Chapter 779 Armenia

The internal problems of the anti-Turkish alliance have been resolved, and now the last link is left, finding a king for the newly independent Armenians.

The Armenian Kingdom has perished for thousands of years, the former royal family has long since disappeared in the long river of history, and the legitimate heir does not exist at all.

The sandwich biscuits located between Russia and Austria are doomed that the future life of this new country will not be too comfortable.

It is enough that the relationship between Russia and Austria has always been friendly. Once the relationship between the two countries deteriorates, Armenia will be forced to stand in line.

Franz has no interest in such a tough position. The abandonment of the Habsburg dynasty does not mean that other royal families also give up.

The most important thing in Europe is the declining royal family, and the core members are just that. The prominent identity can still enter and exit the upper class. With these resources, you can also become a rich family at the last time.

Collateral is miserable, the declining royal family has no extra resources to provide them, and must fend for themselves.

If you are lucky, you can hang around with an empty title; if you are unlucky, you will become a commoner.

These people who have nothing will not give up any opportunity. The successful example of Napoleon III inspires everyone to work hard.

Hot potato?

What's there to be afraid of, when a king is a king. As long as it is recognized by European society, it is a class transition, and it is still the kind of skyrocketing.

Since the Habsburg dynasty announced its abandonment, the sequelae of many relatives have been exposed, the Vienna Palace has become extraordinarily lively, and there are countless people who come to climb the relationship.

Foreign Minister Wesenberg: "Your Majesty, the Russians want to support Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich as King of Armenia.

The tsarist government has already started lobbying the Armenian high-level, and they have made offers that the Armenians cannot refuse. As long as we do not object, the results of the subsequent elections are doomed. "

Franz smiled slightly: "Oh, the Russians are willing to give up the Batumi area?"

(Note: Batumi, a port city in southern Georgia today)

The Kingdom of Armenia exists as a buffer between Russia and Austria, and its territory and original time and space have also changed. The current country is like a banana.

It is bordered by Persia to the east and the Black Sea to the west. The territory covers an area of ​​about 30,000 square kilometers, and the capital is Yerevan.

If this is the case, the Armenians should be making a lot of money. It is a pity that the Russians did not let go of the sea, and the newly established Kingdom of Armenia was still a landlocked country.

Batumi, a small city in the Caucasus region, is the closest estuary to Armenia, and it is also the area most wanted by Armenians.

Wesenberg shook his head: "No, the Tsarist government is reluctant to give up, but Alexander III turned Batumi into the fief of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich.

If the Armenians accept this king's transformation, their import and export trade will not be restricted, otherwise..."

This is normal operation, such a good bargaining chip, how could the Russians give up so easily?

Perhaps the Armenians can also borrow from Austria, but unfortunately even to the nearest port of Hopa, they need to travel hundreds of miles.

From the perspective of future generations, this question of an hour away is naturally nothing. But in this era, it means that two days of transportation time have been added.

It doesn't matter once or twice, the more the number of times, the greater the loss. From the beginning, the Russians dug the hole.

After figuring out the ins and outs, Franz replied indifferently: "Since the Russians are so well prepared, then let them fulfill them."

Armenia is not very valuable and not worth much effort from Austria. The special terrain of the Caucasus has been determined innately - this cannot be the main battlefield of the Russian-Austrian battle.

It is not impossible to win over the Armenians, mainly because the pay is not proportional to the income, it is better to give it to the Russians to lure the Russians south to Persia.

Prime Minister Felix reminded: "Your Majesty, the Russians may not really want to control the Kingdom of Armenia.

Although we have determined the territory of the Armenian kingdom, the migration of people not only takes time, but also requires a lot of money.

From relocation to subsequent reconstruction, without tens of millions of Aegis, this Armenian kingdom could not have been established at all.

Although the tsarist government has just reached a deal with us, most of the funds have been deducted from the debt, and the tsarist government can really only get 20 million Aegis.

For the sake of an Armenian kingdom, half of the profits are thrown away. I am afraid that the Russians are not so generous. "

There is nothing wrong. The Kingdom of Armenia only exists in theory at present. The provisional government is still on its way to the capital. In fact, the country still has nothing.

The resettlement is easy, but the resettlement is difficult. Even if they all go to farming, the first year's rations, seeds, basic tools, and a house for daily living must be available, right?

The war lasted for more than a year, and there was no income for such a long time, and the Armenians' wealth had already been exhausted in the war.

The Armenian uprising army in the middle and late stages was able to support it, relying on Austria to drop supplies to them, otherwise they would have been cold long ago.

If the Russians want to accept this little brother, they must pay to help and establish the Kingdom of Armenia.

It is a pity that not only the tsarist government has no money, but the Russian financial institutions have no money now.

This involved the Prussian-Russian War and the reform of Alexander II. The old financial institutions stood in the wrong team and were wiped out. The new financial institutions were still in the stage of primitive accumulation of capital and had no extra funds to engage in international loans.

.

As the so-called "soft hands", the Tsarist government, which lived on loans from Austria, had to be influenced by the Vienna government, let alone small Armenia?

Once the loan from Austria was accepted, the Kingdom of Armenia could only follow the Vienna government, or else it would collapse in minutes.

Franz shook his head: "It's impossible to say. The funds that the Kingdom of Armenia needs are not going to be spent right away.

The Russians can invest in batches, first give 1.8 million Aegis in emergency, and the remaining part can spend 300,000 or 400,000 Aegis every month.

After this debt reduction, the tsarist government can reduce its debt expenditure by 950,000 Aegis per month, and squeeze out 300,000 to 400,000 Aegis per month.

We'd better encourage the Russians to do it. If it's not possible, British and French capital can also be introduced. We don't invest unless it is absolutely necessary. "

Not only is the money bag of the Tsarist government shriveled, but even the money bag of the Vienna government is not rich now. Franz really does not want to take such loans with uncertain returns.

War is a golden beast. For this war, the Austrian government has successively spent nearly 260 million Aegis in military expenses. This is still based on the case of joint troops.

Otherwise, it would cost hundreds of thousands of troops and tens of thousands of casualties. Without 400 million Aegis, it would never be enough.

In order to fully occupy the Ottoman Empire, the Vienna government also paid a price, resettlement costs, compensation to allies, if all converted into cash, it would be almost 300 million Aegis.

And that's not all, the real money is spent on post-war reconstruction.

Because of population migration, the Asia Minor peninsula will be uninhabited for a long time in the future.

By the time the Austrian immigrants were in place, the grass would grow long and warblers would fly, cities would turn into ruins, roads would turn into jungles, and farmland would turn into…

According to the plan of the Vienna government, in the next ten years, the government will invest 1.2 billion Aegis to rebuild the Asia Minor peninsula.

Even on average, that's 120 million Aegis per year.

With so much money to be spent in a short period of time, the Vienna government's pocketbook is naturally shriveled.

If it weren't for the fact that the domestic financial market in Austria had grown up and had sufficient financing capacity, Franz would no longer be able to laugh.

Of course, compared with other countries, the finances of the Vienna government are still loose.

Austria has enough gold production to print money as long as the domestic economy grows.

Sufficient gold reserves + huge economic volume, Aegis is already the world currency, and the annual seigniorage income of the Vienna government is an astronomical amount.

Let's put it this way, Austria's annual seigniorage revenue is already approaching the Russians' fiscal revenue.

Simply calculating the size of the economy, the Russian Empire is one-third the size of Austria, but the gap between the funds that the two governments can mobilize is already dozens of times.

The advantages of industrial countries over agricultural countries are vividly reflected here. The only one in the world that can compete with Austria in financial resources is Britain.

A lot of money that can be mobilized does not mean that it can be squandered at will. The Britons with a small homeland might be able to, but not Austria.

To develop the newly acquired territory, it is bound to squeeze a lot of money. With only one billion Aegis invested by the government, it is a dream to develop millions of square kilometers of land.

Government investment is just an introduction. To develop the Near East, more private capital is needed.

Of course, the first step is immigration. Otherwise, if the railway is finished, there will be no people along the way, and there is no need to open a train at all, which would be embarrassing.

Domestic capital has gone somewhere, and Armenia's tasteless rib will naturally be thrown out.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" replied Foreign Secretary Wesenberg

...