Chapter 499

After leaving the Palace of Versailles, Alexandrovich was no longer in the mood for sightseeing. Obviously, his trip to Paris did not go well.

Napoleon Iii's goodwill towards Russia was purely for political purposes. It did not mean that France really wanted to rope in Russia.

Without the humiliation of the Frankfurt Peace Treaty, the proud French would have looked down on the downtrodden barbarians of Russia.

Especially after the UK, Fao, and Russia formed an alliance, France no longer had any diplomatic pressure. The world could no longer find an enemy that they had to take seriously, at least on the surface.

Before Alexandrovich's trip to Paris, the Government of Saint Petersburg still had high hopes and attempted to use the French to rope in Russia to get financial assistance.

The reality was cruel, and it was not easy to get money from the usury empire. The bankers were shrewd, especially towards the Tsarist government that had lost its credibility.

Even the promised 500 million francs loan was now in trouble. The French required them to use gold and silver as collateral.

Don't be surprised, Alexander II Of Russia was also carrying out monetary reform, but the steps were very small. Now the French were paying attention to their reserves.

Since Alexander II Of Russia's reform, the development of industry, the construction of railways, and agricultural reform became the government's three major strategies.

Although the plan was good, it needed financial support. Because of the war, it caused a large amount of gold and silver to flow out of the Russian Empire, resulting in a serious lack of capital.

The Tsarist government came up with a solution to attract foreign capital. Unfortunately, European banks refused to provide loans to them, and they were very cautious in their investments.

Alexander II Of Russia's reform was better than history, and there was a ready-made example to learn from. Other problems could be solved, but they could not learn how to raise money.

For Austria to develop to this stage, they had issued bonds to the public several times and raised hundreds of millions of DND. Until now, the Government of Vienna had to repay tens of millions of BND every year.

Because of their credibility, the Tsarist government could not borrow money at all. Even if they used road rights and taxes as collateral, it was useless. The Tsarist government could not renege on their debt.

Due to the debt crisis, Alexander II Of Russia had to declare a default on the debt, and now the sequelae had broken out.

It was not that Alexander II Of Russia's decision was wrong. If they did not renege on their debt, their finances would be crushed by the debt, and the situation would only get worse.

To put it bluntly, even if they did not renege on their debt, they could not borrow much money. Bankers were too shrewd to lend money to people who couldn't pay back their loans.

In the original timeline, the French were forced to borrow money from the Russians. The France borrowed money from Russia because they had no other choice. to.

This was one of the reasons why France's comprehensive national strength suddenly fell in the late 19th century. The government had lent out a lot of money, and there was less money for domestic development.

There was no need to think now. The France was France would would not support. Even if it was a loan shark, the French would only lend money to those who had the ability to repay.

Austria, for example, owes a huge debt to the French. Not only did they have to develop their own territory, but they also had to develop colonies. The revenue of the Vienna government was definitely not enough.

Austria's private capital accumulation was not rich enough. Under this background, Franz naturally borrowed money. Austria's private capital accumulation was not rich enough. In this context, Franz naturally borrowed money.

Most of the bonds were raised in the name of projects, and not all of the debts belonged to the Vienna government.

Most of the bonds were raised in the name of the project, and the debt was not all from the Government of Vienna.

It was similar to the Americans borrowing money to build the railway. They mortgaged the railway to the British bank and used the borrowed money to build the railway.

It was the same for many projects in Austria. They owed a large amount of debt to the bank and issued a bunch of bonds to the public. The government only invested the start-up funds.

Many projects in Austria were the same. They owed a lot of debt to the bank and issued a bunch of bonds to the private sector. The government only invested the start-up capital.

Anyway, these projects were standard commercial operations. In case of an accident, the worst case was the bankruptcy of a company. From a globalization perspective, as long as the economic crisis occurred in Britain and France, Austria would be implicated, and vice versa.

To get out of this situation, it was actually very simple. One word – wait. When the domestic private capital was accumulated, there was no need to borrow money from outside.

Everyone was also taking what they needed. One side had excess capital and needed to be exported, and the other side lacked capital for development. The two sides could cooperate.

This was how the Americans developed in the original Space-Time. If there was no world war, they would not have turned from a debtor country to a creditor country.

Of course, debtor and creditor countries were not absolute. Domestic enterprises borrowed money from foreign banks, and some domestic banks also went overseas to develop, and they were also issuing loans to foreign countries.

Even if the Russian Empire was short of capital, there were also banks exporting capital overseas. These were all normal economic activities, mainly for profit.

After understanding the French's position, Alexandrovich did not continue to entangle. After visiting the French industry, he went directly to London.

This time, he relaxed. The Tsarist government did not expect to get loans from the British. Unless British bankers have lost their minds, this is unlikely to happen.

They could not expect the Government of London to help guarantee, right? Both sides were enemies. Even though the Russian Empire had declined and was ranked at the bottom among the British's competitors, the hatred accumulated in the early days was not so easy to resolve.

Moreover, Prussia and Poland were Britain's underlings. Even if they did not want to disappoint their subordinates, they couldn't do this.

…

The diplomatic actions of the Russians still attracted the attention of the Kingdom of Prussia. Even without Bismarck, William I still controlled the Kingdom of Prussia.

After a series of political struggles, the Juncker nobles, who united for a short period of time because of the war, were now torn apart.

For example: Industrial Juncker, Financial Juncker, Combat Juncker, Palace Juncker, Parliament Juncker, and Country Juncker.

The subordinates were no longer monolithic, and the king's power was naturally consolidated. The politics of the Kingdom of Prussia began to return to normal. The military was still very powerful, but it was no longer a monopoly.

A new power balance was formed. William I set his sights on the European continent. As an enemy, he knew every move of the Russians like the back of his hand.

The Russians wanted to get rid of the isolated situation through diplomatic activities, which William I naturally could not agree to.

In the Berlin Palace, the top military and political officials of the Kingdom of Prussia gathered together to discuss how to sabotage the diplomatic actions of the Russians.

"The Crown Prince of Russia's trip to Europe was invited by the French. There must be an exchange of interests between France and Russia, but the possibility of an alliance between the two countries is not high.

The three countries, Fao, and Germany have already formed an alliance. At this time, the French have no basis to form an alliance with the Russians. The French should be trying to win over the Russians to raise their own status and want to get a greater voice in the three-country alliance.

Right now, what the Russians lack the most is money, and the French have a lot of capital. The main purpose of Alexandrovich's first visit to France should be for loans.

From an economic point of view, now that the Tsarist government's credibility has been completely lost, no banker will be stupid enough to lend them money.

The only hope for the Russians is the usual exchange of political interests … "

Listening to Foreign Minister Mckate's boasting, William I frowned. Not only was the Russians short of money, but Prussia was also short of money.

The financial situation of the Government of Berlin was even worse than the Tsarist government. At least the Russians didn't have to pay their debts, but Prussia had to bear a heavy debt.

In recent years, the number of people in the Kingdom of Prussia who went to Austria to make a living was increasing. A large part of the reason was the heavy tax burden.

In order to pay off the debt, the Government of Berlin had to increase the burden of the people in the country. The people who couldn't bear it ran away.

William I didn't dare to stop them. Most of the people who ran away were from poor families. They lost their livelihood in the country, and staying was a hidden danger.

If it weren't for the nearby immigration, Prussia would be in chaos. Winning the war against the Russian Empire only brought glory. The newly expanded land couldn't be turned into wealth in a short period of time, and it was still in the investment stage.

The people didn't get any practical benefits. Just the status of a big country couldn't deceive them.

Of course, the moral gain was still very useful. Even if everyone's life wasn't good, the people's support for the government was still very high.

Even if they couldn't survive, they just left and didn't run to start a revolution.

In this aspect, it was similar to Japan, except that Japan didn't have flood windows. If they were hungry, they would still cause trouble, such as grabbing rice.

William I interrupted, "What's the plan of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? No matter what the Russians' purpose is, what we need to do now is to destroy it. "

There was no need for any reason. If the enemy wanted to do something, they just had to stop them from doing it.

They couldn't interfere with the internal reform of the Tsarist government, but in international diplomatic activities, Prussia could mess up.

William I didn't have confidence in diplomatic means compared to other countries, but compared to the Russians, he was still confident.

After a few seconds, Foreign Minister Mckate replied, "Your Majesty, the possibility of the Russians getting funds from the outside world is not high. The biggest political goal should be to improve diplomatic relations with other countries.

Now that France and Russia are getting closer, it has also stimulated the Government of Vienna. Today, the Russo-Austrian Alliance can no longer bring political benefits to Austria, but is a burden in diplomacy.

There are only a few years left before the end of the Russo-Austrian Alliance. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to widen the rift between them and not let Russia and Austria renew the alliance. "

Destroying the Russo-Austrian Alliance was of great significance to the Kingdom of Prussia because it was directly related to the outcome of the next war between Russia and Russia.

Prime Minister Moltke shook his head and said, "This is not enough. The Russo-Austrian Alliance is not only for political benefits, but also for economic benefits.

The current Russian Empire is almost a dumping ground for Austria's goods. Austria alone accounts for 63% of Russia's total import and export trade. With such a large interest, the Government of Vienna will not easily let go. "

Interests were always the best bond. In the face of interests, there was nothing that couldn't be compromised. Even if there was a lot of conflict between Russia and Austria, for the sake of interests, the two sides still maintained an alliance relationship.

Foreign Minister Mckate explained, "That's right, Your Excellency. But we also have to look at a set of data. In recent years, the total trade between Russia and Austria has continued to decline.

The Tsarist government is trying to get rid of economic dependence on Austria. In order to develop domestic industry, the Russians have raised tariffs several times.

If it wasn't for the fact that Russia's industry was too backward and its products were not competitive in the market, the Austrians wouldn't be able to maintain their current market share.

The great reclamation campaign carried out by Alexander Ii Of Russia had already achieved results. This year, Russia's unsalable agricultural products were a foregone conclusion.

After the Crown Prince of Russia's trip to Europe, it was very likely that the domestic market would be opened to Britain and France in exchange for domestic agricultural products to enter the international market.

After Austria lost its monopoly on the Russia market, it would also face the impact of Russia's agricultural products in the international food export market. The relationship between the two countries would definitely be greatly affected.

Now, the more agreements the Russians reached with Britain and France, the more benefits Austria would lose. It might not be obvious in a short period of time, but after three to five years, the change would be very obvious.

As long as the Austrians saw greater benefits, it wasn't impossible to abandon the Russo-Austrian Alliance.

For example:

Let them believe that as long as we win the next round of the Russian War, they can get the Ukraine region and the Russian The Balkans and cut off the Russians' food export channel. "

Everyone's face changed. It was obvious that they were frightened by Mckate's shocking remarks.

The room suddenly became quiet. There was only the sound of everyone's breathing and the faint heartbeat.

…