Holy Roman Empire

The Kingdom of Prussia already had a foothold in Indochina, and if they were not threatened by the Russian Empire, they would have joined the colonial movement.

The real threat forced them to continue to increase their strength, and it was obviously too late to grow slowly.The Kingdom of Prussia now has a population of just over 200 million, and the efficiency of farming is obviously not as good as that of the more than 400 million Russians.

The fastest way to increase strength is to expand abroad. Originally, the German Federal Empire was what they wanted most, but reality did not allow it.

If the Kingdom of Prussia dares to attack the German Federation, the Vienna government may compromise with the French, and then they will be beaten by Austria, France and Russia.

There is no way, they can only fall back and hit the attention of the Poles.At least Britain and France did not oppose too fiercely on this issue. Austria also wanted to see them fight the Russians to death, so as not to directly hit the door.

Looking at the map of Europe on the wall, King William I sighed: "Oh!"

After wandering for a few steps, William I pointed to St. Petersburg, feeling much better: "Keep waiting! Poland is still our ally, and we can do nothing now.

This agricultural crisis will not be over in a short time. According to the data released by the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, the plans of all countries to reduce production capacity have failed, even if they themselves have not been able to complete the production reduction plan.

There is no need for them to falsify these data. We are an example. This year, the domestic grain planting area has not decreased but increased.It is not so easy to implement the "Fallow Law".

The Austrian family can withstand the losses caused by the agricultural crisis, but the Russians cannot.Their food production is the largest in Europe. Who will they sell such a large production capacity to?

Both Britain and France hope that the European continent will remain stable, and whoever provokes disputes is their enemy. "

……

Chapter 1 The Czar's Choice

In St. Petersburg, after the agricultural crisis broke out, it became the center of the vortex of the storm.

European public opinion has accused the Russians of deliberately creating an agricultural crisis in an attempt to take the opportunity to overwhelm the European agricultural production system and monopolize the European food supply.

This statement is also true. The tsarist government did have this plan, but before it could be implemented, the agricultural crisis broke out.

Agriculture is the most difficult industry to monopolize. There is almost no threshold, and anyone can farm.Land suitable for farming is everywhere these days, and no colonial empire needs to be controlled by others.

The tsarist government wanted to monopolize the food supply in Europe, but it did not have the ability to implement it.Russia does not have an advantage in agricultural production costs, and it is almost impossible to win the competition.

Facing overwhelming accusations from public opinion, Alexander II decisively chose to ignore.Anyway, on the Continent, the Tsarist government was always being scolded, and he was used to it.

Public opinion can be ignored, but Alexander II couldn't help but worry about the reactions of European governments.

As of April 1873, many politicians have publicly stated that they will impose tariffs on imported agricultural products to protect their own agriculture.

The import tariffs on all agricultural products are added together. Behind the seemingly fair, there is actually a lot of malice.

Among the four major exporters of agricultural products in Europe, the Kingdom of Prussia has the smallest market share and has suffered the least impact.

The Kingdom of Poland ranks second to last, and is now caught in an internal struggle. No matter how the situation gets worse, it won't get worse.

Although the Russian Empire ranks second in terms of total exports, they are still the well-deserved leader in this volume.

Austria has the largest total export volume. In addition to local grain processing, it also imports agricultural products from Russia and Poland for processing, most of which are supported by the added value of products.

After the outbreak of the agricultural crisis, the tsarist government also prepared to process it by itself, leaving no chance for the Austrians to make a difference.

It is a pity that the domestic industrial strength is too weak, resulting in high processing costs and losing competitiveness in the face of brutal market competition.

Affected by the agricultural crisis, Austrian agricultural product processing enterprises cut production capacity, and the total amount of agricultural products exported from Russia to Austria has also declined, but it still accounts for more than half of the total foreign agricultural product exports.

From the point of view of interests, both sides can be regarded as one loss and one prosperity.It's not that Alexander II just received a telegram from the Austrian Agricultural Products Processing Enterprises Association, hoping that they would reduce the total amount of food exports.

A large amount of cheap raw grain was exported to the international market and directly flowed into European countries. This is also a life-and-death battle for Austrian agricultural product processing enterprises.

Market competition has become increasingly fierce, and these processing companies will certainly not sit still.It is impossible to lose money and make money.

The capitalists are very shrewd. The seemingly ordinary telegram is actually an ultimatum.

Capital is profit-seeking. If there is no profit in the processing of agricultural products, capitalists will not mind throwing them away immediately.

Beginning in 1872, shrewd capitalists were making the transition.Now that we are in the outbreak period of the second industrial revolution, there are still many projects that can be invested, and there is no need to hang on a tree.

If the Russians are willing to reduce the total amount of grain exports, everyone's profits will be guaranteed, and the business can continue.

Otherwise, things will be difficult to handle.Affected by the sharp drop in grain prices, almost every grain capitalist has piled up grain in their warehouses, waiting for the market to pick up.

If there is no hope, everyone can only reluctantly leave.This is definitely not a good thing for the Russians, because of the Russia-Austria alliance, Austrian processing companies have always given priority to buying Russian agricultural products.

The situation in continental Europe is completely different. Under the same conditions, almost no capitalist is willing to cooperate with the Russians.

This is a sequela of losing credibility, which cannot be made up in a short time.Now the export of Russian agricultural products depends on cheap prices.

The international grain prices kept falling, which was actually pulled down by Russian grain exports.In order to sell the grain, they had to lower the price.

Once the Russians lowered the export price of grain, the market could only follow suit.The current international grain prices are at their lowest point in decades, and everyone's profits have been squeezed out.

Alexander II knew the consequences of doing this, but looking at the mountain of grain, they could only sell it at a loss.

Moreover, the definition of "losing money" cannot be generalized. The exported grain is exchanged for foreign exchange, while the domestic circulation is paper rubles.

The paper ruble issued by the tsarist government was not recognized by the outside world.In international trade, gold, silver, pound sterling, aegis, and franc are currently the most used.

The international reputation of the ruble is not as good as the krona of the Nordic Federation, nor the guilder of the Netherlands. Even the Swiss franc and the Prussian mark are more popular than the ruble.

From the perspective of national development, even if it suffers losses, the tsarist government must obtain foreign exchange as much as possible, otherwise it will not be able to balance the trade deficit, which will lead to the outflow of gold and silver.

Just losing money all the time is not the answer. In order to smooth out the losses, the tsarist government has devalued the ruble twice.

This is undoubtedly a heavy blow to the ruble, which has just carried out the gold standard reform, and severely hit market confidence.

It is impossible for the currency to depreciate forever. Economists have already issued a warning to Alexander II. If this continues, the market will be rotten. Let’s continue to use gold and silver as currency!

After adjusting his emotions, Alexander II: "What do you think of the telegram from the Austrian Agricultural Products Processing Enterprises Association?"

A trade association could send him a telegram threat directly, which made Alexander II very angry.If it's not that he has no choice, he really wants to cut off the deal between the two parties.

Of course, if you want to return to thinking, if you really want to do it, forget it.Without this biggest buyer, their life will be even more difficult.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Christian Wahl: "Your Majesty, we must not cut our exports unless countries work together to cut food exports and raise food prices.

At present, there are still a large number of unsalable agricultural products in the country, especially in the newly developed Siberia region. No one cares about local food at all, and the government's tax revenue is all food.

The Ministry of Finance is organizing the transport of people, and if it cannot be sold, these taxes are all over.

If there is really no way to solve the problem of unsalable grain, just use the grain to repay foreign debts.Whether they accept it or not, we only pay with food. "

In Christanval's view, everyone can bear the bad debts.Now that the Tsarist government is willing to admit the previous debts, this is already very face-saving, and they still want to pick and choose?

Foreign Secretary Chris Basham shook his head again and again: "No, we have finally reached an agreement with other countries. If we do this, we will immediately fall into a diplomatic dilemma.

According to the prior agreement, all countries have agreed that we use agricultural products to pay off debts in batches, so there is no need to go to such extremes. "

The debt repayment of grain is the biggest achievement of the Russian Foreign Ministry, and it takes 15 years to repay all debts.If all the debts were paid off with grain at once, they would solve the agricultural crisis, but the creditors couldn't stand it!

Food that cannot be sold is worthless.Chris Basham does not want the achievements of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be destroyed, which would also be a disaster for the Russian Empire.

Everyone tacitly did not bring up the idea of ​​reducing production capacity.Austria's call to cut production last year has turned into a joke.

Except for Austria, which has reduced its grain planting area, the three countries of Russia, Pubo and Poland just chanted slogans and issued several laws.

When it was actually implemented, everyone discovered that it was not the case at all.It is impossible for the law to specify which piece of land can grow grain and which piece of land cannot grow grain.

Any decree that wants to be implemented cannot be achieved overnight.Even the fallow law, which is widely recognized by the society, when it is implemented, the officials below do not know which piece of land has been fallowed and which piece of land has not.

How can we talk about implementation if statistics are not carried out in advance?In the face of reality, officials from all over the country have tacitly chosen to start counting from now on.

If food is grown this year, the land should fall fallow next year.Everyone's statistics are clear and clear, and no one has anything to say.

As a result, the area of ​​grain planted in various countries has not decreased but increased this year, and the government is also helpless.It may take years for regulation to take effect.

The role of market self-regulation may be more effective than government decrees.After losing money for several years in a row, ordinary people may not reduce the area of ​​food planted, but the nobles will definitely reduce production.

Agriculture Minister Manilov interrupted: "There is no point in arguing about these two things, unless the agricultural crisis is fundamentally resolved, otherwise the subsequent crisis will only become more serious.

Even if the grain is forcibly thrown to creditors, it can only treat the symptoms but not the root cause. The agricultural crisis cannot be resolved in a year or two.

According to data released by the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, if no measures are taken and the market is allowed to adjust itself, this agricultural winter may last for more than ten years.

Russia is a large agricultural country. If the agricultural crisis lasts for more than ten years, it is preliminarily estimated that tens of millions of farmers in the country will go bankrupt, and it may even be 2000 million or 3000 million.

The industrialization process of the empire is developing rapidly, but it is not possible to accommodate so many bankrupt people in a short period of time.

Our biggest problem now is not unsalable domestic grain, but how to ensure that farmers do not go bankrupt on a large scale.

According to the current situation, the number of bankrupt farmers in China this year will be several times that of last year. About 5 to 8 households will go bankrupt. If the agricultural crisis continues, this number will increase geometrically every year. "

It's almost impossible to say clearly: If there is more food, let's go to war!

The agricultural crisis broke out at the wrong time. If it had happened a few years earlier, just in time for the Prussian-Russian War, the outcome of the war might have been rewritten.

Gray animals are worthless, as long as there is food in hand, the tsarist government can carry on the war.A tsar who can feed his soldiers is already a good tsar, and other problems can be overcome.

Regardless of the fact that the current Russian Empire seems to be smaller, if a war breaks out, the war potential of the Russians will definitely far exceed that of a few years ago.

This is the benefit of having more grain. No matter how unsalable the grain is, as long as farmers do not go bankrupt on a large scale, the problem will be under control.To put it bluntly, when everyone is full, there will be no rebellion.

The agricultural crisis was so serious that the Russian peasants did not blame the Tsarist government, and Alexander II's prestige was not damaged at all, and it was the benefit of having enough food.

After contemplating for a moment, Alexander II decided to surrender to reality. "A dead fellow Daoist never dies a poor Taoist." It is better for others to be unlucky than to be unlucky.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Vienna government have had in-depth communication, and this time they will be dragged into the water at all costs."

After experiencing a failure, Alexander II's arrogance has been reduced a lot, and he has restrained a lot in his actions.

This is a crisis, but also an opportunity.If the operation is good, the Russian Empire can also use the power of Austria to kill an enemy.

……

Chapter 1 and Four Trivial

Things often have two sides. The agricultural crisis caused the prices of agricultural products to plummet, making life difficult for farmers, but better for workers.

The lower cost of living has directly stimulated industrial development.Labor conflicts have decreased. The most typical example is that the number of demonstrations in Paris has decreased by one-fifth compared with the same period last year.

From this point of view, the mainstream of the world has completed the transition from agriculture to industry, and the major powers in Europe have developed with industry as the core.

Affected by the butterfly effect, the domestic market in the United States shrank sharply after the split. It did not rush forward in this industrial revolution, and the birthplace of the second industrial revolution remained in Europe.

Naturally, Austria was the first to erupt the industrial revolution. With the city of Vienna that never sleeps as a symbol, it opened the prelude to the era of human electricity.

The speed of the promotion of electricity is beyond imagination. Since Vienna pioneered it, Paris and London immediately followed.

Although it is somewhat irrational, blindly following the trend without considering the actual situation, it plays a vital role in promoting the development of electric power technology.

After the completion of urban lighting networks in London and Paris, electricity technology has become a symbol of urban modernization.The difference between a big city and a small city can be concluded by looking at the street lights in the urban area.

Power stations have sprung up around the city, rows of wires have become a symbol of civilization, and thick black smoke tells the glory of the industrial age.

In Vienna Palace, Franz is hunting with his family.I have to say that Grand Duke Karl's proposal is still constructive. It is indeed a lot more convenient to put the hunting ground in his own home.

In terms of floor area alone, the Palace of Vienna is already the largest palace in the world.Of course, if the building area is calculated, the Palace of Vienna is still just a little brother.

Franz was not an extravagant emperor, and he would not build huge palace complexes.Vienna is the private domain of the Habsburg family, and most of the land belongs to the royal family. The cost of expanding the area of ​​the palace is not high.

After the palace expands, the difficulty of defense will naturally increase, and the royal guard will naturally expand accordingly.Franz would not admit that this was for the purpose of expanding private arms, despite the fact that it was so.

These are all minor issues. The royal guard is completely decided by the emperor and has nothing to do with the government. In theory, it can be expanded to 100 million.

Obviously, this is impossible, Franz is not yet that rich.Although he, the emperor, received a commission, the royal annuity was the best in continental Europe.

Relying on saving money, Franz expanded the Royal Guard to a division.This is the final guarantee. Having private armed forces is the greatest guarantee for the emperor's rights. At least he can launch an armed coup at any time.

In this respect, the Viennese government was dangerous, ever wary of their emperor.If he accidentally crossed the thunder pool, the emperor might overturn the table at any time.

This is a lesson brought by the Vienna Revolution. Franz quietly strengthened his control over the army, especially the capital army.

Any attempt by any political force to penetrate into the army will have disastrous consequences. Austria, which seems to be peaceful, is also full of swords and swords behind it.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

After a series of gunshots, only a field of shell casings remained.Franz's marksmanship is still so stable, even though the prey is more than 200 meters away, there are still no instances of false shots, and the shots miss the target.

Franz was not in the least annoyed that he missed his prey.As an emperor who cherished life, he couldn't bear to kill, so he generously let his prey go.

At the beginning, there were still a few little ones who believed this explanation, and the little ones still had expressions of admiration.As you grow older, don't mention it.

This is nothing, the vast majority of recruits on the battlefield are at this level.Able to accurately hit the enemy from 200 meters away, except for sharpshooters, they are lucky players.

Those who can guarantee the effective killing of moving targets within 200 meters are the elite divisions.This is a problem with the gun, the recoil is too large and the bullet is easy to deflect.

In the state of the art, there is no way to solve this problem.Reduce the recoil a little bit, and the cost will go up.

Seeing the motionless Maximilian, Archduke Karl stepped up and slapped him on the head: "Maximiliano, don't look dead, you have to be energetic when you come out to hunt.

You have to learn this from Franz. Every time he came out, he came back empty-handed, and he was also very happy. "

The older Grand Duke Karl became, the more capricious he became, and now even Empress Dowager Sophie had difficulty restraining him.If you don't like it, you can slap it.