Chapter 235 A Loss-Making Deal
"Yes, yes, if we work harder, we can reach half of France's fiscal revenue. It's really a cause for celebration." The one who booed was none other than Count Korolov. Metternich's conflict with him was not just one or two days, and everyone had long been accustomed to it.
At this time, Austria's fiscal revenue was much higher than the 145 million florins in the same period of history (France was 1.161 billion francs at the time), but due to the change of the wheel of history, the French acquired Texas. After several years of operation, the tax revenue here is no less than that of the native provinces of France, and there is still great potential for continued growth.
At this time in the book, France's fiscal revenue was 1.25 billion francs, and Prussia's was 130 million florins.
The United States had a history of 20 million US dollars in the same period, and 32 million US dollars in the book. Although it lost Texas, it caught up with the tide of the European food crisis, which made America's purse a little more bulging, and its tax revenue capacity also increased.
Mexico had a history of 21 million pesos in the same period, and 31 million pesos in the book, which is about 35.227 million US dollars. Because it did not suffer from economic collapse as in history, nor did it experience excessive political chaos, and with the help of the "good guy" Franz, its economic capacity has greatly improved, but the deep debt crisis has not been eliminated.
(At this time, 1 peso contains 25.8 grams of silver, and 1 pound is exchanged for 4.4 pesos, slightly higher than the US dollar. The book converts the peso and the US dollar at a ratio of 1 to 1.11.)
The United Kingdom will not participate in the discussion for the time being.
"Count Korolov, our economic growth rate is the fastest among the world's major powers. And last year we obtained Belgrade and Western Bosnia, and the entire empire is moving in a good direction. We rescued 150,000 of your fellow brothers, shouldn't you be proud?"
Metternich confused Count Korolov with the Croats in Western Bosnia, which was a humiliation for the latter.
"Perhaps we should go to Koblenz first to rescue your compatriots. But I ask you to think carefully first. The burden of this empire is too heavy. Our income is less than half of France, but the debt is five times that of France and thirteen times that of Prussia.
Recovering lost territory is certainly a good thing, but the current poverty alleviation development is inappropriate. We should save money and invest the money in more valuable places."
(Metternich's ancestral home is Koblenz)
Count Korolav's worries are not unreasonable, but Metternich is well aware of the horror of the Great Revolution.
"Damn it! You stingy fool! Before you make money, those civilians who can't survive will hang you on the tree first!"
Both sides have their own opinions on everything, and the two archdukes next to them are drowsy, and there is no progress today.
The tragedy of the San Pedro trading post soon reached France. Alban Roussan, the Minister of Colonies and the Navy, looked at the report and the 20,000 francs in the envelope, and with a stroke of his pen, he abandoned the French trading post in Ivory Coast and recognized Austria's trade monopoly on Ivory Coast.
Although 20,000 francs is not much, since the slave trade was banned, the San Pedro trading post has been in a loss for many years and has been attacked by natives many times (Captain Flor lied).
Even if there was no tragedy, France would have planned to abandon it. Of course, it would have sent another auditor to conduct a final review before abandoning it.
The public pressure caused by the tragedy forced the French government to spend energy and ordered the Ministry of Colonies to settle the matter immediately without any room for negotiation. If he failed to complete this task, he would not have to take his position as Minister of Colonies.
To destroy two indigenous countries with more than 10,000 people, just thinking about it gave Alban a headache. At this time, France was getting more and more out of control on the road of foreign colonization. At the same time, the situation of the Spanish Civil War and the Central American Civil War became more and more tense. What was worse was that the French Church also planned to learn from their neighbors to establish a theocracy in Vietnam.
Fortunately, the Austrians sent troops to catch all the natives, so that their navy saved a lot of money. Speaking of this, Alban really wanted to thank the Austrians. Otherwise, regardless of the victory or defeat of this expedition, just raising military funds would be a headache.
Those Africans were poor, and their land was worthless. The vast areas south of the Sahara were full of terrible mosquitoes and unknown diseases, as well as aggressive indigenous tribes.
Without rewards, naturally no one was willing to pay, but things could not be abandoned and needed to be solved. The treasury needed to contribute, but this kind of budget was extremely difficult to approve.
And wasting it on those damn stupid trading station soldiers who couldn't even make money was really not worth it.
Although Tutubayo did not kill all the French as he said, Franz still rewarded his courage and gave him the largest piece of land of the Kru tribe.
However, at this time in Ivory Coast, the Mande tribe and the Vodak tribe were still the undisputed overlords.
Franz specified the types of goods, which were ivory, cocoa, coffee and cotton. Although he knew that there were rich gold and diamonds buried underground in Ivory Coast, he did not know the exact location of the burial and the time was not yet ripe. Mining at this time would not bring any benefits except the covetousness of the great powers.
At the same time, Ivory Coast is the most suitable region in Africa for growing natural rubber. Brazil's production cannot keep up with Austria's demand. At this time, pneumatic tires have not yet been born, and the automobile industry has not yet appeared. As technology continues to develop, there will definitely be a global rubber crisis in the future.
During this trip to Ivory Coast, a monopoly agreement was successfully signed, and control of the entire coastline was gained. However, Austria still did not have enough manpower to develop it at this time, and only established two trading posts and supply points in Abidjan and San Pere.
Now the only valuable commodity in Ivory Coast is ivory. There are millions of elephants wandering throughout Ivory Coast. Until the 1950s, there were more than 150,000 elephants. Ivory Coast is worthy of its name.
But Franz is not a small animal hunting enthusiast. He does not want to make the elephants in Ivory Coast become endangered species for his own selfish interests.
Historically, from the 1950s to the 1990s, the number of elephants in Ivory Coast decreased by 99%, with a minimum of less than 1,000.
If Franz showed great interest in ivory at this time, these elephants would suffer a catastrophe in advance.
Although ivory is precious, it is not actually very useful. It is more of a luxury item in the hands of the upper class or collectors. Once the supply exceeds the demand, it will depreciate wildly.
In Ivory Coast, one yard of cloth (0.9144 meters) can be exchanged for one kilogram of ivory, and one piece of cloth (33.33 meters) is only 0.3 pounds.
Europeans of the same period were far less obsessed with ivory than Asians.
At that time, Europeans used ivory to make fans, billiards, dice, piano keys, and buttons, and the only thing that could not be replaced in the short term was billiards.
Of course, with the development of agriculture and the increase in the contradiction between people and land, the elephants still could not avoid the same fate, which was not something Franz could intervene in.
What Franz could do was to try his best to lower the price of ivory, so that perhaps those poor animals would suffer less harm.
Although there is no killing without buying and selling, it is impossible in this era. Instead of making others cheaper, it is better to contribute to the construction of the Austrian Empire.