Chapter 805

Perhaps out of disgust in Austria, the French plan for the ranch was not kept secret and was released to the outside world shortly after the Paris government's decision.

This is understandable. At this moment, the Eighth Division of the Uprising Army led by Hutier and others has swelled to 80,000, and it is about to break through the 100,000 mark.

It doesn't matter how powerful it is in combat, but the French have already learned about its destructive power. This rabble army has only done two things along the way: expanding the army crazily and looting the manor.

Hutier and others have given full play to the style of bullying the soft and fearing the hard. The French do not touch any cities that they are strictly guarded against, and only select weak villages and small towns to attack.

Even if most of the soldiers have cold weapons and rely on the advantage of the crowd tactics, they are invincible all the way.

In fact, many times there is no need to attack, and at a glance at the number of rebels, the defenders along the way have all fled.

It's not that there is no common sense to resist, the main reason is that the military disadvantage is too serious, the French soldiers in the small towns are too few, and the Egyptians are unreliable.

Concentrating troops to garrison big cities is the best choice. Generally speaking, as long as the French soldiers exceed a thousand, the Eighth Division will not hit a nail.

There is no point in fighting to the death, and he is not here to fight the world. It's enough to just wave directly, and the insurgent army in the rear will do the job of grabbing the territory.

With the Eighth Division interspersed, the French troops in Egypt also lost the opportunity to regroup and had to fight on their own.

After all, there are few French soldiers who can fight, and most of the troops are colonial troops. It's okay to defend the city. Going out to fight in the field is a little better than the rebels.

The French government is naturally unhappy after such a big commotion. In the spirit that I am uncomfortable, and you don't have to think about it, the French just showed their cards.

Then all agricultural stocks, all began to plummet. A group of self-righteous experts and scholars have emerged one after another to sing down agricultural stocks, and some even directly believe that a new round of agricultural crisis is imminent.

Well, this time they got it right. For a long time in the future, the life of enterprises engaged in agricultural production will not be easy, and it may be more appropriate to describe the daily situation.

Even if the French don't come in this wave, the agricultural crisis will still break out. With the continuous development of fertilizer technology, grain overcapacity is an inevitable trend.

Even if a grain exporting country like Austria does not promote industrial fertilizer technology, those grain importing countries will.

Although it is not as rapid as the increase in the output of chemical fertilizers in later generations, it is still possible to increase the output by tens of percent.

Grain production capacity can be greatly increased, but the demand for grain in the market cannot soar so much in a year.

Phosphate fertilizer has been born and has begun to be used on a large scale; potash fertilizer has been born in the laboratory of the Royal Academy of Sciences, and it is not promoted to maintain food price stability.

As for the ammonia fertilizer and compound fertilizer behind, there is no shadow for the time being. Human needs are the driving force behind technological progress, and now Austria is one of those underpowered.

In order to make more profits in agricultural exports, Franz is not very active in the research on fertilizer technology to increase grain production capacity on a large scale.

For many green food advocates in later generations, perhaps this is the best era. Pure green food without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides can be found all over the street.

Affected by the French ranch plan, the world's major grain exporting countries have experienced panic to varying degrees.

...

St. Petersburg, as the world's largest exporter of raw grains, the Tsarist government is undoubtedly the most troublesome.

Alexander III had personally experienced the agricultural crisis, and it was during the last crisis that the tsarist government panicked and went to the infamous grain-for-loan agreement with the British.

This is one of the few black histories of Alexander II, which was fooled by the British and joined the pound-gold system.

Even if it was the British account, the Russian Empire still lost tens of millions of rubles, and the political losses were immeasurable.

After a lesson, Alexander III realized the importance of agriculture to Russia, and paid special attention to the changes in the international grain market.

"What do you think of the big farm plan announced by the French?"

Agriculture Minister Bauersak said bitterly: "This is simply terrible. At present, the countries and regions in Europe that need to import a large amount of food are mainly Britain, North Germany and Italy.

The remaining countries such as Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, etc., although they are also food importers, their demand is very limited, and they add up to less than 10%.

If the French food self-sufficiency plan is successful, the international food export market will shrink by at least a fifth.

Without this part of the market, a new round of grain overcapacity is destined to break out in Europe.

As Europe's largest exporter of raw grain, once this happens, we will inevitably suffer heavy losses, and even a new wave of farmer bankruptcies will break out. "

Alexander III frowned. Everyone knows these truths. What he wants is a solution, not a complaint here.

"Is there a way to avoid the worst-case scenario?"

Alexander III asked expectantly.

Unfortunately, it is easy to see the problem, but difficult to solve it. This is the general trend, and it cannot be resolved by individual ability alone.

Ballshak shook his head: "The shrinking international market is not something the Ministry of Agriculture can control.

If possible, it is best to use diplomacy to get the French to abandon the ranch plan. "

Playing the ball, the Ministry of Agriculture has no way to deal with the agricultural crisis, and has to pin its hopes on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"This is impossible!

The French have withdrawn from the free trade system, and even if international food prices have fallen to the bottom, they can still adopt tariff barriers to protect the domestic market from shocks.

With the realization of food self-sufficiency, the French government can save a lot of foreign exchange expenditure every year and reverse the current trade deficit. I really can't think of a reason for the French to give up.

Rather than relying on the French to give up on the big farm plan, it is better to start thinking of ways to cut food production capacity or expand market demand now. "

Facing the kicked ball, Foreign Secretary Oscar Jimenez fought back without hesitation.

Russia and Austria are both rivals of France on the European continent. While fighting against their rivals, they can also gain huge profits. The French government has no reason not to do so.

Not to mention that the Russians put pressure on in the past, even if the European countries put pressure together, the French will not give up.

The Minister of Agriculture, Paul Shak, righteously refused: "There are as many as 50 to 60 million people engaged in agricultural production in China, and it is impossible for so many people to reduce production capacity together.

Expanding the market is even more of a joke. Hasn't the domestic food demand market expanded?

However, with the expansion of the market, our grain production capacity is also growing at the same time, even faster.

This is still based on the premise of backward domestic agricultural production technology. If the latest agricultural production technology is adopted, the domestic grain production capacity can be increased by one third.

If it weren't for the fact that after the increase in grain production capacity, there would be no sales channels, the Ministry of Agriculture would have promoted new technologies long ago. "

Although the words are not very pleasant, Alexander III knows that this is true, and it is not realistic to cut production capacity and expand the market.

"Once the French plan is completed, Austria will also suffer heavy losses. What is the Vienna government going to do?" Alexander III asked expectantly

There is nothing to be embarrassed about. If you can't handle it yourself, just learn from others. The worst thing is that others don't know what to do.

After hesitating for a moment, Bauersak replied: "Your Majesty, the situation in Austria is different from ours.

It is also a big exporter of grain, but Austria mainly exports finished grains and by-products, and its ability to resist risks is stronger than ours.

As early as 1884, the trade volume of agricultural and sideline products and food industry products exported by Austria accounted for 47.9% of the total export volume of agricultural products, and this proportion is still growing.

The sharp drop in food prices has little impact on canned food, biscuits, snacks, and industrial chemical products. Even because of lower production costs, profits will further increase.

The directly affected are mainly the sales of finished grains, such as: flour, potato flour...

After the grain price falls, it will spread to the retail market, and there will be a period of time when processing companies can reduce the price of grain purchases and pass on their own risks..."

Seeing the tsar's face getting more and more ugly, Balshak's voice became smaller and smaller, until he finally shut up.

It was normal for Alexander III to be unhappy. He originally thought that someone would be unlucky with him, but he did not expect that they had already prepared a way out.

Once Austrian companies lowered the price of grain purchases, most of the losses fell to the Russian Empire, and they could not refuse.

After all, during the agricultural crisis, it is lucky to be able to sell it. If you are not lucky, you can only pile up in the warehouse and wait for mold.

Seeing the tense atmosphere, Finance Minister Alisher Gulov deliberately changed the topic: "No matter how the losses are passed on, Austrian agriculture will be affected, and it is nothing more than a matter of size.

In terms of Austria's agricultural volume, even a drop of one percentage point is enough to make the Vienna government hurt.

Once the agricultural crisis breaks out, even if their industrial chain is perfected, they will suffer heavy losses. It is impossible for the Vienna government to fail to act.

There is no movement now, it is estimated that they were also stunned by the sudden action of the French, and they did not know how to deal with it for a while. "

After hearing this explanation, Alexander III's expression softened slightly. It's good to have someone to accompany, it's too miserable to be alone.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs pays close attention to the developments in Austria and will report any changes to me at any time."

...

Alexander III was not made to wait long.

On June 11, 1885, Austria sent an invitation to Russia, Denmark, Argentina, the Confederate States of America, Brazil and other agricultural exporting countries to prepare to hold the third agricultural summit in Vienna next March.

This result made many people breathe a sigh of relief. It's fine if there is movement, the most fearful thing is that there is no reaction at all.

The big farm strategy of the French is still just a plan, to be precise, an intention, without even a specific plan.

If you want to implement it, it is not a matter of one or two days. If nothing else, just choosing a site is not something that can be done in a month or two.

When the agricultural experts have selected the location and completed the preliminary design and planning, it is estimated that it will be too late to even level the land, and this year will pass.

There's still plenty of time, so don't worry at all. It's still years away from becoming a threat.