Holy Roman Empire

Before proposing the reform of the gold standard, Franz had considered the issue of gold reserves. The best option is naturally to occupy the gold producing area and organize the manual mining.

It is a pity that the major gold producing areas in the world have nothing to do with the New Holy Roman Empire. Most of these areas are in the hands of the British.

Gold mines that were easy to mine in this era were mainly distributed in South Africa, Russia, Canada, Australia, the United States, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Brazil, Colombia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and other regions.

There is no way. There is a shortage of gold mines in the entire European continent. Most of them have been developed. Now the remaining gold mines are buried underground, and the open-pit gold mines no longer exist.

Franz is not an encyclopedia, it is impossible to clearly remember the location of each gold mine, naturally it is impossible to find out the gold mines that exist in the country.

Compared with the low output of gold, silver production in Austria is much better. Under the gold and silver reset system, it is silver that supports the currency value of Austrian currency.

After a difficult game, the New Holy Roman Empire reluctantly passed the gold standard reform system.This is the result of Franz ’s non-intervention, and some people within the Austrian government also voted against it.

In any case, the reform of the gold standard is sooner or later, and a part of the gold can be redeemed if it is started in advance. If everyone starts to grab the gold late, the price paid will be great.

Large gold mines are not under control, but small gold mines are not without it. In addition to the mainland, there are also many gold mines in the two colonies of Guinea and Congo in Austria.

Let's not mention the underground gold mines. Can the open-pit gold mines produced by riverbed alluvial be exploited?

Franz ’s expectations are not high, with several tons of output each year, just to make up for the domestic gold gap.

As for other gold mines, I still have to wait for the British to suppress the Indian uprising before making small moves. Now I still have a little peace of mind to avoid becoming a target.

At that time, the Austrian railway ship also came out, occupying the first-mover advantage. Several armored ships were released to the colony. After having the regional naval advantage, it was different to grab the colonial voice.

Do n’t look at the number one British navy in the world, but they also have many colonies to guard.After being scattered around the world, in addition to taking advantage of important sea areas, the rest of the region depends on the input of various countries.

Before the discovery of the gold mine, the value of these areas and the discovery of it were completely two concepts, and it was simply not worth fighting for.

According to the Austrian business model, as long as it has operated in the local area for more than ten years and sent hundreds of thousands of immigrants, it is not afraid of competitors.

War also requires costs. Unless it is a huge mine like South Africa, a gold mine with a thousand tons of reserves is really not enough to cover the cost of a local war between two big powers.

Even if South Africa ’s gold occupies half of the world, the most important colony of the British is India. The reason is very simple, and gold mining has a cost.

Even at its peak, the British people ’s benefits in South Africa are still less than one-fifth of India ’s, and the two are simply not comparable.

Naturally, Franz couldn't turn things upside down, and he went all out to make gold, at all costs.To put it bluntly, gold is only a manifestation of wealth, and other industrial raw materials are also wealth.

The most critical core is the development of domestic industry. Has Germany historically lacked gold reserves, hasn't it also developed?

The speed of human wealth creation in the industrial age is far from comparable to that of several gold mines, and the development of itself is the most important.

After the two world wars, the British still held India, South Africa, Australia, Canada and other regions. In the end, did they obediently give up world hegemony?

After the reform of the gold standard was confirmed, Franz left the matter to the cabinet.

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Franz still underestimated the impact of the reform of the gold standard. The domestic debates did not say that it caused a sensation in the European continent.

London

The New Holy Roman Empire suddenly began the reform of the gold standard, which immediately attracted the attention of the British government.From the perspective of the development of the capitalist market economy, the gold standard system will be more conducive to international trade.

For the British, the new Holy Roman Empire joined the ranks of the gold standard system, which is undoubtedly a big step forward in their currency hegemony.

In this era, the British had the most gold reserves in the world, and London was the world's largest financial center. Once countries adopted the gold standard system, the pound-gold settlement system they established would become the mainstream of the world.

Countries that lack gold reserves have to buy sterling as a reserve currency to stabilize their currency value.In international settlement, the use of British pound settlement is naturally indispensable.

Once the pound has become the world's currency, the benefits will not be a little bit, it will lay the foundation of the British hegemony.

Knowing to know, this is a conspiracy.Even if he knew the British plan, Franz had to squeeze his nose to recognize it.

In order to avoid the establishment of hegemony by the British, we must ignore the domestic economic development?The exchange rate of gold and silver often changes, obviously not conducive to the development of industry and commerce.

10 Downing Street, affected by the defeat of the Near East War, changed its owner again here.In the struggle for power in the country, the George Cabinet has already gone, and it is now the Lord Granville Cabinet of the Whig Party.

The Prime Minister Palmerston in history was unfortunately finished in the last political turmoil. In addition to the failure of the Near East War, he was also the initiator of the war.

As a political party representing the interests of the financial and business communities, the Whig Party is also a pioneer in the implementation of the gold standard system. In the later generations of Europe, the gold standard reforms are indispensable for them.

Prime Minister Granville said with some surprise: "The consistently conservative Austrians, this time actually took the lead in reforming the gold standard.

I do not deny that Austria ’s entry into the gold standard is good for Great Britain, but this abrupt change is still somewhat unacceptable. Do you think the reform of the Vienna government will succeed?"

Foreign Minister John Russell replied: "Your Excellency, the gold standard reform of the Vienna government is more due to power struggles. The central government wants to strengthen its control over the state government.

The New Holy Roman Empire is essentially inheriting the laws of the Holy Roman Empire. Naturally, it is inevitably restricted, and the autonomy of the governments of various states is very great.

Up to now, the Vienna government has only received unified diplomatic power and wartime military command. Now the Vienna government wants to recover the coinage right, and then it has initiated the reform of the gold standard system.

Although there was a hurry in time, Austria made a sum of war money during the Near East War, and now the Vienna government should have sufficient funds to carry out currency reform.

Without accidents, there should be no major problems when the New Holy Roman Empire joins the gold standard system."

After pondering for a moment, Prime Minister Granville asked: "In addition to capital, the gold standard reform also requires a large amount of gold reserves. Presumably, the Vienna government will soon acquire gold in the international market.

However, the international market is changing, and gold is a scarce resource. Now that it is time to raise prices, the Austrians may not be able to buy enough gold reserves.

However, considering the relationship between Britain and Austria, how about providing a loan to the Austrians to help them realize the gold standard reform?"

There is no doubt that Prime Minister Granville is ready to do things.As a market maker on the international gold market, the pricing power of gold to silver is in the hands of the British.

As long as the British manipulate the price of gold, Austria will find it difficult to acquire enough gold.

Once enough gold is not available, then the Vienna government can only accept loans from the British, and then establish a standard system of "pound-gold system".

This will greatly enhance the international status of the pound and lay the foundation for settlement in pounds in international trade.

Anglo-Austrian friendship is a joke.When it is in the interests of the United Kingdom, it is a deep friendship; once the interests are contrary, then a deep friendship can also become an enemy.

Historically, Britain and Austria have been quasi-alliance relations, supporting Austria against Russia is the British empire's national policy for nearly a century.

In the early 20th century, in order to contain the Germans, the British turned to compromise with the Russians and abandoned this traditional ally.

After a little silence, the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Gray replied: "The Prime Minister ’s proposal is good. Let the New Holy Roman Empire join our currency system, and the rest will be easier to handle."

Obviously, Austria ’s acceptance of loans is only a minor issue. The most important thing is to let the Vienna government recognize the "sterling-gold system" and join their dominance as an international currency settlement system.

In order to bring the huge benefits brought by the pound as an international currency, the British began to export pounds madly in the middle and late 19th century, using various means to make governments recognize pound hegemony.

Historically, the world hegemony of the British Empire was actually based on the currency hegemony of the British pound. The British seized a lot of benefits through the hidden means of the British pound.

In later generations, the colonial empire of the British Empire collapsed. The first thing that collapsed was also currency hegemony. In order to compete for currency hegemony, Americans also offered a big move to export dollars.

From investing in Europe after World War I, giving blood to the Germans to restore their vitality; to European aid programs after World War II, they are all fighting for currency hegemony.

The vast colonies of the British, the Americans gave up, but only the currency hegemony was caught in their hands, and the benefits are obvious.

The Granville Prime Minister asked with concern: "Sir Russell, what do you think the chances of the Vienna government accepting our goodwill are."

After a moment of contemplation, John Russell replied with a smile: "It depends on how high our bid is!

Although the economy of the New Holy Roman Empire is large, it is at a disadvantage in its gold reserves. They are not qualified to compete on the road of establishing international currency hegemony.

Except that the French may threaten us in this respect, no country in Europe has this kind of strength. Of course, if the Russians have completed internal reforms, it is also a threat."

After hesitating for a while, Prime Minister Granville made the decision: "Then our speed will be faster, we must grab more countries before competitors react."