The disturbing international situation did not affect Austria's plans for the development of the Near East. Iron still needs to be hard, otherwise the opportunity will be sent to the door, and you will not be able to grasp it.

It has been four years since the Near East Development Program was launched in 1884.

Four years can only be regarded as a small episode for a country; For a place, it can change dramatically.

Compared to the depression of four years ago, the Near East has become a large construction site.

The railways are moving forward like dragons; Small towns have sprung up; The old town is still being demolished, and the new city has already begun to be built.

In just four years, Austria emigrated more than 3 million people to the Near East and controlled most of the region.

"The development of the Near East is still too slow, and at the current rate, it may not be completed in another 10 years.

With international tensions and the possibility of war on the continent growing, we don't have enough time to wait, and governments must find ways to accelerate development in the Near East. ”

In the eyes of the outside world, the Near East is advancing at an alarming pace, but in the eyes of Franz, it is still too slow.

Four years later, the Near East is still a big construction site, with slightly larger projects underway, in addition to a few small towns.

The original plan was to complete the development and reconstruction of the Near East within ten years, but the reality told Franz that it would not be possible at all.

Prime Minister Karl was shocked and said: "Your Majesty, the development of our Near East has progressed very quickly. If you blindly speed up, there will be a series of problems later. ”

It's not that the progress can't be accelerated, but it's hard to speed up it under the condition of ensuring the quality of the project.

After all, there are few construction machinery and equipment in these years, and they all rely on manpower to carry them on their shoulders. It is not the Austrian government's lack of efforts that constrains the rapid completion of the Near East development plan, but the inability of the social productive forces to keep up.

Franz did not study construction machinery and could not help at all in this matter. Even if you can draw a diagram of the equipment of the future, it is only a diagram of the exterior, and you don't know what the inside looks like.

It is simply not realistic to rely on the outline drawings to imitate engineering equipment, and many mechanical equipment involve a lot of basic scientific knowledge, and it cannot be built before it does not keep up.

Franz shook his head: "The international situation is changing, and time waits for no one. If the Near East development plan cannot be fully completed in a short period of time, the projects will be graded and priority will be given to important projects.

For example, roads, bridges, stations and other projects should be ranked first; It doesn't matter if the new city construction project is delayed. ”

Franz admits that he is in a hurry, but his intuition tells him that the day when the situation in Europe will spiral out of control is not far off.

He really didn't know how to lay the foundation for connecting Africa with the railroad network before the outbreak of war.

Prime Minister Karl reminded: "Your Majesty, after our warning, the French have made concessions, and now the three Franco-Bidian countries have come to the negotiating table.

Judging by the current situation in Europe, the French are not ready for war, and the possibility of war on the continent is very small.

Our plans for the development of the Near East are a whole, and the projects are mutually reinforcing.

Slowing down the construction of cities along the way and blindly speeding up the construction of railways will cause railway operations to fall into a state of serious losses for a long time in the future, which is very uneconomical economically. ”

It is not Chancellor Karl's personal opinion that the war in Europe will not be fought for a while, but this is the view of most people in the Austrian government, and it can even be said that 99% of Europeans hold this view.

There was only a slight friction between the French, and what the French did was at best political blackmail under military threat.

The biggest risk of war comes from the confrontation between the two alliances, but now the relationship between the two alliances is only the deterioration of relations between Britain and Russia, and France and Austria can only be regarded as a normal stab between the great powers.

Franz shook his head: "If you lose money, you will lose money, anyway, we never expected the railways in the Near East to make money, and it was nothing more than a little bit of a loss to finish it ahead of schedule."

In order to gain the strategic initiative, we can still afford this price. ”

No matter how important the economic account is, it cannot compare with the national strategic security. The railway runs through the Near East, which means that Austria has a strategic advantage over France.

Of course, this was based on the context of the continuation of the European Continental War, and if the winner had been decided from the beginning, the plan would not have mattered.

Sometimes Franz wondered if he should follow the example of Prussia and strike first and catch the French by surprise.

It was only after considering Britain and Russia that Franz decisively abandoned this tempting plan. If you succeed, the benefits are limited, and if you lose, you will lose your pants.

Not taking the initiative to provoke a war does not mean that Franz has done nothing. The French dared to propose a hegemony clause to Belgium and Germany, which was in fact indulged by Austria.

It seems that the French have taken advantage, but they have also pushed themselves to the opposite side of European countries.

On the surface, everyone has shown nothing to show weakness, but the subconscious "French threat theory" has emerged in many people's minds.

Don't expect everyone to be rational, with this "subconscious", if the Franco-Austrian war breaks out, everyone will be inherently inclined to Austria when they stand in line.

……

On November 24, 1888, after a series of bargains, the Franco-Bidian countries signed the Coal Export Agreement in Paris.

According to the terms of the treaty, Belgium and Germany will export 50 million tons of coal to France at parity in the next five years, including no less than 8 million tons of high-quality coking coal.

The word "parity" expresses the sadness of the two countries, although the treaty does not clearly explain, but everyone knows that it is an ultra-low price.

Specifically, less than a month after the treaty was signed, the overall retail price of coal in France fell by nearly one-fifth.

The steel industry has benefited the most from the fall in coal prices. In the last month of 1888, French steel production increased by 18% compared to the same period last year.

This is just the beginning, as French industry is starting to rejuvenate itself due to falling energy prices.

The capitalists, who have received the benefits, have not forgotten to sing praises to the government. Overnight, Napoleon IV became the greatest monarch of France.

Everyone loves to hear good words, and looking at the praise in the style of flowers in the newspaper, Napoleon IV also enjoyed it.

Soon Napoleon IV was not happy, and after tasting the sweetness, the capitalists were not satisfied, but wanted to go further.

"Cheap coal", no matter how cheap it is, is not as good as the benefits in your hands, not to mention that parity coal is not very easy to buy.

The pressure exerted by the French government is nothing more than to force Belgium and Germany to cut taxes on coal exported to France, and coal mining companies still want to make a profit.

Even if the government signed the treaty, the capitalists could still not buy it, and many companies raised the ex-factory price of selling to the French after the treaty was signed.

There were even some national capitalists who simply refused to sell coal to the French as a protest against the unequal treaty.

The governments of Belgium and Germany are also disciplined, and their tax cuts have already touched the bottom line, and it is simply impossible for them to force companies to reduce prices for exports.

After the signing of the treaty between the three countries, the amount of coal imported by France from Belgium and Germany did not rise but fell, and "cheap coal" did exist, but it could not be bought.

It can also be seen from the decline in domestic coal prices that the price of coal imported by France is only the same as that of the international market, and the coal mining companies in Germany and Germany who want to buy goods below the market price do not cooperate.

The government did cut taxes, but people just didn't want to cut prices. Everyone is a capitalist, who doesn't want to make a little more?

The main contradiction now is no longer the contradiction between countries, but the contradiction between capital.

According to conventional means, French capital naturally has no choice but to turn to the government for help from the coal bosses of Belgium and Germany.

……

At the Palace of Versailles, Napoleon IV frowned and asked, "What do you think of the proposal of the Steel Guild?" ”

Foreign Minister Karel Kadlec: "Your Majesty, we have just signed a treaty with Belgium and Germany, and we have broken the treaty so quickly that the international community cannot explain it.

Judging from the current situation, there is no possibility that the two governments will continue to make concessions, and it may be counterproductive to force them to make a deal. ”

In fact, from the very beginning, Karel Kadlec opposed excessive coercion on the two countries, advocating the use of unified procurement contracts to drive down prices.

Why don't the capitalists in China cooperate, everyone is used to freedom, how can they give the right to purchase to the government?

It turns out that persecution does not solve the problem, and the governments of the three countries do reach an agreement, but domestic companies still resist.

Although sky-high coal prices no longer exist, it is still impossible to purchase cheap coal below the international average price.

The refusal of many companies in Belgium and Germany to export coal to France is not because the capitalists are patriotic, but mainly because they are forced by patriotism at home.

Nationalism has risen, and now to do business with the French is to be hated a traitor.

Not only coal mining companies, but also many companies in Germany and Germany are not cooperating with the French, and the whole society has set off a wave of boycotting French goods.

This is the reason why the French capitalists are in a hurry to seek help from the government.

If the anti-French tide of the two countries is not suppressed, France will lose a part of the already small international market.

Economy Secretary Elsa: "Government intervention may indeed pose an uncertain risk, but the situation is out of control.

If the government does not intervene, not only will we not be able to get cheap coal, but we will also lose the market in both countries.

There are all kinds of signs that there is British capital behind this. The companies that have taken the lead in boycotting coal exports to us have British and Austrian capital holdings behind them. ”

……