Chapter 239 A loss-making business

Author: Seven Years Period

Chapter 239 A loss-making business

"Yes, yes, it is gratifying to be able to reach half of France's fiscal revenue if we work harder." The one who booed was none other than Count Korolaf. Metternich's conflict with him was not just a day or two. Everyone had already

Just get used to it.

At this time, Austria's fiscal revenue was much higher than the 145 million florins in the same period in history (France was 1.161 billion francs at the time). However, due to changes in the wheel of history, the French obtained Texas. After several years of operation, here

Its tax revenue capacity is no less than that of France's native provinces, and it still has huge potential to continue to rise.

At this time in the book, France's fiscal revenue was 1.25 billion francs, and Prussia's was 130 million florins.

During the same period in U.S. history, it was 20 million U.S. dollars, and in the book, it was 32 million U.S. dollars. Although Texas was lost, it caught up with the tide of the European food crisis, which made the United States' money bag become more bulging, and at the same time its tax capacity

It has also improved.

During the same period in Mexico's history, it was 21 million pesos, and in the book it was 31 million pesos, which is approximately 35.227 million U.S. dollars. Because it did not experience the torture of economic collapse like in history, there was no political chaos, and the "good old man" Fran

As a result, its economic capacity has been greatly improved, but the deep debt crisis has not been eliminated.

(At this time, 1 peso contains 25.8 grams of silver, and 1 pound is exchanged for 4.4 pesos, which is slightly higher than the U.S. dollar. In the book, the conversion between pesos and U.S. dollars is 1:1.11.)

The UK will not participate in the discussion for the time being.

"Count Korolav, our country's economic growth is the fastest among the world's major countries. And last year we acquired Belgrade and Western Bosnia, and the entire empire is developing in a good direction. We have rescued 150,000 of your brothers.

Shouldn't you be proud?"

Metternich confused Count Korolav with the Croats of western Bosnia, which was a humiliation for the latter.

"Perhaps we should go to Coblenz first to rescue your compatriots. But I ask you to think clearly first. The burden on this empire is too heavy. Our income is less than half of France's, but our debt is five times that of France."

times, thirteen times that of Prussia.

It is certainly a good thing to regain lost ground, but the current poverty alleviation-style development is inappropriate. We should save money and invest money in more valuable places."

(Metternich’s ancestral home is Koblenz)

Count Korolaf's concerns were not unreasonable, but Metternich knew very well the horrors of the Revolution.

"Damn it! You stingy idiot! Before you can make any money, those civilians who can't survive will hang you on a tree first!"

The two sides insisted on each other's opinions on everything, and the two Grand Dukes next to them were drowsy, and there was no progress today.

The tragedy at the San Pedro Trading Post quickly spread to France. Alban Roussin, the Minister of Colonial and Admiralty, looked at the report and then at the 20,000 franc note in the envelope.

The trading post in Côte d'Ivoire gave up and instead recognized the Austrian trade monopoly over Côte d'Ivoire.

Although twenty thousand francs is not much, since the slave trade was banned, the San Pedro Trading Post has been in a state of loss for many years and has been attacked by indigenous people many times (Captain Flor lied).

Even without this tragedy, France planned to give it up. Of course, it would send another auditor to conduct a final review before giving up.

The public pressure caused by the tragedy forced the French government to expend energy and order the Colonial Office to put the matter to rest immediately. There was no room for negotiation. If he could not complete this task, there would be no need to relinquish his position as Secretary of the Colonial Office.

The thought of wiping out two indigenous countries with tens of thousands of people gave Alban a headache. At this time, France was becoming more and more uncontrollable on the road to foreign colonization. At the same time, the situation in the Spanish Civil War and the Central American Civil War was becoming more and more anxious.

What's even worse is that the French Church also plans to learn from their neighbors and establish a clerical state in Vietnam.

Fortunately, the Austrians sent troops to kill all the natives, which saved a lot of money for their own navy. Speaking of which, Alban really wanted to thank those Austrians, otherwise the outcome of this expedition would not be discussed.

, just raising military expenses is a headache.

Those Africans are extremely poor, their land is worthless, and the vast area south of the Sahara is full of terrible mosquitoes and unknown diseases, as well as highly aggressive indigenous tribes.

If there is no return, naturally no one is willing to pay, but the matter cannot be given up and needs to be solved. It requires funding from the national treasury, but this kind of budget is extremely difficult to approve.

And wasting it on those damn stupid trading post soldiers who can't even make any money is really not worth the gain.

Although Tutubayo did not kill the French as he said, Franz still commended him for his courage and gave him the largest piece of land in the Kru tribe.

However, at this time in Côte d'Ivoire, the Mandé tribe and the Vodak tribe are still the well-deserved overlords.

Franz specified the types of commodities, which were ivory, cocoa, coffee and cotton. Although he knew that there was rich gold and diamonds buried in the ground in Cote d'Ivoire, he did not know the exact burial location and the time was not yet ripe.

, mining at this time will not bring any benefits except encountering the covetousness of the great powers.

At the same time, Cote d'Ivoire is the most suitable region for growing natural rubber in Africa. Brazil's production cannot keep up with Austria's demand. At this time, pneumatic tires have not yet been born, and the automobile industry has not yet appeared. As technology continues to develop, there will be a global

Rubber crisis.

During this trip to Cote d'Ivoire, they successfully signed a monopoly agreement and gained control of the entire coastline. However, at this time, Austria still did not have enough manpower to develop it. It only established two in Abidjan and Saint-Pedrode.

Trading post and supply point.

Now the only valuable commodity in Côte d'Ivoire is ivory. There are millions of elephants roaming throughout Côte d'Ivoire. Until the 1950s, there were more than 150,000 elephants. Ivory Coast is worthy of its name.

But Franz is not a small animal hunting enthusiast, and he does not want to let the elephants in Côte d'Ivoire become an endangered species for his own personal gain.

Historically, from the 1950s to the 1990s, the number of elephants in Côte d'Ivoire decreased by 99%, with the lowest number being less than 1,000.

If Franz showed great interest in ivory at this time, these elephants would be destroyed in advance.

Although ivory is precious, its actual use is not great. It is more of a luxury item in the hands of the upper class or collectors. Once the supply exceeds demand, it will depreciate crazily.

In Côte d'Ivoire, one yard of cloth (0.9144 meters) can be exchanged for one kilogram of ivory, and one piece of cloth (33.33 meters) only costs 0.3 pounds.

Europeans at the same time were far less obsessed with ivory than Asians.

At that time, Europeans used ivory to make fans, billiard balls, dice, piano keys, and buttons. The only items that could not find substitutes in the short term were billiard balls.

Of course, with the development of agriculture and the increase in the contradiction between man and land, those elephants will still inevitably suffer the same fate. This is not something Franz can interfere with.

All Franz can do is try his best to keep the price of ivory down, so that those poor animals may suffer less harm.

Although there is no killing without buying and selling, it is impossible in this era. Rather than benefiting others, it is better to contribute to the construction of the Austrian Empire.
Chapter completed!