Holy Roman Empire

Electricity has been born for many years, why is it only now promoted?It is not because of the birth of high-power generators that the cost of power generation has been reduced to a level acceptable to the market.

Now one kilowatt-hour of electricity only needs [-] grams of coal. If it is high-calorie coal, the consumption is even smaller, and the cost is already within the acceptable range of the market.

Seeing the constant controversy among the crowd, Franz couldn't help but want to speak.But he held back, and during the intermission Franz summoned the Prime Minister alone.

There is no shortage of coal in Austria. In terms of reserves, it is second only to the Russian Empire in the European continent. This is the benefit of a large territory.However, the quality of these coals is hard to say.

"Prime Minister, I suddenly discovered a problem. Most of the domestic coal mines are lignite, which can be used for fire or power generation, but not for steelmaking.

Now the domestic demand for steel is increasing day by day, and the demand for bituminous coal will also increase sharply in the future. For the sake of long-term development, it is necessary for us to subdivide the types of industrial coal. "

(Remarks: There is only a small amount of coking coal in nature, which can be directly used for steelmaking, and most of it is produced after processing bituminous coal)

After thinking for a while, Prime Minister Felix shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, that's not the case! The country's coal reserves are quite abundant, and at the current rate of consumption, it will be enough for 500 years.

Although the reserves of bituminous coal for steelmaking are not too high, it is enough.Even with a tenfold increase in demand for steel, there is enough coal to last for hundreds of years, and it is too early to think about these issues for such a long time.

Now the mandatory classification of coal for industrial use involves many problems.Many areas that produce bituminous coal have to pay high prices to purchase lignite from the outside world, which increases the cost of industrial production and is not conducive to economic development. "

This is a practical problem. If coal classification is mandatory, we will have to face this economic problem.

In this era, the demand for coal resources is not too large, and energy issues have not yet entered the public's sight.

Moreover, regardless of the fact that steel is often connected together, coal is actually used differently in "steel making" and "iron making".

Now Austria produces more than 600 million tons of steel every year. In fact, the first 600 million tons are iron, and only the next few hundred thousand tons are steel.

With such low steel production, the demand for bituminous coal is naturally low.Even if it is increased by ten times, the actual steel output is only a few million tons, and this amount of steel does not consume much coal.

Franz began to hesitate. The actual situation seemed to be somewhat beyond expectations. Austria's bituminous coal reserves were not too high, but the industrial demand was even smaller.

After a little thought, Franz decided to continue to promote the classification of industrial coal, but the method was changed and it was not so radical.

This is not taken for granted, but a decision made by Franz after careful consideration.He believes that Austria's demand for steel will rise rapidly in the future, perhaps exceeding [-] million tons by the end of this century.

Then the demand for bituminous coal should also increase accordingly. If you have successfully obtained the Rhineland region before that, and have the coal resources supplemented by the Ruhr region, then naturally there will be no shortage of coal.

But there are always accidents. If something happens halfway and Austria gets the coal mines in the Ruhr area in a short time, can the domestic bituminous coal production meet the demand?

No one can answer this question.That being the case, of course Franz had to plan ahead.Even if it is useless work, it is better than finding that the supply of high-quality bituminous coal is insufficient when it is needed.

After a waste of effort, Franz reluctantly persuaded Prime Minister Felix.Perhaps now Felix felt that this was mediocrity, and he only accepted it out of the emperor's face.

None of this mattered, Franz was all about results.As long as the goal is achieved, it doesn't matter if the process has some twists and turns.

Naturally, no one knew the content of the conversation between the two.Because of this episode, the intermission of the meeting was extended.

Both the emperor and the prime minister were absent, so the meeting could not go on.This is similar to an ordinary meeting, and it must wait for important leaders to arrive before it can start.

The staff was very winking, and delivered coffee, pastries, and today's newspaper to everyone during the break.

Perhaps because they thought it was not good to keep so many people waiting, after about 10 minutes, the two walked into the meeting room and the meeting continued.

At the end of the meeting, Prime Minister Felix said with a depressed face:

"Everyone, don't forget that coal is needed to generate electricity. Although there is a lot of domestic coal production, we must also give priority to steelmaking.

In the future, the domestic demand for steel will usher in a surge.In China's coal production, more than 80.00% is lignite, and the output of bituminous coal suitable for steelmaking is less than 20.00%, of which high-quality coal is less than 5.00%.

Now it is necessary to introduce an energy law to legally guarantee the safety of coal used in steelmaking.Of course, this cannot be compelled by administrative means, and the main thing is to rely on economic means to adjust market supply.

In general, it is to let the coal most suitable for steelmaking be used in steelmaking, so as to produce the best quality steel, and let the remaining ordinary coal flow into the market. "

It can be seen that Prime Minister Felix is ​​not so petitioning.Of course, this is limited to Franz, and in the eyes of different people, the answers they see are also different.Many officials directly interpreted this as "concern" because they were worried about this issue.

This statement is still a bit far-fetched, but it is more acceptable than Franz's statement.Only the best quality coal can produce the best quality steel, which is basic common sense.

The adjustment of economic means is very simple and crude. The Vienna government also has a similar successful experience, which is to increase taxes on high-quality coal.

If the high-quality coal flows into the steel plant to make steel, then the tax rebate will be given; if it flows into other fields, it will naturally not enjoy the tax rebate.

The advantage of doing so is very obvious, which is to increase the price of high-quality coal.The higher the price, the lower the market competitiveness. At least power plants will not buy these high-quality coals.

Stimulated by interests, capitalists will carry out market regulation by themselves.The only problem is supervision, which cannot allow them to evade taxes.

These are minor issues by comparison.Having the law and not having the law are two different concepts. Even if it is secretly tax evasion, it is only a small scale.

Confidentiality can only be achieved if the number of participants is small.If the scale is enlarged, it will be difficult to escape the supervision of the tax authorities.

Besides, even if the coal seller is willing to take the risk, the coal buyer may not be willing to take the risk?

Even if it is tax evasion, the price of high-quality coal cannot be lower than that of ordinary coal. For many people, the difference is not big, but the risk is very high.

It's fine if you can't catch it, but once you get caught, the consequences will be serious.It is common for people to be fined to lose their fortunes, and they might even go to prison for self-reflection.

Prime Minister Felix's proposal received considerable opposition, but it was barely passed at the meeting.Franz's petty gesture was short of saying that the emperor supported the proposal.

Bringing up this issue at the economic meeting is actually to share the pressure.By convention, the contents of all high-level meetings in Austria are kept confidential.

It is also impossible for the officials who participated in the meeting to announce to the outside world: I am against the ×××× law.It has become the law, where an official has the right to object, all he can do is abide by it.

The outside world does not know how much opposition exists in the government, which will make many people misjudge.The grievances of those whose interests have been harmed will be carried by everyone.

There are too many officials involved, but no one dares to be a demon.This policy has no impact on ordinary people, who have always been loyal users of cheap coal.

With the exception of coal bosses, few will be affected.After all, what the government regulates is only the part of the bituminous coal with the best quality, and it will not affect the interests of others.

If you want to talk about losses, it is also Franz himself who has the biggest loss.Before he knew it, he had become Austria's largest coal supplier.

This is the benefit of buying, buying, and buying. Back then, the railway had not yet been completed, and the mines in the deep mountains and old forests were worthless.

However, with the completion of the large railway project, there are now railways in every city in Austria, and the original traffic problem is no longer a problem.

The transportation problem was solved, and the minerals could be transported out, which made many mines buried in the mountains and forests also have economic value, and mining tycoons were cultivated in this way.

Franz doesn't care about this loss. After all, there are still beneficiaries of this policy-steel companies, who are left-handed and right-handed.

The losses in the coal mines were recovered from the iron and steel enterprises, and secretly he also invested in heavy industry.

This is the frightening thing about the consortium. It has a complete industrial chain and its ability to resist risks far exceeds that of ordinary enterprises.

Today, a huge royal family consortium has been lurking in Austria.If all the assets in it were exposed, it would be enough to make all the consortiums in the world ashamed.

Obviously, it is impossible to expose, and the hole cards are naturally hidden as deeply as possible.Although the royal family consortium is vaguely connected, it actually existed in several parts, or in other words, several consortiums existed.

Franz was only remotely controlling in secret. These separate financial groups also had a large group of allies and formed a community of interests.

On the surface, certain financial groups are still opposed to each other, often fighting endlessly because of interests.To say that they are a family, even if the evidence is in front of them, few people would believe it.

This is just the beginning. With the rise of emerging industries, these consortiums will snowball in the future, increasing Franz's control over the country.

Chapter 61 Franz with a Headache

With the end of the economic conference, the power industry was listed as a new pillar industry in Austria for the next ten years, along with heavy industry.

Today, the industrial scale of Austrian heavy industry is also an astronomical figure.The industries involved are mainly: iron and steel, metallurgy, coal, machinery, chemical industry...

In terms of classification, electric power can also be regarded as a kind of heavy industry, and the relationship between the two parties is very close.It's just because it's just started and its own industrial scale is very large, so it's listed separately.

The number of pillar industries cannot be many. Since electric power and heavy industry have become new pillar industries, there are naturally industries that have fallen from the "pillar industries".

Undoubtedly, it was the "railway" that was replaced.It's not that the railway is not important anymore, mainly because after more than 20 years of hard work, most of the railways in Austria have been built.

The railway industry is beginning to become saturated. What is needed in this state is steady development, and the government no longer needs to invest too much resources.

In addition to railways, agricultural development has actually reached its limit.The growth rate of local agriculture has slowed down a long time ago. The market for agricultural products is only so big. If you grow more food, you can earn more.

The current agricultural growth rate is similar to the population growth rate. Austria has already occupied 70.00% of the international agricultural product export market, and it is almost impossible for this share to increase further.

It won't even be long before they will be impacted by the comeback of Russian agricultural products, and it will be very difficult to maintain their current market share.

In order to ensure the healthy development of agriculture, Austrian agriculture has made many adjustments, from the initial direct export of agricultural products to the later export of refined agricultural products.

This period also included the promotion of raw silk planting in Lombardy and Venetia, and the development of raw silk industry; the promotion of grape planting in the Balkan Peninsula, and the establishment of the wine industry.

These practices are all artificially reducing grain production to ensure grain prices.With the outbreak of the Russo-Prussian War, the international market has lost the Russian competitor, and life has become easier in recent years.

However, this good day is coming to an end soon.The tsarist government is negotiating with various countries, preparing to use food to offset the previously defaulted debts.

This is a forced sale, and if the creditors don't accept it, the debts will never be repaid.Needless to say, Franz also knew that Alexander II's plan would succeed.

Mao Xiong's debt is not easy to collect, even if it is discounted, it is better to recover part of it than to lose everything.Even if the governments of various countries have opinions, capital will make everyone compromise.

The current dispute is nothing more than the issue of interests, and sooner or later it can be negotiated.The diplomatic barriers preventing Russian grain from entering international markets had now been removed by Alexander II.

The market is so big, if you sell more, others will naturally sell less.Although there are many places that lack food in this era, it is a pity that only Europe has the purchasing power.

If it weren't for the strong transportation of the Russian Empire, which directly hindered their food exports, international food prices would collapse immediately.

Franz never doubted the Russians' food production capacity.In particular, Alexander II made a big land reclamation, which simply turned the table over.

In recent years, Alexander II has suffered more than 20 assassinations, which can prove how hated his reforms are.

Even the nobles with no brains could react.It's a pity that the general trend has come, the land has been reclaimed, and it's too late to go back.

Franz had no interest in participating in the infighting of the tsarist government.Including Alexander II's use of grain to offset debts, he is not very optimistic.

No matter how good the policy is, it depends on the implementation, and the food in the country does not belong to the tsar.If you want to use it to repay the debt, you must first collect the grain and transport it out.

Leaving aside the financial pressure brought about, someone must carry out the purchase of grain alone, right?In the face of interests, who can guarantee that these bureaucrats will not be moved.

You must know that during the great land reclamation, Alexander II kept a close eye on it. Some people deducted the farmers' rations and caused riots, and not just once.

Collecting grain in the form of taxation will result in an overcharge of three or five buckets, or a word similar to "fire consumption" will appear, which will be legally thrown away.

Directly using money to buy food from the people, the bureaucrats will also play tricks.Buy it directly from farmers at a low price, then resell it to capitalists for profit, and finally leave some for the tsar to hand over.

Unless the tsarist government sets a high price, which is higher than the market price, and the bureaucrats can benefit more from it, otherwise they will not receive much food.

The tsarist government's plan could not be realized, but the impact of Russian food would not be small.As long as it is profitable, the capitalists will still ship the grain and sell it.

Franz was very suspicious that Alexander II did it on purpose.First, let countries open their markets by using grain to pay off their debts.

The tsarist government gave some grain every year to offset the debt, and then asked the capitalists to ship the grain out and sell it.

Although it seems that the tsarist government did not make a profit by doing so, in fact, as long as it sells the unsalable domestic grain, it will make a lot of money.

Even if countries know about the Russians' plan, most of them will follow suit.For food-importing countries, the availability of cheap food is always a good thing.

It is only the current food exporting countries that have suffered real interests, and Austria is the biggest victim.There is no political confrontation yet, and Russia and Austria have first faced each other economically.

Now there is not much room for Austria to choose. Either use the advantages in transportation and agricultural technology to directly drive down the price of food, making it unprofitable for the Russians to export food.

But if you do this, you will kill eight hundred enemies and lose one thousand.We must know that Austria is now the overlord in the international agricultural product export market, and it can obtain a lot of benefits every year.

Even if they win the price war and occupy a larger market, the decline in food prices will still lead to a decline in profits. In the end, not only will they not be able to obtain greater benefits, but they will have to pay a considerable price.

The Russians are just barefoot challengers. If they fail, the big deal will be the same, and if they succeed, they can get a lot of benefits.

In the original time and space, the Americans played price wars, knocked down all competitors, and established hegemony in grain exports, which was to achieve strategic goals.

Now Austria can't follow suit, regardless of consuming a lot of financial resources, the key is now in the era of colonial empires, and both Britain and France have a large number of colonies.

The lack of local food can also be made up from the colonies.Relying on the control of international food exports will not scare them at all.

Otherwise, Franz would have been working on a grain export alliance to win over several grain exporting countries to manipulate the international grain market in order to obtain greater benefits.

Unable to achieve strategic goals, but also to face the challenges of many competitors, it can be said that after the basic accumulation of capital is completed, the importance of agriculture is reduced.

The decline in importance does not mean that it can be abandoned. In fact, agriculture is still one of the most important industries in Austria.The industrial chain formed around agricultural production accounts for 38.6% of Austria's gross national product.

Although this proportion is decreasing year by year, it still does not diminish its importance.Facing the challenge of the Russians, industrial adjustment is imperative.

Austria's agricultural industry system has been perfected. From the initial production of agricultural products to the sale of terminal agricultural products, the added value of products has been played to the limit.

For example: from wheat - flour, biscuits, from fruits, vegetables - canned, from grapes - wine, raisins, from potatoes - French fries...

This era is all ecological agriculture, there are no chemical fertilizers, pesticide additives, and there is no such thing as green food.The people are too poor, and there is not much market for branded agriculture.

A complete industrial chain increases the ability to resist risks, and when it is hit, it will have a greater impact on the economy.

The technical content of these industries is very low, and European countries are not completely without agriculture, and these industries also exist, but they are limited by raw materials and are not scaled.

Capitalists certainly don't mind expanding production once there are plenty of cheap raw materials available.Even Austria is the largest buyer of Russian grain, and the integrity of capitalists in front of interests has always been very low.

The low tariff system between Russia and Austria has certainly created opportunities for the export of Austrian industrial and commercial products, but also brought challenges.

Faced with cheap food from outside, these agricultural product processing enterprises will definitely make choices that are in line with their own interests.It is impossible for the government to force them in this regard, after all, enterprises also have to survive.

Today, the profits of agricultural product processing enterprises have also dropped significantly, from the initial [-] to [-] percent to the current [-] percent.

This is still gross profit, and net profit will be even lower.Under the cruel market competition, agricultural product processing enterprises have entered the era of meager profits, making money entirely by volume.

Those with relatively high profits are all snack processing enterprises.However, the competition of these companies is more brutal. There are dozens or even hundreds of similar products on the market for almost all snacks.

The profit per piece is good, but the problem is that the sales volume is not large.There are not many companies that can make a brand and earn huge profits.