Holy Roman Empire

There is no way. Compared with other regions in Austria, the pillar industries of Lombardy are concentrated in light industry, among which cotton textile industry and raw silk industry are the main ones, and there are even some handicraft industries.

Compared with other industries, once they enter the era of free trade, they will be hit the hardest.Especially the cotton textile industry, which is a central pillar of the British.

Austria's advantages are mainly concentrated in emerging industries. Compared with the British, traditional industries have no obvious advantages, and are even at a disadvantage.

However, enterprises that are not enterprising are mostly concentrated in traditional industries.In essence, it is: you can make money without working hard, so why carry out technological innovation?

This is not what Franz wants to see. The survival of the fittest in the market is inevitable.Companies that cannot see the progress of the times and just want to make money lying down are destined to be eliminated.

Prime Minister Felix's face sank: "Give them time, do we still have less time for companies?

As early as 1865, the central government issued an announcement suggesting that enterprises should continue to reform and innovate to keep pace with the times.

In 1870, the central government again issued a warning to domestic companies, reminding them to improve their competitiveness.

But after so many years, what is the result?

On the one hand, they are clamoring for the government not to intervene in the market, and on the other hand, they want the government to implement trade protectionism.

Could it be that our domestic enterprises have degenerated to such a point that they rely on their shame to survive?

The government gives companies time, but who gives the country time?

With such fierce international competition, national development is like sailing against the current.

Instead of spending energy on these unenterprising garbage companies, it is better to focus on supporting more dynamic emerging industries.

Market competition is becoming more and more cruel, which is an inevitable law of human development. If a company cannot stand the challenge, it should close its doors as soon as possible, so as not to waste social resources. "

Opening up the market and entering the era of free trade economy is both a challenge and an opportunity.

The problems faced by the Kingdom of Lombardy are not unique. Many companies in Austria have similar problems.These companies are afraid of facing competition in the international market and become an obstacle to free trade.

However, with the rise of emerging industries, they occupy a larger and larger proportion of the national economy, and the voice of free trade is getting louder and louder.

Today, Austria's voice for implementing free trade has overwhelmed trade protectionism. Only when the time for reform is ripe has the Vienna government decided to carry out economic reform.

Tofus hesitated, he still had integrity, and it was impossible for him to open his eyes and talk nonsense.

Even if he is a representative of the Lombard Kingdom, he himself stands on the government's stand, and it is impossible for him to blindly speak for the capitalists.

It is only a high-level economic meeting, and the representatives of capitalists are not qualified to enter here, and the atmosphere is relatively relaxed.

Once it enters the implementation stage and expands the discussion, it is estimated that it will be lively.

Franz can be sure that at the beginning of the expanded economic crisis meeting, there will be a quarrel between those who support free trade and those who oppose free trade, and there may be a full-scale military exercise.

This is nothing, at the meeting organized by the government, the capitalists will somewhat restrain themselves.The civil war of words is the time when the bayonet on both sides is red.

Knowing is knowing, Franz will not interfere.Dividing the bourgeoisie has always been his established national policy.As long as the bourgeoisie is not monolithic, imperial power will be consolidated.

So far, things are going very smoothly.Because of the relationship of interests, capitalists in emerging industries and capitalists in traditional industries often have conflicts, and this economic reform is only a microcosm.

2零八章 金融市场

With the outbreak of the second industrial revolution, the total industrial volume of various countries has grown like a snowball, and the demand for the market and industrial raw materials is also increasing day by day.

The Vienna government is eager to promote free trade. In addition to the needs of domestic economic development, it also has ulterior strategic goals.

Once entering the era of free trade, Austria, which has an advantage in emerging industries, is bound to amplify this advantage and set a higher threshold for the future.

If it goes well, it will appear in the near future: the British occupy the traditional textile industry and shipbuilding industry; Austria occupies the world industrial pattern of the emerging power, communication, and internal combustion engine industries.

It can almost be said to replicate the economic rise of the Second German Empire, except that Austria has a stronger family background and is itself the largest exporter of agricultural products in Europe, backed by vast colonies.

Britain and Austria have divided up the world's industrial main body, what about the remaining countries?

In particular, France, which is second only to the two countries, has no advantage in competing with the British for tradition or for emerging industries with Austria.

It's not that the technology can't keep up, but the main reason is that there is no way to solve the problem of the supply of industrial raw materials.Unlike later generations, transportation in this era was not so developed.Once the distance is too far, the cost goes up.

It is too risky to defeat France militarily. France is now a large country with a population of nearly 6000 million. Even if the Italians do not contribute militarily, they can still contribute logistically.

Two dogs fight, play off.

Unless the war can be ended in a short period of time and the opponent can be completely defeated, otherwise the winner will be the fisherman.

As long as you look at the map, anyone with a little military common sense knows that France and Austria cannot win or lose in a short period of time, which is determined by geographical location.

By contrast, crushing France economically would be far less risky and far more likely to succeed.

Economically, the UK, France, and Austria are all competitors. Even if the London government likes to play the continental balance, it can only be a military balance, and there is no way to play a balance economically.

The economies of France and Austria have been out of balance for a long time, and the British have never thought about taking the French, which means capitalizing on the enemy.

Don't talk about strategy, capitalists don't have such high morals.Making money is the first priority. If you can kill a competitor and make more profits, why should you refuse?

No matter how big the threat of Austria is, it is also a problem in the future. It is impossible for capitalists to give up making money because of potential danger.

The most typical case is the rise of the Soviet Union in the original time and space.In terms of threat alone, this is far more terrifying than the current Austria, and the capitalists still cooperate with the Soviets for the sake of profit.

In the era of free trade, the economy is determined by the market, and government intervention is relatively small.Take the London government of this era, for example, they barely interfered in the market.

Needless to say, once Austria joins the free trade system, vested interests will push the two governments to unite and pull all the remaining countries into the free trade system.

There is no doubt that most European countries have no confidence to refuse. When everyone joins the free trade system, the French will be in trouble.

If they join the game circle, they are not competitive. If they do not join the circle, they will fall into the embarrassing situation of stand-alone.

Originally, France was excluded in the European continent. Napoleon III worked hard for 20 years before he was accepted by everyone. Now playing single player has returned to the previous state.

Maybe the British will give up the free trade system one day, but definitely not in favor of France.As long as the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, free trade is the trademark of the British.

Judging from the current situation, as long as you don't kill yourself, the British industry and commerce will be able to remain competitive in the next few decades. This is the foundation of an old industrial powerhouse.

……

Franz: "What is the reaction of domestic public opinion?"

Prime Minister Felix: "The voices of support and opposition are almost the same. The two sides quarreled very fiercely. I am afraid that the winner will not be determined in a short time."

It is not only the emerging industries that support free trade, but also the agricultural product processing industry. They are Austria's advantageous industries and are confident enough to participate in international competition.

Joining the free trade system and reducing import and export tariffs, these industries are all vested interests.

Some people benefit and others lose their interests. For example, the cotton textile industry is the most staunch opponent. Once the tariff barriers are abandoned, the British will inevitably seize a part of their market.

Of course, if these companies are competitive enough, they may also have the opportunity to go out and grab the British market.After all, these industries have low technical content, and the gap between everyone in technology is not large.

If it is not for the higher labor costs in Austrian Africa, it is estimated that the domestic cotton textile industry will move. Once it enters the era of free trade, cost control has become an indispensable part of the enterprise.

Franz: "Then provide them with a platform for debate between supporters and opponents, and the people who eat...the people do the refereeing."

Originally, Franz wanted to say "the people who eat melons", but the words came to his mouth and felt inappropriate, so he changed it to "the people" in time.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid this will make the riot even worse. Many people have already applied to the police station to apply for a demonstration." Prime Minister Felix persuaded

Franz shook his head: "It is precisely because the matter is so big that it is necessary for them to debate. If you don't give them a channel to vent, how can these losers be reconciled?"

It is better to let the capitalists fight against the capitalists than the government itself.Regardless of the outcome of the debate, reform is needed.

It's just that there is an extra layer of buffer, which allows those who have lost interests to shift the target of hatred.

This is what it should be. As the vested interests of the reform, they can't just take the benefits and do nothing. It is one of their responsibilities to raise hatred.

……

Chancellor of the Exchequer Carr: "Your Majesty, our negotiations with the British have been blocked, and the two sides have generally reached an agreement, but the British have asked us to open up the financial industry.

With the strength of the domestic financial sector, once the financial market is opened up, it will be difficult for us to gain an advantage. "

Not to mention an advantage, the strength of the Austrian financial world is not comparable to that of the French, let alone the British.If the restrictions are released, it is basically the fate of being hanged.

After hesitating for a while, Franz said: "It is impossible to loosen financial restrictions, domestic capital must be restricted, how can foreign capital be unrestricted?

Continue to talk to the British, British capital can be allowed to enter the securities market, but must comply with relevant laws.

If the British continue to be entangled in financial issues, the big deal is that we sign an agreement, and the capital of the two countries will not enter each other's financial markets, which is fair. "

Austria has never banned foreign capital from entering the financial market, but it is subject to many restrictions.If you want to run freely in finance, just wait for it to be confiscated by the management department!

Unlike the London financial market, where the rule makers deliberately left a back door, the Vienna financial market, which is often patched.

Taking advantage of the rules does not mean that you can make money, and you must be fast enough to complete the operation before the management department can react.

After so many years of patching, there are now very few loopholes in the Austrian financial market, and the difficulty factor has greatly increased if you want to shear sheep unscrupulously.

"No access to each other's financial markets", this is a complete joke.

It doesn't matter to Austria. The domestic financial industry is still in the stage of capital accumulation. Even if it wants to reach out to the London financial market, it does not have enough strength.

From the standpoint of the British, it is different.The London financial market is the financial center of the world, where capital from all over the world gathers to play games.

Except for a very few lucky ones, who can make money from it, most of the rest were harvested by the British consortium.

Foreign capital entering the London financial market is a fat sheep delivered to the door of the British financial consortium. Why should they be refused entry?

The British were the first to complete the industrial revolution. In the early years, relying on the advantages of the world's factories, they accumulated a large amount of capital. Since 20 years ago, there has been a surplus of capital.

In the original time and space, the United States was able to rise because the British wanted to vent their excess domestic capital, otherwise the country of heaven would not have developed so easily.

Austria was able to rise, and it also borrowed the capital of the British in its early years.It's just that Franz took advantage of the economic crisis and the rule-makers to pit British capital in the middle.

Now the British want Austria to open up the financial market, but they are actually scared.

It is enough to detonate the economic crisis ahead of time. This can only be regarded as insufficient means, and it will be enough to pay attention next time.

But the rules limit, it is hopeless.Many seemingly inconspicuous rules have little impact in normal times. Once the economic crisis breaks out, it can often be a fatal blow.

However, these rules are formulated in advance and are still public.It belongs to the rules of the game. If you don't notice it, it's your own problem, so they can't tell the pain.

The same trick, the British are also playing.The London financial market also has similar rules, designed to trap unsuspecting outsiders.

It's just that people like double standards, and they use the rules to trick others, that's a clever way; to be tricked by others' rules, it's unbearable.

learn from mistakes.British capitalists want to remove these rules after they have learned their lesson.

Franz was also very embarrassed, and he wanted to tell the British that this was completely overthinking.

The same tricks cannot be played all the time. With the constant regulation of the market, there are simply not so many traps to set.

It is a pity that no one will believe it. From the water supply and railway monopoly project Tiankeng created by the Vienna government at first, to the early detonation of the economic crisis not long ago, British capital suffered heavy losses.

From the standpoint of Austria, these are all normal operations and are completely in line with the rules of the game; but from the standpoint of British capital, these are huge pits.

2零九章 阳谋

After half a year of negotiations, Britain and Austria finally reached an agreement. On November 1877, 11, representatives of the two countries signed the "Anglo-Austrian Free Trade Agreement" in Paris, and Austria officially joined the free trade system.

I have to say that the Paris Conference is a comedy. It was originally intended to reconcile the contradictions between countries and eliminate international conflicts. As a result, what they wanted to do was not achieved, and many irrelevant treaties were born.

Thinking about it, it's right. After all, it was a high-level meeting from various countries. There was no result at all. How could you be so embarrassed to go back?

Digression is inevitable, everything is for performance.Up to now, the Paris Conference has produced eight treaties, involving most of the European countries.

This is only on the surface. No one can know how many secret agreements there are in the dark. In short, the Paris meeting did not come to fruition.

……

At the Palace of Versailles, Napoleon IV threw his glass and cursed angrily: "Damn Englishman, damn Austrian idiot, they must have done it on purpose!"

Napoleon IV's guess was correct. The Anglo-Austrian free trade negotiations were actually held in Vienna, and they went to Paris to sign the treaty, which was strongly requested by the British.

Needless to say, because the French arranged Queen Victoria so much, the London government could not fail to respond!

There is no way to stop the French from diplomatic protests. French newspapers dare to publish even the emperor's lace news, let alone the Queen of England?

From the initial "curse", it has developed to peach news, and even erotic novels have appeared, and the content is unsightly.

The strait cannot prevent the spread of entertainment gossip. By spreading these newspapers and novels, they have long since crossed the ocean and entered Britain, and spread it secretly.

Whether the content is good or not is one thing, but this is too degrading to the country and makes the British people very unhappy.Everyone asked the London government to stop the bad behavior of the French.

Of course, the British royal family should have played a major role in this.Under pressure from all parties, the London government will naturally take action.

Since it is impossible to stop the French, then make a big news, divert everyone's attention, and beat the French by the way.

The Anglo-Austrian Free Trade Agreement is undoubtedly the best trump card, hitting the French directly at the heart of it.If it is not handled properly, France, which is already falling behind, will really go into decline.

Chancellor Alan: "Your Majesty, now is not the time to be arguing with them, the priority is to minimise the impact.

Britain and Austria have reached an agreement, and it is estimated that it will not be long before the two countries will take action to draw more countries into the free trade system.

Now the major European powers outside the free trade system are only us and Spain.We must hold the Spaniards steady now, or we'll be in big trouble. "