The tense international situation not only pushed up prices, but also affected international trade. The trade volume of almost all countries is declining.

Especially France and Austria, which are at the center of the storm, suffered the most losses. Companies engaged in international trade between France and Austria are busy collecting accounts and no longer accepting reservations, and must trade cash.

There is no way, no one knows that the war will start. Once a warring country becomes a belligerent, don’t expect the other party to pay.

The contract has no effect here, and the destructive power of war is amazing. Even if you win, the other party will not have the money to pay the final payment; if you lose, it will be even worse, and no winner will ever pay the loser.

This is true for countries and enterprises. A truce treaty can erase all previous debts.

Foreign trade falls when it falls. Anyway, the European War is about to break out, and capitalists have long wanted to make money from the national crisis, and they don’t care about the small profits in foreign trade.

Since the Palace of Versailles was determined to implement the China-Europe strategy, Napoleon IV's spirit has become highly nervous.

Confidence is self-confidence, but the lesson of failure left by Napoleon is the lingering shadow in his mind.

Napoleon IV was looking forward to asking: "Where has the diplomatic work been carried out? How many countries are willing to accept our kindness?"

He won't expect any of his ally Napoleon IV. Obviously, European countries would not do anything to seek flaws with tigers.

France did not have enough interests to buy everyone to join the war. The best choice was to divide European countries and prevent them from uniting to target France.

Foreign Minister Carrel Kadeletz calmly replied: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has completed its initial mission, and we have convinced Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and the Nordic Federation to remain neutral.

If the military has no plan to send troops from Switzerland, then Switzerland will remain neutral in this war.

The British support us, and after the Russians wanted to mediate the war, they were rejected by us, the Tsarist government was very angry and might stand on the side of Austria.

However, before the war is decided, they will first wait and see the situation neutrally, and the Russians will interfere after the Austrian army is defeated.

It may affect our gains, but not the outcome of this war. For the Tsarist government, a strong Austria is not in their interest.

Except for these countries with some influence, the remaining Greece and Montenegro are very limited in strength and are not qualified to affect this war. They are also seriously affected by Austria and have no value to win over.

The only enemies we really need to face are Belgium, the German Federation and the Austrian states. The specific gains depend on the military to go to the battlefield."

It can be seen that Carrel Kadletz is an optimist. Even if he fights three, he is still sure that the French army can win.

As for diplomatic work, it is not easy to achieve this step. Even with the help of the British, Carrel Kadletz has made great contributions to achieving such results within a period of time.

Biden and Germany are the target of France's expansion, and Austria is France's biggest competitor, and it is impossible for these three enemies to bypass them.

In fact, the French government also wanted to over-divided the three countries, for example: first annex Belgium, digest it before seizing the Rhineland region.

Unfortunately, the British who were hiding behind the scenes refused to agree, and Austria, which signed a covenant with Belgium, would not tolerate such things.

Of course, if we attack the German Federation first, the possibility of Belgium being neutral is still very high. After all, as a small country, the primary task is survival.

Unfortunately, Belgium has a good geographical location. If you want to attack the German region, it is best to borrow from Belgium, or you will have to cross mountains and hills.

Not only did it take a long time, but the success rate was also very low. In comparison, it was better to kill Belgium together. Anyway, their plan also included annexation of Belgium.

Napoleon IV nodded and affirmed: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did a good job this time. Your next job is to stabilize these countries and prevent them from causing trouble."

To deal with Germany and Austria alone, France will have to bear the pressure of fighting on both sides. If other European countries join in, the battle will be impossible.

This is not that the French army cannot fight, but it really does not take into account so many places. Although the French army has mobilized millions of people, the main force is still hundreds of thousands, and other newly formed troops can only fight with the wind.

Once the troops are divided on multiple lines, the French army's combat effectiveness advantage will not be obvious. No matter how elite troops are, if they are insufficient, they will be torn to death on the battlefield.

Not being overwhelmed by the verbal praise of Napoleon IV, Carel Cardretz analyzed: "Your Majesty, we are about to encounter a new problem.

The Minister to Vienna reported that a week ago, the Austrian government and the Russians reached an agreement and directly bought out the food that the Russian Empire planned to export this year at a premium of 25%.

Two days ago, Austrian Foreign Minister Wesenberg privately met secretly with the two German ministers on the same day as the two countries, and it was suspected that an agreement was reached.

All signs indicate that this agreement is definitely aimed at us. If nothing unexpected happens, the Three Kingdoms will impose a material embargo on us in the near future.

Other materials are easy to talk about, but the problem is coal and grain. Once the three countries impose a material embargo on us, we can only rely on the British, and grain can only be found overseas."

The French government does not have a complete emergency reserve system. Even if the storage of food and coal is included, it is a spontaneous hoard by capitalists in order to make money from war.

For individuals, it may be an astronomical figure; but for a country, it is a drop in the bucket.

Any problem with energy and food will cause fatal damage, let alone problems with both.

It’s okay if there is insufficient coal. Britain and France are now allies. The London government wants both France and Austria to suffer losses, so naturally they can’t watch the French collapse due to lack of coal.

At worst, it was just taking advantage of the situation and selling it at a sky-high price. The French used the sky-high coal. After withdrawing from the free trade system earlier, France was retaliated against by sky-high coal.

Food is no longer possible. The British themselves are food importers and they have no ability to support the French.

Of course, the grain production cycle is not long, and as long as the most difficult period is spent, it will be solved later.

Chancellor Roy Vernon was shocked and said: "Austrians are crazy about the premium of 25%?

Is the Vienna government so much that it has not spent any money, even if it wants to win over the Russians, there is no need to do this."

Due to the tense situation in Europe, international food prices have soared sharply. At this time, the premium is 25% and the price of the food you buy is twice as expensive as before.

You should know that grain may be traded in bulk. The total amount of grain exported by the Russians every year is in units of millions of tons. If the price doubles, it means that the Austrian government will have to pay tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of funds from ASUS.

Prime Minister Terence Bulkin shook his head: "No, the Austrians are not crazy. If they don't rob food, the food may fall into our hands.

If nothing unexpected happens, not only Russia's food was bought, but also the food from various American countries was intercepted in advance.

If they can't win us on the battlefield, they naturally have to take such despicable means. Moreover, the cost they pay may not be as high as we imagined.

Whether Russians or American countries, they are all debtors from Austria. As creditors, they can directly deduct the debt.

But they thought this would defeat us, so they took it for granted.

In recent years, we have not been working in vain. The farm plan has been in progress and can provide millions of tons of grain to the country every year, which is enough to meet most of the domestic needs.

During the war, we can also take extraordinary measures. The government can call on the people to save food and at the same time introduce temporary bills that prohibit the use of food to feed livestock and prohibit the use of food to make wine...

As long as we persist for a few months, these problems will be solved by defeating the enemy."

If there is insufficient grain reserves and cannot buy enough food overseas, what else can I do besides finding ways to intercept the flow?

Of course, the war was launched in advance!

France does not produce grain, but its output is not enough to consume, which does not mean that there is no imported grain and will soon be out of stock.

Domestic food can last for a few months. As long as the war is won before the crisis breaks out, all problems can be solved.

Upon hearing this bad news, Napoleon IV's face suddenly became gloomy.

At this time, he had to be glad that he insisted on promoting the farm plan, otherwise there would be a tragedy now.

He doesn't know how much grain the capitalist has stored. Anyway, the storage time of a batch of grain will usually not exceed six months.

On the one hand, the storage time is too long, which increases storage costs and losses. If grain is unsalable and new grain becomes old, it will be worthless;

On the other hand, squeezing too much food in your hands will occupy a large amount of working capital and increase the risk of operation.

After pondering for a while, Napoleon IV said slowly: "The Prime Minister is right. Now we must find ways to save food, and the government will issue an announcement to the public as soon as possible.

From now on, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will rush to buy food around the world. I don’t believe that Austrians can buy all the food."

...
Chapter completed!