Holy Roman Empire

In a way, Franz also unwittingly helped the Prussians.Of course, this kind of help was not enough for the Russians to allow the Kingdom of Prussia to annex the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein.

The little brother of Denmark, the Russians still don't want to give up. The tsarist government needs a stable Northern Europe. The expansion of the Kingdom of Prussia has broken the balance of Northern Europe.

The tsarist government was caught in contradictions, and the best option was to allow the Kingdom of Prussia to develop into the center of Germany and delay the time for Austria to unify the southern German states.

However, the Kingdom of Prussia cannot be allowed to unify the German region, which is inconsistent with the Russian strategy.In the eyes of the tsarist government, Austria, the ally, was the best choice.

It has certain strength, but it does not threaten Russia's strength.The most important thing is that the Habsburg dynasty is very old, and it is very difficult for any old empire to be reborn.

In contrast, the newly rising young empire is even more dreadful.Being young means that it is still on the rise, and there are infinite possibilities in the future. Unfortunately, the Kingdom of Prussia is a kingdom that has the potential to become a young empire.

The Russians are very contradictory. On the one hand, they want the Kingdom of Prussia to check and balance Austria. On the other hand, they are worried that Prussia will be won over by Britain and France, and will stab Russia or Austria at a critical moment.

In Nicholas I's view, the best choice is to win over the Kingdom of Prussia and return to the "Era of the Three Northern Courts", or the "Alliance of Three Emperors".

easy to say, hard to do.

In the final analysis, it is still interests. Now the Russians cannot sacrifice the interests of the Danes, which will chill the allies.

Then it will be difficult for Prussia to join hands to carve up the German region. Obviously, it is difficult for a North German region to feed the Prussians.

If Prussia reaches out to the German region, not to mention that Austria can't bear it, even Nicholas I can't bear it, he can't tolerate the birth of a German Empire.

What's more serious is that after Prussia carved up the German region, the Kingdom of Prussia really grew bigger, and the two joined forces to block their westward path.

Maybe the future "Alliance of Three Emperors" will defeat the enemy, and Pu-Austria will join forces to fight against Russia. It is always not good to cultivate the feelings of the enemy for yourself.

St petersburg

In order to solve this troublesome problem, Nicholas I specially held an imperial meeting.

The prime minister took the lead and said: "Your Majesty, either try our best to win over the Kingdom of Prussia and continue the Berlin Convention; or jointly suppress the Kingdom of Prussia, so that they will not be able to cause trouble for us!"

Everyone knows this multiple-choice question. What to do to suppress the Kingdom of Prussia is very simple. As long as the United Austria beats him up, Prussia will not be able to turn over after ten or twenty years of custody.

But the problem is that after defeating Prussia, Austria's goal may not be to annex South Germany, but to unify the entire German region.

Suppression is not feasible, then try to win over Prussia instead.There is a price to be paid for wooing, and the Russians will not pay this price. If they want to cut their flesh, they will kill them again.

Foreign Minister Karl Wosselrod analyzed: "Your Majesty, the Prussians have a great appetite. Now there are two ideas of unification in the German region, one is to unify the German region by Austria to establish the Greater German Empire, and the other is to establish the Greater German Empire by Prussia. The people unified the German states except Austria to establish Little Germany.

The latter was created by the Prussians. Their goal is very clear, which is to unify Germany. Now they are launching the Danish War to work hard for this goal.

If we are willing to support Prussia to unify the German region, they will definitely join the alliance, but Austria will definitely not agree.Perhaps our strategy has not yet begun, and the two countries will fight first. "

Nicholas I frowned and asked, "Why can't the North German state feed the Prussians?"

The Russians pursue the supremacy of strength, and share as much benefit as they have strength. Now the Kingdom of Prussia is the bottom of the great powers, or just a quasi-power.

People in later generations spoke highly of the Kingdom of Prussia because they unified Germany and established the awesome Second German Empire, which elevated their status.

It's not that they, a medium-sized country with a population of 1300 million, now have the strength to rival the major powers.

"Your Majesty, we can try to use North Germany to win over the Prussians, and if that doesn't work, we can lure them to expand into the Low Countries." Foreign Minister Karl Wosselrod suggested

The 19th century was an era of expansion, and all countries wanted to expand their power. Not expanding in this era would be slow suicide.

Don't look at many countries in later generations who have survived this era. In fact, many people ignore the risks they have experienced.

Not to mention small countries like the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Even a big country like Spain has been beaten all the way.

If countries with huge geographical pits such as Prussia and Austria do not expand their strength externally, whether it is the Russians going west or the French going east, it will be a tragedy.

Farming development is not impossible, but the speed of farming development is too slow.If there is not enough market and industrial raw materials, if you work hard for 30 to [-] years, it will not be as good as others' achievements in [-] or [-] years.

"No, it would be very dangerous for the Prussians to annex the North German state. If they were allowed to acquire Belgium and the Netherlands, it would be another France." The Prime Minister objected excitedly.

"Your Excellency, our westward expansion has been blocked. Even if the Kingdom of Prussia grows bigger, it is impossible to counterattack Russia. As long as we provoke the conflict between Prussia and Austria, the western front will be stable. It is our national policy to fully manage the Mediterranean. ’” explains Karl Wosselrod

……

The internal disputes among the Russians reduced the diplomatic pressure on Prussia, and created an illusion for the Prussians. It seemed that as long as they subdued the Danes, the Russians would compromise on established facts.

Affected by this, the Prussian army quickly defeated the Danes on the front line, and on April 1849, 4, the Prussian army entered Jutland again.

Unlike the last restraint, this time the Prussians, in order to force the Kingdom of Denmark to compromise, fought gods to kill gods and Buddhas to kill Buddhas all the way. Before April, half of the Jutland peninsula fell.

If the Danes had not had the foresight to establish the capital on Zealand, and the Prussian navy was weak, it is estimated that the Prussian army would go straight to Huanglong.

If you can't stand it, you can find the boss. Nicholas I was also irritated by the Prussians' actions.

Does it depend on the owner to beat the dog?He has called to stop over and over again, yet he still dares to continue to take military action, completely ignoring him.

After thinking that their dignity was provoked, the Russians took immediate action.

On May 1849, 5, two Russian infantry divisions landed on Jutland, blocking the advance of the Prussian army.

It was impossible to fight, Frederick William IV was counseled, and news from St. Petersburg indicated that the tolerance of the Russians had reached its limit.

It is easy to start a war, but difficult to end it.Don't look at the fact that Frederick William IV has suppressed the domestic revolutionary party, but he is still not alone in Prussia.

The army on the front line fought too smoothly, which is not a good thing.Now the attention of the people has been diverted to the Pudan War, and no one remembers that they suppressed the revolution.

However, the sequelae of nationalism have also come. The people cannot tolerate failure, especially if the government has won the battlefield and then made concessions.

A truce is fine, but giving up the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein is not. This is a matter of principle, and anyone who dares to make concessions is a traitor.

It wasn't just Austria that helped the Prussians. All the states in the German region contributed, including the states in the North German region that were inclined to the Prussians.

It can be said that the entire German region is supporting Prussia spiritually. If spiritual support can become substantive support, then Frederick William IV does not need to be persuaded.

Vienna

"Your Majesty, the Prussian ambassador in Vienna asked us for help, but after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused, they proposed to collect war military expenses in Austria.

According to the information we have received, the Prussians have launched fundraising in the country, and now they are targeting the entire German region. Their finances should be almost unsustainable. " Metternich said with a smile

Donate to the military?This is a clever plan that Franz helped the Prussian government come up with, and the people's money is not easy to get.

If things are not done after taking the money, no matter how enthusiastic these people are when they donate, how much resentment they will have in the future.

"Since this is the case, we will cooperate with them. The government will send people to help them raise funds, let people build momentum in the German region, and magnify the actual amount of donations a little bit.

On behalf of the Austrian government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs donated 1000 million guilders to Prussia to support their military operations to recover the Schleswig-Holstein duchies for the German Confederation.

However, there is no need to rush to give them the money. Just find any reason to delay it. If it is really impossible to delay, just use the financial difficulties as an excuse to pay in installments. " Franz thought for a while and said

In the 21st century, some people would dare to cheat on donations, and Franz naturally didn't mind following suit.

No, it's not considered a fraudulent donation, and it's not that he really didn't give money.

As long as the Prussians can bring these two German principalities back to the embrace of the German Confederation, the Austrian government will give money.

If the Prussians can't withstand the pressure and give up the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein that they have already acquired, the money will naturally not be given.

By the way, the people of the German states will be mobilized to protest at the gate of the Prussian embassy and ask them to return their hard-earned money.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Metternich replied

I don't know how happy the Prussian representative will be when he hears the news, maybe he won't be so excited?

Chapter 19 Getting rich?Start with embezzlement

Franz has a sense of national responsibility. In order to raise war funds for the Kingdom of Prussia, the emperor took the lead in donating 100 million guilders and deposited it in the Royal Bank of Austria.

(1 shield ≈ 11.69 grams of silver)

Soon the nobles, businessmen, and students in Austria rushed to donate money, but these funds were not directly handed over to the Prussian government, but deposited in the Royal Bank of Austria.

That's right, this Royal Bank of Austria was just created by Franz. Its current main business is to collect donations from the public, and at the same time supervise the use of the money in the defense of the Schleswig-Holstein Principality.

The Prussian army is now criss-crossing the Jutland peninsula, which has exceeded this limit and does not meet the conditions for the use of this donation.

Franz doesn't care what the Prussians think. Anyway, he is very happy now. The Royal Bank, with a registered capital of only 100 million guilders, has absorbed nearly 3000 million guilders in deposits in just one month, not donations.

It's just that the bank issued a receipt to the donor, and all donations are used proportionally, and if they are not used up, they will be refunded later.

In order to show his patriotic integrity, the Royal Bank does not even charge the most basic handling fee, and it is completely free of charge.

Since it is a donation, interest naturally does not exist.Before this huge sum of money was used, Franz had another liquid fund in his hands.

It is a crime to keep a large amount of cash in your hands, so Franz changed hands and issued a loan to himself, which was used to invest in the construction of a comprehensive food company and purchase a large number of good-quality mines by the way.

These days, gold and silver can be directly used as currency, and gold and silver mines are naturally very valuable. Even if Franz is the emperor, it is not so easy to get them.

In contrast, minerals such as iron, coal, lead, zinc, manganese, and rare earths are much cheaper. The industrial revolution is still in progress, and even the most basic coal and iron consumption is very limited. Many rare minerals are now The industry simply cannot use it.

Franz was too lazy to snatch food from the tiger's mouth, and took advantage of the fact that these resources were worthless now, so that he could pocket the valuable minerals in the future in advance.

It's a pity that the Austrian Empire doesn't have huge mines, otherwise, after this wave, you can eat it for a lifetime.

In short, now that you have money in hand, you can buy and buy everywhere. When others invest in mining, they must first consider transportation issues.

Franz doesn't think about it that much, as long as the quality of mineral products is good enough and the reserves are rich enough, is there any need to worry about transportation?

If others don't know, how can he not know?It won't be long before the Austrian government will invest heavily in domestic infrastructure.

It seems that mines that have no development value now will double their value once the road is repaired. Coupled with the advancement of industrialization, the demand for mineral resources will increase, and it will be difficult not to make a fortune.

In just over a month, more than 580 million dong was spent, and Franz was so frightened that he quickly stopped.Even if it is embezzlement of public funds, there must be a limit?

If you spend all of this huge sum of money in one go, and someone finds out, how will it end?

The assets of the Habsburg family do not have so much cash. Even if Franz was the emperor, it would be difficult to borrow so much cash in a short period of time.

If only part of it is embezzled, Franz still has a way to balance the account, after all, he opened the bank.If it weren't for the lack of manpower now, the Royal Bank has already begun to attack the city.

A bank with a huge sum of 3000 million is a giant in this era. In terms of cash flow, it is definitely the largest bank in Austria, and it is also ranked among the top in the world.

At present, the Royal Bank of Austria has opened more than 30 stores in total. In terms of scale, it can only be regarded as a small and medium-sized bank, and its business outlets are all concentrated in several large cities in Austria.

Johann Stewart was originally an executive at the First Savings Bank of Austria, but he was recruited by Raul as the first manager of the Royal Bank.

It wasn't until this time that Franz discovered that the Habsburg family had shares in many banks, and he didn't bother to care about how it came about.

Anyway, there are supporters behind any bank. Otherwise, in this era, or even earlier eras, it would not be so easy to survive.

"Your Majesty, the Royal Bank is ready to absorb foreign deposits." John Stewart said nervously

"You are the professional in terms of banking issues. Your management will discuss and decide on this issue. In a short period of time, the Royal Bank will not conduct external loan business." Franz said expressionlessly

Such a huge sum of money has been embezzled, but it must be returned.God knows how long the Prussians can last. Once the Prussian government makes a compromise, the money will be returned.

"Yes, Your Majesty," replied John Stewart

"Can you estimate how much of these donations can be converted into our depositors? How much money will be left?" Franz asked with concern

"Your Majesty, our bank interest rate is set with reference to the average level, but the Royal Bank far surpasses any competitor in terms of credibility.

About 300% of the donors will become our users, because government donations account for one-third of these donations, and the remaining funds may be around [-] million dong. ’ John Stewart thought for a while and said

Don't think that 300 million dong is too little. In this era, people don't have the habit of depositing money in the bank. Most nobles are used to stacking gold coins in the basement.

There is also a threshold for opening a bank account. For example, the threshold set by the Royal Bank is 150 dong.Below this number, sorry, this is not for you.

The total savings of the entire Austrian Empire in 1848 was less than 300 million guilders, and [-] million guilders could be left, accounting for more than [-]% of Austria's total savings.

Franz also thought about reducing the restrictions on account opening conditions, but considering that it would require a large number of counter staff and increase management difficulty and operating costs, he decisively gave up.

Banks are also very strict. In this era, the people who enter and leave the bank are the middle and upper classes of society. Once the restrictions are lifted, a large number of low-level people will pour in. If these high-quality customers run away, it will be too late to cry.

The Austrian people are too poor, and if they can save more than a dozen guilders a year, it is considered a good income.In this context, the possibility of losing money in this business is too high.

"Understood, start the deposit absorption business as soon as possible after you go back. All salespersons must be strictly trained, and everyone must be polite to receive every customer." Franz instructed

"Yes, Your Majesty," replied John Stewart

The attitude of the bank’s service staff during this period was actually not bad. Because of the limit on the amount of account opening, those who could handle deposit business in the bank were basically middle class or higher-level existence.

At the social level, bank staff do not have a sense of superiority, and naturally there is no so-called discrimination.

In addition, it is a private bank, everyone has to fight for performance, good performance is promoted, poor performance is gone, just lie down and dream!

If Franz is concerned, he will be confused. Now he still has a hole to fill?

The Habsburg family didn't have the audacity to hand out millions of guilders in cash at any time, and the Royal Bank was still his personal property, and Franz didn't want others to follow suit.

Now the Royal Bank does not lend money to the outside world, not because he does not want to do this business, but because he does not dare to do it. If the Prussians are persuaded tomorrow, he will immediately usher in a peak of withdrawals.

For these donations, the Royal Bank has promised to use them exclusively. If the money cannot be withdrawn and someone exposes it to embezzle the donations, the damage to its reputation will be serious.

It is impossible to keep secrets. No one has pierced the window paper now, because Franz is the emperor, and no one dares to be this early bird.

What's more, they don't know how much money Franz embezzled. If the number is small, it is not difficult to fill in the hole.When the time comes, the charges of spreading rumors and causing trouble and tarnishing the emperor's reputation will be charged with death.