Chapter 688 Debt Kidnapping

Seeing that the Russians had the upper hand on the battlefield, the Berlin government, which had been prepared for a long time, was able to calm down, and the financial masters behind them could not sit still.

"It is the uncle who owes money." This sentence is used here, perhaps a little exaggerated. But the essence has not changed. Once the Pubo Federation is defeated, it will be difficult for creditors to get money.

The "collateral" promised by the Berlin government in advance depends on whether the Russians are willing to recognize it.

According to the usual behavior of the tsarist government, the possibility of pretending to be invisible is as high as 80%, and the remaining 20% ​​is seen and will not admit it.

In order to win this battle, the Berlin government is doing its best to borrow money, and I don’t know how many secret contracts have been signed.

If the Commonwealth of Populists ends, it is unknown how many financial institutions that lend out debt will follow. For the consortium to transfer losses, a financial crisis is essential.

Not only financial institutions will suffer, but the real industry will not be much better. Many companies seem to be making a fortune, but in fact, many of them are making profits on the books, and a lot of the balance is in arrears.

No way, arrears is the biggest stubborn ailment in commercial circulation, which runs through almost every link of the capitalist market economy. This is a problem that all production enterprises have to face.

No one knows how long the war will last, let alone how much it will cost. In order to support a longer period of time, the Berlin government naturally wants to spend as little as possible.

It doesn't matter how much "debt" you owe, it doesn't matter if the interest rate is high, that's the trouble of happiness. Only by winning the war will they need to consider these issues.

After the outbreak of the Russian-Prussian War, the export prices of all strategic materials in Europe rose sharply.

Nominally, enjoying the dividends of this wave of rising commodity prices, companies have made huge profits; in fact, the Berlin government only paid part of the money, and many even only paid a deposit, and the rest of the production cost needs to be paid in advance by the capitalists.

The Berlin government is rich, and there are still a lot of them lying in the bank accounts, and well-informed people have heard about it.

It's just that those who purchase materials are all on deposit. Usually, the payment for the previous batch is settled when the next batch of goods is purchased.

Looking at the high profits, the capitalists will naturally not refuse. Many companies with weak economic strength have to borrow from banks in order to advance payments.

To a certain extent, the Commonwealth of Poverty has kidnapped the British economy through debt, and both sides are lost.

Everyone knows the "risk", but the benefits are huge. In addition, the Commonwealth of Prussia has won a Russian-Prussian war, and the London newspapers continue to belittle the Russians, which invisibly increases everyone's confidence.

All this changed after the Battle of Smolinsk, and everyone suddenly discovered: "The Russian Empire is still the same European military police, and the Popo Federation seems to be unable to hold back."

This can't be done, it's already invested so much, and no matter what, the Popo Federation can't be finished! If the Berlin government were to die, everyone would be unlucky.

The capitalists do not want the Commonwealth to end, and the London government also does not want to see the Commonwealth end. After finally supporting a chess piece, it was gone, and no one wanted to see it.

For a time, the pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin increased greatly, and domestic interest groups demanded that the government take action to avoid the worst situation.

Putting down the document in his hand, Benjamin asked incredulously: "The situation has become so serious that Britain was actually kidnapped by the Prussian barbarians?"

The deep contempt between his eyebrows is enough to prove how bad his mood is. The relationship between Yingpu has always been very good. Under normal circumstances, he would not use the insulting word "barbarian".

Chancellor Garfield: "It's worse than that. I suspect that even if the Commonwealth of Pope won the war, they may not be able to pay these debts.

Not to mention the balance of the arrears for materials, they paid a part of the money anyway. As long as the company is not too greedy, it is basically enough for the production cost, even if it is compensated, it will not be much.

The trouble is with loans and bonds, and almost all of the collateral will be unsecured once the Commonwealth is defeated.

The gold they took out was not enough to repay one-tenth of the debt. Even adding all the overseas assets of the people of the Commonwealth of Commonwealth cannot fill this hole.

In the case of incomplete statistics, we even found the situation of multiple mortgage lending, especially the loan agreement signed by the Berlin government privately with financial institutions, the multiple mortgage situation is very serious.

The debt owed to us by the Commonwealth of Pubo is far more than the apparent 180 million pounds. The real data may be 200 million or 300 million. No one except the Berlin government knows. "

The financial controls in Britain are not strict these days, and financial institutions issue loans in private, and the London government has no control at all.

Bond sales are even more chaotic. It is common to report one million on the surface, but actually issue three to five million.

In this era of manual supervision, it is too difficult to accurately count these data. As long as there are no problems, the British government will not bother at all.

If something goes wrong, the British government can't control it. Financial problems, small problems will not be exposed at all, and once big problems are exposed, the institution is not far from bankruptcy.

"Bankruptcy" is the best weapon to evade responsibility. At most, the government can catch a few scapegoats, and more often, no scapegoat can be found.

The specific debt figures of the Berlin government, which Prime Minister Benjamin has been too lazy to delve into, are meaningless.

In terms of investment, this investment is already a junk asset, and timely stop loss is the best choice.

Unfortunately, it's not possible

thing. No one wants to see their money go to waste, and the London government must be responsible for the aftermath.

The original time and space Britain and France used this trick to successfully pull the Americans into the chariot. Although it has not reached that step, it still gives Prime Minister Benjamin a headache.

"Damn barbarian, how did it suddenly become so insidious!" Prime Minister Benjamin complained

"No, these situations are just for us, or are they all in all countries?"

This question is very critical, and if all the countries are kidnapped by the debt of the Commonwealth of Pubo, then the problem will no longer be a problem.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Garfield shook his head: "It's a pity, Prime Minister. Although similar problems have occurred in other countries, the numbers involved are not large.

Possibly less than one-third of our debt to all other countries combined.

Apart from us, the second largest creditor of the Confederation of Pope should be the French, then the German Federal Reich, and the rest of the countries can be ignored.

The Berlin government does not yet have the ability to borrow money from all over the world. "

Hearing the news, Benjamin nearly fainted, and he swore it was the worst news of the year.

The main reason for this situation is that the British are too rich, and there is a lot of idle funds among the people; the second is the foreign policy of the London government. Without government support, private financial institutions would not be so enthusiastic.

Everyone took it for granted that the government would not let the Commonwealth lose the war. In this case, what is there to worry about, does the Berlin government still dare to default on its debts?

Other countries are different. Not everyone is optimistic about the Commonwealth, and not everyone has the confidence to ensure debt security.

For example: the domestic financial sector in Austria does not lend to the Champbo Federation for a very real reason - the Vienna government is supporting the Russians.

Affected by politics, everyone is not optimistic about the Commonwealth of Po Bo, and naturally no one will lend them money.

Not to mention small European countries, not to mention whether the money can be guaranteed to be recovered, the key is that they don’t have much in their pockets!

Against this background, it is not surprising that France has become the second largest creditor and the German Confederation has become the third largest. Who gave you money in your pockets and a good relationship with the Berlin government?

Benjamin asked without question: "And what about the Russian Empire? Don't tell me, the Tsarist government has also borrowed a lot of money from us!"

Garfield nodded helplessly: "It's a pity, Your Excellency. The tsarist government does owe us a lot of money, of course not as much as the Commonwealth of Pope, about fifty or sixty million pounds.

A large part of this was borrowed before the war, and it could also be considered as an advance payment for the import of Russian agricultural products, and some were the balance owed for purchasing supplies after the outbreak of the war.

We roughly counted the Russians' foreign debts, and there were no surprises. Their biggest creditor is Austria, and the total debt should be no less than what we lent to the Commonwealth.

Most are loans, and a small amount of bonds, with very little balance of purchases. Because the tsarist government has a precedent for defaulting on debts, most Austrian companies require cash settlement. "

It seemed that the news was too heavy, and after a short pause, Prime Minister Benjamin recovered.

"This is the worst possible situation. We can't watch the Prussian Federation lose, and the Vienna government can't watch the Russians lose. This war is not just a matter of Prussia and Russia!"

Anglo-Austrian confrontation, or a proxy war between Britain and Austria through Prussia. Either way, the final outcome is not optimistic.

Especially now that the Popo Federation is at a disadvantage on the battlefield and is more passive for Britain. The price that needs to be paid to turn the Popo Federation over is too high.

Foreign Secretary Edward: "It's not that bad, it's actually mainly us who are kidnapped by debt, and Austria has retained the initiative.

The Russians' loans from Austria only involve a few big banks, and they have territory as collateral. Although the valuation is a little higher, as long as they can cash out, they will not lose everything.

As things stand, I don't think the tsarist government has the capacity to default. On the contrary, we are in big trouble, and the same debt involves hundreds of thousands, or even millions. "

It’s okay to not have a headache, and lending money to the two families at the same time seems to be beautiful, but in fact there is suffering. No matter who wins or who loses, there will be a debt default, it's just a matter of how much.

However, the London government cannot control the financial sector. Bankers invest according to their own interests, and national interests are not in their consideration.

It’s just a matter of being able to recover it smoothly. Once a debt default occurs, these consortiums will escape from their shells and send out the all-purpose “bankruptcy” law.

Of course, there are also idiots who have poor brains, or are slow to respond, fail to transfer risks in time, and kill themselves.

Fortunately, the reputation of the Russians is not good, and few capitalists are willing to lend them money, otherwise the London government will experience a real dilemma.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Garfield shook his head: "I don't think it makes any difference, even if the Vienna government has more choice, they can't let the Commonwealth win the war.

They would even be happy to use our hands to weaken the Russians and remove a major obstacle to their unification of the German regions.

Think about it, the defeat and disintegration of the Commonwealth, the Russian Empire was severely damaged, and our economy was hit hard by the default of debt. Is there a more ideal situation than this?

From the point of view of the beneficiaries, I have reason to believe that the current situation was planned by the Austrian government.

Of course, it could also be France, but I don't think Napoleon IV's little brat has the ability. "

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