The main force of the French army was not left, and Huttier and others did not continue to pursue the Egyptian colonial army. Immediately after the end of the battle, the 8th Division began a major conscription campaign.

In just one week, the strength of the Eighth Division was tripled, and all the young and strong people in the surrounding areas were recruited.

After all, he still has a conscience, and he didn't really learn from the rogue to integrate men, women, and children into the army as cannon fodder.

The army marched along the Nile, ignoring the cities along the way, and picking out plantations in the countryside.

On the one hand, the manor was destroyed, and on the other hand, the enslaved Egyptians were recruited into the army to spread the idea of national independence.

Relying on the style of playing by bullying the weak and fearing the hard, the Eighth Division can be described as smooth sailing, snowballing rapidly.

In contrast, the progress of the main forces of the rebel army was much worse. Unlike Hu Tier and others who leave with one vote, the top brass of the rebel army still has pursuits.

If you want to be a warlord, you naturally have turf. The leader of Mahdi can no longer control the field, and the major powerful factions have rushed out to grab the territory.

Even in order to grab the land, he also fought a lot. If it weren't for the threat of the French, it is estimated that the rebels themselves would have been separated.

In order to unite the rebels against the next counterattack of the French, Lieutenant General Geret repeatedly went out to coordinate the relations between the parties.

However, what should be messed up is still messed up. The composition of the rebel army was too complex, and internal contradictions arose one after another, and it was only under the threat of the French that it maintained an empty shelf.

As the leader of the rebel army, Mahdi was very unhappy with this situation. However, the incident of blowing up the Aswan Dam in front of him caused his prestige within the rebel army to plummet.

If it weren't for the support of the British, it was unknown whether he would be able to secure the position of boss.

By this time, if he hadn't known that he had been cheated by the British, Mahdi wouldn't have been able to leave a great name in the original plane.

Facts have once again proved that any pot can be carried, but the black pot cannot be touched.

With the reputation of being ruthless, it is difficult for Mahdi to recruit younger brothers. Everyone really doesn't have a good impression of this boss who may betray him at any time.

Affected by this, Thunders, the second man in the rebel army, directly led his troops and set out to the river valley plain, preparing to divide one side.

Mahdi could not do anything about this, and although he won the first round of the anti-encirclement war, his political popularity also plummeted.

The rebel army, which was pulled up by personal prestige without substantial restraint and by personal prestige, was itself a loose alliance.

In desperation, Mahdi could only join the ranks of land grabbing. This made Lieutenant General Jerett, who wanted to swing his army and smash the Yellow Dragon, very dissatisfied.

The command of the rebel army, Lieutenant General Gerett, said righteously: "Ladies and gentlemen, the crisis has just begun, and it is far from the time to enjoy the fruits of victory.

The French will not be willing to be defeated, or they will come back soon, and then we will not be faced with the rabble of the colonies.

I'm sure you've all heard of the name of the world's No. 1 Army. It was not blown out by the French, but from the battlefield with a knife and a shot.

Won one by luck, but the same tactics could not be used a second time. After being fooled once, it is impossible for the French to go a second time.

In the future, we will face an unprecedented bitter battle. If we want to have an advantage in the next battle, we must take it first. ”

Looking at the position pointed by Lieutenant General Gerett's baton, it was Cairo as expected.

This ancient city, which has political, economic, and military value at the same time, is crucial to the rebels' next battle.

By taking Cairo, the rebels had a chance of independence from the French.

A middle-aged man asked suspiciously, "Your Excellency, isn't the Eighth Division already heading for Cairo?" ”

In his opinion, the French army in Cairo had suffered heavy losses in the battle not long ago, and now it was at the height of its strength, and it was simply unable to hold off the 8th Division.

Geret shook his head: "Essenel, you are too optimistic, Cairo is different from any other small city you have encountered.

In fact, the reason why the rebels were going well was that the French in these small towns were so frightened that they did not organize a decent confrontation at all.

Cairo is different, it is the center of Egypt, and the French are certainly not going to give it up.

The news of the defeat at the front had already been transmitted, and the remaining French estimated that a new garrison had been organized at this moment.

In the absence of heavy firepower, the 8th Division's attempt to capture the city of Cairo, which was heavily defended by the French, was a complete dream. ”

Frankly, Jeret was quite satisfied with the 8th Division under the command of the Austrians.

Whether it's smashing up cotton plantations along the way, or heading straight for the delta, it's in Britain's interest.

Judging from the current situation, Egypt's cotton production capacity is destined to plummet this year, and it will be difficult to recover in the next few years.

This is undoubtedly the biggest good news for British cotton spinning enterprises. The lack of raw material supply and the decline in production capacity of competitors are undoubtedly the best time to seize the market.

Although it wasn't planned by Jerret, that didn't stop him from taking the credit for it.

Politics is also about equivalent exchange, and as the leader of this Egyptian rebellion, it is natural that he will receive a reward from domestic enterprises after returning home.

It may be economic, it may be political, in short, Lieutenant General Geret is making a lot of money this time.

Agitating the rebels to attack Cairo was only part of Lieutenant General Gerett's plan, and if possible, he wanted the rebels to come to the Suez Canal.

It would be better to be able to block the canal, and then the British Empire could use the opportunity to defend the canal and penetrate deep into the Suez Canal area.

……

Capital markets are acute, and the share prices of Parisian textile companies have plummeted due to the defeat on the battlefield in Egypt, and a number of companies engaged in Egyptian plantation operations have gone bankrupt.

Affected by the collapse of the textile industry's share price, the Paris stock market as a whole fell by 11.4% in just one week, and billions of francs were wiped out of the market value.

International cotton prices also fluctuated violently, and cotton prices in the cotton futures market in London once soared by one-third.

Under this double blow, the French cotton textile industry ushered in the biggest winter.

Affected by the reduction in the supply of raw materials, countless companies announced layoffs and production cuts, and the social unemployment rate skyrocketed for a while, and the French economy encountered challenges again.

Despite his mental preparations, when this happened, Napoleon IV felt like a world away.

No matter how bitter you are, you still have to find a way to solve the problem, otherwise a new round of economic crisis will break out again.

Having lived through the Paris Revolution, Napoleon IV was wary of an economic crisis that threatened to shake the foundations of his rule.

"The domestic economy continues to deteriorate, what is the plan of the Ministry of Economy?"

After some thought, Economy Minister Elsa replied cautiously: "This economic turmoil is mainly affected by the Egyptian rebellion, and cotton production capacity has fallen sharply.

Joining the drought in North America this year, cotton production capacity has declined, and the price of cotton in the international market has risen sharply.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs suggested that the government temporarily waive cotton import duties, reduce the cost of imported raw materials for textile enterprises, and at the same time give them low-interest loans to tide over the difficulties. ”

Is it okay to lower tariffs?

The answer is: no.

The supply of cotton in the international market is insufficient, which means that there must be enterprises that cannot purchase enough cotton.

Capital cooperation is also on a first-come, first-served basis, and the capitalists engaged in cotton wholesale will definitely give priority to cooperating with reliable old customers at similar prices.

Many supply partnerships, which last for years or even decades, are simply not something that latecomers can easily leverage.

Most of these enterprises are concentrated in Britain, and the French cotton textile industry, as a rising star, is more developed after occupying Egypt, a cotton-producing area.

Unless they can buy it at a high price, the French textile companies will not be able to buy enough cotton in the international market.

It is precisely because of all this that many companies announced layoffs and production cuts in advance before the cotton reserves were exhausted to cope with the next crisis.

Foreign Secretary Terrence Bulkin reminded: "It's not that simple, international cotton wholesalers are not fools, and with such a good opportunity, they can't afford not to rip off the money."

If nothing else, they may use this as a threat to us to permanently abolish tariffs on cotton imports. ”

Tariff barriers are also one of the main reasons why the French cotton plantation economy has been able to develop.

High tariffs made the originally cheap cotton lose its competitiveness after entering the French market, and the local plantation merchants made a windfall.

Driven by profits, the number of capitalists investing in cotton plantations has also increased in recent years, and the French have basically achieved cotton self-sufficiency.

This has harmed the interests of overseas cotton growers and wholesalers, and everyone is looking forward to this market.

In normal times, of course, there is nothing, and the strength of France is not something that these interest groups can shake.

But now it's different, there is a problem in the French cotton supply chain, and we have to find a way to find a way from the international market.

Economy Minister Elsa objected: "It is impossible to abolish import duties on cotton. Without sufficient interest incentives, domestic capitalists simply do not invest money in cotton plantations.

Moreover, this is not only a problem of cotton, but also involves other industries.

Once compromise is made here, there will be endless calls for us to abolish tariffs.

With the domestic economic development, we must adopt tariff barriers to protect the national industry in the country for a long time to come. ”

This is a fact that has been proven in previous economic crises. To participate in international competition, France is really not good yet.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Roy Vernon: "Not only that, but our foreign exchange reserves have fallen sharply in recent times.

Now it is necessary to purchase cotton in large quantities from the outside world, which will inevitably consume a lot of foreign exchange, and the amount of foreign exchange reserves of the empire has fallen into a very dangerous situation.

So far, we hold 31.876 million pounds sterling, 65.423 million Aegis, plus other niche currencies, totaling about 1.78 billion francs. ”

Since the guns of the Paris Revolution, the French economy has been in a trade deficit for many years. Relying on tariff barriers, it was easy to achieve a trade balance, and after a few days of good times, it is now in a deficit again.

The long-term outflow of funds is obviously not conducive to the development of the country's economy. Finding a way to reverse the trade deficit has become a major problem for the French government at the moment.

Economy Secretary Elsa: "The Marquis is right, if we want to restore the domestic economy, we must find a way out of the trade deficit.

There is no need to think about increasing exports for the time being, and even if there are no tariff obstacles, our industrial and commercial products will lack international competitiveness.

In the short term, the best way to solve the problem is to reduce foreign exchange spending.

At present, we import large comprehensive commodities, mainly: grain, coal.

Local coal production is insufficient, and no major coal mines have been found in North Africa. The only big coal mine in our hands is far away in the Indochina Peninsula.

However, in order to meet local needs, the production capacity is still far from enough, and it is impossible to be self-sufficient due to the high transportation costs.

The only way to find a way is food, and Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco all have areas suitable for agricultural production, as long as they are developed to meet domestic needs, it is not a problem at all.

The rate of return on investment in grain cultivation is too low for the capitalists to participate, and can only rely on government investment.

This is also a good thing, as long as we control this degree well, we can ensure that we can achieve food self-sufficiency without harming the interests of domestic farmers.

Not only can we save a lot of foreign exchange spending, but we can also fight our competitors on the European continent and ensure food strategic security. ”

Ever since the African Farm Project was proposed, Elsa has been an advocate of this policy, constantly preaching its benefits.

Of course, this is just the perception of the outside world. In fact, Elsa was more forced to do this.

There are also pros and cons to withdrawing from the free trade system, and while reaping the benefits, you also need to bear the disadvantages of this policy.

If you limit me, I will naturally limit you. Affected by high tariffs, French industrial and commercial exports have plummeted.

This is only a small problem, relying on trade protection, driving out international competitors, and the share left by the local market is enough for the capitalists to make up for the losses.

But France is still a big importer of industrial raw materials?

At that time, the strategy for the development of Africa was one of the measures that the French government wanted to get rid of its dependence on the outside world.

Although the development of North Africa has been slow due to insufficient financial investment, it can be considered a success in terms of results.

France has largely achieved self-sufficiency in a variety of cash crops, including cotton, and even if it has not been self-sufficient, its demand for imports has decreased.

However, this is not enough, not all resources are capable of self-hematopoiesis, and coal and food are still hard wounds.

Naturally, there is nothing Elsa can do about non-renewable coal. Faced with a trade deficit, he can only choose food that can be solved.