Chapter 874

The tense international situation had not only pushed up prices, but it had also affected international trade. The trade volume of almost all countries was declining.

In particular, the Fao and Austria, which were in the center of the storm, suffered the most. The Fao's companies engaged in international trade were busy collecting payments and no longer accepted reservations. They had to trade in cash.

There was no other way. No one knew when the war would break out. Once they became belligerents, they could not expect the other party to pay.

Contracts had no effect here. The destructive power of war was amazing. Even if they won, the other party had no money to pay the balance. If they lost, it would be even worse. There had never been a winner who paid the loser.

It was the same for countries and enterprises. An armistice treaty could erase all the previous debts.

Anyway, the European war was imminent. The capitalists had long been eager to make money from the national crisis and did not care about the small profits from foreign trade.

Versailles Palace. Ever since the Central European strategy was decided, Napoleon Iv's spirit was highly tense.

Although he was confident, the lesson of Napoleon's failure was a lingering shadow in his mind.

Napoleon Iv asked expectantly, "How far has the diplomatic work gone? How many countries have accepted our goodwill?"

There was no hope for Napoleon Iv to get an ally. Obviously, the European countries would not do something like asking a tiger for its skin.

France did not have enough benefits to buy everyone to participate in the war. The best choice was to divide the European countries and not let them unite against France.

The Foreign Minister, Karel Kadlec, replied calmly, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has completed the preliminary task. We have persuaded Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and the Nordic Federation to remain neutral.

If the military has no plans to send troops from Switzerland, then Switzerland will also remain neutral in this war.

The British support us. Russia wants to mediate the war. After we refused, the Tsarist government is very angry and may stand on the side of Austria.

But before the war is decided, they will be neutral and observe the situation. After the Austrian army is defeated, Russia will intervene.

It may affect our gains, but it will not affect the outcome of the war. For the Tsarist government, a strong Austria was not in their interest.

In addition to these countries with a little influence, the remaining Greece and Montenegro are very limited and not qualified to influence the war. They are also heavily influenced by Austria, so there is no value in winning them over.

The only enemies we really need to face are Belgium, the German Confederation, and Austria. The specific gains will be taken by the military on the battlefield. "

It was obvious that Karel Kadlec was an optimist. Even if it was one against three, he was still sure that the French army would win.

As for the diplomatic work, it was not easy to get to this point. Even with the help of the British, Karel Kadlec could claim great credit for achieving such results in a short period of time.

Germany and Germany were the targets of France's expansion, and Austria was France's biggest competitor. It was impossible to bypass these three enemies.

In fact, the French government had also thought of dividing the three countries. For example, they would first annex Belgium and then take over the Rhineland region.

Unfortunately, the British behind the scenes did not agree. Austria, who had signed an alliance with Belgium, would not tolerate such a thing either.

Of course, if they attacked the German Confederation first, the possibility of Belgium remaining neutral was very high. After all, the priority of a small country was survival.

Unfortunately, Belgium's geographical location was good. To attack the German Region, it was best to go through Belgium. Otherwise, they would have to cross the mountains.

Not only would it take a long time, but the success rate would also be very low. In comparison, it was more cost-effective to get rid of Belgium as well. Anyway, their plan included annexing Belgium.

Napoleon Iv nodded and said with certainty, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did a good job this time. Your next job is to stabilize these countries and stop them from causing trouble."

France would have to fight on two fronts to deal with Belgium, Germany, and Austria alone. If other European countries joined in, they would not be able to fight.

It was not that the French army could not fight, but that they could not take care of so many places. Although the French army had mobilized millions of troops, the main force was still the original hundreds of thousands. The new troops could only follow suit and fight smoothly.

Once the troops were divided, the French army's combat advantage would not be obvious. No matter how elite the troops were, they would be killed on the battlefield if they did not have enough troops.

Karel Kadlec did not get carried away by Napoleon Iv's verbal praise. He analyzed, "Your Majesty, we are about to encounter a new problem.

The minister in Vienna sent news that a week ago, the Austrian government had reached an agreement with the Russians to buy out the grain that the Russian Empire planned to export this year at a 25% premium.

Two days ago, Austria's Foreign Minister Wesenberg had a secret meeting with the German and Belgian envoys and seemed to have reached an agreement.

All signs point to the fact that this agreement is directed at us. If there are no surprises, the three countries will impose a material embargo on us in the near future.

The other supplies are fine, but the problem is coal and food. Once the three countries impose a material embargo on us, we can only rely on the British for coal, and we can only find ways to get food from overseas. "

The Government of France did not have a complete emergency reserve system. Even if they had stored food and coal, they were hoarded by capitalists for the sake of making money from the war.

It might be an astronomical figure for an individual, but for a country, it was a drop in the bucket.

If there was a problem with either energy or food, it would cause fatal damage, not to mention when both of them had problems together.

The lack of coal was still manageable. Britain and France were now allies, and the Government of London wanted the Fao to suffer losses on both sides. Naturally, they could not watch the French collapse because of a lack of coal.

At worst, they would take advantage of the situation and sell it at a sky-high price. It was not like the French had never sold coal at sky-high prices before. After withdrawing from the free trade system, France was retaliated with sky-high prices of coal.

The British themselves were food importers and had no ability to support the French at all.

Of course, the food production cycle was not long. As long as they got through the most difficult period, the rest could be solved.

Roy Vernon, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was shocked. "A 25% premium? Are the Austrians crazy?

Do the Government of Vienna have too much money to spend? Even if they want to win over the Russians, there is no need to go through so much trouble. "

Because of the tense situation in Europe, international food prices had soared. At this time, a 25% premium would double the price of the food they bought.

Food was a commodity that was traded in bulk. The total amount of food exported by the Russians every year was in the millions of tons. A doubling of the price meant that the Government of Austria would have to pay tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of SD in funds.

Prime Minister Terence Burkin shook his head. "No, the Austrians are not crazy. If they don't snatch the food, the food may fall into our hands.

If nothing goes wrong, the food being snatched is not only from Russia, but also from the American countries.

They can't beat us on the battlefield, so they naturally have to resort to such despicable means. Moreover, the cost they pay may not be as high as we think.

Whether it is the Russians or the American countries, they are all Austria's debtors. As creditors, they can directly use their claims to offset.

But if they think they can defeat us with this, they are taking it for granted.

We have not been busy in recent years for nothing. The Large Farm Project has been able to provide millions of tons of food for the country every year, enough to meet most of the domestic needs.

In times of war, we can also take extraordinary measures. The government can call on the people to save food, and at the same time, introduce temporary laws to prohibit the use of food to feed livestock, prohibit the use of food to make wine …

As long as we persist for a few months, when we defeat the enemy, these problems will be solved. "

Food reserves were insufficient, and they could not buy enough food from overseas. What else could they do but think of ways to stop the flow?

Of course, it was to start the war in advance!

It was not that France did not produce food, but the output was not enough for consumption. It did not mean that they did not import food and would soon run out of food.

The domestic food could still last for a few months. As long as they won the war before the crisis broke out, then all the problems could be solved.

Hearing this bad news, Napoleon Iv's face suddenly became gloomy.

At this time, he could not help but feel lucky that he insisted on promoting the Large Farm Project. Otherwise, it would be a tragedy now.

He did not know how much food the capitalists stored, but the storage time of a batch of food was usually not more than half a year.

On one hand, the storage time was too long, which increased the storage cost and loss. If the food was unsalable, the new food would become old food, which would be worthless.

On the other hand, squeezing too much food in hand would take up a lot of liquidity and increase the risk of operation.

After pondering for a while, Napoleon Iv slowly said, "The Prime Minister is right. Now we must think of ways to save food. The government should make an announcement as soon as possible.

From now on, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will buy food all over the world. I don't believe the Austrians can buy all the food. "

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