Chapter 519： Storm (1/2)

On March 22, 1872, Britain and Russia signed the ”Britain-Russia Bilateral Trade Agreement”, ”Britain-Russia Grain Mortgage Agreement”, ”Britain-Russia Financial Mutual Trust Agreement” ...

Except that there is no alliance, it has become a fact that the Tsarist government has moved closer to the British.

According to the treaty, the Russians are already part of the sterling-gold system, and the hegemony of the pound's international currency has been formally established.

As a cost, the British will provide 150 million pounds of interest-free loans to the Tsarist government within the next five years, and the Russians will use agricultural products to pay off their debts.

Everyone knows that the so-called loan is just an excuse. The loan issued every year is exactly equivalent to the agricultural products exported by the Russians, which is essentially a huge order contract.

Nothing more than these agricultural products from Russia are cheaper, and the London government has waived import duties. With low prices, it has seized the markets of other agricultural exporting countries to the UK.

The first is Austria. As the world's largest exporter of agricultural products, Austria's losses are undoubtedly the largest. Sixty-five percent of the total British agricultural imports each year come from Austria, and now this market can almost be declared dead.

”Free trade”, just listen to it, if it is true, it will be finished. The British population screamed terribly, related to specific interests, or decisively thrown aside.

If Austria wants to keep the British market, agricultural prices now need to be cut at least to survive the competition.

Affected by the British-Russian Treaty, the international agricultural market has been diving since April. The capitalists went to inventory, sold, and accumulated cash flow, fearing that they would be frozen to death in the winter of agricultural products.

As the protagonist of the center of the vortex, Franz was not so nervous. Although it was not expected that the British would suddenly make a shot, the international agricultural market was affected, and the Vienna government had expected it.

At the previous annual working conference, the Vienna government formulated a plan to reduce grain production, mainly focusing on wheat, corn, and beans, which are agricultural products with large production capacity in Russia.

At the Vienna Palace, the Agricultural Economic Conference, Franz picked up his baton and drew a curve on the world map.

”The Russians are coming, the British are helping, and the agricultural cold winter is here. This is a challenge for Austria. We must do everything possible. Hols, first talk about the plan of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The Minister of Agriculture, Halls, got up from his seat, adjusted his clothes, and put on a serious and tense expression. Obviously, the topic was very heavy.

”Since two years ago, the Ministry of Agriculture has been preparing for the return of Russian agricultural products to international markets.

To this end, we have adopted various measures, including adjusting the industrial structure of agricultural products, reducing the output of staple grains, clearing stocks, and developing animal husbandry.

These measures can only alleviate our losses, but they cannot cure the problem from the source. The international agricultural market is so large that we cannot survive the crisis by reducing production capacity.

The agricultural winter breaks out, and agriculture in all countries is uncomfortable. There is no need for us to pay for it.

The current collapse in agricultural product market prices was mainly caused by the Russians. In this case, we pushed the boat down the river to make the crisis more violent.

The Ministry of Agriculture plans to halve international food prices in the next three years, overcoming agricultural production in European countries.

Although Russia's agricultural production capacity is large, they lack the ability to resist risks. The tsarist government has limited financial resources and it is impossible to provide protection for farmers.

Once the food price collapses, it will inevitably lead to a wave of bankruptcy among farmers. If we are lucky, we can also rebuild the Russian agricultural production system.

In order to make up for the losses of domestic farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture proposes to suspend agricultural taxes, food transaction taxes, agricultural product export duties, and prohibit churches from imposing tithes. At the same time, a minimum guaranteed price for grain is set to ensure that farmers will not lose money. ”

Destroying the agricultural production systems of European countries, in addition to worrying about being profited by fishermen, is more because the Vienna government does not want to pull this hatred.

Austria has taken the largest share of the international grain export market. Anyway, it has taken the biggest benefit. Why do we have to do things absolutely?

Now it's easy to do. The Russians who jumped out, just propaganda, you can throw the black pot into the tsarist government, and by the way, a wave of British people. Anyway, their reputation is stink, and they don't care about Dora's hatred.

The British-Russian agreement is the best evidence. They directly discounted the price of grain exports by 30% and exempted customs duties. The governments of the two countries directly participated in the trade and undermined the free trade system. This is the root cause of the loss of food production in European countries.

Properly dumped at a low price, no one can wash it. Someone took the lead in lowering the price, and the following trend was inconspicuous. If a price war broke out accidentally and the price was lowered, that was no way out.

The United Kingdom and Russia have joined forces to crack down on Austrian grain exports. Rather than keep domestic grain prices stagnant, it is better to keep prices to a minimum.

Once the international food prices are cut, I don't know if the British food merchants will still perform the contract. This kind of loss-making trading is not liked. In case the British break their contract, there will be a good show at that time.

It seems that it is only impacting the food production systems of various countries. In fact, this is also destroying the closer relations between Britain and Russia. Nothing breaks an alliance more than a conflict of interest.

Moreover, Britain and Russia are not allies. It is only for the sake of interest that once the conflict of interests of both parties outweighs the benefits brought by the partnership, it is difficult to separate the two.

Everyone was lost in thought and began to digest what Hols had just said.

”Having food prices dropped by half, how much will it affect the country, will it cause a large number of farmers to go bankrupt? Will it involve the entire agricultural system? How much capital will be invested?”

The question was raised by Prime Minister Felix. Agriculture has always been a pillar industry in Austria, and it must not be ignored by the Vienna government. If the play collapses, the sequelae will be very serious.

”My Excellency, please rest assured. Our Ministry of Agriculture has conducted a special assessment. After the suspension of the collection of agricultural taxes, tithes, grain trade taxes and grain export duties, international grain prices have been cut, and the impact on the country has been minimized.

In response to the grain purchase market, the grain purchase price will fall by about 20%. The Ministry of Agriculture will supervise, and if the market turbulence exceeds this magnitude, we will directly intervene in the acquisition.