Chapter 893

In this world, there would always be people who were happy and people who were disappointed.

The biggest losers of the London Peace Conference were undoubtedly the Osman Empire and the Polish Kingdom. The former lost their cities and territories, and the people were exhausted. The latter even lost their autonomy.

Regardless of the details, in terms of overall strategy, the UK, Fao, Russia, and Prussia were all winners, and each achieved their strategic goals.

The performance of the Russians was particularly outstanding. They took benefits from both sides, as if the arrogant Russian Empire had returned.

However, Alexander II Of Russia, who was considered the biggest winner, was not happy. The recovery of the lost land greatly boosted the morale of the army, which was originally a good thing.

Unfortunately, the Tsarist government could not afford to enjoy it. It was all because of one word — "poor." After the war, there was always a lot of rewards based on merit, and the pension had to be given. If they did not take a dime, who would fight for their lives next time?

The destructive power of war was huge. The Tsarist government recovered the lost land, and now they needed to invest money to restore the people's livelihood. There was no return in the short term.

All of this required money. It seemed insignificant, but in fact, it was not enough without hundreds of millions of rubles.

Alexander II Of Russia had long given up on loans. The international financial institutions were afraid of them, and whoever lent them money would be a fool.

St. Peter Castle, Winter Palace

Alexander II Of Russia asked uncertainly, "Can the gold standard reform really help us through the financial crisis?"

Currently, only the UK and Austria had completed the gold standard reform. Everyone knew that the gold standard was good for stabilizing the value of the currency and increasing the international competitiveness of the currency, but everyone was still watching.

It was not that they did not want to follow suit, but the problem was that they did not have enough gold reserves. The UK and Austria monopolized more than 75% of the world's gold, which made other countries despair.

The Russian Empire was considered good. Because of the low market purchasing power, the Russians did not have a large demand for foreign industrial and commercial products. After the foreign exchange generated by the export of agricultural products covered the expenses, it was still in a state of surplus.

However, these good days only lasted until the Prussian war. Because of the war, the Tsarist government's finances deteriorated, and it owed a large amount of foreign debt. In order to repay the debt, a large amount of gold and silver began to flow out.

The outflow of gold and silver caused domestic deflation, and the government's finances further deteriorated. In order to prevent the crisis from worsening, the Tsarist government was forced to declare bankruptcy.

After recuperating for a few years, the Russian Empire finally caught its breath. Through diplomatic means, they erased most of the debt, and reached an agreement with the British. The economy of the Russian Empire was gradually normalized.

However, financial problems were still the biggest problem for the Tsarist government. In 1871, the Tsarist government issued paper rubles with the help of the Austrian government.

However, the financial system was quickly digested, and the Tsarist government, and the Russian Russia. and the currency. were only the currency. were Russian Russian Russia were still the Russia Russia.

The Tsarist government were in Russia. With Alliance, and Russia Austria Deteriorating Relations, Russia and Russia. As the financial sector, the Russia.

Russia. The Empire. who Russia. The Russia Conference. The Russia government Continued. of Russia, of the Tare Of, and had to stop.

Russia and the United Kingdom had an agreement that the Ruble would join the British Pound Sterling and the gold system. Then the Tsarist government would have to reform the gold standard.

The Russian Empire was one of the world's major gold and silver producers. The domestic economy was not big, and the trade was balanced. In theory, the Tsarist government could reform the gold standard.

But this was only in theory. With the credibility of the Tsarist government, the situation changed. The international capital did not recognize it. Unless the Ruble was linked to the international currency, the Tsarist government could not complete the gold standard reform.

This involved the issue of currency settlement. Whether it was linked to the British Pound Sterling or Divine Shield, the Russian Empire welcomed it. The condition was simple.

No matter who the Russian Empire leaned towards, the Russian Empire would be shelled. Alexander Ii Of Russia did not care about the shelling. He was more concerned about the benefits after the currency reform and whether the Russian Empire could get out of the financial crisis.

Finance Minister Kristanval: "Your Majesty, in theory, after the currency reform, we can get 52 to 55 million gold rubles per year.

This amount of money will increase along with the economic growth. It will be a great help to improve our financial situation. "

(Note: 1 New Ruble = 0.774 grams of gold)

50 million gold rubles was not a small amount. It was more than one-tenth of the Tsarist government's revenue.

To maintain the continuous increase in the seigniorage, other than economic growth, there must be a sufficient amount of gold.

Kristanval was not worried about the reserve. The Russian Empire's annual gold production was enough for the reserve. Otherwise, he would not dare to reform the gold standard.

After the currency reform, the newly issued gold rubles would be linked to the British Pound Sterling. The exchange rate would fluctuate, and without enough reserve, the currency's value could not be stabilized.

After hesitating for a moment, Alexander Ii Of Russia made a decision: "Then let's start! But when working with the British, we must be vigilant. Don't fall into their trap. "

This step meant that Russia and Austria had begun to separate financially, and it also signaled that the end of the Russian-Austrian alliance was not far away.

It could not be helped as it was a disaster caused by profits. The Tsarist government felt that Austria's offer was too low, and Franz felt that the Russians were too greedy.

In the original timeline, the French were cheated. The Tsarist government fell from power, and the huge debts were all for naught. The French financial groups were hit hard because of this.

With the previous example, Franz naturally chose to be cautious. The risk of Austria investing in Russia was higher than investing in France. With the Russian's style, no one could guarantee that the Russians would not go back on their word and start a war between the two countries.

Of course, the fact that the Austrian financial industry did not have British tycoons was also an important factor. After all, Austria also needed a lot of funds, and they did not have the ability to give money to the Russians.

If the Tsarist government could not get out of the financial crisis soon, once the currency reform was completed, the Ruble would be tied to the British Pound Sterling. It was unknown if the British would still be willing to lend money.

The debt between Russia and Austria was already a dangerous number. Franz did not dare to risk hundreds of millions of BND with the Russians. Once the loss was made, the Austrian economy would also be hit hard.

…

It was not only the Russians who wanted to reform the gold standard. The French were even more anxious than them.

In recent years, the silver production had been increasing, and the exchange rate of gold and silver had been changing. This was a big problem for the duplicated currency.

Affected by the exchange rate of gold and silver, the value of the French franc often changed, which made international traders cry.

The unstable value of the French franc undoubtedly weakened the overseas competitiveness of French goods. With the rapid development of international trade, this change became more and more serious.

Before 1854, France's total exports were more than 1.5 times that of Austria. By 1870, the total exports of the two countries were almost the same. Now, Austria had counterattacked.

Of course, there were natural resources advantages. For example: Austria's agricultural processing industry developed, increased product added value, and led to export growth. As well as the benefits brought by the start of the second industrial revolution.

The unstable value of the French franc was also an important factor. In order to avoid the uncertain risks brought by currency changes, under the same conditions, many capitalists would rather choose Anglo-Austrian products.

In the past five years, the average annual growth rate of Anglo-Austrian exports was no less than 3%, while France's was only a pitiful 0.8%, and this number continued to decline.

Was the quality of French industrial and commercial products bad? The answer was no. Except for specific industries, there was no difference in the industrial technology of the three countries, Fao, and France.

The current market competition had not reached the stage of white-hot. Everyone maintained a relatively high profit, or else they would not grow at the same time.

However, it was an indisputable fact that France was gradually falling behind. The market share of French goods in the international market was getting smaller and smaller.

Of course, compared to the original world, France's current situation was still much better. The domestic economy was not hit hard.

In order to increase the competitiveness of export goods, the currency reform of the French franc was gradually put on the agenda. It was Napoleon Iv who led the reform of the French franc to the gold standard.

This was also the political legacy left to him by Napoleon Iii. As long as the reform of the French franc was completed and the international competitiveness of French goods was increased, he could win the support of the capitalists.

As early as 1870, the Government of France began to prepare for the gold standard reform and constantly purchased gold from the international market. There was no way, who asked France to have insufficient gold production?

God did not favor France this time. In addition to the lack of coal, the French colonies also had very low gold production.

If they didn't have it, they would buy it. Compared to the bitter Tsarist government, the Government of France could be said to be rich and overbearing.

After a few years of preparation, the French collected a total of 800 tons of gold, but Napoleon Iv still felt that it was not enough.

This number was a lot for most countries, but compared to Anglo-Austrian and French, it was still a far cry.

Moreover, with the current economic size of the Great France Empire, it was really not much to have 800 tons of gold as a reserve. Napoleon Iv's bottom line was 1,000 tons. If the reserve was low, it would be big trouble if someone manipulated the exchange rate of the French franc.

Paris, Versailles Palace

Napoleon Iv asked incredulously, "What? The market can't buy gold?"

This would definitely be big news. At least, the gold price would soar.

Minister of Finance Allen explained bitterly, "Your Majesty, in recent years, there have been some countries that have implemented the gold standard reform. Everyone is rushing to buy gold in the market.

At present, the main gold production in the world is in the hands of Anglo-Austrian. They have deliberately controlled the flow of gold. The amount of gold circulating in the market is seriously insufficient.

In recent years, due to the lack of gold circulation, the gold price has been rising. The exchange rate of gold has risen from 1: 18.6 last year to 1: 23.5 now.

Even at this price, it is difficult for us to buy enough gold. Now there are only two or three hundred tons of gold flowing out of the international market every year. It is not enough for everyone. "

There was no other way. Recently, there had been a lot of countries that had implemented the gold standard reform.

In 1873, the Nordic Federation began the gold standard reform, followed by the German Federal Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Now, there was the Russian Empire.

Leaving the Russian Empire aside, the amount of gold circulating in the country could basically meet the needs of the currency reform. The remaining countries were not major producers of gold.

The production of gold could be insufficient, but the reserve for issuing currency must be sufficient. Thus, they could only buy gold in the international market.

At the critical moment of the gold standard reform in European countries, the capital of Anglo-Austrian and French happened to jointly raise the price of gold to make huge profits.

It should not be said to be a coincidence, but an inevitable result. Capital was after profit, and it would be a waste not to take advantage of the opportunity that was delivered to their door.

In this context, not only the French were short of gold, but other countries that were implementing the gold standard reform also faced the problem of insufficient gold.