Wild North America 1846

The next day, at the imperial meeting.

A group of courtiers headed by Prime Minister Earl Dong Jie expressed disbelief at the French army's consecutive defeats.

It is really the impression that the French Empire is strong and deeply rooted. No one could have imagined that it would lose so quickly and so badly, it is simply unimaginable!
What is especially extraordinary is...the French Emperor Napoleon III left the army and slipped away first, leaving all the officials speechless.

Even if it is a foreign monarch, it is not appropriate for the ministers to comment on the matter involving the noble French emperor.

For the sake of His Holiness!
But the faces of all the ministers were full of disdain. It can be seen that Napoleon III's reputation has completely collapsed. It must be the same in European countries, even in France, right?
The Franco-Prussian War lasted only a few days
The government of Émile Olivier in France collapsed, which made European and North American governments realize the extreme fragility of Napoleon III's rule and became even more pessimistic about the future.

Talking about international affairs for a while, mainly the Franco-Prussian War and the surrounding international influence, this is the hottest gossip in the world today, and the atmosphere at the imperial meeting gradually became heated.

Emperor Li Chagao sat on the upper throne and listened to the reports of the ministers of the cabinet. The opinions of all the ministers were relatively unanimous:

In the future, there may be great changes in France, and the foundation of the current emperor Napoleon III's rule is shaky. The empire should make a comprehensive plan for this.

Minister of Commerce Gai Wangshan even proposed;

It should be a good opportunity to use the good opportunity of the Kingdom of Prussia to occupy many provinces in France and dump the products of the empire to France through the channel of the Prussian army.

during the war
The so-called French customs are all paralyzed, and domestic prices in France are soaring. Domestic kerosene, which costs 8 Tang yuan a barrel, is now sold in France as high as 35 Tang yuan, which is four times the export price.

As an old colonial country, France has a profound heritage, and there are many rich people. Such a good opportunity should not be missed.

Prime Minister Earl Dong Jie pointed out;

Since the Chicago Agricultural Products Commodity Futures Exchange was put into operation, the number of large orders has been quite considerable, accounting for more than 6% of this year's summer grain harvest.

Affected by the Franco-Prussian War, the transaction price was [-]% higher than that of previous years, which played a very good role in stabilizing the market.

However, due to the sudden turn for the worse in the Franco-Prussian War, the grain reserves were suspended after selling two batches.This is because buyers from Europe are worried that the war will end soon, so the wait-and-see sentiment for currency has become stronger.

Considering this negative factor, it is not expected that the government's warehouse evacuation plan will be smooth sailing.

The Datang Empire's combat reserve grain depot has accumulated more than 20 years of foundation, and the amount of reserves is huge.

In particular, some grain depots that did not establish a regular rotation system in the early days had stored grain for seven or eight years or even more than ten years, and the old grains out of the warehouse had serious mildew.

The wheat stored in the grain depot is the main material, only wheat has no flour.

This is because sun-dried wheat is suitable for long-term storage. Once it is ground into flour, it cannot be stored and must be eaten as soon as possible.

Over time, the flour will harden and deteriorate, and can only be used to raise pigs.

There are also many problems with the old wheat that was shipped out this time, and they are unwilling to process it when it is transported to the flour mill, which is troublesome and affects word of mouth.

This is because wheat grains that have been stored for a long time will become loose and pulverized, and the peeling process is very troublesome, the flour extraction rate is low, and the cost is high. The quality of the processed flour cannot be guaranteed, and the taste is much worse than fresh flour. .

Originally, 1.25-1.3 pounds of wheat can produce one pound of flour, and aged wheat can produce one pound of flour as low as 1.4 pounds of wheat, and the flour is yellow and of poor quality.

Originally hoped to use the food panic of the Franco-Prussian War in Europe to realize the "vacation plan" of the strategic reserve, but now it seems that things are going well!
discussed for a while

Emperor Li Cha sat at the head, although his face was expressionless, but he was quite relieved in his heart;
These important ministers here all have a good international vision and can consider issues from a higher strategic level, instead of just staring at the one-acre three-point land in front of them. This is especially commendable in today's era of relatively occluded information!

look around the world

Only the old colonial powers such as Britain, France and the Netherlands can cultivate politicians with a global perspective. Now that the Tang Empire has also made up for this lesson, it is of course something to be happy about.

Li Cha coughed lightly, and the hall fell silent immediately. All the ministers turned their attention to His Majesty the Emperor, and stood respectfully waiting for the sacred instruction.

pause

Emperor Li Cha said in a calm voice;
"Loves;

I have been informed of what was discussed before.

With regard to the opening of the wartime door of France and the standstill of the customs, the Ministry of Commerce can communicate with the Kingdom of Prussia through private channels to establish a safe material receiving port and settlement bank matters, and contact them for specific issues.

But beware;

The relevant smuggling trade should not be carried out in an official capacity, and can be led by some chambers of commerce, and operated in the name of individual traders or certain chambers of commerce, so as to avoid unnecessary international disputes in the future. "

Emperor Li Cha considered it relatively safe. Although the Ministry of Commerce is in the name of expanding channels for export companies, entering the market of other countries without going through customs is smuggling. No matter how you explain it, it is smuggling.

The government can't get involved in this matter, and it is more appropriate to use the name of a private chamber of commerce.

It's not like the French Empire just fell and fell into a slump. This kind of mess will definitely have to be blamed in the future, and it's just nonsense at the government level.

To be honest, if we follow the attitude of the traditional Chinese official government, it is absolutely not allowed to do such things that break the rules.

But in the international environment of today's world, it does not appear to be abrupt.

The law of the jungle formulated by the great powers headed by the United Kingdom is a reasonable choice to take advantage of the situation. If you have the opportunity to let others go for nothing, you will only say that you are stupid, not praise you for obeying the rules.

Even with the wealth of the emperor Richard, who is as rich as an enemy country, he is jealous of the huge wealth accumulated by the French country over the past few hundred years, and he can't help but make a move.

Who would do it without benefit and infamy?
The large-scale smuggling of goods from the Kingdom of Prussia this time will benefit the upper-class nobles of the empire, including the royal family. The Kingdom of Prussia can use this to make up for part of its military expenditures. Both parties will benefit, and only France will suffer.

Due to the long-standing high tariff barriers, the French market is the dream lover that the Tang Empire longed for but could not get. Surrounded by the courtyard wall, it is really scratching your head and burning all inside!
France is like an aristocratic lady raised in a deep boudoir. She eats and wears first-class top-notch goods. The furnishings in her home are luxurious, and a pile of francs can be swept out of every corner.

For the Tang Empire, which was founded on trade, one can imagine how attractive it is?
It's a pity that France's high tariff barriers have always existed. A high entry tax of 135% was imposed on imported kerosene from the Tang Empire. In addition, there were profit taxes and messy additional taxes.

Even so
France is also the second largest market in Europe after the United Kingdom, consuming more than 550 million barrels of kerosene every year. This shows that the French aristocrats and middle class are wealthy, and that is really not a joke.

Is it a problem for a noble family to use 10 barrels of 8 barrels of kerosene a year?

Is it a problem for a wealthy French middle-class family to use one or two barrels of kerosene a year?

nothing else
As a world-renowned usury empire, the French rentier class has as many as 220 million people.The colonization of the world for hundreds of years has yielded fruitful results, accumulating the largest middle class in Europe, and the current consumption power is astonishing.

Oil companies with royal and aristocratic backgrounds smuggled to France on a large scale, and the huge profits they gained were naturally reflected in dividends. Who wouldn't want to take a bite of this big piece of fat?
Other good things such as grain and oil products, tobacco, toffee, cheese chocolate, wine, meat and canned fruit, etc., can take advantage of the opportunity to swarm into the French market, and naturally make a lot of money.

His majesty's statement brightened the eyes of all the ministers present, and they turned their approving eyes to the Minister of Commerce, Earl Gaiwangshan. Their hearts became hot, and they all thought about which family property they should include in the smuggling list.

The Earl of Gaiwangshan stood out of the train with a respectful attitude, saluted with both hands and replied: "My minister obeys the order, and must handle this matter safely, and dare not betray the great trust of the Holy One."

Emperor Li Cha nodded slightly, turned his gaze to Earl Dong Jie, the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, and continued;
"Dong Aiqing, the plan to reserve grain and vacate warehouses is not a one-day effort, so there is no rush.

Just the news that such a large-scale reserve grain was thrown into the European market was enough to crush the entire market.So we have to be cautious, and we should take a long-term plan.

according to my idea;

A country as big as Franzino is in turmoil, how can it calm down in a short while?
Even as the ministers thought; the Franco-Prussian War ended with the victory of the Kingdom of Prussia.

However, the huge social turmoil and rebalancing of power in Europe caused by this will not end in a year or two, and will continue for a long time.

Taking into account post-war arrangements, compensation for defeat, the garrison of the Kingdom of Prussia, and the political turmoil within the Kingdom of France, it is a foregone conclusion that this European grain-producing country will drastically reduce grain production for at least the next 3 to 4 years.

And this situation will definitely exacerbate the risk of food shortage in Europe, and even the occurrence of famine in some areas cannot be ruled out.

In this fundamental situation

The final completion of the "vacation plan" is only a matter of a few months earlier or a few months later, and will not affect the final implementation of the plan.

With the storage capacity emptied, the imperial government has the ability to purchase and store domestic harvests for a long period of time in the future, stabilize prices from large fluctuations, and create a better environment for overall economic development.

Based on the status quo
It can be judged that in the next 5 to 8 years, the world grain market will always maintain a relatively high level of operation, which is conducive to the establishment of the empire's grain purchase and storage and a three-to-five-year scientific rotation mechanism, which is generally good news. "

Implicit;
What are you afraid of if the quality of the grain reserves is poor?
When there was a shortage of food in Europe, wouldn't it be better to mix black bread with sawdust and wild vegetables?

His Majesty's words were like seeing the sun through the clouds, and the ministers in the cabinet nodded frequently, and stood out in unison to salute respectfully; "My emperor is a holy man, who can see thousands of miles from the high candle in the temple, and the ministers can only admire!"

"All Aiqings don't need to be gifted, and they are flat!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, long live my emperor, long live!"