Holy Roman Empire

Since receiving the news that the French government intends to start the "colonial farm plan", the Vienna government has been tense.

Today, agriculture is still the most important pillar industry in Austria, absorbing the most employed people.

The international food market has limited capacity. If it were not for Austria to convene an international agricultural summit and lead the establishment of the International Agricultural Products Export Alliance, the major food-producing countries will control the export volume together and jointly set food sales prices to avoid vicious competition, and everyone has no good day now. .

However, all of this is based on the premise that food supply and demand are basically balanced. Any country that increases food production capacity will cause market shocks.

Franz: "How many French colonies are suitable for agricultural development?"

Colonial Minister Stephen replied: "According to the data collected by the Ministry of Colonization, French Africa alone has millions of square kilometers of arable land that can be developed and utilized, and there are about 500,000 square kilometers of fertile soil suitable for agricultural production.

Mainly distributed in French Algeria 210,000 square kilometers, French Morocco 120,000 square kilometers, French Tunis 40,000 square kilometers, French Egypt 60,000 square kilometers ... "

The natural environment and territory of this era are different from those of later generations, and it is inevitable that there will be discrepancies in the area of ​​cultivated land.

For example: Tunisia is divided between Britain and France, Morocco is also full of British, French and Western forces, and French Egypt also includes half of Sudan.

Hearing this answer, everyone's expression became more dignified.

In so many places, the French can be self-sufficient even if they are developed one-third or even one-fifth if they are all developed.

The desert empire is not all desert. French Africa alone has so much fertile soil. If other colonies of the French overseas are counted, it is estimated that this number can double.

In the interests of Franz, the Indochina Peninsula is very suitable for the development of agriculture. Although it is a little farther away, the French have tax barriers.

With so much land, any part of development can cause a devastating blow to the international food market.

The French do not need to go out to snatch the international market, just to achieve domestic self-sufficiency is enough to crash the international food market.

Knowing to know, the Vienna government is powerless now.The French developed their own land, and Austria had no reason to interfere.

After pondering for a while, Franz said slowly: "This is a matter of time. No major country is willing to be constrained by its strategic security, and the French are no exception.

Even if it is not profitable to invest in a farm in a colony, as long as it can ensure food self-sufficiency and reduce the loss of foreign exchange, it will make money economically.

Only the French themselves can stop the French.Agricultural investment does not pay off in a short time.

Reclamation of wasteland, construction of water conservancy projects, and roads all require a large amount of upfront investment.

Capitalists are certainly not willing to invest. The colonial farm development plan can only be paid by the French government.

Judging from the current situation, the French government is far less affluent and can easily withdraw the money for agricultural development. In the short term, the funds they invest in agriculture are still limited.

For at least three to five years, we need not worry about the collapse of the international food market.In such a long time, many things can be done."

Opening up wasteland is not just about talking about it. Perhaps it is very simple to open up a piece of farmland. You can burn trees and weeds with a fire and level the land.

Except for a few areas with excellent natural conditions and sufficient water resources, most areas need to build water conservancy.

Growing food is not the end.If it cannot be shipped out for sale, even the piles of grain will not have any value.

Taking all factors into consideration, three or five years are already very optimistic.It is estimated that the coastal areas can produce some results, and the inland areas may not be able to be developed in ten or eight years.

There is a buffer time, which does not make everyone optimistic.Disasters will still erupt, it's just a matter of time.

Foreign Minister Weisenberg proposed: "This is no longer a matter for our family. Perhaps the news will be poked out and the effect will be better.

If we can pull all the member countries of the Agricultural Export Union and put pressure on the French together, there may be unexpected gains."

There is no doubt that the pressure is mainly on Russia and Austria, and other members of the alliance will be able to wave their flags.

Forcing the French to retreat, although they are all happy.However, it is unlikely that if it is so easy to compromise, France will not be able to mix on the European continent.

Prime Minister Carl shook his head: "It's not necessary, this kind of thing can't be kept secret. As soon as the French colonial farm plan is started, everyone will know.

If international food prices collapse immediately, then we are indeed the biggest victims, but is this not a buffer for a few years?

Although the local grain production capacity is still growing, this increase is only less than 1.5%, while the growth rate of grain consumption in the domestic market is as high as 4.7%.

If the development plan of the Near East is not started, the grain production capacity in the future may continue to grow. Perhaps in less than ten years, our grain production capacity will only be enough to meet the local needs.

At present, most of the raw grains we export are imported from the Russians. If the overcapacity of grains appears again, it will be impossible to lower the purchase price of raw grains and pass on the losses.

A strong Russian empire does not serve our interests, and it is precisely the French who use the French to interrupt the development of the Russians.

If possible, it is best to include the British.

Both Britain and France have implemented the grain self-sufficiency plan, and the international grain import market can shrink by half, which is just to let everyone feel the power of the agricultural crisis."

The rapid growth of food consumption is caused by many reasons. The most direct reason is the population growth, which has increased food consumption.

Secondly, people's living standards are increasing day by day, and everyone's consumption level is also increasing. The most typical example is the rapid increase in the consumption of meat products.

Affected by this, the food used for feed is also growing at a rapid rate, with an annual growth rate of more than 5%.

Finally, there is an increase in industrial grain, including many industries such as medicine, chemicals, alcohol, starch, etc., and the demand for grain is continuously increasing.

The rapid growth of demand does not mean that the production capacity can also grow rapidly.In fact, since the outbreak of the agricultural crisis, the Vienna government has been encouraging the cultivation of cash crops.

It's not that Franz doesn't know the importance of food, but Austria really has no shortage of food. The consequence of continuing to increase production capacity is that the valleys hurt farmers and even rot directly into the ground.

Otherwise, it is estimated that the Agricultural Export Alliance is still in the agricultural crisis, and everyone pours milk into the river together.

Of course, attracting Russians is also one of the reasons.

More than ninety percent of the grain exported by the Russian Empire every year flows into Austria. After nearly half of the grain is processed, it is finally returned to Russia for sale.

The Russian-Austrian alliance can continue, and the non-governmental relations have always been friendly, which is essentially based on interests.

Generally speaking, the alliance of interests is often the most stable, but the relationship between Russia and Austria is an exception.

If one day the Russians completed the industrial revolution and the local processing industry developed, the grain interest chain would be broken.

However, this is a matter of the future, and there is no need to worry in a short time.

In the context of imperfect infrastructure, the noble masters of the Tsarist government still like to be the mine bosses and big landlords of drought and flood protection.

Franz knows that these are just superficial reasons.Ten years later, the Near East development plan should also be almost completed, and Austria ’s real trend is now complete.

By that time, the German reunification process should also be on the agenda.The Vienna government will not do anything to break the situation and pull hatred.

Austria does not have the ability to single out the European world. It is very necessary to instigate relations among European countries.

The French colonial development plan did damage the interests of Austria, but compared with the national strategy, the temporary loss is still acceptable.

Leading the situation to encourage the British to join in, it seems that Britain and France have achieved food self-sufficiency, and their national strategic security is no longer restricted. In fact, they have stood on the opposite side of the Russians.

The Russian cheese was touched, which involved the interests of tens of millions of people. Even if the tsarist government wanted to stand with Britain and France, the Russian people would not agree.

The odds of losing with one enemy and three are too high, with one enemy two, two enemy two, or simply one-on-one, the chances of winning are greatly increased.

As a mature monarch, Franz still feels that he can not fight, it is better not to fight.

"The Prime Minister is right. The French want to develop a colony. We simply cannot stop it, and there is no need to stop it.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs looks like this to let the outside world know that we are very dissatisfied, and it is best to let the British feel that the French have hit our weakness.

Induce the London government to join in, artificially creating the worst agricultural crisis and creating opportunities for our next strategy."

The agricultural crisis is not fun. If it happens, the food exporting countries will suffer huge losses, and neither the British nor the French will be easy.

Fortunately for the French, regarding the protection of tax barriers, the Paris government will not let domestic food prices collapse.

The British are in trouble. Free trade has always been a double-edged sword. While enjoying the benefits of free trade, it must also bear the negative effects it brings.

In the style of the British, once the agricultural crisis broke out, all of the previous investment would be lost, and the gangsters in Congress would order the government to stop losses.

The key to consuming money and money is political instability, which can delay the time for the British government to make decisions, which is very beneficial to Austria's next plan.