Holy Roman Empire

St. Petersburg, since the failure of Crown Prince Alexandrovich's trip to Austria, the tsarist government has realized that the Russian-Austrian League has come to an end.

Three feet frozen, not a cold day.Over time, the contradictions between Russia and Austria have gradually accumulated.

Prior to this, the two governments relied on the covenant to suppress the disharmony, which can no longer be suppressed.

Russian-Austrian relations have changed since Alexander II succeeded him.The personal inclination of the emperor of a monarchy country cannot be underestimated for its political influence.

After the outbreak of the Russo-Prussian War, Austria did not fully support the Russians. In addition to its interests, it was more dissatisfied with the Tsarist government.

No big country is willing to be a younger brother, especially after the strength comparison between the two sides has changed.The initial game between Russia and Austria was actually a dispute over alliance dominance.

Alexander II's approach was correct, only that the bureaucracy of the Tsarist government did not fight, defeated the Russian-Russian War, and the Russian empire turned from prosperity to decay, losing the dominance of the alliance.

If the Tsarist government is willing to admit defeat, then the matter is over, and the Russian-Austrian League is still the most important political power group in Europe.

Obviously this is impossible, and the arrogance of the Russian Empire cannot be defeated in one battle.After a long history of the Russian Empire, even worse than it is now, how could the Tsar really give up European hegemony?

Franz has little interest in continental hegemony, but Austria ’s geographic location has been determined, and it cannot be avoided in the battle for continental hegemony.

Austria's body is there, no one dares to believe even if he says he is not interested.In this case, it can only be on the scalp.It is against this background that France and Austria share the European hegemony.

For the Tsarist government, the collapse of the Russian-Austrian alliance is indeed a blow, but the covenant of the two countries will not expire until several years, and there will be no threat in the short term.

The most important thing now is to find a gold master willing to pay in time, otherwise the reform of Alexander II will not proceed.

The most ideal choice is of course Austria. The tsarist government can use external debt to tie the two countries closer.Now the Vienna government dares to abandon the Russian-Austrian alliance, that is because they do not owe enough.

If the Tsarist government owed debt to Austria, not now 183 million Aegis, but 1.83 billion Aegis, it is estimated that no matter what, the Vienna government is only dead.

According to the current situation, after the expiration of the Russian-Austrian alliance, the debt owed by the tsarist government will have to be paid in seven or eight.

This is not something that Alexander II can delay, the Austrians only draw from the Russian tariffs, and each year there are more than 12 million Aegis.

The higher the tariff set by the Tsarist government, the faster the repayment rate.In addition, there are still some in-kind compensation for mineral resources. Russia can still repay more than 90% of its debts every year.

Mortgage loans cannot be denied by Alexander II.Otherwise, Russia and Austria will immediately reverse their faces. When Austria closes the trade channel between the two countries, Russia will soon have an economic crisis.

No way, this is determined by the geographic location.If Austria blocked the door, more than 70% of Russia ’s exports would be over.

The grain in Ukraine does not go from the Dardanelles Strait, and it cannot be transported to St. Petersburg by land, and then shipped out for export, right?

According to the current international situation, if Russia and Austria turned their faces, the Russian Empire would be completely blocked.Austria agitated behind, sponsoring two armored ships, and Prussia dared to block the Baltic Sea.

It is now the era of armored ships. The piles of broken ships in the Russian navy can be removed for firewood.Most of them are wooden warships that have not been updated for more than two decades. What else do you want?

It is not that Alexander II did not attach importance to the navy and did not know that the warship would be replaced. It was really that the government had no money in his pocket.Since the beginning of the Crimean War, the tsarist government's finances have never been better.

Pu's approaching Alexander II is not worried, although the Kingdom of Prussia has given up its strategy of unifying the German region, but Austria has not yet.

The relationship between Alexander II asked: "How is the conversation with the British, will they give us a loan?"

This time the loan was extraordinary, the Russians paid for it with food.If the British agree to grant this loan, the Tsarist Government will send 1.2 million tons of wheat, 400,000 tons of corn, 300,000 tons of barley to England every year ...

What appears to be a loan is actually better than food exports.However, in the international agricultural product market, the competitiveness of Russian agricultural products is too low.

If direct dumping is carried out at a low price, then the international food prices will be beaten down, and the relatively high cost of planting Russian agricultural products will become unprofitable.

In order to avoid the worst, Russian economists have proposed a bundle of loans to contract a country ’s food imports at a price lower than the international market.

The reduced profit is just the cost of the loan.It is better than fighting a price war with a competitor, and finally making a lot of money at a loss.

"Your Majesty, the British demanded that the amount of loans be reduced by half, and that the price of food compensation should be reduced by one-fifth, which is equivalent to 70% of the current international food export prices."

Foreign Minister Clarence-Ivanov's answer changed Alexander II's complexion. Grain export was not a profiteering industry, and even a 30% discount would not bring back the cost.

Alexander II asked unfailingly: "What if we promise to join the free trade system and link the ruble to the pound?"

Clarence-Ivanov replied: "If this is the case, there is no problem with the loan, but the price of food is still not discussed.

British food traders believe that the current international food prices are too high and will fall sharply in the near future, insisting on accepting only 30% off the current market price."

If according to the current market price, the total value of agricultural products that Russia plans to deliver to the UK is as high as 38 million pounds, if a 30% discount is made, it will be only 26.6 million pounds, and the difference between them will be as high as 11.4 million pounds.

Aleksandrovich said with a sullen face: "The British are blackmailing, and we cannot accept such a condition!

At a 30% discount to the market price, we have to be able to make a profit from grain exports, but we will lose a sum.

Unless the grain purchase price is further lowered, but the domestic grain price is already very low, the people are losing money if they press down further."

Food is a large-scale commodity, and transportation has always been a big problem.The Russian Empire has inconvenient transportation and high transportation costs, and these costs must be taken into account.

Usually this part of the cost ultimately falls on the farmers who produce food. Now if they export at a 30% discount to the market price and then fall on the farmers, they can only go bankrupt.

The peasant class is the tsar's largest support group. This is the cornerstone of rule. If they are forced to bankruptcy, the rule of the tsarist government will be unstable.

Alexander II sighed and shook his head, saying: "The plunge in international food prices has become a foregone conclusion, and the British are right.

The international market is so large, and our increased food production is so much that once it is put on the market, the international food prices will collapse.

To put it bluntly, if Russia's surplus grain can be shipped out, even if other grain exporting countries stop exporting, Europe will not have grain panics."

This is a sequelae of the great wasteland. Although the domestic land problem has been solved, the overcapacity of grain has also become a serious social problem.

What is even more tragic is that the peasants who have just acquired the land have increased their enthusiasm for production, and Russia ’s grain output is still rising.

As grain prices fell, the Russian grain and wine industry began to flourish.However, ordinary people simply cannot afford such high-end liquors, and the market is very limited.It is impossible to rely on the surplus grain production capacity of the wine industry.

Alexandrovich thought for a while and said: "Then guide farmers to switch to cash crops. We will grow whatever we lack in the market.

If not to reduce domestic food production, sooner or later the international food market will be boosted.As far as I know, the Vienna government has intentionally cancelled agricultural taxes.

Their grain production costs are already lower than ours, and there is a complete supporting industrial processing chain, and their ability to resist risks is definitely stronger than ours.If a price war breaks out, there may be millions of bankrupt people in the country every year."

Alexander II nodded, he did not doubt that Alexandrovich exaggerated.This is a fact. Except for Ukraine, the cost of grain production in Russia is relatively high.

Even in the Ukrainian region, because of insufficient development and utilization, agricultural production technology here is backward.Obviously black land, the result is that grain yield per mu is still not as good as Austria.

This is a sequelae of the lack of market. In any case, the total population of the European continent is less than 300 million, and the food produced by the countries themselves meets most of the demand.

The only way to expand the grain export market is to first hit the market with low-priced grains and defeat the agricultural production of various countries.

That was how Alexander II originally planned. As long as the agriculture of the countries that broke down, then Russia has mastered the lifeblood of the European continent.

The plan is a good plan, the only problem is that the tsarist government has insufficient financial resources.Competitors are too strong. Dumping at low prices can destroy Russian agriculture as well as the agriculture of various countries.

In fact, not only Alexander II had this plan, but Franz had made a similar plan, but he finally gave up.

There is no way. Now, in the colonial era, which power lacks a grain production area?If the local food production is insufficient, can't the colony find a way?

If you can't do monopoly, you can't live with your wallet if you dump at a low price.Agriculture is still profitable, and there is absolutely no need to make all profits.

Alexander II was in a somewhat depressed mood and said with a long heart: "Reducing food production capacity and replanting cash crops are necessary, but this is not possible overnight. The cultivation of food is relatively simple and farmers are used to it.

To change this traditional planting model, we must learn from Austria.Alexandrovich, you have also been to Austria, you should know how well their agriculture is developed.Where is the gap, did you find it?"

Aleksandrovich was lost in thought. He didn't stay in Austria for too long. He knew that it was only limited to Vienna. Most of the time, he still passed the newspaper.

"There should be climate, transportation, agricultural technology, and supporting processing industries. There is no way to make up for the gap in climate, and the last three points can slowly catch up."

Alexander II nodded and said, "Since that is the case, then we will settle for this loss.

If we do not reach an agreement with the British now, I am afraid that after a few months of the autumn harvest, our grain will not be sold at even 30% off the current market price, and the price is even lower than in the hands.

If large-scale natural disasters do not occur, and our grain harvest will enter the international market, this year is destined to be an agricultural winter, and a large number of agricultural products will be unsalable.

Anyway, you have to lose money at that time, it is better to get the loan first.At that time, we can also reduce or exempt agricultural taxes and reduce the losses of farmers.

Only when the railway is repaired and the domestic transportation problems solved can the Russian Empire have a future. Now let the British be proud!

If it were not for combating Austria, perhaps the British would not open this condition.They are not short of this batch of cheap grain, and the British grain processing industry is not very developed.

If the London government does not give preferential policies, these grain merchants will not invest in the agricultural products processing industry. After all, Austria is the hegemon in this field, and they have no advantage."

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