Holy Roman Empire

Gone are the days when production orders were scheduled several years later and goods were obtained through relationships.

For the survival of the company, McCall had to let go of his face, actively participate in social communication activities, and strive to maintain the relationship with customers.

Of course, this is not enough.Capital seeks profit, and if the product quality is not good, no matter how good a relationship is, it will not matter.

One of the important factors to be able to maintain the current basic market is that everyone is in the same consortium and has a certain proportion of cross-shareholdings.

Everyone is a community of interests. When the price/performance ratio of products is comparable, everyone is more willing to use their own products.

If the performance is incomparable, it can only kill the price.The machine tool industry, which was originally a huge profit, has recently reached the price of cabbage.

In the pure machine tool business, it is now a loss to sell one machine.If it wasn't for the after-sales service that can still make money, McCall's machine tool company can consider closing down now.

Shortened the wine glass and touched the visitor, McCall asked with a smile: "Byron, I haven't seen you for a long time, how are you doing recently?"

No matter how much inner pressure there is, he has [-]% enthusiasm for his client McCall.It is this kind of positive marketing attitude that allows McCall to overwhelm his domestic counterparts and secure his position as the leader in the subdivision track.

The middle-aged man shook his head and replied with a wry smile: "It's very bad. The damn Austrians are like rats, constantly grabbing our wealth.

I haven't had a good day since they introduced their new model last year.To tell you the truth, I've had three layoffs since the beginning of the year. "

It's no secret. You can tell what kind of life the British car companies are living by looking at the brands of cars running all over the street.

The characteristic of industrialization is: the more the same product is produced, the lower the production cost of a single product.

Britain's automobile industry did not start late, it could even be said to be very early.As early as 1680, Newton, a famous British scientist, conceived of the jet car.Although the jet car was not successful, the idea of ​​the car was brought forward.

In 1804, British engineer Richard Trevithick built the world's first steam engine car, which opened the prelude to the British automobile industry.

It's a pity that the king at the beginning was played bronze in the end.Since then, the history of automobile development has shifted from Britain to France, and then to Shinra.

The steam engine car is also a car. Although it is not very convenient, it is still very valuable in certain occasions, so it is still produced in small numbers.

Logically speaking, British auto companies with industrial heritage should not be left behind. The key to the problem lies in the second industrial revolution.

Missing the wave of the second industrial revolution, internal combustion engine technology has not kept up, and the engine of the car has become the biggest shortcoming in the British auto industry.

The performance of our own engines cannot keep up, so we can only import them from overseas. Anyway, now is the era of free trade, and we can buy whatever we want.

The core technology is controlled by others, and it is impossible not to pay the price. The most direct manifestation is the increase in production costs.

It's just that the engine is expensive, and it can be tolerated, and the big deal is to make a little less money.

The problem is that the production capacity of automobiles in Britain is very low, even the production of spare parts is not high, and the cost of production will naturally not be reduced.

Most of the spare parts produced locally are not only more expensive than imported ones, but also cannot keep up with the performance.

Supporting domestic production does not exist, and the pursuit of capital for profit is naturally to buy cost-effective products. The direct consequence is that British automobile manufacturers have become automobile assembly factories.

In addition to bearing the name of a car manufacturer and having an extra car logo, the auto repair shop outside their work is also capable.

With the development of science and technology, information is becoming more and more transparent.After discovering this point, more and more auto repair shops have played cross-border, intensifying market competition.

The domestic competition was already very fierce, but I didn't expect the international competitors to kill me again.Relying on the advantages in performance, many of Shinra's car brands have gained a firm foothold.

The first is the fall of high-end brands. If you look at the cars in the manor, you will know that they are almost all imported cars.

Including Byron, a car manufacturer, the cars are also imported.There is no way, their own products are actually worse in performance.For the sake of life safety, everyone knows how to choose.

If the high-end market is lost, it will be lost. There are not many sales in the first place.Before the influx of imported cars, the most important means of transportation in British society was horse-drawn carriages.

It is different now, and a large number of cheap cars have followed suit.Assembly plants without core technology will naturally have a hard time, and a large number of market shares will be squeezed out.

In order for the company to survive, Byron had to choose to lay off employees and reduce production.But these can only relieve the urgent need, and it is far from enough to survive the crisis.

Customers were having a hard time, so McCall naturally couldn't bring up the order.In a sense, everyone is in the same boat now.

If you want to live a comfortable life, you can only destroy the free trade system first and rely on tariff barriers to protect the market.

"Be optimistic my friend, it will get better. The difficulties are only temporary and the main problem is the free trade system.

Without this system, we would have been able to raise tariffs to protect the market and buy time for businesses to grow.

That's what the Austrians did back then. If it weren't for the implementation of the trade barrier policy, they would never have become the world's number one industrial power. "

Lying is also a science. As a qualified capitalist, this is the most basic survival skill.

Although McCall himself didn't believe that Britain's industry could be overtaken by trade protection, but in terms of momentum, it must not be cowardly.

He raised his wine glass and touched it, and Byron drank it all in one gulp, and then said with the same hatred: "My friend, you are right.

It's all the fault of that wicked Free Trade Agreement, without which the wealth of Britain would not have been stolen.

For the sake of Britain, we must right this wrong.We must not let this damn treaty continue to poison the future of Britain..."

……

Chapter 85 The Far East

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes.Once interests are involved, everything becomes complicated.

Some people are against "free trade", and some people are also in favor of it.Not everyone is a victim of "free trade". On the contrary, there are also many industries in Britain that are beneficiaries of free trade.

For example: the coal industry.

Since the last century, Britain has been the world's largest coal exporter.Today, almost a third of the UK's coal production capacity is exported.

Once the free trade system is withdrawn, the good times of the coal bosses will be over.With tariff barriers, British coal would lose its cost advantage.

If the energy industry cannot monopolize the market, their core competitiveness is cost.Without the cost advantage, it is almost inevitable that the market will be occupied by others.

Another example: the textile industry.

Although the textile industry has been severely impacted by the wave of industrialization, Britain is still the world's largest textile exporter.

Even though the share of British textiles in the international market has shrunk due to the expansion of the economic development market, the total amount of textile exports has not declined much.

The data are all false, only making money is true.Regardless of the future market prospects, at least for now it is still profitable.

Once the free trade system is withdrawn, one of these export-oriented enterprises counts as one, and no one can expect to have a good life.

Driven by interests, Britain's industrial and commercial circles have been divided.The palms and backs of the hands are full of flesh, and the consortium bosses who control the industry and commerce behind the scenes are also very troubled.

Who to support and who to oppose is never a decision that can be taken for granted.In essence, a consortium is a collection of interests of a group of capital, which does not have strong binding force.

The strength of the consortium is when everyone's interests are aligned.Now that there are differences among the members, the power of the consortium has actually been weakened to the extreme.

If the interests of some members are seriously damaged, the consortium may split in minutes.Against this background, all the bigwigs of the consortium can do is to reconcile the conflicts of all parties as much as possible.

Naturally, the issue of whether to withdraw from the free trade system cannot be settled immediately due to the internal division of capital.

Without trade barriers to protect the market, the London government's economic stimulus policy is tantamount to useless efforts.

Regardless of how the policy stimulates, the industry that does not work will always fail.Products are not competitive in the market, and no amount of preferential policies are available.

If economic problems cannot be solved, political reform will be even more difficult.With the exception of the Industry Disputes Act, which touched the economy, most of the reforms put forward by the Campbell government were rejected by the House of Lords.

For example: reduce the power of the House of Lords, support Ireland's self-government, and give the colonies higher autonomy...

With so many cheesy reform proposals on the table, life quickly became difficult for the Campbell government.

In order to safeguard their own interests, the conservatives were forced to unite together, using the parliament as a front, and kicked off the prelude to the "talk war" with the reformers.

……

Downing Street, the official residence of the Prime Minister.

Looking into the distance through the window, Prime Minister Campbell sighed deeply.At this moment, his mood was similar to the weather in London, which was gray.

As a sign of the advent of the industrial age, London has been shrouded in smog since the last century.

Especially in winter, it is common for visibility to be less than 50 meters.If it were not for the invention of fog lights, driving in London would not be possible in winter.

The weather was crazy, and Campbell couldn't care less.Since the beginning of the reform, he hasn't had a good night's sleep, and countless troubles come to his door every day.

Conservatives and reformers have quarreled, and the contradictions between the two sides have almost become public.The battlefield has spread from the initial parliament to the whole society.

The radio and newspapers are the main battlefield of the debate between the two sides.

"The public says the public is right, and the mother-in-law says the old woman is right."

As the debate unfolded, not to mention ordinary people, even intellectuals and middle-class elites were confused.

In fact, Campbell himself was a little confused.Although he proposed the reform policy, after hearing the reasons of the opposition, Campbell was not sure that the reform would be successful.

The persimmons need to be pinched softly, and political reform is put aside for now. The most important thing right now is to reform the economy and reverse the deteriorating economic situation in the country.

Only when the economic reform is successful and sufficient prestige is established, can political reform be further promoted.

After releasing his emotions, Campbell turned around and asked, "Who has the upper hand outside now?"

Unlike other countries, there is not much power gap between reformers and conservatives in Britain.

Then there was a weird scene. During the debate, no one was able to overwhelm anyone.

Today the reformists have the upper hand, and tomorrow the conservatives have the upper hand. No one knows what the final result will be.

The complicated and confusing situation has made speculators in the government afraid to stand in line.How can the reforms go on without the help of bureaucrats?

Minister of the Interior Azevedo: "There is no result yet. The strength of the diehards is too strong, and it may be difficult to tell the winner in a short time.

However, the agricultural guild we have wooed has already made a move, and it is in their interest to withdraw from the free trade system. "

Compared with the industrial and commercial circles, the British peasants are the real tragedy.Restricted by geological conditions, there is not much land suitable for agricultural development in the British Isles, and the cost of agricultural production is relatively high.

Facing the impact of foreign agricultural products, British agriculture can be said to be "only able to parry, but not to fight back."

But they can't make a fuss, because Britain's food production is simply not enough to meet their own needs.

Since it is imported food, the cheaper the better.All walks of life stand together, and the interests of farmers will naturally be sacrificed.

It is not only ordinary farmers whose interests are damaged, but also farmers and nobles who own land.

They have a say in politics, but compared with the business community, their power is obviously much weaker.

In order to change this passive situation, agricultural guilds were organized among these people.Unite politically and fight for your own interests.

From the sales prices of agricultural products on the market, it can be seen that the agricultural guild has not achieved the goal that everyone expected.

It's not that the agricultural guilds don't work hard, it's mainly because the politicians are too shameless.Say one thing before going on stage, and do another thing after going on stage.

After investing many times, they all ended in failure, so that everyone lost confidence.

If it weren't for the fear of being tricked, these guys would have participated in it long ago. The abolition of tariff barriers in the free trade system will be of great benefit to agriculture.

Prime Minister Campbell nodded, and sighed: "It's better to be like this! Otherwise, if this stalemate continues, it will do too much harm to the country."

The matter of the agricultural guild was not mentioned at all, and it was clear that Campbell was not ready to fulfill his promise.

There is no way around this. Britain's food production is limited, and it cannot meet its own needs at all, so imports are inevitable.

Protecting agriculture means rising prices of agricultural products, which will inevitably increase the survival pressure of the working class, and the labor costs of enterprises will also rise accordingly.

The capitalists are not vegetarians. Every increase in labor costs is won by the working class.

One bad thing is a wave of nationwide strikes. Just thinking about the dire consequences is enough to make any politician daunting.

……

Foreign Secretary Adam Wingard: "Everyone, don't patronize the domestic troubles. Recently, there have been a lot of international incidents.

The Venezuelan civil war is ongoing, and the factions we support are losing in the war, which hinders the expansion of the empire in the region.

Not long ago, Washington reached an agreement with the Vienna government to obtain the right to dig the Panama Canal, ending the freezing point diplomacy between the two countries since the Civil War.

Recently, another accident occurred in the Far East, and the conflict between the Russians and the Japanese has intensified, and war may even break out.

......"

As a global empire, it is inevitable to pay attention to changes in the international situation.Of course, Britain is not just paying attention, but actively participating in it.

Adam Wingard said so many international events, all of which have a direct relationship with Britain, and were even planned by them.

For example: the most inconspicuous Venezuelan civil war is one of the British government's expansion in America.

It's just that they provoked the beginning and failed to determine the end.No one thought that an ordinary civil war would last for several years because of the intervention of international forces.

Now that the curtain is coming to an end, the tragedy is that the side supported by the British government lost the civil war.

There is no way to do this. Who made Britain have a bad reputation and didn't pay attention to eating?

Because the rise was one step late, Shinra had no time to expand its power to Venezuela, and naturally there was no hatred.

The main purpose of participating in the Venezuelan civil war is to add obstacles to Britain, and there is no intention of invading Venezuela at all.

On the one hand, there are the British who invaded their motherland, and on the other hand, Shinra, who is dedicated to embarrassing the British. People of insight in Venezuela know who to support even with their eyes closed.