The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 684 Talking About Money
The Russian Jews gave a good explanation of what it means to be "unlucky for people, and it will be stuffy to drink cold water".

In fact, the Jewish ethnic group in Russia is very different from their relatives in continental Europe. These people mainly make a living from farming, not bankers and businessmen as people usually imagine.

Among the Russians, Jews drink less alcohol. This does not mean that Jews do not drink alcohol, but that they are less than other Russians.

Russia, like Britain and France, faced the plague of cholera, and St. Petersburg and Moscow were littered with dead bodies.

The problem of refugees and vagabonds that had plagued the Tsar for years was greatly alleviated in just a few weeks.

Instead, there are a large number of unclaimed bodies and skyrocketing fuel costs due to the need to cremate the bodies.

St. Petersburg Palace.

Nicholas I paced anxiously, awaiting a report from the new Governor of the Caucasus, Count Josiah Barria Jones.

In the eyes of Tsar Nicholas I, the plague that killed the poor was not worth mentioning, and the victory of the war was the key to turning the situation around.

From the deep corridor came the crisp footsteps of leather shoes landing, and a young officer in neat uniform was striding towards the chamber where the Tsar was.

The young officer's face was stern, his eyes were firm, and he had a soldier's unique killing spirit.

If this person appears in any celebrity ball or salon in Europe, he will definitely become the focus of existence, and both men and women will respect him with that kind of temperament.

However, a part of the sharp-edged auricle is obviously missing, there is a shallow scar on the chin, and the badly worn leather boots all tell the cruelty of war.

The door was slowly pushed open, and the Tsar finally stopped, watching the young people who walked in.

The coercion accumulated by the superiors over the years, coupled with the terrifying height, even the soldiers who are as cold as steel can't help but tremble.

But the young officer had seen big scenes after all, so he quickly regained his composure.

He took a deep breath, cleared his throat, and began to report to the Tsar the results and process of the war, as well as what he saw, heard, and felt.

At first the Tsar just listened quietly, but soon his brows were furrowed.

Until I heard the phrase "Count Josiah Barria Jones has repelled the attack of the Chechens, and the southern Russian grassland is safe. We can take this opportunity to build a defense line to prevent the enemy from attacking again..."

"Damn coward! I gave him 20 troops, which is ten times that of Imam Shamir! The result is that he is complacent after repelling the enemy! What I want is victory! I want to kill them all!"

Tsar Nicholas I growled hysterically that Earl Josiah Barria-Jones was making far less progress than the former had expected.

However, as a witness to the Caucasus War, the young Consquet Lobezov knew how hard-won this victory was.

Although the Imam Khanate has a small force, the Caucasus region where it is located is very vast and has complex terrain.Although the strength of the Russian army is ten times that of the opponent, but they are not familiar with the terrain, coupled with the hostility of the local people, on the contrary, their own side is often at a disadvantage on local battlefields.

At the same time, the army of the Imam Khanate was not afraid of death, and Imam Shamir himself was an excellent strategist. It was already very difficult for Earl Josiah Barria Jones to repel it.

"Marshal Barea Jones and we have done our best"

Consquet Lobezov was roughly interrupted by Nicholas I before he could finish speaking.

"Enough! I don't want to listen to the loser's excuses, telling Josiah Barea-Jones he can go home and have the baby. Ivan Paskevich will take his place."

Ivan Fedorovich Paskevich, a close friend of Tsar Nicholas I, one of Russia's most outstanding generals, participated in the Napoleonic Wars, extinguished the Decembrist rebellion, and suppressed the Polish uprising He is also known as "Prince of Warsaw" and "Dark Night".

The young officer was angry and unwilling, but he didn't dare to disobey the tsar's wishes.

Nicholas I noticed the young man's expression. He was in a very bad mood. In his plan, the Imam Khanate should have been completely wiped out before 1846.

"Go down and have a good rest." The tsar's tone was cold, and the young Consquet clenched his fists, stood at attention, saluted, and turned to leave.

Although Prime Minister Ilarion Vasilyevich Vasilichkov is the head of Russia's civil servants, his status is not high because the civil servants themselves are not seen by Nicholas I.

But as Prime Minister Hilarion has something to say.

"Dear His Majesty the Tsar, you have changed three coaches in a row, so I am afraid it will damage the morale of the army."

"What do you know? Did you go to war? Or go to military school?"

Prime Minister Ilarion was at a loss for words for a while, and Nicholas I continued to speak even more with his contempt.

"You bastard who doesn't understand anything, what right do you have to judge here? Wars are the business of soldiers, and civil servants should do their jobs well!"

Field Marshal Prince Mainkov: "Your Majesty, the war has been going on for too long. We need to end this costly war as soon as possible. I propose an additional hundred thousand troops."

Nicholas I nodded approvingly, and then looked at Prime Minister Hilarion, but the latter obviously did not realize his mistake and said inappropriately.

"Your Majesty, we have run out of money! Send another [-] troops, and the supplies will crush our country!"

"Borrow if you don't have any money! You damn guy, don't you have any brains?"

Nicholas I was obviously even more angry. He already looked down on these talkative guys, and Prime Minister Hilarion's obedient appearance made him even more displeased.

"Your Majesty, we have no place to continue borrowing money now." Prime Minister Hilarion said aggrievedly.

"Idiot! Do you want me to teach you how to borrow money? First sign a contract to borrow money, and then expand production. How simple."

In fact, this was taught by Franz to Nicholas I, although very primitive, but very effective.But it is only effective for countries like Russia with vast land and abundant manpower.

This method was really easy to use before, and the three large arsenals in Russia were all built in this way.These three factories are the Ivresk Arsenal, the Shetroletsk Arsenal and the Tula Arsenal, all in the hinterland of Russia.

As mentioned above, I won’t go into details here. The annual output is 10 rifles and 15000 long swords, as well as 100 million rounds of bullets and [-] cannons.

However, with the cracks in Russia-Austria relations, Franz will no longer be soft-hearted.When the Russian government borrows money again, it cannot directly use futures as collateral, and even if it uses futures as collateral, the price will be suppressed to a very low level.

Of course, he would not say that on the surface, but he was skeptical about the future of the Russian economy. After all, the Imam Khanate was operating in the Caucasus region and near the Black Sea at this time.

At the same time, the merchant ships of the Austrian Empire have been "robbed" once, and the Russian side has not yet made compensation.

Originally, the trade between Russia and Austria was its biggest source of extra income. As a result, because the former created a rift in the relationship between the two, the latter also began to pick and choose trade products.

Prime Minister Ilarion also tried to find a taker, but Russia's plate was too big and no one could take it, and its reputation was too poor, so no one dared to take it.

"The Austrians say they have no cash flow and no money, and they have to pay for it and deliver it."

Prime Minister Ilarion said with some helplessness that if the Tsar hadn't suddenly visited Britain, they could still make money lying down now.

Nicholas I was not an idiot. He knew that everything that happened recently was revenge from Austria, but it was his dream to carve up the world with Britain.

At the same time, to fulfill the glory and dream of the Romanov Dynasty, he can only sacrifice the Austrian Empire, his ally.

"What about England and France?"

"The private banks in Britain and France saw that the Austrians had withdrawn their capital, and they were even less confident. They all followed suit, and the conditions were even harsher than those of the Austrians."

Although Russia has been blocking the news of the domestic rebellion, the great powers have their own eyeliners in St. Petersburg, and Franz can also use newspapers from various countries to spread the news.

Therefore, the situation in Russia at this time makes private businessmen from various countries have no confidence at all, and at the same time they do not have the courage to do business with it.

"What about the National Bank?" Nicholas I continued to ask unwillingly. In fact, he was also very tired of businessmen. In his eyes, those people had neither moral bottom line nor courage.

"The British declared that they would only consider doing business with us if we abolished the Treaty of Unkar-Iskelesi with the Ottoman Empire"

Nicholas I was so angry that he almost smashed the table on the spot, but there was no table around him for him to smash.

"Damn you brit! I'm being honest with you, but they still want to do nothing!"

Naturally, such an obvious mistake in diplomatic rhetoric could not have come from the wily British Foreign Office. In fact, the original words were:

"As long as Russia repeals the Treaty of Unkar-Iskelesi with the Ottoman Empire, we will lend them money."

Although it is also a trap, Franz is not sure whether Nicholas I and the vast number of pro-British factions in Russia will be fooled. After all, they have believed the British nonsense in history, and they almost killed themselves in the end.

So Franz didn't want to take this risk, so he bribed some Russian officials, replacing only, then; with only, only.

If the Russians jumped into such an obvious pit, then Franz could only change his strategy, change his allies, or let Russia change his master.

In France, whether it is Louis Philippe or Napoleon III in prison, they have a clear purpose and are easier to communicate with.

Because they all have different interest groups behind them, the individual will will be greatly weakened.Although it also has a strong personal style, it can always be discussed.

However, Russia is completely different. The tsar's personal will can completely influence the country's policies, and it is very insecure to be with such an ally.

As for changing the tsar, Franz did not consider it, because at this time the crown prince Alexander II was still a liberal through and through.

Although Alexander II was known as the "last great tsar" in history, it was the result of long-term continuous exploration and growth, coupled with the strong stimulation of Nicholas I's defeat and suicide.

If it is too uncertain to force it onto the stage of history, if liberal reforms are carried out recklessly, the whole of Russia may fall apart by then.

Abolishing the "Vinkar-Iskelesi Treaty" signed with the Ottoman Empire would be tantamount to ruining the efforts of several generations of tsars. Nicholas I was very clear about this when Franz repeatedly reminded him.

Since the British can't do it, what about the French?

Nicholas I continued to ask: "What about the conditions in France?"

Prime Minister Hilarion actually took money from the French, he cleared his throat.

"The French are willing to lend us money, but they need Alaska as collateral."

Nicholas I and Prince Mainkov looked at each other. In fact, although Alaska is a big place, it is completely useless to Russia at this time.

Although Russia began to colonize Alaska in 1784, the effect was impressive. Until 1846, the colony was still dominated by fur trade and fishing. There were only less than 170 people in the land of more than 7000 million square kilometers.

(The Russian natives are also counted here. It is not clear what the ratio of the natives to the Russians is.)
In fact, even today Alaska is the least populous state in the United States, with a population of only 74.

Although Nicholas I liked land very much, he really didn't have much interest in this huge and useless land.

Moreover, the failure in the Oregon region proved that it is difficult for Russia to continue to do anything on the North American continent, so His Majesty the Tsar thought it would be good to sell this piece of bad land for a dozen or 20 billion rubles.

(At this time the ruble was nearly twice as expensive as the franc.)
Prince Mainkov also thought it was good. After all, Alaska was too far away and had to send troops to defend it. The problem of people was easy to solve, but it was very difficult to supply. In addition, Russia did not have any good ports, and the cost of maintaining the rule was too high. Somewhat high.

As for Alaska's resources, it is not worth mentioning in Russia. Whether it is wild animals, forests, or fish, Russia has them all.

(At that time, gold mines and oil had not yet been discovered in Alaska, and it was also known as the "freezer" of the Tsar.)
The Tsar saw that Prince Mainkov had the same idea as himself, so he asked.

"How much is the French prepared to bid?"

Prime Minister Hilarion cautiously held out a finger.

"One hundred million rubles?! No, that's too little! You must know that Alaska is the size of three Frances!"

Prime Minister Hilarion swallowed, then shook his head.

"What do you want to say?" Nicholas I asked.

"It's ten million francs."

Prime Minister Hilarion replied tremblingly.

"What! Ten million? Or francs!"

Originally, it was a common practice in the market to ask for a lot of money and pay back the money on the spot.But usually no one dared to discuss business with the tsar, Nicholas I only felt insulted.

Then a slap the size of a palm was slapped on Prime Minister Ilarion's face, and the poor old Prime Minister was directly sent flying.

Nicholas I, who is 206cm tall, made a rounded blow, which was not weak. Ilarion was almost killed by this blow.

In fact, the French bid was 5000 million francs, with a maximum of [-] million.It's just that the people sent by Guizo lowered the quotation by half in order to save costs, and told Ilarion.

"Our budget is 5000 million francs. As for how much we can suppress each of us, I will personally sponsor you for 50 francs."

If the negotiation of 1000 million francs is completed, then Prime Minister Hilarion can earn 2000 million francs, which is a figure he never dared to think of in his life.

(End of this chapter)