It was not only the London government that was trying to find a way to raise money for the Prussians, but the French were also not idle. But they're not raising money, they're busy arguing.

In terms of economic development, Napoleon III can be said to be excellent. In the past decade or so, the French economy has maintained rapid growth.

This was particularly evident in the fiscal sector, which in 1851 was 1,273 million francs, and by 1864 it was close to 2 billion francs.

This is still not the result of calculating the Kingdom of Sardinia, otherwise it can increase by hundreds of millions, and the most prosperous region of Italy is not blown out.

After joining the French family, the market problems that plagued the capitalists of the Kingdom of Sardinia were finally solved, and the local economy began to develop rapidly.

There are pros and cons, and the French capitalists have also killed them. The weak local capital of Sardinia is obviously unable to defeat the French capital, and can only use the advantages of the local snake to compete with it.

These struggles have been covered up in the context of great economic development. After all, you have made more money, even if the competition is more cruel, but you can't deceive people.

Nearly 2 billion francs of fiscal revenue, equivalent to nearly 80 million pounds, at a time when the United Kingdom's fiscal revenue was less than 70 million pounds, and the income gap between the two sides was as high as 10 million pounds.

Of course, this is not to say that the French economy has surpassed the British. In this era, the fiscal revenue of various countries was only the fiscal revenue of the local government, and the income of the colonies was not calculated.

Moreover, it is necessary to consider the issue of fiscal distribution between the central government and local governments, and different tax collection methods also affect the level of fiscal revenue.

However, these data can still prove that the French economy is developing rapidly. Before Napoleon III's accession to the throne, France's fiscal revenues were lower than those of England, and now they have surpassed them.

With a substantial increase in fiscal revenues, the Paris government not only got out of the financial crisis, but also had the ability to play franc diplomacy.

The fact that Napoleon III wanted to replace the Russians in continental hegemony did not mean that the French really wanted to support Prussia.

There have always been two voices within the French government on whether to support Prussia in this war:

Some advocated aiding the Kingdom of Prussia, taking over and inflicting heavy losses on the Russians, laying the foundation for France to seize hegemony on the European continent.

Others advocated watching the Prussians lose in order to seize the Rhineland, increase France's industrial strength, and make up for the lack of resources.

Of course, both of these propositions had to be fought by Prussia, so the French government supported Prussia before the outbreak of the war, and even bailed out an interest-free loan of 50 million francs in advance.

Now that the war has broken out, whether to continue to support has become the focus of contention between the two sides.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Allen proposed: "The difference in strength between Prussia and Russia is too great, even if we support it, we cannot change the outcome of the war." To continue to invest precious money in the Prussian government is a waste.

Now our strategic goal has been achieved, and the Russo-Prussian War has broken out. There is no need to do anything, just wait for the post-war reception of the Rhineland. ”

Foreign Secretary Abraham objected: "No, this is the weakest period for the Russians. Even if the strength of the Kingdom of Prussia was a little weaker, they still gathered more than 700,000 troops.

Coupled with the outbreak of the Polish independence movement, which contained a large number of Russian troops, the tsarist government may not be able to defeat the Kingdom of Prussia in one fell swoop.

As long as the war lasts, the Russians will end their domestic reforms because of the war.

This is what the countries of Europe want to see, and the Vienna government will not give much support to the Russians at this time. If the war could drag on for a year or two, the tsarist government would have been defeated in the end because of its finances. ”

Finance is the weakness of the Russians, Alexander II's reforms are underway, and the social dividends brought by the reforms have not yet had time to be fed back into the fiscal revenue.

Because the war in the Near East consumed a lot of financial resources, Nicholas I spent the last part of his reign trying to erase the war losses, but did not leave Alexander II with enough foundation to support a major war.

It was precisely because of the shortcomings of the Russians that the Junker nobles dared to plan this war. It was also because of this that the British would support Prussia.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Allen shook his head and said, "What is the matter with the 700,000 troops of the Kingdom of Prussia, do you need to talk about it?" At most, there are only about 400,000 people with combat effectiveness, and the rest are all picked up guns to make up the numbers.

At present, the only countries in Europe that can afford to come up with 700,000 troops are us, Russia, and Austria. No matter how aggressive the Kingdom of Prussia was, their national strength limited their military strength.

And the Russians have more than a million active troops, and to defeat the Kingdom of Prussia, they can not even do mobilization.

Leaving aside the Russian-Austrian alliance, as long as the tsarist government promised Austria heavy benefits, the Vienna government would provide them with loans, and these benefits were cut off from the Prussians anyway.

Austria's financial strength, if not comparable to ours, was not much worse, and it was enough to support the Russians in defeating Prussia.

Besides, is there really no such thing as the Russian Empire? As an old empire, the tsarist government could still scrape together more than a billion francs of war funds as long as it wanted to.

I think it would be more realistic to pin our hopes on the financial collapse of the Russians than to pray that God will bless the Prussians to survive. ”

Support for the Kingdom of Prussia was conditional on their ability to win, or at least to inflict heavy losses on the Russians, so that the investment was not in vain.

If the Kingdom of Prussia had been dealt with by the Russians in a few or five clicks, all these investments would have been lost. Do not expect Prussia to be able to repay its debts after the defeat, and whether or not it can keep the country depends on whether the countries will continue to support them.

……

The public says that the public is reasonable, and the mother-in-law says that the mother-in-law is reasonable. The indecisive Napoleon III had a headache, and both views were very reasonable, and it was really difficult to decide.

This controversy went on for many days before Napoleon III made up his mind.

"Well, I've decided to lend money to the Kingdom of Prussia, but they're going to use the sovereignty of the Rhineland as collateral to make sure our loan is safe."

It was a compromise that supported the Kingdom of Prussia to continue the war and created a pretext for the seizure of the Rhineland.

The Kingdom of Prussia won the war, and the strategy of inflicting heavy losses on the Russians was realized, bringing France one step closer to the hegemony of the European continent. On the contrary, the defeated kingdom of Prussia had no money to pay its debts, and they could directly take the collateral.

Ostensibly this is the best option, and they will not suffer regardless of the post-war outcome. In fact, this was just wishful thinking on the part of Napoleon III.

It is impossible for the countries of Europe to watch them succeed. The British did not want to see the birth of the hegemon of the European continent, the Russians fell from the position of hegemon, France, Austria and Russia contained each other, and no one could achieve an overwhelming advantage, which is what they wanted to see.

Geopolitically, even if Franz was not prepared to compete on the European continent, he would not let the French become the new hegemon.

Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, the Italian states, the Federal Empire of Germany, the Kingdom of Prussia, the good neighbors of the French, were equally reluctant to see France grow stronger.

The mutual defense treaty against France is the best weapon to contain them. How can a country that is hostile to its neighbors become the hegemon of the European continent?

Is it just by strength? It seems that the French are not so good yet. The Russians can maintain their supremacy with a million army forces, which the French will never be able to do.

What kind of overlord is a hegemon without a little brother? Unless you have the strength to crush the European continent, you can only play at home behind closed doors.

……

Berlin, Wilhelm I did not yet know that a quarrel had just taken place in Paris that would decide their fate. The Austro-Prussian War that broke out on the European continent was completely different from the Russo-Japanese War in history.

The forces that the Russians can throw here will definitely not be only two or three layers. If only the British supported it, the London government would also be overwhelmed.

If you are lucky, you can support the Kingdom of Prussia for tens of millions of pounds, and if you are unlucky, it will not be surprising that you will end up paying hundreds of millions of pounds.

Even if it is a loan, it must be considered whether the Kingdom of Prussia can repay it. In short, it was impossible for the government of London to meet the full needs of the Prussians.

Recently, the Berlin government has applied for loans to almost every European country, and no matter how small the mosquito is, it is still meat, even if some small countries can only provide loans of tens of thousands of pounds, they do not dislike it.

Foreign Secretary McSkate frowned and said: "Just this morning, the Swiss government informed us that the joint defense treaty between the two countries was officially dissolved, and tomorrow they will announce it to the outside world."

It happened so suddenly, and the Swiss government made a surprise attack, leaving us no time to redeem it. It seems that they are determined to draw a line with us. ”

This is clearly not good news, and there is no doubt that the Pré Joint Defense Treaty was directed against Austria. Historically, it was dissolved in 1866, when Austria lost the Austro-Prussian War and was no longer able to plot against Switzerland.

Switzerland is now suddenly dissolving the Joint Defense Treaty, and there must be an inside story in this. They don't even have to think about it, they also know that this is the handiwork of the Vienna government.

William I sighed and said, "Forget it, we can't take care of these small problems. The priority was the Russo-Prussian War, and now the troops on the front line have exchanged fire with the Russians.

The financial aid promised by Britain and France did not arrive on time. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' next focus will be to coordinate with Britain and France so that they can fulfill their commitments as soon as possible. ”

There is no way, the pit teammates seem to be the talent of England and France. The London government did not coordinate with the domestic consortium in advance, and is still trying to help them raise money; The French government has delayed fundraising because of the bargain.

In the face of life and death, the dissolution of the joint defense treaty against Austria by the Swiss is not worth mentioning at all.

Wilhelm I understood the Swiss government's approach very well, and now Prussia was playing with fire, and it was normal for the Swiss to fear setting themselves on fire.

If Austria were dragged into the water because of the Russo-Austrian alliance, wouldn't they also be dragged into the war because of the Joint Defense Treaty?

The status of an eternal neutral country was not easy to come by, and it was not easy to be recognized by all countries. If dragged into the water, the French could annex the Kingdom of Sardinia, and Austria could annex Switzerland.

It is true that Switzerland and the Habsburgs have a family feud, but the difference in strength between the two sides is too great for the Swiss government to have the courage to go to war with Austria.

The Vienna government demanded that they dissolve the joint defense treaty, and the Swiss government naturally did as good as it were. Anyway, since the outbreak of the Russo-Prussian War, even if the Joint Defense Treaty exists, it will not play any role.

Understanding is understanding, William I was still very angry about the fall of the Swiss government. It's just that they really don't have the energy to care so much, and all problems have to wait until they win this war.

Foreign Secretary McKitt replied confidently: "Don't worry, Your Majesty. Britain and France will not watch us lose because of lack of funds, and now they are delaying time, just because they are afraid that we will lose the war and let the investment go down the drain.

As long as we do not lose on the battlefield, the aid they promised will be fulfilled, and it is a big deal to pay us in installments. ”

As the vanguard of the anti-Russian faction, McSkate has always believed that the Russian Empire is rotten and that it only takes one push to collapse the empire.

The recent outbreak of the Great Polish Uprising, the Russians spent more than two months not only did not calm down, but intensified, spreading the flames of war to the Belarusian region, which again strengthened McSkate's judgment.

These perceptions were very different from those of Wilhelm I, but since there was going to be a war with the Russians, it was natural to replace them with these confident anti-Russians.

If a bunch of Russophobes are appointed, thinking about compromising with the Russians every day, how can this battle be fought?