My Italian Chapter 388

In the Royal Palace of Rome, the drought in southern Italy is being discussed.

"At present, according to our understanding, the area with the most severe drought is Sicily. According to the statistics of the Astronomical Station, in the winter of last year, the rainfall in Sicily was only 80-120 mm, which is far lower than the 300-600 mm in previous years. In addition, the 110-180 mm of rainfall in Sardinia is also very dangerous, and the same is true in the southern part of the Kingdom Peninsula. The rainfall starts from 120 mm in Faro Point, and the further north, the more rainfall, until Florence, the rainfall is the same as in previous years. It's the same. This is the rainfall distribution map of last winter produced by our Meteorological Bureau, and His Majesty and all the ministers can take a look."

The director of the Meteorological Bureau opened a map of Italy with a nervous expression on his face. The difference in rainfall was marked in various colors. At a glance, it shows the rainfall conditions throughout the Italian winter last year.

Carlo looked at the rainfall distribution map in front of him and said, "Director Cox, can I ask your Meteorological Bureau if you have any estimates of the next climate change in Italy?"

Carlo's words caused all the ministers present to look at Director Cox.

As the center of the audience, the meteorological director felt a heavy pressure hit him.

"Your Majesty, our Meteorological Bureau has also calculated before. According to the meteorological change data reviewed for hundreds of years, there are only 4 large atmospheric droughts such as last winter in Italy in 100 years, and the most recent one was the drought in 1881. There is a 50% chance that this drought will subside in the second year, and a 30% probability that it will last for two years. Of course, there are also very abnormal, large-scale rains in the summer. But this probability is very low and unlikely. "

Obviously, this guy knows the consequences of abnormal rainfall, which is more terrifying than a prolonged drought.

"Thank you very much for your explanation, we already know."

In the face of the king's kind words, Director Cox, who received amnesty, left immediately and sensible. At this time, it is not a wise choice to stay.

Sure enough, before he could leave, he heard Carlo say. "It is now clear, gentlemen, that a drought is unavoidable, and there is a high probability of a repeat of the 1881 scenario."

Carlo's words made the hearts of those present tense. In the drought of 1881, Italy suffered heavy losses, and Tunisia, which had been cultivated for many years, was directly lost. Or to put it another way, if it wasn't for the French invasion of Tunisia, which stirred up emotions in Italy and diverted everyone's attention, the Italian government would have been even more upset.

However, there is still a set of data that records the impact of the drought on Italy. In 1881, the number of Italian immigrants was 390,000, which was 150,000 more than the previous year. In the following two years, the number of Italian immigrants was 340,000 and 290,000 until it returned to less than 200,000 in 1885. This is enough to show that there are many question.

In addition, in the past three years, vicious incidents such as riots, beating, smashing and looting have tripled compared to previous years, so that the prison had to release some light criminals with shorter sentences in advance to make room.

So in the face of Carlo's question, the important officials present also knew the seriousness of the problem.

"Your Majesty, according to my preliminary estimate, the affected population should be between 12 million and 15 million."

Interior Secretary Edras looked at the rainfall distribution map hanging on the wall and opened his mouth to give his estimate. The Ministry of the Interior also manages the census, so looking at the affected area, it can estimate the approximate affected population.

However, his words made everyone frown. Half the population was affected, but the news couldn't be worse.

At this time, Minister of Agriculture Mark Leid also added. "According to the forecast of our Ministry of Agriculture, if there is no rain, it will be a foregone conclusion that this year's agricultural production will be greatly reduced. It is estimated that the national agricultural production will be reduced by about 18-22%. Among them, the agricultural production in Sicily will be reduced by about 50%, while the agricultural production in Sardinia will be reduced by about 50%. It is 40-45%, south of Naples is 30-35%, north of Naples to south of Rome is 20-30%, north of Rome to Florence is 10-20%.”

The Minister of Agriculture's words made many people in the audience really worried. This 20% reduction in agricultural production is going to be a big deal. You must know that although Italy has developed well in recent years, agriculture still accommodates the largest number of laborers. It can be said that this reduction in agricultural production is very bad for Italy. Italy was originally lacking in grain production, and could only rely on planting high-value cash crops, and then purchasing grain from Eastern Europe to sustain life.

Now that the production of cash crops is reduced, it will affect too many people and may even bring turmoil to the Kingdom of Italy, so no one dares to ignore the power of this drought.

"Everyone, do you have any solution?"

Looking at the rainfall distribution map in front of him and thinking of the more than 10 million affected people, Carlo immediately asked. This situation has seriously affected the stability of the kingdom and must be taken seriously.

"I suggest that infrastructure construction, such as ditches, bridges, roads and other facilities, be carried out in the disaster-stricken areas. In addition, for water conservancy facilities in various places that may be in disrepair, we should also start construction during this period."

The Minister of Transportation, Pedersen, put forward his own suggestion. Of course, the method must be the transportation aspect that he is most familiar with. Of course, the water conservancy facilities can also be mentioned incidentally.

With the Ministry of Communications taking the lead, ministers from other departments immediately learned from it and offered advice and suggestions. Valley

"In view of the reduction in crop production, the Ministry of Agriculture should take the lead to guide the quality and quantity of exported agricultural products as much as possible."

The Minister of Agriculture, who was a step behind, had to find a way to increase farmers' income.

"In view of the serious situation in the affected areas, I suggest to strengthen the local police force. And always pay attention to local people's grievances. In addition, the local garrison also needs to be strengthened to ensure that the government has enough capacity to suppress the local area and avoid malicious elements taking the opportunity to cause chaos."

Home Secretary Edras also gave his opinion.

Of course, apart from these two people, there are other people's suggestions. Anyway, it is nothing more than suppressing people's grievances, meeting the needs of people's livelihood and livelihood, and recruiting redundant labor to prevent it from causing regional turmoil.

Of course, these people's suggestions are very good, and Carlo thinks that they are reasonable, but they seem to have forgotten a question. Fortunately, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Baron Toston, did not forget.

"If you want to do disaster relief without funds, especially in the case of this year's super-large drought, the need for disaster relief funds is even greater. And the government's emergency fund of 80 million liras is simply not available, so we should issue a A disaster relief bond, preferably with a tenor of five to ten years.”

Well, since we talked about bonds, Carlo has to ask a question. "Lord Toston, how many disaster relief bonds are appropriate to issue?"

"Based on the disaster relief costs in 1881~www.mtlnovel.com~ and the current price level, I think an emergency bond of 800 million lire with a maturity of 5-10 years should be sufficient."

Toston gave a professional answer based on what he knew.

The 800 million lire fund is not a small amount, it has more than 60% of the total government revenue.

"But I remember that in 1981, the government only spent 520 million liras for disaster relief?"

"Yes, it really only cost 520 million that year. But Your Majesty, the disaster relief was not completely saved, and the end was a lot. If you want to avoid the results of the year, the disaster relief funds cannot be less."

Facing Toston's words, Carlo acquiesced after thinking about it. After all, disaster relief is like fighting a fire, and there can be no hesitation and reluctance.

However, there is another problem, which Carlo thinks must be determined first.

"How much food does the government plan to purchase for disaster relief?"

"Buying food?"

"Yes."

"In terms of purchasing food, we..."

Carlo could see that the government did not plan to purchase much food. His expression was a little subtle. Is this still a government run by a left-wing party?

"Your Majesty, this issue is a bit complicated and needs some time to explain."

At this time, Prime Minister Antonio stood up.

The Prime Minister's face must be given, Carlo had no choice but to answer. "Well, I can wait for your explanation."

Then it seemed that this matter was over, and we continued to discuss the issue of disaster relief.

Chapter end