Holy Roman Empire
Chapter 320: Ocean Fleet (Bonus Chapter)

On June 18, 1861, the Austrian Ocean Fleet visited Korea. Both sides reached an agreement on friendly exchanges between the two countries, and diplomatic relations were upgraded to the ambassador level.

During this period, Korea, under a feudal system, rejected foreign trade. Previously, Austria had little interest in Korea and did not establish an embassy, only a consulate.

Following this friendly visit, Hümmel signed a friendly trade agreement with the Korean government, granting each other the most favored nation (MFN) status.

This was customary; Austria had already signed commercial most favored nation treaties with about a dozen countries, including Britain and France.

Incidentally, several military procurement orders were also secured. In addition to army equipment, Hümmel also marketed five ironclad ships.

Thailand and Vietnam each ordered one, while the Qing government ordered three at once. Clearly, they were alarmed by Britain and France and sought to strengthen their maritime defense. However expensive ironclad ships may be, they were preferable to being caught off guard.

Austria had no plans for expansion in the Far East, but when business opportunities arose, they naturally pursued them. As for whether this would cause trouble for European colonial empires, it was not within Hümmel’s considerations.

Failing to sway the Korean government left Hümmel somewhat dissatisfied. He could only hope to make some gains with Japan, the last remaining option in East Asia.

With everyone selling military equipment, profits had already been squeezed due to competition. Selling ironclad ships was unique to Austria, but the profit margin was not particularly high, barely double the production cost.

If someone was willing to pay a high price, even active equipment like this ocean fleet could be sold off. As long as someone offered over 30 million guilders, Franz wouldn’t mind selling them off.

Anyway, the production cost of these warships will not exceed 7 million guilders, and it would only take a little over a year to build such a fleet.

With Austria adopting the gold standard, the international exchange rate between gold and silver has also been impacted, with silver depreciating to 15.3:1 against gold. Now, one guilder is equivalent to 1.5 taels of silver.

Obviously, countries capable of producing 45,002,000 taels of silver at once are extremely rare in this era. Unless absolutely necessary, no one would be willing to play the fool.

……

In Edo, Hümmel had just conducted a friendly visit with the Shogunate, adding another most favored nation to Austria’s list.

The resident ambassador, Charles, asked with a puzzled expression, “Sir, why not take the opportunity to expand our interests in Japan?”

Hümmel smiled slightly and replied, “Haven’t we already expanded them? We have signed a treaty granting each other the most favored nation status. Any expansion of rights by any great power here automatically extends to us the same privileges.”

This was a fact. On the surface, it’s a completely equal treaty, but because of the difference in national power, the final outcome may not be the same.

The most favored nation treaty signed with Britain and France is a purely equal treaty where each party takes what it needs. After all, in this era, no one has the power to force them to sign an unequal treaty and sacrifice domestic commercial interests.

But it’s different with Japan. If the Japanese government grants commercial privileges to any country, then Austria automatically enjoys them as well.

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However, compared to the practices of other countries, Austria is actually relatively moderate. There is no use of force or coercion, no infringement on everyone’s sovereignty, just limited to commercial cooperation.

Ambassador Charles shook his head and said, “Mr. Hümmel, that’s not enough. We could easily establish concessions, and ports, or even occupy a few islands here.”

Hümmel explained earnestly, “Ambassador, indeed we have the capability to do so now. The ocean fleet is currently the strongest armed force in East Asia. Even turning Japan into a protectorate is not a problem.

However, the ocean fleet cannot stay here forever; we will leave sooner or later. At that time, will England and France watch us occupy so many interests?

Without the use of force, will the local natives accept our rule? With only our strength in the Far East, we cannot handle such large benefits.

In that case, it’s better to establish good relations with everyone from the beginning. East Asia is not our focus of expansion; doing business here is enough.”

Ambassador Charles unwillingly said, “But don’t we still have Russia as an ally? If our two countries join forces, holding onto these interests shouldn’t be a problem.”

Not long ago, Charles helped the Russians occupy the island of Tsushima, with this consideration in mind. Bringing Russian influence in was aimed at jointly seizing the biggest piece of the pie.

Hümmel sighed and said, “The Russians are too greedy; one Japan won’t satisfy their appetite. If we cooperate with them, we’ll be tied to their war chariot in the future.

This place is too far from Austria, it’s beyond the scope of our power projection. Let’s not forget that the ocean fleet was able to reach East Asia without a hitch by using ports in various countries along the way.”

The greed of the Russians is an acknowledged fact by everyone. When it comes to territorial expansion, the Russian government has never seemed satisfied.

The dissolution of the Russo-Austrian alliance has garnered significant support within the Austrian government. Many Austrians believe that cooperating with the Russians is more trouble than it’s worth and that working with the English and French to suppress the Russian Empire would yield greater benefits.

After pondering for a moment, Ambassador Charles remarked, “Alright, you’ve convinced me. But if we do nothing, it won’t be long before the Russians replace themselves in trouble.”

Screwing over the Russians? That shouldn’t be considered as such. Charles is a seasoned diplomat; he has never made any promises to the Russians.

Out of obligation as an ally, Austria unconditionally helped the Russians occupy Tsushima. Now, the Nagasaki region has fallen under Russian influence, with Austria gaining nothing in return.

Once the Austrian ocean fleet departs, whether the Russians can withstand the pressure and retain control over Nagasaki will be solely their problem.

After the departure of the ocean fleet, the closest Austrian fleets are stationed in the South Pacific. By then, Austria’s support will be limited to mere verbal assurances.

After taking stock and ensuring that there were no hidden dangers left, Charles couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

With a slight smile, Hümmel stood up and took two steps forward, speaking with his back turned to Charles, “Ambassador, don’t you think that the recent relations between Britain and Russia are a bit too good?”

Charles paused for a moment, then quickly grasped the implication. Stirring up tensions between Britain and Russia was also one of the responsibilities of the Austrian Foreign Ministry.

It wasn’t just tensions between Britain and Russia; it included conflicts between Britain and France, Britain and Spain, and France and Russia— all part of the Austrian Foreign Ministry’s work.

Every country’s foreign ministry was engaged in similar activities. If it weren’t for the European countries poking each other’s wounds, where would all these conflicts in the world come from?

However, all these activities were conducted behind the scenes, and on the surface, everyone maintained a gentlemanly demeanor. In this era, many still believed that the various European countries were united.