The lack of money is an embarrassing problem, and the Kingdom of Sardinia is located in the northwest of Italy, which is considered the best developed state in Italy.

Unfortunately, this could not change the nature of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was only 70,000 square kilometers, with a population of only five or six million, and no resources, and industry was just starting.

However, they were all desperate for the unification of Italy, and because of their ambitions, the Kingdom of Sardinia was even poorer.

To unify Italy, it is natural to rely on fists, and the military expenditure of the Kingdom of Sardinia is a little larger, so their finances have been in a state of deficit.

It was not until 1852 that the legendary Prime Minister Cavour came to the court to reform the fiscal and taxation system and increase national revenue; A series of measures, such as increasing the construction of railways and ports and developing industry and commerce, were able to extricate ourselves from the financial crisis.

Prime Minister Azeglio echoed with a frown: "Your Majesty is right, we really don't have money, this war came too suddenly, and we are not fully prepared."

By occupying the Lombardy region, we have spent a lot of financial and material resources, which have greatly exceeded our budget, and so far we have spent more than 28 million lire.

(1 lira = 4.5 grams of silver)

Because of the war, the Lombardy region cannot be counted on this year's tax revenue, and it will still be in a state of net expenditure in the second half of the year.

The French abruptly terminated the promised arms aid, and now we have to squeeze out a small amount of money from the limited war funds to buy weapons and equipment, which alone will cost at least more than 17 million lire.

Together, we have spent nearly 45 percent of our war expenses, and we still have nearly 200,000 troops, and we will spend at least 1 million lira a day, and if we continue to drag on, we will go bankrupt in two months at most. ”

After listening to the Prime Minister's explanation, War Minister Li Qi's first reaction was impossible, and he immediately asked: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, how can you spend so much money, according to our plan, this 100 million lira is enough to support us in fighting for half a year!" ”

"Your Excellency Li Qi, do you suspect me of corruption?" Prime Minister Azeglio said angrily

Embezzlement? How many officials are not corrupt in this era? However, this person's well-known secret, it's better not to pierce it, otherwise everyone's face will not look good.

Li Qi hurriedly explained: "No, Your Excellency Prime Minister, I didn't question what you meant, but I was a little curious about these expenses!" ”

After listening to Li Qi's answer, Azzio's expression slowed slightly, and he explained unhurriedly: "I'll give you a rough calculation, so that you can see where the money is spent."

In Lombardy, it cost 8,650,000 lire to buy the Liberals, 10,536,500 lire to solve the food problem, 3,657,000 lire to help war refugees, and 3,862,300 lire to set up an administration......

Because of the endless revolutions in Europe, the price of weapons and equipment on the international market has risen by 37 percent, and your War Department has also sent people to participate in the specific situation, so you don't need to ask me, right?

According to our prior plan, we were not prepared to recruit another 70,000 troops in the Lombardy region, and with so many additional troops, the cost would naturally go up! ”

After listening to the Prime Minister's explanation, Li Qi had nothing to say. There is no way, who made their army unconfident about fighting the Austrians? In order to increase their chances of victory, they resorted to the simplest method - to expand their army.

Before the Industrial Revolution, the mobilization capacity of agrarian societies was not high, and it was impossible for the whole people to participate in the war.

More than 100,000 people were mobilized within the Kingdom of Sardinia, basically to the limit of mobilization. At this time, the enthusiasm of the Lombard people to join the army was high, and there was no reason for the good soldiers to turn them away?

At this time, Li Qi couldn't care so much, as the Minister of War, he had to stand on the position of the Army and reduce the risk of failure as much as possible.

"Your Excellency, the British are supporting this war, so can't we ask the British for another loan?"

Prime Minister Azeglio frowned and said with a wry smile: "It's not easy for the British to get a loan, and we have paid a lot of money for this 3 million pound loan."

Now that the war has broken out, if you ask them for a loan again, I'm afraid the conditions will not be so simple! ”

(£1 ≈25 lira)

There is no way, this is almost a tried and tested routine of the British, first give a loan to lure people on board. However, "it is easy to get on the boat and difficult to get off the boat", and when they reach the center of the river, they can only let them go.

"And what about the French? Didn't they want us to expel the Austrians from Italy, and now they didn't say anything? Li Qi asked without giving up

Charlie Albert sneered and said, "Humph! The French are a bunch of untrustworthy bastards, and now they don't even have the weapons and equipment assistance promised in advance, do you think they can still count on it? ”

The crowd did not take up the subject, and the French aid was available, but when it was learned that the Kingdom of Sardinia had annexed Lombardy, the matter fell apart.

According to the demands of the French, the Lombardy region must become an independent state, which is undoubtedly unacceptable to them.

It is easy to be independent, but it is difficult to reunify, if the current opportunity is missed, will the Kingdom of Sardinia still have a chance to annex Lombardy?

Li Qi pondered for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, judging from the current situation, it is the Austrian famous general Radkiss, an old fox, who guards the Venice area, and he has suffered a loss once, so he can't be fooled a second time."

If the Austrian army had only defended the city and had not fought a decisive battle with us, it would have been impossible for us to end the war in two months.

If the Austrians are not willing to end the war, the war will continue even if we conquer Venice, so we still have to find another way to finance the war. ”

He was in a showdown, and if he wanted to end the war, it was not just their decision, unless the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia could fight all the way to Vienna and force the Austrian government to surrender.

This is obviously impossible, everyone is a sane politician, and no one thinks that even if they have confidence in the army of the Kingdom of Sardinia, they will be able to do this.

In this case, if you want to win the war, the government must find a way to raise military funds for them, otherwise it is not the responsibility of the War Department to lose the war because of lack of money.

Prime Minister Azeglio smiled bitterly and said, "Okay, Your Excellency Richie's military spending problem, we will find a way to solve it, but you must also ensure victory." We can't afford to lose this war! ”

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister, please rest assured. In command of this war was Marshal Bardogio, who had already defeated the Austrians once, and it was no problem to deal with a group of defeated generals! Li Qi hurriedly reassured

Charlie Albert, who didn't open his mouth for a while, suddenly asked: "Prime Minister, how are you going to solve the funding gap?" ”