Chapter 257 Exporting Sterling
Before proposing the reform of the gold standard, Franz had considered the issue of gold reserves. The best choice was naturally to occupy the gold producing area and organize manual mining by himself.
It is a pity that the major gold producing areas in the world have nothing to do with the New Holy Roman Empire, most of which are in the hands of the British.
Gold mines that are easy to mine in this era are mainly distributed in South Africa, Russia, Canada, Australia, the United States, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Brazil, Colombia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and other regions.
There is no way. The entire European continent lacks gold mines. Even if there are, most of them have been developed. Now the remaining gold mines are buried underground, and the open-pit gold mines no longer exist.
Franz is not an encyclopedia. It is impossible to clearly remember the location of every gold mine. Naturally, it is impossible to find out all the gold mines that exist in China.
Compared with the low production of gold, Austria's silver production is much better. Under the gold and silver reset system, it is silver that supports the value of Austria's currency.
After a difficult game, the new Holy Roman Empire reluctantly passed the gold standard reform system. This was the result of Franz's lack of intervention, and there was also a vote against it within the Austrian government.
In any case, the reform of the gold standard is a matter of time. If you start it early, you can also grab some gold. If everyone starts grabbing gold later, the price will be high.
Large gold mines are not under control, but small gold mines are not without them. In addition to the mainland, there are also many gold mines in Guinea and Congo, two colonies of Austria.
Not to mention the underground gold mines, the open-pit gold mines produced by alluvial riverbeds can always be mined, right?
Franz's expectations are not high, with a few tons of output every year, just make up for the domestic gold gap.
As for other gold mines, we should wait for the British to suppress the Indian uprising before making small moves. For now, it is better to be safe, so as not to become a target.
By that time, the Austrian railway ships will also come out, occupying the first-mover advantage, and a few ironclad ships will be released to the colonies. After they have the regional naval advantage, it will be different to grab the colony's right to speak.
Don't look at the British navy as the world's first, but they also have many colonies to guard. After being scattered all over the world, in addition to the dominant position in important sea areas, the rest of the region depends on the input of various countries.
Before the discovery of gold mines, the value of these areas and after they are discovered are completely two concepts, and they are not worth desperately grabbing by countries.
According to the Austrian business model, as long as it operates locally for more than ten years and sends hundreds of thousands of immigrants, it is not afraid of competitors.
War also requires costs. Unless it is a giant mine like South Africa, or a gold mine with reserves of 800 tons is really not enough for a local war between two big countries.
Even if South Africa's gold accounts for half of the world's gold, the most important colony of the British is India. The reason is very simple. Gold mining also has a cost.
Even at its peak, the benefits the British received in South Africa were still less than one-fifth of those in India, and the two were not comparable at all.
Of course, Franz couldn't put the cart before the horse and run for gold at all costs. To put it bluntly, gold is only a manifestation of wealth, and other industrial raw materials are also wealth.
The most critical core is the development of domestic industry. Historically, Germany was so short of gold reserves, didn't it also develop?
In the industrial age, the speed at which human beings create wealth is far from comparable to that of a few gold mines. The most important thing is to develop oneself.
After the two world wars, the British still held India, South Africa, Australia, Canada and other regions in their hands. Didn't they obediently surrender their world hegemony in the end?
After the gold standard reform was confirmed, Franz left the rest to the cabinet.
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Franz still underestimated the impact of the reform of the gold standard. Not to mention the heated discussion at home, it also caused a sensation in continental Europe.
London
The new Holy Roman Empire suddenly began to reform the gold standard, which immediately attracted the attention of the British government. From the perspective of the development of the capitalist market economy, the gold standard system will be more conducive to international trade.
For the British, the addition of the new Holy Roman Empire to the gold standard system is undoubtedly a big step forward for their monetary hegemony.
In this era, the British have the largest gold reserves in the world, and London is the largest financial center in the world. Once all countries adopt the gold standard system, the sterling-gold settlement system established by them will become the mainstream of the world.
Countries that lack gold reserves have to buy sterling as a reserve to stabilize the value of the currency. In international settlement, the use of sterling for settlement is naturally indispensable.
Once the pound has become the world currency, the benefits it will bring will not be a drop in the slightest, and it will lay the foundation for the British people's world hegemony.
Knowing is knowing, this is a conspiracy. Even if he knew about the plans of the British, Franz still had to pinch his nose to admit it.
In order to avoid the establishment of hegemony by the British, it is impossible to ignore domestic economic development, right? The exchange ratio of gold and silver changes from time to time, which is obviously not conducive to the development of industry and commerce.
10 Downing Street, affected by the defeat of the Near East War, has changed owners again. In the struggle for power at home, George's Cabinet had gone out and was now the Whig's Lord Granville's Cabinet.
The Prime Minister Palmerston in history was very unfortunate enough to end in the last political turmoil. In addition to the failure of the Near East War, he himself was the initiator of the war, and naturally it was impossible to make a comeback.
As a political party representing the interests of the financial and business circles, the Whig Party also promotes
The vanguard of the gold standard system, and the reform of the gold standard in later European countries, are indispensable to their shadow.
Prime Minister Granville was a little surprised and said: "The Austrians, who have always been conservative, actually took the lead in starting the reform of the gold standard system this time.
I don't deny that Austria's joining the gold standard system is good for Great Britain, but this sudden change is still somewhat unacceptable. Do you think the Vienna government's reform will be successful? "
Foreign Secretary John Russell replied: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, this gold standard reform of the Vienna government is more because of power struggles, and the central government wants to strengthen its control over the state governments.
The New Holy Roman Empire is essentially inheriting the legal system of the Holy Roman Empire, and it will inevitably be restricted. The governments of various states have great autonomy.
Up to now, the Vienna government has only obtained unified diplomatic power and wartime military command power. Now the Vienna government wants to take back the coinage right, so it has initiated the reform of the gold standard system.
Although the time is a bit rushed, Austria made a war money in the Near Eastern War, and now the Vienna government should have enough funds to carry out currency reform.
Under the circumstance that no accident occurs, there should be no major problems for the new Holy Roman Empire to join the gold standard system. "
After pondering for a while, Prime Minister Granville asked: "In addition to capital, the reform of the gold standard requires a large amount of gold reserves. Presumably, the Vienna government will soon acquire gold in the international market.
However, the situation in the international market is changing, and gold is a scarce resource. Now it is time to increase the price. I am afraid that the Austrians will not be able to buy enough gold reserves.
But given the Anglo-Austrian relationship, how about we give the Austrians a loan to help them reform the gold standard? "
There is no doubt that Prime Minister Granville is ready to get things done. As a bookmaker in the international gold market, the pricing power of gold to silver is in the hands of the British.
As long as the British manipulate the price of gold, it will be difficult for Austria to acquire enough gold.
Once enough gold cannot be obtained, the Vienna government can only accept loans from the British, and then establish the standard system of the "pound-gold system".
This will greatly enhance the international status of the pound and lay the foundation for the use of sterling for settlement in international trade.
Anglo-Austrian friendship, that's a joke. When it is in the interests of the United Kingdom, it is a deep friendship; once the interests are contrary, even the deepest friendship can become an enemy.
Historically, Britain and Austria have always had a quasi-alliance relationship, and supporting Austria against Russia has been a national policy of the British Empire for nearly a century.
In the early 20th century, in order to contain the Germans, the British turned around and compromised with the Russians and abandoned this traditional ally.
After a long silence, the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Gray replied: "The Prime Minister's proposal is good. Let the new Holy Roman Empire join our monetary system, and the rest will be easy to handle."
Obviously, it is only a small issue whether Austria accepts loans or not. The most important thing is to let the Vienna government recognize the "pound-gold system" and join the pound as the international currency settlement system they dominate.
For the huge benefits brought by the pound becoming an international currency, the British began to export sterling crazily in the middle and late 19th century, using various means to make governments recognize the sterling hegemony.
Historically, the world hegemony of the British Empire was actually built on the currency hegemony of the British pound, and the British grabbed a lot of benefits through the obscure means of the British pound.
In later generations, the colonial empire of the British Empire collapsed, and the currency hegemony also collapsed first. In order to compete for currency hegemony, the Americans also resorted to the great trick of exporting dollars.
From investing in Europe after World War I, giving blood transfusions to Germans to restore their vitality; to the European aid program after World War II, they are all competing for currency hegemony.
The Americans gave up the vast colony of the British, but only the currency hegemony was firmly held in their hands, and the interests here were general.
Prime Minister Granville asked with concern: "Sir Russell, what do you think are the chances of the Vienna government accepting our goodwill?"
After a moment of contemplation, John Russell replied with a smile: "It depends on how high our bid is!
Although the economic volume of the New Holy Roman Empire is very large, it is at a disadvantage in gold reserves, and they are not qualified to participate in the competition on the road of establishing international currency hegemony.
Now, apart from the French who may threaten us in this regard, no country in Europe has such strength. Of course, if the Russians complete internal reforms, they are also a threat. "
After hesitating for a moment, Prime Minister Granville made a decision: "Then we have to move faster, and we must win over more countries before our competitors react."