Chapter 890

The tense international situation has not only pushed up prices, but also affected international trade, and the trade volume of almost all countries has declined.

In particular, France and Austria, which were at the center of the storm, suffered the heaviest losses. Companies engaged in international trade between Fao are busy collecting accounts and no longer accept bookings, so cash transactions are required.

There is no way, no one knows when the war will start. Once you're a belligerent, don't expect the other side to pay.

The contract has no effect here. The destructive power of war is amazing. Even if the battle is won, the other party has no money to pay the balance; if the battle is even worse, the winner has never paid the loser.

This is the case with the country, and so is the business. An armistice treaty can erase all previous arrears.

When foreign trade falls, it falls. Anyway, the outbreak of the European Continental War is about to break out. The capitalists have long been gearing up to make a fortune in the country, and they don't care about the small profits in foreign trade.

Versailles, since the implementation of the Central European strategy, Napoleon IV's spirit has been highly tense.

Self-confidence returns to self-confidence, but the lessons of failure left by Napoleon are a lingering shadow in his mind.

Napoleon IV asked expectantly: "How far has the diplomatic work progressed, and how many countries are willing to accept our goodwill?"

Pulling ally Napoleon IV is no longer expected, and European countries will not do anything that is obviously scheming with tigers.

France also does not have enough interests to buy everyone into the war. The best option is to divide the European countries and prevent them from uniting against France.

Foreign Minister Karel Cadlec replied calmly: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has initially completed its task, and we have persuaded Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and the Nordic Federation to remain neutral.

If the military had no plans to send troops from Switzerland, Switzerland would also remain neutral in this war.

The British were with us, the Russians wanted to mediate the war, and when we refused, the tsarist government was very angry and might have sided with Austria.

But before the war is decided, they will wait and see the situation neutrally, and after the Austrian army is defeated, the Russians will intervene.

May affect our earnings, but not the outcome of this war. A strong Austria was not in their interest for the tsarist government.

In addition to these countries with some influence, the remaining Greece and Montenegro have very limited strength and are not qualified to influence this war. They are also heavily influenced by Austria and have no value in winning.

The only enemies we really need to face are Belgium, the German Confederation and Austria, and the specific gains are all taken by the military on the battlefield. "

It can be seen that Karel Cadlec is an optimist. Even with one against three, he is still certain that the French army can win.

As for diplomatic work, it is not easy to achieve this step. Even with the help of the British, Karel Kadlec has made great contributions to achieving such results in a period of time.

Bi Germany is the target of France's expansion, and Austria is France's biggest competitor. These three enemies are simply impossible to bypass.

In fact, the French government also wanted to divide the three countries, for example: first annex Belgium, digest it and then seize the Rhineland region.

It is a pity that the British hiding behind the scenes did not agree, and Austria, which signed an alliance with Belgium, would also not tolerate such a thing.

Of course, if the German Confederation is attacked first, the possibility of Belgium's neutrality is still very high. After all, as a small country, the primary task is to survive.

It is a pity that Belgium has a good geographical location. To attack the German region, it is best to borrow from Belgium, otherwise it will be necessary to climb mountains and mountains.

Not only is the delay time long, but the success rate is also very low. In contrast, it is not as good as killing Belgium together, anyway, their plan also includes annexing Belgium.

Napoleon IV nodded and affirmed: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has done a good job this time. Your next job is to stabilize these countries and let them not cause trouble."

To deal with the three countries of Bideo alone, France would have to bear the pressure of fighting on two fronts, and if other European countries joined in, the battle would be impossible.

It's not that the French army can't fight, it's really that they can't take care of so many places. Although the French army has mobilized millions of people, the main force is still the original hundreds of thousands, and the other newly formed troops will follow suit.

Once the multi-line division of troops is carried out, the combat advantage of the French army is not obvious. No matter how elite troops are, if the number is insufficient, they will be rubbed to death on the battlefield.

Not being carried away by Napoleon IV's verbal praise, Karel Cardlets analyzed: "Your Majesty, we are about to encounter a new trouble.

The ambassador in Vienna reported that the Austrian government and the Russians reached an agreement a week ago to directly buy out the grain that the Russian Empire plans to export this year at a premium of 25%.

Two days ago, Austrian Foreign Minister Weisenberg had a secret meeting with the German ministers in private, and it was suspected that an agreement had been reached.

All indications are that this agreement is definitely against us. If nothing else, the three countries will impose a material embargo on us in the near future.

Other materials are easy to say, the problem is coal and grain. Once the three countries impose an embargo on us, we can only rely on the British for coal, and we can only find ways for food from overseas. "

The French government does not have a complete emergency reserve system. Even if there is grain and coal in storage, it is spontaneously hoarded by capitalists in order to make war fortunes.

For an individual, it may be an astronomical figure; but for a country

In other words, that's a drop in the bucket.

If any one of energy and food goes wrong, it will bring fatal harm, not to mention the two problems together.

It’s good to say that the coal is insufficient. Britain and France are allies now. The London government wants Fao to lose both. Naturally, it cannot watch the French collapse because of the lack of coal.

The big deal is to take advantage of the fire and sell it for a sky-high price. It is not that the French have never used the high-priced coal. After withdrawing from the free trade system earlier, France was retaliated by the high-priced coal.

The food is not enough. The British themselves are food importers and have no ability to support the French at all.

Of course, the food production cycle is not long, as long as the most difficult period of time has passed, it can be solved later.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Roy Vernon was shocked and said: "A twenty-five percent premium, are the Austrians crazy?

Could it be that the Vienna government has too much money to spend, even if it wants to win over the Russians, there is no need to make such a toss. "

Due to the tense situation in Europe, the international food price has soared significantly. At this time, the premium is 25%, and the price of the food purchased is twice as expensive as before.

You must know that grain may be traded in bulk. The total amount of grain exported by the Russians every year is in units of millions of tons. If the price doubles, it means that the Austrian government will have to pay tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of Aegis.

Prime Minister Terence Burkin shook his head: "No, the Austrians are not crazy. If they don't grab the grain, it could end up in our hands.

If nothing else, the food that was snapped up was not only from Russia, but also the food from various countries in the Americas was cut off in advance by them.

If they can't win us on the battlefield, they will naturally resort to such despicable methods. Moreover, the cost they pay may not be as high as we think.

Whether it is the Russians or the American countries, they are all debtors of Austria. As creditors, they can directly deduct the creditor's rights.

But they thought it would break us, and they took it for granted.

In recent years, we have not been busy. The large farm project has been carried out until now, and it can provide millions of tons of food for the country every year, which is enough to meet most of the domestic needs.

In times of war, we can also take extraordinary measures. The government can call on the people to save food, and at the same time introduce a temporary bill to prohibit the use of food to feed livestock, prohibit the use of food to make wine...

Just stick with it for a few months, and when we defeat the enemy, these problems will be solved. "

With insufficient grain reserves and unable to buy enough grain overseas, what else can we do besides trying to intercept the flow?

Of course, the war was launched in advance!

It is not that France does not produce food, but the output is not enough for consumption, which does not mean that there is no imported food, and it will soon run out of food.

The domestic food can last for a few months, and as long as the war is won before the crisis breaks out, all problems can be solved.

Hearing this bad news, Napoleon IV's face suddenly gloomy.

At this time, he had to be thankful that he insisted on promoting the big farm plan, otherwise it would be a tragedy now.

He doesn't know how much grain the capitalists have stored. Anyway, the storage time of a batch of grain usually does not exceed half a year.

On the one hand, the storage time is too long, which increases the storage cost and loss. If the grain becomes unsalable, the new grain becomes the stale grain, it will be worthless;

On the other hand, squeezing too much food in hand will occupy a lot of liquidity and increase the risk of operation.

After pondering for a while, Napoleon IV said slowly: "The Prime Minister is right, now we must find a way to save food, and the government will issue an announcement as soon as possible.

From now on, the Foreign Office is rushing to buy food all over the world, and I don't believe that the Austrians will be able to buy all the food. "

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