Chapter 577 New Record

When the Rhineland region was undergoing a great migration, the London Conference also reached a critical moment. Between Belgium and the German Confederation, the British still chose the German Confederation, while Belgium chose to move closer to France.

From a strategic point of view, Belgium's pro-France is the inevitable result. Only Austria can compete with France on the European continent. Although the British have great influence, their right to speak on land is greatly reduced.

Belgium is too far from Austria and too close to France. Even knowing that the French have ambitions to annex them, in order to ensure its own security, the Belgian government has to maintain good diplomatic relations with the French.

Small countries have their own way of survival. The Belgian government, while being pro-French, also maintains good relations with Britain and Austria, in order to use the strength of Britain and Austria to curb the ambitions of the French.

No matter how strategically correct it was, the French backed Belgium. Then in order to contain the French, Austria can only support the German Confederation.

The three major countries are divided into two camps. In a two-to-one situation, the Rhineland region naturally falls into the hands of the German Federal Empire.

Britain and Austria are also worried about how the German Confederation will rule the Rhineland region. In order to contain the French expansion, the two countries finally had to compromise.

As a compromise, the Rhineland region was assigned to the central government, but not the emperor, but the imperial parliament.

To a certain extent, this also accelerated the integration process of the German Federal Empire. The imperial parliament, which was originally just a check and balance of the emperor, has real power, and the parliament is no longer a sounding board.

But this is bigger than Hannover, the situation is much better. Negotiating to resolve internal problems is not something that happens overnight, even if it drags on into the next century.

As a vested interest, it is impossible for the state governments to give up their rights easily. The imperial parliament has always been controlled by the state governments, and it is difficult to turn against customers.

The fact that Britain and Austria have reached a consensus does not mean that the matter is over. When it is said that the Rhineland region is auctioned, an auction must be held.

On November 11, 1874, witnessed by European countries, the highest-grade bulk land auction in continental Europe began.

Prussian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Friedman personally acted as the auctioneer, representatives of Britain, France and Austria acted as notaries, and ministers from various countries acted as spectators.

In order to avoid random bidding, Belgium and the German Confederation, which participated in the auction, each paid a deposit of 5 million pounds. If you can't get the money out of random bidding, the security deposit will be confiscated.

There is no doubt that if Belgium and the German Confederation were to pay their own money, they would not even be able to come up with a starting price.

It was the backers who actually paid for it. Britain and Austria lent to the German Federal Empire, and the French lent to Belgium.

This is not only a political game, but also a capital game, and financial resources are also part of strength.

Of course, both sides have bottom lines. It is impossible to continue the endless competition and let the Prussians take advantage of it.

Jeffrey Friedman showed a dead face, and walked up to the auction table very unhappy: "The Rhineland auction is officially started now.

The base price is 120 million pounds, with each increase of not less than 1 million pounds. If the price increase exceeds its own economic strength, the inability to pay the deposit will be confiscated directly. The auction begins and participants are invited to bid. "

Apparently Jeffrey Friedman was in a very bad mood. Don't look at the high reserve price. In fact, the Berlin government couldn't get much money at all.

For the income from the auction, countries have to deduct part of the debt first, and the remaining part is the income of the Berlin government.

The Russo-Prussian War not only emptied Russia's finances, but also emptied the finances of the Kingdom of Prussia, even worse.

Even though European countries sponsored a lot, and Britain and France provided many low-interest loans, the Berlin government still could not afford to pay the interest after the war.

However, the Berlin government did not declare bankruptcy, but negotiated with creditors. With the tsarist government as an example, in order to make the Prussians pay their debts obediently, this time the creditors were much more talkative, and many debts were allowed to defer payment.

Paying off debts is a matter of course. After the auction of the Rhineland area, the Berlin government's pockets were bulging, and naturally this part of the debt had to be repaid first.

It was not only Britain and Austria that forced the Kingdom of Prussia to abandon the Rhineland, but also many creditors behind the scenes.

But anyone who knew Prussian finances knew that the Kingdom of Prussia was a poor customer whose debts could turn bad at any moment. It can be said that the creditors were more worried about the finances of the Kingdom of Prussia than William I.

The London government was able to take the initiative to force Prussia to sell the Rhineland region, and the British financial consortium also made great efforts. The Paris government did not take action to sabotage the deal, and the French consortium also took great credit.

No one can take hundreds of millions of loans lightly. If they become bad debts, Britain and France do not know how many financial institutions will be implicated in bankruptcy.

Belgium's Klaus Jensen was the first to put up a placard that said +500, which everyone knew was an extra £5m.

So many country representatives are watching, want to play word games and drill words? The security deposit is managed by the three countries of Britain, France and Austria. If you don't take the five million pounds seriously, you can give it a try.

Presenter Jeffrey Friedman's voice sounded: "£125 million".

Not to be outdone, the representative of the German Federal Empire soon raised a card, which also said +500.

Jeffrey Friedman: "£130 million".

…

…

"£140 million"

...

"£142 million"

...

"£143.5 million"

...

At the beginning, the price increase started at 5 million. After 140 million pounds, the two parties tacitly slowed down the price increase. This is not a brain-damage game that is jealous, but it is related to the competition between the two countries' national fortunes. Both parties must think twice about every offer.

The pound of this era is not the pound of later generations, and its purchasing power is quite high. Although Belgium and the German Confederation have good economic development, they are small countries after all, and their financial capacity is very limited.

Jeffrey Friedman's voice sounded again: "The German Federal Reich bid 152 million pounds, twice!"

After a pause of about two minutes, the Belgian representative still did not see the placard, and Jeffrey Friedman could only reluctantly announce: "The German Federal Empire is 152 million pounds, three times... a deal!"

There is no way, this number has exceeded the limit that Belgium can bear. The French only committed a loan of 100 million pounds, and the Belgian government's bottom line was only 150 million pounds.

If you increase the price, it will be at your own expense. If the price was raised, the German Federal Empire gave up the bid, and it fell into their hands and finally could not get the money, then it would be a heavy loss.

In terms of value, the Kingdom of Prussia is selling assets at a low price this time. The industry of the Rhineland region exceeds 152 million pounds, not to mention the rich mineral resources.

However, the reality has no choice. The land transaction price in this era is not high, and the 152 million pounds has set a world record. If the pound does not depreciate, no one will break it for the next 100 years.

Jeffrey Friedman was somber that he didn't even bother to say polite congratulations. This price is significantly lower than the overdue, and even the buyer is not the Belgium they hoped for.

There is no way for any powerful buyers to bid. Jeffrey Friedman believes that if France and Austria participate, the final transaction price can definitely exceed 200 million, and 300 million is not hopeless.

Obviously this is impossible, France and Austria both know each other's bottom line. Breaking this tacit understanding will not benefit anyone.

At the same time as the treaty was signed between Prussia and Germany, the German Federal Empire also signed a loan agreement with Britain and Austria, and the collateral was the mineral resources and factories in the Rhineland region.

Whether these things are owned or not is not important to Britain and Austria, it is enough to have a treaty anyway.

Whether the property rights determined by the Prussians will be recognized by the German Federal Empire after changing a country depends entirely on the integrity of the rulers, and at least some of them will be unlucky.

If the vested interests are still those people, and there is no change at all, then what can the German Federal Empire gain from buying the Rhineland region, just a trivial tax?

Private property is sacred and inviolable, and the government will not directly confiscate private property, but it is still possible to use means to suppress and change the owner of these industries.

Capital competition in this era is very bloody, and without enough network of contacts, it is impossible to get along at all.

Otherwise, the capitalists in the Rhineland region would not be violently opposed to this land transaction, and there would never be any pressure on the capitalists to change the country.

If the Berlin government is paying attention, it will find that many powerful capitalists have found new partners, and the rest are on the way to find partners.

Of course, the current Berlin government probably does not have such a leisurely interest. If the 152 million pounds were converted into gold, that would be more than 1,000 tons, more than three times the total gold reserves of the Kingdom of Prussia.

Obviously this is impossible, the price of £152 million is only nominal, and the Kingdom of Prussia owes a whole bunch of debt.

This money must first pay off the debts that have matured, and the rest can go to the Berlin government. Only debts that have matured, not all debts.

The money is not enough to pay off the entire debt. The reality has once again proved that war is a beast of gold. After the end of the Russian-Prussian War, the Berlin government has successively repaid more than 38 million pounds of debt, and there are still more than 200 million pounds of foreign debt.

It can be said that a Russian-Prussian war destroyed two Rhineland regions. After some negotiation, the huge sum of money from the land auction was deducted from the debt of 110 million pounds, and only 42 million pounds fell into the hands of the Berlin government.

After the resettlement of immigrants, the last thing left is the income of the Berlin government. The financial crisis is over, but the funds for the next Russian-Prussian war are still unfinished.

The only thing that can comfort the Prussians is that the tsarist government next door is also poor, and poorer than them. Perhaps one of them has raised enough money for the war, and that's when the next Russian-Prussian war will break out.

Soon William I was not happy, and the Prussian finances, which had just improved, added to the mess of the Kingdom of Poland.

If possible, William I did not mind declaring Poland bankrupt. Unfortunately, this can only be imagined. Britain and France can tolerate the annexation of Poland by the Kingdom of Prussia, so why not let them take on Poland's debt?