Welcome to 19th-century Europe, where strength reigns supreme

The war against the Ming Dynasty finally started. A mighty [-] Prussian troops held a military parade in the Rhineland Military District. They were equipped with the most advanced rifles and artillery. Although they were small in number, their combat effectiveness was very strong.

Participating in the war as a volunteer army was actually a pretense. Everyone knew that this was Prussia's undeclared war against the Ming Dynasty. After all, the [-] army soldiers who obeyed the Army General Staff were volunteers. Everyone knew that this was bullshit.

Prussia has not fought a war for a long time. It must be said that Prussia, the cradle of militarism, still has two brushes. Even though August criticized war in "The Destruction of an Empire", people still crave war.

Although Marshal Steinmetz was still hesitant before, when it came time to officially dispatch troops, he immediately signed his name without shaking his hands.

Prussia's Königsberg Shipyard built a total of three battleships and more than ten escort ships last year, all of which are steamship models and are relatively old.

But this is actually not a problem. August's view on battleships is that the equipment can be inferior, but the quantity must be sufficient. But even so, the number of the first batch of battleships built is still less than expected, but it is true It's very helpless. The navy is really in a tight situation. There are only five shipyards in total. The equipment of the navy soldiers is not very good, and the total number of soldiers is just over a thousand.

When British Assistant Secretary of the Navy Charles Spencer saw the Prussian Navy like this, he commented that it had a good army, but the navy was such a poor force.

Although it is a bit embarrassing, it is indeed true. You may not believe it when you tell me. The two Prussian ships are not qualified as transport ships, let alone fighting naval battles, because the hulls are too small to hold so many people.

But after all, we are in alliance with the British. If you help the British fight, they will be willing to give you a ride. Of course, naval battles can rely on the British fleet. It is better to say that there is no such thing as naval battles at all.

The main reason for following the past was to prevent the British from selling out the Prussian army with just a shake of their little hands, so that they could at least use their own fleet to transport the soldiers away.

This is not the first time that the British have cheated their teammates, so they still have to be careful.

August had great trust in Moltke's commanding ability. This was also the war he wanted. August gave him the courtesy of the war, and he naturally did not hesitate to give in.

August can ignore the war in Asia. Moltke should be able to handle it. Now August still has to focus on the country.

Because something happened in Prussia at this time that August did not expect.

Less than a month after the signing of the Anglo-Prussian Treaty, news came from the Ministry of Agriculture that shocked August. In 1859, the self-sufficiency rate of agricultural products was 1861%. In [-], the self-sufficiency rate of agricultural products plummeted. To [-]%, what is the situation?

We have to go back in time. The Agricultural Adjustment Act promulgated when August first took office stipulated that Juncker landowners were not allowed to raise food prices, which protected the interests of farmers to a certain extent.

But in fact, the number of landowners in Prussia is very small. Most of them are Junker landowners. They are the source of Prussian agricultural products. When they can get greater profits by driving up food prices, they will be willing to plant them. land to maintain Prussia’s domestic grain production.

Although this group of people was helping black-hearted businessmen, to a certain extent, they were able to keep the Prussians' jobs in their own hands.

However, the Agricultural Adjustment Act gave them no means to make huge profits. The Tao is as high as the Tao, and the devil is as high as the Tao. It is basically impossible for them to follow the rules honestly. They are also quite smart. , wouldn’t it be good to transform?

These territories are real estate, and you can make money by selling them. Although the Prussian stock market is very flat now, it is still rising. People are still willing to invest money in the stock market. This has injected a steady stream of capital into the Prussian industrial machine. of blood.

August invested a lot in this area. Capitalists and various heavy industry companies made huge profits in the process, and almost everyone was attracted.

As people with some property, the Junker landowners also invested their money in the stock market after seeing the prospects of the stock market, hoping to make money in the stock market. So who will generally take over the many sold lands?

The aristocracy and local governments are generally the two places that have the ability to accept the land sold by the Junker landlord class. However, these two places do not make money from agricultural products in the first place. The annexation of these lands is just treating these lands as commodities, or Trading chips.

Auguste did not pay much attention to these issues at first because they were not important enough. Auguste focused all her attention on industry. She believed that only when industry is strong can a country be prosperous.

That's actually true, but she actually made some mistakes in the process, such as this.

She initially believed that farmers were the backbone of domestic agricultural production, and the food problem could be solved by ensuring their interests. However, the fact was that the food provided by homesteaders only accounted for less than [-]% of the Prussian market, and the rest was all produced by Supplied by Junker landowners.

Moreover, regarding the liberation of serf labor, agriculture has been hit even harder. The current agriculture can be said to be in a mess.

Moreover, because the tough attitude in Congress stimulated some old nobles, they also refused to sell the food they had hoarded, which meant that Prussia had lost its ability to be self-sufficient in agricultural products.

Now Prussia's food supply has obviously become dependent on Britain, which will consume a lot of government funds, and the gain outweighs the loss. This is another hot potato.

If Prussia really wants to change this situation, it must increase investment in agriculture, and the best way to mobilize this sentiment is to increase the profits it can obtain from agricultural products.

Then the "Agricultural Adjustment Act" is outdated. Now that the price of agricultural products has stabilized, this bill must also start to be revised.

But before that, Augustus had to solve the problem of land annexation by the nobility and local governments, which could not be effectively used in their hands.

August had to find a way to get this part of the land and then give it to the farmers, but it would definitely not work to divide the land from the local tyrants, because the Junkers were very powerful, and August would not dare to destroy it casually. This is very bad and will cause serious harm to society.

The only way is to redeem the land through formal procedures. So where should the money be spent?

The only option is to borrow money or deduct it from other projects. This is also a problem. The government has to spend such a large amount of money for no reason. Auguste is also very troubled. She needs to find a suitable person to handle this. thing.

After thinking about it, August could only say helplessly.

"Go and invite her, Tina..."