International food prices plummeted, as did domestic food prices in Austria, which plummeted.

The price of grain in Austria, which has always been lower than that of the international market, is finally in line with the international market.

Not only are the prices of food falling again, but the prices of other agricultural products are also falling. The capitalists are already trying to drag the market, but in vain in the face of a huge supply.

With the turbulence of the international grain market, a large amount of raw grain has been sold to the market, which has also affected the export of finished grain.

Taking flour exports as an example, not only did the price drop by 9 percent over the same period last year, but even the total export volume shrank by 4 percent.

This was the after-effect of the Vienna government's dumping of old grain into the British, and the British capitalists, who had access to cheap raw materials, worked hard to produce and squeezed out the original market.

There is no way around this, flour cannot be stored for a long time. If you want to disrupt the Anglo-Russian grain trade, you can only use raw grain to attack.

Prices have fallen and exports have shrunk, and enterprises engaged in the export of agricultural products are having a hard time, especially in the low-tech processing industry.

In the Austrian agro-processing industry, a huge industrial chain has also been formed. There are more than 3 million industrial workers, and more than 800,000 are engaged in flour milling alone.

Tens of millions of peasants have also been involved behind this, and the impact on the grain processing industry will inevitably affect the purchase of new grain.

At the Vienna Palace, Franz put down the information in his hand, picked up the teaglass, and the faint smoke rose, and the fragrance overflowed.

"It is necessary to stabilize the domestic market as soon as possible, the international raw grain trading price has plummeted, and the trading price of finished grain will also plummet in the near future.

The capitalists will not last long. In the face of interests, few people can remain rational, and the finished grain market will not be stable for long.

The international market cannot be controlled, and it is not necessary to care about the temporary gains and losses as much as the share can be kept, but we must stabilize the domestic and colonial markets.

Domestic food consumption is growing at a rate of nearly 2 percent, and as long as it lasts for two or three years, we can survive the crisis when the wave of peasant bankruptcies in European countries erupts.

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

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

Franz's previous proposal to absorb immigrants from European countries was actually a means of increasing food consumption.

Of course, the main purpose of absorbing immigrants is still for the sake of labor. Austria's colonies were already huge, and it would take a large population to develop them.

Even on the most important African continent, after so many years of hard work, the total population of Austrian Africa can exceed 10 million.

This number was far from sufficient, and the other colonies were even worse, because the population was too small to be able to develop even the most basic.

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

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Agriculture proposes to raise import tariffs on agricultural products to avoid foreign agricultural products from impacting the local market; At the same time, the minimum purchase protective price of grain will be implemented, and the recommended guide price will be implemented for the price of domestic finished grain.

The Ministry of Agriculture proposes to give tax rebate subsidies to the export enterprises whose interests have been damaged to make up for part of the losses.

This is a concrete measure, and there are corresponding supporting plans. After the implementation of the plan, the selling price of local agricultural products will stabilize in the shortest possible time. ”

Raising import duties on agricultural products, which is aimed at the Russians. In recent years, grain exports from the Russian Empire have only decreased, and not completely disappeared.

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

Austria is able to occupy a share of up to 70 percent of the international agricultural export market, and the contribution of the Russians is also indispensable.

Now that the Russians' production capacity has exploded, Austria can no longer eat it, and in recent years, various countries have frantically increased grain production, and the international market is oversupplied, so the Ministry of Agriculture naturally gives priority to protecting the interests of its own nobles and peasants.

The minimum protective price for grain purchases is also one of the measures to protect the peasants' interests. Including the later local finished grain sales guide price, it is also one of the links.

To put it simply, the government sets a retail price range for finished grain, and enterprises can only set prices within this range.

Previously, the Vienna government had a maximum selling price for agricultural products, and now it has added a minimum price.

"Free market economy", it is a pity that Austria has a market economy, but there is no free market economy. It's not once or twice that the government has intervened in the market.

Of course, if it is an industry that has nothing to do with international people's livelihood, the Vienna government will never intervene, for example: handicrafts and luxury goods, it is very free.

After a cursory look, Franz nodded and shook his head.

"The latter plans are good, but the increase in import tariffs on agricultural products cannot be implemented for the time being. We have raised tariffs, and the Russians will certainly take countermeasures and raise tariffs on Austrian industrial and commercial products.

It is enough to confine this turmoil to agriculture, and then spread to other industries, and the consequences will be even more difficult to control.

We can impose restrictions on the implementation of the minimum grain purchase price, only for the local area, the new grain of the current year; Tax rebate subsidies for enterprises are also limited to products processed from local grains.

In order to prevent enterprises from fraudulently obtaining subsidies, once they apply for tax rebate subsidies, enterprises are prohibited from purchasing foreign agricultural products within half a year. ”

Franz still remembers that an important reason for the reversal of Germany and Russia in the original time and space was because of tariffs on agricultural products. Of course, the situation is different now, and the Russians do not have the confidence to turn against Austria.

It was not beneficial to intensify the contradictions, although the market of the Russian Empire was not very good because of the poor economic development, but it was also an important market for the sale of Austrian industrial and commercial products.

Moreover, the Russian-Austrian alliance has not collapsed, and the trade agreement signed between the two countries is still valid. Unless it's a breach of contract, raising tariffs is a joke.

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

The tariff on agricultural trade between Russia and Austria is 4%, and on the basis of this rate, it will be increased by 5%, that is, 4.2%. Just a little better, Franz might as well not be tuned.

The fact that the Tsarist government repeatedly raised taxes on Austrian industrial and commercial products without changing the shelves of Russian stores with Austrian goods is enough to illustrate the problem.

Within the scope of the treaty between the two sides, the tariff rate of not a single commodity can exceed 10 percent, and most of them are only a few points.

If you want to go beyond the past, it is to break the contract. This kind of treaty was signed by Franz with great difficulty, so how could he break it on his own initiative?

In this regard, the Minister of Agriculture's overall view still needs to be improved. However, Franz was very tolerant of this small problem, and the technocrats could not ask too much.

Other abilities Hall is very average, but in the professional field is very powerful. During his years in charge of the Ministry of Agriculture, Austrian agriculture has improved qualitatively.

Optimizing the structure of the agricultural industry, popularizing new agricultural technologies, and perfecting the agricultural industrial chain were all accomplished under his auspices.

The current overcapacity of Austrian agriculture is due to Halls. Of course, he can't be blamed for this. It's too difficult to change farmers' planting habits while still making money.

The agricultural crisis in the original time and space lasted for more than 20 years, forcing one farmer after another to break their production before regaining balance, and the difficulty in this can be imagined.

Growing cash crops is not a matter of words, but also to be able to guarantee income. Unfortunately, due to the opacity of market information, no one can make this guarantee.

Austria is not a planned economy, and the peasants grow whatever they want. This year there is a shortage in the market, and next year it may rot in the ground and no one wants it.

In contrast, grain is a solid product. Maybe the rate of return may be a little lower, but it won't be lost.

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

"Your Majesty, gold deposits have been frequently discovered in South Africa recently, and the gold deposits that have been discovered are quite amazing in terms of quality and reserves.

This is a report submitted by the Governor General of South Africa, Viscount Fikney, and the preliminary judgment is that this is a larger gold complex than West Africa, and the reserves may exceed that of the United States. ”

This is good news, Austria lost the battle for currency hegemony, and the lack of gold on the gold standard is also an important reason.

Franz naturally knows how rich South Africa's gold reserves are. If you know, you know, but when you say it, you can't explain it clearly.

The religious atmosphere in Austria was already strong, and Franz did not want to continue to build momentum for the church. After being reborn for so many years, he has not shown any flaws, relying on prudence.

Anyway, the gold is buried in the ground, and it can't escape. South Africa is occupied, and sooner or later these gold mines will be discovered, and eventually they will end up in Austria.

In fact, Austria also has a good gold edge, and almost every colony has gold. This was not chosen by Franz specifically, but was entirely driven by reality in the direction of Austria's expansion.

When he first expanded his African colonies, Franz did not expect that he would have the foundation he has today. If it weren't for the fact that European countries did not pay attention to the African continent, how could Austria be cheap.

The expansion into the South Seas was a complete accident, an unexpected success; The Mesoamerican colonies existed only to intervene in the South African War, and the scale they have today is also beyond Franz's plans.

Before the operation, Franz didn't know that the small countries of Central America were such scum.

Originally, he just planned to borrow a place to stay, but he accidentally fooled a group of German immigrants from the United States, and he directly turned against the customer.

Of course, this statement is expected to be disagreed by those in power in small countries. There are only tens of thousands of whites in a country, and the army never exceeds one regiment, so what can be used to resist Austria?

Alaska, not to mention, can be regarded as shoehorned in by the Russians. If you ignore Franz secretly sending people to do public relations, this is the case.

Austria has developed to the point where it is today, and in addition to hard work, the element of luck is also very important. Franz could only sigh that reality is full of legends.

Picked up the file and flipped through it, without any surprises. The historic mission of the two republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State has come to an end and can now be returned to the bosom of Austria.

There was nothing wrong with this, and the local population became supporters of Austria. The republicans may have gone to see God, but the report does not say anything about it, and Franz does not know.

"When you're ready, put on a farce and let these two republics dissolve! Since we want to develop the South African region, we can't keep them in the eyes. ”

Franz wants to be embarrassed, but he will not do anything to directly annex a sovereign state. If the Transvaal and the Orange Free State were dissolved, and the local population returned to Austria, there would be no problem.

Franz believed that Viscount Fickney would be able to handle this problem. After such a long time, if the local powerful faction didn't go to see God, it must be their own people.

Even if there's a mess, that's not a problem. These are days of great chaos in the African colonies, and any accidents are normal.

……