Chapter 921 Unreliable British Nanny

"The French are in a hurry!"

Gladstone came to this conclusion after receiving the news that the French had released it.

Britain was at a disadvantage in the Afghan war, but not so far as to make the British government panic.

Even if Afghanistan is completely occupied, as long as the main British army on the front line is not wiped out, the British Empire will have the confidence to win the war.

For no other reason, I have money in my pocket, and my waist is so tough. The centuries-old accumulation of the British Empire is no joke. The Russians are simply not up to the mark.

Foreign Secretary George analyzed: "The European Continental War has come to an end, and the French dream of a quick solution has come to an end.

In the next war, the two sides fight for comprehensive national strength. Although the French army is strong, in other fields, their disadvantage is too obvious.

Judging from the current situation, if the French cannot cross the Rhine in a short time and burn the war into the German hinterland, their strategic advantage will be lost.

What greeted them next was the endless counterattack of Austria. Arguably, the longer the war lasted, the lower the chances of the French winning it.

According to the current intensity of the war, the French will not be able to fight for another three or two years at most. "

Obviously, George is not optimistic about the French now. The gap between the comprehensive strengths of the two sides is too great, and it is too much to consume the French.

It's just that the French army's reputation is too great, and no one can guarantee that the French army will reverse the trend at a critical moment.

After all, similar cases have appeared many times in the history of the struggle between France and the Habsburg dynasty.

After taking out a document, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Xiaozhi Childers said with a smile: "In two or three years, Your Excellency may have overestimated the strength of the French.

In my opinion, whether the French can survive 1891 without external intervention is a question mark.

The military issue will be put aside for now. Let's do an economic calculation first, and then reassess the strength of the French.

This is data collected by the Ministry of Finance. In the last three months, the total import and export trade between us and the French has increased by 5.1 times compared with the same period last year.

Among them, the export trade to France increased by 6.5 times, and the total import trade shrank by 64.7%, realizing a trade surplus of 64.86 million pounds.

This is only trade with us, and if you include France's trade with other countries, the foreign trade deficit of the French in the last quarter of 1890 will not be less than 120 million pounds.

If this war does not end, the French foreign trade deficit will continue to increase.

In particular, French Africa is about to fall. Once the origin of this raw material is lost, the French need to import more materials.

In the past, the arrogant French wanted to compete for currency hegemony, and they have been promoting the franc to the outside world, and they did not hold many Aegis and British pounds.

At the current rate of consumption, it won't be long before the French run out of foreign reserves. At that time, they will only be able to trade gold, and with their pitiful gold reserves, they will not be able to support them for a few days.

This is still the ideal state, and the real situation may be more serious. Since Napoleon III, the French government has been adopting a fiscal deficit policy, which has long been in debt.

I had no confidence in the finances of the Paris government, and I had no confidence in the finances of the Paris government. "

Is France rich?

There is no doubt that France, as the third largest economic power in the world, is definitely a local tyrant.

However, just because France is rich does not mean that the French government is rich. If the front line goes well, the French consortium will naturally help, otherwise it will be different.

Capital without borders is not a joke. If it is really impossible, the capitalists will not be buried with the government.

The battle is about human, material, and industrial strength, but in the final analysis, it is about financial resources.

Supporting multiple fronts at the same time, the pressure on France is much greater than that of the world war in the original time and space, and there are no allies to help share it. Problems are a matter of time.

Taking a cursory glance at the report, Gladstone asked suspiciously, "Why has the trade surplus with France increased so much? I don't recall that the trade volume has increased so much?"

You must know that the trade volume between Britain and France is not small, and it is understandable that the import trade has decreased. After all, the French are at war and have no time to produce a large amount of goods for export.

However, the export trade volume has suddenly increased by more than six times, which is a myth.

It is completely inconsistent with economic laws. Even because of the war, the French have increased the import of strategic materials. It is impossible to exaggerate.

No way, it can't be produced! Even if the capitalists are desperately trying to expand production capacity, they still need time to buffer. It's only more than three months?

"It's very simple, the prices of the materials we export have gone up!"

Chancellor of the Exchequer Xiaoji Childers replied unhurriedly.

"France and Austria are looting supplies internationally, and the prices of all supplies have risen to varying degrees.

In particular, the price of strategic materials has basically doubled compared to before the war. The prices of some scarce medicines have risen three or four times.

Of course, we and European countries have raised tariffs on France one after another, which is also one of the factors driving up prices. "

Capitalists take advantage of the fire, which is an inevitable result. It's just that this time it's too hard, but there is one more Austria that drives up prices, and it seems that it won't double.

is so unacceptable.

Prime Minister Gladstone asked with concern: "What about Austria?"

Chancellor of the Exchequer Xiaozhi Childers shook his head: "Contrary to the French, Austria needs to import very few materials and is basically self-sufficient.

Even if it is insufficient, it is imported from Russia. Relatively little external influence.

Although prices have risen, the total trade volume between them and us has not risen but fallen.

Of course, the interception by the French Navy was also one of the reasons that hindered our trade with Austria.

In many cases, even if a contract is signed, it cannot be performed normally. "

Gladstone frowned, the result was completely different from what he expected. It was originally hoped that France and Austria would consume each other's strength through this war and stabilize Britain's maritime hegemony.

However, the plan did not change quickly. Taking advantage of this war, Britain really slaughtered France, but it was a pity that it ran away from Austria.

No matter how soaring prices in the international market, there is little trade relationship with Russia and Austria. After all, the tsarist government was exporting industrial raw materials and Austria in exchange for strategic materials. If the price really went up, it would also go up together.

The wool comes from the sheep, and the Russians naturally don't need to join in the fun.

Then France became the only victim. After all, it is easy to raise prices, but it is difficult to bring prices down.

After hesitating for a while, Prime Minister Gladstone said slowly: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will negotiate with the French first. As long as the French are willing to exchange benefits, they will find a reason to lower the tariffs, or simply exempt them from tariffs."

This is the most help Gladstone can give the French within the scope of his authority. As for whether prices can go down, it still depends on the ability of the French themselves.

After all, capitalists are not easy to provoke. The government forces them to lower prices, which will cause public anger.

After all, it is the French government, not the British government, who is buying the supplies now, so Gladstone doesn't need to offend them for them.

For bargaining, it is up to the French to fight for it with the capitalists. How much they can get depends on their bargaining power.

Foreign Secretary George: "There is no problem with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, just cutting tariffs, this support may not be enough.

To get the French and Austrians to consume power together, we have to find a way to increase the economic power of the French, or to lend them money directly.

At the same time of economic support, we must also limit the military strength of the French, so that there is no power imbalance between the warring parties. To do this is very difficult. "

Cowardly, it is the true portrayal of the British government. On the one hand, most of the government's energy was held back by the Afghan war, and on the other hand, it was necessary to maintain the balance between Fao.

For fear of causing something unexpected, the situation would get out of control. Arguably the most challenging time for the British Foreign Office in decades.

Prime Minister Gladstone nodded helplessly: "Let's try it first! We will make adjustments later according to the actual situation.

Before the strength of France and Austria is greatly depleted, we must act cautiously, lest the situation get out of control. "

...

At the same time as the negotiations between Britain and France began, Alexander III, who was far away in St. Petersburg, also ushered in his new toy, an airplane.

Watching the beautiful flying queue performance, Alexander III was in a particularly comfortable mood, and asked in high spirits, "When will these planes be put on the battlefield?"

After watching the performance, Alexander III still did not forget the real purpose of introducing the aircraft.

It has been proven in the European War that an aircraft on an airship is carnage. In order to increase the odds of winning on the front line, Alexander III desperately hoped that these planes could be put into service sooner.

Army Minister Ivanov: "Your Majesty, we don't have pilots yet. Aircraft and airships are different, and the requirements for pilots are also stricter.

The War Ministry has reached an agreement with the Austrians to help train a group of pilots, and preparations have already begun.

If there is no accident, after three months, our first aircraft group can enter the army. "

In just three months, a group of pilots will be trained. At this speed, the pilots trained will naturally not be elites.

Anyway, the enemy is just an airship, and there is no need to test the overall quality of the pilot. It is almost enough to be able to fly the plane and launch attacks normally.

For the remaining part of the knowledge, the pilots will gradually accumulate experience in the actual combat. Anyway, now the Russian army must pay attention to efficiency and be satisfied quickly.

After hearing "three months", Alexander III's full smile suddenly disappeared.

"Why is it so slow, can't we speed up the progress a little more?

We must know that the frontline battle is urgent, the sooner we put the plane into the battlefield, the sooner we can take the sky from the British! "

In the face of the tsar's demands, Marshal Ivanov's heart collapsed. According to the Austrians, it is very rare to be able to train a pilot within three months.

No matter how fast it is, the quality of the crash course is not high, and the quality may not be guaranteed.

Ivanov bite the bullet and replied: "Your Majesty, pilots are an emerging technology arm, we have no training experience in this area, we can only learn from the Austrians.

If you want to speed things up, I personally recommend including airship pilots in the training class, it should save a lot of time. "

Is it a bad idea, Ivanov doesn't know yet. Anyway, the Tsar had already asked, so he couldn't be without an idea.

As for the effect, it will be discussed later. Anyway, it is an emerging arm, the Ministry of War is not familiar with the situation, and it is justifiable to make mistakes in judgment.

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