Perhaps out of disgust with Austria, the French's plans for the big farms were not kept secret, and soon after the decision of the Paris government, the news was released to the outside world.

This is understandable, at this moment, the eighth division of the rebel army led by Huthier and others has swelled to a huge 80,000, and it is about to break through the 100,000 mark.

Regardless of the combat effectiveness, but the French have already learned the power of destruction. This rabble force has only done two things along the way: frantically expanding its troops and plundering the manor.

Huttier and others gave full play to the style of bullying the weak and fearing the hard, and the French did not touch any of the cities they strictly guarded, and singled out the weak villages and small towns to attack.

Even if most of the soldiers are armed with cold weapons, relying on the advantage of crowd tactics, they are invincible all the way.

In fact, many times there was no need to attack, and looking at the number of rebels, the defenders along the way fled.

It's not that there is no common sense to resist, the main thing is that the disadvantage in troops is too serious, there are too few French soldiers in small towns, and the Egyptians are unreliable.

Concentrating troops on large cities is the best choice. In general, as long as there were more than a thousand French soldiers, the 8th Division would not touch the nails.

There is no point in stumbling, and it is not here to fight the world. Just wave it directly, and the matter of grabbing the territory will be done by the rebel army in the rear.

With the 8th Division interspersed and scattered, the French army in Egypt also lost the opportunity to regroup and had to fight separately.

After all, there are few French soldiers who can fight, most of the army is colonial troops, and it is okay to defend the city, and it is better to go out to fight field battles than the rebel army.

After tossing such a big move, the French government was naturally unhappy. In the spirit that I am uncomfortable and you don't want to be better, the French will directly show their cards.

And then all the agricultural stocks, all started to plummet. A group of self-righteous experts and scholars have come out to sing the praises of agricultural stocks, and even directly believe that a new round of agricultural crisis is just around the corner.

Well, this time they're right. For a long time in the future, enterprises engaged in agricultural production will not have a good time, and it may be more appropriate to describe it as a day.

Even if the French don't come to this wave, the agricultural crisis will still erupt. With the continuous development of fertilizer technology, food overcapacity is an inevitable trend.

Even if a food-exporting country, such as Austria, does not promote industrial fertilizer technology, those food-importing countries will.

Although it is not as rapid as the increase in the output of chemical fertilizers in later generations, it is still possible to increase the output by tens of percent.

Grain production capacity can increase substantially, but the demand for grain in the market cannot skyrocket so much in a year.

Phosphate fertilizers have been born and are being used on a large scale; Potash has been developed in the laboratories of the Royal Academy of Sciences, and it has not been promoted to maintain food price stability.

As for the ammonia fertilizer and compound fertilizer in the back, there is no shadow for the time being. Human needs are the driving force behind technological progress, and Austria is one of the under-motivated ones.

In order to make more profits in the export of agricultural products, Franz was not very active in the research of fertilizer technology to increase grain production capacity on a large scale.

For many admirers of green food in later generations, perhaps this is the best era, pure green food without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, all over the street.

Affected by the French large-scale farm program, the world's major grain exporting countries have panicked to varying degrees.

……

St. Petersburg, as the world's largest exporter of raw grain, was undoubtedly the most troublesome for the tsarist government.

Alexander III had experienced the agrarian crisis firsthand, and it was during the last crisis that the tsarist government panicked and foolishly ran to sign the infamous grain-for-loan agreement with the British.

This is one of the few black histories of Alexander II, which was fooled by the British and joined the British pound-gold system.

Even after relying on the accounts of the British in the end, the Russian Empire still lost tens of millions of rubles, and the political losses were immeasurable.

After one lesson, Alexander III realized the importance of agriculture to Russia, and paid special attention to the changes in the international grain market.

"What do you think of the big farm plan announced by the French?"

Agriculture Minister Balshak said bitterly: "This is simply terrible. At present, the countries and regions in Europe that need to import large quantities of grain are mainly the regions of Britain, North Germany and Italy.

The remaining countries such as Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal, although they are also food importers, have very limited demand, adding up to less than 10 percent.

If the French are allowed to succeed in their food self-sufficiency plan, the international grain export market will shrink by at least a fifth.

Without this part of the market, a new round of food overcapacity is destined to explode in Europe.

As Europe's largest exporter of raw grain, if this happens, we will inevitably lose a lot of money, and even a new wave of farmers' bankruptcies. ”

Alexander III frowned, everyone knows these truths, and he wants a solution, not to listen to complaints here.

"Is there a way to avoid the worst?"

Alexander III asked expectantly.

It's a pity that it's easy to see the problem, but it's hard to solve it. This is the trend of the times, and it cannot be resolved by individual ability alone.

Balshak shook his head: "The international market is shrinking, and this is not something that the Ministry of Agriculture can control.

If possible, it would be better to get the French to abandon the big farm plan through diplomatic means. ”

Kicking the ball, the Ministry of Agriculture has no way to deal with the agricultural crisis and has to pin its hopes on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"It's impossible!

The French have withdrawn from the free trade system, and even if international food prices fall to the bottom, they can use tariff barriers to protect their domestic markets from shocks.

Achieving food self-sufficiency, the French government can save a lot of foreign exchange expenditures every year, and reverse the current trade deficit, and I really can't think of a reason for the French to give up.

Rather than expecting the French to get their heads in the water and abandon the big farm plan, it is better to start looking for ways to reduce food production capacity or expand market demand now. ”

Faced with the ball, Foreign Secretary Oscar Jimenez did not hesitate to fight back.

Russia and Austria are both French competitors on the European continent, and while cracking down on competitors, they can also reap huge benefits, and there is no reason for the French government not to do it.

Not to mention the pressure from the Russians in the past, even if the European countries put pressure together, the French will not give up.

Agriculture Minister Borshak righteously refused: "There are as many as 50 or 60 million people engaged in agricultural production in the country, and it is simply impossible for so many people to reduce production capacity together."

Expanding the market is even more of a joke, isn't the domestic grain demand market expanding?

However, along with the expansion of the market, our food production capacity is also growing at the same time, and even faster.

This is still based on the premise that domestic agricultural production technology is backward, and if the latest agricultural production technology is adopted, domestic grain production capacity can be increased by one-third.

If it weren't for the fact that there would be no market for the increase in grain production capacity, the Ministry of Agriculture would have promoted the new technology long ago. ”

Although the words are not very good, Alexander III knew that this is true, and it is unrealistic to reduce production capacity and expand the market.

"As soon as the plans of the French are completed, Austria will also lose so much, what is the Vienna government going to do?" Alexander III asked expectantly

There's nothing to be embarrassed about, you can't do it yourself, just learn from others, and the worst thing is that others don't know what to do.

After a moment's hesitation, Balshak replied, "Your Majesty, the situation in Austria is not the same as ours.

It is also a major grain exporter, but Austria mainly exports finished grain and by-products, and its ability to resist risks is stronger than ours.

As early as 1884, Austria's trade in agricultural and sideline products and grain industry products accounted for 47.9% of the total export of agricultural products, and this proportion is still growing.

The collapse in food prices will not have a big impact on canned food, biscuits, snacks, and industrial chemical products, and even profits will increase further because of the reduction in production costs.

The main ones directly affected are the sales of finished grains, such as flour and potato flour......

After the fall in grain prices, it will affect the retail market, and there will be a period of time for processing enterprises to lower the purchase price of grain and pass on their own risks......"

Watching the Tsar's face become more and more ugly, Balshak's voice became smaller and quieter, until he finally shut up altogether.

It was normal for Alexander III to be unhappy, he thought that someone was unlucky with him, but he did not expect that someone would have prepared a way out.

As soon as Austrian enterprises lowered the purchase price of grain, then most of the losses fell on the Russian Empire, which they could not refuse.

After all, during the agricultural crisis, you are lucky to be able to sell, and if you are unlucky, you can only pile up in the warehouse waiting for mold.

Seeing that the atmosphere was tense, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alisher Gulov deliberately diverted the topic: "No matter how you pass on the losses, Austrian agriculture will be affected, and it is nothing more than a matter of size."

In the case of Austria's agricultural volume, even a drop of one percentage point would be enough to cause the Vienna government a painful pain.

Once the agricultural crisis broke out, even if their industrial chain was perfected, it would suffer heavy losses, and the Vienna government could not afford not to act.

There was no movement now, and it is estimated that they were also stunned by the sudden action of the French, and did not know how to respond for a while. ”

Hearing this explanation, Alexander III's expression softened slightly. It's good to have someone with you, it's too miserable to be unlucky alone.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is closely following the movements in Austria and will report to me at any time if there is any change."

……

Didn't let Alexander III wait long.

On June 11, 1885, Austria extended an invitation to Russia, Denmark, Argentina, the Confederate States of America, Brazil and other agricultural exporting countries to prepare for the third agricultural summit to be held in Vienna in March next year.

This result has made many people breathe a sigh of relief. It's good that there is movement, but what I'm most afraid of is that there is no reaction.

The French man's big farm strategy is still just a plan, to be precise, an intention, not even a concrete plan.

If you want to implement it, it is not a matter of one or two days. Not to mention anything else, the location alone is not something that can be tossed out in a month or two.

After the agricultural experts have selected the location and completed the preliminary design plan, it is estimated that it will not even be time to level the land, and this year will pass.

There is still plenty of time, so there is no need to rush at all. It is still years away from becoming a threat.