Chapter 668 Smuggling Trade

Although there were constant frictions between France and the German Confederation, and even several tense battles, the French border was still in name only for merchants in southern Germany.

Austrian goods could enter France without hindrance, and the latter's raw materials could also enter the former's country.

Paul Stenker was a Bavarian smuggler who had been taking this route for many years. But it was not until the establishment of the German Customs Union that he really got out of poverty.

Bavaria at that time was not the heart of Germany as we know it now, but a completely rotten land, also nicknamed "Germany's appendix".

Yes, it is the kind of thing that is dispensable, but it is fatal when it gets sick. As an outright agricultural country, it is bound to lag behind in this era of rapid industrial development.

Even more unfortunate is the Wiltbach family that ruled Bavaria. Several generations of monarchs have no interest in developing the economy and competing for hegemony.

Therefore, the poverty of Bavarians can be said to be the worst in Germany, especially after the establishment of the German Customs Union, a large amount of Prussian agricultural products squeezed the already precarious Bavarian agriculture.

Although Austria is constantly absorbing German refugees and providing job opportunities for Germans.

But there are still many people who are unwilling to leave the land where they were born, but when agriculture cannot support themselves, they can only choose the road of smuggling.

In fact, they are not the only ones who smuggle. The governments of the three southern German countries are even involved in smuggling.

In the past, French goods were popular, so they could only tolerate the other party to lower the price of their goods, and at the same time try their best to get the French to bring more goods, so that they can earn enough money to deal with the levels of exploitation.

However, after the establishment of the German Customs Union, the cost-effectiveness of Austrian goods is far better than that of French smuggled goods.

So soon the supply and demand relationship was reversed, French goods were no longer popular in the German region, and even some French people began to buy goods from the German region in turn.

This was the first time that German smugglers took the initiative in the transaction, and they naturally had to make good use of it.

At this time, Paul Stenkel took out a box of exquisite matches and said.

"Sir, this is specially made according to your requirements. All the wooden handles are made of aged maple wood. The aroma when burning will remind people of the romantic streets of Paris, and the burning time can reach 20 seconds.

The outer packaging is also marked with the words [Romantic Paris] in French according to your requirements."

"Malkewood? It seems that you Bavarians are very knowledgeable!"

(The maple tree is a symbolic tree species in Paris.)

Several French smugglers across the street repeatedly checked the appearance, then lit a few matches to check, sniffed a few times with their noses, and then snorted a few times, and finally nodded with satisfaction.

In fact, in addition to matches, there are also agricultural machinery and clocks, rubber shoes, pearls, gems and other goods. The goods brought by the French are also varied, in addition to various foods, drinks, and even minerals and cotton.

These matches are naturally made in Austria, because the printing technology used for the colorful patterns and texts on the outer packaging is not available in France.

Even if it is reproduced with similar technology, the cost is much higher than the smuggled goods in Austria.

In addition to matches, the best-selling product in Austria is sewing machines. Although the French have also imitated them, the situation is similar to that of the British.

Although they are assembled from the same parts, French products are easy to break, and there are always problems.

Therefore, the original and genuine products have become the pursuit of the rich in France. Although these people may not use such things, they can be placed at home to show their financial resources and status.

In fact, even musical instruments such as pianos have joined the ranks of smuggled goods. The Baden government even built a railway to stimulate the development of the local economy (border trade).

There are also some other things that are not selling well in Austria, which are very popular in France, including toothpaste, soap and cosmetics.

France at this time is not the conservative country that has not popularized 3G networks in 2021. On the contrary, the French at this time are very willing to accept new things.

Of course, it is also easier to deceive to a certain extent. To deal with romantic French people, you just need to paint a pie for them, such as toothpaste, soap and cosmetics, which can increase personal charm and make them more attractive.

However, Franz did not lie. These personal items can indeed increase one's appearance and personal charm to a certain extent.

It's just that the price is a bit outrageous, but the more expensive it is, the more it appeals to the French upper class.

In addition, there are paper cigarettes that Franz has high hopes for, which have become popular among the French upper class.

However, since the French do not have such things as cigarette machines, not only is the output low, but the price is also high, so they cannot compete with smuggled cigarettes from Austria.

But in this era, paper cigarettes are still not mainstream, and people still like to use pipes and snuff.

In the Austrian Empire, only the army and dock workers are the audience of paper cigarettes, especially in Vienna, let alone paper cigarettes, no one dares to smoke cigarettes.

In the whole Austria, only northern Italy and Hungary have a gratifying performance in tobacco sales. In Bohemia, due to nationalism, these spiritual opium completely squeezed out the status of tobacco.

In short, Franz's dream of relying on tobacco taxes to support Austria was shattered, although Muhammad Ali of Egypt used tobacco and alcohol to support his army.

According to the experience of later generations, nicotine is ingested slowly and in small quantities through pipes, cigars, snuff, or chewing tobacco directly, so these traditional smoking methods are not easy to get addicted.

Therefore, if you want to increase the number of smokers, you must vigorously develop paper cigarettes, so as to increase the income brought by tobacco.

In addition, at this time, cigarettes in Europe were also associated with revolution to a certain extent, because the revolutionaries were supporters of cigarettes, and the royalists usually preferred traditional pipes and snuff.

However, Franz was not really interested in the road of addiction to prosper the country, but tobacco and alcohol were indeed an important source of national income in this era.

Therefore, it is necessary to form a monopoly in these two industries. Although tobacco can be monopolized directly by issuing administrative orders, it is simply a fantasy to want to monopolize the brewing industry in this way.

The former is just an emerging field, while the latter involves the interests of too many people. This benefit is so great that some people can choose to take risks, but the tobacco industry at that time obviously did not have such energy.

Franz did make a name for himself in the beer industry, but Austrians prefer wine to beer.

The sales of Pilsner beer have been doubling in recent years. It has to be said that the profit of this thing is frighteningly high in this era.

Common people may not smoke, but almost no one does not drink beer. So as long as people in this era have a little money, the sales of beer will soar.

As for wine, there is really nothing he can do. After all, Franz does not want to be an enemy of the entire aristocracy.