Chapter 119: Difficulties
Franz had expected the church to cause trouble. If they missed this, they would not be called charlatans.
The last time the Hunger Stone was found in Austria was during the Napoleonic Wars in 1800, when natural disasters and wars claimed the lives of nearly 500,000 people in Austria.
Austria is a country with a dense network of rivers, but this year there were a lot of fights over water.
The lakes and swamps in Austria even showed signs of drying up. Of course, for farmers, drying up swamps is a good thing, so they don’t have to use water pumps to pump water when reclaiming land. As a result, a large number of swamps were opened up into fields.
For these pioneers, they only need to pay a fee to the Austrian government to become the new owner of the land.
The Austrian government strongly encourages land reclamation because it can increase food output and national income.
However, as the drought continued, more and more places had water problems, which had not happened for decades. For a time, the entire Austrian imperial government was busy.
Coupled with the instigation of the church, the whole of Austria looked like it was about to be in a disaster, so smart people had already started to stockpile food. Although the current food prices had been driven up by Franz, the facts before them forced them to join in with a pinch of their noses.
Although the drought was very serious, it was okay for Austria because there were enough rivers. But other European countries were not so lucky.
The worst hit were of course Spain and France. French agriculture was hit hard again, and food prices in Germany were also rising this year.
Of course, the smart French had already started to stockpile food, because the French agricultural recession in recent years has led to the French people's habit of stockpiling food, so it is not a big problem to survive this year's crisis.
Of course, other European countries are not doing well either, including the high-latitude Britain, where forest fires are frequent, and those coal miners are even worse, many of them are suffocated to death in the mines.
There were even a large number of people who died of heatstroke in southern Italy, and even mosquitoes fled here.
King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies was sitting at the table at this time, in front of him was a report presented by his officials.
"The people of the Two Sicilies are in urgent need of help. Now the farmers dare not even go to work in the fields, fearing that they will be killed by the heat. Please consider opening the warehouse to release grain."
"Bullshit! Bullshit! These unruly people are worthy!?" Ferdinand II slammed the report heavily on the table. Nine months ago, he was still a "wise king" known for his freedom and enlightenment.
Until the people of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies fired cannons at Ferdinand II's palace and launched an uprising demanding the deprivation of the king's rights, and at the same time shattered all of Ferdinand II's fantasies, he no longer felt that liberalism could save his country.
Ferdinand II, who had his dreams shattered, turned to conservatives and became as overeating as his ancestors. In less than a year, he became a fat man weighing 200 kilograms.
This time, not only did he not help his people, but he ordered his soldiers to forcibly requisition the land of farmers who could not pay for food.
In the short term, it increased the country's income, but it also buried a huge hidden danger for his rule.
The migration of mosquitoes from southern Italy to the north made northern Italians suffer. They had never seen such big and fierce mosquitoes.
In fact, Italy's warm and humid climate is conducive to the reproduction of mosquitoes, and there are no effective insecticides at this time, so the number of mosquitoes in Italy soon reached a terrifying level.
The rampant mosquitoes brought the spread of malaria. The whole Italian region was in panic and asked the Pope to "drive away mosquitoes".
So Pope Gregory XVI went to St. Peter's Basilica to pray. On the day of the blessing, a "tiger mosquito" bit the Pope's face hard. A big bag.
Pope Gregory XVI immediately said that he had endured the disaster alone. The next day he was infected with malaria and could not participate in the mass.
Europe was in dire straits, but North America was prosperous. The US food exports this year are expected to double.
In Mexico, Franz signed a grain purchase contract with some farmers in the south. Of course, the price was certainly lower than the market price, but compared with farmers who planted other crops, they still made money.
With the construction of the US railway, the US's control over the West is constantly strengthening, and the French and Mexicans are their biggest enemies before the manifest destiny.
American immigrants continue to illegally cross the US-Mexico border to seek their own land, and this time the Mexicans did not tolerate it, but killed one by one, which escalated the conflict between the United States and Mexico.
However, in the eyes of Americans, the real threat is the French. After the French got Texas, they continued to immigrate to Texas. Now the number of French in Texas has almost exceeded the number of local Americans.
French Texas is not affected by extreme climate. There are large tracts of virgin land here, which makes the French very excited.
What makes the French even more excited is that this place not only produces cotton, but also provides food for the local area. It is simply unknown how many times stronger than Algeria.
As early as 1830, France sent troops to Algeria, and on July 5 of the same year, France occupied Algeria.
Algerian Governor Hussein surrendered Algeria to France without resistance, but was exiled.
But the resistance of the indigenous people, Arabs and Berbers in Algeria has never stopped.
Louis Philippe was troubled by this. The war had lasted for eight years, but Texas was completely different. France took it over very smoothly, without even encountering any resistance.
At the same time, it could bring huge returns to France, which further strengthened the French policy in North America.
France's troops in Texas have reached 8,000 people. Of course, most of these soldiers are reclaiming wasteland and doing construction.
Although France is in dire straits, the French do not like to emigrate abroad, so even if the French government gives a very good immigration policy, there is no large-scale immigration wave. Twenty thousand people are really not many for France with a population of 31 million.
The plan of the French colonial authorities is to immigrate 100,000 to 200,000 people within five years, and then continue to buy land in North America and finally create a France in North America.
However, the actions of the Americans aroused the vigilance of the French. The French felt that the Americans' crazy expansion of the army was aimed at France.
After obtaining the consent of the British, the French decided to send 20,000 more troops to Texas, which would not only ensure the safety of Texas, but also increase the number of immigrants to open up wasteland.
The proposal to increase troops was strongly supported by Louis Philippe, because the Americans had always claimed that he was an impostor and an evil tyrant.
In fact, this was just the propaganda needs of the Americans, but Louis Philippe could not accept this. What he hated most was that someone questioned his qualification to be king.
However, the proposal to increase troops was opposed by Gabriel, the governor of Texas, because he felt that Texas was in a special period and a special position.
He was afraid that the influx of a large number of troops would arouse the vigilance of the United States and Mexico, and a large number of immigrants would most likely conflict with the locals.