On June 18, 1861, the Austrian Ocean-going Fleet visited Korea. The two sides reached an agreement on friendly exchanges between their countries, upgrading diplomatic relations to the ministerial level.
Korea, still under a feudal system at this time, rejected foreign trade. Austria had previously held little interest in Korea and had not established an embassy there, maintaining only an office.
Following this friendly visit, Hummel signed a treaty of friendship and trade with the Korean government, with both countries granting each other most-favored-nation treatment.
This had become routine. Along the way, Austria had already signed commercial most-favored-nation treaties with more than a dozen countries, including Britain and France.
They also secured several arms-purchase orders. Aside from army equipment, Hummel sold five ironclads as well.
Thailand and Vietnam each ordered one, while the Qing Government ordered three in one breath. Clearly, they had been frightened by Britain and France and wanted to strengthen their coastal defenses. No matter how expensive ironclads were, they were still better than becoming homeless dogs.
Austria had no plans to expand in the Far East. But when business came knocking, naturally it had to be done. As for whether this would cause trouble for Europe's colonial empires, that was not within Hummel's consideration.
Unable to sweet-talk the Korean government into anything, Hummel still felt somewhat unwilling to let it go. He could only see whether Japan, the last remaining stop in East Asia, might yield something.
After all, everyone was selling army equipment. With competition from all sides, profits had already been squeezed down. Austria alone sold ironclads, and a twofold net profit was not excessive at all.
If someone was willing to pay a high price, even active-service equipment could be sold. Take this Ocean-going Fleet, for instance—so long as someone offered more than 30