"How could there be such a good thing?"
Nicholas I did not believe it in the slightest, and he asked in some confusion.
"Franz, you have money, people, and troops. Can't you just stake out land wherever you please?"
"How could it be that simple? Land isn't unlimited."
Nicholas I was even more puzzled by Franz's answer.
"Then why invite me to take a share of the pie?"
"Yes. Father-in-law, there is one thing you have guessed wrong. The Austrian Empire's expansion is already nearing its limit.
Even now, the Austrian Empire cannot effectively develop all the colonies it has occupied so far. More land would instead bring crushing defensive pressure."
Franz was telling the truth. The Austrian Empire currently had rather too many colonies. Even though he had brought in laborers from various countries, even though the colonies secretly did things expressly forbidden by decree, they still suffered from a severe labor shortage.
Most ironic of all, the better the Austrian Empire developed at home, the fewer people were willing to go to the colonies.
Yet if the Austrian Empire wanted to sustain this momentum of rapid development, it had to develop its colonies. And the faster it developed, the more urgently it needed them.
To the Austrian Empire, colonies did not merely represent the ceiling of national development; they were also the key to preventing its strategic materials from being throttled at the neck.
What Franz did not say was that this defensive pressure would only grow as the colonies developed. At present, the Austrian Empire's turtle-shell tactics rested on low levels of development, limited urbanization, and low strategic value.
"Many thanks. But Russia currently lacks seafaring experience, and as you said, colonies are not something one can simply claim."
Nicholas I paused before continuing.
"Russia will strive