Chapter 831 Economic Crisis of 1847 (Part 1)

Investors began to cash out in large quantities. Faced with the bank run, bankers tried to protect themselves and also began to sell low-quality assets, resulting in a stock market crash.

Among them, the once popular railway stocks were regarded as low-quality assets by many people because their revenue was lower than expected and became the object of scrambling to sell.

The broken capital chain is fatal to any industry, so a large number of railway projects were suspended and countless workers were unemployed.

These unemployed workers flocked to the city in the hope of finding a job, but in this economic winter, no matter where they were, all walks of life were in recession. A large number of factories closed down, causing the Chartists to revive again.

David, Jim and Kate, the older child workers, also joined the protest march. These workers who came out of the mines had the strongest fighting power.

Because they were fighting death every day and had experience in long-term strikes. The most important thing was that the price of British coal rose, but the wages of miners fell to one-third of the original.

The former contract had become a piece of waste paper, and the John Russell government chose to turn a blind eye to the miners' complaints.

After all, in his opinion, these guys were just some people who were not worthy of being on the stage. They were just minor troubles that could be solved by ignoring them or intimidating them a little.

At this time, John Russell had to solve big troubles. The interests of bankers were damaged, the goods produced by factory owners could not be sold, and some officials were assassinated and kidnapped.

His first move was to stop the so-called free trade, especially to impose heavy taxes on Austrian grain and goods.

At the same time, he cracked down on smuggling trade and required that grains should not enter the country.

Franz was well prepared for this. Previously, the Ottoman Sultan Mejid failed to donate to Ireland and sent grain instead.

Now Franz felt that he could do the same. After all, instead of paying high tariffs to help the British mainland solve the crisis, it would be better to give it directly to the Irish who were in urgent need of food.

However, Franz still underestimated the bottom line of the British. He only knew that the Ottoman Sultan Mejid donated 10,000 pounds to Ireland and was rejected.

The British reason was that Queen Victoria only donated 2,000 pounds, and the Sultan could not exceed the Queen, so he could only donate 1,000 pounds.

After that, Magid sent several more ships of wheat, and as a result, the emblem of Drogheda United is still the star and crescent logo.

Drogheda United is one of the strong teams in the Irish Premier League.

Ireland is very conservative in religion. Historically, it once banned citizens from divorce under pressure from the entire West. It was not until 1996 that a divorce bill was passed, but the strict review and high cost were outrageous.

But what Franz didn't know was that Magid's food delivery was rejected three times. In the end, the Ottoman sailors broke through the British blockade on a dark and windy night and delivered the food to Drogheda (Irish port).

The Austrian fleet didn't have the time, and the British would not turn a blind eye to the Austrian ships.

After all, the Ottomans were allies of the British, and they had no ability to threaten the British, but Austria was different. If they were discovered by force, they might be sunk on the spot by the British.

It is totally unnecessary to take such a big risk for the citizens of other countries. If the Austrians were to be rescued, those captains might risk their lives to try, but it is totally unnecessary for them to rescue the Irish or the British.

At the same time, Franz's rescue plan was basically aborted. Merchant ships could no longer make profits and basically would not go again. Only a few church ships and passenger ships willing to help were left.

The result was a significant drop in shipping capacity, and it was impossible to send Ireland to all parts of the world as originally planned.

The former was still okay, after all, it was better than no work, but the latter was very troublesome. The Irish and Italians both liked to keep warm in groups.

If they could not assimilate or had conflicts with local Austrian immigrants because of the group, or even attracted the covetousness of the British, it would be a big trouble.

However, at this time, Franz welcomed an unexpected helper, that is, Arab merchants.

I am afraid that only the British could let the Arabs help their religious enemies. This reminded Franz of the scene when the terrorists and government troops who fought to the death guarded the Tabqa Dam together.

The gene of doing business seems to be engraved in their bones. If it weren't for the decline of the Ottoman Empire at this time, I'm afraid their footprints would have spread all over the world.

But at this time, the Oman Empire in West Asia rose, especially after the marriage with the Austrian Empire, the Arab merchants who had been silent for hundreds of years became active again.

But just doing business with Austria alone could not satisfy them. These Arab merchants hoped to fly the Austrian flag to do business all over the world.

For this reason, they were willing to help Franz solve this little trouble and were willing to hand over 10% of their profits to the Austrian Empire.

However, the Austrian Empire should protect their security and interests and help them open up new markets.

The reason why Arab merchants were willing to do this was also helpless. Because the British did not give them any chance at all, the so-called free trade was to turn them into colonial compradors.

In contrast, Austria's penetration into other countries was much worse, at least it did not show a strong desire for control.

And under the propaganda of Omani Emperor Said and Indian merchant Vera Weiss, Franz and the Austrian Empire were definitely the most trustworthy trading partners in the world.

Of course, Arab merchants will inevitably make some small moves, after all, white slaves are still in short supply in the Arab world.

However, compared with millions of people starving to death, this price is nothing.

Franz also has preventive and countermeasures, which are generally harmless, and can eliminate some uncontrollable tumors, and at the same time catch some people's handles.

The most important thing is that Franz really doesn't have much energy to pay attention to the island of Ireland at this time. He has done almost everything he can do, and the rest can only let them fend for themselves.

Since the Austrian Empire only partially joined the German Confederation, it could not avoid the impact of the German Confederation or the impact of the domestic market.

In addition, Franz had to face the consequences of the super-doubled nationalism that he had promoted.

In addition to restricting imports, the British also hoped to expand exports. John Russell hoped that the United States would lower tariffs to facilitate the dumping of British goods.

Although this idea was naive, the British Empire had many cards in its hands. John Russell expressed his willingness to redefine the border with the United States, which led to the division of the ruling group within the United States.

Although Polk had the shadow of a northern factory owner behind him, the desire for land across the United States was too strong.

And Polk's own campaign slogan was "Use 54 degrees 40 minutes north latitude as the border, otherwise there will be war."

This slogan excited the voters and also made Polk proud. Polk admired Andrew Jackson very much and hoped to expand the territory for America like him. He also liked people calling him "Little Walnut".

Note: Andrew Jackson was called "Old Walnut" to describe his tough style.