lerbook Chapter 1361: The old man who refuses to die is a thief (Part 1)
Chapter 1361: The old man who refuses to die is a thief (Part 1)
However, Franz would not make the same choice as the one in history, stabbing Russia in the back and making the whole world his enemy.
In fact, there has always been a voice in the Austrian Empire, that is, to kill Russia, dominate the Balkans, and completely eliminate the threat from the Near East.
This idea is very good, but it is completely a pipe dream in the eyes of later generations. The Balkans are really not a place that ordinary countries can control, and Austria will really have no allies if it does this.
Franz has his own plans, and he would rather spend his energy overseas or at home than participating in the chaos in the Near East.
At this time in Europe, in addition to the issue of succession to the Spanish throne and the tenth Russo-Turkish War, the most concerned issue is the Suez Canal issue and the European Monetary Union.
It has to be said that Muhammad Ali really has a bit of the demeanor of a deadbeat. Since the establishment of the Suez Canal Company on December 31, 1848, Egypt has only sent a few thousand slaves as laborers for nearly a year, and used a contract and a design sketch to fool the British.
Franz was really enlightened. The design drawings that had been finalized had been revised over and over again for more than fifty times. It was even more absurd that the Egyptians were qualified to change the contract.
Was the Canal Supervision Committee established by the great powers a mere decoration?
After some investigation, Franz found that it was indeed a mere decoration, or in other words, without the support of the Canal Supervision Committee, Muhammad Ali would not have had the chance to be a deadbeat.
The entire Canal Supervision Committee accepted bribes. If Franz had not personally sent people to investigate, the Austrian Imperial Government would continue to receive reports that everything was going well.
The official in charge of the canal project agreed to falsify the data just for a reward of 40,000 pounds, and fled to the United States before the incident was exposed.
At this time, 40,000 pounds could buy 80 single-family villas in the suburbs of London, England, which was equivalent to the total salary accumulated by a British worker for two thousand years without food, drink or clothing.
What made Franz most heartbroken was that the technical official in charge of the canal project was promoted by him personally, from a canal engineer to a seventh-level civil servant.
The civil servants of the Austrian Empire were divided into nine levels. The higher the level, the greater the power. The seventh-level civil servants were almost the highest level that civilians could reach.
Gaston Behrens was originally a canal engineer. He participated in the construction of many projects in Austria. The most important thing was that he and Franz had the same idea about the Suez Canal. They both believed that the bigger and wider it was, the more beneficial it would be to the Austrian Empire.
So Franz promoted him exceptionally, but Gaston Behrens could not resist the temptation of money.
Another official in charge of supervision was on vacation on the beach in Sharm El Sheikh.
After investigation, it was found that the official in charge of supervision did not accept bribes, but simply neglected his duties.
In Egypt, under his nose, the Austrian Empire's expatriate officials were all like this. Franz really couldn't imagine what the scene would be like in those more distant colonies.
He had never had such a deep obsession with overseas communications, but he knew that if the status quo could not be changed, this kind of thing would happen again and again.
Increase the research and development of long-distance communication means and begin to consider laying trans-Mediterranean cables.
Increase the salaries of all overseas officials by 50%, and at the same time increase the intensity of review and supervision.
Franz dismissed all the officials who were derelict in their duties and kept them in office. After completing the handover of work, they returned to the country for trial. If they continued to derelict their duties or concealed the facts during this period, they would all be charged with espionage.
A note was sent to the US government, requesting the extradition of Gaston Berens back to the country. At the same time, spies were sent to use special means to solve the problem when negotiations failed.
Of course, Franz would not forget Muhammad Ali, the culprit, and he would inform all countries of this situation.
If possible, Franz actually did not want to make a big fuss. After all, once such a thunder was exposed, it would inevitably affect the confidence of investors.
However, if the problem was not big enough, I am afraid that Muhammad Ali, the old bastard, would not be killed. Both the British and the French have always attached great importance to the relationship with this old thing.
The British royal family and government have been giving personal gifts to Muhammad Ali continuously, and France has been trying to win him over even after the change of regime.
Their purpose is very simple, which is to spend the least money to do the biggest thing, and they want to win over Muhammad Ali to achieve the goal of controlling Egypt.
But Franz could only say that they underestimated the ambition of this old guy, so they have been manipulated and even played by him.
During this year, Muhammad Ali recruited soldiers, built coastal defenses, and built warships. As long as he was given a few more years, Egypt's military strength would return to the pre-war level.
However, once this bomb exploded, it would be difficult for Britain and France to protect Muhammad Ali, and maybe Britain and France had long wanted this old guy dead.
Soon the news that the Suez Canal project had made no progress spread throughout Europe. The biggest impact of this news was that a large number of shareholders demanded to withdraw their investment.
Shareholders withdraw their investment and stock prices plummet. State investment can resist it and even increase acquisition efforts, but those bankers who are already deeply involved cannot accept it.
Especially the Baring family, the Rothschild family, and the Perel family, they will not allow others to fleece them.
Under the pressure of multiple forces, the new Canal Supervisory Committee was established, and it also played its due functions for the first time.
Mohammed Ali wanted to stop all this, but he overestimated his own strength. The fleets of Austria, France and Spain alone were enough to make the Egyptian Navy surrender.
In fact, Mohammed Ali issued an order to impose martial law in Alexandria, but Khalid Pasha of the Egyptian Navy did not dare to execute the order in the face of the aggressive multinational joint fleet.
The new canal supervision committee immediately held a meeting. In order to win back investors, the new Suez Canal plan is twice the width and depth of the original plan.
According to the latest investment analysis, it will only take fifteen years for investors to get their money back.
In order to support this huge plan and punish Egypt, the Suez Canal Company needs the Egyptian government to provide no less than 20,000 workers for the canal project every day.
"Twenty thousand people is nothing to Egypt, but the problem is that Egypt once threatened food and water sources and refused to solve the logistical problems for the construction team.
The result is a labor riot, which caused great losses to the Suez Canal Company. If this problem cannot be solved, no matter how many workers Egypt provides, it will be in vain."
French representative Verli expressed his concerns.
"Yes, we also need to prevent the Egyptians from raising prices. They have done this more than once or twice!"
Sir Hatton, the British representative, had obviously learned his lesson. Other representatives also expressed their dissatisfaction and experiences. Mohammed Ali was really good at cheating Europeans.
The meeting soon turned into a denunciation meeting. After much discussion, the proposal of Count Cavour, the representative of the Kingdom of Sardinia, received the most approval.
The committee members improved it on this basis, and finally presented to Mohammed Ali:
"The average number of workers provided by the Egyptian government every day shall not be less than 20,000. The machinery, tools, food and medical care required by the canal workers shall be provided by the canal company, and 50% of the expenses generated shall be borne by the Egyptian government."