Chapter 694: Pessimism
Chapter 679 – Pessimism
The snowflakes fell in a flurry, as white as jade, as if they were messengers sent by God, waving their blessings to the believers.
The snail’s Parisian public have come out of their homes, playing in the snow with their children, enjoying this wonderful time.
“Snow was a rarity for the people of Paris. The last time it snowed in Paris was many years ago, as Medicius remembers.
How many years, exactly, Medicius could not remember. For the starving people, snow was not a good thing, and there was no need for special remembrance.
This year was an exception: the Russian-Prussian War brought dividends, not only to Austria, but also to France.
In the context of economic prosperity, France’s social conflicts tend to ease, the most obvious is that the people of Paris better days.
This aspect of Medicius is the most deeply felt, as a small newsstand owner, he has a unique method of judgment.
Most of the French people were keen on politics and subscribed to a few newspapers whenever their finances permitted. Newspaper sales, to some extent, also reflect the French economy.
Parisians are proud of this. Parisians contribute half of the world’s top newspaper sales.
If you rank the world’s newspaper sales, it is interesting to note that France>Austria>Britain>Paris.
This is not a paragraph joke, it really happened.
The political sensitivity of the Parisian population is arguably the highest in the world, and to tell the difference between a Parisian and a country bumpkin, just look to see if he reviews political news.
“Médicis, I’ll get the paper.”
A familiar voice rang out, pulling out Medicius who was engrossed in reading the newspaper.
There was business coming to the door, so it was only natural to receive it. Putting down the newspaper in his hands, Medicius smiled faintly, “Ruels, still the same?”
As he spoke, Medicius had already taken out the long-prepared stack of newspapers and placed them at the top.
The middle-aged man frowned and said in an unfavorable manner, “Of course. Medicius, don’t you know me well enough?”
Medicius wasn’t annoyed and still said with a smile, “Ruels, be patient. You’re so grumpy, you’re already old, can’t you change?”
Ruels shook his head, “Forget it, I’m already old, what else do I need to change!”
In terms of France’s per capita life expectancy, Roulez, who was over forty years old, was indeed considered an old man. But the thing about averages, again, tends to favor people the most.
The ones with really short life expectancy per capita were mainly the laborers at the bottom of the ladder. The life expectancy of the aristocracy and the great tycoons is not short at all.
Medicius shook his head and did not continue to persuade. Casually clicking his hand on the newspaper, he said, “Alright, Rulce. Here’s the newspaper you wanted, take it yourself.”
Seemingly thinking of something, Medicius added, “By the way, today’s international edition of Paris Newspaper is good, you should be interested.”
Scanning through the headline, it was “Britain, France and Austria are about to break up the Triple Alliance”.
Ruels face changed greatly, as a qualified Parisian, the importance of the triple alliance is clear to him. Hurriedly asked: “What happened?”
Medicius calmly replied, “Don’t make a fuss, things aren’t that serious, it’s just a little friction in South America, I believe the government can handle it.”
The words were brief and concise, but the specifics were resolutely not mentioned. This is the experience summarized in Medicius’ many years of selling newspapers, if you make things clear, why buy a newspaper?
Ruels rolled his eyes, “Give me a copy, and settle it together over the weekend.”
There was no way, since Napoleon III opened the retirement pension system again, the avant-garde Ruels had become a weekly light.
Apart from leaving the necessary family expenses, the rest of the money had been spent early, and now that it was already Saturday, there was naturally no money in his pocket.
Regardless of whether this spending pattern is good or bad, it is true that it stimulates the economy.
In the case of slightly lower income, the French people can have no weaker than Austria’s per capita consumption, stimulating the economy is also an important factor.
Of course, in this day and age there were no credit cards and overspending was not yet popular. Even the most avant-garde Paris was just living within its means.
“As you wish!” After saying that, and looking at the snow outside, Medicius added, “But I think that right now you need another cup of coffee, preferably with a piece of bread, along with your dinner.”
“That’s an excellent offer. But, Médicis, you’re really condescending to open a newsstand. If you had done anything else, you would have been rich by now, just with your business acumen.” Ruels exclaimed
“It’s hard not to attract attention with the combination of newsstand + café + bakery, and many people thought that Medicius was being overpowered by keeping a small store.
Obviously, Medicius is a smart man, know that he has a few ability.
“Newsstand + cafe + bakery” looks very creative, in fact, such a combination of no technical content, the core selling point is “cheap”.
Medicius never thought he was a genius, but he was more observant than others and chose the right place to open his business.
Otherwise, why hasn’t this business model, which can be copied by anyone without any difficulty, flooded the streets?
If it were really to enter any other industry, an ordinary person like him, I’m afraid that he would have been swallowed to the bone long ago.
Medicius replied with a smile, “Thanks for the compliment, but I think opening a newsstand is fine, I really can’t do anything else.”
Ruels didn’t continue this topic, the two of them hadn’t reached that point in their relationship yet, joking was fine, but if he really persuaded Medicius to change his profession, he wouldn’t even be willing to do it himself.
This kind of convenient, inexpensive place, even in Paris are not many. If Medicius changed his profession, he would have to run more roads every day.
Receiving the newspaper from Medicis, he directly entered the backyard, found an empty seat and sat down, quietly reading the newspaper.
South America’s changing winds and clouds are not something that a newspaper can figure out, and the content on it is naturally analyzed through limited information and a lot of brainstorming to draw conclusions.
The original Chile and Bolivia, Peru, three countries of the diplomatic war, straight was raised to Britain and France and Austria’s diplomatic war, as if immediately and the British turned against each other.
No, Britain and France were already feuds, no need to turn against each other.
Newspapers in this era still have a certain sense of propriety, since they dare to publish it, there is a certain basis, will not take their own credibility to joke.
After reading the newspaper in one breath, Ruels sucked in a breath of cold air.
The newspaper listed in detail the British, French and Austrian interests in South America, clearly pointed out that in the “guano war”, the British support Chile, France and Austria support Peru and Bolivia.
With so much evidence, it was easy to conclude that the relationship between Britain, France and Austria was in trouble. Against this background, the breakup of the Triple Alliance does not seem impossible.
“Damn Brits, still so greedy, how dare they ignore our interests!”
Someone took the lead in cursing, instantly causing the crowd to chime in, cursing the British was also one of the daily entertainment of the Parisian public.
“What’s so strange, the Brits have always been so shameless. To be allies with them is simply dancing with the devil ……”
“That’s right, these damn John Bulls, all of them should go to hell ……”
……
Seeing everyone chatting heatedly, Ruels also joined in to comment, “Peru is also too much of a waste, it’s simply a disgrace to us, actually can’t even beat the Chileans.”
A young man responded, “Not only is Peru a waste, but Bolivia, which is supported by Austria, is also a pig’s ass, actually letting its soldiers go into battle with bows and arrows. Ah, God! Do they think this is the Middle Ages?
It’s really unimaginable, could it be that the Vienna government are all a bunch of idiots? They can’t even afford to equip them with rifles. It’s too bad to have such a bunch of idiots as allies.”
“There’s even worse, it’s rumored that after the war the Chileans captured two regiments of army equipment at the hands of the Bolivian army that has been here for over a month and the officers haven’t even issued it to the soldiers ……”
……
With all the gossip flying around, it was inevitable that the topic would run off the rails. In these days of no entertainment, getting together in groups of three or five to brag has become a unique sight.
……
Versailles Palace, Napoleon IV casually threw away the newspaper in his hand. “England, France and Austria alliance collapsed” when was it? How come he, the party concerned does not know, this is not a joke?
The alliance did not reach the point of collapse, but the situation in South America is still a headache for Napoleon IV. The British advantage is too great, even if the French and Austrians are on the same front, but only barely against it.
Trying to replace the British and gain hegemony in South America was almost impossible.
Unless this South American war, Peru and Bolivia can reverse Chile and knock off this flag of British control of South America.
Foreign Minister Dumbledore: “Your Majesty, the position of the Austrians is very clear, they want us to come together to keep Colombia neutral and preserve the last lifeline of the Secret-Polish Alliance.”
There was no arguing with this one, if you wanted the Secret-Polish Alliance to win the war, you had to help them preserve this lifeline.
Without hesitation, Napoleon IV immediately nodded, “This is not a problem, stabilizing Colombia itself is one of our tasks. However, I’m afraid that this alone is not enough.
The Chileans have already gained the upper hand on the South American battlefield, and with Peru and Bolivia being idiots, I shouldn’t have any faith in them at all.”
I don’t blame Napoleon IV for being pessimistic, it’s just that there are so many jokes on the battlefield. Many times, the Secret-Polish Alliance Road had the upper hand, with a very high probability of winning the war, and all ended in defeat.
In addition to the army fighting strength of the two countries, the government’s bureaucrats are also anxious about their intelligence. Neighbors have been drawn in by the enemy, but they know nothing about it beforehand.
(End of chapter)