My Italy

"You mean, the government won't get involved in food procurement?"

For the first time, Carlo felt that something ruining his outlook was happening right in front of him, and this food purchase was one of them. The reason is very simple. Italy purchases grain from Romania and Russia in Eastern Europe. There are many large landowners in these two countries who occupy vast areas. Buying grain directly from them is cheaper than inter-governmental procurement, about 8-8 per ton. 12% off the price. Where there is profit, there is buying and selling, and some people take advantage of this price difference and specialize in this kind of business. Italy's food procurement in recent years has basically followed this model because it saves money. Italy's finances are not well-off, so every one of them can be saved.

"Your Majesty, it is indeed easier to discuss this with private individuals than with the government, and it is also kept confidential."

Antonio explained to Carlo the purpose of this.

"Then follow the method you have been using."

What else could Carlo say? It would be nice to save money, especially when the drought is so severe and every lira is precious.

The Italian government is fully prepared for the coming drought, and all departments are busy with this. Especially for disaster relief, which is the most urgent fund, the Italian government issued a batch of ten-year government bonds worth 800 million lire in London and Paris in April.

The annual interest rate of this batch of treasury bonds is not high, only 4.25%. However, thanks to Italy's good development pattern in recent years, these treasury bonds have sold well. More than ten securities contractors are willing to underwrite this batch of treasury bonds for Italy.

As time goes by, the drought in Italy gradually becomes apparent after the summer season.

Scenes of the scorching sun, dry ground, and withered grass seedlings appear frequently in southern Italy. Especially in Sicily, which is the most severely affected by drought, the drought is even more troublesome. The next set of data can illustrate the severity of Sicily's drought. Since 1897, Sicily's climate monitoring station has detected that the average rainfall on the entire island of Sicily is only 35 mm. Of the 94 rivers in Sicily, 73 have stopped flowing and 46 have completely dried up. All 2.4 million people on the island have been affected by the disaster, and a 50% reduction in agricultural production is a foregone conclusion.

The drought in Sicily has not only affected agriculture. As the core enterprise of Sicily's industrialization, the Palermo Steel Plant recently announced that it would cut its steel production by half. The reason is simple, steel smelting requires a lot of water, and the current drought in Sicily has affected the production activities of the Palermo steel plant.

Of course, in addition to Sicily, Sardinia and the southern region of the Kingdom were also hit hard. The total affected population reached 13 million, accounting for 40% of the total population of Italy.

With such a high number of disaster-stricken people, the Italian government will certainly not wait any longer. As summer approaches, Italy has successively announced several major construction projects, including the construction of the road from Naples to Taranto, the Sicilian ring road, and the Sardinia ring road. Large-scale projects such as road construction.

In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture has also opened many water conservancy facilities, such as reservoirs, dams, ditches, and countless others.

Since so many projects have been started, a lot of labor is naturally needed.

As a result, notices for recruiting laborers were everywhere in major towns, especially in areas with severe droughts. Grassroots officials continued to publicize these notices for recruiting workers.

Basic officials are very enthusiastic about this kind of thing. After all, they are the ones who can directly feel the severity of the disaster and are more worried about too many victims than others.

Of course, with so many people affected by the disaster, the government cannot solve all the problems. It can only provide some relief to most of the people who are affected by the disaster and cannot afford to eat. This kind of poverty-stricken government gives priority to those who have some land savings, which is a bit difficult to deal with. Because there are too many people affected by the disaster, the government can only focus on solving the serious problems first.

In this case, it is no less than a disaster for these people who still have a small income.

There were no tears in Diane's eyes. Looking at the dry grapevines, his heart was filled with despair. This year's harvest has been scrapped. What do you ask him to take to support his family?

Looking at the smooth cut of the grapevine, Dianet certainly knew what the problem was. It was all caused by this vineyard. Even if they worked hard, those people would not let them go. Seeing that the drought could not subdue them, they fell into conspiracy. Who else but those are the proof of these smooth-cut vines.

"Stop crying, let's go back!"

Diane comforted his wife, who had been crying, and patted her shoulder gently.

"Diane, these people destroyed our vineyards, why don't the police arrest them?"

The wife, who was crying like a tearful person, could not accept everything in front of her. In a hoarse voice, she reluctantly asked her husband, who was actually her mainstay.

"Didn't the police say it all? They can't arrest people without evidence unless someone sees what they did."

As Diane said words of comfort to his wife, the policeman's nonchalant answer appeared in his mind.

"Okay, stop crying, let's go home!"

After finally coaxing his wife, who was crying like a child, they helped her back to their house.

But when I got home, I heard that annoying voice. "Brother Diane, can we talk about the vineyard now?"

Thiago Ferro appeared in front of them again this time, but this time he was not alone. He came with two strong thug-like subordinates. It seemed that even the mafia was afraid of death.

Faced with Thiago's questions, Diane remained silent.

Who is Thiago? One look at Diane's silence and he knew that his heart was loose, so the verbal offensive was about to begin.

"Actually, if you think about it carefully, your annual income from the vineyard is only about 1,400 lire. After deducting fertilizer and other expenses, the money you earn is only 1,000 lire, which is only enough for your family of three. Now any job in the city can cost hundreds For one month of lire, you two workers are worth more than 200 lire, and this year it is nearly 3,000 lire. Isn’t it more profitable than grape growing, so it is better to go out and find a job now when you are farming at home.”

This seems very tempting, and you can indeed earn more by working in the city than in the countryside. The only problem is how to find this job. It’s not that easy to find jobs in this city, and it’s unclear whether you can get your salary on time.

Of course, these situations are indeed tempting for the Dianey couple who do not know the inside story.

"Let's do this. I'll pay you 10,000 lire for your vineyard. This is the highest price I can give out of brotherhood."

Thiago raised the price to a thousand lire more than before.

"Okay, for ten thousand lire, I'll sell you my vineyard."

Faced with the price offered by Thiago, Diane accepted.

"My brother Diane, your decision is quite wise. We signed the land purchase contract, and these ten thousand lire are yours."

Thiago took out a contract and a thick wad of lira bills and placed them in front of Diane.

Diaane took a rough look at it. It was a formal contract to purchase his vineyard. After seeing that there were no problems, Diaane signed his name and fingerprinted it.

Thiago found the contract with his fingerprints and name, and placed the wad of banknotes in front of him.

"Brother Diane, this is your money, count it yourself."

"Not bad, exactly ten thousand lire."

After the transaction was completed, Thiago held the contract with satisfaction and waved his hand. "Goodbye my friend."

"Goodbye my friend."

Diane also had a smile on his face, as if saying goodbye to an old friend.

After Thiago walked away, his wife, who had been watching all this silently, suddenly hugged Diane from behind. "Diane, you have to promise me not to do anything stupid. For little Tony, he cannot live without his father."

As a bedfellow, the wife clearly felt that something was wrong with her husband Diane. The vineyard was gone and she could no longer accept her husband's irrationality.

Facing his pleading wife and thinking of his son, Diane finally had no choice but to swallow his breath. "Okay, I promise you, I won't do anything stupid."

On Thiago's side, one of his men said after leaving Diane's house. "Boss, I feel like there's something wrong with the man named Diane, and I need to be on guard."

Faced with the warning from his men, Thiago said with a smile. "I know that Diane is very dissatisfied. I hope he won't do anything stupid, otherwise he will lose the 10,000 lire and his family will be affected."

Yes, as a mafia, since they dare to do such evil things as forcing girls into prostitution, how can they not be at all defensive?

Forced annexations like Diane's are not common in Sicily, but they are not uncommon either. In fact, not only in Sicily, but also in the south, there are many cases of annexation taking advantage of the drought.

This is a real "contribution" to Italy's stability and unity!