Chapter 648 Raising Funds

In the evening, the Russian Imperial Embassy in Vienna was brightly lit, and there were bursts of music from time to time. There was no doubt that a diplomatic reception was going on here.

Not many people attended. The host of the banquet only invited envoys from countries who had good relations with the tsarist government, as well as some Russian nobles in Austria.

This kind of diplomatic reception is held almost once a month, and it is not at all unremarkable. The only concern is that Austrian Foreign Minister Weisenberg personally attended the banquet.

It is not surprising that Wesenberg appeared here before the collapse of the Russian-Austrian alliance. But things are different now. The Russian-Austrian relationship has begun to drift apart. Wesenberg's presence here is thought-provoking.

...

With a puff, Wesenberg couldn't help squirting the drink out of his mouth. With wide eyes, he stared at the Russian envoy Alexander Nikolaevich Herr: "Your Excellency, are you sure you're not kidding?"

Nikolayevich nodded earnestly, and answered cautiously, "No!"

After speaking, he did not shy away from looking at Wesenberg.

After a momentary pause, Wesenberg directly refused: "This is impossible!"

"How much is your country's fiscal revenue? 500 million Aegis has far exceeded your government's debt bearing capacity. Don't forget that your country still has a large amount of debt that has not been repaid."

Fortunately, the two were talking in the corner, and no one came over to disturb them, otherwise the audience would be a sensation.

"500 million Aegis" is not a small number, equivalent to 250 million pounds, or about 1,830 tons of gold, which is relative to the sum of the financial revenue of Britain, France and Austria in one year.

Loans, let alone now, even during the honeymoon period of the Russian-Austrian alliance, Austria has never provided such a huge sum of money to the Russians.

Of course, this is not because the tsarist government did not want to borrow it in the early stage, mainly because Austria was not rich in previous years. Although it is an old-fashioned empire with a profound heritage, Austria has really made its fortune in recent years.

Capital accumulation also takes time. Even if it has become the world's largest economy, capital accumulation in Austria's financial sector is still very limited.

It's about to catch up with France now, and it's still a long way from England. To put it bluntly, Austria made its fortune by industry, not finance.

It’s not that the 500 million Aegis can’t be taken out. The problem is that after taking it out, there will be a shortage of money in Austria.

Not to mention Austria, even the most capital-rich Britain, asking them to take out this huge sum of money at one time will also affect the entire financial market.

Wealth and cash are two concepts, and the gap between wealth and liquidity on paper is even more different.

Of course, this is just going to be difficult to come up with right away. Given enough time, the UK, France, and Austria could all be able to raise the funds.

Referring to the Franco-Prussian War, we know that the French lost 20 billion francs (about 1.6 billion Aegis) in the war, and paid another 5 billion francs (about 400 million Aegis) after the war, which was paid off in just 3 years.

Wesenberg refused, without even mentioning the conditions. The most important thing was that the Tsarist government had no credibility. Now lending money to the Russians is meat buns and dogs—there is no return.

Russian Minister Nikolayevich said without changing his face: "Your Excellency Minister, we are very sincere this time. We are willing to calculate the loan interest at 0.5% monthly interest. This income..."

Wesenberg interrupted directly: "With all due respect, with the credibility of your government, no bank would dare to lend you money.

Don't say five thousandths of monthly interest, even if it is five thousandths of daily interest. Who dares to release loans that are destined to be unrecoverable? "

According to the international loan practice of this era, the handling fee, exchange fee, guarantee fee, as well as one-year principal and interest and re-loan should be deducted first. The monthly interest of 5/1000 is indeed very generous, not to mention a series of additional conditions.

All kinds of good are all good, but they are not worth the word "poor reputation". No matter how high the income is, the money must be recovered, which is the income.

Nikolayevich hurriedly explained: "We can provide physical collateral, and if the debt cannot be fulfilled later, your country can directly withhold the collateral."

Wesenberg glanced at Nikolayevich and said coldly: "If your country can use gold as collateral, there will be no problem.

Don't say 500 million Aegis, even if it is 1 billion Aegis, I can lend it to you, and even waive your interest. "

Nikolayevich frowned, secretly bitter in his heart. If there was so much gold as collateral, the Tsarist government would have turned on the printing presses long ago.

In the age of the gold standard, gold was wealth. There is no problem whether it is used as a standard gold issuance currency or directly used as currency.

"Sir, this joke is not funny at all. Why do we need loans if we have so much gold?"

This is a fact, 500 million Aegis is about 1830 tons of gold. Apart from Britain and Austria, there is no third country with so much gold reserves.

Folks don't count. If you count the gold of the people, then India and the Far Eastern Empire have exceeded this number.

Nikolayevich's words reminded Wesenberg that there was a considerable amount of gold in the hands of the tsarist government.

"Your Excellency, the Minister is too modest. As far as I know, your country has always been a gold exporter, how could it be short of gold?

Instead, your government deposits the standard gold for issuing rubles into the Austrian National Bank and uses this gold as a guarantee.

For the sake of friendship between the two countries, I can call the shots and waive the interest for you. Your government can get a huge sum of money to use at no cost. "

"Gold exporter", this is not what the tsarist government wants. Even the Russian Empire's gold production is not low, but the demand is also large!

Because of the relationship of credibility, in addition to the domestic circulation of the ruble, no one bought it in the international settlement, and the tsarist government had to use foreign exchange or gold for settlement.

In order to promote industrialization, the Russian Empire has imported machinery and equipment aggressively in recent years. In order to quell the trade deficit, the tsarist government had to fill the pit with gold.

Wesenberg asked the tsarist government to deposit gold in the Austrian National Bank, of course, not for the sake of the Russians and to mobilize an extra amount of money.

It is easy to take out gold, it only needs a decision of the tsarist government. Want to redeem gold? This is a joke.

The tsarist government is now borrowing money to raise money for the war. As long as the Russo-Prussian war broke out, the money would soon be consumed in the war.

Even if the war was won, the Tsarist government would not have the funds to redeem the gold for a long time to come.

There is no return, which is dangerous. It seems that a huge sum of money is obtained by financial means, but it seems to be earned. In fact, this is entirely based on the fact that the relationship between Russia and Austria has always been friendly.

In case one day the two countries turn their faces, the Vienna government swallows the gold, and the ruble becomes waste paper in an instant.

After thinking about the risks, Nikolayevich immediately refused: "This is impossible. Your Excellency Minister, we can use the territory as collateral, but not gold."

Wesenberg smiled slightly and did not answer directly, and the two ended the conversation hastily.

...

In the early morning of the next day, the information about the tsarist government raising war funds appeared in front of Franz.

"The tsarist government wants to advance the war. It seems that Alexander II has made a lot of money this time, and he is willing to take his own territory as a mortgage.

If they had done this earlier, the last war would not have been so badly lost. People, you always have to suffer a loss before you know how to learn a lesson! "

Prime Minister Felix: "The truth is true, but if you don't experience failure, how can you know the consequences of failure?

The tsarist government used the failure of the last war to buy a lesson. It lost the arrogance of being invincible in the past, and knew that it had to be down-to-earth.

War is all about money. To a certain extent, the key to determining the outcome of the Russian-Prussian war is no longer military, but how much war funds the two governments can raise.

With the size of the Russian Empire, as long as there is enough war funding, even if it is delayed, the Popo Federation can be dragged to death. "

"Drag to death Pubo Federation", this concept flashed in Franz's mind. This is based on the ideal situation that there is no external interference, and the Berlin government is not stupid. It is necessary to combine vertical and horizontal.

"Send people to watch the financial circles of various countries and pay close attention to the flow of large sums of money. Both the Prussian and Russian governments are poor ghosts, and the war will not start until sufficient funds are obtained.

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

Without sufficient interests, it is difficult for Prussia to raise enough funds. Geopolitically, we are the best creditors, and only we dare to accept land mortgages.

The Russians have already come to the door, so as soon as possible to figure out the bottom line of the tsarist government, to grab the maximum benefit for Austria. "

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

The territorial mortgage may seem serious, but the risk is actually manageable. As long as the war is won, even if the money cannot be repaid, there is enough room for action, such as: exchanging the mortgaged territory.

If you take your own territory to pay off your debt, you may not be able to explain it at home; if you take the enemy's territory to pay off your debt, there will be no pressure.

If you lose the war, you don't need to say anything. The government has changed, and no matter how big the mess is, the next government will be responsible for cleaning up.

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

Naturally, this could not be concealed from Alexander II, and the territorial mortgages were carried out with his tacit approval. But the gold mortgage definitely exceeded his bottom line.

To put it bluntly, the Russian Empire has a great cause, as long as it is not the core territory, it does not matter if it is sold. The territorial sale is not without precedent, and the political risk is limited.

Sending gold to Austria as collateral is completely different, which means that the economic lifeline of the Russian Empire falls into Austrian hands.