Holy Roman Empire

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

Strategically speaking, Belgian pro-law is an inevitable result. It is only Austria that can contend with France on the European continent. Although the British influence is great, the right to speak on land has greatly reduced.

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

Small countries have their own way of survival. While pro-French, the Belgian government also maintains good relations with Britain and Austria, just to use the power of Britain and Austria to curb French ambitions.

It was useless strategically, and the French backed Belgium. In order to curb the French, Austria can only support the German Federation.

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

Britain and Austria have broken their hearts as to how the German Federation rules the Rhineland region. To curb French expansion, the two countries had to compromise in the end.

The compromise plan, the Rhineland region was assigned to the central government, but not the emperor but the imperial parliament.

In a way, this also accelerated the integration process of the German Federal Empire. The empire's parliament, which was originally only to check and balance the emperor, has real power, and the parliament is no longer a megaphone.

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

As a vested interest, the governments of the states cannot easily give up their rights. The Imperial Parliament has always been controlled by the state governments, and it wants to be anti-customers-difficult!

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

On November 11, 1874, with the testimony of European countries, the highest-grade mass land auction in continental Europe began.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Prussia, Jeffrey Friedman, personally acted as the auctioneer, the representatives of the three countries of Britain, France and Austria acted as notaries, and the ambassadors of various countries were the audience.

In order to avoid any outcry, the participating Belgian and German Commonwealth paid a security deposit of five million pounds each. If the bargaining price cannot be obtained in the end, the security deposit will be confiscated.

There is no doubt that if Belgium and the Deutsche Commonwealth paid for themselves, they would not even be able to make up their bids.

The real supporters are behind the scenes, with Britain and Austria lending to the German Federal Empire and the French to Belgium.

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

Of course, both sides have a bottom line. It is impossible to endlessly compete and make the Prussians cheap.

Jeffrey Friedman showed a dead face and walked to the auction floor very unpleasantly: "The Rhineland auction is now officially started.

The reserve price is 120 million pounds, and each increase must not be less than 1 million pounds. If the price increase exceeds its own economic strength, the inability to pay the security deposit will be confiscated directly. The auction starts and participants are invited to bid. "

Obviously Jeffrey Friedman was in a very bad mood. Don't look at the high reserve price. In fact, the Berlin government can't get much money at all.

The proceeds from auctions are the priority for countries to deduct part of their debt, and the rest is the revenue of the Berlin government.

The Russian-Prussian war not only failed the Russian finances, but also the Prussian kingdom's finances, even worse.

Even though many European countries sponsored a lot and Britain and France provided many low-interest loans, the Berlin government still couldn't afford to pay interest after the war.

However, the Berlin government did not declare bankruptcy, but negotiated with creditors. With the example of the Tsarist government, in order to make the Prussians oblige to pay their debts, the creditors are much better at talking this time, and many debts are allowed to be postponed.

Debt repayment is justified. After the auction of the Rhineland region, the pockets of the Berlin government swelled, so naturally this debt had to be repaid first.

It is not only Britain and Austria that persuaded the Kingdom of Prussia to abandon the Rhineland region, but also many creditors behind the scenes.

Anyone who knows Prussian finances knows that the Kingdom of Prussia is a poor customer, and their debts can turn into bad debts at any time. It can be said that the creditors were 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 take any action to disrupt the transaction, and the French consortium was equally successful.

Hundreds of millions of loans can be taken lightly. If it becomes a bad debt, Britain and France do not know how many financial institutions will be implicated in bankruptcy as a result.

Belgian representative Klaus Jensen took the lead in raising the card with +500 on it, and everyone knew it was an increase of five million pounds.

So many country representatives are watching. Want to play word games and drill words? The security deposit is managed by the three countries: Britain, France, Austria and Austria. If the wealth and wealth do not take the five million pounds as one thing, you can try it.

The host Jeffrey Friedman sounded: "125 million pounds."

Soon the representatives of the German Federal Empire were not willing to give up, but also wrote +500.

Jeffrey Friedman: "130 million pounds."

...

"140 million pounds"

...

"142 million pounds"

...

"143.5 million pounds"

...

At the beginning, the fare increase was 5 million. After 140 million pounds, the two parties agreed to slow the fare increase. This is not a jealous game of brain damage, but it is related to the competition between the two countries' national games. Each time the two sides must think twice before quoting.

The pounds of this era are not the pounds of later generations, and the purchasing power is quite high. Although the economic development of Belgium and the German Federation is very good, after all, they are both small countries and their fiscal capacity is very limited.

Jeffrey Friedman's voice sounded again: "The German Federal Empire bids 152 million pounds, twice!"

After a pause of about two minutes, the Belgian representative was still not shown. Jeffrey Friedman had no choice but to announce: "German Federal Empire 152 million pounds, three times ... Deal!"

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

To increase the price further is to harm others. In case the price goes up, the German Federal Empire abandons the bid, falls into their hands and finally cannot get the money, then the loss is severe.

In terms of value, the Kingdom of Prussia was selling assets this time. The industries in the Rhineland region are all over 152 million pounds, not to mention the rich mineral resources.

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

Jeffrey Friedman's somber face didn't even bother to say ritual congratulations. This price is significantly lower than the overdue, and even buyers are not the Belgium they want.

No powerful buyer did not make an auction. Jeffrey Friedman believes that if France and Austria participate, the final transaction price can definitely exceed 200 million, and 300 million is not without hope.

Obviously, this is impossible. France and Austria are very clear on each other's bottom line. Breaking this tacit understanding is not good for anyone.

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

Whether or not these things have owners is not important to Britain and Austria. Anyway, a treaty is enough.

Whether the property rights determined by the Prussians will be recognized by the German federal empire after changing to another country depends entirely on the ruler's conduct, at least some of them will be unlucky.

If there is no change in the vested interests or those, what can the German Federal Empire gain from purchasing the Rhineland region, with only a trivial tax?

Private property is sacred and inviolable. The government will not directly confiscate private property. However, it is still possible for these industries to be suppressed and their owners changed.

The capital competition in this era is very bloody, and without sufficient network of contacts, it cannot be mixed at all.

Otherwise, the capitalists in the Rhineland region will not fiercely oppose this land transaction, and there is never any psychological pressure on the capitalists in another country.

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

Of course, the current Berlin government probably doesn't have the peace of mind. If the 152 million pounds were exchanged for gold, it would be more than a thousand tons, which is more than three times the total gold reserve of the Kingdom of Prussia.

Obviously this is impossible. The price of 152 million pounds is just nominal. The Kingdom of Prussia owes a **** debt.

The money had to settle the debts that had already matured before the rest could go to the Berlin government. It is limited to debts that are due, but not all.

To pay off the entire debt, the money is not enough. Reality once again proved that the war was a swallow of gold. After the end of the Russian-Prussian War, the Berlin government has already repaid more than 38 million pounds of debt, and there are still more than 200 million pounds of foreign debt.

It can be said that a Russian-Prussian war killed two Rhineland regions. After some negotiation, the huge sum of money obtained from this land auction was offset by 110 million pounds of 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 been shaken out, but the funding for the next general-Russian war has not yet been secured.

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

Soon William I was not happy. The just-improved Prussian finances increased the mess in the Kingdom of Poland.

If possible, William I did not mind declaring Poland bankrupt. Unfortunately, this can only be thought about. Britain and France can tolerate the annexation of Poland by the Kingdom of Prussia, why not let them assume Polish debts?

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