Chapter 356 Mao Xiong’s suggestion
Franz wanted to see a big fireworks, and he even bribed Swiss artillery hired by the rebels to fire at the area where the British Expeditionary Force was stationed.
But things did not go as smoothly as Franz thought. Even with the French presence, the interests within the rebels could not be reached.
As a result, the war turned into a sit-in, and months of watching inside and outside the city began. The rebel lines began to loosen, because everyone had to go back to shearing sheep and doing production.
The city was also in a state of chaos due to the siege by the rebels. He could only obtain supplies from the sea, but these all cost money.
Buenos Aires did not have that much money for him to waste, so Rosas could only continue to borrow money from the British. At the same time, he also wanted to use British mediation to drive the French back to Europe. After all, during the crisis of 1838, The British intervened to stop the French siege of Buenos Aires.
Rosas wanted to repeat his old tricks, but the British ambassador seemed worried at this time, because he had received domestic news that the French came with bad intentions this time, and he must carefully handle the relationship with France. If necessary, he could fight with the French army. But the parties involved must take full responsibility.
Such ambiguous instructions made neither the British Ambassador in Buenos Aires, John Stevenson, nor Army Brigadier General Buck Munde want to take on the responsibility.
After all, the officials in Whitehall (the name for the London government) neither have to charge into battle nor bear the responsibility for defeat. On the other hand, Vice Admiral Helmut in the Turkish-Egyptian War, George Eden in the Afghan War, and Colonel Zhuoli in the Battle of Pangong Lake all became scapegoats in the end.
Gambling one's own future and life with the French is really not worth the gain. No matter how fanciful the people sent by Palmerston say, this British expeditionary force is unmoved.
Austria Vienna.
The cotton planted by the Russians was mature. Tsar Nicholas I was very confident in his cotton. He felt that it would definitely bring good profits to Russia, because at this time, Russia exported too few profitable commodities. .
But Russian officials were worried. After all, the quality of Russian cotton was not very good, and at this time Austria had imported a large amount of cotton from the United States, and African colonies were also contributing cotton to their mother country.
This makes Russian officials feel that their cotton is not competitive at all. If the Austrians reject Russian cotton, then the Russians will need to develop their own textile industry to consume the cotton, and their textile industry is still stuck in the 18th century. century.
In fact, what Russian officials were worried about did not happen. The Austrians did not take the opportunity to lower prices, nor were they picky. Just grading cotton, weighing it, and counting the money.
Half was paid in cash and half in finished fabric, which the Russians thought was fair. Because Russia needs to import a large amount of finished fabrics from Europe almost every year, and the price of the fabrics used by the Austrian Empire as collateral for goods is obviously lower than the price they import, which saves them a lot of money.
In fact, Austria has also proposed that the finished fabrics can be exchanged for Austrian expected banknotes of equivalent value. Of course, Austrian expected banknotes can only purchase goods in Austria.
Tsar Nicholas I was also very satisfied with this approach. Although he preferred to change everything into money, he still felt that he had taken a big advantage when the Minister of Finance said that the price of cloth paid by the Austrian Empire was lower than the market price.
Moreover, with the money earned from Austria, Russia can develop its own industry and navy, but in fact the money is still a drop in the bucket.
But the Tsar couldn't control that much, because Russia was too poor, and industrialization and military development were inseparable from the support of money.
"How much land do we have left to grow cotton?" asked the Tsar.
"We have planted 300,000 acres, and there are about 6 million acres of land available for development."
The newly appointed Agriculture Minister Sergey Sharibin said with trepidation that after all, his predecessor was planted on the top of the highest peak of the Ural Mountains by the Tsar. He did not want to accidentally offend His Majesty the Tsar and become a potted plant with those words. .
"Change them all into cotton, my army needs money! We can use this cotton to exchange with the Austrians for what we need. The future of the Third Rome lies on these little white flowers. Can you do it? Thanks Sergei Salibin"
As soon as Sergey Sharibin raised his head, he was so frightened that he knelt down, because at some point, Nicholas I, who was 206cm tall, was already standing in front of him.
This burly and fierce-looking tsar had personally ordered the execution of many self-righteous overlords and pretentious revolutionaries. Sergei Sharibin seemed to see a scarlet army of dead souls surrounding him.
Sergey Sharibin rubbed his eyes and slammed his head on the ground, "Yes! Your Majesty the Tsar, Ula!"
"Your Majesty the Tsar, Hurrah!" The surrounding court officials also echoed.
Tsar Nicholas I was very satisfied with this result. He felt that he was one step closer to Constantinople.
Vienna.
In fact, the amount of cotton sent by the Russians was far less than Franz expected. The Austrian factories might not be able to last even a week at full operation.
But in order to keep Russia as its ally under close control, Austria had to import Russian cotton. After all, no treaty can explain the problem better than naked interests.
What Franz didn't know was that because of the cotton problem, Russia was more eager for Ottoman and Central Asian lands than ever before.
The Russians actually have their own shipbuilding plan, but due to financial constraints, they are only maintaining and adjusting the existing Black Sea Fleet, such as retiring outdated battleships and building sailing battleships to replace them.
Although the Russians had realized the superior performance of steam ships at this time, they had no plans to build them. Historically, Russian steam battleships began to be built only after the 1860s, and the first steam battleship was launched in 1864.
Although Russia has lived deep in the mainland for a long time, it is very interested in what is happening in the world, such as the discord between Britain and France in Argentina.
How could Neserlov, the leader of the pro-British faction, miss this opportunity to show his British soul to the British?
As a result, Russia sent a note to the great powers, hoping that all countries could jointly discuss the issue of the La Plata colony.
In fact, everyone knows that this matter has nothing to do with Russia, but at this time, neither the United Kingdom nor France dare to ignore the opinions of this European military policeman. After all, most of the senior people in the two countries still hope for peace. The one who can solve this crisis, and Russia's strength is enough to shake the balance of victory and defeat.
As for Austria and Prussia, two melon-eaters, they have no reason to refuse Russia's invitation in the spirit of participation. Because Russia is too close to Germany and Austria, both sides need to win over this behemoth, whether it is to unify Germany or to maintain the status quo of the German Confederation.
The Russian approach is still so simple, efficient, popular and easy to understand.
"International condominium!" Neserlov shouted, slamming the table.