In 1877, Britain, France and the Austrians launched an expansionary war on the African continent, and Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Somalia Peninsula were at the same time.

Compared with the sweeping between France and Austria, the British encountered trouble. The famous "Soldier Emperor" became a nightmare for the British army.

Because of underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly, the British army was ambushed shortly after the war broke out, and the troops suffered heavy losses.

Looking at the battle report in his hand, British commander Ismail shivered in anger. Less than a month after the war started, there were more than 5,000 troops. It was fine if the colonial army cannon fodder was not, but the key was that there was another British infantry regiment that was crippled.

"Every bucket, all of them are rice buckets!"

"Even a group of natives can't beat them, and you have lost all the faces of Britain. What's the use of the country supporting you?"

A young officer explained, "General, the indigenous people of Ethiopia are extraordinary. They also possess modern weapons and have received regular military training."

"Bang!"

Ismailmont slapped the table and cursed angrily: "It must be done by the Austrian terrorists and Frenchmen. No one except them is so shameless!"

Everyone did not answer this topic. You should know that the British were the first to help Ethiopia train their troops. After the last Ethiopian War, France and Austria infiltrated their power.

Ethiopia has a well-trained army, and the British themselves have made a contribution. If this layer of window paper is exposed, the government will face great public opinion pressure.

It is the best choice to directly push the blame to France and Austria. It is not that they don’t work hard, but that the enemy is too "strong".

After venting, Ismail calmed down.

In this war, they prepared completely according to the experience of the last war. Obviously, this is no longer appropriate.

Today is different from the past. Menelik II was able to unify most areas of Ethiopia, and he was also fighting along the way. How could a war-torn army be easy to mess with?

The Paris Conference did not come up with a result. It is normal for France and Austria to stab the knife in secret without the consent of the treaty.

Ismail was very suspicious that the commander of the Ethiopian army is now commanding the Ethiopian army, otherwise how could the British army lose to the indigenous people?

After taking stock of the troops in his hands, Ismail had no choice but to conclude that it is difficult to win now, and even if he can win, it would be a miserable victory.

If a war breaks out with European powers, a "missing victory" is acceptable. The current enemy is an African native. If such a result is really achieved, it will be taken to the military court.

It is impossible to say that in order to win, Ismail decisively chose to ask for help from the country.

After several years of political struggle, Napoleon IV gradually controlled state power by relying on playing a balance.

In this regard, Napoleon III's original plan was successful. He took advantage of the opportunity of power struggle between all parties to allow the smooth handover of imperial power.

There are advantages and disadvantages. After several years of political struggle, the rest are old foxes who are used to political struggles.

After taking control of power, Napoleon IV could not replace all these people, and serious internal strife became the biggest problem of the French government.

As he had no choice but to continue playing balance. He was powerless to do anything about the infighting against the bureaucratic group.

Perhaps bureaucratic internal struggle is a good thing for imperial power, but there is a prerequisite, that is, it must be limited to one scope.

Once the bottom line is broken, it will eventually turn into a disaster. Everyone stabs each other, how can the country develop normally?

This can be seen from the economic development of France in recent years. Since the death of Napoleon III, the speed of French economic development has dropped sharply, and the Paris government has done little.

It is better to do nothing than to act randomly. Overall, France is still stable, but the economic development speed is slow.

This made it difficult for the arrogant Napoleon IV to accept. After taking control of power, he began to focus on economic construction.

France's slowdown in economic growth is a multifaceted reason, and it cannot be achieved by the government just by just trying to catch it.

The biggest problem is the energy crisis, and domestic coal production is seriously insufficient and cannot meet the growing economic demand.

Not only is the local area short of coal, but even the French African colonies are short of coal. If not, they can only import, which undoubtedly raises the cost of industrial production.

As the cost increases, market competitiveness will naturally decline. In international trade, France's market share is falling sharply.

At its peak, France once accounted for one-fifth of the total global import and export trade, and now it has fallen to 15.7%.

This is not over yet, and the French's market share continues to decline. Perhaps it will not take long before their position as the third largest trading country will not be maintained.

Napoleon IV asked: "Are you sure that the opening of the Panama Canal will drive domestic export of industrial and commercial products?"

I have to say that French capitalists are powerful and do their work with the emperor.

Secretary of Finance Allen: "Your Majesty, the situation of the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal is very close. The opening of the Suez Canal has led to the previous round of economic prosperity.

After the opening of the Suez Canal, domestic import and export trade grew by more than 7 for five consecutive years, greatly promoting domestic economic development.

The same is true for the Panama Canal now. Once the canal is opened, the journey from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean will be shortened by tens of thousands of miles, which will greatly stimulate the growth of domestic export trade."

If you lie, you will not blink. I have to say that the moral integrity of politicians is low. The opening of the Suez Canal has indeed greatly stimulated the development of France's economy, but the Panama Canal does not have such great effect.

From the map, you can see that the biggest beneficiary of the Panama Canal is the United States of America, followed by Colombia, and other countries can only pick up some scraps.

It is not completely useless. If the Panama Canal was opened to navigation more than ten years ago, the French government would probably not have to give up on Mexico.

Time cannot be reversed. Now that the Panama Canal is developed, the distance to the west coast will be shortened at most.

In this era, the economic development on the west coast of America was very limited even if exports were stimulated.

Moreover, there are competition from other European countries. French industrial and commercial products are losing their international competitiveness and they can't get much benefit at all.

Against this background, investing huge investment in the development of the Panama Canal was actually not worth the effort for the French.

Napoleon IV shook his head: "No, my Chancellor of the Constitution. You only see the benefits for us, but you do not see the consequences. In fact, the biggest beneficiary is not us.

From the map, you can see that the biggest beneficiary is the United States of America. Suppressing the development of American countries is the common national policy of Britain, France and Austria, and the United States is the focus of its suppression.

There is a clear provision in the Three Kingdoms Covenant that the three countries must maintain the balance of the American continent and prohibit unilaterally strengthening the strength of a certain country.

Regardless of whether we support the United States or not, this kind of thing that strengthens the United States' strength is a betrayal in the eyes of Britain and the Austrians. We cannot ignore long-term development for short-term interests."

Obviously, Napoleon IV was not easy to fool him, and this statement with many flaws could not deceive him.

Chancellor of the Finance Minister Alan: "Your Majesty, this is just an open interest, and the potential interest is actually greater.

The opening of the Panama Canal in the short term will bring the greatest benefits to the United States. However, in our control, the Panama Canal has also fallen into our hands as trade increases.

The interests behind this are our greatest gains. In the future, we can use the Panama Canal to open the doors of various American countries and gain more benefits for the empire.

The development of the Panama Canal did not directly enhance the strength of a certain country. This can only be regarded as a side-by-side goal. Britain and Austria will not be like."

The potential benefits are indeed engaging. Now that the world has almost been divided, the remaining independent countries are not easy to move.

Grasping profits through economic means has become an inevitable necessity in the future world. Controlling the economic lifeline of American countries will undoubtedly allow France to occupy an advantageous position in the new round of competition.

Napoleon IV: "How do we guarantee the dominance of the Panama Canal? In Colombia, whether it is the British or the Austrians, we cannot win the competition!"

This is the key to the problem. France is not strong enough in Colombia and cannot guarantee control of the canal.

It is true that Britain, France and Austria are allies, but this is just a combination of interests. When the interests are large enough, allies can also become enemies.

If Britain and Austria were allowed to join the canal plan, the dominance would change instantly. Napoleon IV would rather not do this kind of wedding dress for others.

Chancellor of the Finance Minister Alan: "Your Majesty, in fact, this does not require the government to come forward. It would be better for private capitalists to do it.

If we cooperate with any country between Britain and Austria alone, we will not get the dominance, but if there are more countries participating, the situation will change.

As the initiator, we may not be able to gain the dominance, but it is not difficult to gain the greatest voice.

The government only needs it”

With great difficulty, the Chancellor of the Finance Minister Alan finally convinced Napoleon IV. Deep down, he had already made up his mind that anyone who liked to do such things would do, or he would not be ready to do it anyway.

Although the benefits promised by the capitalists are great, there are also risks. If Allen had not known that Napoleon IV intended to replace others and wanted to make a fortune to retire before leaving, he would not have cooperated with the capitalists no matter what he said.

You should know that on the surface, he is a representative of the grassroots class. He achieved a counterattack in his life by restoring Napoleon III.

The character of a politician cannot collapse. As a representative of civilians in the government, he goes to cooperate with capitalists. Once the news is leaked, Allen will immediately fall into a state of betrayal of his relatives.
Chapter completed!