Due to Franz's butterfly effect, although the Russians suffered heavy losses in the Near East War, they won the coveted Constantinople, and in the face of victory, the domestic crisis was suppressed.

After two years of cultivation and rest, the Tsarist government began to restless again. However, at this time the Vienna system was rebuilt, and there was no chance for them to expand on the European continent. The Tsarist government had to turn its attention to Asia.

In October 1856, under the instigation of the Russians, the Persian dynasty captured Herat. The stimulated British immediately declared war on the Persian dynasty, and the British-Polish war broke out.

Herat is located near the Persian Gulf in the west, the Caspian Sea and the Yaxarte River in the north, and the Indus River in the east. Its special geographical location determines its strategic position and has become an important part of the battle for the Asian continent.

During the Near East War, the Russians planned to send troops to India and force the British to withdraw from the war, and Herat was a hurdle that could not be avoided.

At that time, the Herat government was afraid of offending the British and rejected the Russians' request to use the passage, and the relations between the two countries deteriorated.

In order to pull out this nail, the Tsarist government turned to support the Persian dynasty, and now even more support the Persian invasion of Herat.

Affected by the outbreak of the Central Asian War, negotiations in the Gulf of Guinea also took a turn for the worse. In order to gain international public support, the British government had to make concessions.

Without the British as a messenger, the subsequent negotiations would be much easier. Because the entry time was too late, the French had little interest in the local area, the Paris government did not make great efforts to compete, and the remaining countries did not have the strength to compete.

On November 1, 1856, the seven countries of Britain, France, Olympiad, and the United States, Portugal and Netherlands signed the Treaty of the Gulf of Guinea in Vienna, also known as the Treaty of the Seven Kingdoms.

The treaty stipulates that the coastal areas of the Gulf of Guinea are bounded by the actual occupied areas of each country. The colonial strongholds of each country are not allowed to attack each other. Whoever discovers the gold mines in the inland areas will be the first to be.

On the surface, no one suffers, but in fact, this has confirmed that Austria has hegemony in the local area, and Austria, which has a manpower advantage, has an absolute advantage.

The United States, Spain and France jointly occupied Liberia, Austria, Britain and Portugal jointly occupied Sierra Leone, Austria, Portugal, France and the Netherlands jointly occupied Côte d'Ivoire, Austria, Britain and the Netherlands jointly occupied Ghana, Britain and the Austria jointly occupied Togo, and Austria monopolized Guinea.

The forces of the Gulf of Guinea crossed together, making this place the most chaotic region in the world. The Treaty of Seven Kingdoms only temporarily suppressed the contradictions between countries and could not eliminate them.

Seeing the distribution map of the forces of various countries, Franz was speechless, it was completely intertwined. For example, the British in Togo only had a stronghold of hundreds of people, but they just kept on leaving.

There is no way. In this era, the British Empire was so awesome at sea. Even if Austria had the advantage locally, they could not be expelled.

Franz didn't feel unbalanced. Diplomacy was within the range of cannons. He could not move the British colonies on the surface. Could it be that he could not secretly take the lead?

Don’t look at the crisscrossing forces of the Gulf of Guinea now, and think that the competition between countries is very fierce. In fact, it’s just that Britain has played a role in a mess. I don’t want to see Austria dominate the Gulf of Guinea, so that so many countries have been created to restrain Austria.

If there were no power from so many countries, it would be very likely that they would be squeezed out of the Gulf of Guinea by their local strength alone. After all, their advantages were all at sea, and they would not be able to go to land.

Unless you are hiding in a colonial stronghold and not coming out, you may encounter danger once you go out to carry out colonial activities. This is the African continent, so it is normal to have some accidents.

In order to avoid this situation, the London government has attracted all countries to share the Gulf of Guinea. Anyway, they have obtained the greatest benefits, so Franz naturally won't do anything.

Don’t look at the strength of various countries here, but this also represents everyone’s face. They will be driven out directly, and Austria will no longer have to mess around internationally.

...

Metternik said: "Your Majesty, the British-Polish war has broken out, and the Russians hope that we can support their actions."

Support must be supported! At least verbal support is required. No matter how restless the Russians are, as long as they don’t cause trouble in the European continent, Franz doesn’t care.

The West African negotiations were stalemate, and the British, who had naval advantages, could not easily admit defeat. As a result, as soon as the Russians took action, they immediately gave in.

Now is the critical moment when the British put the Indian colonies into stake. The Russians are beating and the Persians occupy Herat. Is there any doubt in their motives?

Without the French as thugs, they might face the Russians on land. Even if they have the advantage of first move, the London government would not dare to take it lightly.

Franz thought for a while: "The Tsarist government wants to seek the bad luck of the British, which is just for us to expand overseas. What kind of support do they want?"

Metternich replied calmly: "In addition to diplomatic support, they also want to obtain a loan."

It was another "loan", and Franz understood why the German-Russian League collapsed in history. This was not the stupidity of William II's government, but they really couldn't afford to support the Russians.

Don’t look at the development of the German Empire at that time. It seemed to be very rich. In fact, as a new empire, they did not have much capital accumulation at all.

No matter how fast the economy develops, it cannot change the fact that they are short of money. In the era of the gold standard, competitors, the British, controlled most of the gold in the world, and the German government must be cautious if they want to issue more currencies.

The economic scale in the market has arrived, but unfortunately the government reserves are insufficient, so it is good that the currency issued can meet its own needs. There is not much money to lend to the Russians at all.

In order to restrain the British, Franz decided to admit it and thought about it: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Russians have agreed that if the loan amount is small, you can agree to them, but there must be collateral."

Huge loans are impossible, and the Vienna government is not rich, even if it is the conditions for restricting the use of loans.

Franz dared not act recklessly when blindly issuing more currencies. Even if there is enough gold reserves, it will not work. A large amount of currency pouring into the market will cause inflation. Even if the economy is not good, he still knows this common sense.

Metternich explained: "Your Majesty, the Tsarist government should not go into battle in this war, so their funding gap will not be too large.

Although the victory of the Near East War made many people in the Tsarist government go wild, many knowledgeable people recognized their own strength. They wanted to promote the reform of serfdom and received support from Nicholas I.

After the war, Nicholas I was preparing to give all soldiers a free civilian status, but the nobles joined forces to fight back on the pretext of insufficient compensation.

Now there is a quarrel between the reformists and the conservatives, and it is difficult for the Tsarist government to concentrate on external expansion in a short period of time."

Franz asked with concern: "Is it possible for the Tsarist government to take advantage of the opportunity of war to divert attention from the country and carry out serfdom reform?"

After pondering for a while, Metternich replied: "Your Majesty, this is almost impossible. The finances of the Tsarist government are now very difficult, and they cannot raise so much war funds.

India is the most important colony of the British, and the London government cannot give up easily. Once this war breaks out, it will last forever.

The Tsarist government could not know this. Now their approach is nothing more than to cause trouble for the British and delay the time when the British annexed India."

Obviously, the Tsarist government also knew the strength of the British. As the biggest competitor, would it still be an enemy if it didn't pull the blame?
Chapter completed!