Chapter 527: Chapter 100, The Unlucky Guy
 

Impacted by the agricultural crisis, the lives of farmers across Europe had become increasingly difficult. Those families with savings were doing alright, while those without savings could only resort to taking on debt.

Food was grown by themselves, so the expense of living wasn’t great, the largest expenditure being government taxes. In most regions, agricultural taxes were not heavy, so with some effort, families could manage to scrape together the necessary funds, and if they truly didn’t have the money, they could owe it.

Some countries even reduced or accepted in-kind payments for taxes. Bankrupted farmers were in the minority; the majority of people could still manage to get by.

If the agricultural crisis had ended in 1873, then it would merely have been a minor episode akin to the price drop due to a bumper harvest year, insufficient to shake the foundation of Europe’s small-scale farming economy.

Clearly, this was impossible. As the spring of 1873 arrived, everyone once again invested enthusiastically in production. Besides some countries and regions where the area of grain cultivation decreased, many others actually increased their grain cultivation areas.

This was not because the farmers were unaware that grain prices were poor and the profits from growing grains were low. Rather, it was because this method of cultivation had been a tradition for generations, and if they were not planting grains, they wouldn’t know what else to plant.

Austria could be considered one of the countries that significantly cut back on grain production capacity. The farms under the state-owned agricultural companies were ordered by Franz to halt grain cultivation and switch to planting cash crops exclusively.

If this was ten years earlier, such an administrative order alone could have allowed Austria to weather the agricultural crisis.

Regrettably, times had changed. Many people had joined land redemption, and over the years, the area of state-owned arable land held by the Vienna Government had dwindled to less than 3% of the nation’s total.

In pursuit of higher profits, agricultural companies rarely grew grains except for a small amount for their consumption; mostly, they planted cash crops.

These cash crops didn’t require external sales as the agricultural companies had their processing plants. They engaged in an integrated form of agriculture that combined production and processing.

Not just the state-owned agricultural companies, but many members of the Nobility also adopted this development model. In the face of profits, their learning ability was quite strong.

Everyone adjusted their planting models in line with market demands. Relatively speaking, this type of integrated agriculture was less impacted by the agricultural crisis.

The Ministry of Agriculture had initially planned for a reduction in grain production ranging from 5.2% to 8.6% this year. However, reality proved to be a rude awakening. Despite the government’s widespread campaigning, urging people to reduce the area of grain cultivation, the big data following spring planting shattered their wishful thinking.

In the spring planting of 1873, Austria’s grain cultivation area dropped by merely 1.3%—that was the extent of the adjustment achieved under the Vienna Government’s fine-tuning.

The data might not be accurate, as the Vienna Government could not manage a comprehensive census in such a short time; this was just the result of a sample survey.

Franz didn’t believe that the margin of error would be significant. Even if the error was as high as double, it would be only 2.6%, still far from the targeted objective.

If that was the outcome in Austria, one could imagine what it was like in other countries. Franz thought that if they didn’t increase the area under grain cultivation, it would already be considered a significant government intervention.

The agricultural crisis was expected to continue, and Franz was mentally prepared for it—as was planned by the Vienna Government.

They planned to use the agricultural crisis to impact the agricultural production systems of European countries, promote land consolidation movements, and create a large number of bankrupt farmers.

The Colonial Department was ready, aiming to accept ten million immigrants from the European Continent over the next fifteen years, providing labor for the development of Austrian Colonies.

There was no other choice: those in the Germany Region wishing to emigrate had already been lured away, and the same was nearly true for Austria itself.

From the peak period of hundreds of thousands of emigrants each year to the current situation where Austria itself produced merely forty to fifty thousand emigrants annually, the German Federation could provide roughly five to six thousand emigrants yearly, while other European countries and regions would contribute about twenty to thirty thousand immigrants.

Of course, Europe as a whole produced more immigrants than this each year, but those people wouldn’t all go to Austrian Colonies; England and France, the Dutch, Spain, and Prussia were all luring immigrants in Europe. Plus, the countries in America were also options for immigrants.

Seventy to eighty thousand immigrants a year, spread across Austria’s over twenty million square kilometers of colonies, wouldn’t even cause a ripple.

In this respect, by enticing the German Federation and Prussia to open Overseas Colonies, Franz was competing with himself for immigrants.

Looking at European countries, at present, the one with the greatest potential left to become a major emigration country was Russia; the potential in the Germany Region had been nearly tapped out.

The agricultural crisis proved to be an excellent tool; Alexander II’s grand land development initiative indeed resolved the land issue for farmers.

But, because the Tsarist Government had emancipated the serfs only a short time ago, these people hadn’t had time to accumulate wealth before they encountered the agricultural crisis.

In terms of risk resistance, these Russian farmers, who had just gained land and owed a considerable debt to the government, were undoubtedly the weakest.

The land was newly cultivated, resulting in relatively lower yields; Russia’s harsh natural environment allowed for only one crop season in many areas, leading to higher costs for grain cultivation; furthermore, due to transportation limitations, it was difficult to transport grain and generate economical value.

Preliminary estimates suggested that the agricultural crisis in 1872 created tens of thousands of bankrupt farmers in the Russian Empire. This mere handful wasn’t enough to create upheaval; they were quickly absorbed by Russian industry and commerce as soon as they surfaced.

To attract immigrants, it was still early days. A large-scale wave of bankruptcies, exceeding the absorption limits of Russian industry, would be required to precipitate significant outward migration.

Otherwise, to go to Russia and compete with local capitalists for labor would be foolish as they were influential locals who could make one relearn how to be human.

This plan did not include Austria itself. Although with the advancement of the era, land consolidation was the optimal choice to reduce production costs, Franz did not intend to implement such a policy in his country.

Stability trumped everything else; in the face of “stability,” all else had to take a back seat. Like boiling a frog in warm water, subtle, gradual influence was the best approach. Directly causing farmers to go bankrupt to increase immigration was a last resort.

Putting down the documents in his hand, Franz gazed at Hols and asked, “The grain production reduction plan has failed. How does the Ministry of Agriculture plan to respond?”

Unable to reduce output, the only option left was to increase consumption. Before this, the Vienna Government already had a plan to develop livestock farming, which had started to take shape on a small scale.

It had not been able to expand significantly, mainly because market consumption had not kept pace. Compared to per capita meat consumption data that exceeds one hundred kilograms, Austria has only reached a third of that figure.

It was not that the people didn’t love to eat meat, but their incomes were limited, and they simply couldn’t afford it. Being able to ensure enough bread was already a brilliant achievement of the Vienna Government’s reform.

Franz’s promise to provide additional meals to compulsory education students had been implemented. After the fall in the price of agricultural products, students had seen an increase of 300 grams of pork in their weekly supply.

Together with 550 grams of fish and 100 grams of chicken or goose, this intake was already sufficient to meet their nutritional needs. If it continued to increase, Austria might just end up producing an abundance of overweight people.

The average meat consumption is actually a fallacy, usually averaged out. According to Franz’s knowledge, the highest consumers of Austrian meat products were sailors and fishermen, followed by capitalists and the Nobility.

It was not that sailors and fishermen were wealthier, but it was relatively easier to obtain meat products at sea; the cheapest item for them might be fish, which often formed their staple food.

The meat consumption of people in coastal areas was higher than that in inland areas. Taking the Port of Venice as an example, the price of fish there was less than one-tenth that of beef, making fish the main meat product for the common people.

In the inland areas, the price difference was not so great. Especially in the Hungarian Great Plains, the price of beef was only five times that of fish, so the beef consumption among the people was relatively higher.

This high consumption was in fact very limited, as most people still could not afford to eat to their hearts’ content. Even in economically developed Vienna, the annual per capita beef consumption did not exceed 20 kilograms.

However, Vienna’s per capita meat product consumption had already exceeded 85 kilograms, ranking among the top five in all cities and significantly raising Austria’s average.

Cost-wise, actually increasing the catch of fish was the cheapest way to increase the consumption of meat products among the population.

Many issues cannot be considered solely from a cost perspective; one must also consider the resulting chain reactions. Blindly increasing the supply of fish meat, causing the collapse of the domestic livestock industry, would be no joke, but a potential reality.

The reason lies in one word—poverty! For the vast majority of ordinary workers, affordability is what matters most, and eating habits are not immutable.

Minister of Agriculture Hols: “Your Majesty, the Ministry of Agriculture plans to promote livestock breeding, increase grain consumption, and at the same time enrich the farmers’ tables.”

Franz heard the implied meaning, which was to sacrifice the livestock industry. Once livestock breeding volumes increased significantly, an oversupply in the livestock industry would inevitably occur.

However, the scale of farmers’ individual breeding usually wouldn’t be very large; if they couldn’t sell, they would just have to eat the livestock themselves.

In summary, it was a matter of artificially increasing grain consumption. Incidentally, this would drive down the price of meat products, increasing the populace’s meat consumption.

However, this meant that farmers engaged in livestock breeding would face tragedy. Squeezed profits were inevitable, and in a worst-case scenario, they might even incur losses.

There was no choice; there would always be those whose interests would be harmed. Compared to the widely-involved agriculture, Austria’s livestock industry was on a much smaller scale, with even fewer large-scale operations.

While this was theoretically feasible, in practice, there were many problems. After some contemplation, Franz shook his head, “Has the Ministry of Agriculture conducted an in-depth investigation? As far as I know, many farmers already have the habit of breeding livestock, especially poultry breeding, which is more widespread. Even if promotion is carried out, are farmers willing to use grain to feed the livestock?

For instance, with geese, even without feeding them grain and relying on grass, they can still be raised effectively. It is much the same with cattle and sheep; if it is small-scale breeding, they can simply be fed grass.

In this way, although the meat product output may increase, grain consumption may not necessarily rise. What does the Ministry of Agriculture plan to rely on to accomplish its plan?”

Franz was not someone easily cheated; in his previous life, he had come from the countryside. When he was a child and times were tough, his family raised chickens, cows, and pigs without using grain.

Despite requiring more labor and longer growth periods for the livestock, people still persevered.

Put yourself in their shoes; the economic conditions of Austrian farmers of this era weren’t much better, and it had only been a few years since they began to have enough to eat; conserving grain was almost instinctual.

If the economic conditions were a bit better, then the plans of the Ministry of Agriculture might not have many issues in implementation. In a pinch, they could always resort to brewing alcohol with grain.

Consumption of beer and wine in Europe was high, whereas consumption of spirits was low, except in Russia, where most Europeans had little interest in spirits.

Otherwise, Franz would have already used the grain for brewing alcohol. Even if the market couldn’t absorb it in the short term, it could be stored for the long term, with the flavor improving the longer it was kept.

Regrettably, the most consumed beer was not suitable for long-term storage. Spirits could be stored but lacked customers. The Russians had a surplus of grain and were already making their own alcohol; they had no need to import.

Considering the current level of domestic consumption, Franz felt that burning the grain would probably be more economical than using it to brew alcohol on a large scale; at least, the losses could be minimized.

Minister of Agriculture Hols was dumbfounded, the carefully prepared plan evidently had such a significant oversight. If it were implemented, not only would the agricultural crisis remain unresolved, but it could also trigger a crisis in the livestock industry.

Now was the Imperialist era; what to do if a crisis couldn’t be resolved? The most common solution was to shift it abroad. Reality was that harsh, and that was how the great powers did things in those times.

Among the great powers, Austria was the one most concerned about appearances. But essentially, Austria was still a member of the great powers; now faced with a crisis, the Vienna Government would instinctively want to find a scapegoat to bear the losses.