Chapter 421 Misfortunes Never Come Alone

The Double Twelve Uprising was successful, and the real crisis of the tsarist government came. The internal enemies are far more terrifying than the external ones. Because the revolutionaries played the banner of "the Qingjun side", many people chose to be neutral.

It was not that they betrayed the tsar, but that everyone was dissatisfied with the current situation. Radical reformers were dissatisfied with the Tsar's suspension of reforms, and conservatives wanted to get rid of the provisions of the reforms against them.

Most of these people have families and businesses, and naturally they cannot participate in such high-risk activities as rebellion.

St. Petersburg, this sudden bad news caused the tsarist government to fall into a panic, and the Russian Empire with internal and external troubles was misty in the wind and rain.

The Minister of the Interior Mikhail proposed: "Your Majesty, we can't go on like this, we must first suppress the domestic rebellion!"

There is nothing wrong with this proposal. At most, the foreign enemy will tear a piece of meat from the Russian Empire, and it will not threaten their survival. It is the internal enemy who can really kill them.

"Qingjun's side" can see from this banner that it is destined to be a bloody storm. Once the chaos parties gain power, those with vested interests are the targets of cleansing.

If you don't kill a few filthy ministers, how can the people explain it? At present, the top officials of the tsarist government are all so-called "dirty ministers" who have been executed.

Alexander II was expressionless, as if he didn't care at all. In fact, he was so angry that he vomited blood for a long time, and he never dreamed that the revolutionaries would make trouble at this time.

Alexander II very much agreed with the interior minister's proposal to suppress the internal rebellion first, but he could not bring up the peace talks.

Now that the war is truce, the Russian Empire is bound to pay a painful price, and the tsar cannot bear this pot.

Minister of the Army Khlamed echoed: "The chaos of the party has occupied Moscow, and the threat to us is too great. Whether it is the Polish battlefield or the Central Asian battlefield, it is inseparable from the material support of the Moscow region.

According to the current situation, these two battlefields can support up to half a year. If we cannot suppress the rebellion and restore supplies within six months, the situation will be completely out of control. "

It took half a year to suppress the rebellion and restore supplies, which seemed like a joke. Destruction is always faster than construction. After being scourged by the rebels, can local production resume immediately?

Moreover, it is still winter, and fighting in this season is more logistically demanding.

The tsarist government did not have so many counter-insurgent troops and supplies, and there was no other option in the short term other than drawing them from the front.

This will inevitably affect the situation on the front line. If too many troops are deployed, leaving opportunities for the enemy and leading to a major defeat on the front line, the consequences will be even more serious.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Christan Wahl said: "The recent rise in prices has been very serious, the cost of war is increasing, and if the war is not ended soon, we will be bankrupt in a year at most."

Alexander II asked in disbelief: "How is this possible, have we just received a fortune?"

In the anti-Semitic movement, the tsarist government had a lot to gain, and Alexander II did not believe that it spent all the money so quickly.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Christan Wahl hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty, we do have a lot of assets in our hands, but these things cannot be realized for a while.

Now that civil unrest has broken out, many of these real estate properties have fallen to the bottom, and even if they are sold, they will lose a lot of money.

All the government can use is the confiscated cash and some marketable bonds. The money will also pay off previous debts to support the cost of the war.

Now that the price of strategic materials has almost doubled, the Moscow region is in chaos again, and we have to increase overseas purchases, which increases spending. "

The real estate confiscated by the tsarist government can actually be realized. It's just that there are too many powerful people in the country, and when these people intervene, they become the price of cabbage.

The Ministry of Finance cannot afford to sell so many assets at a low price. Even if they embezzle state-owned assets, they must at least settle the account! For the sake of safety, of course, we can only take it slowly.

Otherwise, even if these assets are used for mortgage loans, hundreds of millions of rubles can be mortgaged, so that there will be no famine in Jinshan.

Alexander II frowned and said hesitantly, "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs negotiated with the Austrians to find a way to keep prices down."

There is no way for domestic prices. Changes in supply and demand have led to price increases, so we can only pin our hopes on overseas.

Foreign Minister Clarence Ivanov said with a wry smile: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this is difficult to do. Now the trade tariffs between Russia and Austria have increased by 80%, and the Austrians' excuse for raising prices is tariffs. rise.

While we are raising tariffs, we are asking others not to raise prices. This is probably too hard for people to do. "

Clarence-Ivanov, who is on eye drops, blindly raised tariff prices, which led to the deterioration of relations between the two countries and brought great trouble to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Don't look at the coldness of Russia-Austria relations now. In fact, Russia-Austria relations are still the first in the tsarist government's diplomacy. If other departments can't cause trouble, let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs take care of the aftermath!

The Tsarist government also had factional power struggles, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the only real power department of the Ministry of Finance.

Alexander II's face was very ugly, he was not a fool, he made up for what happened in an instant.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Christan Wahl hurriedly explained: "The increase in tariffs is mainly to increase fiscal revenue and protect national industries. You must know that the tariffs between us and Austria are very low, even an increase of 80% is only with other The country is flat."

Kristenvall is not a fool, there is still some sense of proportion. Before raising tariffs between the two countries, he had already done his homework.

The Russian-Austrian alliance has not yet broken down. If the tariffs are raised above other countries, he will not be able to escape the charge of destroying the alliance.

The selection is on par with each country, indicating that this is a normal tax adjustment, not specific to Austria.

Alexander II glared at him fiercely, very angry in his heart, and scolded the Ministry of Finance for being a bucket of rice, even if he wanted to adjust tariffs, he had to divide his time!

Now the Russian-Austrian trade has almost monopolized the foreign trade of the Russian Empire, and the Tsarist government is one of the main buying customers. Isn't raising tariffs asking for trouble?

Now people are retaliating. The wool comes out of the sheep, and the tariff rises and prices also rise, and they rise even more excessively.

Monopoly operation, love to buy or not. Now they have to spend more, and the increased spending is nowhere near what the increased tariffs can match.

To protect the national industry, dare to come up with such a nonsense reason. Who doesn't know, now that Russian industry is just getting started, whoever uses a bunch of inferior goods will be unlucky.

That's all for civilian goods, and military supplies are simply murder.

Alexander II has made a decision to strip away the right of the Ministry of Finance to set tax rates, and by the way find an opportunity to replace the idiot in front of him.

Dissatisfaction with Austria, Alexander II decisively pressed in his heart. You have to ask people, no matter how big your dissatisfaction, you have to endure it.

"Communicate with Austria, and the issue of tariffs can be negotiated. Based on the commercial and trade treaty signed by the two countries before, no one can change the tariff rate without permission."

When he said this, Alexander II's heart was bleeding. This meant that the tsarist government would make substantial concessions on tariffs in exchange for Austrian support.

This support is not only limited to economics, but also political. Once the choice was made to end the war, Austrian support was essential.

Without the support of a foreign power, even if they reach the negotiating table, they will suffer a lot.

The current Russian Empire is no longer as glorious as it used to be. A bad operation may usher in a catastrophe.

...

Just as Alexander II was hesitating to end the war, events at the front helped them make a decision.

On January 2, 1867, the Prussian army suddenly launched the Winter Offensive. This battle, which was originally a tentative offensive, has achieved amazing results.

The Russian army, which was originally good at winter warfare, has suddenly become a soft-footed shrimp. When the Prussian army won the victory, the root of the matter was known.

The sequelae of inferior cotton-padded clothes and quilts broke out, and the Russian soldiers were frozen into a ball and had to rely on fire to keep warm.

According to post-war statistics, on average, only one-third of the Russian soldiers on the Eastern Front received qualified cotton-padded jackets. Many companies had to make the soldiers on duty wear qualified cotton-padded jackets, while the rest kept warm around the fire.

In addition to clothing, poor-quality food is also an important factor in the non-combat attrition of the Russian army, and food poisoning has become a common occurrence.

The Russian commanders did not know everything about these issues, but they were too involved, and everyone chose to protect themselves. After taking a benefit, they all chose to pretend to be deaf.

Originally, the Russian army commanders believed that winter was coming, and the Prussian army was not good at fighting in winter.

However, the plan cannot always keep up with the rapid changes. A tentative attack tore through the Russian defense line, and hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers became prisoners, and the situation on the battlefield was completely out of control.

The lid was lifted, and now the Prussian army was expanding its gains. However, the Russian soldiers wearing inferior cotton coats could not exert their combat effectiveness at all.

Many soldiers surrendered directly to the Prussian army, just to make a living. From the point of view of food, the standards of the two sides are very different.

The food standard of the Prussian army fully reflects their domestic status. It can be said that in the European continent at the same period, they are all ranked high.

Not to mention bread, potatoes, soybeans, but also a certain amount of butter, cheese, meat or canned food every day, and occasionally some vegetables.

On the other hand, Russian soldiers, it is good to be able to eat potatoes. If the canned food is made in China, they may not dare to eat it. Cheese, crackers are in the recipe, and the occasional distribution is not guaranteed to be edible.

Bread can be used for moving bricks, building fortifications, and blocking enemy bullets without any problem.

It's hard to eat meat once, and it's also jerky from an unknown age. It's almost impossible to chew with your teeth, it's better to boil it.

In this context, the Russian army usually has to find a way on the battlefield to obtain some food to improve their meals. After all, their food standards are really unbearable.

In the sudden winter battle, the Russians lost not so much to the Prussian army, but to the logistics, or to the domestic bureaucracy.