Chapter 415 In Trieste
The construction of the New Hamburg Port is more difficult than the construction of the Mtwara Port in East Africa. Not only is it far away from East Africa and lacks relevant population and industrial support, but the project volume is also much larger than that of the Mtwara Port. Therefore, the New Hamburg Port must give priority to the construction of a military port.
While the new Port of Hamburg was being planned in East Africa, Archduke Ferdinand also arrived in Austria and landed at the Port of Trieste with ease.
In the Royal Shipyard, Ferdinand asked with interest: "Is that giant ironclad ship the new Austrian main battleship? What is its approximate tonnage? How does it compare to the Lissa ironclad ship?"
The engineer said somewhat discouragedly, "It would be great if it was really a warship of the Austrian Navy, but according to the Navy, they have no new shipbuilding plans. This ship was ordered from a foreign country, but I don't know which country it was from. This ship has a displacement of more than 200 tons more than the Lissa, and is more technologically advanced than the Lissa."
Archduke Ferdinand: "Didn't Austria recapture Venice? Now the control of the Adriatic Sea is back in Austria's hands. The results of this naval battle are no worse than the last Battle of Lissa. Why are there no plans to build new warships?"
The engineer said, "Alas, because the battle was more beautiful than last time, the navy captured a lot of ships from the former Italian Adriatic Fleet. In addition to distributing them to the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples, the rest were all incorporated into the Imperial Navy. This led to the Hungarian Parliament believing that the navy no longer needed new ships, so they refused to allocate funds. Not only that, they also demanded a reduction in naval funding. Fortunately, General Tegetthoff argued for it and avoided the tragedy."
Archduke Ferdinand sighed and said, "Is the Imperial Navy in such a bad situation now? Even worse than when I was the Navy Commander?"
The engineer said with a smile, "In fact, since the end of the last war with Prussia, the imperial power has been divided into two. Any expenditure needs to be negotiated between Austria and Hungary. It has no impact on the economy, but it has no benefit at all for industries like the military industry that need financial support. In fact, it's not just the navy, the army is also having a hard time. You know, our country's defense pressure on land is not small. They even have objections to the army's military spending, let alone the navy."
Archduke Ferdinand then said: "Well, it seems that the internal contradictions of the empire have become more acute. It is really not easy for Franz."
The engineer said, "Your Excellency, I also think that this contradiction will continue without any benefit to Austria. The decision-making efficiency of the empire is lower than that of other countries. Since the implementation of the dual system, it has become even more so. This generation is still okay because everyone knows the principle of living under the same roof. I am afraid that the next generation will be completely unable to suppress it."
Archduke Ferdinand: "So what do you think the Empire should do now?"
Engineer: "There are only two ways. The first is to sit back and wait for the contradictions to erupt completely without doing anything. The second is to directly expose the contradictions and carry out reforms in advance. However, neither of these two methods is a good idea. The first method is a slow death, while the second method is likely to cause the empire to die prematurely."
Archduke Ferdinand did not think so. After staying in East Africa for a long time, the style of the East African government also had a profound influence on Archduke Ferdinand.
"In fact, in my opinion, method 2 is still worth a try. Sometimes a fight can solve many problems. As for the problem of losing control, unless there is foreign interference, the probability of this happening in the current environment of the European continent is negligible."
Engineer: "Haha, only you, Your Excellency, would have the confidence to say such a thing. We dare not think so."
In the engineers' view, Archduke Ferdinand was talking without any concern. The importance of Hungary to the empire was self-evident. Without Hungary, the empire would be nothing.
If Archduke Ferdinand knew what the engineer was thinking, he would probably not be convinced. If a civil war really broke out, Austria would not be the one that suffered.
At present, the Austrian army, under the leadership of Albrecht, is still quite strong in martial virtue. In addition, Austria's natural terrain suppresses Hungary. If the Hungarian nobles really make trouble, they will definitely not get any good results. If Archduke Ferdinand is in charge, he would rather fight this war. After all, Hungary is very large, and he can directly split Hungary or even kick Hungary out.
But Archduke Ferdinand was just thinking about it. If he were in Franz's position, it would not be much better. But this is a big change from before. In Austria and Mexico, Archduke Ferdinand always acted as a peacemaker and compromiser.
It was later proved that kindness would only be seen as weakness, and ambitious people would not care whether you were truly kind or not. Once you reach that position, you are destined to be an enemy.
Of course, the most important thing is that Archduke Ferdinand saw how Ernst treated the natives in East Africa, and he realized that no one in this world is irreplaceable. For example, for the African natives, Ernst only saved the land but not the people. Similarly, the Hungarians may not play such an important role to Austria.
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. I want to know if there are any vacancies in the shipyard recently?" Archduke Ferdinand started talking about business.
Engineer: "As for vacancies, there really aren't any. Although there are no orders from the navy, there are quite a few orders for civilian merchant ships!"
Archduke Ferdinand: "There's not a single vacant seat! Why is the civilian ship business so hot recently?"
Engineer: "Yes, it's because the economy is so good right now. Maritime transportation is developing very fast, especially after the opening of the Suez Canal. The old fleets along the Mediterranean coast have come back to life, so they are rushing to build new ships now."
Archduke Ferdinand asked: "How long will it take for you to vacate your seats?"
The engineer replied comfortably: "In our factory, it should be two years later."
"Two years later!"
"Yes, a group of Austrian merchants recently purchased several ships. I heard that they want to participate in the Far East trade. However, I am not optimistic about their decision. After all, the Hexingen Ocean Trading Company is the real rich and powerful. I heard that in recent years, most of the business from the Far East to Germany has been monopolized by the merchant ships of the Hexingen Ocean Trading Company."
Ferdinand had a headache: "Is the situation in other shipyards the same as yours?"
"Almost. Since Italy was defeated, most of the business has been monopolized by us and French shipyards. If you don't have high technical requirements, you can also go to Italy. After all, although Italy is not a good country, its shipbuilding industry is still good."
Because of the two failures in the Trieste Sea, the Italian shipbuilding industry was indeed questioned to a certain extent. Of course, the most important reason was that the economy of the Kingdom of Italy suffered huge losses due to the war, and the restoration of the Kingdom of Naples also divided up a lot of industries.
"So going to Italy is also possible?"
"It's hard to say. I heard that they have a serious brain drain, and many technicians have gone abroad. Our shipyard has several technicians from Italy, and many shipyards there have gone bankrupt."
Archduke Ferdinand also knew about this, as the Bagamoyo Shipyard recruited many Italians at that time.
It seems that Archduke Ferdinand really couldn't think of where to solve the problem of warship procurement for the time being. The main reason why he came to the Austrian Royal Shipyard was to get more for free, reduce costs, and save more expenses for the navy, but he also needed an opportunity.
Archduke Ferdinand had no choice but to contact Ernst in East Africa through the dedicated telephone line installed by Ernst in his residence in Trieste to explain the situation.
Ernst: "There's no need to rush. You can wait until their giant ironclad ship is completed before placing an order. It will probably be ready in March next year."
Archduke Ferdinand: "Ernst, how did you know that there was an ironclad ship in the Trieste Royal Shipyard?"
Ernst quickly explained: "Well, my company has a lot of business dealings with the Royal Dockyard after all, so it is normal for me to know about it. I knew this before I came to East Africa."
(End of this chapter)
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