Holy Roman Empire

While the Rhineland region is undergoing major migration, the London meeting has also reached a critical moment.Between Belgium and the German Confederation, the British chose the German Confederation, and Belgium chose to move closer to France.

From a strategic perspective, Belgian pro-French law is an inevitable result.The only continent in Europe that can contend with France is Austria. Although the influence of the British is great, the right to speak on land is greatly reduced.

Belgium is too far from Austria and too close to France. Even if it is known that the French have the ambition to annex them, the Belgian government has to maintain good diplomatic relations with the French in order to ensure its own safety.

A small country has its own way of survival. While pro-French, the Belgian government also maintains good relations with Britain and Austria, in order to use the power of Britain and Austria to contain the French ambitions.

It is useless to be correct in strategy, the French support Belgium.Then in order to contain the French, Austria can only support the German Federation.

The three major powers are divided into two camps. In the case of two to one, the Rhineland region naturally fell into the hands of the German Federal Empire.

The way Britain and Austria ruled the Rhineland region for the German Federation was also heartbroken.In order to curb the expansion of the French, the two countries finally had to compromise.

As a compromise solution, the Rhineland region is under the direct control of the central government, but not the emperor but the Imperial Parliament.

To some extent, this has also accelerated the integration of the German Federal Empire.The imperial parliament, which originally only checked and balanced the emperor, had real power, and the parliament was no longer a megaphone.

But this is bigger than Hanover and the situation is much better.Wanting to resolve internal issues through negotiation is not an overnight matter, and even if it is dragged into the next century, it is not surprising.

As a vested interest, the governments of various states cannot easily give up their rights. The Imperial Parliament has always been under the control of the state government and wants to rebel against the guests-difficult!

Britain and Austria reached a consensus, which does not mean that the matter is over.For a good auction in the Rhineland region, an auction must be carried out.

On November 11, 1874, under the testimony of European countries, the largest land auction in continental Europe began.

Prussian Foreign Minister Jeffrey Friedman personally acted as an auctioneer, representatives of the three countries of Britain, France and Austria acted as notaries, and ministers of various countries served as audiences.

In order to avoid unreasonable bargaining, Belgium and the German Federation participating in the auction each paid a deposit of five million pounds.If the shouting price can't get the money, the deposit will be confiscated.

There is no doubt that if Belgium and the German Confederation pay for themselves, they will not be able to make up the bid price.

It is the supporters behind the scenes who really pay the money, the British and Austrian loans to the German Federal Empire, and the French to Belgium.

This is not only a political game, but also a capital game, and financial resources are also a part of strength.

Of course, both sides have a bottom line.It is impossible to continue the competition endlessly and let the Prussians take advantage of it.

Jeffrey Friedman showed a dead face and went to the auction stand very uncomfortably: "The auction in the Rhineland region is now officially started.

The base price is 120 million pounds, and each price increase must not be less than 1 million pounds.If the mark-up exceeds its own economic strength, it will be forfeited if it is unable to pay the deposit.The auction begins and participants are invited to bid."

Obviously Jeffrey Friedman is in a very bad mood. Do n’t look at the high reserve price. In fact, the Berlin government ca n’t get much money at all.

For the income from the auction, countries should deduct part of the debt first, and the remaining part is the income of the Berlin government.

The Russian-Russian war not only emptied Russian finances, but also emptied the finances of the Kingdom of Prussia, even worse.

Even though many countries in Europe have sponsored a lot, and Britain and France have provided a lot of low-interest loans, the Berlin government still failed to pay interest after the war.

However, the Berlin government did not declare bankruptcy, but negotiated with the creditors.With the example of the Tsarist government, in order to allow the Prussians to repay their debts, the creditors had to talk much better this time, and many debts were allowed to be deferred.

Debt repayment is justified.After the auction of the Rhineland region, the Berlin government's pockets swelled up, and naturally this debt had to be paid off first.

It is not only the British and Austrian countries that forced the Kingdom of Prussia to abandon the Rhineland region, but also many creditors behind the scenes.

But anyone who understands Prussian finances knows that the Kingdom of Prussia is a poor customer, and their debts may become bad debts at any time.It can be said that the creditors are more worried about the finances of the Kingdom of Prussia than William I.

The London government can take the initiative to force Prussia to sell the Rhineland region, and the British financial consortium has also made great efforts.The Paris government did not attempt to disrupt the transaction, and the French consortium also made a great contribution.

No one can take the hundreds of millions of loans lightly. If it becomes a bad debt, Britain and France do not know how many financial institutions will be involved in bankruptcy.

Belgian representative Klaus-Jenson took the lead in raising the card, which says +500, and everyone knows it is an increase of five million pounds.

So many country representatives are watching, want to play word games and drill words?The deposit is managed by the three countries of Britain, France and Austria. If the riches do n’t take the five million pounds as one thing, you can try it.

The host Jeffrey Friedman's voice sounded: "125 million pounds."

Soon the representatives of the German Federal Empire did not want to show weak signs, and also said +500.

Jeffrey Friedman: "130 million pounds."

...

"140 million pounds"

...

"142 million pounds"

...

"£ 143.5 million"

...

At the beginning, the price increase started at 5 million yuan. After 140 million pounds, the amount of price increase slowed down by both parties.This is not a brain-dead game of fighting for jealousy, but a competition related to the national games of the two countries. Both parties must think twice about each offer.

Pound sterling in this era is not the sterling of later generations, the purchasing power is quite high.Although the economic development of Belgium and the Federal Republic of Germany is very good, they are small countries after all, and their financial capacity is very limited.

Jeffrey Friedman's voice sounded again: "The German Federal Empire offered 150 million pounds, twice!"

After a pause of about two minutes, and still not seeing the Belgian representative raise a sign, Jeffrey Friedman can only helplessly declare: "German Federal Empire 152 million pounds, three times ... Deal!"

No way, this number has exceeded the limit that Belgium can withstand.The French only promised a loan of 100 million pounds, and the bottom line of the Belgian government is 150 million pounds.

If you increase the price further, it will harm others.If the price is raised, the German Federal Empire will abandon the bid and fall into their hands. Finally, they will not be able to withdraw the money.

In terms of value, the Kingdom of Prussia sold assets this time.The industry in the Rhineland area exceeds 152 million pounds, not to mention the rich mineral resources.

However, the reality has no choice. The land transaction prices in this era are not high, and 152 million pounds has set a world record.If the pound does not depreciate, no one will break in the next 100 years.

Jeffrey Friedman's face was somber that he didn't even bother to say courteous congratulations.This price is significantly lower than the overdue, and even the buyer is not the Belgium they want.

There is no way to have a strong buyer who did not end the auction. Jeffrey Friedman believes that if the two countries participate, the final transaction price can definitely exceed 200 million, and 300 million is not without hope.

Obviously this is impossible, and both France and Austria are well aware of each other's bottom line.Breaking this tacit agreement will do no good to anyone.

At the same time that Pud and Germany signed a treaty, the German Federal Empire also signed loan agreements with Britain and Austria respectively. The collateral is the mineral resources and factories in the Rhineland region.

Whether these things have a master is not important for Britain and Austria. Anyway, a treaty is enough.

The property rights determined by the Prussians will be recognized by the German Federal Empire after changing a country. It depends entirely on the ruler's morality, and at least some of them will be unlucky.

If the vested interests or those people have not changed at all, then what can the German federal empire obtain from buying the Rhineland region, is it only a trivial tax?

Private property is sacred and inviolable, and the government will not directly confiscate private property, but it is still possible to exert pressure to suppress these industries and change their owners.

The capital competition in this era is very bloody, and there is no sufficient network of connections, it can not be mixed up at all.

Otherwise, capitalists in the Rhineland region will not vehemently oppose this land transaction. Changing the country has never felt pressure on the capitalists.

If the Berlin government is paying attention, it will find that many powerful capitalists have found new partners, and the rest are on the way to find partners.

Of course, the current Berlin government does not expect this kind of leisure.If 152 million pounds are exchanged for gold, it is more than 1,000 tons, which is more than three times the total gold reserves of the Kingdom of Prussia.

Obviously this is impossible, the price of 152 million pounds is only nominal, and the Kingdom of Prussia owes a debt.

This money must be used to pay off the debts that have expired, and the rest can go to the Berlin government.It is limited to debts that are due, but not all debts.

To repay all debts, the money is not enough.Reality once again proves that the war is a golden beast. After the end of the Russian-Russian war, the Berlin government has successively paid off more than 38 million pounds of debt, and still has more than 200 million pounds of foreign debt.

It can be said that two Rhineland regions were destroyed by a Russian-Russian war.After some negotiation, the huge amount of money from the land auction was deducted from £ 110 million debt, and only 42 million pounds fell into the hands of the Berlin government.

After resettlement, the last thing that can be left is the income of the Berlin government.The financial crisis has escaped, but the funding for the next Russian-Russian war has not yet been made.

The only thing that can please the Prussians is that the tsarist government next door is also a poor ghost and is even poorer than them.Perhaps one of them raised enough funds for the war, which is the time when the next Russian-Russian war broke out.

Soon William I was not happy, and the Prussian finances, which had just turned better, added the mess of the Kingdom of Poland.

If possible, William I did not mind declaring Poland bankrupt.Unfortunately, this can only be considered. The British and French can tolerate the annexation of Poland by the Kingdom of Prussia, so why not let them take on Polish debts?