Austrian Empire, Graz.

The Oak Hotel was actually chartered, which made many merchants and nobles who were hiding from the flood very unhappy.

However, when he saw the coat of arms of the Rothschild family, he had to leave in a reluctant voice.

Solomon Rothschild sat alone by the fire, and the temperature plummeted from days of heavy rain, alternating between hot and cold, and the doctor's bloodletting made him feel cold.

Colder than Solomon's body was his heart, and how he wished that the flood would sweep away all the scum of Vienna and drown in the Danube forever.

Solomon has lost a lot of things in the past few years, money, railroads, allies, organizations, the empire he has built, and his self-confidence.

This heavy rain will undoubtedly reduce the grain production, and the price of grain will rise further, and the grain he threw out before will definitely sell it at double the high price if it is sold now.

Solomon wanted to endure it, but the more he thought about it, the more angry he became, and the only way to break the situation now was to buy grain from the United States to suppress the price of grain in Austria, and as for Russia, he did not dare to go.

A month earlier, Solomon had already purchased grain from the United States, which had doubled its price than it had been, but was still lower than it was in Austria at this time.

The grain was already on the way, but if he wanted to recoup his capital, this price difference was not enough, so he came up with a "good idea".

A bolt of lightning pierced the night sky, and Solomon's face looked distorted and terrifying.

In Hungary, the Drava River suddenly burst, causing a large area of farmland in southern Hungary, which was not seriously affected, to be washed away

Hungary feels that the flooding of the south is a manifestation of the fairness and justice of the world.

Many of the nobles in the council wondered how much good land they would be able to buy from the poor ghosts after the flood.

Széchenyi looked worried, and with the money in his hand, it was a drop in the bucket to help the people affected by the disaster.

At this time, Hungary was extremely weak, and if there was an uprising of the affected people, it would inevitably make the situation worse, and if the Hungarian army could not suppress it, then the Austrian army would intervene, and he really did not dare to think about what would happen at that time

Food prices in Austria have almost doubled, and this situation is simply doomsday for a country.

On the streets of Vienna, as soon as the flood waters receded, there were long queues in front of bakeries, and mixed bread, which was not usually bought by anyone, became a bestseller.

The price of mixed bread is only 30% of that of regular bread, and it is not clear whether it is mixed with wood chips, stones, or mouse hair.

Dead fish in the streets were scrambling to get home, and large groups of women on the outskirts of the city were looking for fern roots and all other food in the grass with their children.

This tragedy was repeated not only in Vienna, but also in major European cities at this time.

In this era, ordinary people had very little savings, and they could only beg in the event of a famine, but fortunately, each country had its own measures, and at the same time, there were some plants and prey in the wild in Europe that could satisfy hunger all year round, so that the scale of famine would not become particularly large.

Food crises, often accompanied by epidemics of plague, thefts and outcasts...

The Austrian government is well aware that Austrian merchants now have grain in their hands, so it directly limits the price and does not allow the price of grain to exceed 1.7 times the original price.

The royal family took the lead in complying with it, and the merchants had to make money anyway, so naturally they would not make trouble.

If you want to sell Austrian grain abroad, you have to pay a tax that is twice the price of the goods themselves.

As for the merchants who want not to pay taxes, they will be blocked by the army on the border, and how much the army will take from them depends entirely on the mood of the soldiers.

At the same time that Austria restricted grain exports, almost all the states of the German Customs Union began to restrict grain exports.

By comparison, food prices in Austria were among the lowest in Germany.

At the same time, the Austrian government has introduced a number of related relief policies.

One of the most important is cash-for-work, Franz is not prepared to make the common people suffer, Austria has many large-scale projects that need to be repaired, such as railways, dredging rivers, Franz is also preparing to build a dam on the Danube, and at the same time increase the height of Vienna's river embankment to prevent Vienna from flooding again, these projects just need a large number of cheap labor.

Franz's proposals were sent to the Regency Council, where Archduke Franz Karl and Archduke Louis signed without looking, and the Count of Korolav and Prince Metternich on the side were a little embarrassed, but they also signed their names one after another.

All of Franz's actions were well intentioned, and indeed could solve the problems facing the Austrian Empire, but there was one thing that made Metternich and Count Korolav very happy, and that was the fact that the Austrian Imperial Government had to buy the Imperial Food's grain at market prices

The frenzied influx of refugees and poor people from all the German states into Austria was encouraged by the governments of the states, after all, those who stayed in their own country were displaced people, and the displaced people were the root of all evil, and the plague, theft, and riots were all closely related to the word exile.

Berlin, Prussia.

William III drank a large sip of opium wine to calm his mind.

"Weinlich, why can't the price of grain in the Rhine be suppressed? Why did you buy only one-third of the grain from Russia as originally planned? ”

"Because there is no food, there is no money." Wei Lixi replied.

"I obviously allocated money to you, why do you still say that you don't have any money, you must be filling your own pockets, you shameless bastard." William III's eyes were red, and he coughed repeatedly, his body was not as good as before, and the roar just now had exhausted all his strength.

"I went to Russia and paid the money, but I only got a third of the food I had planned."

It is clear that Russia has torn up its previous agreement with Prussia, and of course it is someone else who has left Russia to decide.

Friedrich Liszt arrived in Russia first and met His Majesty the Tsar.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, it is an honor for me to represent the United States of America and you to reach an agreement on the price of grain, which is beneficial to both of us."

"Mr. Liszt, don't you know that King William III of your country is my father-in-law?"

"Your Majesty, but this time you are not only dealing with Prussia, but also with France, Spain, Sardinia, and the Low Countries. As long as Russia and the American Republic can work together to protect the bottom line of prices, then hundreds of millions of dollars in profits are within reach. ”

Franz, on the other hand, used the money he earned from the imperial government to continue to buy wasteland in Hungary.

Of course, the imperial government did not lose much money, because with the exception of Austria, the price of grain in the surrounding countries soon rose to three times the price at the beginning of the year, and even if it was a fine of double the price, it was profitable to sell it to the states of the German Customs Union.

"Why?" William III asked reluctantly.

"The Russians say, you have to add money." Wei Lixi replied.

"Perfidious Russian barbarians! I'm so blind! Enraged, William III grabbed the opium and poured it on, and suddenly he fell straight down.

The royal physician was helpless about Wilhelm III's condition, so Friedrich Liszt brought a doctor who is said to have saved many people by transfusing sheep's blood.

In desperation, everyone could only agree to a blood transfusion.

Death of William III.

(End of chapter)