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

Chapter 1834 Knights of the New Era
Despite the Austrian Empire's overcapacity in oil production at the time, Franz had to personally handle the surplus products and even rebuild the storage system from scratch.

However, he was well aware that once the automobile industry was launched, the Austrian Empire's oil reserves would not last more than a few years, and if they were wasted without restraint as in the past, a supply-demand imbalance could soon occur.

Therefore, Franz had long set his sights on Tripoli, which was closest to the Austrian Empire. It would have been a pipe dream to excavate a 1000-meter-deep stratum by hand.

However, human technology is constantly advancing, and the technological advancements in well drilling are not actually that complicated.

Simply put, initially only human and animal power were used for drilling, so being able to drill to a depth of 100 meters was considered remarkable. In fact, with enough skill, it was possible to drill to a depth of 1,000 meters, as recorded in the Ming and Qing dynasties.

However, drilling to a depth of less than 1,000 meters by manpower alone would require not only a group of very hardworking people, but also a lot of time. But Franz had no interest in wasting more than a decade just to drill a well.

Therefore, he only needed to replace manpower with steam power to increase its efficiency by dozens of times. After all, in history, an American farmer assembled a steam-powered drilling rig that could drill to a depth of 2000 meters in less than a year.

Franz did not believe that the entire Austrian Empire's technology was inferior to the ingenuity of a farmer who had never studied engineering or mechanics.

Historically, the farmer used an old-fashioned six-horsepower steam engine. For the Austrian Empire at that time, let alone six-horsepower, sixty-horsepower, or even six hundred-horsepower steam engines, they could have easily built them.

(In fact, the steam engine that the British built for the Great Eastern in 1853 already had a power output of over 6000 horsepower.)
However, drilling rigs, which don't involve much technology, basically reach their limit at 2000 meters. Although the theoretical depth can reach 4000 meters, in reality, the cost increases exponentially from 3000 meters onwards, and the risks are also terrifyingly high.

Theoretical models are ultimately just theories; in reality, no one will actually use a drilling rig to dig things 4000 meters below.

But technology advances, and rotary drills soon emerged to meet this need.

Rotary drills are fast, efficient, and theoretically can extend their digging depth indefinitely. Even today, they still dominate the market.

However, Austrian technology was still in its infancy, so they mainly used percussion drilling. The fundamental problem was that the demand for oil was too low at the time, making drilling so many oil wells largely pointless.

Besides increasing waste, it is also very unsafe.

Tripoli's oil is mainly shallow, so using rotary drilling would be somewhat wasteful, but technology still needs to be developed, since oil isn't only found in North Africa.

The Middle East is also a treasure trove of oil, and Franz had already made his moves there. Besides his ally, the Omani Empire, the Suez Canal was the real game-changer.

After all, once the Suez Canal opened, the Austrian Empire would become the closest major power to Middle Eastern oil, and any oil shipped to Europe would have to pass through Austria first.

Unless they plan to go around the Cape of Good Hope, but that would be a huge waste and would prolong the transportation cycle.

This will give the Austrian Empire an unparalleled advantage during future wars.

Judging solely from oil resources, the only potential rivals to the Austrian Empire in the future would be the United States and Russia, unless the British could invent offshore drilling platforms ahead of time.

As for oil in South America, it was no longer a problem after the Republic of New Granada returned to Spain.

Although Ferdinand II (who should be called Ferdinand VIII at this time) was the King of Spain, in terms of influence in Spain, Franz was far superior to Ferdinand VIII.

Especially to the conservatives in Spain and the people of Catalonia, Franz was practically a god-like figure who swept away all evil with thunderous force.

Whether it was an evil queen, rebels, liberals supported by foreign powers, deeply entrenched local forces, unscrupulous merchants, or hypocritical churches and gentry, they were all wiped out.

Roads and irrigation works were rebuilt, and schools, hospitals, and churches were re-established. Order was restored in a short time, prices were stabilized, and people no longer needed to worry about their safety or their food supply for the next day.

In addition, there was a massive amount of material support, allowing the Spanish people to enjoy a safe and prosperous life for the first time in a long time, which was truly a rare blessing for the Spanish people who had long lived in poverty and war.

Franz's actions in Spain reminded them of their past glories.

"Madrid was once the capital of the world. We once ruled half the globe."

"In my empire, the sun will never set!"

"Spain is the center of the world!"

Without the decline of the Bourbon era, the contrast wouldn't be so stark. Therefore, a large number of Spaniards joined the Austrian Empire's colonial ranks as individuals, and this group was among the most radical.

In stark contrast to the Irish, they are hardworking, obedient, rarely complain, daring, and passionate.

This was naturally very popular in the Austrian Empire's colonies, which were primarily based on a military model, and almost all the colony administrators held them in high regard.

Moreover, according to the Austrian Empire's reward and punishment system, Spaniards usually received double or even triple their wages, which greatly motivated them.

In reality, few high-ranking officials in the Austrian Empire's colonies viewed them as foreign laborers; they were generally treated as a domestic minority.

However, compared to the Austrian Empire's landlubbers, the Spanish had a terrifying advantage. Compared to the Italian sailors who were prone to running away and slacking off, the Spanish sailors were far more cost-effective.

Those Spaniards who were doing well in the Austrian Empire generally chose to return to the sea, because this way they could live in Austria and occasionally return to Spain.

By 1858, the Spanish-speaking seafarers in the Austrian Empire had exceeded 15%, a remarkably rapid increase.

For many years, the number of German sailors in the Austrian Empire has never exceeded 10%, while the number of Croatians has been increasing rapidly, even surpassing that of Italians.

In fact, the number of Croatian sailors in history exceeded that of Italians. The main reason was that Italian captains were unwilling to hire Italian sailors; they preferred to learn another language rather than suffer such humiliation.

If Franz wanted, he could use Spain and Brazil to carry out many small-scale operations in the Americas, where the influence of Britain and France was very weak, even vulnerable.

Getting back to the main point, as Joseph Zeller said, the Austrian Empire already had the capability to mass-produce half-track tricycles at this time.

So soon high-ranking officials of the Austrian Empire received this strange lump of iron, but to Joseph Zereil's disappointment, his half-track tricycle was met with a cold reception.

The vast majority of high-ranking officials chose to continue using their own carriages, preferring to display the latest research findings from the Austrian Empire, sent by the Royal Academy of Sciences, as exhibits in their estates rather than ride in them. Of the nine ministers of the Austrian Empire, only Count Latour, the Minister of War, and Duke Warnik, the Minister of Science, chose to ride in the new carriages.

However, the Minister of War, Count Latour, meant that he would be accompanied by two warhorses, while Duke Warnick was already sweating profusely on the way there.

At this time, starting the car was quite difficult, but as the Minister of Science and Technology, the Duke of Warnick could not refuse new things and had to put on a show of being hands-on.

The result was that he was already soaked in sweat after just starting the car with the joystick, but the nightmare was far from over.

Early steering wheels did not have power steering, and as the driver, Duke Warnick had to turn them by himself, much like turning a valve on a large steam engine.

Parking was equally dangerous. The original lever system required immense arm strength, and even when pulled to its maximum extent, its effect was not significant. In the end, he could only rely on the foot brake.

Because he nearly caused several car accidents, the Vienna police chose to clear a path for him to prevent the Duke from injuring others or himself.

When he finally arrived at the gates of the Hofburg Palace, the Duke of Warnik was exhausted. Refusing any help from others, he stumbled and crawled into the palace.

Count Latour, standing to the side, was glad he had been clever. Although he, as the head of the military, had known about the half-track tricycle plan for a long time, he did not think that anyone could handle such a new weapon of war.

Duke Warnik's efforts did not bring a bright future to the citizens of Vienna; instead, most complained that he was disrupting traffic.

They doubted whether the Duke's car could outrun their bicycle, since in their eyes the new car wasn't very fast.

Newspapers were full of criticism of the Duke of Warwick for polluting the environment and making noise that startled the horses in the area.

Overall, it was even less rated than previous steam locomotives. At least those steam locomotives, though not fast, were at least controllable.

But this so-called miracle of Austrian Imperial industry turned the entire city into chaos.
"Our great Minister of Science and Technology was eager to show us commoners the greatness of modern technology, but instead he showed us the greatest disaster in the scientific community since modern times."

Before setting off, the Duke of Warnick was impeccably dressed and full of confidence, waving to the crowd. After the long journey, his hat was askew, he was covered in sweat, his chest was bare, and several buttons on his clothes were missing, as if he had just been in a fierce battle with the French.

Not only that, his trousers were visibly stained with oil, and his leather shoes were worn through. He paid no attention to the people around him and just scrambled into the palace.

Such a disheveled state is truly unbecoming of our nobles.

"Breaking News! Breaking News! The great Duke suffered a crushing defeat today at the hands of his mechanical steed!"

Knights of the New Era

A crooked hat, a face covered in grease, a tattered dress with disheveled clothes, shoes with worn-out soles, and scrap metal that would occasionally smoke and make strange noises.

Knights of the old days: dressed smartly, elegant in demeanor, with spotless armor, riding tall horses.

"The Duke's New Car" was even adapted for the Viennese stage.

Clearly, these were things that the experts in the Austrian Empire had not anticipated at all. They had thought it would be a very eye-catching opening show, after which orders would surely come in like snowflakes.

However, the reality was that they did receive a flood of letters, but they were all criticizing them for neglecting their duties and wasting research funds.

Fortunately, there are wartime tunnels available, so Joseph Zeller and his team members have been using the tunnels to get to work these days.

This was to avoid encountering those overly enthusiastic citizens at the entrance.
Franz also received one, but it was larger and more luxurious than the ones the ministers received. They also sent a test driver.
Franz quickly learned why Duke Warnick was in such a sorry state: in short, the car was too powerful, and one had to undergo systematic training to be able to drive it.

In fact, the test drivers from the Royal Society all had thousands of hours of driving experience, so they naturally had no problem driving.

However, the ministers who received the cars all started from scratch, while the others chose to give up, and the Minister of Science and Technology, Duke Warnick, chose to go for it to save face.

The result was that the bumpy ride almost cost him his life, and the stumbling and falling along the way made people doubt this new thing.

In contrast, smaller fire-breathing tricycles had become popular in Schönbrunn Palace, as the palace had become too large after several expansions.

Furthermore, since most people in Schönbrunn Palace were not entitled to ride horses or carriages, bicycles became the first mode of transportation to become popular.

Similarly, the fire-breathing tricycle was easy to learn and use, and its faster speed and larger carrying capacity naturally made it very popular in the palace.

In addition, to accommodate bicycles and the new tricycles, the ladies-in-waiting at Schönbrunn Palace generally did not wear crinoline skirts or floor-length gowns, which were popular in France at the time.

Whether you can ride a bike while wearing such an exaggerated skirt is questionable. Even if you could, it would increase the risk, as it would be extremely dangerous to set the skirt on fire or get caught in the chain.

Therefore, the maids' skirts became shorter and shorter, and the hemlines narrowed to make the overall style more modern.

However, some more traditional women felt that this was indecent, since things like exposing ankles were considered extremely indecent at the time.

So they invented skirt clips to keep skirts in place and prevent the hem from getting caught in chains or covering exhaust pipes.

Of course, some more radical women chose to wear riding breeches, which completely avoided the side effects of skirts.

Although women wearing trousers was considered a rather extreme act at the time, since the emperor himself did not object, no one else could interfere.

The clothing worn by women in the court directly influenced the entire upper class of the Austrian Empire, and the trends in the upper class gradually affected the middle and lower classes.

Therefore, women's clothing in the Austrian Empire was very chaotic, and the crinoline skirt, which should have been very popular, was completely ignored.

As for what should complement the automobile industry, it should be driving schools. Franz simply opened a driving school and enacted a law that only those who graduated from the driving school could drive, otherwise they would be arrested by the police.