Chapter 119 In dire straits

Chapter 119 In dire straits

As for the chaos in the church, Franz had expected it. If they had missed this incident, they would not be called idiots.

The last time the Starvation Stone was discovered in Austria was during the Napoleonic Wars in 1800, when natural disasters claimed the lives of nearly half a million people in Austria.

Austria is a country with a dense network of rivers, but this year there were a lot of fights over water.

Lakes and swamps in Austria are even showing signs of drying up. Of course, for farmers, drying up of swamps is a good thing, as it saves them from pumping water when clearing wasteland. As a result, a large number of swamps have been developed into fields.

For these pioneers, they only need to pay a fee to the Austrian government to become the new owners of this land.

The Austrian government strongly encourages land reclamation because it can increase food output and increase national income.

However, as the drought continued, more and more places were experiencing water supply problems. This situation had not occurred for decades. For a time, the entire Austrian Imperial Government was extremely busy.

Coupled with the church's fueling the flames, the whole of Austria looked like it was in imminent disaster, so smart people had begun to hoard food. Although the current food price had been driven up by Franz, the facts that happened before them made them reluctant. Join in without holding your nose.

Although the drought is very serious, it is not bad for Austria because there are enough rivers. But other European countries are not so lucky.

The most serious ones are of course Spain and France. French agriculture has been hit hard again, and food prices in Germany are also rising this year.

Of course, smart French people have already started hoarding food. Because of the downturn in French agriculture in recent years, the French have always had the habit of hoarding food, so it is not a big problem to survive this year's crisis.

Of course, other European countries are not doing well, including the high-latitude United Kingdom, where forest fires occur frequently, and coal miners are even worse. Many of them suffocate to death in the mines.

There were even a large number of heat-related deaths in southern Italy, and even the mosquitoes fled here.

King Ferdinando II of the Two Sicilies was sitting at the table at this time, with reports presented by his officials in front of him.

"The people in the Two Sicilies are in urgent need of help. Now the farmers don't even dare to work in the fields for fear of being heated to death. I ask you to consider opening warehouses to release grain."

"Fart! Fart! Are these unruly people worthy?" Ferdinando II slammed the report on the table. Nine months ago, he was still a "wise king" known for his freedom and open-mindedness.

Until the people of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies fired cannons at Ferdinando II's palace, launching an uprising demanding that the king's rights be deprived of his power, and at the same time shattering all of Ferdinando II's illusions, he no longer felt free. Doctrine can save his country.

Ferdinando II, who had a broken dream, turned to conservatives and became overeating like his ancestors. In less than a year, he became a fat man of 200 pounds.

This time, instead of rescuing his people, he ordered his soldiers to seize the land of farmers who could not deliver food.

It increased the country's income in the short term, but it also planted huge hidden dangers for his rule.

The migration of mosquitoes from southern Italy to the north is a bitter experience for northern Italians, who have never seen such large and ferocious mosquitoes.

In fact, Italy's warm and humid climate is conducive to the breeding of mosquitoes, and there were no effective insecticides at this time, so the number of mosquitoes in Italy quickly reached a terrifying level.

The raging mosquitoes also brought the spread of malaria. People throughout Italy were panicked and asked the Pope to "repellent mosquitoes".

So Pope Gregory XVI went to St. Peter's Basilica to pray. On the day of the prayer, a "tiger mosquito" bit the pope hard on the face.

Pope Gregory XVI immediately stated that he had endured the disaster alone, and the next day he was infected with malaria and was unable to attend mass.

Europe is in dire straits, but things are going smoothly in North America. U.S. grain exports are expected to double this year.

In Mexico, Franz signed grain purchase contracts with some farmers in the south. Of course, the price was definitely lower than what was on the market, but compared to farmers who grew other crops, they still made money.

With the construction of American railroads, the United States' control over the West was strengthening, and the French and Mexicans were their biggest enemies before Manifest Destiny.

American immigrants continue to illegally cross the US-Mexico border in search of their own land. This time, the Mexicans do not tolerate it, but catch and kill each one. This has escalated the conflict between the United States and Mexico.

However, in the eyes of Americans, the real threat is the French. After the French obtained Texas, they continued to immigrate to Texas. Now the number of French in Texas has almost exceeded the number of local Americans. .

The French's Texas was not affected by the extreme climate. There was a large amount of virgin land here, which made the French excited.

What excites the French even more is that not only does it produce cotton, it can also provide food for the local area. It is simply many times better than Algeria.

As early as 1830, France sent troops to expedition to Algeria. On July 5 of the same year, France occupied Algeria.

Algerian Governor Hussein offered Algeria to France without resistance, but was exiled.

But the struggle of Algeria's indigenous Arabs and Berbers has never stopped.

Louis Philippe was troubled by this. This war had lasted eight years, while Texas was completely different. France received it very smoothly and did not even encounter a little resistance.

At the same time, it can bring huge returns to France, which further strengthens the French's North American policy.

The number of French troops in Texas has reached 8,000. Of course, most of these soldiers are reclaiming wasteland and engaged in construction and the like.

Although France is in dire straits, French people don’t like to immigrate abroad very much. Therefore, even if the French government gives a very good immigration policy, there is no large-scale immigration wave. Twenty thousand people are really not enough for France with a population of 31 million. many.

The plan of the French colonial authorities is to immigrate 100,000 to 200,000 people within five years, and then continue to purchase land in North America to eventually recreate France in North America.

However, the actions of the Americans aroused the vigilance of the French. The French felt that the Americans were targeting France with their crazy military expansion.

After obtaining the consent of the British, the French decided to send an additional 20,000 troops to Texas. This would not only ensure the security of Texas, but also increase immigrants to reclaim wasteland.

The proposal for additional troops received strong support from Louis Philippe, who had been promoted by the Americans as an impostor and an evil tyrant.

In fact, this is just the propaganda needs of the Americans, but Louis Philippe cannot accept this. What he hates most is that some people question his unqualification to be the king.

However, the proposal to increase troops was opposed by Texas Governor Gabriel, because he felt that Texas was now in a special period and a special position.

He was afraid that the influx of a large number of troops would alert the United States and Mexico, and that a large number of immigrants would most likely conflict with the locals.