Chapter 522： good news

International food prices have plummeted, Austria's domestic food prices have also been hit, and food prices have plummeted.

Austria's domestic food prices have always been lower than the international market, and this time it is finally in line with international standards.

Not only did food prices fall, other agricultural prices also followed suit. Capitalists are already struggling to drag the market, but in vain in the face of huge supply.

With the turbulence of the international grain market, a large amount of raw grain was sold to the market, which also impacted the export of finished grain.

Take flour exports as an example. Not only did prices fall by 9% compared to the same period last year, but even total exports have shrunk by 4%.

This is a consequence of the Vienna government's dumping of old grain to the United Kingdom. British capitalists who got cheap raw materials worked hard to occupy the original market.

There is no other way, flour cannot be stored for a long time. If you want to disrupt the British-Russian food trade, you can only use raw grain as a shock.

With prices falling and exports shrinking, companies engaged in agricultural export have had a hard time, especially in processing industries with low technological content.

In Austria, the agricultural product processing industry has also formed a huge industrial chain. Enterprises with more than three million industrial workers and more than 800,000 people engaged in flour processing alone.

Tens of millions of farmers are also involved in this process. The impact of the grain processing industry will inevitably affect the acquisition of new grain.

In the Palace of Vienna, Franz put down the information in his hand, held up the tea cup, a faint light of smoke rose, and the fragrance was overflowing.

"The domestic market must be stabilized as soon as possible. The prices of international raw grains have plummeted, and the prices of finished grains will plummet soon.

Capitalists can't last long. In the face of interest, few people can remain rational, and the market for finished grains will not be stable for long.

The international market is beyond our control. We can keep our share as long as we don't have to worry about the momentary gains and losses, but we must stabilize the local and colonial markets.

The growth rate of domestic food consumption is nearly 2%. As long as it lasts for two or three years, and when the tide of bankruptcy of farmers in European countries erupts, we can weather the crisis.

However, the government still has to adopt a more active policy and cannot wait for the market to adjust spontaneously. We don't waste so much time, otherwise the advantages accumulated in the early stage will be wasted. "

The main reason for the increase in consumption is population growth, followed by economic development and the increase in people's income and consumption.

Franz's previous proposal to absorb European immigrants is actually a way to increase food consumption.

Of course, the main purpose of absorbing immigrants is for labor. Austria's colonies are already huge, and to develop these places requires a large population.

Even the most valued African continent, after so many years of immigration, the total population of Austrian Africa has reached 10 million.

This number is far from enough, and other colonies are even worse, because the population is too small to even the most basic development.

The Minister of Agriculture, Halls, stood up, took out a report from the folder, walked up and handed it to Franz.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Agriculture proposes to increase the import tariffs on agricultural products to prevent foreign agricultural products from impacting the local market; at the same time, the minimum purchase protection price for grain is implemented, and the recommended guidance price for domestic finished grain prices is implemented.

For exporters of finished grains with damaged profits, the Ministry of Agriculture proposes to provide them with tax rebate subsidies for the export part to make up for some losses.

This is a specific measure and a corresponding supporting plan. After the implementation of the plan, local agricultural product sales prices will stabilize in the shortest time. "

Raise import tariffs on agricultural products, which is aimed at Russians. In recent years, the Russian Empire's food exports have only declined, not completely disappeared.

It is just that this part of the grain did not directly enter the international raw grain market, but was sold to Austrian grain processing enterprises, and after the processing was completed, it was sold to the international market, including the resale back to the Russian Empire.

Austria can occupy up to 70% of the international agricultural export market, and the contribution of the Russians is indispensable.

Now that the production capacity of the Russians has exploded, Austria can no longer afford it. In addition, in recent years, countries have ramped up their food production, and the international market has oversupplied. Of course, the Ministry of Agriculture has priority to protect the interests of its nobles and farmers.

The lowest grain purchase protection price is also one of the measures to protect the interests of farmers. Including the later guidance price of local finished grain sales is also one of them.

Simply put, the government sets a retail price range for finished grains, and companies can only set prices within this range.

Prior to this, the Vienna government had a ceiling price for agricultural products, and now it has added a floor price.

"Free market economy". Unfortunately, Austria has a market economy but no free market economy. The government is not in the market once or twice.

Of course, if it is an industry that has nothing to do with the international people ’s livelihood, the Vienna government has never intervened, for example: in crafts and luxury goods, it is very free.

After a brief glance, Franz nodded and shook his head.

"The subsequent plans are all good, but raising the import tariffs on agricultural products cannot be implemented for the time being. We have increased the tariffs and the Russians will definitely take countermeasures to increase the tariffs on Austrian industrial and commercial products.

This time the storm was limited to agriculture, and then spread to other industries, the consequences of which are more difficult to control.

We can impose restrictions on the implementation of the minimum grain purchase price, but only for local, new grain this year; tax rebate subsidies for enterprises are also limited to products made from local grain.

In order to avoid fraudulent subsidies by enterprises, once they apply for tax refund subsidies, enterprises are prohibited from purchasing foreign agricultural products for half a year. "

Franz remembers that an important reason why Germany and Russia turned their heads back in time and space was because of agricultural tariffs. Of course, the situation is different now, the Russians have no confidence and Austrian faces.

It is no good just to intensify the contradiction. Although the market in the Russian Empire is not good because of poor economic development, it is also an important sales market for Austrian industrial and commercial products.

Moreover, the Russo-Austrian alliance has not collapsed, and the trade agreement signed by the two countries is still valid. Unless the contract is broken, raising tariffs is a joke.

Within the scope of the agreement, it is clearly stipulated that each additional tariff shall not exceed 5% of the original tax rate, and the same commodity can only be adjusted once in three years.

Tariffs on agricultural trade between Russia and Austria are 4%. On the basis of this tax rate, a 5% increase is 4.2%. With just a little improvement, Franz might as well not adjust.

The tsarist government has repeatedly raised taxes on Austrian industrial and commercial products, and has not changed the shelves of Russian goods in Austrian goods, which is enough to illustrate the problem.

Within the scope of the treaty between the two parties, there is no tariff rate of more than 10% for a single commodity, and most of them have only a few points.

If you want to go past the simple, that is to break the contract. This kind of treaty was signed by the Russians with great difficulty. How could it be possible to take the initiative to break the treaty?

In this regard, the overall outlook of the Minister of Agriculture needs to be improved. However, this is a small problem. Franz is very tolerant, and the technical bureaucrats cannot demand too much.

Other abilities Hols performed very well, but he was very good in the professional field. In the years he chaired the Ministry of Agriculture, Austrian agriculture has improved qualitatively.

Optimizing the agricultural industrial structure, promoting new agricultural technologies, and improving the agricultural industrial chain were all completed under his auspices.

Now, Austria's agricultural surplus is due to Hols. Of course, this can't blame him. It is too difficult to change farmers' planting habits while still making money.

The agricultural crisis of the original time and space lasted for more than two decades, and forced one peasant to run out of production before reaching equilibrium again. The difficulty is imaginable.

Growing cash crops is not a one-word problem, but it must also protect the income. Unfortunately, no one can make this guarantee because of opaque market information.

Austria is not a planned economy. Farmers grow whatever they want. Out of stock on the market this year, next year there may be no one asking for it.

In contrast, food is a sound product. Perhaps the rate of return may be lower, but it will not be lost.

After a pause, after digesting Franz's words, Colonial Minister Stephen took out a document and handed it to Franz.

"Your Majesty, gold mines have been frequently found in South Africa in the recent past. The quality and reserves of these discovered gold mines are quite amazing.

This is a report submitted by Viscount Fickney, Governor of South Africa. It is initially judged that this is a larger gold mine group than West Africa, and the reserves may exceed the United States. "

This is good news. Austria's defeat in the currency hegemony battle and the insufficient gold standard are also an important reason.

How rich South Africa's gold reserves are, Franz is naturally clear. Knowing and knowing, but when it comes out, things are unclear.

The religious atmosphere in Austria is already very strong, and Franz does not want to continue to build momentum for the church. After so many years of rebirth, he has not revealed any flaws, and he relies on caution.

Anyway, gold is buried underground and can't run. South Africa is all occupied, these gold mines will be discovered sooner or later, and will eventually flow into Austria.

In fact, Austria's golden fate is also very good, almost every colony has gold. This was not specifically chosen by Franz. It was a reality that guided the direction of Austria's expansion.

When the African colony was first expanded, Franz did not expect to have today's foundation. How could Austria be cheaper if it wasn't for the European continents that didn't value the African continent?

Expansion to the South Ocean was completely an accident, an unexpected success; the existence of the Central American colonies was only to interfere in the South African war, and it can have the scale today, which is also beyond the plan of Franz.

Prior to the operation, Franz did not know that the small countries of Central America were so scum.

Originally, he just planned to borrow a place to stay, but as a result, a group of German immigrants from the United States accidentally flew over, and he was directly anti-customer.

Of course, it is estimated that those who are in power in small countries will not accept it. There are only tens of thousands of white people in a country. The army never has more than one regiment. What is the resistance against Austria?

Alaska, not to mention, can be regarded as a hard stop by the Russians. If you ignore Franz's secret PR, this is the case.

As far as Austria is concerned, in addition to hard work, the element of luck is also very important. Franz can only sigh, the reality is full of legend.

I picked up the file and turned it over without any surprises. The historic missions of the Transvaal and Orange Free State republics have ended and can now return to the arms of Austria.

There is nothing wrong with it, the local people have become Austrian supporters. The republicans may have gone to see God. What was going on was not mentioned in the report, and Franz didn't know.

"Ready, let's stage a farce and let the two republics dissolve! Since we want to develop the South African region, we can't keep them in the way.

Franz is face-to-face, but will not do the thing of directly annexing a sovereign state. If Transvaal and the Orange Free State dissolve and the local population returns to the embrace of Austria, then no problems will exist.

Franz believes Viscount Fickney can handle this problem. After such a long time, if the local power faction hasn't met God, it must be their own.

Even if something goes wrong, that's not a problem. This year, the African colonies are very chaotic, and any accident is normal.

...

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