Chapter 639

After half a year of negotiations, Britain and Austria finally reached an agreement. On November 12, 1877, representatives of the two countries signed the "Anglo-Austrian Free Trade Agreement" in Paris, and Austria officially joined the free trade system.

I have to say that the Paris Conference is a comedy. It was originally intended to reconcile the contradictions between countries and eliminate international conflicts. As a result, what I wanted to do was not achieved, and many irrelevant treaties were born.

Thinking about it, it's right. After all, it was a high-level meeting from various countries. There was no result at all. How could you be so embarrassed to go back?

Digression is inevitable, everything is for performance. Up to now, the Paris Conference has produced eight treaties, involving most of the European countries.

This is only on the surface. No one can know how many secret agreements there are in the dark. In short, the Paris meeting did not come to fruition.

...

At the Palace of Versailles, Napoleon IV threw his glass and cursed angrily: "Damn Englishman, damn Austrian idiot, they must have done it on purpose!"

Napoleon IV's guess was correct. The Anglo-Austrian free trade negotiations were actually held in Vienna, and they went to Paris to sign the treaty, which was strongly requested by the British.

Needless to say, because the French arranged Queen Victoria so much, the London government could not fail to respond!

There is no way to stop the French from diplomatic protests. French newspapers dare to publish even the emperor's lace news, let alone the Queen of England?

From the initial "curse", it has developed to peach news, and even erotic novels have appeared, and the content is unsightly.

The strait cannot prevent the spread of entertainment gossip. By spreading these newspapers and novels, they have long since crossed the ocean and entered Britain, and spread it secretly.

Whether the content is good or not is one thing, but this is too degrading to the country and makes the British people very unhappy. Everyone asked the London government to stop the bad behavior of the French.

Of course, the British royal family should have played a major role in this. Under pressure from all parties, the London government will naturally take action.

Since it is impossible to stop the French, then make a big news, divert everyone's attention, and beat the French by the way.

The Anglo-Austrian Free Trade Agreement is undoubtedly the best trump card, hitting the French directly at the heart of it. If it is not handled properly, France, which is already falling behind, will really go into decline.

Chancellor Alan: "Your Majesty, now is not the time to be arguing with them, the priority is to minimise the impact.

Britain and Austria have reached an agreement, and it is estimated that it will not be long before the two countries will take action to draw more countries into the free trade system.

Now the major European powers outside the free trade system are only us and Spain. We must hold the Spaniards steady now, or we'll be in big trouble. "

It has to be admitted that the British have powerful diplomatic means. In the past few decades, they have attracted the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, the Nordic Federation and other countries to join.

Now that Austria has joined the free trade system, the remaining Switzerland, the German Federal Empire, Greece, and Montenegro will naturally join the free trade system.

France was isolated again, and Spain, the only one left, had to hurry anyway. Fortunately, the Spanish royal family was established by Napoleon III, a proper pro-French faction.

Foreign Secretary Montero: "It's not that simple, the Spaniards won't necessarily stand with us this time.

Britain and Austria have too many chips in their hands, and the price they can offer will be much higher than ours.

Our advantage is mainly that the Spanish government is pro-French, but in the face of interests, it is difficult to say how much this advantage can play.

The situation is now very clear, and it is our turn to make a decision. The current semi-free trade model, which was feasible before, has now become the worst option. "

The "semi-free trade system" is an economic policy formulated by Napoleon III with reference to the economic policies of European countries and according to the actual situation of France.

To put it simply, it is to implement tariff-free or low tariffs on the industrial raw materials that France needs, and implement trade protection policies for goods that can be produced in the country.

To a certain extent, before this, the economic policies of France and Austria were somewhat similar, both protecting domestic industry and commerce.

It is a pity that Austria seized the opportunity of the second industrial revolution and took the lead in completing the industrial transformation. It also has agriculture as its support, and now it has the ability to participate in international competition.

France is different. Not to mention the lack of its own resources, domestic capitalists do not like to invest in manufacturing.

Even Napoleon III's encouragement of manufacturing did not change the nature of French capital's preference for usury.

Insufficient funds flow into the manufacturing industry, and industrial development naturally lags behind. The core factor causing all of this is essentially the lack of raw materials for local French industries.

Although France was also a colonial empire, it was also a desert empire. The vast colonies are mostly deserts, and the output of the colonies is relatively insufficient.

Coupled with the annexation of the more resource-poor Italian regions, this made France's resource crisis even more serious and had to rely on imports.

Now more than 70% of the world's industrial raw material exports are monopolized by Britain and Austria. In order to crack down on competitors, Yingao, which has the right to price raw materials, artificially drives up the market price of raw materials.

By importing industrial raw materials to develop the industry, the cost will naturally go up. In international competition, the competitiveness of French industrial and commercial products is obviously insufficient.

Chancellor Alan: "His Excellency the Marquis, join the

It is easy to say from the trading system, but if it is really implemented, we must first consider whether the domestic industry and commerce can withstand the impact.

According to the statistics of Paris Daily, the overall cost of industrial and commercial products produced in our country is 2.9% higher than that of the British and 2.7% higher than that of Austria.

However, it is a fact that domestic industrial production costs are high. If market protection is liberalized, we will be at a disadvantage in the face of international competition. "

The high cost of industrial production is an unsolvable problem. Unless the price of raw materials is knocked down, there is no solution.

Napoleon IV: "If the cost of industrial production differs by two or three percent, it does not seem to be irreparable.

British and Austrian capital also needs to make money. They can't sell at cost, so domestic companies will only make less money.

The government can also close the gap by lowering taxes. As long as the first wave of shocks is overcome, I believe that domestic enterprises can gain a firm foothold in the competition.

At worst, we can also rely on distance and advantages to keep the local market and not make the situation worse. "

After listening to Napoleon IV's words, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Allen was taken aback and hurriedly discouraged: "Your Majesty, things are not so simple. This gap is the overall gap between all industries combined.

If it is specific to a certain industry, the cost gap may be enlarged to 20 to 30 percent, which can no longer be compensated by adjusting the tax rate. "

Just kidding, the data published in the newspaper, God knows how much water there is, no one knows whether it is through data analysis or guesswork.

The French government does not have a special statistical agency. When data is needed, economic experts are responsible for estimation, and the government then performs artistic processing according to needs.

Allen didn't want to change all this. As the chancellor of the Exchequer, he knew too much truth, but the French people couldn't accept the fact that they were inferior to Britain and Austria.

Not to mention now, after the Franco-Prussian War in the original time and space, the French people did not admit that they were inferior to Germany.

The First World War was said to be caused by the contradiction between Germany and France, but it was actually caused by the pride of the French. The arrogance of the French was lost in the First World War, and the corpse of World War II was created.

It is better not to count the real numbers and not dare to publish them. Let’s pretend to be confused.

In the free trade system, it is enough to shout slogans in normal times. If it is true, it will kill the country.

In addition to the advantages of the financial industry, most industries in France will be affected. The emergence of the usury empire is not without reason.

Napoleon IV frowned, no doubt he was slapped in the face again. This feeling is very unpleasant, and it seems that he is an ignorant emperor.

"So how to solve the current problem? Britain and Austria are working together to develop a free trade system, and most European countries have joined in, and the remaining countries will not be able to hold on for long.

At that time, not only Europe, but the whole world will be covered by the free trade system. Can France really be alone? "

Napoleon IV did not understand, but saw it too clearly. The free trade system that the British fiddled with is a conspiracy in itself, and even if you know it, you can't stop it.

At present, the French industry has not broken out, and it can still be free for the time being. Once the domestic industry and commerce develop further, France will still join in due to reality.

Of course, you can also choose to challenge the world. The Germans in the original time and space provoked the war because they lacked raw materials and markets, and lacked the right to speak in the free trade system.

The current situation in France is naturally much better than that of the German Empire, but the crisis still exists. Unless the manufacturing industry is not developed, the crisis will be detonated sooner or later.