Chapter 880 Diplomatic Relations That Can't Stand the Test

The international situation is changing, and Franz has not paid much attention to it. Now he is staring at the list of price changes in the first quarter.

According to common sense, the price of daily necessities such as grain in the war years will inevitably rise, especially Europe's largest exporter of raw grains has been involved in the war.

Because of the war, the total amount of grain exported by the Russian Empire to foreign countries has been greatly reduced since last year, and the flow of food into Austria has been reduced by a quarter.

Undoubtedly, this part of the shortfall was offset by the increase in the amount of domestic grain production in Austria.

Although potash fertilizer has just started to be promoted last year, and the people have not used it on a large scale, but there are state-owned farms in Austria!

In fact, the number of state-owned farms directly controlled by the government has been declining. Because of management costs, many small and medium farms are rented out to individuals.

No matter how it is reduced, the land area occupied by state-owned farms is still not low. Counting only the European part, the area occupied by state-owned farms is already less than 5% of the cultivated land area, but it is different when you add other regions.

For example, in the Asia Minor peninsula, except for noble fiefs and military merit grants, the rest of the cultivated land basically belongs to state-owned farms.

It is not that Franz is willing to engage in so many state-owned farms, mainly because of practical needs. If the government does not arrange for someone to take over, the farmland left by the Ottomans will be abandoned.

Selling to the private sector is impossible, which would weaken the allure of military merit and shake the foundations of Austria.

Apart from the initial land redemption and the period when colonies were established, the best way for ordinary people to acquire land is to grant land through military merit.

Don't ask why, who knows that there is still a European war waiting, and you must prepare in advance.

If there is not enough reward, why let the soldiers die? If you don't hoard enough land, what reward will you give to the soldiers after the war?

The European continent is now densely populated, and there has been no unclaimed land for a long time, and the spoils cannot be counted on at all.

In this context, Franz could only grit his teeth even knowing that the operating costs of state-owned farms were high.

It is really impossible to sustain the loss, and it can also be contracted to individual business. Anyway, as long as the land attribute is still the state, it will not affect the future reward to individuals.

In fact, the large farm plan of the French government was also brought out by Austria.

Seeing that the Austrian government had a bunch of farms in their hands, they followed suit. It's just that they don't know that the Austrian farms are struggling to support it.

Because of the support of supporting processing enterprises behind it, on the surface, Austrian farms are all in good operation and can turn over profits to the government every year.

In essence, profits are contributed by affiliated companies of the farm. Most of the farms themselves are only able to break even, and very few directly generate profits.

It is not a listed company, and the financial statements of state-owned enterprises are also confidential, and only the total profits are announced to the public. The outside world does not know anything about the specific corporate structure and asset allocation.

In the eyes of Napoleon IV, these are all positive data.

If someone proposes to follow suit, then follow suit. There is no reason why France cannot do what the Austrian government can do.

The bureaucrats below the specific inside story do not report it, how could the emperor in the inner courtyard of the deep palace know?

Especially after the trip to Algeria, Napoleon IV directly attributed all the problems - bureaucratic malfeasance, corruption.

Although the state-owned farms have a lot of land, but the area of ​​grain cultivation is not large, the real significance is still the driving effect.

There is never a shortage of smart people in this world. The government is promoting potash fertilizers, and state-owned farms are using it on a large scale. Naturally, some people dare to take risks.

In particular, officials in the government were the first to accept potash fertilizers and use them on their own land.

The final result, of course, is that Austria's grain production capacity increased significantly last year.

The final yield increase was not the 3 percent estimated by the Ministry of Agriculture, but 6.7 percent.

Of course, this also includes increased arable land and increased grain production capacity.

Don't underestimate this 3.7% error. Based on Austria's grain production base, this is the annual ration of millions of people.

Coupled with the respective agricultural programs of Britain and France, the colony's grain production increased and grain imports were reduced.

The end result is that Russian grain exports have decreased, and prices in the international grain trading market have fallen instead of rising.

If the food price falls, it is acceptable. Then the prices of textiles, steel and other commodities also fell, which made Franz unable to understand.

This is the war years, and the two major powers, Britain and France, fought fiercely. How could the price of strategic materials drop?

Holding the document in his hand, Franz asked incredulously, "Are you sure that this price list is correct?"

Economy Minister Reinhardt: "Your Majesty, we have confirmed many times that the above statistics are indeed the average prices for the first quarter.

Not only domestic prices have not risen, in fact, the whole of Europe is the same. In addition to a wave of price increases at the beginning of the war last year, the prices in the first quarter brought the market back to rationality.

The impact of the Anglo-Russian war on the European economy was not as great as we had expected. In particular, the demand for materials is far less than what we planned.

The British aside, they can rely on domestic production. The import volume of Russians is insufficient, and the Ministry of Economic Analysis has two main reasons:

First, the tsarist government made preparations for the war in advance, and many materials were purchased before the war. Our export trade list last year can prove this;

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Second, the material consumption on the battlefield in Afghanistan is far smaller than we expected.

I have consulted with the staff, and the Russian military's material consumption has decreased. On the one hand, it is limited by the terrain of Afghanistan, which is not conducive to the deployment of heavy weapons; on the other hand, the British army is too incompetent to break out a close war. "

This answer left Franz speechless. The intensity of the war is not enough, and the consumption of materials is naturally not high.

Originally the highest consumption of grain, but the Russians have no shortage of it, and they do not need to import at all. The British can also raise funds from India, but do not have to ship them from Europe.

After receiving the news of the outbreak of the Anglo-Russian war, capitalists all over Europe let go of their hands and feet to expand production capacity in an attempt to make a fortune.

However, the production capacity increased, but the strategic materials imported by the two warring countries failed to catch up with expectations. This is a tragedy.

In the era of free trade, once the supply of commodities exceeds the demand in the market, price declines are inevitable.

If the Anglo-Russian war had not continued and market confidence had not collapsed, the situation would have been even worse.

After sighing, Franz said helplessly: "Count the time, a new round of economic crisis is coming soon.

The capitalists all imagined that the Anglo-Russian war was a grander scene than the Prussian-Russian war, and they all went to make money from the war.

The current situation is very obvious. No matter how the Anglo-Russian war expands, it is impossible for millions of troops to fight.

If the current situation does not change, I am afraid that this Anglo-Russian war will be the trigger for overcapacity in European countries. "

Every time overcapacity is overcapacity, capitalists make mistakes in market expectations. If you are smart, there is still a chance to cut your losses now. If it lasted until the end of the Anglo-Russian war, it would really be over.

Knowing is knowing, Franz has no intention of interfering. This is a thankless thing, and it will not bring any benefits other than pulling hatred and taking the blame.

Foreign Minister Wesenberg: "Overcapacity is only a small problem, nothing more than an industrial reshuffle, and it will pass if you bite your teeth.

The trouble is that recently, Britain, France and Russia have been making small moves. The British, in particular, are constantly creating friction between us and the French.

Once or twice is enough, if there are too many times, our relationship with the French will not be able to withstand this test.

Especially not long ago, the British government also expressed very vaguely that as long as we give up support for the Russians, they will support us to unify the German region.

If nothing else, the British made similar promises to the French, perhaps even more. "

Not to mention the Fao-Austrian relationship. The relationship between any two countries cannot withstand long-term struggles.

I know that this is a British conspiracy, but these contradictions exist in France and Austria, and they are still insoluble.

No matter how much the French and Austrian governments suppress it, there will always be lumps in my heart. Over time, these contradictions will always break out.

Prime Minister Karl shook his head: "The core of the problem is not on our side, the key depends on what the French think.

If the French could not resist the temptation to accept the British offer, then a continental war would be inevitable. "

According to the original plan and proceed step by step, it is only a matter of time before Austria unifies the German region, and the Vienna government can naturally restrain its desire not to take risks.

Changing to France is different. The China-EU strategy is already related to the question of whether France can go further.

If the expansion into Central Europe is not possible, now is the peak of France, and then it will only go downhill.

In fact, France has already started to go downhill. Looking at the world, the era of France's highest international status and the strongest horizontal comparison was between 1870 and 1881.

With the gunshots of the Paris Revolution, France was once again devastated, and has only just recovered.

Compared with the British Olympics, France directly wasted eight years. If the energy problem is not solved, the future will be even worse.

In this context, if the French government is not willing to fall down and choose to give it a go, it is only a matter of time.

Franz frowned and said slowly: "This situation has to be considered, and we have to speed up the preparations so that things don't happen by surprise.

Strengthen the monitoring of the French government, and if they find signs of preparation for war, they must report immediately. "

Austria's preparations for the war have already begun, but for the sake of secrecy, the range of actions has been very small.

After all, now is not a good time for a decisive battle. Austria has not yet developed to its limit, and its national strength is still growing rapidly.