Chapter 771 The approaching crisis
In fact, in recent years, the Austrian Empire, with Franz's agricultural reforms, has added a large amount of investment in agricultural machinery and chemical fertilizers.
If it weren't for the constant natural disasters over the years and the explosive population growth, food production at this time would probably be in excess.
Moreover, it was impossible for Franz to prevent Prussian and Russian grain from entering the Austrian market, because grain exports were the top products of these two countries and were the strongest rope for Austria to tie them to its own chariot.
At this time, the area of newly reclaimed cultivated land was also increasing, and agricultural reform was also deepening. In the next ten years, Europe's wheat yield per acre will double again, and this will end the era of famine.
In fact, the wheat hybrid project led by Father Mendel is also constantly improving varieties. The new wheat has higher yield per mu, fewer pests and diseases, and has a stronger ability to adapt to the environment.
In fact, Father Mendel preferred to cultivate other things than hybrid wheat, such as pumpkin-flavored watermelons, cucumber-flavored grapes and the like.
Father Mendel was more concerned with yield than taste, but these things were too dark for Franz, so he didn't provide much support.
Closer to home, the food produced by those colonies can only be fed to horses in Austria, and it may further cause the collapse of Austrian food prices. Selling it to the UK can not only make a lot of money, but also gain a good reputation.
After all, Franz sold the grain to Ireland, but it was bought by the British. The fault was with the British, not Franz.
In addition to the United Kingdom, food prices in France and Spain continue to soar, but Austria, which only has a few colonies, can keep food prices down. There is no reason for the world's first and second colonial empires to make their citizens unable to eat.
There is only one reason that can be explained, and that is that someone is hoarding. Franz is not surprised that this practice has been common throughout human history.
One of the reasons why no one in Austria dares to raise food prices is because of the establishment of the German Customs Union, the Apennine Customs Union, and the Russian-Austrian Friendship Alliance. The market mechanism is relatively complete. At the same time, the plate is too big for ordinary people to eat.
Another reason is that Franz once took action to regulate grain prices. Repeatedly, all businessmen with such ideas were bankrupted.
As for the bankers headed by Solomon, they were even more uneasy at this time, and they did not dare to go against the imperial family. Coupled with the establishment of the central bank, the era of individual bankers had come to an end.
As for why it has to be sold to the UK instead of France and Spain? Understand the 200% import tariff. Trade protection is not just talk.
Although Spain's customs is ineffective, and although there are a large number of smugglers in Belgium and Bavaria who are willing to do it for them, transportation capacity has to be sacrificed for the sake of concealment. After all, no one knows whether the other party will take advantage of the situation if pressed.
At the same time, although you can avoid tariffs by doing this, you can't escape commissions.
And when these grains are shipped to the UK, they can make a huge profit even if they are sold at low prices. The British Corn Laws had just been abolished, and the only people who could compete with Austria for the market were the Americans.
Although the price of food in Prussia and Russia is low, the shipping capabilities of the two countries are hard to describe. If the transportation work is contracted to the British, they will become wage earners, and it is better to continue to sell food to Austria.
Although the British crisis is getting worse step by step, they still need a little help. For example, grain prices plummeted, causing grain merchants to liquidate their warehouses.
So is it okay for those grain merchants not to buy Austrian grain? The answer is that it’s useless, because if you don’t buy it, there are people who do.
Even if they unite all the British grain merchants, the people will still buy it, and even the British government may take action.
As for whether grain merchants will stop their losses in time? The answer is no. 150% profit is enough to drive people crazy, especially for those chaebols with huge amounts of money.
So people who are hoarding have only one option, and that is to eat all the food before everyone reacts.
In fact, dozens of ships of food are just a small case in their eyes, and most of them even believe that the disaster will continue.
Franz had no interest in correcting their wrong ideas. He only wanted to find people worth saving to do business with, or to send people to the Austrian mainland or colonies.
Although it is impossible for Austria to absorb all the Irish disaster victims, and it will even cause certain chaos in the mainland and colonies, it can also bring relatively cheap labor, which can promote Austria's industrial development for a period of time.
At the same time, the reduction in the immigrant population will be an irreparable loss for the United States, and when those Irish who took refuge in Austria return to the UK, it will have a serious impact on the local society.
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This is the dividing line between planned economic crises -
Finally, a less dilapidated village appeared in front of me. In fact, it was similar to other villages. They were all thatched roofs and had earthen walls. The houses were arranged crookedly. The construction level was almost the same as that of the Middle Ages.
However, the people in the village were still energetic. When they saw the caravan, they did not flee in panic, nor did they kneel down to beg, or turned a blind eye.
Instead, each family began to go back to the house and rummage through the cabinets, hoping to find something that could be used for exchange.
There are also bold villagers who ask if they need fodder for their animals or if they need accommodation.
In fact, Franz also saw some crops that did not belong to the island of Ireland. They must have been left behind before the priests withdrew.
Franz thought of many ways and tried many plants, but at this time there was still no plant that could replace potatoes.
As soon as Franz stepped out of the carriage, a little boy ran over holding a shiny stone.
"Sir, can I trade these gems with you for some food?"
Franz picked up a piece and played with it in his hand. The so-called gems were most likely just pebbles that could be seen everywhere, but they were very round and smooth.
Franz nodded and took out a paper bag containing a few dry and hard biscuits. Although these cookies didn't taste good, they were very good at fighting hunger.
As for why they didn’t give them compressed biscuits, it was because they were afraid of choking them to death. After all, the children were too young, and compressed biscuits didn’t seem to be very good at resisting hunger.
The little boy ran home quickly.
Scathach Jennings was studying how to eat the red wheat grains. At that time, she didn't know how the priests made them into pancakes.
However, poor people have their own ways of slowing down and simmering in the fire. After a while, a pot of porridge mixed with vegetable leaves and unmolted sorghum was ready.
Scathach scooped out a spoonful and put it in his mouth and chewed it. There was an impatient expression on his face, but he still decided to swallow it reluctantly. As a result, his throat hurt as if it had been cut by a razor blade.
In order not to waste the food, she still covered her mouth and did not spit it out. There was a painful expression on her face, but she spoke to her younger siblings in a flash.
"It's not cooked enough. It will be better if it is cooked for a while."