After the Great Purge, the tsarist government devoted more energy to negotiations, and the Prussian-Prussian negotiations soon entered a critical moment.

The focus of the dispute between the two sides has focused on land cession and compensation. In fact, land cession is easier to solve than compensation.

The most controversial area in Russia was East and West Prussia, the former nest of the Junker aristocracy, and the Berlin government did not dare to let it go easily.

But now these areas are in the hands of the Russians, and as a defeated country, Prussia simply cannot afford to take them back.

There is a kind of "land cutting" called an established fact, and this issue can be put aside for the time being, and everyone will get used to it after a long time.

No matter how dissatisfied the Junker nobles were, they could not change the fact that the Kingdom of Prussia was weak and unable to recover these regions.

Now the Berlin government is still fighting, on the one hand, it expects the great powers, counting on the power of international intervention to force the Russians to make concessions; On the other hand, it is for political showmanship.

Compared to territorial disputes, reparations are the real problem. Both Prussia and Prussia are now short of money, and neither of them is willing to make concessions.

The tsarist government wanted to demand as much war reparations as possible to cover the government's financial deficit; The Berlin government, on the contrary, was in financial difficulties of its own and could not afford to pay huge reparations.

The real contradiction arises, and it is the kind that cannot be reconciled. No matter how big the advantage of the Russians is, the Berlin government is just two words - no money.

The Berlin government really has no money, not fake money, no matter how you get it, you can't squeeze out oil.

Not only could not afford to pay reparations to Russia, but also the Berlin government suspended the payment of debts owed to the British.

The Prussian Chancellor of the Exchequer is said to have departed for London, seemingly to persuade creditors to extend the maturity of their debts or to accept payment in kind.

This lobbying operation is destined to be difficult. The Kingdom of Prussia lacked resources, limited industrial and technological strength, and limited competitiveness of industrial and commercial products.

Even if there is a discount for "paid in kind" goods, it is difficult to sell them in the competition of high-quality British industrial and commercial products.

The competitiveness brought by pure "cheapness" is still limited, unless the price gap is very large, or it is better to have good quality goods.

In fact, the Kingdom of Prussia itself was short of resources and needed to import industrial raw materials from overseas, and the cost of industrial and commercial products had already risen.

The only advantage, presumably, is the labor cost. Unfortunately, the world's labor costs are not high these days, except for some labor-intensive industries, most industries labor costs are only a small part of the production costs.

In fact, the Berlin government also proposed to pay war reparations in kind, but the Russian representatives rejected it outright.

There is no way, what the tsarist government is lacking now is money, not industrial and commercial products, especially since the foreign exchange gap is very serious.

The war brought a huge trade deficit to the Russian Empire, which had to rely on foreign debt to maintain its balance.

Now that the war is over, the tsarist government urgently needs a large amount of foreign exchange to pay off its debts, or it will have to fill the hole with real money.

The British did not have these pressures, and they could get cheap industrial and commercial goods, and they could dump them in the colonies, and the creditors would not lose their wallets.

The tsarist government could only obtain these things for its own use, and when they were used on the market, they could only be converted into rubles printed by themselves, and could not exchange them for valuable foreign exchange.

Russian representative Nikita Titov stretched out five fingers: "500 million Aegis, this is our bottom line, it can't be lower."

You must know that for this war, the Russian Empire paid at least three billion Aegis in military spending, causing economic losses of more than 100 million Aegis.

These are all caused by you, and the amount of compensation we are asking for is only 5% of the loss, which is very low. ”

There is nothing wrong with it, the two Russo-Prussian wars combined, including the expenses for the suppression of civil unrest in the country, did pay more than three billion Aegis in military spending.

Not to mention the economic losses, the Polish-Lithuanian region was almost whitelanded, the Russian Western Ukraine region was reduced to rubble, and the population losses of the Russian Empire in the two wars exceeded 10 million.

Add up all these losses, and ten billion Aegis is more than enough. In this respect, the demands for reparations put forward by the tsarist government were really not high.

At least, they did not ask the Berlin government for a pension. Otherwise, the pensions of tens of millions of people would not have been able to pay if the Kingdom of Prussia was sold.

Politics is such a reality, if the Berlin government wins, they are just, and the war can be defined as: the fight for the liberation of the minorities enslaved by the tsarist government.

The international community will define: Poland, Lithuania, Russian Western Ukraine...... These areas were all forcibly occupied by the tsarist government.

Since it was lost, then there is nothing to say, these regions are the territory of the Russian Empire, and the destruction of these regions by the war is all to the detriment of the property of the Russian Empire.

The Prussian delegate Gillian von McCais decisively cried out: "Your Excellency, the disaster brought about by this war is not only borne by your country, but we are also the victims.

Now the people of the Kingdom of Prussia are withering and mourning, and the common people have problems with even the most basic livelihoods, and the government is unable to make ends meet, and it is really impossible to come up with money. ”

"No money" is a panacea, Gillian von McKeis is not afraid that the Russians will further slaughter the Kingdom of Prussia, and now the Russians' control zone is the bottom line that the European powers can accept.

If the tsarist government was not satisfied and wanted to swallow the Kingdom of Prussia in one gulp, Britain, France and Austria would let them know who was the master of Europe.

The inability to annex the Kingdom of Prussia does not mean that the Kingdom of Prussia cannot be destroyed, and it is not difficult for the Russians to fight all the way to Berlin for a change of government as long as they are willing to pay the price.

It's just that in this way, it will increase huge military spending. After the war, Prussia was beaten to nothing, so don't think about a penny of reparations.

No sane government would ignore national interests for the sake of a breath, especially a poor country like Russia, which is even more unable to resist the charm of money.

How short of money the tsarist government was, you can see how much money was chosen in the negotiations.

Generally speaking, when it comes to war reparations, everyone pays them in their own currency.

Choosing "Aegis" instead of paying in "rubles", the tsarist government was also forced to do so.

Due to financial pressures, the tsarist government had to issue more currency, and the ruble continued to depreciate.

In order to protect their own interests, they must designate a stable currency, and the only options left are the British pound and the Aegis.

The largest creditor of the Russian Empire was Austria, which inevitably favored Aegis when it came to foreign exchange reserves, and the original financial model of pegging the ruble to the pound had long been abandoned during the war.

Nikita Titov shook her head and sternly refused: "This is a matter that your government needs to consider, and there is always responsibility for doing something wrong."

If you can't afford to pay the reparations, you will find a way to borrow it, and I think your country will certainly have a way to raise enough money.

If it really doesn't work, we will use our own renunciation to take it, in short, the 500 million Aegis can't be less. ”

Theoretically, if the war reparations of 500 million Aegis were obtained, the financial crisis that plagued the Russians would be solved immediately.

Paying your debt early can save you a lot of money on interest expenses. If all of them are used to repay the debt, the foreign debt can be cut in half immediately.

In order to force Prussia to compromise, Nikita Titov did not hesitate to start threatening. Can you get so much money if you pick it up yourself?

The answer is no!

The current Prussia is still the German Second Empire at its peak. If you want to make up for the war losses by dismantling the machine, even if you dismantle all the screws, you won't be able to make up 500 million.

……

Can't give in, met with no money. The two sides were rivals, and the negotiations quickly reached an impasse.

At the Vienna Palace, Franz, who was closely following the negotiations between Prussia and Prussia, also had a headache at this time.

If the Prussian-Russian negotiations drag on in this way, it will also be very unfavorable to Austria.

If nothing else, how can a new Vienna system be established without putting an end to this war?

In the style of the British, if they take the opportunity not to make trouble, then they are not British, otherwise how can they have the reputation of "-stirring sticks".

As the saying goes, there are many dreams at night, and after a long time, no one knows whether Austria's advantage can be maintained.

If this opportunity is missed, Austria will lose a lot. The Vienna system brought not only fame, but also enormous political benefits.

Foreign Secretary Wiesenberg: "Your Majesty, the appetites of the Russians are too great for Prussia to afford.

The war reparations of 500 million Aegis are probably more than the sum of all war reparations in European history, and even all the war reparations in the world combined, which may not necessarily be so much. ”

How?

In this era, it is indeed a sky-high indemnity. The Franco-Prussian War in the original time and space, and the final war reparations were only 5 billion francs, which shocked the whole world.

At the current exchange rate, 5 billion francs is only 400 million Aegis.

Of course, considering the different eras, the 400 million Aegis ten years ago is really not less than the 500 million Aegis now.

But Prussia and France are two different concepts entirely. The French easily raised 5 billion francs, which is said to be more than a billion.

You must know that the Franco-Prussian War also destroyed several eastern provinces, the economic losses exceeded 20 billion francs, and the French government itself still has a huge debt of tens of billions of francs, which is no less than the current Berlin government.

The foundation is so thick, and if people lose it, they can't do it at all if they change the Kingdom of Prussia.

Franz was not touched, it was because he had seen the reparations of World War I and World War, and his heart was already very strong, and it was difficult for him to be touched by this little money.

After pondering for a moment, Franz nodded: "For the Berlin government, it is indeed a bit much. Will the Russians be able to make concessions?

For example, a partial reduction of the compensation or an extension of the payment period. The amount of the annual reparations to be paid was limited to what the Kingdom of Prussia could afford. ”

Wessenberg shook his head: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid this is difficult. The damage caused by the war was too great, and the Kingdom of Prussia now had little ability to pay.

Moreover, the Russians still owe us a huge debt, and any proposal for relief or deferred payment is not suitable for us. ”

Hearing this explanation, Franz rubbed his forehead helplessly. When self-interest is involved, it means that there is no negotiation.

It would be embarrassing if the Vienna government had suggested that the tsarist government reduce the reparations, and the Russians had also asked Austria for debt relief.

How is it possible not to lose money if you are not financially good? According to this logic, how does Austria collect its debts from the Russians?

Franz asked: "In the current situation, how long will the tsarist government's finances be able to hold on?" ”

The truce between Prussia and Prussia does not mean that the war is over. If a treaty is not signed, the war is not really over.

At present, there are still millions of armies between Prussia and Russia still facing each other on the border, and even if there is no war, the daily expenses of eating and drinking with these millions of mouths alone are not a small number.

For Prussia, which are not financially good, there will definitely be pressure.

Prime Minister Felix replied: "It can last for about two to three months, and the failure of the Russians to threaten the Kingdom of Prussia is directly related to this."

If the Russo-Prussian war continues, at most more than a month, the tsarist government will have to make money panic again.

Not only were the Russians short of money, but Prussia was not much better. If it weren't for the fact that the Prussian army was stationed on the mainland, which reduced the consumption of transportation, the Berlin government might have gone bankrupt first. ”

The two poor ghosts were comparing patience, and Franz was also speechless. According to the current situation, it is no longer a question of how much the Kingdom of Prussia will lose, but how much they will be able to come up with.