Franz didn't pay too much attention to the changes in the international situation. Now he was staring at the price change list for the first quarter.
According to common sense, the price of daily necessities such as food would inevitably rise during the war, especially since Europe's number one food exporter was involved in the war.
Because of the war, the total amount of food exported by the Russian Empire decreased significantly. The amount of food flowing into Austria decreased by a quarter.
There was no doubt that part of the gap was offset by the increase in food production in Austria.
Although potash fertilizer was just promoted last year and the people didn't use it on a large scale, Austria had state-owned farms!
In fact, the number of state-owned farms directly controlled by the government had been decreasing. Because of the management costs, many small and medium-sized farms were rented to individuals.
No matter how much it decreased, the land area occupied by state-owned farms was still not low. Only counting the European part, the area occupied by state-owned farms was less than 5% of the arable land area. But it was different when other areas were included.
For example, in the Asia Minor peninsula, except for the nobility's fiefdom and military merit land, the rest of the arable land basically belonged to state-owned farms.
It wasn't that Franz was willing to set up so many state-owned farms, but it was a practical need. If the government didn't arrange for people to take over, the farmland left by the Osman would be abandoned.
It was impossible to sell to the people as it would weaken the temptation of military merit land and shake the foundation of Austria.
Except for the initial land redemption and the period of opening up colonies, the best way for ordinary people to obtain land was through military merit land.
Don't ask why, anyone knew that there was a war in Europe waiting for them and had to prepare in advance.
Without enough return, how could the soldiers fight for their lives? If they didn't hoard enough land, how could they reward the soldiers after the war?
The European continent was now densely populated and there was no land without owners. The spoils of war couldn't be counted on.
In this context, even if Franz knew that the operating cost of state-owned farms was high, he could only grit his teeth and accept it.
If he couldn't handle the losses, he could contract it to individuals. Anyway, as long as the land was still national, it wouldn't affect the future reward to individuals.
In fact, the Government of France's large farm plan was also brought up by Austria.
Seeing that the Government of Austria had a bunch of farms in their hands, they followed suit. But they didn't know that Austria's farms were also struggling.
Because of the support of supporting processing companies, on the surface, Austria's farms were operating well and could pay profits to the government every year.
In fact, the profits were all contributed by the subsidiary companies under the farm. Most of the farms could only break even, and very few of them could generate profits directly.
It was not a listed company, and the financial statements of state-owned enterprises were also confidential. Only the total profits were announced to the public. As for the specific corporate structure and asset allocation, the outside world had no idea.
In Napoleon Iv's eyes, these were all good data.
If someone suggested to follow suit, then so be it. There was no reason why France could not do what the Government of Austria could do.
If the bureaucrats did not report the details, how could the Emperor, who was deep in the palace, know?
Especially after the trip to Algeria, Napoleon Iv directly attributed all the problems to bureaucratic malfeasance and corruption.
Although there was a lot of state-owned farm land, the area for grain planting was not large. The real significance was still in driving.
There was no shortage of smart people in this world. The government was promoting potash fertilizer, and state-owned farms were using it on a large scale. Naturally, there were people who dared to take the risk.
Especially the government officials, they were the first to accept the potash fertilizer and use it on their own land.
As a result, Austria's food production capacity increased significantly last year.
The final increase in production was not 3% as estimated by the Ministry of Agriculture, but 6.7%.
Of course, this also included the increased area of cultivated land and the increase in food production.
Don't underestimate the 3.7% error. With Austria's food production base, this was the food rations for millions of people for a year.
Coupled with Britain and France's respective agricultural plans, they increased the colony's food production and reduced food imports.
The end result was that Russia's food exports decreased, and the international food market price did not rise but fell.
If the food price fell, it was acceptable. But the prices of textiles, steel, and other commodities also fell. This made Franz confused.
This was a time of war, and Britain and Russia were at war. How could the price of strategic materials fall?
Holding the document in his hand, Franz asked in disbelief, "Are you sure this price list is correct?"
Economic Minister Reinhardt, "Your Majesty, we have confirmed it many times. The statistics are indeed the average price for the first quarter.
Not only did domestic prices not rise, but it was the same for all of Europe. Other than the price increase at the beginning of the war last year, the market price in the first quarter returned to a rational state.
The impact of the Anglo-Russian war on Europe's economy was not as big as we expected. Especially the demand for supplies, which was much less than we planned.
Leaving aside the British, they can rely on domestic production. The Ministry of Economy analyzed the lack of Russia's imports for two main reasons:
First, the Tsarist government prepared for the war in advance, and a lot of supplies were purchased before the war. Our export trade list last year can prove this point.
Secondly, the amount of supplies consumed in Afghanistan is much smaller than we expected.
I consulted the General Staff. The Russian Army's decrease in consumption of supplies was partly due to the limited terrain in Afghanistan, which was not conducive for the deployment of heavy weapons. Secondly, the British Army was too incompetent and did not break out into an evenly matched war. "
This answer made Franz speechless. The intensity of the war was not high, so the consumption of supplies was naturally not high.
Originally, the highest consumption was food, but the Russians did not lack it and did not need to import it. The British could also raise it from India and did not need to ship it from Europe.
After receiving the news of the outbreak of the Anglo-Russian war, the capitalists all over Europe expanded their production in an attempt to make a fortune.
However, when the production increased, the imports of strategic supplies from the two warring countries could not keep up with the expectations, which was a tragedy.
In the era of free trade, once the supply exceeded the demand, the price would inevitably fall.
If it was not for the Anglo-Russian war, the market's confidence did not collapse, and the situation would be more serious.
After a sigh, Franz said helplessly, "Calculating the time, a new round of economic crisis is coming.
The capitalists are fantasizing that the Anglo-Russian war will be more grand than the Prussian war, and all of them are rushing to make money from the war.
The current situation is very clear, no matter how the Anglo-Russian war expands, it is impossible to have a situation where millions of troops are fighting.
If the current situation does not change, I am afraid this Anglo-Russian war will be the fuse for the European countries' overproduction. "
Every time there was overproduction, it was the capitalists' mistake in the market's expectations. If it was a smart person, there was still a chance to cut their losses. If it continued until the end of the Anglo-Russian war, then it would really be over.
Knowing was one thing, but Franz did not have the intention to interfere. This was a thankless task, and other than attracting hatred and being the scapegoat, there would be no benefit.
Foreign Minister Wesenberg: "Overproduction is only a small problem, it is nothing more than a reshuffle of the industry, and we can grit our teeth and get over it.
The trouble is that recently, Britain, France, and Russia have been playing small tricks. Especially the British, they constantly create direct friction between us and the French.
Once or twice is fine, but if it happens more often, our relationship with the French will not be able to withstand this test.
Especially not long ago, the Government of the United Kingdom very vaguely expressed that as long as we give up our support for Russia, they will support us to unify the German Region.
If there are no surprises, the British have made similar promises to the French, or even more. "
Not to mention the relationship between the Fao and the French, the relationship between any two countries could not withstand a long period of torment.
Even though they knew this was a conspiracy by the British, these contradictions existed between the Fao and the French, and the kind that could not be solved.
No matter how much the two governments tried to suppress it, it would leave a knot in their hearts. After accumulating for a long time, these contradictions would always erupt.
Prime Minister Carr shook his head: "The core of the problem is not on our side, the key is to see what the French think.
If the French can't resist the temptation and accept the British's proposal, then the European War is inevitable. "
According to the original plan, it was only a matter of time before Austria unified the German Region. The Government of Vienna could naturally restrain their desire and not take risks.
It was different for France. The Central European strategy was related to whether France could go further.
If they could not expand into Central Europe, now was the peak of France's era, and they could only go downhill in the future.
In fact, France had already begun to go downhill. Looking at the world, the era when France had the highest international status and the strongest horizontal comparative strength was between 1870 and 1881.
With the gunshot of the Paris Revolution, France's vitality was once again greatly damaged, and they had only just recovered.
Compared with Austria, France wasted eight years. If the energy problem was not solved, the situation in the future would be even worse.
In this context, if the Government of France was unwilling to fall and chose to fight, it was only a matter of time.
Franz frowned and slowly said, "This situation has to be considered. We also have to speed up the preparation for war, lest we be caught unprepared.
Strengthen the monitoring of the Government of France, and report immediately once they find any signs of preparing for war. "
Austria's preparation work had long begun, but for the sake of secrecy, the scope of action had been very small.
After all, it was not a good time for a decisive battle. Austria had not yet developed to the limit, and its national power was still growing at a high speed.
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