Chapter 1219 Silver Act

Alan Wilson, who was holding the British grain reserve reform draft, congratulated Eden on his re-election and complimented, "This reform draft is a genius move. From the most optimistic perspective, the most ideal situation for the UK is That means you don’t have to pay any costs and you can still make a lot of money.”

When he was the Deputy Secretary-General, Alan Wilson did not need to be respectful to the minister, because his future was in the hands of the Cabinet Secretary-General, and the minister could not do anything to him. Of course, his cooperation with the minister was quite good.

But it is completely different when the cabinet secretary-general faces the prime minister. The prime minister has the power to replace the cabinet secretary-general.

Although this is generally not done, the UK, as the origin of case law, must rely on a precedent for everything.

"This business, for the UK, can promote its advantages in the financial industry and at the same time stabilize the value of the pound." Although it was a little late, Eden formally proposed reforming the UK's grain reserve system after the election.

But the result is good. Facing the 220 tons of gold, Aiden cannot remain indifferent. After the event is completed, Britain's gold reserves will rush towards the 6,000 tons mark.

This ratio is already very good. The gold reserves of the United States are slowly declining. The gold reserves of the United States are 14,000 tons. This gold supports the Braston Woods system.

Of course Alan Wilson knew that if the Vietnam War officially broke out, the 14,000 tons of gold would fall below 10,000 tons within three years, and then three years later in 1971, the U.S. gold reserves would fall to 8,000 tons, and then It’s time for the United States to default on its debts.

The UK can also make preparations when the time comes. Even if it cannot bring down the US dollar, it can still gain some benefits.

However, the Cabinet Secretary was not referring to the Soviet Union's gold income. Once food was in short supply, the price would rise.

The root cause is not the Soviet Union's 10 million tons of grain procurement, but Ayden's grain reserve reform. In other words, Britain originally used the reform of grain reserves to cover the purchase of grain and do business with the Soviets.

In this case, Britain would indeed get two hundred and twenty tons of gold, but nothing more.

But once this grain reserve reform is implemented, the gap will not only be 10 million tons in the Soviet Union. Adding in the 25% shortfall in the UK, the gap will reach 20 million tons.

By then, the world food market will skyrocket. What will happen if there is a 10% gap in world food? The answer is not that 10% of people will starve to death, but that when these people starve to death, the price will rise to the psychological price of the remaining 90%.

If this consequence occurs,

The grain hoarded by Britain is valuable, and when the time comes, it can be resold and make money again.

As a British Prime Minister, Eden has certainly witnessed Britain's difficult times during the war, but to be honest, Britain's difficult times during the war are nothing compared to the difficult times encountered by most countries in the world. Not on.

If Eden had personally visited India during the Bangladesh Famine, he would have known the consequences of a 10% food deficit. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister did not have this experience and could not predict the consequences of a business deal with the UK.

At this time in 1963, a certain big country had too much time to take care of itself, and so did the prosperous big countries. The Soviet Union has come to buy it. Apart from the United States, only two Commonwealth countries, Australia and Canada, can meet the demand for tens of millions of tons at a time. But Alan Wilson definitely strikes faster than anyone else.

The only remaining grain-producing area is Argentina. There are three major black soil belts in the world, but there is actually another alienated black soil belt in the Pampas grasslands of Argentina. Since it is located in the subtropics of the southern hemisphere, there are no severe cold and long winters.

After the plants die, they cannot rely on the cold to accumulate debris over the years. The hot and humid climate causes the soil to contain more iron oxide, giving the soil a distinct red color. Therefore, the soil here is actually not as nutritious as black soil.

If Japan and South Korea are afraid of being blackmailed by the United States and think Argentina is too far away, Southeast Asia can actually solve part of the problem.

However, it is not very optimistic, because Malaya, as the agricultural base deeply cultivated by the female president, has a consequence that it has caused great distress to the surrounding Southeast Asian countries. This is just like normal agricultural competition in the United States, which will make Mexican farmers bankrupt. Same.

In recent years, Southeast Asian countries have been affected by grain dumping from Malaya, and their grain planting areas have been declining.

In short, the original sale of 10 million tons of grain to the Soviet Union may not have much impact. Coupled with the reform of Britain's own grain reserves, if it is doubled, it may have consequences that are detrimental to the world environment.

News of Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko's state visit to the UK dominated the headlines of British public opinion.

In fact, it is hard to believe that Britain in this era would respond with great enthusiasm to the visit of the Soviet Foreign Minister.

In fact, the reason is very simple. The Soviet Union can reach the United Kingdom, and the threat is more intuitive. After all, the Soviet troops on the border of Federal Germany are not that far away.

Gromyko's purpose was not as stated in the communiqué. The real purpose was to confirm whether Britain had the ability to complete this transaction with the Soviet Union and how to pay.

The London Exchange is the gold trading center in Europe, which is not difficult for the UK.

Perhaps in his life, Eden had never treated a Soviet person so sincerely, expressing friendship as hot as the sun. Regarding Gromyko's doubts, the respected British Prime Minister said that he had no problem.

At this moment, the white residents of Southern Rhodesia, supported by the African bread basket, are responding to the call of the mother country, eager to contribute to Britain's vital interests.

Ian Smith, the Minister of Finance of Southern Rhodesia, is a staunch supporter of this move. He said that he would spend the last pound and the last grain of food to meet local needs.

This is almost a perfect example of a loyal dog of the empire. Ian Smith did not hesitate to use the budget of Rhodesia to purchase food from the black tribes, despite financial pressure. For this purpose, he was also preparing to take a loan from South Africa...

Not even the poorest patriot in East London was more patriotic than the Minister of Finance of Southern Rhodesia.

Ian Smith's move shocked even the Rhodesian royal territory, which was the only one that retained the southern passage. Grace thought to herself, should she also show off, otherwise it would seem that she would be sorry for the royal territory's certification.

In Kuala Lumpur, the capital of the colonial Malaya, High Commissioner Richard signed an executive order banning the export of wheat.

In Canada and Australia, representatives of the Mountbatten Group have negotiated purchase prices with the governments. Both governments have no objections to this. Blood is thicker than water and they are willing to help Britain tide over the difficulties.

The United Kingdom, which still maintains the world's largest ocean-going fleet, received orders from the London government to go to Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Singapore, Perth, and Montreal to transport purchased grain back to the mainland.

"We cannot ignore the possibility that it may cause a food shortage in the country and lead to a series of reactions such as rising prices. But I believe that the four major grain merchants will not be dissatisfied with this, but will be very interested in talking to you, dear. .”

In the President's Office of Mountbatten Building in Perth, Pamela held a telegram and read the telegram from London to her mother word by word, "Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko has just left London. The Prime Minister communicated very happily with the other party. The Soviet Union The Foreign Minister also fully recognizes the UK’s unique position in today’s world as a world power.”

"Your husband, Alan Wilson, in London on the 1st of March..."

The old imperialists, at the end of the colonial era, are seizing the few opportunities to maximize their interests. There is no force that can stop Britain at this time, absolutely nothing...

At this time, the United States pays a little attention to Britain's movements. Even if it doesn't see anything, it will at least be mentally prepared.

Of course, this psychological preparation is unlikely. If the UK wants to deliberately hide it from the United States, it can do it, such as the Suez Canal War.

The reason why the United States did not pay attention to the movements of the United Kingdom was entirely because Kennedy was busy doing something that he thought was good for the United States. Starting from 1950, the United States began to have a trade deficit. In the 1960s, the trade deficit Occupies most years.

The gold reserves of the United States are slowly declining, and the Braston Woods system will inevitably become unsustainable in the long run. At the Nassau Agreement, Kennedy threatened Eden with his huge gold reserves and would make the pound worthless.

The result was that Eden didn't care about his threats at all, saying that the United States was a beneficiary of the Braston Woods system. Doing so was undoubtedly the United States' self-resolution of its own hegemony, and Kennedy threatened a lonely state.

"Linden, in fact, using silver as a reserve can also stabilize the value of the U.S. dollar." Under the influence of the silver party members of the Democratic Party, Kennedy finally expressed his thoughts on this day.

Kennedy didn’t know that someone had dug up silver mines in Australia, but the United States itself is a major silver-producing country. In fact, several of the world’s major silver-producing countries are in the Americas. With the current national strength of the United States, it is easy to produce silver in the United States and the Americas. By controlling the source and using it as a supplement to the Braston Woods system, the decline in gold reserves caused by the U.S. trade deficit will be greatly alleviated.

"President, although the Silver Party members have been advocating for almost a hundred years, the value of silver is still incomparable to gold." Upon hearing this, Lyndon Johnson expressed his pessimism, "Since we can't do it, there must be difficulties. place."

"The difficulty lies in Wall Street." Kennedy smiled, "Don't you think so? We can't unilaterally bear all the costs of the Silver Act by the state, and then watch a huge amount of silver quietly lying in the Treasury."

Lyndon Johnson did not answer Kennedy's words, seemed to be thinking or thinking about something else, and finally nodded, his attitude seemed to be non-committal.