Chapter 1161 Sky-high Compensation
Since the vast majority of the invited countries are on the silver standard, Prince Schwarzenberg suggested.
“Your Majesty, if you want this matter to come to an end before the peace conference, it would be best to adopt the dual standard of gold and silver.
This keeps resistance to a minimum.”
"Prime Minister, do you know how much damage this will cost our country?"
Prince Schwarzenberg immediately took out a thick stack of encrypted documents from his briefcase.
"Your Majesty, I have asked experts from the Ministry of Finance and our country to make a professional assessment.
If the country implements bi-standard, it is estimated that it will need to increase relevant expenditures by 500 to 15 million florins per year, and the total losses due to arbitrage, losses, etc. during this period will be around 50 million florins. "
The loss of 60 million florins a year is absolutely an astronomical figure for most countries in the world at this time, but there is no trace of worry on Prince Schwarzenberg's face.
“Although we will suffer certain losses, according to the Ministry of Finance’s estimation, the currency union will significantly reduce the difficulty for our goods to enter other countries.
With our country's current dominant position in the market, our country's trade volume will increase by billions of florins in the future, and it will not be difficult to make up for the losses.
At the same time, our economic influence in Europe will extend to politics. Austria’s influence on European affairs will increase significantly in the future, which is a far more important benefit than increasing fiscal revenue. "
Prince Schwarzenberg paused and said excitedly.
“Our country also has a lot of silver shipped back from Japan and Mexico, and gold shipped back from Africa and California.
According to the estimates of Chinese economists, in theory, our country can completely manipulate the exchange rate within the alliance to achieve reverse arbitrage results. "
Franz sighed, this idea is very beautiful, but the level of technology does not allow it at this time.
"What can be done in theory does not mean that it can be done in practical applications. The market at this time is a blind box for all countries, and it is easy for us to overestimate our own strength and underestimate others.
Once we start a wrong action based on a wrong understanding, not only may we not make money, we may also lose the trust of our allies, giving people a bad and stupid impression.
In addition, the exchange rate has fluctuated sharply, and what should we do about the resulting financial tsunami? We need to integrate the European market, not fragment it. "
Prince Schwarzenberg is indeed a very strong person, but he is not a reckless guy like Li Kui who is so stubborn that he has to criticize everyone he sees.
"Your Majesty, what do you think we should do? We will discuss and coordinate with the Ministry of Finance."
Franz still held his original view that the gold standard was imperative, but decided to take a step back because the Europa Monetary Union is too important for Austria's future strategic planning.
“The gold and silver dual-standard mechanism can be adopted in the early stage, but the transition route must be designed from now on and the transition to the gold standard must be made with all efforts.
And I don't want you to have those useless operations that could damage international relations. "
"As you command, Your Majesty."
In the following days of negotiations, the parties were seemingly at a stalemate, but they had adjusted their expectations.
The Austrian Empire's annexation of Albania was basically unimpeded, except for the Ottoman Empire's requirement that Austria evacuate the local Ottomans safely.
From the perspective of the Ottoman Empire, this may be a loss-stopper, but from the perspective of the Austrian Empire, it is simply a double blessing.
After the agreement is reached, both parties feel that they have made a lot of money.
The land of Thessaly also became Greek land with the support of Austria, but the Greek government in turn had to pay a fee of approximately 1.5 million florins to the Ottoman Empire.
Egypt's demands were also met, and all parties knew exactly what happened during this period.
The Russians' demands on the Western Front were rejected, but they were compensated with two provinces on the Eastern Front.
Nicholas I did not accept Duke Uvalov's plan. The establishment of the Principality of Armenia was obviously not as easy as directly annexing the land.
In fact, Duke Uvalov's design was very clever. According to his idea, he first established an Armenian Principality and then gave the title of Armenian Duke to the Tsar. This solved the legal problem.
Moreover, an Armenian principality will help appease the emotions of the local Armenians. On the other hand, it will also give Russia a new excuse for war-protecting Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
However, such a cumbersome plan obviously did not appeal to the Russian ruling group. At the same time, as a veteran of inciting civil strife in the country and an old opponent of Russia, the British were very familiar with Duke Uvalov's routines and encouraged the Ottoman Empire to oppose it at the first opportunity.
The Austrian Empire stood firmly on the side of Russia on the Strait issue, and the provinces of Trabzon and Erzurum were indeed too few for Russia.
In desperation, the Ottoman Empire, with the instigation of the British, could only make sky-high compensation of 300 million rubles (approximately 145 million taels of silver).
Everyone in Russia is very satisfied with the 300 million rubles compensation. After all, the Russian government's annual fiscal revenue is only 340 million rubles.
With this money, Nicholas I could continue to expand his arsenal and army. The nobles could continue to invest in the land around the Black Sea and grow more cotton and cash crops.
Reshid Pasha looked like he had no desire to live. Now the Ottoman Empire lacked money the most. If he was allowed to make a choice, he would definitely give up Diyarbakir and save 300 million rubles in compensation.
Diyarbakir is not just a poor and backward agricultural province with inconvenient transportation on the surface. In fact, it is related to the stability of the entire Arabian Peninsula and even the big game between Britain and Russia.
Once Diyarbakir falls into the hands of Russia, it will not only be the Ottoman Empire that will be threatened. Persia will also be shrouded in the shadow of Russia. Russia's offensive route will be more difficult to guess, and it will be much more difficult for Britain to contain Russia.
So the Ottoman Empire must use money to shut up the Russians. As for the money issue, the British will consider lending to the former.
It's just that the interest rate of the British loan is too high, and Reshid Pasha also kept a watchful eye. He began to let his men frequently contact other European countries.
Soon the Ottomans came to a conclusion that the loan interest rate in Europe is much lower than that in Britain.
But if you want to enjoy this convenience, it seems that you can only turn to France or join the European Monetary Union.
In fact, the Ottoman Empire was no stranger to financial issues, or rather, they started out in the financial industry.
The Ottomans knew very well what benefits the monetary union would bring. During the Tanzimat Reform, the biggest benefit and change the Ottomans felt was the benefits and changes brought by foreign investment.
Foreign investment brought economic development, increased employment, and even made society stable and "civilized." Therefore, the Ottomans at this time had an almost crazy enthusiasm for attracting foreign investment.
Coupled with the sky-high indemnity to Russia, the Ottoman Empire became one of the most loyal supporters of the monetary union.