Holy Roman Empire

In just four years, Austria immigrated more than [-] million people to the Near East, controlling most of the areas.

"The progress of the Near East development plan is still too slow, and at the current speed, it may not be completed in another ten years.

The international situation is becoming increasingly tense, and the possibility of war breaking out in Europe is increasing. We don't have enough time to wait. The government must find a way to speed up the development of the Near East. "

From the perspective of the outside world, the Near East is advancing at an astonishing speed, but in the eyes of Franz, it is still too slow.

Four years have passed, and the Near East is still a large construction site. Apart from the establishment of a number of small towns, slightly larger projects are in progress.

It was originally planned to complete the development and reconstruction of the Near East within ten years, but the reality told Franz that it was impossible.

Prime Minister Karl was shocked and said: "Your Majesty, our development of the Near East has progressed very fast. If we blindly speed up, a series of problems will appear later."

It is not impossible to speed up the progress, but it is already difficult to speed up the project while ensuring the quality of the project.

After all, there are few construction machinery and equipment these days, and it all depends on manpower.What restricts the rapid completion of the Near East development plan is not that the Austrian government does not work hard, but that social productivity cannot keep up.

Franz didn't study construction machinery, so he couldn't help on this issue at all.Even if it is possible to draw a picture of the equipment of later generations, it is only an appearance picture, and there is no idea what the inside looks like.

It is simply unrealistic to imitate engineering equipment by relying on outline drawings. Many mechanical equipment involve a lot of basic scientific knowledge, and they cannot be manufactured until they can keep up.

Franz shook his head: "The international situation is changing, and time waits for no one. If the Near East development plan cannot be fully completed in a short period of time, then the projects will be classified and the priority will be guaranteed for important projects.

For example: roads, bridges, stations and other projects should be ranked first; it doesn't matter if the new city construction project is later. "

Franz admitted that he was in a hurry, but his intuition told him that the day when the situation in Europe would get out of control was not far away.

Before the war broke out, the railway network would be rolled out to lay the foundation for the mainland to connect to Africa. He really didn't know what to do.

Prime Minister Karl reminded: "Your Majesty, after we issued the warning, the French have made concessions, and now the three countries of France and Germany have come to the negotiating table.

Judging from the current situation in Europe, the French are not yet ready for war, and the possibility of war breaking out on the European continent is still very small.

The development plan for the Near East that we formulated is a whole, and the various projects complement each other.

Slow down the urban construction along the way and blindly speed up the railway construction. For a long period of time in the future, the railway operation will fall into a state of serious losses, which is very economically uneconomical. "

It is not Prime Minister Karl's personal opinion that the war in Europe will not start for a while. Most people in the Austrian government hold this view. It can even be said that 99% of Europeans hold this view.

There was only a little friction between Fabides, and what the French did was at most political blackmail under military threats.

The biggest risk of war comes from the confrontation between the two major alliances. However, the relationship between the two major alliances is only worsening between Britain and Russia. France and Austria can only be regarded as normal stabbings between the great powers.

Franz shook his head: "If you lose money, you will lose money. Anyway, we never expect the railways in the Near East to make money. It is nothing more than a little thanks to the early completion.

In order to gain the strategic initiative, we can still bear this price. "

No matter how important the economic account is, it is not as important as the national strategic security.The railway runs through the Near East, which means that Austria has a strategic advantage over France.

Of course, this is based on the background of the continuation of the European war. If the winner is determined from the beginning, this plan will not be important.

Sometimes Franz wondered whether he should follow the example of Prussia, come to strike first, and catch the French by surprise.

Only after considering Britain and Russia, Franz decisively gave up this tempting plan.If you succeed, your gains are limited, and if you lose, you will lose your pants.

Not taking the initiative to provoke a war does not mean that Franz did nothing.The French dared to propose the overlord clause to the two countries, which was actually indulged by Austria.

It seems that the French have taken advantage of it, but they have also pushed themselves to the opposite of European countries.

On the surface, everyone showed weakness and did nothing, but the subconscious "French threat theory" has already surfaced in many people's minds.

Don't expect everyone to be rational. With this "subconscious mind", if the Franco-Austrian war breaks out, everyone will innately lean towards Austria when they stand in line.

……

On November 1888, 11, after a series of bargaining, the three countries of France and Germany signed the "Coal Export Agreement" in Paris.

Without any surprises, the French government won a complete victory. According to the treaty: Bethesda and Germany will export 5000 million tons of coal to France at a par price within the next five years, including no less than 800 million tons of high-quality coking coal.

The word "parity" expressed the bitterness of the two countries. Although there was no clear explanation in the treaty, everyone knew that this was an ultra-low price.

Specifically, less than a month after the signing of the treaty, the retail price of coal in France fell by nearly one-fifth as a whole.

Coal prices fell, the biggest beneficiary or the steel industry. In the last month of 1888, French steel production increased by 18% compared to the same period last year.

This is just the beginning of a second spring for French industry, fueled by falling energy prices.

The capitalists who got the benefits did not forget to sing praises to the government.Napoleon IV became France's greatest monarch overnight.

Everyone loves to hear good words, and Napoleon IV also enjoys reading the fancy praises in the newspapers.

Soon Napoleon IV couldn't be happy. After tasting the sweetness, the capitalists were not satisfied with it, but wanted to go further.

No matter how cheap "parity coal" is, it is not as profitable as getting it in your own hands, not to mention that parity coal is not very easy to buy.

The French government's pressure is nothing more than forcing Germany and Germany to cut taxes on coal exported to France. Coal mining companies still want to make profits.

Even if the government signs the treaty, the capitalists still don't have to buy it. After the treaty is signed, many companies instead increase the ex-factory price of selling to the French.

Some national capitalists even simply refused to sell coal to the French as a protest against the unequal treaty.

The governments of the two countries are also ethical. Their tax cuts have already reached the bottom line. It is simply impossible for them to force companies to lower prices for exports.

After the signing of the treaty by the three countries, the amount of coal imported by France from Bethesda and Germany fell instead of rising. "Affordable coal" does exist, but it cannot be bought.

It can also be seen from the decline in domestic coal prices that the price of coal imported by France is only on par with the international market, and the coal mining companies in Germany and Germany are not cooperative if they want to buy goods at a price lower than the market price.

The government did cut taxes, but people just don't want to cut prices.Everyone is a capitalist, who doesn't want to earn more?

The main contradiction now is not the contradiction between countries, but the contradiction between capitals.

According to conventional means, French capital naturally couldn't do anything to the coal bosses in Germany and Germany, so they could only ask the government for help.

……

In the Palace of Versailles, Napoleon IV frowned and asked, "What do you think of the Iron Guild's proposal?"

Foreign Secretary Karel Kadlec: "Your Majesty, we have just signed a treaty with Bee and Germany, and the international community cannot explain why we have breached the treaty so quickly.

Judging from the current situation, there is no possibility that the governments of the two countries will continue to make concessions. If they force them to make a deal, it may be counterproductive. "

In fact, from the very beginning, Karel Kadlec opposed excessive coercion of the two countries, and advocated the use of a unified procurement contract to lower prices.

However, the capitalists in the country do not cooperate, and everyone is used to being free. How about giving the purchasing power to the government?

Facts have proved that coercion cannot solve the problem. The governments of the three countries have indeed reached an agreement, but domestic companies still resist.

Although the sky-high price of coal no longer exists, it is still impossible to purchase cheap coal below the international average price.

Many companies in Belgium and Germany refused to export coal to France, not because of the patriotism of the capitalists, but because they were forced by domestic patriotism.

Nationalism has risen, and now you have to wear the hat of a traitor when you do business with the French.

Not only coal mining companies, but also many companies in the two countries are no longer cooperating with the French, and the whole society has set off a wave of boycotting French goods.

This is why French capitalists are eager to seek government help.

If the anti-French wave of the two countries is not suppressed, France will lose part of its limited international market.

Economy Minister Elsa: "Government intervention can indeed bring risks of uncertainty, but the current situation is out of control.

If the government does not intervene, not only will we not be able to get cheap coal, but we will also lose the market in the two countries.

There are indications that there is British capital behind this.The companies that took the lead in boycotting coal exports to us all have shares held by Ingo Capital. "

……

Chapter 118 Intensified

The University of Berlin, since the defeat of the Russo-Prussian War, has become the cradle of German nationalism, and various radical ideas emerge in endlessly.

Because of the failure of the war, the Kingdom of Prussia was burdened with huge debts. In order to repay the huge debts, the Prussian government had long been overwhelmed and had no money to develop the economy.

People's lives are under great pressure and their dissatisfaction with society is high, which naturally intensifies the spread of ideas.

After joining the German Confederation and receiving economic help from the central government, Prussia's domestic economy has improved slightly.

However, that's all over now.With the signing of the coal export treaty to France, the era of the German Federation relying on high-priced coal for huge profits came to an end, and the fiscal revenue of the central government dropped sharply.

Without this piece of income, the states are unwilling to pay taxes to the central government, and the central government itself is in a situation where it cannot make ends meet, so it is naturally unable to help the Kingdom of Prussia.

In this context, apart from the coal-rich Rhineland region, the Kingdom of Prussia reacted most violently.

From the very beginning, the Prussian government resolutely resisted negotiations with France, but they had little to say in the Federation.

Being able to let them enter the Imperial Parliament is the result of years of diplomatic efforts, and they have no decision-making power at all.

The arms cannot hold back the thighs, and the Berlin government can only passively accept it.The government accepted the reality, but the people couldn't help it.

Like all regions of the German Federation, anti-French demonstrations of various sizes broke out.

In the University of Berlin, a group of young students are having a heated discussion, and they know that this is an action to boycott the French.

……

A young student stepped onto the podium: "Students, the current demonstrations are useless, the French can't see it at all, and the weak government dare not fight against the French.

To change all this, we have to take more aggressive measures to let the damn French know that we are not easy to bully. "

Anti-French demonstrations are effective. Domestic newspapers and magazines stopped entertainment news to support the patriotic movement organized by the students.

Workers, the middle class, capitalists, and even government officials joined the demonstrations.

In some small states, the monarchs ran out to join in the fun and appeared in the crowd of demonstrations.

The influence is enough, but unfortunately the effect is not very good. The French did not choose to compromise, and the German federal government did not dare to tear up the treaty.

"Fritz, what is more active action?

Could it be to block the French legation?

It's useless, the corrupt central government has already sent troops to blockade the embassy area, we can't get in at all!

Petitioning the government is even more useless.

The Berlin government has always opposed compromise with the French. In fact, except for Hanover, all states do not support compromise with the French. "

As a state government, this kind of thing to be scolded of course has to be opposed.

Except for the central government of Hannover, who cannot escape and must go up, everyone else hides as far away as possible.

From the fact that the Imperial Parliament did not veto this treaty, we know that compromise is the common will of many states, but the Hanover family has been blamed.

Even William II, who had just succeeded to the throne, issued a letter of condemnation with righteous words, scolding the French and the central government together.

Anyway, under the system of the German Confederation, the central government can't do anything to the monarch of the state, and it will be scolded if it is scolded.

Prussia was willing to cooperate with the central government before in order to obtain economic assistance, which is also the condition for Prussia to agree to form a two-chamber empire with Hanover.

Now that the promised aid is gone, Wilhelm II did not turn his back on him, but just cursed a few times without pain, which is already very face-saving.

Fritz shook his head: "Of course not, the central government is too weak, Hanover colluded with Britain and France to betray the interests of the empire, this cannot be resolved by petition.

The best way to change the current situation is to let the French see our determination and force them to make concessions.

Although we called on the public to refuse to buy French goods before, this was not enough.We have to do more to get the French to compromise.

I have roughly calculated that the total annual import and export trade between the German Federation and France is about 6700 million Aegis.

Among them, light coal exports accounted for a quarter. Didn't the French want to plunder cheap coal, so we made them unable to buy a single piece of coal.

The coal exported by the British alone is not enough for the French.As long as the trade between the two countries can be cut off, there is no fear that the French will not compromise. "

This is a fact. Once the German Federation stops exporting coal to France, the French really can't find enough substitutes in a short time.

At present, the main coal-producing countries in Europe are Britain, Germany, Russia, and Austria. The Russian coal is shipped at sky-high prices, and Austrian coal is rarely exported.

Although the coal export volume of the British is large, the sudden increase in the market gap cannot be filled in a day or two.

In the enlarged version of France, the coal consumed every day is an astronomical figure.Once there is insufficient supply, the French economy will immediately have problems.

However, it is not only the French economy that is unlucky, but also the German Federation.

If the trade between the two countries is cut off, the German Federation will also suffer heavy losses. Countless companies will go bankrupt as a result, and millions of people may lose their jobs as a result.

Hearing this crazy plan, the rational Hans exclaimed: "Fritz, your plan is crazy. If you do this, the French will go crazy!"

Losses and the like are minor issues for nationalists.

After all, most of those who can enter the university are from relatively good families, and they have not been beaten by the society. I don’t know how heavy the economic loss is. The focus of attention is still the reaction of the French.

Don't look at the loud slogans everyone shouted. Don't be afraid that the French are just talking. If the French really call, everyone will still panic.

Fritz sneered: "If you want to defend national sovereignty, how can you not take risks?

Even if the French really called, so what?