Chapter 525: The Era of Great Mergers

The impact of the agricultural crisis was not only confined to the European continent, but the Americas were not spared.

Grain prices in Europe plummeted. Naturally, capitalists shipped out grains for sale, and American grain prices were also knocked down.

The development of shipping technology has reduced the cost of shipping, and there have been more ocean-going carriers of 10,000-ton class. Under this shareholder wind, the grain dumped by Austria has also entered the Japanese market across the ocean.

Of course, this is just incidental, and the profit is still too low to transport food to Japan to sell, and everyone does not have the time to spare.

Affected by the Meiji Restoration, Japan's imports of machinery and equipment from Europe have increased significantly in recent years, and trade has become more prosperous.

The first 10,000-ton transport ship was born in Austria. While reducing freight costs, there is also an embarrassing problem-the cargo is often unloaded.

This problem is not difficult for the capitalists. Bringing a little souvenir can fill the warehouse. No matter how small the mosquito is, it is meat, and it cannot be wasted.

The Vienna government's call to action is still somewhat effective. The major grain exporting countries have announced a reduction in production, so I don't know how effective it will be.

Anyway, in Franz's view, the measures taken by various countries are full of loopholes, and whether they can suppress the production capacity depends entirely on the consciousness of farmers.

Just after the autumn harvest, a large wave of new grains hit the market, and international grain prices continued to fall. The capitalists know that it is great, and if it falls like this, everyone will be doomed.

In order to maintain the stability of food prices, capitalists united with large farmers and began to put pressure on the government. By the end of 1872, most European countries had raised import tariffs on agricultural products.

These measures are far from enough. In order to stabilize market prices, capitalists have to reluctantly destroy some agricultural products.

The food importing countries were fine, the tariffs went up, and some of the surplus agricultural products were destroyed, and the market soon returned to stability.

Just maintaining "stable" and wanting food prices to return to normal levels is still not something that can be done overnight.

Food exporting countries are miserable, in addition to slow sales or slow sales. More trade disputes broke out in continental Europe this year than in the past five years combined.

Among them, the most heavy losses are naturally the four countries of Russia Oppo. In order to alleviate the crisis, in October 1872, the Vienna government announced the purchase of 2.7 million tons of wheat, 4.8 million tons of rye, 3.8 million tons of corn, and 1.9 million tons of soybeans for strategic reserves.

Of course, this is subject to additional conditions. The agricultural products purchased this time are limited to new grains produced locally, and are purchased at the minimum grain price protection price stipulated by the government.

First destocking, and now starting to restore stock without any problems. Stimulated by this good news, grain prices in the Austrian local market have finally stabilized.

The international grain market has still not improved. Now, it is not the price of grain, but the market is saturated. Many grain importing countries have suspended grain imports.

Seeing that the Vienna government purchased grain as a strategic reserve, the Junkers aristocrats could not sit still, and they jumped out to come up with ideas and ask the Prussian government to increase the strategic grain reserve.

At the Berlin Palace, a meeting on the issue has begun. William I had no opinion on increasing the strategic grain reserves. The only problem was that the Prussian government had no money.

Austria's money for grain purchases was obtained from the dumping of grain stocks. A rough calculation shows that the Vienna government has lost millions of tons of grain for this kind of entry and exit.

It is difficult to calculate how much the specific loss is, and it must also take into account the price difference between the new grain and the old grain, as well as the cost of the Vienna government's acquisition of the reserve grain before that.

"Prime Minister, what do you think?"

Mao Qi's pressure increased greatly, on the one hand, the government's shriveled wallet, on the other hand, was the interests of the Junkers nobles, which made him very embarrassed. After a little hesitation, reality helped him make a decision.

"Your Majesty, I don't know when the Russian-Prussian war will break out and how long this war will last. No one can guarantee that it is very necessary to increase the strategic grain reserves.

It's just that the government's finances are running out of money. To increase the strategic reserves, at least hundreds of millions of marks are needed, which is far beyond our ability to bear.

If farmers can accept credit, we can eat part of the grain, but the government has no way to guarantee when the payment will be made. "

This answer makes people unable to refute, it is not that the government is unwilling to increase the strategic reserve, the problem is that the government has no money to buy it.

If you want the government to collect grain, that is to pay white bills. When the government has money, it will be repaid, and if there is no money, it will continue to owe.

From the perspective of class interests, Mao Qi's words still dissatisfied many people. It's just that I can't find a reason to refute it, and the government still has no money.

"Prime Minister, I'm afraid it won't work like this. Growing food also has a cost. The government must at least pay for the cost, otherwise many farmers will go bankrupt."

The Minister of Agriculture, Melanie Griffiths, hurriedly persuaded that if he really hit a white note, he would have no way to explain it to the Junkers.

Mao Qi shrugged, made a helpless expression, and spread his hands.

"Where does the money come from? Our finances have always been very tight. Even if the current grain price is very cheap, one ton of rye can be bought for less than 100 marks, and one million tons is 100 million marks.

As long as your Ministry of Agriculture can solve the problem of money, it doesn't matter how much you charge. I guarantee that no one in the government will object. "

The Kingdom of Prussia has long been in debt, and the domestic financial sector is unable to provide loans to the government. If it wants to continue to borrow money from the outside world, it must be

National interests must be sold.

Whoever dares to put forward such a suggestion must first consider whether he will go out and be shot by patriotic youths.

This year, the Kingdom of Prussia is also full of junior high school boys. These people are the guarantee of the combat effectiveness of the Prussian army, and they are also the ticking time bomb of the Kingdom of Prussia.

Melanie Griffiths hasn't lived enough to become the target of patriotic youth. He can't do this kind of death.

"Sorry, Your Excellency. That's not my job, you have to ask the Treasury. If the government can't stabilize food prices, it's okay to have a more aggressive agricultural policy?"

Mao Qi: "Of course! As long as it has nothing to do with money, we can try our best to solve other problems."

Melanie Griffiths: "That would be the best."

Melanie Griffiths, who was already prepared, took out a document and stepped forward and handed it to William I.

"Your Majesty, this is the Ministry of Agriculture's plan to reduce food production capacity. We have learned from the experience of the Austrians and are ready to implement the Land Fallow Law."

The proposal came as a surprise to everyone. The Berlin government had discussed the issue before, but it was only ended without a hitch because of the strong opposition of the Ministry of Agriculture, which was controlled by the Junker aristocracy.

After a brief glance at the document, William I's face darkened. The same is the land fallow method, and the Prussian land fallow method is much more explicit.

On the surface, the problem is not big, but after careful study, you will find that many problems have been vaguely mentioned. After a little analysis, you will find that this is only considering the interests of the Junkers.

The nobles have a lot of land, and even if the strict land fallow law is introduced, they still have enough land to be cultivated in rotation.

According to the above regulations, due to the emergence of crop rotation technology, the time of land fallow has been reduced, and ordinary farmers who have just had a good life for a few days will soon be unlucky again.

If it were really implemented, a new round of land annexation would be staged in Prussia, and a large number of yeomen farmers would go bankrupt as a result.

"Melani Griffiths, are you sure that the content above is realistic, and that the Department of Agriculture has not considered the consequences of doing so?"

Facing William I's questioning, Melanie Griffith did not change his face, and answered calmly: "Your Majesty, after the outbreak of the agricultural crisis, the market will inevitably have a round of elimination of the fittest.

Bankruptcies will break out whether we implement the Land Fallow Act or not. We can take the initiative to take measures to get through the crisis as soon as possible, so as not to involve more people. "

This is a myth, but also a fact. It is inevitable that the yeoman cannot compete with the big farmer. According to the current situation, food prices have collapsed, and the self-cultivation farmers will go bankrupt due to high debts if they persist for a few years at most.

This is not something that can be changed by manpower, it is nothing more than a matter of time of the outbreak. The Junker nobles changed their minds and agreed to cut production capacity. In addition to keeping food prices, they wanted to merge land and expand their family businesses.

Ordinary people may think that the price of food has plummeted and land has become worthless, but the Junker nobles, who have mastered power, do not think so.

The population is growing, but the land cannot keep growing. From this point of view, the price of food will rise sooner or later.

Even if international food prices cannot recover, they can artificially raise domestic agricultural prices by revising the rules.

The original time-space German Empire’s own grain production was insufficient, and the Junkers nobles dared to set restrictions to prevent foreign agricultural products from entering the domestic market, let alone now?

The bankruptcy of farmers is also what the capital Juncker wants to see, and they can get more cheap labor. As long as you analyze the interests, you will know that this plan is unstoppable in the Kingdom of Prussia.

...

After the Kingdom of Prussia introduced the "Land Fallow Law", which was full of annexation, European countries soon began to follow suit.

The big farmers and big capitalists jointly promoted this feast of dividing up. The farmers got more land, and the capitalists got cheap labor. The two sides cooperated seamlessly.

Austria has not been able to stand alone, but there is also a "Law Prohibiting Land Mergers" in front of them. This is a bill signed by Franz after the outbreak of the Vienna Revolution in 1848.

The above clearly stipulates: private transactions of small plots of land are prohibited, and they can only be sold to local governments at market prices. (specifically refers to land less than 200 hectares)

The reclaimed agricultural land can only be sold by local governments to farmers with less than 50 hectares of arable land, or to retired soldiers with less than 100 hectares of arable land, and military elites with less than 200 hectares of arable land.

(Note: After the purchase area reaches this upper limit, you cannot continue to purchase)

If these purchased lands want to be sold again, they can only be sold to the government and cannot be directly traded with individuals.

To put it simply, small farmers can buy it, and large farmers who want to expand can only buy farms with an area of ​​more than 200 hectares.

From the perspective of productivity development, the small-scale peasant economy will inevitably be washed away, and the mainstream of agricultural production in the future will be farms.

This kind of land annexation helps to increase the competitiveness of agriculture, and Franz naturally cannot prevent it, but he does not want to see domestic agriculture being monopolized, so he introduced this bill to limit the wanton expansion of the big nobles.

Basically, this law stipulates that more than 80% of the arable land in Austria is locked and can only be circulated in the hands of ordinary people.

Nobles who want more land should go to colonies.

As long as the area of ​​arable land exceeds 200 hectares, if you want to expand, you can only buy it from large farmers.