In the evening, the Russian Empire Embassy in Vienna was brightly lit, and there were bursts of music coming from time to time. There was no doubt that a diplomatic cocktail party was being held here.

Not many people attended, and the banquet host only invited envoys from states with good relations with the Tsarist government, as well as some Tsarist Russian aristocrats in Austria.

This kind of diplomatic cocktail party is held almost every month and is not at all conspicuous. The only thing worth noting is that Austrian Foreign Minister Weisenberg attended the banquet himself.

It was not surprising that Wesenberg appeared here before the Russian-Austrian alliance broke down. But now it is different. Russia-Austrian relations have begun to estrange themselves, and it is thought-provoking that Wesenberg appears here.

...

With a thunderous sound, Wesenberg couldn't help but squirt out the wine from his mouth. He opened his eyes wide and stared at the Russian Minister Alexander Niklaevic Hull: "Your Excellency, are you sure you're not kidding?"

Niklayevic nodded seriously and replied cautiously: "No!"

After saying that, he looked at Wesenberg without hesitation.

After a moment of pause, Wesenberg refused directly and said, "This is impossible!"

"How much is your country's fiscal revenue? 500 million ASUS has far exceeded your government's debt tolerance. Don't forget that your country still has a large amount of debt that has not been paid off."

Fortunately, the two were talking in the corner, and no one came to disturb him without any worries, otherwise the whole audience would be sensational.

"500 million ASUS" is not a small number, equivalent to 250 million pounds, or about 1,830 tons of gold, relative to the total fiscal revenue of the three countries in Britain, France and Australia in one year.

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

Of course, this is not because the Tsarist government did not intend to borrow it in the early stage, mainly because Austria was not rich in the past few years. Although it was a well-established empire, Austria has made its fortune in recent years.

Capital accumulation also takes time. Even if it becomes the world's largest economy, the capital accumulation in the Austrian financial industry is still very limited.

Now we are about to catch up with France, and we are 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 ASUS shield cannot be taken out, but the problem is that after taking out, Austria will be short of money.

Not to mention Austria, even Britain, which has the richest capital, will have to take out this huge sum of money at one time, which will also affect the entire financial market.

Wealth and cash are two concepts, and the gap between wealth and liquid capital on paper is even more a world of difference.

Of course, this is just a difficulty that will be taken out soon. If there is enough time, Britain, France and the Austrians will have the ability to raise this fund.

Referring to the French-Prussian War, we know that the French lost 20 billion francs (about 1.6 billion ASCH) in the war, and after the war, they paid 5 billion francs (about 400 million ASCH) and paid in just three years.

Weisenberg refused and did not even mention the conditions. The most important thing is that the Tsarist government has no credibility. Now lending money to the Russians is just meat buns to beat dogs - there is no return.

Russian Minister Niklaevic said without changing his face: "Mr., we are very sincere this time. We are willing to calculate the interest on the loan at a monthly interest rate of 0.5%. This income..."

Wesenberg interrupted directly: "I am bluntly speaking, with the credibility of your government, no bank dares to lend you money.

Not to mention the monthly interest rate of 5% per thousand, even the daily interest rate of 5% per thousand. Who dares to release the loan that is destined to be unable to be collected?"

According to the practice of international loans in this era, the handling fee, exchange fee, guarantee fee, as well as one-year principal and interest and then loan, is indeed very generous in the monthly interest rate, not to mention a series of additional conditions.

No matter how good or bad it is, it is not as good as the saying "bad reputation". No matter how high the profit is, the money must be taken back, which is the profit.

Niklayevic hurriedly explained: "We can provide physical collateral. If the debt cannot be fulfilled in the later stage, your country can directly withhold the collateral."

Wesenberg glanced at Niklaevic and said in a cold tone: "If your country can use gold as collateral, there will be no problem.

Not to mention 500 million ASUS, even 1 billion ASUS, I can make the decision to lend it to you, and even waive your interest."

Nikrayevic frowned and felt apprehensive in his heart. If there were so much gold as collateral, the Tsarist government would have started the printing press long ago.

In the era of gold standard, gold is wealth. Whether it is used as a standard gold issuance currency or used directly as currency, there is no problem.

"Your Excellency, this joke is not funny at all. If we have so much gold, why do we need to make a loan?"

This is a fact. 500 million ASUS is about 1,830 tons of gold. Apart from Britain and Austria, there is no third country with so many gold reserves.

The folks do not count. If the folks are calculated, then India and the Far East Empire will both exceed this number.

Niklayevic's words reminded Wesenberg that the Tsarist government still had a considerable amount of gold.

"Your Majesty, you are too modest. As far as I know, your country has always been a gold exporter, how can you be short of gold?

It is better to do this. Your government deposits the standard gold for issuing rubles to the Austrian National Bank and uses this gold as a guarantee.

For the sake of friendship between the two countries, I can make the decision to exempt you from interest. Your government can get a huge sum of money without paying any price."

"Gold Exporter" is not what the Tsarist government wants. Even if the Russian Empire's gold production is not low, the demand is also high!

Due to credibility, no one bought the ruble in international settlement except for domestic circulation, so 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 in recent years. In order to calm the trade deficit, the Tsarist government had to use gold to fill the pit.

Weisenberg asked the Tsarist government to deposit gold into the Austrian National Bank, so naturally it was not for the sake of the Russians and mobilized more funds.

It is easy to take out gold, only a decision made by the Tsarist government. Want to redeem gold? This is a joke.

The Tsarist government now borrows money to raise funds for the war. As long as the Prussian-Russian war begins, the money will soon be consumed in the war.

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

There is no return, which is dangerous. It seems that using financial means to obtain a huge sum of money, but it seems to be a profit. In fact, this is entirely based on the fact that Russia-Austrian relations have always been friendly.

If one day the two countries turn their backs and the Vienna government swallows the gold, the ruble will instantly turn into waste paper.

After thinking through the risks, Niklaevic immediately refused: "This is impossible. Minister, we can use territory as collateral, but gold cannot."

Wesenberg smiled slightly and did not answer directly. The two of them ended the conversation quickly.

...

The next morning, the information about the Tsarist government raising war funds appeared in front of Franz.

"The Tsarist government wants to fight ahead of time. It seems that Alexander II has invested a lot this time and is willing to mortgage his own territory.

If they had done this earlier, they would not have lost so badly in the last war. People would have to suffer losses before they could learn from their lessons!”

Prime Minister Felix: "Although this is the truth, 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 lessons. It no longer had the invincible arrogance of the past, and knew that it was going to be down-to-earth.

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

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

The concept of "dragging the Popo Federation to death" flashed through Franz's mind. This was based on the ideal situation without external interference. The Berlin government is not stupid, and it is necessary to join forces and join forces.

"Send people to focus on the financial circles of various countries and pay close attention to large amounts of capital flows. Both the Prussian and Russian governments are poor, and the war cannot be fought before they get enough funds.

It is not easy to raise enough war funds for war and gold-swalking beasts. Only we and Britain and France have the financial resources in the world, and everyone’s money does not fall from the sky.

Without sufficient benefits, it is difficult for PAS and Russia to raise enough funds. From a geopolitical point of view, we are the best creditors, and only we dare to accept land mortgages.

The Russians have arrived at their door, so we can figure out the bottom line of the Tsarist government as soon as possible and gain the greatest benefit for Austria."

Franz did not make any gold mortgage loans, and no one would give his life to others until he was exhausted. This is much more serious than territorial mortgages.

Territorial mortgage seems serious, but in fact the risks are within a controllable range. As long as you win the war, even if you can't afford to pay back the money, there is enough room for operation, such as: replace the mortgaged territory.

If you use your own territory to pay off your debts, it may be difficult to explain in the country; if you use your enemy's territory to pay off your debts, there will be no pressure.

If you lose the war, you don’t need to say anything. The government has replaced people. No matter how big the mess is, it will be the next government responsible for cleaning up.

The same is true for a monarchy country. Perhaps it is not necessary to change emperors, but changing ministers is necessary. Defeat in war always requires someone to be responsible, and the bureaucrats can see it clearly.

This is naturally beyond the reach of Alexander II. Territorial mortgage loans were carried out under his acquiescence. However, gold mortgages definitely exceeded his bottom line.

To put it bluntly, the Russian Empire is a great cause. As long as it is not a core territory, it doesn’t matter if it is sold. Territory transactions are not without precedents, and political risks are limited.

It would be completely different to send gold to Austria as collateral, which means that the economic lifeline of the Russian Empire fell into Austria.
Chapter completed!