1867 was a mixed year for the U.S. economy, which was in a difficult position at the beginning of the previous year's oil price crisis and the pressure of shrinking domestic demand after the end of the Civil War. Iron and steel companies have gone bankrupt, and metallurgical companies other than MacDonald Steel can be said to be in mourning. But by the end of the year, Alaska's gold had given a shot in the arm to the flagging economy. Although most of the gold fell into Scrooge's personal secret vault, there were indeed many gold diggers who successfully returned to the United States with gold, and the amount of gold was actually not particularly large, in terms of quantity, it was only a million dollars. But the million-dollar dollar is extremely important, because it restores the confidence of the whole society. Moreover, the gold rush has also brought some special needs, so that some industries have made a lot of money by the way.

The economic crisis in the free market is a very perverted freak, on the one hand, the economic crisis brings problems of general scarcity and poverty, but on the other hand, it is indeed a lack of demand in the market. There is a joke about the economic crisis:

On a cold winter's day, a shivering child asked his mother, "Why don't we burn coal for warmth?" The mother replied helplessly, "Because we don't have any coal." "But isn't Dad digging coal?" The child asked, puzzled. "Ah, kid, it's because your dad dug up so much coal that we don't have the money to buy coal." The mother replied.

The lack of demand under the economic crisis is not because the people really don't need these things, but because the wages they get can't afford them. On the other hand, if the profits in the hands of the capitalists are invested in the market, they can also stimulate consumption and make the economy work. However, in the era of economic crisis, the return on investment is low and the risk is high, so a lot of profits are hidden at home and do not go out, so the economic crisis is even more severe. But Alaska's gold changed that, and although the gold diggers eventually mined a rather limited amount of gold, it encouraged more idle money to feel profitable, so it also entered the market, so that a million dollars of gold drove a lot more money to the market, and then, with the power of electricity, well, the American economy has improved.

On the contrary, European countries, which were originally affected by the volatility of the US economy, have nowhere to find gold, and as a result, their economic conditions are worse than those of the United States, where the crisis originated. It also gave the Americans and Europeans a little confidence to play a ship-building race.

However, for Scrooge, the economic crisis is not a bad thing, and under the economic crisis, various resources are relatively cheap, and it is a good time to buy the bottom. Taking advantage of this crisis, Scrooch's annexation and other means will control about half of the steel and oil in the United States. Now it's time to wait for the next round of prosperity to turn them into golden gold.

"When will the next round of prosperity come?" Carol asked. Although the economy has improved somewhat, it is still far from prosperity. Now, the roller he controls has crushed most of the steel companies and a considerable part of other non-ferrous metal companies into powder, but the higher market share has not brought them more profits. Continued expansion may even lead to a further decline in the profit margins of one's own modest (of course, this is only the opinion of the greedy capitalists). So the gang of guys, including Carroll, who single-handedly created it, and the guys who exacerbated the crisis are now starting to think about anything that can make the economy prosperous.

"Well, it's coming." "But it's up to our friend Bismarck." Only they have the means to bring prosperity back to the economy. ”

"What's the solution? Do they want to fight with whom again? Catherine asked, sitting on a garden bench, as she watched little Donald and his sister chase and frolic along the garden path. At this time, the housekeeper Anna also nervously followed the two bear children, afraid that they would accidentally fall into the thorny rose bush like the last time.

"Yes, fighting a war is a good way to solve the economic crisis, and once a war is fought, the crisis can be completely solved." Scrooge and Dorothea sat down on the bench next to them. At this time, Donald was running past Scrooge after his sister Dena. Scrooge grabbed Donald and said to them, "Don't be like wild children, who only know how to run wild. Don't look at how hard it is for you Aunt Anna to follow you. ”

Donald turned his head and looked at Anna, who was already slightly sweaty on her sideburns, and did not speak, but his "twin" sister Dena spoke:

"Uncle Scrooge, Aunt Anna said she just likes to run after us. Aunt Anna is fine. ”

The two little ones are now three years old. It is in the third stage of the so-called "one-year-old gold, two-year-old silver, three-year-old and four-year-old annoying". The two little ones are not skinny, and when they have eaten and slept all day, they know how to make trouble. Especially Dena, she is the one who has a bad idea every time. Well, of course, most of the people who stupidly went to practice in the end were Donald. Anyway, if they don't see them for half an hour, they'll do something good. For example, a few days ago, Dena discovered that the syringe could be used as a water gun, so she pulled Donald to use the syringe to compete to hit the target, well, what is the target? Oh, it's ordinary, it's just a light bulb at home. Turn on the light and let the bulb light on for a while, then shoot a jet of water at it with a syringe filled with cold water. Then, if you hit the bulb, well, it will explode with a "bang" due to thermal expansion and contraction. That afternoon, Anna fell ill and went to the hospital, and their parents, uncles, and aunts were habitually absent from home, and the grandparents and other things, the two little ones never took it into their eyes again. As a result, the two lawless little guys almost blew off all the lights in the duck castle in one fell swoop, and almost caused the duck castle to be burned due to a short circuit in the wires.

"Dena, you are an older sister, you have to take your brother well, you can't take him to do bad things." Catherine said to Dena.

"Got it." Dena pouted and said, "Mom is the most eccentric, she has always only criticized Dena, not Donald, or Uncle Scrooge, who has always only said Donald, not me." ”

"Okay, okay, kids, there's nothing you don't like to play. Let them go and play. Dorothea habitually sided with the two little ones again. At the same time, she also looked at Carol and Catherine with envy, well, it would be nice if she could give birth to such a pair of twins, although, Dena was a little naughty and Donald was a little silly sometimes.

Scrooge let go of his hand, and Donald quickly ran away with his sister, and among the adults in the family, Uncle Scrooge was the strictest to him, so he was a little afraid of this uncle.

"Well, I'm going to go to Prussia in the near future and make some dealings with them, including giving them some loans, and arming them as much as I can. Then let them fight with the French, and the problems of Qiē will be solved. Scrooge continued with the conversation that had been interrupted by two children.

"Where is Uncle Scrooge going, can you take us there?" Dena, who had already run away, suddenly turned back, and in this family, Scrooge was the person who doted on her the most besides Aunt Anna, so she was not afraid of this uncle at all.

"Dena, play by yourself." Carol furrowed an eyebrow.

"Humph!" Dena grimaced at Carol and ran away.

"Scrooge, do you think Prussia will go to war with France?" Carol asked.

"Of course." "Ever since they defeated Austria," Scrooge said, "they have become the undisputed boss of the German states." The tendency of the German states to unify with Prussia as the core was already very evident. For a long time, the divided German states were markets for French industrial goods, and France had a great interest in the German states, especially in some parts of the south. As soon as Germany is united, it is clear to think with your toes that this market will be completely swallowed up by Prussia, and the French will completely lose this market. Moreover, once Germany is unified, a second land power will appear on the European continent, and the process of the French opening up overseas markets will also be greatly disturbed by the German containment, so sooner or later the French and the Prussians will go to war. ”

"Then you are sure that Prussia will win?" Carol asked.

"Of course, with us in the back to help them, it would be stupid if they still couldn't win." Dorothea said, "How many advanced weapons technology we gave them." ”

"That's not the point." Scrooge said, "God helps those who help themselves." If it weren't for the fact that Prussia was clearly better than Napoleon III in terms of universal education and industrial development, we would not have sided with them. Prussia knew what they needed, at least their Prime Minister Bismarck, and they also knew who was their friend and who was their enemy in the process. So you see that Prussia in the first few wars was quite successful in isolating the enemy and breaking them individually. In contrast, the French's appearance is much worse. For example, in the last Austro-Prussian War, if they could have acted quickly and sided with Austria, Prussia would not have dared to start a war at all. However, Napoleon III was not a strategist, and he was so preoccupied by small interests and small domestic trivialities that he allowed Prussia to grow. Today's Prussia is in fact no worse than France, and even stronger militarily, and everyone knows this, except for the French, who are still asleep in the dream of Napoleon's empire. So I'm sure that Prussia can win, and once Prussia wins, they will desperately suppress France, because although Europe is big, it can't accommodate two land powers. Therefore, there is absolutely everything to cut the land, pay compensation or something. And the French industry will definitely be destroyed by a severe zhòng, the French industry will be hit, its original market will be caught, so except for France, everyone's prosperity will come. Well, we, as a strong supporter of Prussia, of course, also have a very large share. Well, Carol, you arrange the work at hand, and in a month or so, come with me to Prussia. ”