Chapter 726 Patience

After the Great Purge, the tsarist government put more energy into the negotiation, and the Prussian-Russian negotiation soon entered a critical moment.

The focus of the dispute between the two sides focused on the cessation of land and reparations. Compared with indemnity, it is actually easier to solve the problem of ceding land.

The most serious dispute between Prussia and Prussia is East and West Prussia, which is the home of the Junkers nobility, and the Berlin government dare not let it go easily.

However, these areas are now in the hands of the Russians. As a defeated country, Prussia has no ability to take it back.

There is a kind of "cutting land" called an established fact. This issue can be put on hold for the time being, and everyone will get used to it after a long time.

No matter how dissatisfied the Junkers nobles are, it cannot change the fact that the Prussian Kingdom is weak and unable to recover these areas.

Now the Berlin government is still fighting. On the one hand, it has expectations for the foreign powers and hopes to rely on the power of international intervention to force the Russians to make concessions; on the other hand, it is for political show.

Compared to territorial disputes, reparations are the real problem. Both Prussia and Russia are now short of money, and neither is willing to make concessions.

The tsarist government wanted to ask for as many war reparations as possible to make up for the government's financial deficit; the Berlin government had the opposite idea. It was in financial difficulties and could not afford huge reparations.

The real contradiction arises, and it is the irreconcilable kind. Regardless of the Russian advantage, the Berlin government is two words - no money.

The Berlin government is really out of money, not fake money. No matter what you do, you can't squeeze any oil out of it.

Not only the reparations to Russia cannot be paid, but the Berlin government has suspended payments, including debts owed to the British.

The Prussian Chancellor of the Exchequer is said to have set off for London, seemingly to lobby creditors to extend their debts or to accept payment in kind.

This lobbying operation is bound to be difficult. The Kingdom of Prussia is deficient in resources, limited in industrial technology strength, and limited in the competitiveness of industrial and commercial products.

Even if there are certain discounts for "pay-in-kind" goods, it is still a problem to sell them in the competition of high-quality British industrial and commercial products.

The competitiveness brought by pure "cheap" is still limited, unless the price gap is very large, otherwise it is more related to good quality goods.

In fact, the Kingdom of Prussia has insufficient resources and needs to import industrial raw materials from overseas, so the cost of industrial and commercial products has gone up.

The only advantage is probably the labor cost. Unfortunately, labor costs in the world are not high these days. Except for some labor-intensive industries, labor costs in most industries are only a small part of production costs.

In fact, the Berlin government also proposed to pay the war reparations in kind, but the Russian representative rejected it.

No way, the tsarist government is now short of money, not industrial and commercial products, especially the foreign exchange gap is very serious.

This war brought a huge trade deficit to the Russian Empire and had to rely on foreign debt to maintain the balance.

Now that the war is over, the tsarist government urgently needs a large amount of foreign exchange to repay its debts, otherwise it can only fill the hole with real money.

The British do not have these pressures, they can get cheap industrial and commercial products, and they can also dump them in the colonies, and the creditors will not lose their wallets.

When the tsarist government got these things, it could only use it for its own use, and if it was monetized in the market, it could only be rubles printed by itself, and could not exchange for valuable foreign exchange.

Russian representative Nikita Titov stretched out five fingers: "500 million Aegis, this is our bottom line, it can't be lower.

You know, for this war, the Russian Empire paid at least 3 billion Aegis in military expenses, resulting in economic losses of more than 100 million Aegis.

These are all caused by you. The amount of compensation we demand is only 5% of the loss, which is already very low. "

There is nothing wrong with the two Prussian-Russian wars combined, including the expenditure on suppressing civil unrest, the military expenditure paid by the tsarist government has indeed exceeded 3 billion Aegis.

Not to mention the economic losses, the Poland-Lithuania region was almost reached white land, the Russian West Ukraine region was beaten to rubble, and the two wars caused the Russian Empire to lose more than 10 million people.

Adding up all these losses, 10 billion Aegis is more than enough. In this respect, the reparations demanded by the tsarist government is really not high.

At least they didn't ask the Berlin government for a pension. Otherwise, the pensions of tens of millions of people could not be compensated even if they were sold to the Kingdom of Prussia.

Politics is such a reality that if the Berlin government wins, they are just, and war can be defined as: fighting to liberate minorities enslaved by the tsarist government.

The international community will define: Poland, Lithuania, Russian West Ukraine... These areas are all territories occupied by the tsarist government.

Since we lost, then there is no need to say that these areas are the territory of the Russian Empire, and the destruction of these areas by the war will damage the property of the Russian Empire.

The representative of Prussia, Gillian von McKess, wept decisively and said: "Your Excellency, the disaster brought about by this war is not only borne by your country, but we are also the victims.

Now the people of the Kingdom of Prussia are withering and grief-stricken, ordinary people have problems with even the most basic livelihoods, and the government cannot make ends meet. "

"No money" is an all-purpose use. Gillian von McKess is not afraid that the Russians will further slaughter the Kingdom of Prussia. Now the Russian-controlled area is the bottom line acceptable to the European powers.

If the tsarist government is not satisfied and wants to swallow the kingdom of Prussia in one bite, Britain, France and Austria will let them know who is the master of Europe

.

The inability to annex the Kingdom of Prussia does not mean that the Kingdom of Prussia cannot be destroyed. As long as the Russians are willing to pay the price, it is not difficult to go all the way to Berlin to change a government.

It's just that this will increase the huge military expenditure. After the war, Prussia was beaten to nothing, so don't even think about a penny of indemnity.

No sensible government will ignore the interests of the country for the sake of one breath, especially a poor country like Russia cannot resist the charm of money.

How short of money the Tsarist government was, you can tell by the currency of payment chosen in the negotiation.

Generally speaking, when it comes to war reparations, everyone will pay in their own currency.

The tsarist government was forced to choose "Aegis" instead of paying in "rubles".

Due to financial pressure, the tsarist government had to issue more currency, and the ruble was continuing to depreciate.

In order to ensure their own interests, it is necessary to designate a currency with a stable currency value, and the only options are British pounds and Aegis.

The biggest creditor of the Russian Empire is Austria, which inevitably turned to Aegis when it reserved foreign exchange. The original financial model of ruble and pound was abandoned in the war.

Nikita Titov shook his head and sternly refused: "This is an issue that your government needs to consider, and you always need to take responsibility for wrongdoing.

If you can't pay the reparations, you will find a way to borrow it. I think your country must have a way to raise enough funds.

If it really doesn't work, we will use our own abandonment to get it. In short, the 500 million Aegis can't be less than one point. "

In theory, if the war reparations of 500 million Aegis are obtained, the financial crisis plaguing the Russians will be solved immediately.

Paying off your debt early can save you a lot of money on interest expenses. If all the debts are taken out, the foreign debts will be cut in half immediately.

In order to force Prussia to compromise, Nikita Titov began to threaten without hesitation. Can I get so much money by myself?

the answer is negative!

Prussia is now the German Empire at its peak. If you want to make up for the war losses by dismantling the machine, even if you remove all the screws, it will not be enough to collect 500 million.

...

Can not give in, encounter no money. The two sides were also considered to be rivals, and the negotiations soon reached a deadlock.

At the Vienna Palace, Franz, who was closely watching the Prussian negotiations, also had a headache at this time.

The delay in the Prussian-Russian negotiation is also very unfavorable to Austria.

If nothing else, without putting an end to this war, how can a new Vienna system be established?

In the style of the British, if they take the opportunity to not do things, they are not British, otherwise how can they have the reputation of "shit stirrer".

As the saying goes, there are many dreams in a long night, and it drags on for a long time. No one knows whether the advantages of Austria can continue to be maintained.

If this opportunity is missed, Austria's loss will be huge. The Vienna system brought not just fame, but huge political interests.

Foreign Minister Weisenberg: "Your Majesty, the appetite of the Russians is too great for Prussia to bear.

The war reparations of 500 million Aegis is probably more than the sum of all the war reparations in European history, or even the sum of all the war reparations in the world. "

how?

In this era, it is indeed a sky-high reparation. The Franco-Prussian War in the original time and space, and the final war indemnity was only 5 billion francs, which shocked the whole world.

At the current exchange rate, 5 billion francs is only 400 million Aegis.

Of course, considering the different ages, the 400 million Aegis ten years ago is really no less than the current 500 million Aegis.

But Prussia and France are two completely different concepts. The French easily raised 5 billion francs, which is said to be over a billion.

You must know that the Franco-Prussian War also smashed several eastern provinces, and the economic losses exceeded 20 billion francs. The French government itself still has a huge debt of tens of billions of francs, which is no less than the current Berlin government.

The foundation is so solid that people can't do it if they change the kingdom of Prussia.

Franz was not touched, because he had seen the reparations in World War I and World War II, and his heart was already very strong, and it was difficult for him to touch this little money.

After pondering for a moment, Franz nodded: "For the Berlin government, it is indeed a bit much. Can the Russians make concessions?

For example: reducing or exempting part of the indemnity, or extending the payment period. Limit the amount of indemnity paid annually to what the Kingdom of Prussia can afford. "

Wesenberg shook his head: "Your Majesty, this is probably difficult. The damage caused by the war is too great, and the Kingdom of Prussia has almost no ability to pay now.

Moreover, the Russians still owe us a huge debt, and any suggestion of relief or extension of payment is not suitable for us to propose. "

After hearing this explanation, Franz rubbed his forehead helplessly. It involves self-interest, which means that there is no negotiation.

It would be embarrassing if the Vienna government suggested that the Tsarist government reduce the reparations, and the Russians asked Austria to forgive their debts.

If the finances are not good, it is not necessary to lose money. How is this possible? According to this logic, how does Austria bill the Russians?

Franz asked: "How long can the Tsarist government's finances be able to support it in the current situation?"

The Armistice between Prussia and Russia does not mean the war is over. If the treaty is not signed for a day, the war is not really over.

At present, there are still millions of troops between Prussia and Russia still facing each other on the border. Even if there is no war, the daily cost of eating and drinking with millions of mouths is not a small amount.

For the two countries with poor finances, Prussia and Russia must be under pressure.

Prime Minister Felix replied: "It can last for two to three months. The threat of force from the Russians failed to scare the Kingdom of Prussia, which is also directly related to this.

If the Prussian-Russian war continues, for more than a month at most, the tsarist government will be in a panic again.

Not only the Russians are short of money, but Prussia is not much better. If the Prussian army was not stationed in the mainland, which reduced transportation consumption, the Berlin government might have gone bankrupt first. "

The two poor ghosts were comparing their patience, and Franz was speechless. According to the current situation, it is not a question of how much the Kingdom of Prussia has to lose, but how much money they can come up with.