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

Chapter 1133 The British and the Endless Bite

Botswana is rich in diamonds, but these are the least valuable thing to the Austrian Empire.

Botswana later became the second largest diamond producer, but at that time the Austrian Empire had too many diamond mines, and as a luxury product, its market was clearly in a state of oversupply.

Once the price of luxury goods collapses, it is difficult to recover. Moreover, the demand for diamonds on the European continent during this era was not great. The areas where diamonds were truly popular were Britain and the United States.

It was at least until Napoleon III became emperor in 1852 that British tastes spread to France.

The Austrian Empire never lagged behind in keeping up with fashion, but it was only popular on a small scale, and diamonds became popular in Prussia only after the Franco-Prussian War.

At this time, the industrial demand for diamonds was not large, and most of the mined diamonds could only be stored.

Fortunately, storage does not require too much space, otherwise Franz would have another headache.

Botswana's most important resources are coal, copper, and gold.

The only resource that could generate benefits in the short term was gold. Although Franz was not clear about the distribution of local gold, fortunately, a German immigrant caravan accidentally discovered gold while exchanging goods with the local Tswana people, and eventually found its source in the hills in northeastern Botswana.

In the 19th century, as long as there was gold, there was no worry about development or lack of immigration.

The Botswana region is very suitable for the development of animal husbandry. The fact that those primitive tribes can feed hundreds of thousands of people by relying on simple animal husbandry and hunting is the best proof of this.

However, what is truly most valuable to the Austrian Empire is its strategic location. After acquiring Botswana, the Austrian Empire will be able to connect Namibia, Botswana, and the German Confederation's southern African colonies.

In the future, communicating between East and West Africa will no longer be a dream. The most important thing is to make these colonies finally have commercial value so that they can feed back to the mainland. At the same time, it will further strengthen control over them and in turn promote local development.

Once the most important infrastructure construction is completed, the entire colony will enter a stage of super-fast development.

As for the so-called 500,000 barbaric and warlike primitive people, it was mostly made up by the British to scare people, because these tribes were quite disunited, and the three largest tribes were extremely pro-foreign.

In their eyes, white outsiders were more trustworthy than their local black compatriots. Even if they took a step back and said that the Austrians, who were about to complete the Industrial Revolution, had no reason to be unable to defeat the primitive tribes who were still using wooden and stone tools.

It was not easy for the British to get the right to host the conference, and it was not even easy for them to become the agent of the Ottoman Empire.

"Agent? What a joke! We are the victors! How can the victors obey the vanquished? Tell the British that they should have the attitude of a loser if they negotiate peace on behalf of the Ottomans!"

It has to be said that Nicholas I sometimes did have the aura of a tyrant. Andrei Uvarov was impressed by this aura and he bowed and said.

"I will definitely fulfill my mission. I will never let the British succeed in their evil plan!"

In fact, Andrei Uvarov was a war advocate. He completely disbelieved the British proposal of dividing the world between Britain and Russia. He knew that there would be a war between Britain and Russia.

However, Andrei Uvarov was unable to change the Tsar's opinion, nor could he convince the Russian high-level officials. Although he was deeply trusted by Nicholas I himself, the Russian officialdom was a place where seniority was required.

The age of the main bureaucrats is generally between 55 and 70 years old. If they were in the future, they would have reached retirement age. A group of slow-witted old guys would not be able to see through the British conspiracy. This peace conference must not be held in London, otherwise it would be a shame for Russia.

Prince Felix Schwarzenberg was confident about the right to host this conference. After all, several negotiations that determined the European landscape since the 19th century were held in Vienna.

The Austrian Empire was the victor of this war and had both strength, financial resources, and experience. Prince Schwarzenberg felt that this peace conference could and could only be held in Vienna.

After all, hosting such a large-scale international conference can obviously enhance the country's influence. The reason why Prince Schwarzenberg became Franz's prime minister (chief minister) was not only because of his own excellent abilities, but also because the two had a strong consistency in their ideas.

The Austrian Empire needed a stronger influence, and it was impossible for Austria, located in the heart of Europe, to retreat.

The British wanted to be agents of the Ottomans, which was even more impossible. Being both an athlete and a referee? Why would Franz let them succeed? If the British wanted to be agents of the Ottomans, they should do so as a defeated country.

Anyway, there is an armistice agreement and the Russians are in the front, so Franz doesn't need to save face for the British this time. They don't need it anyway.

Prince Felix Schwarzenberg was born into a noble family, but he had been immersed in the military for many years and still had a bit of unruly spirit.

At Franz's instruction, he did not give the British ambassador any face at all, and only said two words: "No."

Prince Schwarzenberg directly and publicly expressed his support for the Russians' opinions, refusing to allow Britain to act as an agent of the Ottoman Empire, and even more so refusing to accept London as the venue for the peace conference.

Baron Lavis, with a bandage still wrapped around his head, expressed strong dissatisfaction.

"We in the UK have been authorized by the Ottoman government and do not need your permission."

"It's not just us. We just support the Russians' view. If Britain rejects our demands, then the so-called peace between us and the Ottoman Empire will no longer exist."

"How could you do this? Your country has clearly agreed to peace talks."

"We accept peace talks, not judgment. I'll give you one month. If the Ottomans continue to insist on their own way, then we can only continue the negotiations with them on the battlefield!"

Prince Schwarzenberg's attitude was very tough, and this toughness came from his overflowing self-confidence at the time.

In the eyes of Greater Germanists like Prince Schwarzenberg, Franz was already the uncrowned king of Greater Germany at this time.

The strength of the German nation has been tested in countless previous wars. Defeating the French on land and the British at sea are the best proofs. He is confident that such victories can occur countless times.

In addition, as Prime Minister, no one knew the country's economic situation and financial strength better than Prince Schwarzenberg, and he could confidently say that the empire had never been so powerful.

The Austrian Empire simply had too few shipyards, otherwise it would have been able to build an entire super fleet in a year.

It was not a dream to expand the army to 1848 million people. Even in , when war was raging and the country was blockaded by the British, there were still more supplies in the warehouses than could be used up.

The Austrian Empire still had the energy to ship supplies to Ireland to disgust the British. The Austrians could not sell guns directly to the Irish, but Austrian artists could make gun parts into the shape of musical instruments.