The impact of the agricultural crisis was not limited to the European continent, but also to the Americas.

Grain prices in Europe plummeted, and naturally some capitalists shipped grain out to sell, and grain prices in the Americas were also brought down.

The development of shipping technology has reduced the cost of shipping, and the number of 10,000-ton ocean-going carriers has increased. Under this shareholder wind, the grain dumped by Austria also crossed the ocean into the Japanese market.

Of course, this is only incidental, specializing in transporting grain to Japan to sell, the profit is still too low, and everyone has not had this leisure.

As a result of the Meiji Restoration, the amount of machinery and equipment imported from Europe by Japan has increased dramatically in recent years, and trade has become more prosperous.

It was first born in Austria 10,000 tons of transport ships, and while reducing freight costs, there is also an embarrassing problem - the goods are often not loaded.

This problem is not difficult for the capitalists, bringing a little local products can fill the warehouse, no matter how small the mosquito is, it is meat, and it cannot be wasted.

The Vienna government's call is still somewhat effective, and it is not known how much of an effect it will have if the major grain-exporting countries have announced cuts in production.

In France's view, the measures taken by various countries are full of loopholes, and whether or not they can reduce production capacity depends on the consciousness of farmers.

Just after the autumn harvest, a large wave of new grain went on the market, and international grain prices continued to fall. The capitalists know that it is terrible, and if they continue to fall like this, everyone will be doomed.

In order to maintain the stability of grain prices, the capitalists, together with the big farmers, began to put pressure on the government. By the end of 1872, most countries in Europe had raised import tariffs on agricultural products.

These measures were far from sufficient, and in order to stabilize market prices, the capitalists had to reluctantly destroy some agricultural products.

Fortunately, the grain importing countries went up, and some of the surplus agricultural products were destroyed, and the market quickly returned to stability.

Merely "stability" and a return to normal food prices is still not something that can be achieved overnight.

Grain exporting countries are miserable, except for unsalable or unsalable. This year saw more trade disputes erupting on the continent than in the last five years combined.

Among them, the heaviest losses were naturally the four countries of Russia, Austria and Poland. In order to alleviate the crisis, in October 1872, the Vienna government announced the purchase of 2.7 million tons of wheat, 4.8 million tons of rye, 3.8 million tons of corn, and 1.9 million tons of soybeans as strategic reserves.

Of course, there are conditions attached to this, and the agricultural products purchased this time are limited to new grain produced in the local area, and are purchased at the minimum grain price protection price set by the government.

First it was destocked, and now it is starting to be restored again, and there is nothing wrong with it. Spurred on by this good news, food prices in the Austrian home market have finally stabilized.

The international grain market is still not improving, and now the market is saturated rather than a matter of price, and many food-importing countries have suspended their food imports.

Seeing that the Vienna government purchased grain as a strategic reserve, the Junker aristocracy could not sit still, and jumped out one after another to make suggestions and ask the Prussian government to increase the strategic grain reserve.

In the royal palace in Berlin, a meeting on this issue has begun. Wilhelm I had no opinion on increasing the strategic reserve of grain, the only problem was that the Prussian government had no money.

Austria bought grain in exchange for dumping grain stocks. A preliminary calculation shows that the Vienna government has lost millions of tons of grain for such an entry and exit.

It is difficult to calculate the exact amount of loss, and it is also necessary to take into account the difference in the price of new and old grain, as well as the cost of the Vienna government's purchase of grain reserves until then.

"Prime Minister, what do you think?"

Moltke was under a lot of pressure, with the government's shriveled wallet on the one hand and the interests of the Junker aristocracy on the other, which made him very difficult. After a little hesitation, reality helped him make a decision.

"Your Majesty, I don't know when the Russo-Prussian War will break out, and how long this war will last, no one can guarantee that it is very necessary to increase strategic grain reserves.

It's just that now the government has no money, and if it wants to increase its strategic reserves, it will require at least hundreds of millions of marks, which is far beyond our capacity.

If the peasants can accept the credit, we can eat some of the grain, but the government has no way of guaranteeing when we will be able to pay this amount. ”

This answer is irrefutable, not because the government is unwilling to increase the strategic reserves, but because the government has no money to buy them.

If you want the government to collect grain, it is to make a blank slip, and when the government has money, it will pay it back, and if there is no money, it will always be owed.

In terms of class interests, Moltke's words still displeased many people. It's just that I can't find a reason to refute it, and the government still doesn't have money.

"Prime Minister, I'm afraid it won't work. There is also a cost to growing food, and the government must at least pay the cost, otherwise I am afraid that many farmers will go bankrupt. ”

The Minister of Agriculture, Melanie Griffiths, hurriedly persuaded him that if he really made a blank slate, he would have no way to explain it to the Junker nobles.

Moltke shrugged his shoulders, made a helpless expression, and spread his hands.

"Where does the money come from? We have always been financially strained, and even if the price of grain is very cheap now, you can buy it for less than 100 marks per ton of rye, and 100 million marks for a million tons.

As long as you, the Ministry of Agriculture, can solve the problem of money, it is not a problem to collect as much as you want, and I guarantee that no one in the government will object. ”

The Kingdom of Prussia was already heavily indebted, and the country's financial community could not afford to lend to the government, and if it wanted to continue borrowing money from the outside world, it had to sell out its national interests.

Whoever dares to put forward this kind of suggestion must first consider whether he will be shot by patriotic young people when he goes out.

In these years, the Kingdom of Prussia was also full of secondary two teenagers, who were the guarantee of the Prussian army's combat effectiveness, and also the time bomb of the Kingdom of Prussia.

Melanie-Griffiths has not lived long enough and does not want to be the target of patriotic youth, and he cannot do such a thing as a death.

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency Prime Minister. This is not my scope of work, you have to ask the Ministry of Finance. If the government can't stabilize food prices, then a more aggressive agricultural policy is always possible, right? ”

Moltke: "Of course! As long as it has nothing to do with money, we can try our best to solve other problems. ”

Melanie Griffiths: "That's for the best. ”

Melanie Griffiths, who had been prepared, took out a document and stepped forward and handed it to William I.

"Your Majesty, this is the plan of the Ministry of Agriculture on the reduction of grain production capacity, we have learned from the experience of the Austrians and are preparing to implement the Land Fallow Law."

The proposal came as a surprise to everyone, and the Berlin government had discussed the issue before, but it was only because of strong opposition from the Junker-controlled Ministry of Agriculture.

After a cursory glance at the documents, William I's face darkened. It is also a land fallow method, and the Prussian land fallow method is much more explicit.

On the surface, the problem is not large, but a closer examination will reveal that many of the problems have been vaguely brushed aside, and a little analysis will reveal that it is only considering the interests of the Junker aristocracy.

The aristocracy had a lot of land, and even if strict land fallow laws were introduced, they had enough land to rotate and cultivate, and the real benefits were the land-scarce homesteaders.

According to the above regulations, because of the emergence of crop rotation technology, the land fallow time has been reduced, and ordinary farmers who have just lived a few days of good life will soon be unlucky again.

If it were to be carried out, a new round of land annexation would take place in Prussia, and a large number of yeoman farmers would go bankrupt as a result.

"Melanie Griffiths, are you sure that this is realistic, and that the Department of Agriculture has not considered the consequences of doing so?"

In the face of William I's questioning, Melanie Griffiths did not change her face and replied calmly: "Your Majesty, after the outbreak of the agricultural crisis, the market will inevitably have a round of elimination of the fittest.

Whether we enforce the Land Fallow Act or not, a wave of bankruptcies will erupt. If we take the initiative to take measures, we can overcome the crisis as soon as possible, so as not to implicate more people. ”

This is a fallacy, but it is also a fact. It is an inevitable result that yeoman farmers cannot compete with big farmers. As things stand, food prices have collapsed, and homesteaders will go bankrupt for a few years at most because of high debts.

It's not something that can be changed by manpower, it's just a matter of the timing of the outbreak. The Junker aristocracy changed their minds and agreed to cut production capacity, in addition to maintaining food prices, more of them wanted to carry out land annexation and expand their family business.

Ordinary people may think that now that the price of food has plummeted, land has become worthless, but the Junker aristocracy, who has seized the power, will not see it that way.

The population is growing, but the land is not growing. From this point of view, the price of grain will rise sooner or later.

Even if international food prices cannot be restored, they can artificially raise domestic agricultural prices by amending the rules.

The two empires of time and space were short of their own food production, and the Junker nobles dared to set restrictions to prevent foreign agricultural products from entering the domestic market, let alone now?

Peasant bankruptcies are also what the capital Junckers wants to see, and they can get more cheap labor. One only has to analyze the interests to know that this plan has become unstoppable in the Kingdom of Prussia.

……

Following the introduction of the Land Fallow Law by the Kingdom of Prussia, which was full of annexation, European countries soon began to follow suit.

The big farmers and the big capitalists worked together to promote this feast of partition, the farmers got more land, the capitalists got cheap labor, and the two sides worked together seamlessly.

Austria was not immune either, except that they were confronted with a Law on the Prohibition of Land Annexation. This was an act signed by Franz after the outbreak of the Vienna Revolution in 1848.

It is clearly stated that small plots of land are not allowed to be traded privately and can only be sold to local governments at market prices. (Specifically, less than 200 hectares of land)

Local governments can only sell these reclaimed agricultural land to farmers with less than 50 hectares of arable land, or retired servicemen with less than 100 hectares of arable land, and military nobles with less than 200 hectares of arable land.

(Note: Once the purchased area reaches this limit, you cannot continue to purchase)

If these purchased lands want to be sold again, they can only be sold to the government, and cannot be traded directly with individuals.

To put it simply, small farmers can buy it, and large farmers can only buy farms with an area of more than 200 hectares if they want to expand.

From the perspective of the development of productive forces, the small-scale peasant economy will inevitably be washed away, and the mainstream of agricultural production in the future will be farms.

This kind of land annexation helped to increase the competitiveness of agriculture, and Franz naturally could not prevent it, but he did not want to see domestic agriculture monopolized, so he introduced this bill to limit the unbridled expansion of the great aristocracy.

According to the law, more than 80% of arable land in Austria is locked up and can only be circulated among the general public.

If the aristocracy wanted more land, it was better to go to the colony, and as long as the cultivated land area exceeded 200 hectares in the mainland, they could only buy it from the big farmers if they wanted to expand.