwise, Louis Philippe would have become a child king, but he did not have the great talent and strategy of the Sun King. Guizot's situation was similar. It was rare for the monarch and his subjects of the July Monarchy to be united.

If Alaska could be redeemed, the best way for France to make money would be to engage in construction and build houses. After all, according to the treaty, the Russians would have to pay for it.

Of course, France at that time did not want Russia to redeem Alaska. The July Monarchy also wanted to rebuild New France in North America.

The best way to prevent the Russians from redeeming Alaska is to build more houses.
So the French did a lot of construction in Alaska during those years. They built three ports alone and claimed to have opened up fifteen settlements in the inland.

These so-called settlements were similar to the 29 mission stations claimed by the Russians themselves. There were no more than five Russians in one mission station, and many of them were just decorations on the map.

However, the French did not work in vain, as they found coal and copper mines. The products were good, but there was no demand in the surrounding areas and they were too far from home, so the French could only sell them to California.

It may sound a little outrageous, but the most profitable business the French found in Alaska was selling ice, which leveled out the trade deficit with the California colony and even created a slight surplus.

In fact, the Austrian Empire's refrigeration technology developed rapidly, but the Austrian Empire's ice-making costs were still much higher than the French's transportation costs.

Only a very small number of bigwigs are qualified to use ice machines, and ordinary people have never even heard of this kind of machine.