Holy Roman Empire

Although it is known that France and Russia have been secretly eyeing each other for a long time, the news that the French issued bonds for the Russians still aroused strong dissatisfaction from the British government.

Prime Minister Gladstone frowned and asked: "Issuing bonds for the Russians at this time, what do the French want to do?"

The timing is too sensitive. It is okay to issue bonds for the Russians earlier or later, but it is chosen at the moment when Britain and Russia are turning against each other. The meaning of targeting is too obvious.

Foreign Secretary George explained: "The French are retaliating. We promised to support their expansion of their sphere of influence in Central Europe. However, when the French were seeking the coal interests of Belgium and Germany, the government chose to be neutral."

Is it really just "neutral"?

the answer is negative!

If the British government hadn't contributed to the flames and secretly held back the French, the anti-French wave in Europe would not have broken out so easily.

Perhaps in the eyes of the British government, if they did not directly jump out to oppose it, it would be considered the greatest support for France.

Secretly cheering up Beetle and Germany, and sending vague warnings to the French government, these hindering behaviors are all professional habits, and they are nothing at all.

Facing such an ally, the French government did not react violently, and that is the problem.

It's just mutual use, no one really regards the other as an ally, so it's not surprising that they cheated secretly.

In fact, the British dug the hole from the beginning.Supporting the French in "expanding their sphere of influence" is not the same as supporting the French in expanding their territory. These are two completely different concepts.

Perhaps during negotiations, in order to fool people, diplomats will make vague statements or make verbal promises.But on paper, there is absolutely no support for the French expansion into Central Europe.

The current French Empire is already very strong, and if they are allowed to expand to make up for the last short board, there will be a new round of soaring strength.

There is only one strait between Britain and France. If France continues to grow, Britain will really not be able to sleep.

Prime Minister Gladstone rubbed his forehead. This explanation left him speechless. From the standpoint of Britain, there is no problem with holding back the French.

The feud between Britain and France for hundreds of years cannot be resolved with a treaty.Containing the growth of France has always been the top priority of the British government.

Although Russia and Austria are also enemies, but because of the distance, the British government does not have a deep personal experience.

If it hadn't been for the tsarist government's eyeing on Central Asia and threatening India's security, the two countries would not have faced each other directly.

After hesitating for a while, Prime Minister Gladstone made a request: "Find a way to find something for the French to do.

They cannot be left idle, lest they hinder us, and at the same time they must contain Austria. "

To meet these two requirements, it can only let France and Austria pinch each other.Sowing discord has always been the British's forte.

With the current relationship between France and Austria, it seems that there is no need to continue to provoke, as long as the intensification of the conflict is enough.

After thinking about it, Foreign Minister George nodded: "No problem, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will find something for them to do as soon as possible.

It's just that in this way, the two countries of Beide and Germany were completely pushed to the side of Austria.With the ability of the Habsburg dynasty to attract allies, the French may suffer. "

Fao fought for the sake of the two countries. Once the conflict escalated, the two countries, which were the center of the storm, could not escape at all.

Even because the French government did not pay attention to eating, their international reputation has dropped again. As their neighbors, it is impossible not to worry.

In this context, once the situation in Europe is tense, even if Austria does not move, European countries will push Austria to check and balance the French.

In the absence of war, France and Austria will fight, and the weak French government will definitely suffer.

As for the real fight, George couldn't judge the result.After all, the French have a great reputation, and Austria has strong strength and many potential allies.

Prime Minister Gladstone sneered: "If you don't let them suffer, how will they know our importance.

As soon as the covenant was concluded, he hastily reached out to the Central European region, not even knowing when to choose a good time.

The French have had such a good time these years that they have become carried away and arrogant. "

……

Compared with the British government, in fact, Franz is more nervous about France and Russia getting closer.

This is determined by its geographical location. Austria is sandwiched between France and Russia. Once France and Russia get closer, Austria will face too much strategic danger.

It's just that there are some more historical lessons, Franz chose to hold back for the time being, pretending not to know anything.

Not only did it not suspend loans to Russia, but it also suppressed anti-Russian voices in the government.

"The matter of the Russians is over for the time being. No matter what the Tsarist government has done, we will now act as if nothing happened.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs can express dissatisfaction appropriately, and all other issues will be discussed after the outbreak of the Anglo-Russian War. "

There must be settlements after autumn, but the prerequisite must be after autumn.

If Austria broke out now and caused trouble for the Russians, how could the tsarist government have the confidence to compete with the British for the Afghan region?

If the Russians lost the war, they would definitely suffer heavy losses, and they might lose the national fortune gathered in recent years.

Although the current Russian Empire seems to be very powerful, but don't forget the previous wars, this old empire has been severely damaged.

The loss of several million young and strong cannot be made up in a day or two.

Comparing the population growth rate of the Russian Empire in the last 30 years, you can see how much damage the war has caused.

Especially after the Second Russo-Prussian War, the Russian Empire had negative population growth for many years, and now it can only keep the population from declining.

Against this background, if another million or 80 were filled in in Central Asia, and the war happened to be lost, the ruling foundation of the tsarist government would be shaken.

Of course, winning the war and these are minor issues not worth mentioning.Victory can suppress all dissatisfaction, and the Afghan region has been won, and the tsarist government will work together to fight for India.

The problem is that it is easy to win Afghanistan, but it is not so simple to digest the Afghan region.

Unless Austria's indigenous migration policy is followed and the locals are all moved away.

Otherwise, there will be guerrillas looting inside and the British watching outside, and the Russians will never have peace.

It is enough for Austria to push forward at the right time.Although it's a bit despicable to cheat allies like this, it was also the Russians who hooked up with the French first.

……

Secretary of Agriculture Hals reminded: "Your Majesty, according to the information collected by the Ministry of Agriculture, the food self-sufficiency plans of Britain and France have achieved phased results.

Especially the large farm plan of the French. Since the French government replaced a group of colonial officials, agriculture in French Africa has begun to develop rapidly.

If there are no accidents, France's staple food gap this year will be reduced to less than 180 million tons, and it won't be long before they can achieve food self-sufficiency.

However, it is said that the operating costs of the farms opened up by the French in Africa are relatively high. Only a small number of farms can make ends meet, and most farms rely on financial allocations. "

This result did not surprise Franz.

The food shortage in France is mainly due to the Italian region, and the food in this part is actually enough.

In order to reduce foreign exchange expenditures, in recent years, farms have been established in Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and other regions to make up for the food gap sooner or later.

As for the high cost of running the farm, that is a foregone conclusion.There are very few areas in French Africa that are suitable for the development of agriculture.

There are owners in many places, so we can't drive away all the owners, right?You must know that the owners of many local lands have long become French colonists.

In addition to robbing some of the indigenous land, most of the farms were developed by the French government. The natural conditions of many farms are not the best, and they can only be said to be passable.

If the water conservancy facilities are perfect, the subsequent problems should not be too big.But it all takes time, and it cannot be done in a short time.

In the short term, these farms have to rely on the sky for food, and the grain production is naturally not much higher.Coupled with the management of bureaucrats, a lot of extra costs have been added, and a loss is the normal operation.

Franz nodded: "The time is almost here, and it will take time to promote potash fertilizers. There is no need to continue to hide and pinch."

The promotion of chemical fertilizers at this time will definitely not be the one that suffers the most from Austria.

Affected by the drop in international food prices, Austria has been reducing the acreage of staple food in recent years.

In addition to satisfying domestic consumption, it is rarely exported.Domestic grain processing enterprises have also begun to import Russian grain vigorously.

In a sense, the recovery of the Russian economy against the background of falling international food prices is also due to Austria's policy of reducing food production.

It's just that such a good day will soon be gone forever.No matter how the production capacity is reduced, the agricultural volume of Austria is placed here.

Even the current potash fertilizers are not as effective as those of later generations, and the grain output only increases by 700%, which is enough food for [-] million people.

The increased output must be digested by the market.

Against the backdrop of self-sufficiency in Britain and France, the international grain market has not grown but is gradually shrinking.

With the increase in domestic grain production, Austria must take care of itself first, and it will be difficult for the Russians to find buyers for their grain.

The actual situation should be even worse. Potash fertilizers cannot be kept secret, and European countries will follow suit.

With the increase of grain production capacity in various countries, the international grain market will shrink sharply, and prices will continue to fall.

In a sense, this is used to smash the pot.Austria can find ways to increase food consumption and survive the agricultural crisis, but the Russians will be out of luck.

Immediately after the end of the Anglo-Russian War, the agricultural crisis broke out, which doomed the tsarist government to tighten its belt for many years to come.

Franz can swear to God that this kind of tactic of killing one thousand and self-defeating one hundred was definitely not aimed at allies in the first place.

It was originally planned, and when the British and French food self-sufficiency plan is completed, they will start to smash the pot, dragging everyone into the era of food cost sharing.

However, the plan did not change quickly, and when it was implemented, it was suddenly discovered that it seemed that the Russian Empire was the biggest victim.

For no other reason, Britain, France and Austria are all industrial countries, supported by domestic industrial chains, and only the Russians are heavily dependent on agriculture.

Chapter 123 The Minister Case Breaks Out

In the Prime Minister's Office in Downing Street, the atmosphere was particularly strange at this time.

Prime Minister Gladstone snarled: "What does the police force do, and why do things like this happen?"

There is no way, just a few hours ago, the Russian ambassador to London, White Nicholas, was attacked on his way to the British Foreign Office, and now he has seen God.

Not to mention that Britain and Russia have not officially started a war, even if it has already started, the British government can only expel the Russian minister at most, and must also ensure the personal safety of the Russian minister before leaving.

According to the rules of the game, governments of all countries are obliged to protect the personal safety of foreign ministers. Now that the accident happened to the Russian minister, the British government cannot absolve itself of the responsibility.

Police Secretary Rogers replied bitterly: "It was a complete accident. Minister White encountered demonstrators on his way to the Foreign Office.

The journalists who followed the crowd stepped forward to interview, but the language of Minister White's answer was a bit extreme, which aroused the dissatisfaction of the public, and conflicts broke out between the two sides.

Although the accompanying police officers stopped the crowd, it is not known who took the lead in throwing objects at Minister White. A stone happened to hit Minister White on the head, and the rescue failed and he died on the spot. "

An explanation is a cover-up. It has already happened. It is a fact that the police did not do a good job in security work. No matter how you explain it, it will not be clear.

It seems to be an accidental conflict, is it really such a coincidence?

Prime Minister Gladstone was deeply skeptical and sarcastically said: "It's all a coincidence, and the Police Department has no responsibility at all.

So tell me, the accident happened on the busiest street in London, how did the flying stone come from? "

Unexpected encounters and language conflicts are all understandable, after all, the two sides stand on different positions.

But the flying stones are very problematic.On the busiest street in London, if there were stones on the ground, sanitation workers would have cleaned them up long ago.

To participate in demonstrations, bring some bread, everyone can understand, who is full and takes a stone?

Even if some people have eccentricities, it is impossible for a group of people to have eccentricities. There is only one stone that hits the vital point, but there are many stones that attack Minister White.

Police Secretary Rogers said: "According to the suspects arrested by the police, the stones were intended to be used to smash glass.

We have confirmed that the demonstration team is heading for the Russian embassy.Recently, this is the third time that people smashed the glass of the Russian embassy.

Based on all kinds of information, we determined that this was an accident, mainly due to the fact that the Russians deceived others too much.

According to the personnel at the scene, when the reporter asked about the Russian army's sneak attack on our Afghan garrison, Minister White publicly clamored: Even if we did it, so what?

This sentence aroused the anger of the people, and only then did the following things happen.

It happened so suddenly that the police responsible for protecting Minister White had no time to disperse the crowd. "

Avoid the important and ignore the minor, artistic processing is equal to the final answer.

It's not that Rogers is irresponsible, it's mainly because of this kind of thing, there's no way to get to the bottom of it, the best way is to close the case as soon as possible.

The longer things drag on, the more troubles will follow.No matter what the government thinks, in the hearts of many people, the person who killed Minister White is a British hero.

Prime Minister Gladstone hesitated to speak, and the public didn't know what was going on. How could they, the planners, not be clear.

The Russian army's sneak attack on the British garrison in Afghanistan was originally a fake, and the Russians, who were blamed, naturally couldn't admit it.

White, the Russian minister in London, was originally a straightforward person.It is normal to be provoked by reporters and say a few radical words.

Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Foreign Minister George said: "The matter has reached this point, and it doesn't matter how Minister White died.

No matter what answer is given, the Russians will not approve it, and we must prepare for the worst. "

A minister died, and no country would accept such a confusing explanation before receiving compensation for benefits.

There is no doubt that the relationship between Britain and Russia has broken down, and it is impossible for the British government to offer benefits to compensate the enemy now.

"Ugh!"

Prime Minister Gladstone sighed.