On July 11, 1849, Franz proposed at the enlarged meeting of the Austrian government: "establishing a core industrial system in Austria."

Immediately afterwards, the Austrian government started field research and listed what industry as the core focus of development. This was not something Franz could decide with a slap in his head.

Even if the reasons are sufficient, you must collect enough information and analyze it to ensure that everything is foolproof before you can make sure it is confirmed.

The reality is very slap in the face. There is enough evidence to show that in this era, we should focus on the development of military industry, so the focus is - naval military industry.

Just the army's hundreds of thousands of rifles, the combined price of one or two battleships is only the price of one or two battleships. Artillery is more expensive, but not much higher. The army's biggest military expenditure in this era was staff salary and training costs, rather than weapons and equipment.

The focus of military-industrial enterprises is R&D and production capacity. There is no need to consider production capacity. The domestic market is so large and the international arms market is even smaller. Blindly increasing production capacity is a traitor.

Research and development can’t cost much. How much does it cost to invest in a few cannons and rifles? Is one million gulf per year enough?

If not enough, ten million shields will definitely be spent.

In this era, is the total R&D expenses invested by all European countries in army weapons and equipment? Is there a 10 million shield? It is a big question mark?

Franz probably doesn't. Most of the European military-industrial enterprises are private enterprises, and they are all aiming for profit. The R&D expenses are too large and they cannot recover the costs at all.

As long as the profits are good, don’t expect capitalists to carry out technological innovation.

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

This is also why there is a saying that war promotes the development of weapons. Only in the war period do people willing to invest in the research and development of new weapons and equipment.

In contrast, the navy is the gold-swalking beast. Unfortunately, the navy of the Austrian Empire seems to be too small, and it can rank about six, seven or eight in the world.

If we focus on developing the navy, it will probably take a long time to reach the third place in the world, behind Britain and France.

Then I couldn't rush forward. These two people were different from the slags behind. They were much stronger in terms of technical strength accumulation and comprehensive national strength.

Considering the terrible naval arms race, Franz was timid in an instant. The Austrian Navy could only circulate in the Mediterranean and set up a large fleet. What's the use?

Britain and France were both colonial empires, and only the large naval forces were established. Nowadays, all of the naval powers were colonial countries. Even if Austria is now preparing to participate in colonial activities, it does not need to explode the navy immediately?

Franz is not going to compete with the British for India, so why should he play an arms race with them?

The final research report shows that it is enough to pay attention to the development of military industry. The government allocates millions of R&D expenses every year to ensure the world's advanced level.

The basic industrial level is placed here, not because the government pays attention to it, the greater the investment, the greater the final gain.

Looking at this report, Franz could only scold the unscrupulous experts and professors in his heart to tamper with history.

Think about it, what else can Prussia do to take advantage of the new weapons invested by Prussia in the Prussia War and the Franco-Prussian War?

Could it be that the final result of the military industry that has been developed with all its might be a breech rifle?

Isn’t this nonsense? Are the leaders of the Prussian government all fools?

I dare not say anything else, Franz can guarantee that he will smash hundreds of thousands of shields, and Austria can now even make machine guns.

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

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

Franz is not prepared to develop cross-age development, such as aircraft and tanks, and he is not ready to develop immediately.

In fact, it was developed and cannot be produced.

It is barely enough to make a tank, but at worst it is the legendary steam tank. Although it is a little magical, it is at least feasible in theory; but has anyone heard of steam planes?

If you want to slap the face, it’s slap in the face. Anyway, Franz is thick-skinned. Fortunately, the Austrian government is pragmatic, otherwise when the national policy is determined, he will have to break his teeth and swallow it in his stomach.

On September 11, 1849, the Austrian government independentized the department in charge of railway construction and established the Ministry of Railways. Railways officially became the core industry in Austria for the next twenty years.

On September 1, the Austrian government determined the core position of manufacturing and agricultural product processing industries, which were all under the charge of the Ministry of Industry.

At this point, all the three troikas that promoted the Austrian Empire to advance were 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 construction of the national railway network. Please review it." said Baron Stein, the new Minister of Railways.

After saying that, he submitted a document to Franz. The document was not very thick, only a thin dozen pages of paper.

Franz took the document and looked through it. There was not much content in it, but it was very informative. There were tables and text instructions, and all the content was made by hand. It might be too hasty to make it, and some lines were still curved.

After spending more than ten minutes, Franz browsed roughly and said expressionlessly: "Jenny, come and take a map of Austria."

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

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

"There is no problem with the plan. Can the problem be achieved technically? Railways in many areas have to pass through mountains and ridges, which will bring a very severe test to railway construction." Franz thought for a while and said

"Your Majesty, this is just a draft. In fact, before construction, engineers must be sent to conduct field inspections along the way. We cannot guarantee that it can be implemented without obtaining these data.

We are ready to take a detour once certain sections are subject to geographical restrictions and cannot be built. Now it is just the goal we want to achieve, extending the railway to major cities across the country." Stein explained

Franz nodded. Strictly speaking, Stein is not a qualified manager, he should be an engineer.

However, the main task of the Austrian Ministry of Railways is to build roads. Railway management is under the responsibility of its subordinate railway companies and is also subject to supervision by the Ministry of Transport.

If it were not for the purpose of reflecting the government's attention to railways, it might not be as high as the Ministry of Railways, but a railway construction company.

Since it is simply a road construction, Franz naturally doesn't mind appointing an experienced engineer to preside over the work. At least there is no need to worry about the unexpected railway construction plan.

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

The chief railway engineer originally hired by the Austrian government has now become the Minister of Railways.

The title has changed and the power has become greater, but the work content has not changed. He is still responsible for the construction of the railway and has to participate in the design and construction.

Railway designers in this era are very hard-working. They must personally participate in field exploration work in important areas, but there is no benefit of sitting in the office to blow air conditioning.

Franz was not worried at all about whether the railway network could be completed, but it was a question of when it could be completed.

The 19th century is not the 21st century. There is a railway network of more than 38,000 kilometers, even the main roads have more than 12,000 kilometers.

It is not that easy to build so many kilometers of railways. The railways currently operating in Austria are only 159 kilometers, and 896 kilometers of railways under construction.

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

"At least twenty years, if the financial resources are sufficient, this time can be greatly shortened."

Stein did not say anything. Construction of railways is not another industry. As long as you are willing to spend money, you can still start construction on multiple lines, so the construction speed can naturally double.

Franz didn't say anything for a long time, and this answer meant no answer. If more than 38,000 kilometers of railway were built slowly, twenty years would not be enough.

If the construction is carried out in sections and divided into thirty small projects, then each project will only be more than one thousand kilometers. If it continues to be divided, it may be completed in a few years.

If you really think so, you must be an outsider. First of all, this requires a lot of capital investment, and secondly, it requires a lot of railway workers.

In addition to ensuring these two basic requirements, we must also consider whether there are sufficient technicians, transportation, raw material supply, geographical conditions and other factors.

"Then I will give you twenty years. In terms of funds, I can guarantee that the government will have no less than 20 million rupiahs per year, and the government will also issue relevant laws to allow private capital to participate in railway construction.

I hope that within twenty years, can you do this railway network that is spread all over the country?" Franz asked cautiously

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

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

You know, the Austrian government still has a group of laborers? These unlucky guys who participated in the rebellion were destined to be sacrificed from the very beginning.

Franz didn't believe it. He could not pave 38,000 kilometers of railways with his 200,000 lives. If it wasn't enough, continue to provoke war. If it bullies the Ottoman Empire, wouldn't the laborers come?

The industrialization of any country is full of blood, either internally or externally. Where can success come from without sacrifice?
Chapter completed!