Mediterranean Hegemony Road

St. Petersburg

Nicholas II is worrying about the funds for the next war. The war is going on now. Not only is the Russian Empire impoverished, but even the wealth accumulated by the Tsarist family for hundreds of years has been exhausted.

Even the nobles and officials who supported him had their families turned into real estate. In order to raise funds, Nicholas II sold everything that could be sold.

For example: state-owned enterprises in St. Petersburg, confiscated property of the opposition, mines...

These real estate properties are being sold at a discount, and these things that were once worth a fortune have now become worthless.

Originally, the export of grain and mineral resources, which was the biggest financial source of the Russian Empire, no longer exists.

Years of war had brought their grain production to an all-time low, and now the Russians would have become grain importers if not for their large and fertile land.

The same is true for the development of mineral resources. Under the influence of the war, the output cannot be guaranteed, and the international market is gradually lost. Now the only buyer is left.

After the end of the World War, Bulgaria expanded too much, and the vast colonies were able to provide most of the resources. With the continuous development of the colonies, the mineral resources imported from Russia continued to decline.

The most obvious is the export of oil. Before the World War, Bulgaria was the largest importer of Russian oil, and half of the countries in the entire European continent were importing oil to the Russians.

The Baku oil field has become the largest foreign exchange earning industry of the tsarist government. After the outbreak of the civil war, the little tsar Nicholas also stationed a lot of troops in the Baku area, worried that Bulgaria would attack there.

He was soon disappointed. With the discovery of new oil fields one by one, the international oil price fell again and again, and then never rebounded.

The Russian Empire, which was originally the largest oil exporter in Europe, suddenly found that the oil could not be sold. Because of the transportation cost, the oil produced in Baku gradually lost its competitiveness.

Bulgaria, the original largest buyer, developed oil fields in Romania, Iraq, Syria and other regions successively after the World War, and changed from an oil importer to an oil exporter.

And under Ferdinand's intentional control, the international oil price has always been at a very low level, and many oil fields with high exploitation costs were forced to close their doors. For example, the British oilfield companies in the Persian region closed down because of long-term losses. .

The Baku Oilfield is no exception.

When Nicholas II's army conquered the Caucasus, it seized the Baku oil field for the first time, but it was embarrassing to find that it was a tasteless rib.

Due to outdated mining technology, outdated refining technology, and the Russians' poor transportation hub, the oil produced in the Baku region is transported to St. Petersburg, and then refined into finished products, which are more expensive than those directly imported from Bulgaria.

In this era, the Russians did not build oil pipelines. Oil transportation was carried out by train skins, camels, and carriages. It is no wonder that the cost is low.

In the end, in order to save money, Nicholas II had to reduce the production of the Baku oilfield. The oil produced can only be used in the Caucasus region, and there is no need to transport it out to lose money.

Without these sources of foreign exchange, the life of the tsarist government would of course be difficult, and weapons and ammunition had to be imported. Self-reliance or something is not suitable for the tsarist government to play now, otherwise it will go bankrupt.

"Prime Minister, where else can the government move a sum of money, in any case we have to ensure the smooth progress of the spring offensive, this time we can't let it go any longer.

Otherwise, after this spring, the rebels will come back to life again, and damn John Bull won't make it easy for us to unify.

Now we must be fast, otherwise the weapons and ammunition from Europe will be sent back to our enemies again! ' said Nicholas II cautiously.

Now that the war has come, he has understood that his biggest enemy is no longer these traitors, but the European countries who support them behind the scenes.

Among them, the British have done the most prominently. It is because of the appearance of the British that the small government of Tsar Nicholas has been able to support it until now, otherwise they would have compromised long ago.

"Your Majesty the Great Tsar, I'm afraid this will not work. Now, more than 70% of our government's expenditures are used in the war, and other departments' expenditures have been suppressed to the lowest point.

You know, to support the war, we have embezzled a lot of money, even the funds to repay Bulgaria's loan, have been embezzled by us! "The Prime Minister said with a wry smile.

The government's financial crisis has already appeared. As early as half a year ago, he suggested to Nicholas II to borrow a loan to come back. Unfortunately, Nicholas II had a fluke, and he thought it might end this winter. drop this war.

So stick to it, you don't need to take out international loans anymore, after all, the interest rate is really high! The tsarist government is now in debt, and once the country is unified, Britain and France should come to the door to force the debt.

When the time comes to repay the loans of Britain, France, and the three countries, the government will drain every ruble in the treasury, saving a fortune.

If it weren't for the debts of the French, most of them were low-interest or interest-free loans, and the tsarist government would not be able to repay their debts. They might not even be able to repay the interest on the debts of hundreds of billions of francs.

(Note: After the French government abandoned the gold standard, the franc depreciated, but international loans are linked to gold, and inflation is fully borne by the debtor)

Now Nicholas II also knew that he regretted it, but it was too late. When you are most short of money, don't you borrow money and send it to your door to be robbed?

If possible, Nicholas II did not want to borrow money from Bulgaria, mainly because the cost of defaulting on the debt was too high. Based on what he knew about Ferdinand, once the Russian government announced the default, the probability of Bulgaria directly sending troops to occupy Ukraine was as high as nine. Layer nine.

You can't fight with others because someone else comes to take the collateral because of default, right? If this battle is fought, the Russian Empire will lose a lot, not only will it lose its last ally, but its international reputation will be completely destroyed.

So even if you want to default on the debt, you must choose a good target. For example, when Ferdinand formed a group to cheat on the American debt, it is justified. There are no hidden dangers, and now the graves of the US government are growing grass.

Compared with Bulgaria, it is safer to borrow debts from Britain and France. Anyway, everyone is far apart, and it is impossible for them to call. If they really can't pay it back, they can still talk about it slowly.

If you really can't do it, just drag it back. The big deal is to pay back part of the interest every year, and slowly grind it with the British and French governments, waiting for them to compromise.

Nicholas II is also very experienced in this regard. After all, this is an ancestral skill. The Russians have such a bad reputation in Europe, and it has nothing to do with them defaulting on their debts.

"Then let's speed up and contact the international consortium, and try to get a loan back as soon as possible!" Nicholas II thought for a while and said

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid this will not work! All the consortia we have contacted have rejected our loan application!

Even through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we have directly contacted the governments of various countries, but we have not obtained the consent of any government! "The Prime Minister said with a wry smile.

"Isn't it okay to issue bonds and let them sell them for us?" Nicholas II asked angrily.

"Your Majesty, have you forgotten the bonds we issued five years ago?" the Prime Minister reminded

Nicholas II's face became ashen. Speaking of the bonds issued by the tsarist government back then, it was a deep shame.

In 1919, the tsarist government issued 200 million pounds of bonds to the world, and the final result was very touching, less than one million pounds were sold.

Even the ones that were sold were mostly sold inside Russia. His subordinates were afraid that the tsar's face would be too ugly, so everyone gritted their teeth and bought some of them, and no one cared about them in the international market.

Of course, this is mainly due to the lack of support from the bank consortium, and no one is willing to help them issue bonds. Even if the handling fee is high, no one will take over. The Russians went to the international market to sell bonds in a whimsical way.

Leaving aside the issuance of bonds by banks, then the bank consortia of various countries decided to teach them a lesson, and finally the sales in the international market were less than 10,000 pounds.

They didn't even bring it back. The person who bought the bond finally came back and asked for a refund. If they didn't return it, they would sue the Russians for fraud.

Since then, the issuance of bonds has become a taboo for Nicholas II, and no one dares to presume in his presence.

Now the Prime Minister reminds him, mainly to tell him not to be ashamed. As early as a few years ago, the credibility of the Russian Empire was lost. Isn't it funny to issue bonds now?

When most of the banks in the Russian Empire declared bankruptcy, the tsarist government at the time failed to take timely measures, and the credibility of the Russian Empire went bankrupt.

The funds of a large number of depositors were swallowed up by the bankers, which not only caused the Russians to suffer, but also killed many foreigners who did business in Russia. They protested to the tsarist government, but ultimately ended in vain.

Under the background that governments of various countries joined forces to defraud the Russians, it became that the tsarist government colluded with bankers to annex the money of depositors, and the international credibility of the tsarist government was bankrupted.

This did not wrong them. When Nicholas II reacted, he closed down many banks and set off a wave of anti-Semitism in Russia, and got back a large part of the funds that had not been transferred in time.

It is a pity that the money was used in the war and was not returned to the depositors.

Even Ferdinand, an outsider, admired the integrity of the tsarist government.

At that time, the ruble had depreciated hundreds of times. The big deal was to print some more tickets and return the money to the depositors. Anyway, the cash is worthless, and all the blame can be put on the traitorous party.

Now the tsarist government is going to pay the price. The French were the ones who were the worst at the beginning. Who made them invest the most in Russia?

Second, it is Bulgaria. The trade volume between Bulgaria and Russia is the largest. Many businessmen have deposits in Russia. Fortunately, most of them deposit their money in Ferdinand's bank.

Despite the depreciation of the banknotes, there was finally no default. After the branch of the Russian Empire closed down, the head office continued to complete the payment.

As a result, all the blame was taken by the tsarist government and unscrupulous Russian bankers. Ferdinand not only made a fortune in the devaluation of the ruble, but also gave the bank a wave of prestige.

"All rejected? How is this possible? Did Bulgaria reject our loan request?" Nicholas II asked angrily

"Yes, Your Majesty! The Bulgarians have assessed our repayment ability. They think it is too risky to lend us money, and they are worried that we will default on our debts!" ​​the Prime Minister said nervously.

"Humph!"

Nicholas II snorted coldly. At this time of the conscience of the world, he did not want to default. Especially the loan with Bulgaria, the collateral is Ukraine, how could he default on this loan?

"Aren't the conditions we gave them enough to tempt them? Knowing that we have put up so much tax as collateral, they are still afraid that we will default on our debts?" Nicholas II said angrily.

"Your Majesty, according to the Bulgarians' assessment, the collateral we gave is worthless.

They think that even if these taxes are mortgaged to them, the right to collect the taxes is still in our hands. As long as we do some tricks, they will not get the money at all! ' explained the Prime Minister

Nicholas II was embarrassed. It seems that some seniors have already done this kind of thing. He mortgaged the salt tax, and at the end of the repayment, he shamelessly announced the exemption of the salt tax, and then announced the introduction of the salt tax.

What was mortgaged to the merchant was the salt tax, which had nothing to do with the salt tax. The mortgage had already been handed over, so everyone cleared it.

With such a foreshadowing, it is obviously not easy to use it when Nicholas II is here. No matter how much he guarantees, people have reasons not to believe it.

"Well, what conditions did the Bulgarians put forward? Just say it directly, Prime Minister, I know that Ferdinand will definitely take advantage of the fire!" Nicholas II said helplessly.

"Your Majesty, without any conditions, they directly rejected our loan request and attached a detailed assessment report!

I have also read that report. They listed all our debts, including the salaries of government officials and soldiers' casualty pensions that we now owe!

Add all these debts together, and the Russian Empire now owes £9.85 billion in debt that we are no longer able to pay! ' said the Prime Minister embarrassedly.

"How is this possible? How can we owe so much money, it's all fake!" roared Nicholas II

"Your Majesty, the data given by the Bulgarians is very watery. It is estimated that their calculation method is somewhat different from ours, but the data they give is still useful for reference.

We owe more than five million people just for the casualty pension! According to the Bulgarian pension standard, we have to pay more than 85 billion levs, which is equivalent to 3.4 billion pounds.

If calculated according to our standards, this number is much smaller. For example, many family members of soldiers have left Russia, and this part of the expenses will be saved, which is about 1.5 billion pounds, and it can be done.

The second is our foreign debt, which we are all very aware of. There are about 2.33 billion pounds, one third of which are interest-free loans, and about 40% are low-interest loans. This is a normal business loan.

The remaining part is our internal debt, and the money owed by the government to various departments. This is very complicated to calculate and changes every day.

The biggest sum of money should be military salaries. From the World War to the present, we have owed a large sum of military salaries, and it is difficult to calculate the specific figures.

But now every year we are adding £80 million to our soldier's salary debt, and now we're actually only able to pay about eight months' pay.

The Bulgarians' estimate of £900 million is probably fine, but in reality we don't need to pay that much at all, and many creditors don't know where they're going. It's a muddled account. ' explained the Prime Minister

Nicholas II rubbed his forehead, he didn't know what he didn't know, and he was startled. If calculated according to this figure, the debt of the Russian Empire has exceeded at least more than 5 billion pounds.

Even if the government is a bit more shady, and deducts part of the pension and part of the army salaries, and then deducts the internal debts that do not need to be repaid, then at least 4 billion pounds of debts must be repaid.

With the current financial income of the Russian Empire, it is obviously impossible to afford this huge debt, even paying the interest on the foreign debt is enough.

"Damn Ferdinand, he is trying to rob him again!" Nicholas II complained helplessly.

Obviously, he knew that there must be a reason for Bulgaria to give this detailed list. It is impossible to help them with financial statistics for no reason, right?

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