The Tang Empire has always been a country rich in agricultural products, and the imperial family and government have built a relatively complete grain reserve system, and the prices of agricultural and animal husbandry products such as grain and oil have been relatively stable, with little fluctuations up and down.

Since the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war

The sharp rise in grain prices in the international market is due to the fact that European countries are worried about the huge gap in grain harvests, and they have poured into the Tang Empire to buy grain in large quantities, which has little impact on domestic market prices.

The siege of Paris has been going on for more than three months, causing a huge food panic in various European countries.

In order to stabilize grain prices in the international market, the imperial government sold millions of tons of grain in 11 batches at the Chicago Bulk Grain and Oil Exchange, and almost all of them were sold out by international buyers.

According to the Chang'an Times;

As a responsible member of the international community, the government plans to sell six more batches of grain totaling 3.2 million tons from December to January next year in order to calm the international grain market, which has been high.

Basically every other week, the total volume is between 500,000 and 550,000 tons, and the call auction mechanism is introduced, with 10,000 tons as an order, which is expected to be delivered to European customers between February and March.

This is a measure of transparency in the government of the imperial government, which is intended to put an end to the corruption that breeds in the dark and to use market forces more to balance fluctuations than to use administrative means.

This amount of food may seem like a lot, but in fact it is simply not enough.

One-third of France, about two dozen provinces, was occupied by the Prussian army, a large number of refugees caused social unrest, and the northeast and northwest of France, which were traditionally the main agricultural producing areas, completely finished this winter wheat season.

Paris had been besieged for more than three months, and had been living on food supplies from the southern provinces, a situation that could not last long.

The "National Guard" formed by more than 300,000 Parisian citizens, together with logisticians, totaled more than 500,000, and if you count the more than 70,000 government troops under the command of the emergency government composed of bourgeoisie and Orleanists, the whole of Paris is armed.

As a result, so many young and middle-aged men did not give birth, and guarded the barricades with guns all day long, and the cities were filled with fanatical patriotic fervor and various currents of thought, and even teenagers of twelve or thirteen years old took to the streets.

As soon as the turmoil in France ends, there will always be a huge food shortage.

Waves of anarchism, bourgeoisie and workers' movements simmered in the midst of a Paris Revolution that shocked China and the rest of the world.

The fact that so many Parisians, together with their families, numbered more than 2.3 million, have been left empty since September and are completely dependent on the southern provinces for all kinds of supplies, is bound to be unsustainable.

Sit in the teahouse

Richard looked leisurely through the newspaper, and saw between the lines that the turmoil in Europe was far from ending in a year and a half, and that the "vacating plan" presented by Prime Minister Dong Jie had been successfully implemented more than halfway, and there was no need to worry about the remaining stock of old grain.

It's like a giant reservoir that has emptied its capacity and can cope with the bumper grain harvest for at least the next 10 years, regaining the ability to regulate the market.

The huge amount of funds to clear the inventory will be earmarked, and new grain will be collected and stored in 1871, and the 3~5-year rotation storage system will be improved.

There will be no more than 10 years of storage period, so that a large amount of grain mildew, hardening, insect erosion and rat bite cause a lot of losses.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to clear the inventory, the reserve depots in various places will carry out large-scale repairs, raise the foundation, strengthen the warehouse, establish a sound inventory ledger, and clean up and beautify the reservoir area.

In addition, it is necessary to repair the sewer pipes and add fire-fighting facilities in order to better undertake the heavy responsibility of reserves.

The reich government's plans for the 1871 year had not yet come out, and it was estimated at between 1.8 million and 3 million tons.

The government will continue to refill the inventory in 8~9 years, some years more, some years less, depending on the specific situation.

Recently, the Imperial Treasury borrowed a large amount of money to the French, totaling about 36 million Tang Yuan, with a loan period of three years and an annual interest rate of 6.5%.

The reason why the interest rate on loans is so favorable is that the French are not short of money at all. Its background is extremely profound, and everyone knows that the French are very rich, so they don't need to worry about it at all.

In the original history

After the victory of the Franco-Prussian War, France undertook 5 billion francs in war reparations, which was worth 250 million pounds, about 1 billion Tang Yuan, and the French gritted their teeth and paid it back in two years.

Now the French are taking out loans because there is no legitimate government recognized by the whole people, and it is difficult for the Paris government to leave the city, and even many people in Paris do not approve of it.

The southern provinces are confused and full of people, and there is no way to twist the power of France into a rope, and who will dare to take out the money of the French bourgeoisie, usurers and wealthy classes?

It is precisely because of this good opportunity that the major consortia and powerful institutions of the Tang Empire have frequent contacts with the French, and several loan plans under discussion have a total amount of hundreds of millions.

Everyone likes to lend money to rich people, not poor people like Tsarist Russia and Fuso.

The vacated funds in the special account of the Ministry of Finance will also participate in it, which can be effectively used, lend to the French to eat interest, and realize the rolling appreciation of funds, which is definitely a sure deal!

After browsing the "Chang'an Daily", Richard picked up a copy of the "Times" from three days ago and read it, which is also the latest edition of the "Times" in the imperial capital Chang'an.

Before the transatlantic cable connection, European newspapers were all shipped across the Atlantic to North America by cruise ship in bulk mail, even in New York and Philadelphia, the fastest countries, the European newspapers were seen half a month ago.

As for the imperial capital of Chang'an, it was at least an old newspaper from a month ago.

After the transoceanic cable connection, the newly published "Times" was transmitted to the other side of the Atlantic through telegrams, printed and sold in New York, Chicago, Chang'an and other international metropolises, and created a Chinese edition to reach more readers.

This makes it more time-sensitive, more diverse, and more popular with readers.

Unlike the ordinary people of the Tang Empire, who did not care about the world on the other side of the Atlantic, the turbulent situation in Paris always attracted the attention of the British Isles, which can be seen from the length of the Times.

The reporters from Paris, the German-occupied areas in the north, and the free zones in the south are full of large chapters in the Times from the front, second, third and fifth pages, and the international situation is only briefly discussed on the sixth board, which shows the high level of attention compared to the former.

From this alone, it can be seen where is the center of British policy?

The Times, through its comprehensive reporting, basically sketched the whole picture of the Franco-Prussian War, and the focus of all contradictions was still in Paris;

The constant bombardment of Paris by the Prussian army greatly intensified the discontent of all sectors of society and deeply hurt the patriotic fervor of the Parisians.

The citizens of Paris, especially the working and lower middle classes, had long wanted a democratic republic, and explicitly demanded that Paris should be self-governing, with its own elected parliament and the same rights as other small French towns.

The Orleanist government categorically refused, out of fear of further instability, and the contradictions between the two sides were quite acute.

There is also a call to manage the country's economy in a more equitable way, even in a more a-list way, which has been summed up into a slogan: a social democratic republic.

And this was a policy proposition that the bourgeois-dominated Orleanist government could never accept, and the big oil pot in Paris was boiling, and the cold water poured in from time to time added to the confusion.

In this scenario

Bismarck, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Prussia, expressed concern in public, saying; "This war, which the French Empire has imposed on Prussia, is gradually moving in an unpredictable direction, and it threatens to trigger a great workers' revolution that will shock Europe, and this is what I fear most."

That being said, but the troops of the Kingdom of Prussia did not relax for a day in shelling Paris, and even less lowered their asking price.

The siege lasted for more than three months

France's ruling Orléanist government had been seeking a cease-fire agreement with the newly proclaimed German Empire, but had been unable to reach an agreement due to great differences between the two sides and strong opposition from the citizens of Paris.

The Germans demanded that an article be added to the peace agreement;

It was necessary for the German army to enter Paris with a triumphal ceremony to show the military glory of the nascent German Empire, which was the exalted treatment that the victors deserved.

Despite the siege for more than 100 days, the vast majority of the citizens of Paris remained resolutely opposed to the Prussians' declaration of their occupation of their city with any ceremony, vowing to defend this beautiful metropolis with rifles and their lives to the death.

In the face of today's Grand Paris, the German Empire also felt a deep headache;

The thought of further military action is bound to provoke an all-out revolt from the citizens of Paris, an international metropolis of 200,000 citizens and 100,000 people who take up guns to resist aggression.

However, the citizens of Paris refused to admit defeat, and they definitely could not fight, and now they can only continue to besiege them.

During this time

The nascent German Empire was not without its harvest, as the trains from the occupied territories to Germany were laden with looted goods, including fine French furniture and works of art, and returned loaded with German-made industrial goods to be dumped on the French market.

In areas where the Germans were not good at, such as kerosene, diesel, lubricants, petrochemicals, automobiles and agricultural machinery, food and frozen meat, etc., the massive products of the Tang Empire were allowed to enter and a share of the dividends of collusion were collected.

meanwhile

The Germans were also courting Britain by allowing the woven cotton, steam engines, and steel products that Britain excelled at to reach the French market unhindered, while also receiving a share of the complicity's dividends.

Therefore, although the Franco-Prussian War was fought anxiously, there was no serious shortage of materials in the market, but the price of grain more than doubled, and the prices of various civilian goods also rose to varying degrees.

Although it is more expensive, it can buy everything with money, and it will not affect the lives of the wealthy middle class and capitalists, and ordinary French people will be unlucky.

Today's France is like a giant who has been wounded and lost blood, this frame is still there, but the body is much weaker.

(End of chapter)