Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 798 - 61, African Farm Plan

Napoleon IV shook his head and picked up a newspaper, saying, "You all must have seen these newspapers, they all speak of the decline of France.

Even our domestic newspapers hold the same pessimistic view. What this implies, I’m sure you all understand very well.

If we do not take countermeasures now, even if we want to fight back later, it will be impossible."

Even though they were reluctant to admit it, everyone knew in their hearts that France was indeed on the decline.

Especially economically, after quelling domestic rebellions, the French economy fell back to its 1860 level.

Although there has been some recovery over the past two years, it has just caught up to the level of 1870. To return to the peak period of 1881, at least three to four more years are needed.

A step slow, then everything slows down. France, already lagging behind in economy compared to the Anglo-Austrian alliance, was left even further behind by its two competitors.

Now with the fiasco in Egypt, the reputation the French Army had built with great effort has been largely ruined.

No matter how justified Governor Adolf’s defeat was, a loss is a loss, and the public won’t care about the specifics.

Economic, military, and political setbacks striking all at once, if not managed properly, could shake the foundations of the government.

In order to consolidate his rule, Napoleon IV must now adopt a strong stance and restore the dignity of France.

Thinking and doing are always two different concepts, getting back at the Anglo-Austrian alliance is easier said than done, it requires careful consideration.

Minister of the Navy Hamdi Halbavi, "Your Majesty, although the Anglo-Austrian alliance is powerful, they are not without vulnerabilities.

The British colonial system hinges on India, merely creating trouble there will be enough to give them a headache.

We have already gained control over half of the Indochina Peninsula, we can fully continue to expand our influence into Burma, and make the British hesitate.

Although we can’t touch the core colonial territories of Austria, it’s still feasible to cause them some trouble, such as: supporting the Republic of Colombia."

While these measures sound good, such light retaliation can at most cause minor inconveniences to the Anglo-Austrian alliance.

But this precisely indicates that Hamdi Halbavi has political acumen, striking back at both countries without completely burning bridges, keeping the conflict within controllable limits.

Napoleon IV shook his head, "That’s still far from enough. Expanding into Burma might pose a threat to the British, we’ll make a bigger move, that might suffice.

Supporting the Republic of Colombia is very insufficient, perhaps earlier it might have been effective. But now, Colombia has been intimidated and daunted, they wouldn’t dare confront Austria.

Moreover, with their meager strength, if they really clash with Austria, they might even provide the Vienna Government an excuse to annex them."

It’s not that Napoleon IV’s expectations are too high, but now they must come up with substantiated countermeasures, to show to the European nations and their own citizens.

If one gets bullied and doesn’t fight back, can they still be the formidable France?

What makes a great power is its strength. France now needs an opportunity to prove its might, choosing to have a friction with the Anglo-Austrian alliance to reestablish their status among the three great nations.

Results are not important, but the momentum must be sufficient, to show everyone the grand demeanor of France.

Moments later, Economic Minister Elsa nervously spoke, "Your Majesty, retaliating against Austria does not necessarily have to be through military means, it’s also possible economically.

However, this action would have serious repercussions. We could end up facing both Russia and Austria, in an inextricable conflict."

France is not England, a strategy that kills two birds with one stone is not their ultimate pursuit.

Experience is the teacher of fools.

The French government has clearly felt the repercussions of being too hated, causing a bit of trouble to Austria alone, a small reprisal is fine. Stay connected through empire

To directly create deadly enmity with Russia and Austria, standing against them continuously, is not in the interests of France.

After hearing the words of the Economic Minister, everyone was baffled. Is it really necessary to turn into irreconcilable enemies with Russia and Austria just for one economic strike against Austria?

Napoleon IV asked curiously, "Let’s hear it, what plan is so terrifying?"

Economic Minister Elsa explained, "To immediately launch an agricultural development plan in the Region of Africa, different from earlier plans, this time we’re not considering profit.

No one from the public sphere was investing, so the government funded the establishment of state-owned farms to expand the area for grain cultivation.

In the short term, a large quantity of grain would be rapidly produced and released into the international grain market, driving down the prices of grain.

Agriculture has always been one of Austria’s most important industries, with agricultural exports accounting for nearly forty percent of Austria’s total export volume, contributing a significant amount of tax revenue to the Vienna Government.

Among these, processed grain exports accounted for the largest share of agricultural exports, estimated at about 53%.

If our plan succeeded and international grain prices plummeted, Austria would undoubtedly suffer heavy losses.

Of the processed grain exported by Austria, seventy percent of the raw grain was imported from Russia; a crash in international grain prices would make Russians the second biggest victims after Austria.

There was no doubt that this was a common vulnerability for Russia and Austria. Should a third country dump a large amount of grain onto the market and cause the international grain prices to collapse, both enterprises engaged in agricultural processing and farmers growing grain would suffer heavy losses.

Enterprises would face the agony of a sudden plunge in prices but could transfer the losses by pushing down the purchase price of raw grain. It is the farmers cultivating grain who would truly suffer irreparable financial losses.

This glaring weakness was naturally no secret.

For colonial countries, growing grain overseas to dump into the European Continent posed no technical difficulty.

The issue was that an increase in grain production would inevitably lead to a decrease in international grain prices.

The painstakingly cultivated grain not only would fail to make a profit but could even incur the cost of transportation, not to mention recovering the initial cost of clearing the land.

Finance Minister Roy Vernon hastily objected, "No! The Region of Africa consists of undeveloped wastelands, while Russia and Austria are already developed and cultivated lands. Our grain cultivation costs will definitely be higher than theirs.

This means that in future competition, we would be at a natural disadvantage from the start. To ensure that the grain doesn’t go unsold, the only path left would be to sell at a low price.

At that point, it would become a contest of financial endurance to see who collapses first. This would be a clear case of self-harm."

There was no room for calmness; once that plan kicked off, money would flow out like water, and the Ministry of Finance’s slender purse simply couldn’t bear it.

Napoleon IV said, "Roy is right, disrupting grain prices is not a viable option. It would only result in mutual harm for us and Austria, handing benefits to the British on a silver platter."

Napoleon IV didn’t care about collateral damage to the Russians; the relations between the two countries had never been good anyway, and offense was already taken.

But when it came to the interests of French farmers, it was a different story. French farmers were the most steadfast supporters of the Bonaparte family; it was with the support of the vast number of farmers that Napoleon III climbed to the throne.

Even if the blow to Austria would be great, engaging in such self-destructive actions was not something Napoleon IV could do.

Once a political figure has spoken, it’s not easy to retract those words. Since Elsa had proposed the idea, she would have to proceed with determination.

"Even if we don’t aim to strike at Austria, it’s necessary to initiate the African farm plan.

Since the annexation of the Italian Area, France had become one of the main grain-importing countries on the European Continent, consuming a large amount of foreign exchange to import agricultural products each year.

If one day we fall out with Austria, a food crisis would quickly erupt domestically. For the strategic safety of the nation, achieving grain self-sufficiency is also a must.

Considering we have already withdrawn from the free trade system, we can completely adopt tariff barriers to shield domestic grain prices from international market disturbances, in order to protect the interests of the farmer class.

We can even take a step back, not compete for the international agricultural product market, but just achieve domestic grain self-sufficiency and reduce the hostility of Russia and Austria."

Hearing "protect the market," Napoleon IV’s interest was piqued. As long as the interests of the domestic farmers were not compromised, he was quite willing to hit Austria’s economy.

Although in those times, the economy was not equivalent to national strength, a good economic development meant the government had money, and with money came troops.

Perhaps the middle and lower classes had not yet felt the threat of Austria, but after the Paris Revolution, the upper echelons of the French government realized that their neighbors had changed.

Suppressing Austria had become a consensus among the upper levels of France, with no action taken only because the French government had been busy. After suppressing domestic rebellion, there were still a heap of messes to sort out.

Just as domestic issues appeared to be resolving, an uprising erupted in Egypt. Had the French government not been compelled by necessity, they wouldn’t have chosen retaliation at this time.

As of today, the Greater French Empire had become the second-largest grain-importing nation after the United Kingdom. Once this market was lost, Europe would inevitably face an excess of agricultural capacity.

By then, Russia and Austria, two big grain-exporting countries, wouldn’t have a good time, and it might even trigger a new round of economic crisis.