Rome.

After years of depression, the harbor is bustling with activity again, with Austrian-flagged cargo ships parked on the docks.

People are tirelessly carrying boxes and heavy loads, most of which are food, and the rest are building materials, clothing, fabrics, and some daily necessities.

The inhabitants of Rome had not had enough to eat for a long time, and thanks to the military rations brought by the Austrian army, the city was finally relieved.

Before the Austrian army besieged Rome, people starved to death every day in the city.

The Fourth Roman Republic itself collapsed its own economy, and then, with the severance of maritime communications, effectively pronounced their death.

So when the Austrian envoys entered the city of Rome, they easily rebelled against the entire city.

The so-called people die for money, birds die for food, and that's probably the case.

However, if Pius IX is unable to solve the food crisis in Rome at this time, he will be driven out of Rome again sooner or later.

Rabbits will bite people when they are in a hurry, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of living people in the city.

At this time, if you want to solve the food problem of the city of Rome, one is to mobilize food from outside to solve the urgent needs of the capital.

However, the lack of food in the provinces coincided with the disaster year, and the previous "Italian Holy War" and the Italian coalition forces that crossed the border like locusts completely cut off the possibility of the Papal States solving the disaster on its own.

Another solution is to rely on forceful repression, pay the army in full, and let those who carry guns solve the problem.

The advantage of this is that the cost is minimal in the short term, but it is undoubtedly a loss-making transaction in the long run.

Because the Papal States are different from those secular regimes, the pope is not just a secular monarch, he is also a religious leader, and the results may be even worse if the approach of such a secular regime is adopted.

In addition, the Pope did not have a violent army strong enough to be trusted.

Resolving the crisis in the Papal States at this time was part of Franz's deal with Pius IX.

However, this account naturally had to be credited to the Papal States, after all, Pius IX was the de facto ruler of the Papal States, and Franz only proposed a solution.

Although Europe was in shambles, the Americas and Africa were bumper crops.

In Mexico, in particular, the war has caused a large number of civilian deaths, but the statistics will not tell you that those who died are mainly the elderly, the sick and the disabled.

The proportion of casualties among the young men who are supposed to be the main force of the war is not high, because both the Americans and the Mexicans have made the massacre of civilians routine.

The result is a decline in the demand for food due to a declining population, but the decline in the labor force relative to the total population is not significant, and the arrival of immigrants from other regions to replenish the labor force leads to food overproduction.

It stands to reason that the surplus of grain can take the export route. However, the surrounding countries either have no shortage of food or no money at all, and they don't even have a national government.

The United States also had a bumper harvest, and it was even more exaggerated compared to Mexico. The United States has so much grain that it can't feed its livestock, so it is impossible to buy Mexican grain.

As for the Central American Confederation, which had become a colony of the Great Powers by this time, Guatemala and El Veneba, which were close to Mexico, entered anarchy after the fall of the Orléans.

The guerrillas, the warlords, and the expeditionary force of the British were all in one pot.

In such a chaotic situation, arms are easier to sell than grain, and the local products are relatively abundant and the population is small, so the demand for food is really not large.

In addition to this, the level of diplomacy of Tasan Anna is also problematic, and combined with the situation deliberately dominated by Franz, Mexico's relations with the surrounding countries are poor.

In particular, the French colony of Texas and the United States were bitter enemies to the Mexican government.

After all, the three kingdoms interacted, and Prince Metternich, who arrived in North America, once again exerted his expertise and bluffed Tasan Anna, a native bun, into a daze.

On the North American stage, Prince Metternich only has a resounding name, and there is no negative news, and even if there is, it will only be said that he "really knows how to play".

In fact, the North American stage is more suitable for Metternich than the European stage, without domestic constraints and too many shackles, Metternich has once again become the flower-wearing butterfly active in the diplomatic arena.

At this time, Metternich had a new title, "Prime Minister of Central and North America, and the Caribbean".

Since the fall of the Orleans dynasty, the French colony of Texas has become a piece of fat in the eyes of the surrounding powers.

In particular, Britain and the United States are bound to take advantage of this situation, but it also gives Metternich the opportunity to drive away tigers and wolves, which is what he does best.

On the Texas issue, it united with the United States to squeeze out Britain, and on the Central American issue, it united with Britain and Mexico to carve up the French colonies.

Jumping up and down, so happy.

As for fooling the Mexicans into selling grain as feed to Austria, it is not a problem.

The price of feed is only a quarter of the price of food, but in practice the goods are the same.

With the exception of Mexico, the Central American colonies of the Austrian Empire developed a notch higher than before, thanks to the exploitation of Japanese labor.

It's not that the short, thin Japanese are better and more capable than European immigrants, but that they are better suited to the climate and have lower human rights costs.

According to the reports of the Austrian Empire's officials in Central America, the most difficult of all immigrants were Italians, who were characterized by grouping, sneaky, porcelain-loving, and demanding of the environment and food.

The second most difficult group to deal with is the Germans, who are mostly from North Germany and mostly Protestant, so there are often some inexplicable conflicts.

In addition, these people are generally educated, which makes them more difficult to handle than ordinary immigrants, and they also have high environmental requirements.

The rest of the Hungarians were about the same as the Irish, but the former was relatively better, as they understood some German, and most of the Austrian officials spoke Hungarian, which was easier to communicate with.

Although the Irish hardly understood German, these people were almost as honest as the Hungarian serfs, and they only needed to be fed, whether it was fodder or bush meat.

For the living environment, as long as there is a shed roof, it doesn't care whether there is a fence or not.

In fact, Austrian officials treat non-Germans in the same way, but Europeans are certainly better treated than in Japan.

Moreover, after so many years of development in Central America, it is not really enough for them to eat fodder and live in houses without fences.

However, the Hungarians and the Irish were relatively belligerent, they often clashed over trivial matters, and blood revenge prevailed.

Once one of the two families dies, then it is a situation of endless death, and one of the families must die.

As for the Japanese laborers, they are the best group of people to manage, this group of people is good at learning, and has a good sense of "self-management" (there are many Japanese traitors).