With the recovery of the economy, the fiscal revenue of the Vienna government has also risen with the tide. The government will not keep money for scumbags, and all fiscal revenue must be spent.
Less than halfway through 1897, departments were already gearing up to compete for the budget for the coming year.
The emperor went on vacation, and the decision-making power of budget allocation fell to the crown prince. Everyone could see that this was obviously the emperor paving the way for his son.
There is nothing to object to, although the emperor is still in good health, but he is also a 67-year-old man. In this era when the average life expectancy is less than 50, it can be called "longevity".
No one can guarantee that the old emperor will suddenly meet God one day. From this point of view, it is also very necessary to exercise the crown prince in advance to avoid being in a hurry.
Unlike the bloody struggle for imperial power in the East, the succession laws in Europe are relatively complete, and even if there is an occasional struggle, it is not cruel.
At least the internal struggle of the Habsburg dynasty was not so fierce, otherwise Franz's uncle Ferdinand I would not be able to inherit the throne.
In this context, it is not without precedent for the crown prince to exercise the powers of the emperor in advance.
The most typical example is Franz himself. Since the Great Revolution, he has acted as the crown prince to act as the emperor's powers, and the regency committee still handed over the power obediently.
Rules are rules, as long as everyone sticks to them, there will be no problems.
It was the same with Frederick, and even better.
After all, Franz was still alive and well, just running away for a vacation. Although the vacation was a bit long, it didn't hurt.
There was a highly respected emperor pressing down on it, and no matter what thoughts the people below had, they had to hold back first.
Don't look at Franz's little toss, but the bureaucrats of the Vienna government will never forget the wonderful scene of "10,000 people dismissed from office, 100 people's crematorium".
If someone really counted carefully, they would find that there were more bureaucrats who fell during the Franz era than there were hundreds of years after the establishment of the Habsburg dynasty combined.
Of course, the times are different and there is no comparison. The number of public officials in the Holy Roman Empire is now far greater than at any time in the past.
In the face of an emperor who dared to break the convention of "not blaming the public with the law", and had to impose heavier punishments, no one dared to act a demon.
These are all lessons learned by the seniors with blood.
Since the establishment of the civil service examination system, everyone has a bunch of substitute candidates. The detached status of the former bureaucracy has long ceased to exist.
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Putting down the official document in his hand, Frederick asked helplessly: "Your Excellency, your honorable minister, can you tell me what is the purpose of the Navy's shipbuilding this time?"
The word "respect" obviously aggravated the tone, and it could be seen that Frederick was not very interested in the "shipbuilding plan" submitted by the Admiralty.
On the surface, it was just a few battleships, dozens of cruisers and destroyers. Judging from the scale of the Shinra Navy, some warships have to be replaced every year, so it is not too much to build so many warships at one time.
The problem lies in the "regeneration of warships".
There are also strict regulations for the retirement of Shinra’s warships. Either the performance cannot keep up with the times, or the second-hand warships can be sold, or they must wait for the completion of the service period.
After several years of continuous upgrading, it is now in a window period, and no battleship will be retired in the next three years.
If there is no decommissioning, there will be no replacement. Under the condition that the naval establishment remains unchanged, the government will not allocate additional funds to build capital ships in the next two years.
Without additional funding, the Navy can receive limited military spending each year, and naturally cannot support the current shipbuilding plan.
If only dozens of warships were built, it would be nothing more than ten or twenty million Aegis. As a master who personally manipulated the listing of oil companies worth billions, Frederick would not have such a big reaction.
The problem is that the navy is never just a matter of warships. Once the number of warships increases, the naval establishment will also increase.
It seems that they just want to build a few more ships, but in fact they want to expand the army. That is not something that can be done by 10 to 20 million yuan, but it will increase the cost of tens of millions of Aegis each year.
The Holy Roman Empire is a land-power country. If the navy increases military spending, the army will certainly not be ambiguous, and the air force will most likely join in the fun.
These domestic problems are only minor problems, and the most troublesome ones are international ones. The British are staring at it, and the expansion of the Royal Navy of the Shinra Navy will definitely follow up.
There is no doubt that a new round of naval arms competition has been ignited. At that time, whether they like it or not, the Vienna government will passively follow the British to play the "Dumpling Contest".
After a little thinking with his brain, Frederick knew that the shipbuilding plan of the Admiralty was a giant pit, a giant pit that could swallow up all the new fiscal revenue of the Vienna government.
Leaving aside the international influence, all the money is spent on military expenses. What else does the crown prince do for his political achievements
Franz asked Frederick to supervise the country, just to let him take the opportunity to brush up his political achievements, prove his ability to govern the country to the outside world, and increase his prestige for future succession.
If all the money is used to play the "dumpling competition" with the British, it is estimated that everyone except the navy will be dissatisfied with his crown prince.
Frederick was not William II, he had a naval dream since he was a child. Frederick, who grew up in Vienna, was deeply influenced by mainland culture and was a typical continental powerist.
Frederick had always been very disdainful of the British maritime hegemony. No matter how powerful maritime hegemony is, can it be compared to the hegemony of Asia, Europe and Africa
In the Holy Roman Empire, the most popular theory is "Whoever wins the island of the world wins the world". As for maritime hegemony, it is only an accessory of continental hegemony.
When the Holy Roman Empire has digested the fruits of victory, the British maritime hegemony will have to be relinquished, and will have to be relinquished.
So Frederick now looks at the Admiralty's eyes, that is, "This is a bad guy who wants to harm me."
It seemed that his dissatisfaction with the crown prince had already been prepared, and Castagni replied calmly: "His Royal Highness, the British have been too busy recently, we must find something for them to do.
Seeing that the Central Asian Railway is about to open to traffic, it is necessary for us to create an opportunity for the Russians to use the Russians' hands to consume the British's national strength.
If things go well, before the new round of the Anglo-Russian war is over, we can take over the heavy task of maritime hegemony from the British.
Before that, if we don't build more warships, how can we fulfill the role of hegemony? "
I don't know since when, the Vienna government liked to use Russian allies as pawns.
Now to replace the British maritime hegemony, the first reaction of the Admiralty is to let the Russians go first.
If you open the history book, you will find that in recent decades, all the enemies that the Vienna government has faced, the Russians have stepped up to help beat them again.
In the First Near Eastern War (Crimian War), the British, French, and Ottomans were beaten, which laid the foundation for Austria's annexation of South Germany;
In the two Prussian-Russian wars, he helped abolish Prussia and successfully avoided the outbreak of a civil war for the unification of Shinra;
The next few wars in the Near East were also fought together by Russia and Austria, and successfully killed the Ottoman Empire;
Although the Russians were absent in the European War, they still made outstanding contributions to suppressing France, and they are still fighting;
Now, when it comes time to confront Vienna and London, I didn't expect the Russians to come in handy again. Even before the decisive moment, someone in the Vienna government wanted to provoke an Anglo-Russian war.
Judging from the current situation, with the opening of the Central Asia Railway, the probability of the outbreak of the Anglo-Russian war is also increasing day by day.
Therefore, Russia-Austria friendship is inevitable. Where can I find such a caring ally
Although maintaining Russian-Austrian friendship is very expensive, it is completely insignificant compared to the contributions made by the Russians.
Frederick admitted that he was tempted, but he quickly reacted. The opening of the Central Asia Railway is two years later. What's the rush now
Even if it is to provoke the Anglo-Russian war, it must wait for the railway to open to traffic.
Before that, let the British idle for a while. They will be busy in the future, and they will not be in a hurry at all.
In particular, the recent actions of the London government are constantly challenging the bottom line of the tsarist government. Over time, these small conflicts will evolve into an irresistible hatred between the two countries.
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