The situation in Europe is chaotic, how could it be that Britain is missing? The conflict between France and the Apolloes is not raised, and the London government is very disappointed.

However, Prime Minister John Russell was not worried. There was one and two. No matter what excuse the French had, it was a fact that they reached into the back garden of Austria.

The seeds of conflict between the two countries have been planted, which is enough for the British. Provoking the relationship between France and Austria and allowing them to oppose and restrain each other is the option that is most in line with the interests of the UK.

If they really fight, it would not be a good thing. Or the London government would not want to see any war that would break the balance of Europe.

Especially at the time when the Russian Empire was about to decline, a war broke out between France and Austria, and any one of them won was the new hegemon of the European continent.

Any European hegemon is the biggest enemy of the British and does not require any reason. The London government's national policy has always been like this.

At No. 10 Downing Street, Foreign Minister Reislin walked into the conference room with a smile on his face, and it was obvious that he was in a good mood.

John Russell said plainly: "All are here, then the meeting begins. Sir Resling, what good news is there?"

Foreign Minister Reslin replied with a smile: "We just received the news that the Tsarist government intends to allow the unification of the three Nordic countries."

This is something that the London government has been trying to do in recent years but has not done. The reunification of the three Nordic countries is definitely not a good thing for the Russian Empire.

As long as they export great power to them, the unified Nordic Europe is destined to stand opposite the Russians. Who gave them a brilliant history?

When I opened the history book, I saw that large territories such as Finland and the Baltic Sea were once their territory, but now they are occupied by the Russians. Can the radicals still sit there?

Of course, the three Nordic countries have a small population, so it is still far from threatening the Russian Empire, but it is still possible to restrain some of the Russians' energy.

This is also the reason why the British are willing to support them. No matter how Nordic develops, it will not affect the interests of Britain.

Under normal circumstances, the Russians would not allow Nordic reunification. Doing so now means that the Russians are about to be unable to hold on and have to make compromises and concessions.

John Russell asked uncertainly: "Did the Russians want to win over Sweden and Norway start war against the Prussians to relieve the pressure on their battlefield?"

Foreign Minister Reslin replied: "This is the ideal state, and in fact the Tsarist government should be very clear that this situation is almost impossible to happen.

The Berlin government has made concessions, pledging to withdraw from the Jutland Peninsula, with territorial claims on Denmark limited to two German principalities.

For Sweden, this is enough. If the two German states are also incorporated, Denmark will have too much say and they will not be able to gain dominance.

The Tsarist government is just trying to stabilize Sweden now, otherwise they will really not be able to hold on if the northern border smoke rises again. It can be judged at the preliminary stage that the Russians are now running around."

The Russians are exhausted, and this is the biggest good news. After this wave, the Russians will not be able to cause trouble for them in the next few decades.

If the subsequent plan goes well, it may be possible to solve this threat once and for all.

Prime Minister John Russell made a decision without any hesitation: "Mobilize our greatest influence and give the Russians another fatal blow.

Increase assistance to Prussia, let the Ottoman Empire participate in the war as soon as possible, and the Far East region should also be launched.

If Sweden can stab the Russians with one knife, the plan will be perfect."

Obviously, John Russell's expectations for Sweden to join the war are not high. If the Russians continue to oppose the merger of the three Nordic countries, then the Swedes are very likely to stab the Russians.

It is almost impossible now, and the Swedish government must take into account the feelings of the Danes. Now Denmark and the Russians are allies, and their enemy is the Kingdom of Prussia, which determines that Sweden cannot join forces with the Prussians.

...

"Since the implementation of the two strong standards, the Royal Navy has been severely challenged. At present, our navy's military expenditure is seriously insufficient and it is no longer possible to suppress France and Austria at the same time.

Not long ago, the Paris government allocated another 120 million francs of shipbuilding funds. The specific shipbuilding plan is still unclear. Obviously, this is based on the standards of our two strongest standards.

The Austrians have not responded yet, but as usual, the Vienna government will allocate 80% of the French man-made ship funding.

Our shipbuilding budget this year has been used up. To continue to maintain our current advantages, we must allocate another 10 million pounds of funds." Navy Secretary Edward said

Ten million pounds in this era are not ten million pounds in later generations. There are no more than ten countries with annual fiscal revenues in the world that can exceed ten million pounds.

If you dare to ask for so much shipbuilding funds in one go, there should be no second one except the Royal Navy.

France and Austria can indeed make this money, but both of them are land-powered countries. While developing the navy, it is necessary to take into account the army.

If the British hadn't clamored for the two strong standards, the Paris government would not have suddenly increased the cost of shipbuilding and triggered this arms race.

In this era, the total tonnage of the French and Austrian navy was almost the same as the Royal Navy, and the number of ironclad ships was even greater.

Facing the British's clamor, Napoleon III felt insulted, and even Franz of Vienna could not bear this provocation.

Oh, this is not just their personal feelings, but to be more precise, the common feelings of the people of the two countries.

Everyone wants face, and the radical groups among the people are clamoring to catch up with the Royal Navy. So there is nothing to say, let’s have an arms race!

It just so happened that Napoleon III needed to divert the attention of the people, lest they always stared at the ruins of the two Sicily kingdoms.

Napoleon III provoked an arms race, and that was also confident. In the past decade, the French economy has embarked on the fast track, and last year's fiscal revenue exceeded the British for more than 18 million pounds. (including the Kingdom of Sardinia)

Of course, this is just the local fiscal revenue. If the colonies are added, the British are still more awesome. You should know that India's fiscal revenue alone is as high as more than 50 million pounds, which shows the British's heroism.

However, Napoleon III was not timid, and he was not prepared to let the French Navy surpass the Royal Navy. As long as the navy of France and Austria combined, it would be enough to break the two strong standards that the British clamored.

Behind the anger, international political status is also involved. Once the two strong standards of the Royal Navy are realized, the British will gain absolute dominance in overseas affairs.

Here, France and Austria cannot tolerate it. The French Navy is the second in the world. The arrogant Parisian people petition every day. This pioneer Napoleon III must be the one who has become.

The Chancellor of the Finance Minister Agarwal glared at Edward fiercely, and had already greeted his family in his heart.

In his opinion, the Admiralty is a typical example of not being in charge of the company. It is not known that the cost of food, food, oil and salt. The "two strong standards" look very attractive, but in fact it is just a matter of being idle and looking for excitement.

The British are indeed the strongest in the world, but France and Austria are not weak, and the gap between everyone's strength is not huge.

Just like the two strong standards that the British in the original time and space clamored, they were also challenged and even more severe.

Both France and Austria have the potential to challenge the hegemony of the Royal Navy. If the army had not been developed, the Royal Navy's maritime hegemony would have been unstable long ago.

Agarwal said with a gloomy face: "No, the fiscal budget this year has been determined long ago. Now the budget of 10 million pounds has been increased suddenly. The Ministry of Finance does not have this money. If you want funds, you can convince Parliament yourself!"

Ten million pounds are indeed a lot, but for the London government, it actually came out. Obviously, Agarwal was not going to save money and raise funds for the Navy.

Navy Secretary Edward said angrily: "The Royal Navy is related to the destiny of Britain. If we cannot guarantee absolute advantage, once France and Austria catch up, we will regret it too late!"

There are not so many reasons. The main purpose of the navy in implementing the "two strong standards" is to make funds. The threats from the navies between France and Austria are actually still far apart.

Everyone is a colonial empire, with most of the navy scattered around the world, and all areas are suppressed by the Royal Navy, so how can we talk about any threat?

Even if the French and Austrian navy join forces, they are actually not opponents of the Royal Navy. The problem of the navies of the two countries' cooperation on the battlefield cannot be solved. When they fight on their own, they are not opponents of the Royal Navy at all.

The Chancellor of the Finance Minister Agarwal didn't buy it: "So you go to Congress to ask for money! The Ministry of Finance does not have this budget now. To temporarily increase the huge budget, it must be approved by the Congress."

Without the support of the cabinet, it would not be so easy to convince Congress by the Navy alone. Even if they were convinced by reason and emotion, they would convince the congressmen that the warships built by the French would have been in service long ago.

Edward was about to defend himself, but he was stopped by Prime Minister John Russell. Fighting for funds is a common thing. Basically, the Ministry of Finance has to confront various departments once a year.

Agarwal's behavior was not wrong, he was doing things according to regulations. The Admiral temporarily increased his budget and must go to Congress for a walk. The Ministry of Finance was unwilling to step forward to ask Congress for funds, which was also in line with the regulations.

"The issue of increasing the cost of shipbuilding will be submitted by the Admiralty to Congress. The time will be set for next Monday, and we will support the proposal.

Sir Edward, the Admiralty must be fully prepared to accept questions from members of Congress. Is there any problem?" John Russell said

This is a necessary process. As long as Congress agrees to increase the budget, the Treasury Department will either make loans, issuing bonds, or raising taxes will always solve the funding problem.

The arms race has just begun and the London government has not felt the pressure yet. In the later stage, they will not be so relaxed.

Navy Secretary Edward replied: "No!"

...
Chapter completed!