Chapter 1023: Heavy Fog
It’s okay to pretend to be confused, but it’s okay to be really confused. Junior was unwilling to investigate further, mainly because he was worried that the final result would be the enemy they least wanted to face.
If you don't lift the lid, everyone can pretend to be confused. Let's play this political game together. Once something is found out, it will be impossible to restore it to the present.
The Marquis of Taboyada nodded thoughtfully, with a gloomy expression on his face. The former empire on which the sun never sets has been reduced to the point where it has to pretend that nothing happened when it is plotted against.
It's just that it's okay to pretend to be deaf and dumb, but the problem still needs to be solved.
Having one more hidden enemy means that the Spanish government must allocate more energy to prevent emergencies.
This is undoubtedly a torture for the Spanish government, which is already suffering from headaches.
Seeing that the atmosphere in the room became silent, Antonio decisively chose to change the subject: "Okay, everyone needs to be more vigilant about the colonial issue. Let's talk about the loan first!
Unlike last time, now there is no love accumulated in the anti-French war, and it may not be easy to get an interest-free loan. "
As an old empire, although Spain has declined, Antonio is still familiar with the rules of the political game between the great powers.
Frankly speaking, Antonio was already very surprised when he was able to get a large interest-free loan from the Vienna government before.
According to the normal rhythm, the Vienna government should take advantage of the fire in the Philippine War. Unexpectedly, just because of a previous promise, the Vienna government gave up.
It's really good to talk to a boss who talks about credibility, but the boss also wants to eat meat. The Holy Roman Empire can own today's vast territory, and the Vienna government is definitely not as harmless as it seems.
The last time I was willing to help, maybe it was out of reputation, or maybe it was because the Holy Roman Empire needed a political show after it became the overlord of the European continent.
It is absolutely impossible for similar things to happen twice. Even if the Vienna government is willing to help free of charge, Spain cannot bear it.
Based on past political experience, Antonio knows very well that in this world "the more you want, the more you have to pay".
It is absolutely not easy to take advantage of the advantages of the hegemony. Once it is stained, when it is repaid in the future, it may cost Spain half its life.
For example: the conflict between Britain and Austria escalates, and Spain, which has benefited, must act as a pawn.
Don't expect to be able to renege on your debts, Spain simply doesn't have that capital. Just one France can't stop Shinra's revenge.
Not wanting to become cannon fodder in the struggle for hegemony between Britain and Austria, Spain must also maintain sufficient autonomy while embracing Shinra's thigh.
This is what European governments do. Despite the existence of the Continental Union, the Vienna government still has no mandatory binding force on all countries, and it still needs to exchange benefits to do something.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Siegfried: "Don't even think about interest-free loans, Austrians don't do charity.
Unless we can exchange enough benefits, otherwise, this loan is an ordinary commercial loan.
The Ministry of Finance has communicated with the domestic bank consortium, and they require the government to use the salt tax as collateral, and they can only provide loans of up to 50 million matcha.
The loan fee is 8%, the annual interest rate is 8.9%, and the repayment is divided into 30 years.
I have calculated that the loan of 50 million actually received 46 million, and the total principal and interest to be repaid is 143.532 million.
This is already the best commercial loan we can get. For ordinary private commercial loans, the interest rate is doubled.
Such high interest rates cannot even be afforded by the government, let alone ordinary people. The money has been stolen by these vampires, so it's no wonder our economy can't develop.
We need to fight two wars at the same time, and 46 million game towers are only enough to pay soldiers' salaries for two months. If it is used in war, it is a miracle that it can last for a month.
According to the most optimistic estimate, if we put down the Philippine rebellion within half a year and suppress the Cuban rebellion within a year, then the government still has a funding gap of 880 million.
Converted into Aegis, it is about 70 million. If calculated according to the interest rate of 8.9%, the interest on the funds that needs to be paid every year will almost catch up with a quarter of our fiscal revenue.
The actual situation will be even more serious. With our current financial situation, no commercial bank dares to lend us so much money.
Even if there is a greedy vampire who dares to take over this business, the interest rate will be terribly high. The yield of only 8.9% is not enough to make them take the risk of losing their money in lending. "
(1 game tower is about 0.29 grams of gold)
Since the outbreak of the Philippine War, the Spanish government has lived a life of debt. Today, Spain's total debt has reached an astonishing 330 million Aegis.
The debt has already caught up to one-fifth of Shinra's total debt, but Spain's fiscal revenue is far less than one-fifth of Shinra's, or even less than one-twentieth.
There is no way, this is the difference between a semi-industrial country and an industrial country. Spain, which has one-seventh of the population of Shinra, has less than one-twentieth of Shinra's fiscal revenue.
Today, more than half of the Spanish government's annual fiscal revenue is used to repay domestic and foreign debts.
In this context, the Spanish government's finances will naturally not get better. From his first day as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Siegfried has lived a life of self-defeating.
Days of the Western Wall.
This is against the backdrop of the establishment of a large number of interest-free loans, otherwise the interest on funds alone could crush the Kingdom of Spain.
By this time, the biggest problem facing the Spanish government was no longer the level of loan interest, but its own debt repayment ability.
The richer you are, the easier it is to borrow money. The same applies to the country. Spain, which has lost its ability to repay its debts, will naturally not be easy to get a loan.
You can't even get loans, let alone issue bonds. The capital market has always been the most realistic, and no one wants to lend money to a poor man.
Antonio rubbed his forehead: "The issue of high domestic financing costs will be discussed later. Now we should first find a way to raise funds to overcome the current difficulties.
If we want to get this loan from Shinra, what price will we have to pay? "
Apparently, this isn't the first time these problems have arisen. In fact, high financing costs are also a common phenomenon in this era, not an isolated case in Spain.
The commercial loan interest of ten or twenty points may seem high, but in this era, it is really nothing.
Behind the high interest rate is high overdue and high risk. It is common to run away in default. Once the debtor leaves the country, the bank will not be able to pursue it.
Even if there are assets as collateral, there are often multiple and repeated mortgage loans. Limited by poor information exchange, no matter how cautious banking institutions are, it is inevitable that they will step on thunder.
"High risk" does not frighten bankers, as long as the loan interest rate is raised and the loss of default is distributed to other debtors.
This is why the cost of government borrowing is much lower than the interest on commercial loans. After all, the risk of default in lending money to the government is small.
Of course, the Spanish government is obviously not a high-quality customer. Therefore, it is necessary to provide collateral, and the interest rate of the loan cannot be lowered.
Siegfried shrugged and pretended to be humorous: "It depends on what the Vienna government wants. Maybe they are in a good mood, suddenly show kindness, and lend us the money directly."
Siegfried himself didn't believe this, let alone everyone else.
70 million Aegis is not 7000 Aegis. Unless the brains of the top leaders of the Vienna government are collectively flooded, otherwise such charity will definitely not be done.
...
Taking the blame for others for no reason, Franz felt the same as the British. It is impossible to explain, and this kind of thing can only be blackened.
From the perspective of pure interests, the motives of the Vienna government to play against Spain are too strong.
Spain, where "children are busy holding gold bricks", has always been the target of everyone's spying. As long as there is strength, there is motivation.
Unhappy is not happy, but Franz can't do anything yet. The Spaniards are just secretly suspicious, and they don't even check below, what else can they do?
After suffering this dumb loss, Franz also complained about the mastermind behind the scenes.
This means and method is too familiar, the same recipe, the same routine, Franz really did not expect to apply it to himself one day.
It can only be said that there are still many caring people in this world. While provoking the Cuban independence movement, they not only hid themselves, but even found several scapegoats.
If it weren't for deliberate calculations, Franz didn't believe that the Spaniards would find out that other international forces were involved when the British were responsible.
...
Franz asked, "Have you found the mastermind behind the scenes?"
The Spanish government is worried that it will not be able to end if it finds out the truth that it does not want to see, and it is unwilling to investigate below.
Although it is not necessary to go to war for such a trivial matter, it is still indispensable to find out the mastermind behind the scenes and take precautions.
Prime Minister Karl shook his head: "No! This black hand hid too deeply. After provoking the Cuban independence movement, he quickly disappeared.
The clues left behind are all messy, some point to us, and some point to the British, the United States, and the Confederate States. There is no way to distinguish the true from the false.
But it was probably the British who brought the attention of the Spanish government to us. In order to disintegrate the European Union, the London government is going crazy.
It's just that the British didn't expect that the Spanish government was so cowardly that they didn't look down at all, so that their arrangements were useless. "
Failure to find out means that the Vienna government has committed the scapegoat. This kind of thing does not need evidence, as long as it is believed to be enough.
Just as Prime Minister Karl believed that the British were framing Shinra, Franz still took the conclusion as true.
"It's fine if you can't find out. But the government's emphasis on the United States and the Confederate States will be raised to a higher level.
In particular, there may be British people in the middle.
The current international situation is very unfavorable to Britain. Under the background that the Continental Union cannot be dismantled, it is inevitable that the British will not rush to keep warm with the Americans in a panic.
The best way to prevent the merging of Britain and the United States is to bring up the conflict between the United States and the Confederate States. As long as the relationship between their two countries does not ease, the British can only choose one of the two. "
Frankly speaking, Franz was not too worried about the détente between the United States and the Confederate States. Giving up hatred is easy to say, but not so easy to do.
In the original time and space, the resentment of the southern states towards the north has lasted until the 21st century, and has not been completely eliminated.
Not to mention now, not to mention the blood of the fighting between the north and the south,
The point is that the two have separated.
Today, hating each other has become a kind of political correctness.
Unless the external pressure is too great, threatening their survival. Otherwise, there would be no possibility of détente between the United States and the Confederate States until the death of this generation.
There is no doubt that such pressures simply do not exist. Neither Britain nor the Holy Roman Empire has the strength to destroy the United States and the Allies.
The vast ocean is their best line of defense, limiting the power of European powers.