Chapter 140： Railway network

On July 11, 1849, Franz proposed at the enlarged meeting of the Austrian government: "Establishing the Austrian core industry system".

Immediately afterwards, the Austrian government started field investigations and listed what industries are the core development priorities. This is not something Franz can decide at the moment.

Even if the reason is sufficient, it is necessary to collect enough information and analyze it to ensure that nothing is wrong before it can be determined.

The actual results are very embarrassing. There is enough evidence to show that in this era, the focus is on the development of the military industry, so the focus is on the naval military industry.

For the army's hundreds of thousands of rifles, the price of one or two battleships adds up. Artillery is more expensive, but it is not much higher. The largest military expenditure of the Army in this era was personnel salaries and training costs, not weapons and equipment.

The focus of military enterprises is on research and development and production capacity. Production capacity need not be considered. The domestic market is so large, and the international arms market is even smaller. Blindly increasing production capacity is a dead end.

It doesn't cost much for research and development. How much does it cost to invest in several artillery and rifles? Is one million dongs a year enough?

If not enough, 10 million shields will never be spent.

In this era, the sum of the R & D expenditures invested by all European countries in army weapons and equipment, is there a big question mark?

Franz estimates that it is not. Most of the European military industry companies are private companies, all of which are for profit, and the investment in research and development costs is too large to recover the costs.

As long as profits are good, don't expect capitalists to make technological innovations.

Technological innovation in this era is not a good word. With a failure rate of over 99%, capitalists are cautious when investing.

This is why there is a saying that war promotes the development of weapons. Only in the war period can everyone be willing to invest in the development of new weapons and equipment.

In contrast, the navy is the swallowing beast. Unfortunately, the navy of the Austrian empire seems too small, and it can be ranked in the world of six or seven or eight.

If we focus on the development of the navy, it is estimated that it won't be long before we can rush to the third place in the world, behind Britain and France.

Then they couldn't rush up. These two are not the same as those behind. Both the accumulation of technical strength and the overall national strength are much stronger.

Considering the terrible naval arms race, Franz persuaded in an instant. The Austrian Navy can only spin in the Mediterranean Sea. What is the use of a large fleet?

Both Britain and France were colonial empires, only to build a large navy. The current naval powers are all colonial nations. Even if Austria is ready to participate in colonial activities, it does not need to explode the navy immediately?

Franz wasn't going to rob India with the British. Why would he want to play an arms race with them?

The final survey report shows that it is sufficient to attach importance to the development of the military industry, and that the government allocates millions of R & D expenses each year to ensure the world's advanced level.

The level of basic industry is here. It is not that the more the government attaches importance to and the greater the investment, the greater the final gain.

Looking at this report, Franz could only swear in his heart that the unscrupulous experts and professors in the future would tamper with history.

Think about it. In addition to a new rifle, what new weapons did Prussia put in during the Prussian and Austrian wars?

Is the end result of the development of the military industry a rifle?

Isn't this nonsense? Are the leaders of the Prussian government dumb?

Others dare not say that Franz dared to hit hundreds of thousands of shields, and Austria can now even get machine guns.

In other words, the plate of the military industry is still small. As long as the government allocates a small part of its energy, it can maintain the world's advanced level.

That's right, the Austrian military industry in this era is still at the advanced level in the world, and it is not backward compared with any other country.

Franz is not ready to develop across the ages. He does not plan to develop high-tech products such as aircraft and tanks immediately.

In fact, it was developed and cannot be produced.

It is still barely possible to make a tank. The big deal is the legendary steam tank. Although it is magical, it is theoretically feasible; but has anyone heard of a steam plane?

Slap your face. Franz's cheeks are thick anyway. Fortunately, the Austrian government is pragmatic, otherwise when the national policy is determined, it will only break the teeth and swallow them.

On September 11, 1849, the Austrian government separated the department responsible for railway construction and established the Ministry of Railways. Railways have officially become Austria's core industry for the next two decades.

On September 13, the Austrian government determined the core status of the manufacturing industry and the agricultural product processing industry, both of which were headed by the Ministry of Industry.

At this point, the troika pushing the Austrian Empire forward was all in place. The question now is how to develop these industries.

"Your Majesty, this is the draft of the Ministry of Railways on the rapid establishment of the national railway network, please look at it." Baron Stein, the new Railway Minister,

After that, he submitted a document to Franz. The document is not very thick, only a dozen pages.

Franz took the file, read it, and there was not much content in it, but it was very expected. There are forms and text descriptions, all the content is handmade, it may be too hurry to make the system, some lines are still curved.

After spending more than ten minutes, Franz glanced around and said blankly, "Jenny, get a map of Austria."

This is a plan for the national railway network. There are many cities involved in the middle. Franz does not have such a good memory and can clearly remember every place.

Looking at the map, Franz found that once this plan was implemented, all of Austria's major cities were connected in series, and some railways also extended to the border areas. Obviously, the Ministry of Railways also considered military needs.

"There is no problem with the plan. The problem is that it can be reached technically? Many regions have to go through mountains and mountains, which will bring a very severe test to railway construction." Franz thought for a while and said

"Your Majesty, this is only a draft. In fact, before construction, engineers must be sent to conduct on-site inspections along the way. Before we can get these data, we cannot guarantee that it can be implemented.

We are ready to detour once certain sections of the road cannot be repaired due to geographical conditions. Now it is just our goal to extend the railway to major cities across the country. "Stein explained

Franz nodded. Stein is not strictly a qualified manager. He should be an engineer.

However, the main task of the Austrian Ministry of Railways is to repair roads. The railway management is under the responsibility of the railway company under the supervision of the Ministry of Transport.

If it is not to reflect the government's emphasis on railways, there may not be such a high level of the Ministry of Railways, but a railway construction company.

Since it is a simple road construction, Franz naturally does not mind appointing an experienced engineer to lead the work, at least there is no need to worry about the emergence of wild railway construction plans.

Stein has participated in the design and construction of several Austrian railways, and is one of Austria's most famous railway engineers of this era.

The railway chief engineer originally requested by the Austrian government of Austria has now transformed into the Minister of Railways.

The title has changed and the rights have increased, but the work content has not changed. He is still responsible for repairing the railway, and is involved in design and construction.

Railroad designers in this era are very bitter. They have to personally participate in the field exploration work in important locations, but they don't have the benefits of sitting in the office to blow air conditioning.

Franz is not worried at all whether the railway network plan can be completed, but when it will be completed is a problem.

The 19th century is not the 21st century. It has a railway network of more than 38,000 kilometers. Even the main road has more than 12,000 kilometers.

It is not so easy to build so many kilometers of railways. At present, there are only 1,359 kilometers of railways in operation in Austria and 896 kilometers of railways under construction.

"How long will it take to complete this project?" Franz asked with concern.

"At least two decades, this time can be greatly shortened if financial resources are sufficient."

Stein didn't say anything dead. Railway construction is not another industry. As long as he is willing to spend money, he can start multi-line construction, and the construction speed can be doubled.

Franz didn't speak for a while, this answer is equivalent to no answer. If the railway is more than 38,000 kilometers long, it will not be enough in 20 years if it is repaired slowly.

If the construction is divided into bidding sections and divided into 30 small projects, then each project will only have more than 1,000 kilometers. If it continues to be divided, it may be completed in a few years.

If you really think so, then you must be a layman. Firstly, this requires a large amount of capital investment, and secondly, a large number of railway workers.

In addition to ensuring these two basic requirements, a series of factors such as the adequacy of technical personnel, transportation, supply of raw materials, and geographical conditions must also be considered.

"Then I will give you twenty years. In terms of funding, I can guarantee that the government will have a financial allocation of not less than 20 million dongs each year. The government will also issue relevant laws to allow private capital to participate in railway construction.

I hope in 20 years, seeing this railway network spreading all over the country, can you do it? Franz asked cautiously

"Sir, please rest assured, I promise to complete the task ahead of time!" Stein said excitedly.

As long as there is money, railway construction is not a problem.

Want to know that there are still a bunch of laborers in the hands of the Austrian government? These unlucky people who had participated in the rebellion were destined to be sacrificed from the beginning.

Franz did not believe that with these 200,000 lives, he would not be able to pave the 38,000 kilometers of railway. If it is not enough, continue to provoke the war, bully the Ottoman Empire, and the workers will not roll in?

The industrialization of any country is full of blood, either internally or externally. Where does it succeed without sacrificing it?

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