In the evening, the Russian Empire's embassy in Vienna was brightly lit, and music could be heard from time to time. There was no doubt that there was a diplomatic reception going on inside.
Not many people attended. The banquet organizers only invited envoys from countries with good relations with the Tsarist government, as well as some Russian nobles in Austria.
This kind of diplomatic reception was held almost once a month, and it was not eye-catching at all. The only noteworthy thing was that the Austrian Foreign Minister, Wesenberg, personally attended the banquet.
Before the collapse of the Russo-Austrian Alliance, it was not strange for Wesenberg to appear here. But now it was different. The relationship between Russia and Austria began to drift apart, and Wesenberg's appearance here was thought-provoking.
…
With a pfft, Wesenberg could not help but spit out the wine in his mouth. He widened his eyes and stared at the Russian Minister, Alexander Nikolayevich Hull, "Your Excellency, are you sure you're not joking?"
Nikolayevich nodded seriously and replied cautiously, "No!"
After saying that, he stared straight into Weissenberg's eyes.
After pausing for a moment, Weissenberg directly refused, "That's impossible!"
"How much is your country's fiscal revenue? 500 million BND is far beyond your government's debt capacity. 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 them. Otherwise, there would be a commotion.
"500 million BND" was not a small number. It was equivalent to 250 million pounds, or 1830 tons of gold. It was relative to the annual fiscal revenue of the United Kingdom, FAO, and Russia.
Not to mention now, even during the honeymoon period of the Russo-Austrian Alliance, Austria did not provide such a huge sum of money to the Russians.
Of course, this was not because the Tsarist government did not want to borrow in the early stages, but mainly because Austria was not rich in the past few years. Although it was an old empire with a deep foundation, Austria only really became rich in recent years.
Capital accumulation also took time. Even if it became the world's largest economy, the capital accumulation of Austria's financial sector was still very limited.
Now it was about to catch up with France, but there was still a long way to go before England. To put it bluntly, Austria relied on industry, not finance.
It wasn't that they couldn't afford to fork out 500 million DND, but the problem was that Austria would be short of money after that.
Not to mention Austria, even Britannia, which had the richest capital, would also affect the entire financial market if they were to take out such a huge sum of money at once.
Wealth and cash were two different concepts. The difference between paper wealth and liquid funds was like the difference between heaven and earth.
Of course, this was only the difficulty of taking it out immediately. If there was enough time, the United Kingdom, the FAO, and the United Kingdom would be able to raise the funds.
Take the Franco-Prussian War as an example. The French lost 20 billion francs (about 1.6 billion DUN) in the war and paid another 5 billion francs (about 400 million DUN) in reparations after the war, which were paid in just three years.
Wesenberg refused without even mentioning any conditions. The most important thing was that the Tsarist government had no credibility. Lending money to the Russians now was like throwing a meat bun at a dog — there was no return.
The Russian Minister Nikolayevich said calmly, "Your Excellency, we are very sincere this time. We are willing to calculate the interest of the loan at 0.5% per month. This income … "
Wesenberg directly interrupted, "With all due respect, with the credibility of your country's government, no bank would dare to lend you money.
Not to mention 0.5% per month, even 0.5% per day would be the same. Who would dare to lend a loan that is destined to be irrecoverable? "
According to the international lending practices of this era, the handling fees, exchange fees, guarantee fees, and a year's principal and interest had to be deducted first. 0.5% per month was indeed very generous, not to mention that there were a series of additional conditions.
No matter how good it was, it couldn't be compared to the word "poor credibility." No matter how high the income was, the money had to be collected before it could be considered a profit.
Nikolayevich hurriedly explained, "We can provide physical collateral. If we can't repay the debt later, your country can directly detain the collateral."
Wesenberg glanced at Nikolayevich and said coldly, "If your country can use gold as collateral, it naturally won't be a problem.
Not to mention 500 million DND, even if it's 1 billion DND, I can make the decision to lend it to you. I can even waive your interest. "
Nikolayevich frowned and secretly felt bitter in his heart. If they had so much gold as collateral, the Tsarist government would have long started printing money.
In the era of the gold standard, gold was wealth. Whether it was used as a standard gold currency or directly as currency, there was no problem.
"Your Excellency, this joke is not funny at all. If we have so much gold, why do we need a loan? "
This was the truth. 500 million DND was equivalent to 1830 tons of gold. Other than England and Austria, there was no other country that had so much gold reserves.
Not counting the private gold. If the private gold was counted, then India and the Empire of the Far East both had more than this number.
Nikolayevich's words reminded Wesenberg that the Tsarist government still had a large amount of gold in their hands.
"Your Excellency, you are too humble. As far as I know, your country has always been a gold exporter. How can you be short of gold?
How about this, your government will deposit the standard gold in the Austrian National Bank and use this gold as collateral.
For the sake of the friendship between the two countries, I can make the decision to exempt you from interest. Your government can obtain a large sum of money without paying any price. "
"Gold exporter" was not what the Tsarist government wanted. Even if the Russian Empire's gold production was not low, the demand was also high!
Because of the credibility, other than domestic circulation, no one paid attention to the international settlement. The Tsarist government had no choice but to use foreign exchange or gold for settlement.
In order to promote industrialization, the Russian Empire had been importing machinery and equipment in recent years. In order to settle the trade deficit, the Tsarist government had to use gold to fill the hole.
Wesenberg asked the Tsarist government to deposit the gold in the Austrian National Bank. Naturally, it was not for the sake of the Russians to mobilize more funds.
It was easy to take out gold. All it needed was a decision from the Tsarist government. Want to redeem the gold? That was a joke.
The Tsarist government was borrowing money now to raise funds for the war. As long as the war between Russia and Russia started, the money would soon be consumed in the war.
Even if they won the war, the Tsarist government would not have the funds to redeem the gold for a long time in the future.
It would be dangerous if there was no return. It seemed that using financial means to obtain a large sum of money seemed to be profitable, but in fact, it was completely based on the friendly relationship between Russia and Austria.
If one day the two countries fell out and the Government of Vienna swallowed the gold, the rubles would instantly become waste paper.
After thinking about the risks, Nikolayevich immediately refused, "This is impossible. Minister, we can use the territory as collateral, but not the gold. "
Wesenberg smiled and did not answer directly. The two ended the conversation hastily.
…
The next morning, the information on the Tsarist government's war funding appeared in front of Franz.
"The Tsarist government wants to bring forward the war. It seems that Alexander Ii Of Russia is willing to use his own territory as collateral.
If they did this earlier, they wouldn't have lost so badly in the last war. Humans have to suffer before they learn from their mistakes! "
Prime Minister Felix said, "Although this is the case, how do you know the consequences of failure without experiencing failure?
The Tsarist government used the failure of the last war to buy a lesson. They no longer have the arrogance of being invincible in the past and know that they have to be down-to-earth.
War is fought with money. To some extent, the key to determining the outcome of the war between Russia and Russia is no longer military, but how much war funding the two governments can raise.
With the size of the Russian Empire, as long as there is enough war funding, they can drag out the Pubo Federation. "
The concept of "drag out the Pubo Federation" flashed in Franz's mind. This was based on an ideal situation without external interference. The Government of Berlin was not stupid. It was necessary to cooperate.
"Send people to monitor the financial sector of various countries and pay close attention to the flow of large funds. The governments of Prussia and Russia were both poor. Without sufficient funds, they would not be able to start a war.
War is a monster that eats money. Once it starts, money will be spent like water. In the world, only we, Britain and France have the financial resources to provide them with funding.
Everyone's money doesn't fall from the sky. Without enough benefits, it is difficult for Prussia to raise enough funding.
From a geopolitical point of view, we are the best creditor. Only we dare to accept land as collateral.
The Russians have already come to our door. We should quickly figure out the bottom line of the Tsarist government and seize the greatest benefits for Austria. "
Franz did not mention gold as collateral. No one would hand over their lifeline to others unless they were at the end of their rope. This was much more serious than a land mortgage.
The land mortgage seemed serious, but the risk was actually within a controllable range. As long as the war was won, even if they couldn't pay back the money, there was enough room for maneuvers. For example, the replacement of the mortgaged land.
Using one's own territory to pay off the debt might not be easy to explain at home; using the enemy's territory to pay off the debt, there was no pressure.
If they lost the war, there was no need to say anything. The government had changed. No matter how big the mess was, the next government would be responsible for cleaning it up.
It was the same for a monarchy. Perhaps it was not necessary to change the emperor, but it was necessary to change the ministers. Someone had to be responsible for the defeat, and the bureaucrats could see it clearly.
This naturally couldn't be hidden from Alexander Ii Of Russia. The land mortgage was carried out with his tacit approval. But gold as collateral was definitely beyond his bottom line.
To put it bluntly, the Russian Empire was a big business. As long as it wasn't a core territory, it didn't matter if they sold a piece. The sale of territory wasn't unprecedented, and the political risk was limited.
Sending gold to Austria as collateral was completely different. This meant that the economic lifeline of the Russian Empire had fallen into the hands of Austria.
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