Chapter 717

The changes in the food futures market directly affected the food prices, and the capitalists raised the prices simultaneously.

This increase was only limited to the trading price, and the purchase price of the food remained unchanged. It would take time for the downstream market to affect the upstream market.

Raising the food trading price was essentially to make a fortune. Since last year, the long-term low food prices had seriously affected everyone's interests.

The improved food prices did not have any real meaning. The problem of food overcapacity had not been fundamentally solved. It was nothing more than the capitalists wanting to take the opportunity to make up for their losses in the agricultural crisis.

Franz didn't feel optimistic. If the food capitalists were in charge of manipulating the prices, then for their own interests, they should stabilize the food prices. That would be in their best interest.

Unfortunately, among the three major European food futures markets, Austria's food capitalists were relatively strong and had a certain say. Britain and France were dominated by financial capitalists.

Even Austria's food capitalists did not have the strength to trade. Even with the related agricultural processing industry capital, they barely had the strength to do so.

Not to mention Britain and France. Unless the capital of the entire economy was tied together, the futures market would always be the territory of financial capitalists.

Short and fast was always the best pursuit of capital. Settling down to do business was not the goal of financial capitalists. This meant that the food market could collapse again at any time.

Now, everyone was still working together to raise the food prices. When it rose enough and attracted enough speculators to take over, it would be the end of the world.

…

Vienna Palace, Franz summoned the Minister of Agriculture, Halls.

"Food prices are recovering, but the problem of overcapacity has not been solved. The next step for the Ministry of Agriculture is to reduce production.

Don't worry about the food shortage. Even if there is an emergency, we have enough strategic reserves. "

The government could not interfere with the market. Moreover, the futures market was an international capital bet game, and the Government of Austria could not interfere. Unless the UK, Fao, and Austria intervened in the market at the same time, there would only be side effects and greater losses.

Affected by the agricultural crisis, Austria also experienced a lack of food sales. The government implemented a minimum price policy and quickly purchased a large batch of food.

The Government of Vienna itself was a large food consumer and did not worry about storing too much food. Government agencies, schools, and the military added up to millions of people to eat.

Influenced by Franz, the government had the habit of storing food for a long time. In addition to meeting their own needs, they would usually buy food when the price was low and sell it when the price was high.

Of course, this was only during normal times. After the agricultural crisis broke out, the Government of Vienna did not dare to buy food. If they continued to play like this, they would really go bankrupt.

Agriculture Minister Holls: "Your Majesty, we're planning an agriculture summit. We're inviting the big capitalists and farmers in the European agricultural field to participate. Unite everyone's strength and work together to stabilize the food price. "

Franz was stunned for a moment before he realized what was going on. This was normal. As the world's largest agricultural exporter, how could they passively respond to an agricultural crisis?

Before the agricultural crisis broke out, the pricing power of international agricultural products had always been in the hands of Austria.

The Russians broke the rules and started a bundled sale with the British, breaking Austria's monopoly on pricing power and causing the price of grain to plummet.

After this wave, the capitalists naturally realized the terrible consequences of this kind of unruly competition. At this time, it was almost inevitable that they would group up again.

The Ministry of Agriculture's plan was inseparable from the influence of capital. Nobles engaged in agricultural production, or capitalists in related fields, all of them could be the driving force behind the scenes.

Franz did not want to get to the bottom of it. This kind of thing was inevitable. There were many ways for capital to influence the government's decisions. Most of the time, the people involved could not even react.

"Sounds good. But how can it be implemented? No matter how many results were achieved at the Agricultural Summit, without any binding force, how much of an impact could they have?

If we can't solve this problem, it's better to find a way to push up tariffs on raw food trade and increase the cost of competitors.

Contact the large farm owners. I believe they will have the same interest. Encourage them to mobilize the farmers and put pressure on the government. "

This idea was very sinister. It was very disadvantageous for countries with backward industries. In the end, it might develop into tariffs on all agricultural products.

However, Franz was not worried. It would only affect the low-profit primary processing enterprises. In the short term, it would have some impact on Austria. But in the long term, it would further promote industrial upgrading.

They could not expect to grind noodles for the rest of their lives, right? This kind of enterprise without much technical content would sooner or later be squeezed to the point of being unprofitable.

If they did not develop new products with higher added value, this kind of processing enterprise with low technical content and unwilling to move forward would not survive for long in this cruel world.

These were only on the surface. If there were no other benefits, this was a tactic that killed 1000 enemies and sacrificed 800 soldiers. How could Franz use it?

The biggest impact of raising food prices was the industry. The rising prices forced companies to pay more wages, or workers would not be able to survive.

This was Franz's fundamental purpose. Perhaps in the short term, this impact was not obvious. But as time went on, the import tariffs on agricultural products would increase, and the sequelae would appear.

High labor costs would cause labor-intensive enterprises to become unprofitable. In order to obtain higher profits, capitalists would inevitably invest their funds in financial fields with higher returns.

The French were the first to collapse in the original space-time. After the Franco-Prussian War, without the government's suppression of capital, France began to run along the road of usury empire.

The Englishman followed closely behind and crippled his own martial arts. Otherwise, during World War II, the German Air Force would not be able to sweep over the British Isles, let alone rely on submarines to block sea transportation.

Looking at the confused Minister of Agriculture, Franz did not explain. This kind of obscure method was not something that could be explained clearly with a few words. If it was leaked, it would arouse the vigilance of various countries, which would not be good.

It wouldn't matter if it was exposed after the incident. The government could reduce tariffs, but it would depend on whether domestic farmers agreed or not.

Even if it was implemented by force, could the capitalists who tasted the sweetness in the financial field change their minds?

Those who had not tasted the sweetness did not even need to consider. Unlike the real economy, it was common to lose all the way in the financial market.

Wealth was a number. Today was a billionaire, tomorrow was on the rooftop. This kind of thing happened in London, Paris, and Vienna from time to time. This kind of thing happened in financial centers like London, Paris, and Vienna from time to time.

Although it was a dark hand, it was still necessary to reduce the production. Opening the window and looking at the sky, Franz added, "These things can be done in secret. Don't make it known to everyone.

The focus of the Ministry of Agriculture's work is to find ways to reduce food production and promote the cultivation of cash crops. The government can encourage companies to sign planting contracts with farmers to make them feel at ease.

I think in some areas, the agricultural cooperatives that the nobles have come up with are also a good idea. When everyone joins forces, the scale of planting goes up, and they have more confidence in negotiating with companies.

The government can promote the establishment of similar semi-official institutions, or purely private institutions. The people can freely decide whether to participate, and the governing body can be elected by them. "

Agricultural cooperatives were not a new thing. In many parts of Europe, there were such mutual aid and win-win organizations.

It really developed in Austria after the abolition of serfdom and the Agrarian Revolution. The original purpose was not to help each other, but mainly because the nobles wanted to maintain local influence, so they came forward to establish such organizations.

Even now, not everyone could join them. Feudal dregs could be seen everywhere. Those who joined these organizations were either their own retainers or original serfs, and they refused to accept others to join.

Especially after the beginning of the Austrian colonial era, after seeing the nobles using this model to pull out a private army in the shortest time, almost all the feudal nobles realized the role of "agricultural cooperatives" and took action.

It was also proven that this kind of private army, which knew the ins and outs of the army well, was much more reliable than the mercenaries recruited from outside.

The African continent was not a good place, especially after making a fortune. Betrayal and betrayal happened almost every day, and incidents of mercenaries killing their employers were also widely spread among the people.

Perhaps it was because of loyalty, or perhaps it was because the monk could run, but the temple could not. Franz had not heard of any nobles who were killed by their own private army.

Loyalty was not given in vain, and there was a price to pay for people's lives. In normal times, it was essential to buy people's hearts.

For example: during the grain purchase season, the nobles, as the leaders of the agricultural cooperatives, would come forward to negotiate with merchants, or directly organize people to transport the grain out for sale, to avoid being pressured by merchants.

Another example: promoting agricultural farming technology, coordinating civil conflicts, and occasionally giving loans for emergencies.

In this regard, the older nobles did a better job. They had already eaten their fill and washed their names ashore, so they would not easily joke with their own reputation.

…

Fortunately, this was the European continent, or else these guys would have already lost their heads.

Franz thought about whether or not to kick these feudal remnants out, but then he considered that he was also a feudal remnant, so he silently chose not to see it.

If it was to buy people's hearts, then so be it. Anyway, they were only operating in their original territory, and they did not extend their claws, nor did they want to rebel, so Franz was too lazy to care.

With these people watching over the place, they could still protect the people. At least the bandits, bandits, revolutionaries, and the like were exchanged for military merits.

That's right, arresting the revolutionaries in Austria was also a military merit. For these people who dared to rebel, Franz spared no effort to attack.

If they harbored and shielded the revolutionaries, then sorry, no matter who it was, they would not have an easy time. It was just a matter of how they died.

As a lesson from the past, the unlucky nobles exiled to the Arctic Ocean had the most right to speak. Of course, if technology developed a few hundred years later and could save people in a frozen state, they might have a chance to complain about Franz's atrocities.

Apart from those who were organized, there were naturally those who were not. Since these organizations had a positive role, Franz naturally did not mind promoting them.

It was too difficult to persuade the majority of farmers to carry out agricultural restructuring. The government enforced it. It would only make things worse.

If farmers were not allowed to grow food, they should at least tell them what to grow, right? Franz really did not dare to trust the bureaucrats with this kind of thing.

The bureaucrats could make a decision with a pat on the head and then leave. At that time, no one would know whether the cash crops planted could be sold or not.

The consequences were more serious than overproduction of food. Even if the food could not be sold, they could still keep it for themselves to eat, at least to ensure that the farmers would not starve.

If the cash crops could not be sold, then they could only rot in the fields. They could grit their teeth and endure a year of no harvest, but if it was like this for a few years in a row, the terrifying consequences made Franz shudder.

Holls was not opposed to the establishment of agricultural cooperatives. There were already many successful cases, and it was indeed beneficial to the development of agricultural production. As long as the successful experience continued to be replicated, it would be fine.

After some thought, the Minister of Agriculture, Holls, replied, "Yes, Your Majesty."

…