Holy Roman Empire

Then there was no more, and now their bond is untouched again.Even the chancellor himself is not sure whether these bonds can be honored.

War is a beast that swallows gold. Russia is a feudal empire that is transitioning to capitalism, and the funds that can be mobilized are very limited.

Of course, this does not mean that they have no money, but the smart financiers are pretending to be poor at this time, and they have no intention of pulling the tsarist government.

Alexander II sneered and said, "Could it be that the domestic financial sector can't think of a way? As far as I know, they still hold foreign debts of many European countries!"

There was nothing wrong with it. The tsarist government borrowed from foreign banks, and Russian banks lent abroad. These were all normal financial activities.

The only thing that was out of the ordinary was the reluctance of these banks to lend money to the Tsarist government.

Of course, it’s not all about the bank’s problem. It’s more about the fact that the previous tsars played too hard, and there have been many incidents of borrowing without repayment, and everyone is unwilling to continue to be fooled.

This topic is stuck. Now that the government’s finances are collapsing, it is understandable that domestic banks dare not borrow money.

Seeing that no one answered, Alexander II did not continue this topic.He knows that for bureaucrats: some things can be done, but they can't be said, otherwise it will be easy to leave political opponents with the excuse.

"How much money can you raise?"

Chancellor of the Exchequer Christian Valle thought for a while and said: "A preliminary estimate is that 8600 million rubles of war taxes can be collected. As for finding foreign bank loans, the specific amount cannot be determined.

It depends on how much collateral we can put up, as well as political factors, which also need to be taken into consideration. "

"8600 million rubles" may seem like an astronomical figure, but it is actually not enough to repay the debts of the enterprise, and it is completely a drop in the bucket in a war.

It’s not that the ruble is worthless. The point is that the war is too expensive. Hundreds of tons of shells are destroyed a day. That’s just a basic operation.

In fact, this is already very economical. Five or six million troops are fighting on the front line. Even if each person consumes 60 rounds of ammunition per day, that is more than 5 million rounds.

With so many troops, on average, no matter how economical they are, at least a few thousand rounds of shells must be fired every day.

Just the most basic ammunition consumption, hundreds of thousands of rubles are gone every day.Coupled with the consumption of various logistics materials, the daily expenditure of several million rubles is indispensable.

After all, the cost of materials on the battlefield is not the cost price.Many strategic materials have been transported from the rear to the hands of the front-line Russian army, and the price has increased several times.

Alexander II frowned and asked, "Tell me, what are you going to mortgage and how much can you borrow?"

Alexander II was very unhappy with the feeling of being out of control, but unfortunately the reality left him no choice, he couldn't give away the European hegemony, could he?

Even the small Kingdom of Prussia can't handle it. Russia's international status may fall from the top to Britain, France and Austria, or it may even rank behind the Prussians.

Most of the political gains made in the Near East War would have been lost in this defeat.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Christian Wahl chose to kick the ball without hesitation: "It depends on the outcome of the negotiation. Now it is not what we give, but what the other party wants.

We can contact several countries and choose the conditions that are most beneficial to us as much as possible. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is professional in this regard. "

Foreign Minister Clarence Ivanov gave Christan Val a hard look, which was clearly a scam.

International loans have never been easy to borrow. There may be loans without strings attached, but unfortunately the tsarist government could not.

Once an additional treaty that damages the interests of the country is signed, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be the target of the scapegoat, and Clarence's mood is instantly bad.

"Your Majesty, the current funding gap is too large, and there are only a few companies in the world capable of providing this loan, and our choice is almost non-existent.

If we rely on international loans to solve the financial crisis, we may have to pay a high price to be able to borrow money.

Why don't we think of a way at home, the huge Russian Empire is not even able to raise hundreds of millions of rubles. "

Clarence's position is very clear, it is better not to borrow money.The funding gap this time is really too big, even if it is borrowed money, it will not be able to repay it in the future.

Now they don't have many bargaining chips that can be used as collateral. Apart from the vast land, Clarence doesn't think there is anything else that can be mortgaged for so much money.

It is not easy to repay debts, but secured loans are different.Now there is no one who has the strength to provide them with a loan. If they want to take away the collateral, they can't fight a war, right?

This is obviously impossible. If they had the money to fight a war, they would have paid off their debts long ago.War is actually the most extravagant toy, not for the poor.

Instead of being embarrassed at that time, it is better to overturn the table in advance.If the government has no money, it asks the rich for it.Anyway, it's not the first time I've done it, the experience left by my ancestors.

If you do something big, you can not only solve the debt crisis in one fell swoop, but you can also put some money in your pocket.The pigs have grown fat and can be killed now.

Alexander II nodded. This may not be the best choice, but it is the most suitable choice for the Tsarist government.

With the tacit agreement of the top leaders of the tsarist government, the Jews began to suffer.The targets of the upper class were only the Jewish financial capitalists, but the Jews of the middle and lower classes also suffered.

Naturally, the nobles would not let go of this opportunity to make a fortune. Whether they were reformers or conservatives, their positions on this issue were unprecedentedly consistent.

Chapter 85 Secretly Crossing Chencang

When Alexander II decided to turn the tables, the undertones of the Russian Empire were on display.The anti-Semitic movement began, and the government's finances began to improve.

The tsarist government initially only targeted Jewish capitalists, but soon spread to the entire Jewish community, and there was a wave of anti-Semitism among the people in Russia.

The government issued laws restricting the residence of Jews, prohibiting them from buying land, engaging in agriculture, and prohibiting them from working in postal, railway, military and other departments...

Well-informed Jewish capitalists ran away, and ordinary Jewish people became scapegoats, bearing the hostility of the whole society for them.

The actions of the Tsarist government ignited the spark of the anti-Semitic movement in Europe.Anti-Semitism has become a hot topic in society, and it has the potential to start a prairie fire.

As a witness to history, Franz chose to stand on the sidelines.Poor people must have something to hate. This sentence may be too one-sided, but it is not wrong to apply it to the Jews.

"Greed" is the original sin, and Jewish capital is unscrupulous for profit, which eventually leads to trouble.In order to protect themselves, these people did not hesitate to bring disaster to the entire nation.

Yes, Jewish capital is behind the rapid expansion of the anti-Semitic movement in Russia.It's not surprising that the integrity of capitalists is so high in the face of interests.

If there were no compatriots to distract the attention of the outside world, then the tsarist government would stare at them, [-] people, not to mention transferring capital, it would be God's blessing to save their lives.

Even if they go abroad, they are still uneasy. There are too many people who stare at them like a tiger.Only by muddying the water can their own interests be guaranteed.

Facts have proved that their plan was successful. From the end of 1865 to the summer of 1866, more than [-] Jews fled throughout the Russian Empire.

It is not easy to find these fat sheep among the vast crowd.This is much safer than fleeing alone.

None of this had anything to do with Franz, since he wasn't planning to make money anyway.Given Austria's immigration conditions, few of these people could stay, so why bother?

For a multi-ethnic country like Austria, any extreme ethnic policy has serious hidden dangers.Therefore, the Austrian anti-Semitic movement also shouted slogans among the people, and the government strictly prohibited it.

Even if he wanted to kill a pig, Franz would not be as shameless as the Tsarist government.There are so many bad things about capitalists in this era, and it is almost impossible to check them out, and they can be killed within the scope of the rules.

Well, he admitted that Alexander II was right. The Russian bureaucrats really can't do such a difficult job. It would be more practical to overturn the table.

Franz asked with concern: "Karl estimate how much money the Russians can get this time?"

For the Russian Empire, as much money as the Tsarist government had, they could exert as much strength as they could.So to judge the strength of the Russians, just look at the Tsar's wallet.

Minister of Finance Karl thought for a while and said: "The tsarist government can get about 6-8 million rubles in cash, and about 15-18 billion rubles in stocks and securities, and there should be more in other industries.

However, there are many industries here, which are difficult to realize in a short period of time, and the actual value is difficult to estimate. It is preliminarily judged that this part of assets will not be less than 20 billion rubles. "

Franz nodded. The Jewish family is indeed rich, and it is not surprising to have so many assets.If the per capita wealth is calculated, they are definitely the richest nation in the world.

Franz said with a smile: "So, the financial crisis of the Russians has been solved, and they are still rich?"

Anyone who knows Franz knows that once this expression appears, it must be another calculation.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Karl thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, this is only theoretical data. Considering the actual situation of the Russian bureaucracy, it is still unknown how much money will eventually enter the treasury.

However, the tsarist government will still have financial prosperity for a period of time, and there is no problem supporting this war. "

The money is not easy to get. Fortunately, the Russian Empire is just a big feudal empire. Otherwise, the economic turmoil would have started long ago, and it might cause an economic crisis.

Franz thought for a while and said, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs evaluates how likely the British plan is to succeed. We don't ask them to defeat the Russians, but only consider the chances of mobilizing other countries."

No way, the rich tsarist government is not easy to mess with.The Kingdom of Prussia alone, even if it is not finished next year, will die quickly the year after.

The Poles can no longer count on it, and the Prussian army is bound to undertake more combat tasks, which means that the casualties of soldiers will increase greatly.

The loss of hundreds of thousands of troops every year is also traumatic for the Russians; for the Prussians, this is simply not something they can bear.

For the Prussians to persist, they must find allies.

The Russians have a strong ability to pull hatred, and their enemies are all over Eurasia.As long as these people are mobilized, the tsarist government will not be able to carry out the Prussian War with all its strength, and the Kingdom of Prussia will usher in life.

This war was a gamble. At first, the Prussians were betting that the Russians would not participate in the war. Naturally, they failed. The price was the outbreak of the Prussian-Prussian War.

Then European countries bet one after another that the Prussians could hit Russia hard.After the Battle of East Prussia, the British saw the hope of overthrowing Russia and decided to increase their chips.

Now Franz was ready to bet, but he wanted to play outside the table, not sit at the table.

Foreign Minister Weisenberg replied: "Your Majesty, because of the strategic position and the distance, we only have a relatively good understanding of the intelligence of Sweden and Ottoman, and the information we have in Central Asia, Persia and the Far East is too little to judge.

Currently, Sweden is divided into two factions.One faction advocates joining this war to regain and regain the lost ground; the other faction believes that the Russian Empire is still strong, and it would be a disaster to get involved in this war rashly.

Due to the battle in East Prussia, many people think that the Russians are nothing more than that, and now the main combat faction in Sweden has a slight upper hand.

If the Kingdom of Prussia wins another major victory in the next year's battle, then the probability of Sweden's participation in the war is as high as 80%.

The situation in the Ottoman Empire was similar. Initially, the peace faction had the upper hand. With the end of the Battle of East Prussia, the west wind prevailed over the east wind.

The strength of the main combat faction has expanded rapidly, and more and more young Ottomans want to take back the Constantinople area from the Russians.

I think that as long as the Russian army fails again, the possibility of the Ottomans participating in the war is very high, and the radicals in the country will drag them into the battlefield. "

These analyzes are all supported by data. Recently, anti-Russian activities in Sweden and the Ottoman Empire have intensified. People often protest and throw garbage at the gate of the Russian embassy...

Obviously, there are British handwriting in it.Otherwise, it would not be such a coincidence that the anti-Russian movement broke out.

The tsarist government did not pay attention to the reaction of the two declining neighbors and did not act in a timely manner, which led to the current situation.

Franz said cautiously: "Then add fire and push up the anti-Russian wave in the Ottoman Empire. It is best to use this opportunity to drag the Ottomans into the war and use the Russian knife to create opportunities for us.

We have been laying out in the Arabian Peninsula for so long, and now it is time to close the network.It is best to buy ownership of these areas from the Ottoman Empire at a low price. "

Franz of the Ottoman Empire never had any illusions. Instigating their war with the Russians was not to weaken Russia, but to weaken them with the Russian knife.

Fighting wits but not strength, of course, a civilized person like Franz should avoid unnecessary wars as much as possible.

After the Near East War ended, Austria also signed a treaty, and various countries clarified Ottoman's sovereignty in the form of a treaty.

If there is not enough reason to provoke a war rashly, it will be hostile by European countries.Franz is not prepared to act as a rule breaker, and naturally he will not break out of war for the Arabian Peninsula and the Ottoman Empire.

Chapter 86 Political Art

With the beginning of the anti-Semitic movement, the atmosphere on the European continent became more and more oppressive, and anti-Semitic activities in various countries emerged one after another.

This is only among the people. The high-level government’s concern is not anti-Semitism, but the tsarist government took the opportunity to get rid of the financial crisis.Only the Russian Empire with money can be called an empire.

In the Berlin Palace, William I expressed that he was panicked.However, William I can become "William the Great", and the city is naturally not lacking.He was flustered in his heart, but on the surface he looked like he was in control.

The calmness of the king reassured the Berlin government.They are not fighting alone in this war, and there are a large group of supporters behind them. As long as the big shots behind the scenes are willing to invest more, they are not without chance of winning.

Under the signal of William I, Foreign Minister McCarter said: "After our diplomatic efforts, the Swedes have already moved.

As long as we have another big victory in next year's big fight, they will most likely be on our side.

Now the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working hard to publicize the Ottoman Empire, London and Paris have given a clear answer, they will push the Ottoman Empire to join the war.

The British also promised to cause trouble for the Russians in Central Asia and the Far East.

We are still lobbying the British Parliament to have the Royal Navy blockade the Baltic Sea and cut off the Russians' sea transportation.

......"

It sounds good, but in fact, if you understand it from the perspective of workplace slang, it is almost the truth.

The Swedes were moved, but it was just ordinary Swedish people who were moved. King Karl XV still had no intention of participating in the war.

Of course, if the Kingdom of Prussia wins the Russian Empire, the Swedish government doesn't mind participating when things get worse.

"Efforts to publicize the Ottoman Empire", in other words: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has tried its best, but nothing has been achieved.

It is true that Britain and France are pushing the Ottomans to join the war, but the Sudanese government is still reticent and continues to wait and see the situation.

The "British promise" has always been a fart, just let it go, don't have too much hope, this war still depends on Prussia itself.

"Lobbying the British Parliament" is a century-old project. I don't know when the parliamentarians will pass the proposal.

To sum it up: we have many allies, as long as the military wins the Russians on the battlefield, these allies will come up to help share the spoils.

Those who were able to appear at the meeting were all the elites of the Kingdom of Prussia, so they naturally understood the meaning behind it, but everyone tacitly chose to play dumb.

If the top management doesn't have the confidence to win, what should the people below do?Whether it is to appease people's hearts or to give it a go, morale must not be dissipated.

Minister of the Army and Navy Ron said: "There is no rush to win over Sweden and Ottoman, as long as we continue to win, they will join in sooner or later.

Only the royal blockade of the Baltic Sea must be done immediately.Only by cutting off the Russian sea transportation channel can we have a chance of winning. "

Compared with winning over allies to share the pressure, cutting off the Russians' sea transportation channels is the most likely to be achieved.On the issue of fighting the Russians, the British position has always been firm.

With the sea transportation channel cut off, even if the tsarist government is rich, it is difficult to obtain enough strategic materials.

Through land transportation, Russia's transportation will become Prussia's best ally, restricting the number of troops sent by the Tsarist government.

In this era, the total mileage of the Russian Empire's railways was more than 3000 kilometers, and Spain, the German Federation, and Prussia were more than them.