The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1224 Punishment (Part )

In fact, this ratio is quite different from the historical period. In the book, Britain and the United States have always been at odds with each other, especially on the Texas and border issues, where they almost went to war.

Britain's way of dealing with the Americans was to restrict American agriculture on the one hand, and to dump cheap industrial products on it on the other, thereby continuing to deepen the North-South conflict.

What no country expected was that the United States directly reduced the proportion of grain planting in order to reduce the losses caused by Britain's reduction of imports.

"Let the British starve! Great idea!"

Nicholas I looked excited; he liked the idea very much.

In fact, Russian officials did not react as excitedly to the topic of food embargo as they did to the topic of timber embargo and total embargo.

Because Russia's grain market is very wide, only a small part is exported to Britain, and this stuff is not very afraid of backlogs.

The most important thing is that no one thinks this trade war will last too long.

So the Russians tore up the trade contract without any care.
The Russians' actions were not much different from what Franz had expected. Nicholas I was unwilling to ask for help from the Holy Alliance and insisted on suppressing the Polish rebellion with Russian strength on his own.

Russia has a vast territory and abundant resources, which means that its defense has sufficient depth, but the disadvantage is that the defense line is too long to concentrate troops, and the terrible logistical pressure can easily overwhelm a country.

In Franz's view, there was nothing wrong with the Tsar's withdrawal of the Moscow and Kiev Corps. The troops were strong enough, and at the same time, they would not cause internal emptiness and lead to more rebellions.

However, Russia is so large that it would take a month just to mobilize these troops. It is hard to say what Poland will look like in a month.

Franz did not expect Russia's trade war. After all, in the eyes of later generations, the Russians did not seem to be good at this.

There is always something darkly humorous about Russia's embargo on Britain.

However, the reality is that this trick really works, at least temporarily. Because of the spread of potato late blight, the whole of Britain is in a state of food shortage.

Moreover, there are constant frictions between Britain and the United States. It is hard to say whether the US government will raise the price this time to give the British a surprise.

Rebellions have already occurred in the British Isles and Ireland, but the British government does not acknowledge them and calls them "riots."

Apart from Austria and the United Kingdom, other countries are also unclear about what exactly happened on the island, and the British government has temporarily covered up the truth.

However, if the British fail to handle the famine in Scotland properly, the Scots may cause more than just "riots."

The Scots had an army and were capable of waging a war.

It would be fun if a fire started in their own backyard while the British were doing stuff in someone else's backyard.

Therefore, the Earl of Derby had to ensure the food supply in Scotland no matter what. The food from the German Confederation was not cheap, but it was enough for emergencies.

The reason why food prices in Germany remain at a stable and relatively high but affordable level is mainly due to the three countries of Austria, Prussia and Bavaria.

Franz needed the support of the people, and he was even more afraid that industry would replace agriculture too quickly, leading to abnormal development of the country.

The Prussian Junker landlords wanted to protect their own interests, while the Kingdom of Bavaria wanted to survive.

(Bavaria was very poor at the time.)
But to be honest, importing grain from Germany not only incurs high grain prices, but also incurs hefty tariffs.

However, the Scots directly wrote about independence in the newspapers. The Prime Minister, Earl Derby, did not want to follow the footsteps of Austria and Russia, so he had to bite the bullet and buy grain from the German Confederation. In fact, the British had been smuggling grain through Hanover in the past, but due to the chaos in the German region in 1848, no one had much grain in stock.

After Franz swept the National Assembly and moved the headquarters of the German Confederation from Frankfurt to Vienna, the Confederation's control over the various states was greatly strengthened, and the Hanoverian government did not dare to act as blatantly as in the past.

As a result, Britain could only buy grain from the two major countries in the German Confederation, Austria and Prussia.

Austria has sufficient food, but it is an ally of Russia and its relationship with Britain cannot be said to be good, it can only be said that it is still in a truce period.

France and Spain were both in the midst of famine and could not possibly sell grain to Britain. Britain naturally turned its attention to Prussia, and the Prussian Junker landlords naturally welcomed the overwhelming wealth.

However, Prussia did not have much surplus grain, and some merchants were jealous and wanted to get a piece of the pie.

So Prussia turned its attention to Russia. They imported large quantities of grain from Russia and resold it to Britain, making a fortune as a middleman.

The Russians did not know they were being sold out at this time, and thought they had discovered a new market. At one time, a large amount of grain was shipped from Russia to Prussia, and Prussia naturally accepted all the grain.

In fact, Austria could also get a share of the Prussians' business. Most of the tariffs generated by multilateral trade fell into Austria's hands. After all, the German Customs Union distributed money according to the population ratio.

Franz originally established this rule to encourage countries to have more children, but now it seems to be of great use.

Franz didn't mind buying more food from the Russians. Sometimes he liked to hoard things like a hamster, especially goods that were not likely to depreciate.

However, compared with these petty gains, Franz cared more about the fact that Prussia had completely offended Russia.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Prussians' act of selling grain to the enemy is aiding the enemy. In the days to come, it will be difficult for the Russians to trust the Prussians. The greater the gap between them, the safer it will be for Austria.

In fact, it’s not that no one in Prussia knew that this pie falling from the sky should not be taken, but human nature is greedy. How could he bear to let an old cat sleep on salted fish?
In a café in Berlin.

Prince Shotgun slammed his glass down on the table.

"What a bunch of idiots! They can only see the immediate benefits and not the abyss behind them! No! I have to stop them!"

After listening to Bismarck's analysis, Shotgun William immediately jumped up from his seat. Bismarck grabbed the furious William and said.

"Your Excellency, do you really think you can stop this? Someone has been trying to sow discord between Prussia and Russia for a long time.

And the method is quite sophisticated. If you go there now, you will be making an enemy of the entire upper class, and even the entire aristocracy.

Those conceited landowners and merchants will not let you go. I am afraid that your brother will not be able to send you back to Switzerland by then."

Shotgun William's fingers clenched so hard that they made a creaking sound, but he still sat back in his original position and said viciously.

"Who is causing this?"

Bismarck blew on the cold coffee in his hand and said.

"Who else could it be? The blind man from Hanover, the bitch from Saxony next door, that bastard family from Hesse, the Emperor of Austria, and the Englishman.

They are all suspects.”