Greece’s Roman Road

The three people in the office looked at the flustered Prime Minister and were amazed. King George stood up from behind the desk, went to meet him, and asked, "Mr. Prime Minister, what happened?"

"Your Majesty, I just got the news that the French customs has raised the tax on imported raisins, and the price of raisins in the international market has plummeted," Trikupis said to the three.

The three people who heard the news were all shocked.

Grapes are an important economic crop in Greece. In the past two years, the annual export volume of raisins in Greece has reached about 80,000 tons, and the value can reach 80 million drachmas. It is one of the main sources of income for Greek farmers.

At present, among the bulk export commodities of Greece, cotton is the most valuable, in addition, it is raisins.

For such an important commodity, the severe price drop will have a blow to the Greek economy and affect the income of grape farmers.

King George asked solemnly: "I remember that the raisins needed by the French wine industry have always been imported from Greece. Why did the French suddenly raise tariffs this year? What happened to the French wine industry?"

"Before this, the French viticulture industry was devastated by phylloxera."

"Since this year, the local grape plantations in France have begun to recover from the depression. The reason why the French government will suddenly increase the import tariff of raisins is because of the influence of grape growers," Trikoupis sighed.

The French are crossing the river and tearing down the bridge.

In previous years, due to the influence of phylloxera on its own grape production, the grape production in France was seriously insufficient, which triggered a grape crisis. The French winemaking industry would import a large amount of raisins from abroad. Under the guidance of the market, growing grapes in Greece has become a piece of cake. Profitable things, Greek farmers eagerly joined the ranks.

France's own grape planting industry suddenly resumed, but Greek farmers were unaware and influenced by the inertia of the market, instead of reducing planting, they increased the amount of planting.

"If the price of raisins has been low this year, what is the worst case, Mr. Prime Minister?" Constantine asked with concern.

"If the price of raisins does not improve, a large number of farmers in Greece will go bankrupt, and the government's revenue will also be affected."

The three remained silent.

The raisin crisis has a huge impact on Greece.

In the original time and space, Greece was hit by the raisin crisis, like a domino, causing a series of evil consequences.

The export of raisins was blocked, the economic pillar collapsed, the government's fiscal revenue was affected, the huge foreign debt owed could not be repaid on time, the financial bankruptcy, and the turbulent social situation caused people's dissatisfaction. Advocating war, the Greek army was forced to take on Ottoman Turkey in 1897.

The Greek government, which was already financially bankrupt, had no money to fight, and could not mobilize more personnel to join the army. The Greek army, which was dissatisfied with 50,000, was forced to attack the dominant army of Ottoman Turkey.

The result was obvious, the Greek army, which was seriously ill-prepared, suffered a crushing defeat.

Various creditor countries took the opportunity to take over Greece's finances and took a series of measures to ensure the income of the Greek government to pay Ottoman's reparations and repay foreign debts.

It can be said that a series of misfortunes in Greece before the First World War all started with raisins.

Just such an inconspicuous commodity, Greece has had such a big reaction, which shows the fragility of the Greek economy in history.

In fact, since Greece became independent from the Ottomans in 1830, it has always been a relatively poor country.

As mentioned earlier, every year a certain number of Greeks immigrate and leave Greece to live in other countries.

Ironically, one of the options for Greeks to emigrate included their former suzerain, Ottoman Turkey.

Yes, immigrating to the more affluent parts of the western Anatolia coast is also an option for the Greeks.

The reason why Constantine is relatively stable at the moment is that in this time and space, the economic development of Greece is much stronger than that in the same period of history.

Although the raisin crisis still occurred, its impact on Greece was far less fatal than that of the original time and space.

Thinking of this, Constantine asked, "What can we do about this, Mr. Prime Minister?"

"Although the French will definitely reduce the import of raisins from Greece in order to protect their own grape planting industry, the demand for raisins has not shrunk in the UK and the Netherlands as well."

"The main problem now is that the sudden response of France has led to an oversupply of raisins in the market, causing the market price to collapse."

"The best way now is to raise the price of raisins in the international market," Trikupis said.

"Let's just release some good news, okay?" King George said.

"It is better for us in Greece to increase the consumption of some wine. I hope that His Majesty will allow the Greek soldiers to drink wine in their daily diet." Kupis's method, well, is to expand domestic demand.

The Greek army has about 50,000 people. Even if they add wine to their diet and consume more grapes, the impact on the raisin market is limited.

"Your Highness, didn't you recruit tens of thousands of indigenous soldiers in Congo? Also add wine to their diet," Trikupis asked.

Constantine was stunned when he heard the words, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. The welfare of this indigenous soldier is a little better.

"Prime Minister, even if the indigenous army distributes wine, I am afraid it will have a limited impact on the price of raisins," Constantine said.

"Prime Minister, let me help you think of a solution," Constantine said, looking at the anxious Prime Minister.

After speaking, he summoned the guards at the door and ordered, "Go and invite Nina, the person in charge of the pharmaceutical company."

After four years of development, the original artemisinin factory, with the assistance of Philip and other medical scientists, has become the largest pharmaceutical company in Greece, and its products are not only limited to artemisinin, such as medical Alcohol is also a product of the factory.

Everyone continued to discuss the impact of the raisin crisis, and after a while, Nina walked in in a dusty manner.

After greeting everyone, Constantine said, "Nina, please come here to solve the problem of unsalable grapes in Greece."

"I want to ask you if your company can find a way to consume some of the excess grape production in Greece"

In the production process of artemisinin, a large amount of acetone is used as an extractant, and alcohol is used as the raw material for the production of acetone.

"Compared with fermenting grapes to produce alcohol, it is more economical to use other crops, such as potatoes," Nina said.

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