Holy Roman Empire

The economic crisis broke out in an all-round way. Not only did Franz dare not make waves, but the British government also did not dare to mess around at this time.

Exporting revolution to the European continent seems to be able to strike at the birth hegemony of the Holy Roman Empire. The problem is that revolutionary ideas are contagious.

The economy in Europe has deteriorated, and the economic situation in Britain is also not much better. Although they exploded without reaching a single spark, lighting a fire would definitely make them unable to eat.

As the world's largest financial empire, Britain is also the world's largest bubble empire. The loss caused by the bursting of the bubble is naturally the greatest.

In this highly developed financial country, more than one-sixth of the British people have invested in stocks, debt, and futures. In London, any aunt who talks about stock sweeping can give you a long time bye.

If it’s just ordinary investment, it’s fine. As long as the company has no problems, it’s a big deal to wait for the next bull market to unwind. Anyway, there are many bull markets in London, which will come every few years.

Playing with levers is different, and many unlucky ones are bursting into positions. In the stock market crash, it sometimes only takes a few minutes to go from millionaire to millionaire.

The collapse of the artificially delayed bull market has caused more losses than ever before. According to incomplete statistics, within three months after the stock market disaster broke out, the number of suicides in London exceeded 20,000, and hundreds of thousands of families were on the verge of bankruptcy due to the stock market disaster.

The evaporation of direct wealth is only a minor problem, and more serious is that corporate financing has become difficult. Companies with insufficient cash flow are either struggling on the verge of bankruptcy or have gone bankrupt.

In order to survive the crisis, companies have laid off employees and cut salaries to reduce their operating costs. Affected by this, the unemployment rate in Britain is also rising.

Looking at the crowds who walk to the streets to demonstrate every day, the people are quite dissatisfied with the current economic environment.

How to restore the economy has become the biggest problem facing the British government. In such a crisis, Prime Minister Robert Cecil naturally had no intention of playing with fire.

...

Prime Minister Robert Cecil asked suspiciously: "Vienna wants to mediate the Japanese-Spanish war with us, are they ready to abandon Spain?"

It was not that he made a fuss, but it was the reason that the Holy Roman Empire did not give up Spain.

It is true that the Holy Roman Empire is the biggest victim of the economic crisis, but this only refers to the total economic volume. If you look at the corresponding proportions to the economic volume, the situation is completely different.

In this regard, playing industry is definitely cheaper than playing finance. No matter how the wealth on paper evaporates, the fixed assets will remain the original assets.

Judging from the performance of the Vienna government, we can see that in the recent period it has also issued a large amount of loans to European countries, and obviously there is still room for it.

Even if you want to show your favor to Britain, there are other options. It is not guilty to give up Spain. After all, Spain’s strategic position is very important and can directly threaten the Strait of Gibraltar.

Foreign Secretary Cameron shook his head: "On the contrary, the Vienna government not only did not abandon Spain, but instead asked us to stop supporting the Japanese.

According to the old fox in Wesenberg, we are all European countries, and we cannot watch Japanese monkeys stepping on the top of Spain. This reason is simply irrefutable, and I almost believed it. "

Believe it or not, it depends on the benefits. In the short term, the Japanese won the Philippine Campaign, which is obviously more beneficial to Britain.

After a little thought, Robert Cecil said slowly: "No wonder the Spaniards have been so active recently and have been visiting Liberal MPs.

If these restless guys are moved by the Spaniards, then we will be in big trouble next. The Ministry of Finance will settle the accounts as soon as possible, and from now on we cannot directly provide funds to the Japanese government. "

The feelings of Great Europeanism are not lethal, but the big hat of "wasting taxpayers' money" is full of lethality. Especially in the economic crisis, it is even more powerful.

Don't think of the congressmen too clever. In their eyes, the party's consensus is always more important than the national strategy.

Not to mention the folks. Most British people don't know where Japan and the Philippines are. Talking to them about the strategic significance is no different from "playing the piano against the cow."

If you switch to confrontation with the Holy Roman Empire, it is estimated that everyone can barely accept it. However, politics often requires subtlety.

Regardless of how great the threat of the Holy Roman Empire is, and no matter how intense the conflict between the two countries is secretly, Robert Cecil is unwilling to make the conflict explicit.

"Bright face" also means "showdown." Unless there is a certainty of victory, or if the contradiction between the two countries is really overwhelming, no one will choose a "showdown."

The reason is very simple. The "showdown" is often accompanied by war. One can't get on the shore, the other can't cross the strait, and it will end up hurting both sides.

Unable to show the card, with Japan and the West in front of the tank, ordinary people naturally cannot be convinced. A little bit of guidance to public opinion, the situation is completely different if you put it another way.

For example, high-level government officials only provided funds to the Japanese government after receiving bribes from the Japanese.

Not to mention ordinary people, even if Robert Cecil is not there, he would believe it. For no other reason, this is already very British.

Corruption is normal, and there is a problem without corruption. Corruption in Britain is already deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. No matter where the investigation is started, a large wave of borers can be dug up.

In order not to make trouble on this, Robert Cecil decisively chose from the heart. As for the Japanese, they can only ask for their own blessings.

Direct support and indirect support seem to be only one word difference, but they differ greatly in strength. The former can borrow tens of millions of pounds to the Japanese government, while the latter can hardly come out with millions of pounds.

Cameron said noncommittal: "Prime Minister, in fact, we don't need to be so pessimistic. Since the enemy can find a way to start from our country and cut off the Japanese sources of funding, we can naturally counterattack accordingly.

The Holy Roman Empire is not moving, but Spain is full of flaws. The economic crisis and the war are coming at the same time, and the Spanish people have been overwhelmed by life, and they only need a spark to detonate.

Of course, the risk of directly igniting the revolution in Europe is still too great, and it may cause the fire to burn.

But it doesn't matter, the Spanish colony is not peaceful either. The leaders of the Cuban Independence Organization are in London. As long as they are sent back to support a batch of weapons and equipment, the Spaniards will be exhausted.

Whether the Japanese persisted longer or the Spanish more resilient, it depends on whom God favors more. "

Politics is so cruel, Britain can abandon the Japanese, Vienna can also abandon Spain, everything is profit.

Because of the special geographical location of the Philippine Islands, which affects the peace and stability of the Southeast Asia, the Vienna government will support Spain.

Cuba is different. Although Cuban cane sugar and cigars are good, they have nothing to do with the Holy Roman Empire. Whether Spain can hold on or not is their own question.

...

It takes time for the British to draw their salary from the bottom, but the Japanese crisis is imminent. Without financial support from London, the Tokyo government instantly felt the pressure.

Since the outbreak of the war, the Tokyo government has begun a life of borrowing money. Despite their best efforts, the government's self-raised funds can still only cover two-thirds of the expenses on the battlefield.

After receiving the terrible news of the British's sudden termination of the loan, the Emperor Meiji still felt anxious and uneasy.

There is no alternative. Being prepared in your heart does not mean that you are also prepared in funds. The Japanese have never fully believed in the British morality.

As early as the beginning of the economic crisis, the Japanese government was aware of the danger, but the tank had been launched, and it was not possible to stop it if it wanted to.

A chess piece is a chess piece. From the moment it became a chess piece in the British-Austrian game, the initiative is no longer in the hands of the Japanese government.

Emperor Meiji asked: "What do the British say, we can't cut off our loans for no reason?"

Ito Bowen: "The British explained that the risk is too high to meet the bank's lending assessment standards. Unless we can provide more collateral, the bank group will terminate lending.

Last night, I personally communicated with the British Minister. The London government has not given up its support for us, but due to political changes, the London government cannot continue to provide us with debt guarantees.

But the British Minister also brought good news that the good days for the Spaniards are coming to an end. The situation in Cuba has become unstable, and independent organizations are planning an uprising. As long as we have passed the most difficult months now, the situation will improve.

The British suggested that we use the mediation of the Vienna government to make a fuss, try to stop the war with the Spanish first, and wait for the situation to develop further. "

Regardless of the money paid by the British government, why it became a bank loan in Japan? These are the characteristics of the times.

Normally your international loans these days are not usury, and that is also on the verge of usury.

Interest-free loans or low-interest loans, even if there are political conditions attached, the beneficiary is not a private commercial bank, so why let them take risks and make concessions alone?

The only way to allow commercial banks to take on loans that seem to have no return is for the government to pay for it, and the government to recoup the cost through other proceeds.

Now that the situation is wrong, the London government can no longer pay for it, and bankers will naturally not buy it.

In order to strengthen the determination of the Japanese government to continue the war, the British decisively sacrificed the painting method. The Cuban independence movement had not yet started, but it was sent to the Japanese government as good news by the British.

Emperor Meiji frowned and said: "Cuba independence movement, the British are sure that they are not joking? Have you heard of any successful independence in recent decades?"

It was not that Emperor Meiji looked down on Cubans. The key is that now is the peak period of the colonial empire, and the wave of colonial independence movement shows no signs of it.

The Cuban independence movement has been going on for decades. At first it was supported by the Americans. After the United States was split, the Cuban independence movement lost its supporters and also entered a trough. Now that the British suddenly throw out the Cuban independence movement, it is really not very convincing.

Kuroda replied: "Your Majesty, the success of the Cuban independence movement has nothing to do with us for the time being. Whether they succeed or fail, they will not affect the Philippine campaign in a short time.

In fact, the Spanish army is no longer fighting us on the Philippine Islands, otherwise we would not be so passive.

Even if the Cuban uprising broke out, the Spanish would not be able to transfer the Philippine mercenaries to quell the chaos, and the enemies we need to face will not be weakened by this.

The only effect of the Cuban uprising was to consume the Spanish financial resources. As an old-school colonial empire, no one knows how strong the family is. Anyway, the financial resources will definitely surpass us.

Rather than relying on the Cuban independence movement, it is better to expect a more severe economic crisis, and it is better to have a revolution in Spain.

It is a pity that the Spanish royal family has reached a compromise. The Carlos faction who inherited the French throne cannot continue to fight for the Spanish throne.

It is only a small probability event to expect problems in Spain. As the British said, the only thing we can use in a short period of time is the mediation proposed by Vienna.

The problem is that the Vienna government has always supported the Spaniards, even if mediation is likely to support them. If you want to use mediation to delay time and wait for the situation to improve, I'm afraid..."

Originally wanted to say "truce", but after considering the domestic political situation, Kuroda had to swallow it back.

It was not Kuroda Kiyotaka, but it was the British who suddenly retreated, which made him lose the confidence to win the war.

Looking at the situation on the battlefield, you know that the expeditionary fleet that severely damaged Spain was quickly completed by the Vienna government; after defeating the Spanish army, a bunch of French mercenaries came.

If this continues, maybe the Vienna government will tear off its disguise and come to help in person.

The support given by the enemy's backstage was beyond imagination, and apart from selling arms and providing loans, the enemy's backstage had nothing but to cheer.

Even the strength of cheering is not enough. Only the British family supports the Japanese government politically, while Spain has the support of more than a dozen European countries, which is not on the same level.

Now even the loan is not given, which makes Kuroda, who was opposed to going south, completely eliminates the hope of winning the war.

...

The Imperial Conference continues, but the situation in Tokyo has changed first. Regardless of how much "news of victory" the government has announced, the ongoing war cannot deceive people.

Although the Tokyo government has tried its best to block the news on the front lines, it is still not covered in paper. Embassies of various countries are not obliged to keep secrets for them, and ships to and from Japan are also not obliged to keep secrets for them.

Ordinary people cannot distinguish the authenticity of the news, but their stomachs cannot deceive others. In the early days of the Japanese occupation of the Philippine Islands, they plundered a lot of materials from the Philippines, and even ordinary Tokyo residents followed suit for a few days.

Soon the situation changed. With the start of Spain's counterattack, prices in Tokyo, which had just fallen, immediately began to surge upward again.

"House seemingly endless rain".

Against the background of rising prices, people's wages have fallen instead of rising. The reason is that in order to raise more war funds, the Japanese government increased taxes on domestic enterprises, and the capitalists passed the losses on to the working class.

Fortunately, after a hard day's work, the final income can't even make ends meet, and contradictions naturally arise.

On June 16, 1894, when a few textile workers in Tokyo were buying rice in a rice shop, they encountered a sudden price increase. They went to the same shop and failed in their theory. They immediately grabbed the rice shop in a rage.

People follow blindly. Seeing someone taking the lead in grabbing rice, people who are unwilling to endure starvation join in.

A rice store is definitely not enough for everyone to grab. People who have not reaped the rewards after a step slowed down and aimed at other rice stores nearby, and the whole street was chaotic for a while.