Chapter 400： No money, I can only kill pigs

Saint Petersburg, the Tsarist government at the center of the Vortex has had a hard time since the end of the East Prussian campaign.

Although the generals on the front line carried the blame, Alexander II understood that the real cause of the defeat of the Russian army was not the command of the generals.

If there was no such a quick order, perhaps the East Prussian campaign would continue. According to the original strategy, the Russian army only needed to compete with the Prussians and rely on the maritime superiority to win.

Offense and defense are not a concept at all. If the Russian army adopted a defensive strategy, it would definitely not lose so quickly. With the sudden increase in Prussian troops, they lost at most a few lines of defense.

"Money" became the culprit for the defeat of this battle, followed by the poor traffic of the Russian Empire, again the corrupt bureaucracy of the Tsarist government, and finally this "decisive battle order".

Secretary of the Army Heramede reported: "His Majesty, we have mobilized, and the loss of troops on the front line can be filled in the next two months.

Weapons and equipment that have been lost are being prepared by domestic military enterprises to work day and night. We have already ordered from Austria for the shortfall, and will ensure that they will be equipped to the army before the spring of next year. "

Hramed very wisely ignored the matter of accountability. Although the main officers on the front line have not been dismissed and held accountable, they have been ordered to commit crimes.

On the whole, they have passed. These officers were the greatest gains of the Russians in the Near East War and were the elite of the Russian army.

Now we still have to fight, and the savvy Alexander II will naturally not do the matter of self-destructing the Great Wall.

"It's still a question of money, isn't it?"

Alexander II asked helplessly, and he could tell from his tone that the question of "money" had not appeared once or twice.

Secretary of the Army Heramede replied affirmatively: "Yes! We have already owed too much money, and many of the cooperative companies have fallen into financial difficulties. Now they require that the arrears be paid before they can organize production. "

It is common for the tsarist government to owe corporate money, but it is rare that it owes so much this time.

The capitalists are not fools, knowing that the tsarist government's finances have gone wrong, naturally they will not continue to owe credit.

In this respect, Tsarist officials and their ally are allies. Enterprises cannot make money. What do they give them as rebates?

Not only military industrial enterprises, but also the cooperative enterprises of the Tsarist government are now backing up a large amount of debt.

These problems are not resolved, and the Russian Empire does not have to consider next year's war and directly bows its heads.

Alexander II asked expectantly: "What plans does the Ministry of Finance have to solve the current crisis?"

Chancellor of the Exchequer Kristanval answered with a stern expression: "There are two solutions: one is to levy a war tax again; the other is to borrow foreign debt."

No bond issuance and no internal borrowing are undoubtedly an explanation: the credibility of the Tsarist government has collapsed, and domestic financial problems have also occurred.

In fact, when the Russian army just occupied East Prussia, many people were optimistic about them, and the Ministry of Finance took this opportunity to sell a batch of bonds.

Then there is no more, and now their bonds are left unattended again. Even the Minister of Finance himself is not sure whether these bonds can be paid.

War is a beast of gold, and Russia is a feudal empire that is transitioning to capitalism. The funds that can be mobilized are very limited.

Of course, this does not mean that they have no money, but savvy financiers, at this time pretending to be poor, have no intention of the Tsarist government at all.

Alexander II sneered and said, "Can't the domestic financial community think of a solution? As far as I know, they still hold the foreign debts of many European countries!"

There is nothing wrong. The Tsarist government borrows from foreign banks, and Russian banks lend abroad. This is normal financial activity.

The only exception is that these banks are unwilling to lend money to the Tsarist government.

Of course, this is not all a bank problem. Most of the previous tsars played too hard, and there are many things that have not been repaid, and everyone is unwilling to continue to be fooled.

This topic is stuck. Now that the government's finances have collapsed, domestic banks are afraid to borrow.

Seeing no one answered, Alexander II did not continue the topic. He knew that for the bureaucrats: there are things that can be done, but they cannot be said, otherwise it is easy to leave them to the hands of political opponents.

"How much money can I raise?"

Chancellor of the Exchequer Kristanval thought for a while and said, "A preliminary estimate is that a war tax of 86 million rubles can be levied. As for finding foreign bank loans, the exact amount cannot be determined.

This depends on how much collateral we can take out, as well as political factors, which also need to be taken into consideration. "

"86 million rubles" seems to be an astronomical figure. In fact, it is not enough to pay off the debts of enterprises. It was a complete misfortune in the war.

This is not that the ruble is worthless. The key is that the war is too expensive. Killing hundreds of tons of artillery shells a day is only a basic operation.

In fact, this has been saved very much. Five to six hundred thousand troops are fighting on the front line. Even if each person consumes 5 bullets per day, that is more than 3 million rounds.

With so many troops, on average, no matter how much you save each day, you have to fire at least a few thousand shells.

Hundreds of thousands of rubles are gone every day for the most basic ammunition consumption. Coupled with the consumption of various logistical materials, the cost of millions of rubles per day is indispensable.

After all, the cost of materials on the battlefield is not a cost price. Many strategic materials were transported from the rear to the hands of the frontline Russian army, and the price has already increased several times.

Alexander II frowned and asked, "Say, what are you going to mortgage and how much money can you borrow?"

Alexander II was very upset about this feeling of being out of control. Unfortunately, reality has left him no choice, and he can't always send out European hegemony?

Even the small kingdom of Prussia is uncertain. Russia's international status may be from the top, and after falling to Britain, France, and Austria, it will still rank behind the Prussians.

Most of the political gains from the Near East War will be put to rest in this defeat.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Kristanval did not hesitate to choose to play the ball: "It depends on the outcome of the negotiations. Now it is not what we give, but what the other party wants.

You can reach a few more countries and choose the conditions that are most favorable to us as far as possible. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is professional in this regard. "

Foreign Minister Clarence-Ivanov gave Kristanval a stern glance, clearly a pitman.

International loans have never been easy to borrow. Loans with no strings attached may exist, but unfortunately the tsarist government cannot borrow them.

Once an additional treaty was signed that harmed national interests, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was the target of blame, and Clarence's mood was instantly distressed.

"Your Majesty, the current funding gap is too large. There are only a few companies in the world capable of providing this loan. Our options are almost non-existent.

If we are to rely on international loans to resolve the financial crisis, we are afraid that we will have to pay a high price to be able to borrow money.

It would be better for us to think of ways in China. The huge Russian empire would not be able to raise hundreds of millions of rubles. "

Clarence's position is very obvious, it is better not to borrow money. The funding gap this time is too big, even if borrowed money will not be able to afford it in the future.

Now they do n’t have many chips to use as collateral. Except for the vast territory, Clarence does n’t think there is anything else that can lend so much money.

It is not easy to settle accounts, but mortgage loans are different. Now the gold owners who have the strength to provide loans to them do not have a soft persimmon. When the time comes, they will take away the collateral.

This is obviously impossible. If they had money to fight, they would have repaid the debt. War is actually the most extravagant toy and is not suitable for the poor.

Rather than embarrassing, it is better to flip the table in advance. If the government has no money, it will ask the rich for it. Anyway, this is not the first time, the ancestors have the experience to stay.

A big vote can not only solve the debt crisis in one fell swoop, but also a little stuff in the past. The pigs have grown fat and can be killed now.

Alexander II nodded. This may not be the best choice, but it is the best choice for the Tsarist government.

Under the tacit agreement of the Tsar's high-level government, the Jews began to be unlucky. The upper-level target is only Jewish financial capitalists, but the middle- and lower-level Jews have also suffered.

Nobles will naturally not miss this opportunity to make a fortune. Regardless of whether they are reformers or conservatives, their positions on this issue are unprecedented.

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