The auction had ended, but the ripples it caused continued to spread. Warship trade had never been separable from politics, and this time was no exception.
The temporary compromise between the United Kingdom and Austria was naturally the main event. The active participation of other nations in the auction was also a political signal, indicating the outside world's recognition of Austrian hegemony.
Seeking advantage and avoiding harm was human nature. Now that the dust had settled, showing goodwill might not make the Vienna Government view them differently, but failing to show goodwill would certainly make it view them "differently."
Against this backdrop, whether they needed warships or not, every nation's representative had bid at least once. The atmosphere was absolutely scorching.
Of course, that was mainly because the auction had been split up, with the minimum opening bid being only 200,000 Divine Shields, an amount everyone could still afford to bid on. Had everything been sold as entire fleets, it would not have been nearly so lively.
Who would dare throw out bids recklessly without money? What if the bid actually won? Losing the deposit would be a minor matter; being deemed to have deliberately caused trouble would be truly troublesome.
The world's second-largest naval fleet, together with shipbuilding technology and engineers, had ultimately sold for only 130 million Divine Shields. Of that, more than 30 million Divine Shields was inflated value deducted from the backroom dealings within the Anti-French Alliance. It was practically cabbage priced on the floor.
Yet Franz was satisfied. Unlike the later age, when tycoons were everywhere, there were far too few countries with purchasing power these days.
Aside from defeated France, only the United Kingdom, Austria, and Russia had fiscal revenues exceeding 100 million Divine Shields. Fewer than ten countries had fiscal revenues exceeding 20