Chapter 804 Crisis Always Comes With Opportunities

Since receiving the news that the French government intends to launch the "Colonial Farm Project", the Vienna government has been nervous.

Today, agriculture is still the most important pillar industry in Austria, absorbing the largest number of employed people.

The international grain market capacity is limited. If Austria hadn’t held the International Agricultural Summit and led the establishment of the International Agricultural Products Export Alliance, the major grain producing countries would work together to control the export volume and jointly set grain sales prices to avoid vicious competition. .

However, all of this is based on the premise that food supply and demand are basically balanced. Any country's increase in food production capacity will cause market shocks.

Franz: "How many colonies are suitable for the development of agriculture by the French?"

Colonial Minister Stephen replied: "According to the information collected by the Colonial Ministry, there are millions of square kilometers of arable land in French Africa alone, and more than half a million square kilometers of fertile land suitable for agricultural production.

Mainly distributed in French Algeria 210,000 square kilometers, French Morocco 120,000 square kilometers, French Tunisia 40,000 square kilometers, French Egypt 60,000 square kilometers…”

The natural environment and territory of this era are different from those of later generations, and it is inevitable that there will be differences in the area of ​​cultivated land.

For example: Tunisia was divided between Britain and France, Morocco is also full of British, French and Spanish forces, and French Egypt also includes half of Sudan.

Hearing this answer, everyone's expressions became more solemn.

So many places, not to mention all developed, even if one-third or even one-fifth of the development is developed, the French can be self-sufficient.

Not all desert empires are deserts. There is so much fertile soil in French Africa alone. If you count other French colonies overseas, it is estimated that this number can be doubled.

In the interests of Franz, the Indochina Peninsula is very suitable for the development of agriculture. Although it is a little farther, the French have tariff barriers.

The development of so much land at random can cause a devastating blow to the international food market.

The French do not need to go out to snatch the international market. Just to achieve domestic self-sufficiency is enough to make the international grain market collapse.

Knowing is knowing, the Vienna government is powerless now. The French developed their own land, and Austria had no reason to interfere.

After pondering for a while, Franz said slowly: "This is a matter of time, no major country is willing to be controlled by others in terms of strategic security, and the French are no exception.

Even if you don't make money by investing in farms in the colony, as long as you can ensure food self-sufficiency and reduce the loss of foreign exchange, you will make money back economically.

The only people who can stop the French now are the French themselves. Agricultural investment does not pay off in a short period of time.

Reclamation of wasteland, construction of water conservancy projects, and roads all require a lot of upfront investment, and no one does business at a loss.

Capitalists are definitely not willing to invest, and the French government can only pay for the colonial farm development plan.

Judging from the current situation, the French government is far from rich and can easily spend money for agricultural development. In the short term, their investment in agriculture is still limited.

For at least three to five years, we don't have to worry about the collapse of the international grain market. A lot has been done in such a long time. "

Land reclamation is not just talking about it. Perhaps it is very simple to open up a piece of farmland. Burn the trees and weeds with a fire, and then level the land.

Except for a few areas with favorable natural conditions and sufficient water sources, most areas need to build water conservancy.

The food is planted, but it is not the end. Even a mountain of grain has no value if it cannot be shipped out for sale.

Taking all factors into consideration, three to five years are already very optimistic. It is estimated that the coastal areas can produce some results, but the inland areas may not be able to develop in ten or eight years.

There was a buffer time, and it did not make everyone optimistic. Disasters will still break out, it's just a matter of time.

Foreign Secretary Wesenberg suggested: "This is no longer our family's business, maybe it will be better if the news is released.

If you can pull all the member states of the Agricultural Export Union and put pressure on the French together, there may be unexpected gains. "

There is no doubt that Russia and Austria are mainly responsible for the pressure, and other members of the alliance can also wave their flags.

Forcing the French to back down, of course, everyone is happy. However, it is unlikely. If it is so easy to compromise, France will not be able to mix on the European continent.

Prime Minister Carl shook his head: "No need, this kind of thing can't be kept secret. As soon as the French colonial farm plan is opened, everyone will know.

If international food prices collapse immediately, we are indeed the biggest victims, but isn't that buffering for a few years?

Although the local grain production capacity is still growing, the increase is only less than 1.5%, while the growth rate of grain consumption in the domestic market is as high as 4.7%.

If the Near East Development Plan is not launched, the grain production capacity may continue to grow in the future. Perhaps within ten years, our grain production capacity will only be enough to meet the local needs.

At present, most of the raw grains we export are imported from the Russians. If overcapacity of grain occurs again, it will be a big deal to reduce the purchase price of raw grains and pass on losses.

A strong Russian Empire is not in our interest, just using the French to interrupt the development of the Russians.

if possible

, it's better to include the British too.

The United Kingdom and France have implemented the food self-sufficiency plan at the same time, and the international food import market can directly shrink by half, which just makes everyone feel the power of the agricultural crisis. "

The large growth rate of grain consumption is caused by many reasons, the most direct reason is population growth, which increases grain consumption.

Secondly, people's living standards are improving day by day, and everyone's consumption level is also improving. The most typical example is the rapid increase in the consumption of meat products.

Affected by this, the grain used as feed is also growing rapidly every year, with an annual growth rate of more than 5%.

Finally, there is an increase in industrial grains, including pharmaceuticals, chemicals, alcohol, starch and other industries, and the demand for grains continues to grow.

The rapid growth of demand does not mean that the production capacity can also increase rapidly. In fact, since the outbreak of the agricultural crisis, the Vienna government has been encouraging the cultivation of cash crops.

It's not that Franz doesn't know the importance of grain, but Austria is really not short of grain. The consequence of continuing to increase production capacity is that the price of grain hurts farmers, or even rots in the ground.

Otherwise, the agricultural export alliance is established, and it is estimated that we are still in an agricultural crisis, and everyone pours milk into the river together.

Of course, winning over the Russians is also one of the reasons.

More than 90 percent of the grain exported by the Russian Empire every year goes to Austria, and nearly half of the grain is processed and then returned to Russia for sale.

The Russian-Austrian alliance can continue, and non-governmental relations have always been friendly, which is essentially based on interests.

Generally speaking, the alliance of interests is often the most stable, but the relationship between Russia and Austria is an exception.

If one day the Russians complete the industrial revolution, the local processing industry develops, and the chain of food interests will be broken.

But this is the future, and there is no need to worry about it in the short term.

Under the background of imperfect infrastructure, the nobles of the tsarist government still like to be mine owners and big landowners who can guarantee their incomes during droughts and floods, and they are not keen on industries with huge risks.

Franz knew that these were just cosmetic reasons. Ten years later, the Near East development program is almost complete, and Austria is truly set.

At that time, the German unification process should also be on the agenda. Taking the initiative to break the situation and draw hatred, the Vienna government will not do it.

Austria does not yet have the ability to single out the European world, and it is very necessary to provoke relations between European countries.

The French colonial development plan did harm Austria's interests, but compared with the national strategy, the temporary loss was acceptable.

Taking advantage of the situation and encouraging the British to join in, it seems that Britain and France have achieved food self-sufficiency, and national strategic security is no longer restricted, but in fact, it also makes them stand on the opposite side of the Russians.

Moving the Russian cheese involved the interests of tens of millions of people. Even if the tsarist government wanted to stand with Britain and France, the Russian people would not agree.

The odds of defeating one against three are too high. With one against two, two against two, or simply one against one, the odds of winning are greatly increased.

As a mature monarch, Franz still felt that if he could not fight, it was better not to fight.

"The Prime Minister is right, we can't stop the French from developing colonies, and there's no need to stop them.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs pretended to let the outside world know that we were very dissatisfied, and it was best to let the British feel that the French hit our soft spot.

Induce the London government to join in, artificially create the worst agricultural crisis, and create an opportunity for our next strategy. "

The agricultural crisis is no fun. If it really happened, although the food exporting countries suffered huge losses, the two participants in Britain and France would definitely not take it easy.

Fortunately for the French, with the protection of tariff barriers, the Paris government will not let domestic food prices collapse.

The British are in trouble. Free trade has always been a double-edged sword. While enjoying the benefits of free trade, it must also bear the negative effects it brings.

In the style of the British, once the agricultural crisis broke out, all the investment in the early stage was wasted, and the old men in Congress would order the government to stop losses.

The consumption of money and finances is small, and the key is political turmoil, which can delay the time for the British government to make decisions, which is very beneficial to Austria's next plan.