Chapter 901

The good news kept coming, but it also brought with it a lot of trouble. The more allies there were, the easier it would be. The more allies there were, the more disputes there would be.

The internal conflicts in the Continental Alliance were already big, and the situation became more serious after the addition of the member states.

If it weren't for the Vienna government's mediation, the chaos that happened in Europe might have happened in the Americas.

Foreign Minister Leo said, "Your Majesty, the embassy in the Far East has sent news that the Government of Japan has sent a representative to submit a letter of credence, requesting a truce."

He had to admit that the Japanese nowadays were really flexible. No neutral country dared to jump out to mediate, so they simply came to them.

Although they had lost the initiative in the negotiations, the Government of Japan did not have the initiative in the current international situation, so it did not matter if they lost it.

What they really needed to pay was nothing more than the illusory "face" and the worthless "dignity" for the weak.

Although there were many member states in the Continental Alliance, there were only a few who had the weight, and none of them were willing to speak for the Japanese.

In any case, the Japanese had indeed offended the three big bosses. If they helped them at this time, who knew if they would get into trouble?

The only choice left for the Government of Japan was to find a new master to seek refuge before the British were finished.

Looking at the whole world, there was no other country except the Holy Roman Empire that had this ability.

Even if there was a conflict with Shinra, the Government of Japan could only bite the bullet and come forward.

This was expected, but it really happened. Franz could not help but want to laugh.

In order to maintain the image of a monarch, Franz held back his laughter and pretended to be serious. "If you want a truce, then stop it. The Japanese think this is a child's play.

Tell the Japanese that if they want a truce, they must show sincerity, or lay down their weapons and surrender unconditionally. "

The word "sincerity" was probably the most difficult word to understand in the world. What should be done to show sincerity? It was estimated that no one could answer it.

However, this was what Franz wanted to see. Only by giving an ambiguous answer would he be able to avoid taking responsibility and leave himself enough room to maneuver.

Otherwise, once the news of "instructing the Japanese to kill the Russian Army in the Far East" spread, where would Franz put his face?

It did not matter if he tricked his allies because allies were meant to be tricked. But harming an ally in the open was crossing the line.

As the rule maker, Franz would not do such a thing.

In contrast, letting the Japanese figure it out on their own would have nothing to do with Franz.

The main thing was to see the outcome of the civil war in the Russian Empire. If they were lucky enough to break up Russia, it would mean that the Japanese had not shown their sincerity, and they must be punished severely.

If the Russians got through the crisis, there was no harm in keeping Japan as a pawn, out of the need to balance the Russians.

Of course, the precondition was that the Japanese could defeat the Russian Empire. The Japanese would have the Russian Army to the Russian Army was the Army.

Fortunately, Franz was the only one who knew his plan. Him of, Franz, it, to him.,., it.

What was even more tragic was that no matter how mentally broken down they were, they had to follow the script.

If they bet on the Russians, there was still a chance. If they refused to follow the script, then they were 100% done for.

Prime Minister Chandler: "The Japanese are just a small nuisance, a militaristic agricultural country. They're not worth our attention.

Including the interest disputes between the American allies, it is not a big deal. It can be solved with some time.

The real trouble is the Americans and Russia. Even though the United States was divided once, the size of the United States was still too big.

No one knew how much they got from the British this time. Once they digested what they got, it would definitely be a problem in the future.

The United States must also be vigilant. Even though they are leaning towards us in this war, they haven't really started the war against the United States.

It is clear that they want to use the power of the United States to expand their own power. If it is not contained, it will be a hot potato in the future.

Not to mention the Russians, they have been a threat to the European continent for the past few hundred years. They only behaved for a few years after the rise of the Empire.

The Tsarist government's greed for land is endless. If we don't weaken their strength, I'm afraid the European continent will not be peaceful in the future.

Now is the best opportunity. Once we miss this opportunity, they will collude with Britain and France, who are unwilling to fail. That will be a big problem. "

It was obvious that Prime Minister Chandler didn't take the British seriously. The world war was not over yet, and Britannia had moved down two places from Shinra's threat list.

Relatively speaking, it was easy to target the United States. Since they were enemies now, as long as they didn't accept their defection, they could openly suppress them with their allies.

The most troublesome thing was to deal with the Russians. As a traditional ally of Austria and now an important member of the Continental Alliance, the Government of Vienna couldn't directly attack them.

Not only could they not attack them, but as an ally, the Government of Vienna also had to provide help to the Russians on the surface.

Even cutting off the supply of strategic materials, they found an excuse of "giving priority to the Russian Army at the frontline". Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to explain themselves.

This was the limit of what the Government of Vienna could do. Supporting the national independence movement and aiding the revolutionary party was out of the question.

"The problem of the Americans will be put aside for the time being. We will deal with it after the war against Britain.

It is not convenient for us to directly intervene with the problem of the Russians. Let the Government of Berlin handle it themselves. "

Fortunately, the Holy Roman Empire still had the staunchly anti-Russian Kingdom of Prussia. Otherwise, Franz wouldn't know who to let out the dirty tricks.

Although these little tricks couldn't be hidden from the people, as long as the Government of Vienna refused to admit it, it was the same as not doing anything.

As for the Kingdom of Prussia's anti-Russian behavior, it was a problem left over from history and had nothing to do with the central government.

…

While the Government of Vienna was preparing for the aftermath, the Government of London was also thinking of a way out. At this point in the war, Britannia had essentially lost.

With the continuous betrayal of their allies, the supply of materials to the British Isles had become more and more difficult.

Now, not only did they have to guard against the enemy's submarine attacks, but they also had to worry about the backstabbing from their allies.

Once their allies changed sides, all of Britannia's assets in that country would be lost.

In a sense, Britannia's huge overseas investment was also one of the reasons why other countries dared to change sides.

By confiscating these assets from the British, not only did they show their allegiance to the Continental Alliance, but they also made up for the price they had to pay. Some countries even made a profit.

The war wasn't lost yet, but the British were one step ahead of the others in experiencing the aftermath of defeat.

A large number of overseas assets were lost, and the British capital was also hit hard, especially the financial market. The stock market was directly cut in half.

This was different from the confiscation of assets by the Continental Alliance. At that time, everyone thought that after the war was over, they could get back the capital with interest.

The current situation was very obvious. Anyone with a little bit of knowledge knew that the British Empire had lost the possibility of winning the war.

The most optimistic estimate now was that Britannia could only pay a certain price and retreat unscathed.

The stock market was speculated on expectations. Now that the future expectations were gone, it naturally became the market's biggest negative.

Compared to ordinary investors, the well-informed financial groups reacted more fiercely. They were now desperate to cut their losses.

That wasn't the end of it. After getting the cash, the capitalists tried to find ways to exchange it for gold. Even if they had to pay a premium now, it still couldn't stop everyone's enthusiasm for gold.

In the era of the gold standard, the pound needed to pay a premium to exchange for gold. From an economic point of view, it meant that the price of gold had risen, or that the pound had depreciated.

As a currency reserve, the value of gold itself didn't change, so it could only be that the pound had depreciated.

Moreover, as the "premium" continued to rise, the "depreciation" of the pound continued unknowingly.

Based on the market's judgment of the impact of the pound's depreciation, it was as if overnight, the pound had gone from a world currency to a trash coin that everyone despised.

Affected by this environment, the prices in the British Isles once again set foot on the highway and began to rush upward.

Not to mention turning defeat into victory, no one had any hope of paying a certain price and retreating unscathed.

The stock market crash was secondary. The financial crisis caused by the stock market crash was the most troublesome for Prime Minister Campbell.

War was fought with money. The British Empire's revenue wasn't too high, at least when compared to the Holy Roman Empire. The two weren't on the same level.

The most critical factor in being able to mobilize enough funds for the war was the British financial system and the government's strong financing ability.

But now that the financial crisis had broken out, London's financial market had been hit hard. It was almost impossible to raise funds from the market in a short period of time.

War was a gold-swallowing beast. With just the little money in the government's hands, if there was no follow-up funding, it wouldn't last long.

The situation was already dangerous. Now that the supply of supplies and the government's purse had problems, it was hard for Campbell not to panic.

However, there was no point in panicking. The biggest problem for Britannia now was "confidence." The people, interest groups, and even government officials were skeptical about whether they could win the war.

Unless the British army could achieve a major victory on the battlefield and stimulate everyone's nerves, it would be almost impossible to change everyone's minds.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Asquith: "Recently, inflation in the country has been very high. The people at the bottom are suffering, and the market is losing confidence in the pound.

More and more people are choosing to exchange for gold. Our reserves have fallen to the lowest point in fifty years, and we have to temporarily suspend free exchange.

However, this is only a temporary solution. It can only temporarily curb the outflow of gold, and can't fundamentally solve the problem.

To avoid this situation, the best way is to decouple the pound from gold and implement a credit standard system.

… "

If it weren't for the wave of bank runs, Asquith wouldn't have implemented a "credit standard system" no matter what.

It wasn't that he didn't know the benefits of a "credit standard system", but the risks involved were too great. If he wasn't careful, the value of the pound would completely go down.