The international situation is surging, but Franz is hiding at home and taking care of his children and grandchildren, as if he is unaware.

It's obviously impossible to know, there are so many countries that the British want to woo, there will always be a few two or five boys.

In international politics, it is always a minority that goes to the black, and the two ends of the snake and mouse are the normal operation.

The rivalry between Britain and the HRE is not one-sided, and most countries will not tie themselves to one family until the situation is clear.

The HRE can rely on the advantage of land power to coerce the countries of the European continent to board the ship; The British also relied on their sea power to pull allies around the world.

It is impossible to stop it, and the grass on the wall will only fall with the wind, and it can only fall with the wind, which is the way for a small country to survive.

The main problem was that the Vienna government was limited in its efforts and could not compete with the British overseas.

The British have been operating overseas for hundreds of years, and the HRE has entered the Age of Discovery for less than forty years, and its influence overseas lags far behind the British.

What's more, the younger brother is not easy to collect. Overseas countries are not monolithic, and there are also not a few neighboring countries who have deep hatred and hatred, and if they win over this family, they will inevitably offend that family.

It is easy to pull people on the boat, but the trouble is that while pulling people, it is also involved in regional contradictions and disputes.

Over-involvement in regional contradictions, apart from being able to pull hatred, has no meaning for the HRE.

Don't talk about the gratitude of allies. In international politics, only the benefits of getting hands are real, and "gratitude" is the least valuable.

In this context, instead of taking the initiative and asking for hardships, it is better to watch the British perform first and then strike later.

Whoever follows the British will fund their enemies, and the HRE will not lack allies anyway.

Peaceful days always pass in a flash. With the development of the times, the contradictions and conflicts between HRE and Britain have become more and more acute.

Unconsciously, the term "trade friction" suddenly became popular and became the darling of the media for a while.

With the dividends brought by the second industrial revolution and the cost advantage of industrial raw materials, HRE's industrial and commercial products have increasingly gained an advantage in international competition.

In the increasingly cruel market competition, the former world factory, at this moment, many industries have fallen into a difficult situation.

The "free trade" that Britain once prided itself on has now become a complete joke under the impact of HRE industrial and commercial products.

No surprises? A free-trade Conservative? Lost the 1902 general election. Liberal candidate Henry Campbell-Banavon has successfully entered Downing Street.

Campbell as the winner? Haven't had time to rejoice for a few days? I was stunned by the mess in my hand.

Britain is still the hegemon of the world, but it is just a hegemon full of holes and leaks.

Frankly? The previous government of Robert Cecil also did a very good job, achieving remarkable results in the political and diplomatic fields.

For example: Ate the French Indochina Peninsula? expanded Britain's colonial territory; A successful strategy to divert troubled waters? The Russians were introduced into the Far East, and a rift appeared in the Russian-Austrian alliance; The Anglo-Japanese alliance was established, relations with countries in the Americas were repaired, and strategic partnerships were established with many countries......

No more diplomatic achievements? Nor can it hide Britain's economic woes. Is the Second Industrial Revolution in Force? Britain, which has not kept up with the times, is paying the price at the moment.

Not only the overseas market has been squeezed by HRE goods, but even the domestic market has also been impacted, and even Britain's fist textile industry has not been able to stand alone.

There is no way, who made the government of London choose to win over the United States?

Aware of the danger of the Confederates? I can't help but move closer to Shinra. And then, with the support of the HRE? The Confederates also set off the Industrial Revolution.

Like most countries, the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the Union was the textile industry. The origin of raw materials is playing with weaving by itself? How can this embarrass Britain as a country founded on the textile industry?

Do you know that the textile industry is the largest industrial chain in Britain, and more than one-third of the British people? can be related to this industrial chain.

As the world's largest producer of cotton? Does the Union have an unrivaled advantage in developing the textile industry? In terms of cost, it is easy to beat the British textile enterprises.

Once there is a problem in the textile industry, Britain's economy will collapse in minutes, and the British will naturally not be able to sit still.

The fact that the United States had turned to the HRE was considered by the public to be the biggest diplomatic mistake of the Robert Cecil government and one of the important factors in the Conservative Party's defeat in the general election.

When he was in the opposition, Campbell didn't bash the government on this issue, and now that he has come to power, he finds that it is not the case at all.

It seemed that it was a diplomatic mistake to win over the United States, but in fact the British government had no choice at all. Whether there is such a thing or not, the Union will develop its own cotton textile industry, which is determined by interests.

As early as ten years ago, the Confederates planned to develop their own cotton textile industry, but under pressure from Britain, they were forced to choose to abandon it.

In recent years, with the rise of the Holy Roman Empire, Britain's hegemony has been shaky, and the suppressed Confederates have once again given birth to the ambition to develop the textile industry.

Unlike in the past, with the Holy Roman Empire wreaking havoc in it, Britain was no longer able to stop the Confederates from developing the textile industry.

At this point, a gap has been created between the two sides. No matter how much we attach importance to the relations between the two countries, we cannot withstand the conflict of interests.

The Vienna government could help the Confederates develop the textile industry, but the London government could never do it, otherwise the domestic interest groups would have to coup d'état.

It is far less cost-effective to enlist a country with a core conflict of interest as an ally than to bring in a stronger country with a relatively small conflict of interest.

After all, the next step is to compete with the Holy Roman Empire for hegemony, and if you don't do it, you will have to fight a war, and you can't do it if your allies don't give up.

"The mouth cannon is cool for a while, and the crematorium afterwards".

Now Campbell feels a little bit of that. The front spray is cool, and after he takes office, he actually has to continue the foreign policy of his predecessor.

If it was just diplomatic trouble, Prime Minister Campbell could handle it. Politicians, thick skin is just the standard. "Say one thing, do another" is completely routine.

What worries Campbell the most is the steady decline of the domestic economy and the deepening social contradictions.

Of course, Campbell wasn't completely unprepared for these questions. As a leader of the reformers, Campbell proposed reform years earlier.

In this world, it has always been easy to shout slogans, but it is difficult to do practical things.

"Reform" has never been smooth sailing, and since ancient times, there have been very few successful reforms, and the vast majority of them have ended in tragedy.

After taking the position, Campbell really realized the difficult situation. Everything in reality told him that it was not that the previous government did not want to reform, but that the interests it touched were too great and he did not dare to start easily.

………

Trade Minister Lloyd George: "This is our report on the import and export trade for the first half of the year, and the situation is very bad.

Compared with the same period last year, the total export value in the first half of this year decreased by 0.46% year-on-year, the total import value increased by 2.67% year-on-year, and the trade deficit increased by 3 percentage points.

This is the third year in a row that our export trade has shrunk, and the 10th year that the trade deficit has grown. To be precise, the empire's trade deficit has been increasing since the end of the European War.

Affected by shrinking exports and trade deficits, the pound's position in the international arena has also been impacted.

Especially in the European world, countries have adopted Aegis and gold for trade settlements, and the pound has been marginalized.

The fundamental reason for all this is that domestic industrial and commercial products have lost their competitiveness in the international market.

Machinery manufacturing, power equipment, internal combustion engines, automobile industry, etc., a series of new industries, there is hardly a shadow of imperial goods.

Even our homeland is now full of HRE manufacturing. If this continues, sooner or later the empire's economy will have problems. ”

Trade deficits are nothing new, and Britain has been in deficit in international trade since the completion of industrialization in France and Austria.

With the first-mover advantage it occupied in the first industrial revolution, this deficit did not bring disaster to the British, but pushed the pound internationally.

It's just that the good times didn't last long, and with the growing trade deficit, problems slowly appeared. The deficit was too large, which directly led to the outflow of wealth.

After all, not all countries are willing to accept the settlement of pounds, and if they want to reap the world by printing bills, Britain does not have that strength.

With the rise of the Holy Roman Empire, it became more and more obvious that Aegis began to steal the market for the pound.

No one is stupid, seeing Britain's trade deficit getting bigger and bigger, no one wants to hold the pound on a large scale and pay for British consumption.

With the passage of time, more and more European countries have become reluctant to accept the settlement of pounds.

The pound's share in the international currency market is decreasing, and if you want to calm the trade deficit, you can only fill this hole with real money.

Despite the colonies to plunder, the constant outflow of gold and silver was still a problem for the British government.

It's very simple to change all this, either to regain the lost market, or to create new products and open up new markets.

It is a pity that the competitor this time is the Holy Roman Empire, and the deterrence of force has no effect, and competition by normal commercial means will not be able to seize the market at all.

The development of new products is even more unrealistic, and the British companies are so awesome that there will be no shrinking export trade.

Labor Secretary Burns: "Affected by the economic downturn, labor conflicts and employment problems in the country have also become acute.

According to our survey, our unemployment rate rose by another 0.3 percentage points in the first half of this year. It may seem inconspicuous, but this has been on the rise for five years in a row.

Not to mention labor conflicts, just look at the procession of strikes outside. Since the beginning of this year, there has been a clear increase in the number of events.

In London, for example, there were 16 strikes of more than 1,000 people in the first half of the year, and demonstrations took place almost every month.

If I wasn't sure it was London, I would have doubted that I had strayed into Paris. The frequency of this strike march is simply beyond ......"

It was clear that Burns really wanted to solve the problem. As the first representative of the working class to enter the cabinet, even if it was only for the sake of politics, Burns had to make achievements.

Before coming to power, he believed that as long as legislation was enacted to protect the interests of workers and prohibit capitalists from acting recklessly.

After learning first-hand information, Burns was suspicious of his eyes for a while.

Now the problem of Britain is no longer just a problem of the reckless behavior of the capitalists, and the greater trouble is that the survival of enterprises has been challenged.

Emerging industries have been impacted, and traditional industries are facing a series of problems such as cruel market competition, meager profits, and overcapacity.

The choice of the British capitalists in the original time and space was to reduce production capacity and play on their own in the colonies behind closed doors. Anyway, Britain's colonial market was big enough for them to retire.

As for updating machinery and equipment, increasing R&D investment, and facing international competition. Just shout a few exciting slogans, and if you take it seriously, you'll lose.

Capital is the most realistic, and if you can make money lying down without risk, why take the risk to participate in international competition?

Data doesn't lie, no matter which country, aggressive, R&D-heavy companies die the fastest, but conservative companies that don't want to make progress live longer.

Conservative companies may one day be eliminated by the market, but before they are eliminated from the market, the capitalists have made enough money from it.

In contrast, companies that continue to invest in R&D are happy if they succeed, but if there is a problem in the middle, they will lose all their money.

Capital hates risks, and making money steadily is the greatest happiness. Capitalists who are willing to gamble their net worth and win a better tomorrow for the enterprise are always in the minority.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Herbert Henry Asquith: "These problems have been around for a long time. In order to solve the country's economic problems, the previous government twice lowered the tax rate on industrial and commercial enterprises.

If not vetoed by parliament, they are even ready to launch an export subsidy program to increase the market competitiveness of enterprises.

It's just that these can only treat the symptoms, and if we want to really solve the problem, we still have to rely on our own efforts.

We have to admit that we have fallen behind in many areas. HRE's goods are all over the street, and if you compare a similar product with a domestic product, our company is really not doing well in terms of cost performance.

The trouble now is that the domestic capitalists lack interest in technological innovation, especially in the field of machinery and equipment, and even less in the spirit of innovation.

What the capitalists want is an end to free trade, a restart of trade barriers, and the protection of the market with tariffs.

Of course, they didn't say it so directly. In the name of it: the use of trade barriers to temporarily protect the domestic casualty market, to buy time for enterprise scientific and technological innovation.

However, we all know that with the enthusiasm of domestic enterprises to invest in scientific research, I am afraid that this situation will not change in the next century. ”

No matter what policy it is, in the final analysis, it is all about interests. Because of the interests, the British government established a free trade system; Also because of profits, the British government now has to consider ending free trade.

Even if Asquith is very disgusted by all this, and thinks that these unenterprising fellows are the moths of Britain, then their opinions must be carefully considered.

Seeing the tense atmosphere, Prime Minister Campbell waved his hand and said: "These problems are the realities we will face in the coming days.

Britain has come to this point because of a pile of problems, and reality tells us that Britain has reached a time when it has to reform.

If we continue like this, let alone compete with the Holy Roman Empire, the social contradictions in the country alone can toss half our lives.

Protecting the market can be considered, but how to protect it, to what step it takes, and what impact it will cause, these must be carefully considered.

Once we adopt trade barriers, other countries will inevitably follow suit, and our import and export trade will definitely be affected.

Domestic ......"