Holy Roman Empire

Vienna Palace

Franz asked in surprise, "Are France and Russia drawing closer together?"

It was not surprising to Franz that France and Russia would grow closer; what shocked him was that it was happening too early.

An agricultural crisis was brewing, but it had not yet erupted. Desperate measures are only taken when the situation becomes severe, plunging into chaos.

It was still too early, the French's grand farm project was only on paper, and the British's food self-sufficiency plan hadn't even secured a location for food production.

Even if it were to impact international food prices, that would only happen once they started harvesting the crops.

Such indispensable staple products are not futures or stocks speculating on future market fluctuations.

Regardless of bad news or good, the demand in the market is always present. Before an excess production of food occurs, even if the international food market experiences turbulence, there won't be major upheavals.

At least not until major food-exporting countries abandon the execution of a unified price for food sales; the international food trade market is unlikely to see major changes.

Foreign Minister Wessenberg: "Your Majesty, the Tsarist Government was also compelled.

Although after the outbreak of the agricultural crisis, everyone could solve the problem by expanding domestic demand, the Tsarist Government's debt pressure was too great.

The Russian Empire also severely lacked foreign exchange, and after losing the revenue from food exports, their financial system would soon collapse."

There was no other choice, no matter how much they economized, debts still had to be paid, and they could only choose between paying in foreign exchange or gold, as Rubles were basically unwanted in the international currency market.

Having to allocate a large amount of foreign exchange to pay debts annually, the Tsarist Government naturally had to strive to earn foreign exchange, otherwise they would have to use a large amount of gold to fill the gap.

Once the foreign exchange was insufficient, with a large amount of gold flowing overseas, the value of the Ruble would be doomed. When a country's currency lost its credibility, its financial system was doomed to collapse.

The Tsarist Government had personally experienced this suffering, even to the point of being versed in it through experience.

Every financial collapse was accompanied by — government bankruptcy.

What seemed like an effective method of dodging debts actually hid endless troubles. Being isolated and excluded by the international community was one thing, but what about mortgage loans?

They certainly couldn't default on the debts of both the Nordic Federation and Austria, refusing to fulfill previously signed mortgage loan contracts, and fight a war with both to wipe out the debts, could they?

This kind of unscrupulous tactic was naturally not rejected by the Tsarist Government, since allies were worthless before interests. But the current problem of facing two enemies at once was genuinely insurmountable!

In this age of survival of the fittest, the victor on the battlefield could dodge debts, but it had never been heard that the loser could as well.

If they couldn't dodge the debts, the only option was to find a way to make money.

The French had laid out tangible benefits, and even though the Tsarist Government knew this might be a poisoned bait, they had no way to refuse it.

Franz nodded and slowly said, "It seems we have all underestimated the French; perhaps the Paris Government's grand farm plan is just a façade.

The French region itself is the largest food-producing area in Western Europe, and they really wouldn't lack food if it weren't for annexing the Italian Area.

These farmers are the backbone of the Bonaparte Dynasty, and as long as Napoleon IV hasn't lost his mind, he wouldn't harm these people's interests.

Politically, it had already been decided that the food prices in France would be at a higher level to protect the interests of the farmer class.

The French's grand farm plan could reduce their reliance on foreign food, but it didn't mean they would achieve complete self-sufficiency.

If food production were entirely self-sufficient, driven by interest groups, French food prices were destined to fall, and it would be difficult to ensure the interests of the farmer class.

Only by leaving a certain gap, importing food from abroad, could they keep food prices high, providing a reason acceptable to all parties.

Drawing in the Russians might also have been part of their planned strategy. Our non-intervention has only hastened the development of the situation.

Next, how does the Foreign Ministry plan to respond?"

The fact lay before everyone, regardless of whether the French had prepared in advance or had acted on a sudden inspiration, the end situation developed in a direction favorable to France.

By implementing large farm plans without harming the interests of domestic farmers, not only was the outflow of foreign exchange reduced, it also helped to promote the development of the domestic grain processing industry.

By this point in the industrial revolution, the mainstream economic sectors were essentially few: light industry, led by the textile and agricultural processing industries, followed by traditional heavy industries including shipbuilding, steel metallurgy, and mining.

Next came transportation, and lastly the newly emerging electrical industry. As for the automotive and internal combustion engine industries, they were still in their infancy, occupying a very small proportion of the socio-economic volume.

The foundations of France remained solid, with almost a complete set of industrial chains, the only regret being the lack of leading industries.

The British held a dominant position in finance, textiles, and shipbuilding and also held significant positions in mining and steel metallurgy.

Austria was the dominant force in agricultural processing, electrical industry, and transportation, and even slightly surpassed the British in mining and steel metallurgy, becoming industry leaders.

The French tragedy was such that they had no flag bearer in any major industry, suggesting a sense of general mediocrity.

Not to mention heavy industry, inherent resources had already determined that the French would struggle in this field, and being able to rank third in the world was already an effort.

The government's focus on developing the textile industry was being outclassed by the British in international competition. Although the industry seemed vast, it still fell short of neighboring Austria, which maintained a low profile.

France's transportation industry developed well, starting with sweeping railway constructions since Napoleon III, but unfortunately, other industries did not keep pace.

Capitalists invest with returns in mind, railways that do not show long-term profitability, even if constructed, would be ruthlessly abandoned.

Frankly speaking, the development of France's emerging industries was quite good, but sadly, was greatly limited by inherent disadvantages.

For example, the electrical industry, which the French entered very early. Unfortunately, they lacked coal and heavily depended on overseas imports, which made power generation costly and hindered the widespread adoption of electricity.

The real economy struggles to dominate on its own, and even if it cannot become an industry leader, being second in the industry can also be quite prosperous.

The large farm plans now appeared solely for the sake of self-sufficiency in food, seemingly possible merely by farming.

In reality, due to the presence of tariff barriers, domestic agricultural processing enterprises had a tax cost advantage, and as long as grain production increased, these enterprises would develop.

While promoting domestic economic development, they also struck at their competitors. It could be said that these large farm plans were purely beneficial for France with no drawbacks.

Foreign Minister Weisenberg responded, "We are out of reach of the French's large farm plans, and we currently have no means to disrupt them.

However, their intentions of wooing Russia are something we absolutely cannot allow them to complete smoothly. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is looking for an appropriate point of intervention to disrupt the continuing closeness of French-Russian relations."

To say there was no fear would certainly be false.

Individually, both France and Russia had clear deficiencies, and Austria could still respond with composure; if the two were to join forces, the situation would change.

Franz had not forgotten that across the Channel, there still was a troublemaker named John Bull. The original timeline's World War I had detonated after John Bull joined the Allied Powers.

In a sense, if not for John Bull, the troublemaker betraying his teammates, the Russians might not have collapsed so quickly.

If material aid had been timely, the Tsarist government would not have fallen so early, the German Empire wouldn't have lasted as long, and the Americans would have had nothing to do with World War I.

"It's going to be difficult. The French are willing to open up their domestic market, offering tangible benefits that the Tsarist government would find hard to refuse.

To stop their alignment, we must also pay a price and can't possibly offer less than the French, even considering the political influence.

Unlike the French, they can afford to experiment—successful, they profit greatly, and if they fail, they still create problems for us.
Read new adventures at empire

A few more such instances, and we may not withstand it. As time goes on without France being suppressed, the Russians' appetite will only grow.

Unless we can secure a decisive victory, this tangle would be very unfavorable for us."

The dilemma lay here. The French were purely disruptive in nature with their moves, whether they succeeded or failed, the outcome couldn't be worse than the current situation.

In comparison, Austria couldn't keep playing this game indefinitely. Over time, this would give the Russians the illusion that Austria couldn't do without Russia.