Holy Roman Empire

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The essence of establishing a colony is to make money, and for the Austrian Government, there are only two types of valuable colonies: those that make money and those that hold strategic value.

Without a doubt, Lanfang Autonomous Province was profitable and also possessed certain strategic value.

Together with the other Austrian territories in Southeast Asia, Lanfang Autonomous Province firmly established Austria’s regional dominance in the area.

The Vienna Government had calls to directly administer the Lanfang Autonomous Province, but the key issue was that no one could guarantee a richer return from direct management.

The economic value of Lanfang Autonomous Province to the Vienna Government was far more than just the 3.764 million Divine Shields it contributed annually.

Since joining the Austrian system, without security threats, Lanfang Autonomous Province quickly entered a fast track of development.

Perhaps due to the prosperous neighboring Spanish and Dutch, the Lanfang Autonomous Province had become the major base for overseas Chinese merchants more than a decade ago.

A huge influx of capital naturally drove local economic development. Had it not been for geographical limitations, the province’s development could have been even better.

Now, Lanfang Autonomous Province imports tens of millions of Divine Shields worth of industrial and commercial products from Austria every year, and exports raw materials such as rubber, sago, dried coconuts, cutch dyestuffs, tapioca flour, pepper, and precious metals.

If listed separately for trade volume ranking, Lanfang Autonomous Province would be among the top five trading partners of Austria.

The greater the involved interests, the more cautious the Vienna Government became.

If there was a misstep that caused turmoil and someone undercut their position, losing dominance in Southeast Asia would mean a total loss.

Driven by interests, the status of Lanfang Autonomous Province naturally became special, ranking above colonies but below sub-states.

If it were not for the local ruling class being heavily influenced by tradition and not keen on politics, there would have already been an additional seat in the Imperial Parliament.

Lanfang Autonomous Province was not without insightful individuals. More than a decade earlier, someone proposed building railways, but traditional forces were too strong and the issue of "ancestral graves" was inescapable.

Furthermore, Lanfang Autonomous Province, being an island with developed maritime transport and little development in inland areas, had little demand for railways, so the plan was shelved.

This also indirectly showed the incompetence of Lanfang’s ruling class—in the original timeline, these people were the Dutch compradors, and naturally, they had little integrity to speak of.

Franz had no intention of intervening in Lanfang’s internal affairs. As an Emperor with a reputation, he was someone who took people’s money to eradicate their disasters.

Even taking into account the annual tribute, Franz supported the autonomy of Lanfang.

This was not because Franz was greedy for money, but mainly because he understood Eastern traditional culture. If he, the Emperor, didn’t accept money, those individuals would be agonized to tears.

In an era where comparisons of incompetence abound, as long as one doesn’t create extreme outrage or widespread warfare, that’s considered competent.

How future history books will describe it is unknown, but for now, everyone has what they need, and the cooperation is very pleasant.

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Seeing that all parties had reached an agreement, Franz, acting as the arbitrator, put forth new demands, "Let’s leave the railway plan as is for now, but this is still not enough.

Given that this economic crisis will likely be prolonged, the government must create more job opportunities while reducing expenses as much as possible."

Reducing expenses and creating job opportunities are not difficult, but managing both is not easy.

The construction plans of the Vienna Government are essentially for better economic development, and the investment projects also need to be profitable.

If we were to delay twenty years, Franz could easily upgrade the roads and build highways. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Not now—the automobile has only recently been invented, and the main means of transportation for people are still horse-drawn carriages.

Running horse-drawn carriages on cement roads?

It sounds impressive, but the problem is, it’s hard on the horses! With such a hard surface, horseshoes wouldn’t last long.

Developing irrigation projects?

These, already largely constructed during the previous economic crises, are nearly complete. Those not yet started, simply lack economic value.

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Not only were these projects completed, but even the urban upgrading and renovation were essentially finished; at least for the next thirty years, there was no need to consider these issues.

The Austrian homeland on the European continent is such a small place, and after so many years of infrastructure development, there really was nothing left to fuss about.

Africa’s homeland is indeed vast, but unfortunately, the population is limited, and there is not enough demand. Government investment also has to consider the rate of economic return and cannot build blindly.

This is a problem that a country inevitably has to face after developing to a certain level; it’s just that Austria faced it a bit earlier.

Prime Minister Felix said, "The domestic infrastructure is becoming more and more perfect, and the days of driving the economy through government investment in infrastructure cannot continue forever.

It is possible that for a very long period in the future, our economic growth rate will slow down. The next high-speed economic growth period is expected to be after the completion of the Africa’s homeland strategy.

For the sake of long-term development, we must now launch as many projects as possible that have sustainability and long-lasting development."

This is the reality. Currently, Austria’s major domestic projects, including the canal plan and the hydroelectric station plan, have already kicked off, and naturally, they cannot be repeated.

After a pause, Prime Minister Felix continued, "In recent years, internal combustion engine technology has developed rapidly, showing impressive potential in many fields, and might even replace the steam engine.

If this situation occurs, then oil will replace coal to become the most important industrial raw material.

The only problem is whether oil production can meet demand. From the current situation, the world’s crude oil production is very scarce.

Especially on the European continent, there have hardly been any major oil fields discovered. Despite owning the traditional oil-producing region of Ploiesti, last year we still imported 110,000 tons of crude oil from the Russian Empire.

This number may seem unimpressive; calculated at the current international oil price, it’s only a few hundred thousand Divine Shields.

Yet, merely three years ago, we were an oil-exporting country. In just three short years, domestic oil demand has increased by at least 200,000 tons.

According to scientists’ estimates, our demand for oil will double in five years, and double again in ten years, with the market’s oil shortage reaching over a million tons.

Many scientists in the energy field have issued energy crisis warnings to the government. To solve this problem, the government has organized oil exploration teams.

Overall, the results have been good; quite a few oil fields have been discovered in the homeland, but unfortunately, their production is not high.

The biggest discovery was a large oil field found downstream in Mesopotamia, with reserves surpassing the total of all domestic oil fields.

After analysis by geologists, it is believed that Mesopotamia may be hiding a vast amount of oil, and the government has dispatched exploration teams to verify this.

Not long ago, oil was discovered at the border of the Ottoman Empire and Persia, confirming this speculation. Since the area is not under our control, for safety reasons, no further exploration was conducted."

There’s no need to mention what comes next; the implication is crystal clear—if it’s not within our control, then we must find a way to bring it under our control.

If the oil can’t move from beneath the ground, then it’s only logical for Austria to extend its control over the area. This is the consistent practice of the great powers.

To speak frankly, Franz had never imagined that Austria would lack oil; he had never concerned himself with this issue from start to finish.

An Emperor has many affairs to deal with, and naturally, he must disregard the unimportant ones. Currently, Austria’s sphere of influence already covers half of the world’s oil reserves; isn’t the idea of lacking oil nothing but a joke?

Yet, this joke really happened. No oil was discovered in Africa, and only the tip of the iceberg was uncovered in the Middle East region. Once the importance of oil was realized, it was inevitable for the Vienna Government to take precautions.

Then, it was a tragedy for the Ottoman Empire. Already there was a deep-seated hatred, and now they were encumbered with guilt; if they didn’t suffer, who would?

Franz stopped short; taking action against the Ottoman Empire was a matter of time. The energy crisis simply provided an opportunity, causing the anti-war faction within the government to hold their tongues.

Prime Minister Felix did not directly say that war must be waged, but the mention of "sustainable, long-lasting" projects, along with repeatedly emphasizing the importance of oil, already gave the answer.

Compared to investing in other projects, waging war against the Ottoman Empire indeed has the highest economic value.

The most crucial point is that such an opportunity is rare; the European continent is caught in a wave of revolutions, with countries busy extinguishing fires.

With everyone preoccupied, who would care about the Ottoman Empire?

By this time, no one could stop the march of war. Even if oil hadn’t provided the trigger, there would have been other reasons.