Chapter 1366 Depressed William IV

In fact, Franz doesn't need to do anything. The market's big stick will teach these guys a lesson in a few years.

The pain of transformation from an agricultural country to an industrial country is something that every country must go through, but Franz doesn't think so. The Austrian Empire can't afford such a toss, at least the Habsburg family shouldn't be the villain.

Franz's solution is to establish a royal agricultural machinery rental company and an agricultural bank. In fact, the Austrian Empire had similar organizations before, but they provided good varieties and planting techniques.

The royal agricultural machinery rental company can rent agricultural machinery to farmers at a low price, but it needs to set a lease period based on local actual conditions to ensure that every family can benefit.

Franz knew that someone would have other ideas, so he left a back door in advance, and the right to rent can be transferred.

This allows some ordinary farmers with more land to use money or goods to exchange the right to rent machinery for farmers with less land but more people.

On the other hand, the loans from the Agricultural Bank to farmers also give them the opportunity to leap over the dragon gate. Some people will inevitably take out loans to expand reproduction, and then buy more land to become real land capitalists or farmers.

Of course, some people will lose their land because of misjudging the situation and have to move to cities or overseas colonies to seek a living.

The land they lose will be sold to those who need it by the bank, and it is almost inevitable for those farmers to use agricultural machinery. After all, if they don't do this, they will not escape the fate of being eliminated.

The ultimate goal of everything Franz did was to reduce the proportion of agricultural population in the Austrian Empire and achieve real transformation.

But the actual situation of the Austrian Empire is more complicated, that is, the land has not been fully developed, and the contradiction can be temporarily alleviated by expanding the area of ​​​​cultivated land.

However, the biggest beneficiaries during this period are still the big landlords and big capital. Fortunately, Franz is the largest landlord and capitalist in the Austrian Empire.

It is inevitable for more farmers to enter the city. The undeveloped land in the country and the overseas colonies can only serve as a buffer. No one can go against this trend.

What Franz did was just to hope that everyone could land smoothly.

With more land being developed, more agricultural technologies being applied, and the diversification of food sources, the Austrian Empire will truly get rid of hunger.

The Austrian Imperial Academy of Agricultural Sciences has never stopped cultivating good varieties, and the fertilizer industry is also constantly upgrading.

Although potash fertilizer was invented by Franz very early, the production has not been high and the price is not low due to problems with the production ideas.

Compared with the phosphate fertilizer obtained by decomposing phosphate ore with sulfuric acid in the early days, potash fertilizer has many wonderful uses such as strong resistance to stress, increased yield and quality, and optimized soil structure.

In terms of effect alone, potash fertilizer was stronger than phosphate fertilizer at that time, but the British did not think so, and the debate between the Germans and the British lasted for a long time.

In the end, both sides stubbornly used only chemical fertilizers developed in their own countries, but Franz knew that compound fertilizer was the king.

After all, there is an old saying that "mixed with Jin Ke La, one bag can replace two bags of spreading."

As for the problem of potash fertilizer production, it is actually easy to solve. The world's two largest carnallite potassium salt mines are in Stassfurt, the Duchy of Anhalt, and Solikamsk, Russia.

Solikamsk, Russia may not be easy to deal with (mainly because it is too far away), but the Duchy of Anhalt will definitely not refuse to find the German Confederation to jointly develop Stassfurt.

Franz never forgets his brothers when he gets rich, and the brothers of the German states are naturally willing to get rich with their big brother.

Faced with such a reasonable request, the Duchy of Anhalt could only agree with tears.

The German states welcomed the invitation of the Austrian Empire to jointly develop, and their gratitude to Franz even surpassed their gratitude to the Duchy of Anhalt.

After all, if the Austrian Empire did not take the lead, it would be normal for the Duchy of Anhalt to develop the carnallite veins in its own territory alone.

Although the development will be slower, the money in your hands is real, and you can also ask for more by monopolizing resources.

Of course, this is only wishful thinking in theory. The Duchy of Anhalt is surrounded by Prussia, and Duke Leopold IV of Anhalt will still be at the mercy of Prussia no matter how he thinks.

It is precisely because of this that the Duke of Anhalt so readily agreed to Franz's proposal for joint development.

Prussia is the only one who is most uncomfortable in the entire German Confederation. After all, without the Austrian Empire intervening, all this is William IV's monopoly.

But now the Austrian Empire is under the banner of the German Confederation. If William IV really chooses to refuse, then the German states and those nationalists will rush to Berlin.

Even if these are excluded, the Austrian Empire alone is not something that Prussia and Anhalt can refuse. What's worse is that the Austrian Empire just has "space" at this time, and William IV doesn't think he has the ability of Frederick the Great.

However, it is inevitable to feel depressed. William IV shouted angrily in the palace. He finally wanted to go out for a breath of fresh air after the depression in his chest was relieved. As a result, he encountered an assassination as soon as he arrived at the gate of the palace.

No mistake, one song, one content, one look!

A Prussian artillery officer suddenly shot William IV in the arm, but William IV was very calm, after all, he was often assassinated.

William IV asked the doctor to clean the wound while waiting for the result of the interrogation. However, the interrogator said that the artillery officer named Sever Rogge was a mental patient, which made him unbelievable.

Soon William IV received many letters from Berlin celebrities, all of whom pleaded for the poor artillery officer, including Bettina von Arnim (the most famous female writer in Prussia at the time).

Everyone said that releasing the assassin would win back the love of the people, and William IV had no choice but to show his mercy.

But soon William IV was depressed again, because Sever Rogge was drunk after being released, and boasted about how he deceived the judge and the king by pretending to be stupid.

This incident ruined William IV's reputation. Although he had no good reputation in 1848, Sever Rogge's incident still nailed him to the pillar of shame.

Franz understood how William IV suffered from depression. He could still endure this, which was simply not a human being.

It is hard to say whether the historical Sever Roger really suffered from mental illness, but it is obviously not the case in this life. After all, the spies sent by Franz could not make Sever Roger admit that he was not a fool no matter how much they threatened and bribed him.

In the end, a temporary actor had to dress up as Sever Roger and perform this play in a tavern on the streets of Berlin.

What Franz did not expect the most was that even with such an ultimate insult to William IV, Sever Roger could still live.

On the contrary, the real Sever Roger mysteriously disappeared after learning that "he" had humiliated William IV.