At a time when the Rhineland was in the midst of a great migration, the London Conference was also at a critical juncture. Between Belgium and the German Confederation, the British chose the German Confederation, while Belgium chose to move closer to France.

Strategically, Belgian pro-French is an inevitable outcome. The only one on the European continent who can compete with France is Austria, and although the British have great influence, their voice on land is greatly reduced.

Belgium was too far away from Austria and too close to France, and even though it knew that the French had ambitions to annex them, the Belgian government had to maintain good diplomatic relations with the French in order to ensure its own security.

The Belgian government, while being pro-French, also maintained good relations with Britain and Austria, in order to use the power of Britain and Austria to curb the ambitions of the French.

No matter how strategically correct it was, the French supported Belgium, and in order to contain the French, Austria could only support the German Confederation.

The three powers were divided into two camps, and in a two-to-one situation, the Rhineland naturally fell into the hands of the German Federal Empire.

Britain and Austria were also heartbroken about how the German Confederation would rule the Rhineland. In order to curb the expansion of the French, the two countries finally had to make a compromise.

In the compromise plan, the Rhineland region was given direct jurisdiction of the central government, but not by the emperor but by the imperial parliament.

To some extent, this also accelerated the integration process of the Federal German Empire. The Imperial Parliament, which was originally only a check and balance on the emperor, had real power, and the parliament was no longer a mouthpiece.

However, this is much better than Hannover's bigger and better. Trying to resolve internal problems through negotiations is not something that happens overnight, even if it drags on until the next century.

As vested interests, it is impossible for the governments of the states to give up their rights easily, and the Imperial Parliament has always been controlled by the governments of the states.

The fact that Britain and Austria have reached a consensus does not mean that the matter is over. If you want to auction the Rhineland, you have to have an auction.

On November 11, 1874, in the presence of European countries, the auction of the highest grade land on the continent began.

Prussian Foreign Minister Jeffrey Friedman personally acted as the auctioneer, the representatives of Britain, France and Austria acted as notaries, and the ministers of various countries acted as spectators.

In order to prevent people from bidding indiscriminately, Belgium and the German Confederation, which participated in the auction, each paid a deposit of five million pounds. If you can't get the money out of the bidding, the deposit will be confiscated.

There is no doubt that Belgium and the German Confederation would not have been able to come up with the starting price if they had paid for it themselves.

It was the backers behind the scenes who really paid for it, with Britain and Austria lending to the German Federal Empire and the French lending to Belgium.

This is not only a political game, but also a capital game, and financial resources are also part of strength.

Of course, there is a bottom line on both sides. It is impossible to compete endlessly and let the Prussians pick up the cheap.

Jeffrey Friedman showed a dead face and walked up to the auction table very unhappily: "The Rhineland regional auction is now officially opened.

The reserve price is £120 million, with a minimum price increase of £1 million per markup. If the price increase exceeds its own economic strength, it will be confiscated directly if it is unable to pay the deposit. The auction begins and participants are invited to place bids. ”

Apparently Jeffrey Friedman was in a very bad mood, and despite the fact that the floor price was very high, in fact the Berlin government simply did not get that much money.

The proceeds from the auction are preferentially deducted from part of the debt, and the rest is the revenue of the Berlin government.

The Russo-Prussian War emptied not only Russia's finances, but also the finances of the Kingdom of Prussia, and even worse.

Even though European countries sponsored a lot of money, and Britain and France provided a lot of low-interest loans, the Berlin government could not afford to pay the interest after the war.

However, the Berlin government did not declare bankruptcy and settle the debts, but negotiated with the creditors. With the tsarist government as an example, in order to make the Prussians obediently repay their debts, this time the creditors were much more talkative, and many debts were allowed to be deferred.

It is only natural to repay debts. After the auction of the Rhineland, the Berlin government's pockets bulged and naturally had to pay off this part of the debt first.

It was not only Britain and Austria that forced the Kingdom of Prussia to give up the Rhineland, but also many creditors behind the scenes.

But anyone who knows the Prussian treasury knows that the Kingdom of Prussia is a bad customer, and their debts can turn into bad debts at any moment. It can be said that the creditors were more worried about the finances of the Kingdom of Prussia than Wilhelm I.

The London government was able to take the initiative to force Prussia to sell off the Rhineland, and the British financial consortium also made a big move. The Paris government did not intervene to sabotage the deal, and the French consortium was equally instrumental.

No one can take hundreds of millions of loans lightly, and if they become bad debts, Britain and France do not know how many financial institutions will be implicated in bankruptcy.

Belgian delegate Klaus Jensen was the first to hold up a sign that said +500, which everyone knew was an increase of five million pounds.

So many representatives of countries are watching, want to play with words, drill words? The security deposit is held in escrow by Britain, France and Austria, and if the deep pockets don't take the five million pounds as a thing, you can try it.

Host Jeffrey Friedman's voice rang out: "£125 million".

Soon the representative of the German Federal Reich was not to be outdone, raising a sign that also said +500.

Jeffrey Friedman: "£130 million".

……

"£140 million"

……

"£142 million"

……

"£143.5 million"

……

At the beginning, the price increase started at 5 million, and after 140 million pounds, the two sides tacitly agreed to slow down the price increase. This is not a brain-dead game of jealousy, but a competition related to the national fortunes of the two countries, and both sides must think twice before making every offer.

The pound of this era is not the pound of later generations, and the purchasing power is quite high. Although Belgium and the German Confederation have good economic development, they are both small countries and their financial capacity is very limited.

Jeffrey Friedman's voice rang out again: "The Federal Reich of Germany bids 152 million pounds, twice!" ”

After a pause of about two minutes, still no sign from the Belgian delegate, Jeffrey Friedman could only reluctantly announce: "152 million pounds sterling in the Federal Reich of Germany, three times...... Deal! ”

There is no way, this figure is already beyond the limit that Belgium can bear. The French only promised a loan of 100 million pounds, and the Belgian government had a bottom line of 150 million pounds.

If the price is increased further, it will be harmful to others and not to oneself. If the price was raised, the Federal Reich of Germany gave up the bid, and in their hands they could not come up with the money, it would be a huge loss.

In terms of value, the Kingdom of Prussia sold its assets at a low price. The Rhineland has an industry of more than £152 million, not to mention a wealth of mineral resources.

However, there is no choice in reality, and the price of land transactions in this era is not high, and 152 million pounds has already set a world record. If the pound does not depreciate, no one will break it for the next 100 years.

Jeffrey Friedman's face was gloomy, and he didn't even bother to say a polite congratulations. This price is significantly lower than the overdue one, and even the buyers are not the Belgian they were hoping for.

Jeffrey Friedman believes that if France and Austria participate, the final transaction price will definitely exceed 200 million, and 300 million is not hopeless.

Obviously, this is impossible, and both France and Austria are well aware of each other's bottom line. Breaking this tacit understanding is not good for anyone.

At the same time as the signing of the treaty between Prussia and Germany, the German Federal Empire also signed loan agreements with Britain and Austria, and the collateral was the mineral resources and factories of the Rhineland.

Whether these things have a master or not does not matter to Britain and Austria, it is enough to have a treaty anyway.

Whether the property rights determined by the Prussians, after changing countries, will be recognized by the Federal Empire of Germany depends entirely on the discipline of the rulers, and at least some of them will be unlucky.

If the vested interests were still those people, and nothing had changed, what would the Federal Reich of Germany gain from buying the Rhineland, but only a small amount of taxes?

Private property is sacrosanct, and the government will not directly confiscate private property, but it is still possible to use means to suppress these properties and let them change owners.

The competition for capital in this era is very bloody, and without enough networks, it is impossible to get mixed up at all.

Otherwise, the capitalists in the Rhineland would not have vehemently opposed the land deal, and there was no psychological pressure on the capitalists to change countries.

If the Berlin government is paying attention, it will find that many powerful capitalists have already found new partners, and the rest are also on the way to finding partners.

Of course, the current government in Berlin probably doesn't have the leisure to do so. If 152 million pounds were converted into gold, it would be more than a thousand tons, more than three times the total gold reserves of the Kingdom of Prussia.

Obviously this is impossible, the price of 152 million pounds is only nominal, and the Kingdom of Prussia is still in debt.

The money had to be paid off before it could reach the Berlin government. It is limited to the debts that have matured, but not all of them.

To pay off the entire debt, this money is not enough. After the end of the Russo-Prussian War, the Berlin government has repaid more than 38 million pounds of debt, and still has more than 200 million pounds of foreign debt.

It can almost be said that a Russo-Prussian war knocked out two Rhinelands. After some negotiations, the huge amount of money from the land auction was offset by a debt of £110 million, and only £42 million went to the Berlin government.

After the resettlement of the migrants, the last thing that remains is the revenue of the Berlin government. The financial crisis was gone, but funding for the next Russo-Prussian war was still not forthcoming.

The only consolation to the Prussians was that the tsarist government next door was also poor, and even poorer than them. Perhaps one of them has raised enough money for the war, and that is the time for the next Russo-Prussian war to break out.

Soon Wilhelm I was not happy, and the Prussian finances, which had just improved, added to the mess of the Kingdom of Poland.

If possible, Wilhelm I did not mind declaring Poland bankrupt. It's a pity that this can only be imagined, Britain and France can tolerate the annexation of Poland by the Kingdom of Prussia, why not let them inherit the debts of Poland?

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