War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

"Wow, look it's a whale!"

Some crew members shouted excitedly.

"This is a good sign, Your Highness the Grand Duke. There is a legend in my distant hometown that encountering a whale while out at sea is a sign of good luck."

At this time, Oshiosugi Ne had changed back to her previous miko uniform. It seemed that the assimilation policy had not erased the cultural imprint on her body, but presumably Thalia was not a very good executor.

Just at this moment, a whale jumped high out of the water, and then hit the sea hard, causing a wave of waves and causing the sailors on the ship to exclaim.

Afterwards, a burst of singing from the ocean continued to spread around, warming the hearts of travelers who had been tortured by the long and boring voyage. Ethereal, sad, and distant, it seems to be a call from ancient times, but it is also as scary as the gaze into the abyss.

While everyone was concentrating on admiring the spectacle of the giant beast, a discordant sound sounded on the ship.

"Quick! Open the gun doors and get everyone into combat positions!"

As the commander-in-chief, Friedrich's order immediately made the entire ship busy. Sailors and middle- and lower-level officers began to quickly run back to their posts to prepare for battle. Even Franz was nervously searching with a telescope. against the enemies on the sea.

But according to common sense, with the size of this fleet, pirates should not have the guts to attack, unless some of them can't wait to see God.

A maritime regiment consisting of one super first-class battleship, four quasi-first-class battleships, and more than ten other escort and supply ships is enough to defeat the navy of a medium-sized country.

The only people in the Indian Ocean who might pose a threat to the Austrian Imperial Navy were the British.

The Royal Navy deployed 25 battleships in the Indian Ocean. Although the vast majority of them were third-class battleships, it was almost impossible to escape their pursuit through the Strait of Malacca and return to Kampong Som.

Of course, that's just a common sense estimate. The imperial fleet, which has all been replaced with steam power, has been completely transformed, and its sailing speed is far beyond what the British sailing battleships can match.

However, Franz, whose thoughts returned to reality, did not notice that there were malicious warships around. Soon other sailors also discovered this, and everyone looked at the captain who gave the order in confusion.

"Didn't you all see those giant beasts? You know, we haven't fired a single cannon along the way. If we don't use it anymore, the cannonballs will probably expire!"

Friedrich roared, but no one answered.

"Uncle Friedrich, please don't let your bad thoughts tarnish this rare landscape in front of you. These poor animals are no threat to you."

Before Franz finished speaking, Paul Davin, the vice-captain from Venice, said at the side.

"The captain is right! The whole body of a whale is full of treasures! Whale oil and whale bones are valuable goods! Even if we drag them to Bombay and sell them to the British, we can still make money! Captain is wise!"

He is right. The whaling industry during this period was not only quite developed, but also very profitable.

At this time, whale oil was one of the most important lighting methods in the West and the most important lubricant in industry. It can also be used in the manufacture of textiles, leather, paints and varnishes and even soap.

A gallon of whale oil can be sold for 3-5 florins, but the price fluctuates greatly with supply and demand.

There were a variety of lighting fuels at that time, each with its own merits: paraffin, beeswax, suet oil, turpentine... but only whale oil produced almost no smoke when burned, could produce a stable light source, and had no odor.

Among them, sperm whale oil is the best. It not only has a bright flame, but also has a faint oily smell.

The main material for the fine candles used in Schönbrunn Palace is sperm whale oil. Although there are paraffin candles nowadays, the price is very high due to the limited technical means and backward refining process of paraffin at that time.

Of course, this is only lower than spermaceti, and is still a luxury product that is beyond the reach of ordinary people. In addition, due to the limitation of underdeveloped technology, industrial lubricants are mainly refined from whale oil.

If you are a fan of the Industrial Party, you should understand how huge the role of lubricants in industry is. It can even be said that without lubricants, the industrial revolution would not be able to proceed smoothly.

The UK consumes more than 500,000 gallons of whale oil on textile machinery every year. According to American calculations:

Large bowhead whales can produce more than 300 barrels of whale oil, and the average can reach 150 barrels, much more than sperm whales and right whales, whose averages are 25 barrels and 60 barrels respectively.

(One barrel equals 42 gallons.)

In other words, in order to meet the industrial needs of the United Kingdom, at least 3,333 bowhead whales must be killed every year, 8,333 right whales, and 20,000 sperm whales.

Whale bones were also a very popular commodity in the 19th century, with a wide range of uses including but not limited to:

Sun hat, whip, parasol, tongue scraper, pen holder, fishing rod, divining rod, umbrella, bow tie, walking stick, garland, top hat, suspenders, folder and paper knife, painter's wood grain comb, feet on the soles of boots Bow supports, shoehorns, brushes, mattresses, elastic linings on the inside edges of pool tables. Even training swords used by nobles to practice their swift swords.

Of course, these are not the most valuable uses of whale bones. The common tutu skirts and women's tight underwear in the 19th century (men also wore tight underwear at that time) also used whale bones, but the demand was relatively small.

(Whalebone actually refers to whale baleen, not actual fish bones.)

Why doesn't Franz know about this treasure?

the answer is:

The Austrian Empire was not a normal country. It consumed almost no whale oil for lighting, as both Galicia and Transylvania had a tradition of using oil.

As for public lighting, the Austrians used gas lamps.

Except for the nobility and Italians living on the sea, almost no one cared about whale oil. The oil that lubricates machinery is a mixture of rapeseed oil and petroleum. Its output can not only supply and meet domestic demand, but also sell well in German states.

As for whale bones, Austria imports large quantities of this raw material from the United States for its long-term production of hats and mattresses, and uses it to make women's petticoats and corsets.

There was a very strange phenomenon at that time, that is, the whalebone used to make hats and mattresses was a few tenths of the price of the whalebone used to make women's petticoats and corsets, and the actual difference between the two was almost nonexistent.

Except for a few rip-offs, almost all clothing merchants and tailors chose cheaper whale bones.

Closer to home, Franz felt that firing cannons and frying fish was a disobedient and unlucky act, and there was no need for him to do so.

"Uncle Friedrich, whales are a symbol of good luck. Don't you think so? Miss Shanyin."

When Franz turned to look at Oshiosugine, the latter held a knife and fork as if he was ready to rush down to cook, and could not listen to the former's words at all.

Franz couldn't help but hold his forehead. He forgot that the woman in front of him was Japanese. She probably hadn't tasted sushi for a long time and wanted to give the whale a tooth as a sacrifice.

It seems necessary to give her a big meal. After all, there are only river fish near Vienna, and there are only two ways to eat them - grilled and fried.

Austrians are one of the few people in Europe who like to eat freshwater fish, but they, like other Europeans, have a very bad opinion of fish bones and hate them very much.

The solution is also very simple and crude, that is, directly sear or fry the fish, which can minimize the trouble of picking fish bones.