Holy Roman Empire Chapter 798 - African Agricultural Development Initiative

        



        Napoleon IV shook his head, picked up a newspaper, and said, “I’m sure you’ve all read these papers. They’re all talking about France’s decline.         Even our own domestic newspapers are expressing a pessimistic view. You all know what that means.         If we don’t take countermeasures soon, we may lose the chance to strike back at all.”         Though no one wanted to admit it, deep down everyone understood that France was indeed on a downward trajectory.         Especially in terms of the economy. After suppressing the domestic rebellion, the French economy regressed all the way back to 1860 levels.         While there had been some recovery in the past two years, it had only managed to catch up to where things stood in 1870. To return to the peak of 1881, it would take at least another three or four years.         Falling behind by one step meant falling behind in every step thereafter. France had already lagged economically behind Britain and Austria, and now the gap had only widened further.         And now, with the fiasco in Egypt, much of the military prestige France had worked so hard to build had also been lost.         No matter how many valid reasons there were for Governor Adolphe’s defeat, a loss was still a loss. The public wouldn’t care about the details.         With economic, military, and political blows all landing at once, if not handled properly, the very foundation of the government could be shaken.         In order to consolidate his rule, Napoleon IV now had to take a tough stance and restore the dignity of France.         However, wanting something and actually doing it are two entirely different things. Retaliating against Britain and Austria sounded easy in theory, but putting it into action required careful planning.         The Minister of the Navy, Georges Charles Cloué, spoke up and said, “Your Majesty, while Britain and Austria are indeed powerful, they are not without weaknesses.         The cornerstone of Britain’s colonial empire is India. If we can stir up trouble there, even minor disruptions could cause them significant discomfort.         We already control half of the Indochina Peninsula. From there, we could expand our influence into Burma, forcing the British to proceed cautiously.         As for Austria, although we can’t touch their core colonies directly, we could still create some trouble by supporting the Republic of Colombia.”         On the surface, these ideas sounded promising. In reality, such minor retaliations would only cause Britain and Austria a little inconvenience.         Nevertheless, this showed that Georges Charles Cloué had a good political mind. His approach allowed for retaliation without fully severing diplomatic relations, keeping tensions within a manageable scope.         Napoleon IV shook his head. “That is still far from enough. Expanding toward Burma might indeed make the British feel threatened. If we stir things up enough, it might work to some degree.         But supporting the Republic of Colombia is far less effective. Perhaps in earlier times, that would have had some impact. However, Colombia is now too intimidated to oppose Austria in any meaningful way.         Moreover, with the limited strength they possess, if a real conflict broke out between Colombia and Austria, it could actually give the Austrian government an excuse to annex them.”         It wasn’t that Napoleon IV was being overly demanding. The key issue was that they had to present a meaningful counterattack to both the European powers and the French public.         If France was bullied and didn’t strike back, could it still claim to be the mighty, proud France?         The reason the great powers were considered as such ultimately came down to strength. Right now, France needed a chance to prove its strength. Choosing to clash with Britain and Austria was a way to reassert its place among the top three powers.         The actual outcome didn’t matter as much. What truly mattered was the momentum and posture. France had to show the world its grandeur as a great power.         After a short pause, the Minister of the Economy, Ezra, spoke somewhat nervously: “Your Majesty, retaliating against Austria doesn’t necessarily have to be through military means. We can take economic action instead.         However, doing so might bring serious consequences. We could end up confronting both Russia and Austria at the same time, and that’s a conflict we wouldn’t be able to resolve.”         France was not Britain, and aiming for a “kill two birds with one stone” strategy was never its top priority. They had learned their lesson from past experiences.         The French government had already deeply felt the consequences of attracting too much hatred. Causing trouble for Austria alone, launching a small-scale retaliation, was manageable.         But turning both Russia and Austria into mortal enemies and staying locked in permanent hostility did not align with France’s best interests.         Upon hearing the Minister of Economy’s words, everyone was dumbfounded. Was it really possible that simply launching an economic strike against Austria would escalate into a blood feud with both Russia and Austria?         Napoleon IV asked curiously, “Go on then, what kind of plan could be that terrifying?”         Minister of the Economy Ezra explained, “We will immediately launch the African Agricultural Development Plan. Unlike our previous plans, this time we won’t consider profitability.         If no private investors are interested, then the government will fund the establishment of state-owned farms and significantly expand the area of cultivated land.         The goal is to rapidly produce large quantities of grain in the short term and flood the international grain market, driving prices down.         Agriculture has always been one of Austria’s most important industries. Agricultural exports account for nearly 40% of Austria’s total exports, contributing significantly to the Austrian government’s tax revenue.         Among these, processed grain exports make up the largest portion, estimated at around fifty-three percent. If our plan succeeds and global grain prices plummet, Austria is bound to suffer heavy losses.         Seventy percent of the raw grain used in Austria’s processed grain exports is imported from Russia. A crash in global grain prices would make Russia the second-most affected party after Austria.”         Without a doubt, this was the shared weak spot of both Austria and Russia. If a third country were to dump massive amounts of grain onto the international market, grain prices would collapse, and both agricultural processing companies and grain farmers would suffer enormous losses.         Processing companies would face a sudden price shock, but could offset losses by lowering their purchase prices for raw grain. Farmers, however, would bear the brunt of the disaster, losing everything they invested.         Without a doubt, this was a glaring vulnerability and certainly no secret.         For colonial powers, growing and dumping grain overseas into mainland Europe posed no technical difficulty.         The problem lay in the fact that increased grain output would inevitably lead to a decline in international grain prices.         The grain harvested through hardship would not only fail to turn a profit but could even incur shipping costs, not to mention recouping the expense of land development.         Finance Minister Roy Vernon quickly objected: “No! The African regions are all undeveloped wastelands, whereas Russia and Austria already have cultivated farmland. This means our grain production costs will undoubtedly be higher than theirs.         In future competition, we would be at a natural disadvantage. To ensure that our grain does not go unsold, we would have only one option: dumping it at low prices.         At that point, it becomes a contest of financial strength, seeing who folds first. This is a strategy that would hurt ourselves in the process.         “Moreover, a crash in international grain prices would spill over into the domestic market and cause local farmers to suffer losses as well.”         It was impossible not to panic. Once this plan was launched, money would pour out like water, and the Ministry of Finance’s thin wallet could hardly bear this strain.         Napoleon IV said, “Roy is right. Crashing grain prices is not a viable strategy. It would only lead to mutual destruction between us and Austria, while handing a free advantage to the British.”         As for inadvertently hurting the Russians, Napoleon IV didn’t really care. After all, the two countries never had good relations to begin with, so offending them was not much of a concern.         When it came to the interests of French farmers, the situation was completely different. The farmers of France were the most loyal supporters of House Bonaparte. It was thanks to the broad support of the peasantry that Napoleon III ascended to the throne.         No matter how severe the blow to Austria might be, Napoleon IV could not bring himself to do something that would harm the very foundation of his rule.         After all, this was a matter of political survival. Once a political figure had spoken, it was not so easy to take back their words. Since Ezra had already proposed this plan, they had no choice but to follow through with it.         “Even if the goal is not to deal a blow to Austria, we still have a reason to launch the African agricultural development initiative.         Ever since we annexed the Italian regions, France has become one of the major grain-importing countries on the European continent. Every year, we spend large amounts of foreign currency importing agricultural products.         If one day we fall out with Austria, a domestic food crisis will erupt almost immediately. For the sake of national strategic security, we must achieve self-sufficiency in grain production.         Besides, we have already withdrawn from the free trade system. We are completely free to adopt tariff barriers to protect the domestic grain market from being influenced by the international market and safeguard the interests of our farmers.         In fact, we could even step back a little and avoid competing for the international agricultural market, focusing only on domestic food self-sufficiency to ease Russian and Austrian hostility.”         Upon hearing the words “protecting the domestic grain market,” Napoleon IV’s eyes lit up. As long as domestic farmers’ interests were preserved, he would be quite happy to deal a blow to Austria’s economy.         While the economy did not yet fully define a nation’s strength in this era, a thriving economy meant government coffers were full, and with money came military power.         Perhaps the lower classes had not yet felt the threat posed by Austria, but after the Paris Revolution, the upper levels of the French government had become keenly aware that their neighbor was no longer the same.         Suppressing Austria had already become a consensus among the French elite. They had simply been too preoccupied to act. After putting down the domestic rebellion, there were still a great many problems left to resolve.         Just as those issues were nearly under control, the Egyptian uprising erupted. If not for being forced into a corner, the French government would not have chosen to retaliate at this time.         Now, the Greater French Empire had already become the second-largest grain importer in Europe, surpassed only by the British. If it lost that market, Europe would inevitably face an oversupply of agricultural goods.         At that point, the two major grain-exporting nations, Russia and Austria, would not have an easy time, and it might even trigger a new economic crisis. *** https://postimg.cc/gallery/PwXsBkC (Maps of the current territories of the countries in this novel made by ScH)

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