In the meeting room of the British Foreign Office, the atmosphere was particularly strange. One of the parties in the negotiation was nervous, but had to put on a smiling face; The other party was obviously not interested, but he also pretended to listen carefully.

This strange scene is the scene of the negotiations between Britain and Prussia. From the moment the negotiations began, the parties were on an unequal footing,

It's like an ordinary person who has no money in his pocket and is hungry and wants to borrow money from others to eat. In order to borrow money, that's ......

British Foreign Secretary Edward waved his hand: "Sorry, Your Excellency Earl. There's nothing I can do about it. Loans are the business of the bank, and you should talk to the bankers. ”

It is obvious that you can't borrow money just by your attitude. Without enough benefits, how could John Bull possibly shell out money?

Friedman, Foreign Minister of the Pop Federation: "Sir, we have communicated with the bank and need the endorsement of your government. Rest assured, this time we are very, very sincere.

The interest rate can be increased by 30% on the basis of the average international interest rate, and we can also use fiscal revenues, colonies, railways, mines, and ports as collateral. ”

While international lending is lucrative, the risks involved are enormous. In the absence of government "endorsement", whoever dares to make international loans is a fool.

There is a government "endorsement", and once there is a debt default, the government will step in to collect the money. Although there is no guarantee that it will be recovered, it also increases the cost of default of the other party.

If you don't have the government's "endorsement", then go and ask for the account yourself! There are many similar examples, such as the default of the tsarist government.

Debts that are "endorsed" by governments are eventually settled through negotiations, and some of them can be recovered. Debts that are not "endorsed" by the government are simply erased.

The outcome of this Russo-Prussian war is unpredictable, and it is unknown whether there will be a Pu-Po Federation after the war, and without the endorsement of the London government, the bankers naturally dare not take over this business, and the interest rate will not be high.

In those years, the government was almost lax in regulating the financial market, but it was impossible to raise hundreds of millions of pounds from the financial markets without government support.

British Foreign Secretary Edward shook his head: "Your Excellency, I feel your sincerity, but it has no effect.

Everyone knows how destructive the war is. Now that the Russo-Prussian war is on the verge of breaking out, it will only be possible for your country to fulfill its debts.

And that's just a possibility. The Russian Empire is not so easy to deal with, and even if your country can defeat them again, it will pay a lot of price, and what will your country use to pay these debts after the war?

War reparations?

IMHO, if the tsarist government had money, the war would not have ended.

The spoils of war that your country can obtain are nothing more than land, population, and factories, which are indeed very valuable, but unfortunately cannot be realized.

Even because of the war, your country has to invest a lot of money in reconstruction. It will be a financial burden for a long time to come.

This is still the ideal state. The situation will be even worse if the war becomes scorched and becomes a long-term confrontation.

If one day your country really can't fulfill its contract, will you let everyone live with these collaterals?

Your Excellency, you should be aware that the collateral offered by your country has no real effect on the banker. ”

Edward's words were already very restrained, and he did not say anything about the defeat of the Popo Federation, but in reality it had to be considered.

If you win the war, you can't guarantee the normal performance of your debts, and if you lose the war, you can still get it.

Friedman still has faith in this war. However, his confidence does not mean that the British also have confidence.

Whether they admit it or not, the comprehensive national strength of the Russians is above that of the Popo Federation.

They were able to win the last war because the countries of Europe wanted the Russians to lose, and the tsarist government actually invested only half of the forces to fight them.

Today, unlike in the past, the weakened Russian Empire is not so feared by everyone, and if you want all countries to contribute money and help them, you must speak with interests.

After hesitating for a moment, Friedman asked directly, "Sir, what does your country want?" ”

The Popo Federation now has no confidence to negotiate conditions, and instead of wasting time in negotiations, it is better to have a direct showdown, anyway, as long as the British are willing to pay for it, everything is negotiable.

British Foreign Secretary Edward waved his hand: "Your Excellency the Earl has misunderstood. We don't want anything, you have to believe that the friendship between our two countries can stand the test, but the bankers need a guarantee.

If your country is able to deposit its reserves in the Bank of England as a guarantee, you will have much more confidence in you, and you will be able to borrow at least £60 million. ”

Friedman's face instantly turned ugly, the 60 million pound loan sounded tempting, in fact, the reserves of the Pop Pop Federation issued currency now have 478.6 tons of gold.

Of course, because of the international settlement, the Poppo Federation still has to keep some gold in its hands, and the value of the gold that can be deposited in the Bank of England is about 60 million pounds.

It's not just about gold, it's about currency issuance. Once the gold fell into the hands of the British, it was difficult to get it back.

The reserves are in the hands of the British, and the future currency issuance of the Pubo Federation will have to be influenced by the London government. Somewhat similar to the Fed in later generations, it can influence the world economy through monetary policy.

There is nothing surprising that the Americans themselves learned from the British. It is nothing more than that the United States is more powerful and its hegemony is much more stable than that of Britain.

Due to Franz's butterfly effect, Aegis was forced to kill, and the pound could not enjoy the hegemony of the currency alone. Against this background, it is not surprising that the British are eyeing the Pop-Po Federation.

For the Berlin government, depositing gold in the Bank of England was not only a simple loss of monetary autonomy, but also a political side.

Choosing to support the British will naturally offend France and Austria. No, it should be said that it offended Austria.

Because of the lack of gold reserves, the franc has taken the lead in this round of currency hegemony.

Without long hesitation, Friedman gave the answer: "A loan of 60 million pounds is too little, and the value of the gold in our hands is not less than that." Not to mention the added political and economic value.

As soon as the gold is deposited in the Bank of England, we are bound to offend the Austrians. In the ensuing Russo-Prussian War, Austria had the heaviest voice.

Not long ago, the Vienna government made a similar request, and they offered much more generous terms. ”

Whether the Vienna government made a request or not, the British, as a competitor, had no way to verify. Even if it doesn't, the Berlin government is willing to send it to the door, and the Vienna government will not refuse.

Edward smiled slightly, and he was not surprised that Friedman was raising prices under the guise of Austria, which is common in diplomacy.

However, Wilhelm I's first stop on his trip to London meant that the Berlin government was more inclined to cooperate with them.

Said tentatively: "Your Excellency, this issue can be discussed slowly, we will not let our friends suffer."

As for the Vienna government's higher bid, it will only have to be good on what they promised. Although the Russian-Austrian alliance has ended, Russian-Austrian relations have not yet broken down.

In the last 30 years, the economies of Russia and Austria have been tied together. Even if the Viennese government was willing to abandon the tsarist government, it would not be possible to do so in a short time.

No matter what choice your country makes, Austria will not be able to cut off the Russians for the sake of your country, this is determined by interests. ”

Friedman nodded, this is an indisputable fact, economically Russia and Austria are indeed on the same side. If it were not for the fact that both countries had ambitions for hegemony, the Russian-Austrian alliance would not have been dissolved.

The Berlin government preferred to cooperate with the British, who had a worse reputation, rather than turn to Austria, which came from the same source, because of its deep fear of Russian-Austrian relations.

After a pause, Edward continued, adding, "If your country wants to win this war, it needs more supporters. As friends, we would be happy to help your country. ”

Edward was confident in saying this, and despite Britain's bad reputation in Europe, its diplomatic influence was still enormous.

Not to mention small countries, the most important thing is the impact on France. From the beginning of the Restoration of Napoleon III, the government of Paris was flooded with a large number of pro-British factions.

If the British government is willing to deal with these people, it will be much less difficult for the Pop-Po Confederation to seek the support of the French.

Friedman was tempted, not because he was shallow, but because there were too few chips in the hands of the Poppo Federation.

The so-called colony, which is only a small part of Indochina, is not managed much by the Berlin government, and it is not worth much at all.

The so-called "fiscal revenue" is even more of a joke. In the last ten years, except for the year when the land was sold, when has there been a balance?

Even if it is mortgaged, it is necessary to maintain the operation of the government, or the bankers will collect taxes themselves?

Railways, mines, ports, you can only listen to it. Most of these properties are privately owned, and only a very small number actually belong to the Berlin government.

Private property is sacrosanct, the government naturally has no right to dispose of it, and all that the Berlin government can mortgage is the assets of the government.

……