Chapter 648： Raise funds (2/2)

”My Excellency, it is too modest. As far as I know, your country has always been a gold exporter. How can it be short of gold?

Instead, your government deposits the ruble-standard gold into the Austrian National Bank and uses the gold as a guarantee.

For the sake of friendship between the two countries, I can make the decision to give you interest free. Your government can get a huge sum of money without paying a price. ”

”Gold exporter”, this is not what the Tsarist government wants. Even if the Russian Empire's gold production is not low, the demand is also huge!

Because of the credibility, except for the domestic circulation of the ruble, no one buys it at all in international settlement, and the tsarist government can only use foreign exchange or gold for settlement.

In order to promote industrialization, the Russian Empire has been importing machinery and equipment in recent years. In order to calm the trade deficit, the Tsarist government had to fill the pit with gold.

Weissenberg asked the Tsarist government to deposit gold in the Austrian National Bank. Naturally, it was not for the Russians to mobilize more funds.

Taking out gold is easy and only requires a decision by the Tsarist government. Want to redeem gold? This is a joke.

The Tsarist government is now borrowing money to raise funds for the war. As long as the Prussian-Russian war begins, these money will soon be consumed in the war.

Even after winning the war, the Tsarist government has not redeemed gold for a long time to come.

With or without return, this is dangerous. It seems that using financial means to obtain a huge sum of money, it seems to have made money. In fact, this is entirely based on the fact that Russia-Austria relations have always been friendly.

If one day the two countries turn their heads, the government of Vienna swallows the gold, and the ruble becomes waste paper in no time.

After thinking about the risks involved, Niklayevich immediately refused: ”This is impossible. Your Excellency, we can use territory as collateral, but gold cannot.”

Weissenberg smiled slightly and didn't answer directly. The two ended the conversation hastily.

...

In the early morning of the following day, information about the tsarist government's financing of the war appeared in front of Franz.

”The Tsarist government wants to advance the war. It seems that Alexander II had lost his blood this time, and he was willing to take out his own territory and mortgage it.

If they had done this earlier, they would not have lost so badly in the last war. People, I always have to lose a lot before I learn the lessons! ”

Prime Minister Felix: ”Although this is true, how do you know the consequences of failure without experiencing failure?

The Tsarist government used the failures of the previous war to buy lessons. Without the invincible pride of the past, it knew that it was down to earth.

The war fought money. To a certain extent, the key to determining the victory of the Russian-Prussian War is no longer military, but it depends on how much the two governments can raise funds for the war.

With the mass of the Russian Empire, as long as there is sufficient war funding, even the drag can drag the Popo Federation to death. ”

The concept of ”pulling the Popo Federation” flashed in Franz's mind. This is based on the ideal situation without external interference, the Berlin government is not stupid, and cohesion is necessary.

”People are staring at the financial circles of various countries and paying close attention to large capital flows. The governments of the two countries are poor and the war cannot be fought without sufficient funding.

War and swallowing gold beasts, it is not easy to raise enough funds for war. Only in the world, we, Britain, and France have this financial resources, and everyone's money does not fall from the sky.

Without sufficient benefits, it is difficult for General Russia to raise sufficient funds. Geopolitically, we are the best creditors, and only we dare to accept land mortgages.

The Russians have already come to the door, so find out the bottom line of the tsarist government as soon as possible, and maximize the best interests for Austria. ”

Franz did not mention the gold mortgage loan, and no one would give his lifeline to others until the end of the country. This is much more serious than territorial mortgages.

Territorial mortgages appear to be serious, but the risks are actually under control. As long as the war is won, there is enough room to operate even if it can't afford the money, such as replacing the mortgaged territories.

If you use your own territory to pay off debts, it may not be easy for you to explain it in your country. If you use your enemy's territory to pay off debts, there will be no pressure.

No need to say anything after losing the war. The government has changed, no matter how messy it is, the next government will be responsible for cleaning up.

The same is true for monarchy countries. It may not be necessary to change the emperor, but it is necessary to change the minister. There is always someone responsible for the defeat, and the bureaucrats see it clearly.

Naturally, this cannot be hidden from Alexander II, and the territorial mortgage was carried out with his acquiescence. But the gold mortgage definitely exceeded his bottom line.

To put it bluntly, the Russian Empire has a great career, as long as it is not a core territory, it doesn't matter if it sells a piece. Territorial sales are not without precedent, and political risks are limited.

Sending gold to Austria as a mortgage is completely different, which means that the economic lifeline of the Russian Empire fell into Austria's hands.

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