Stockholm, the capital of the Nordic Confederation, has given its old city a new lease of life, and the "Venice of the North" is well deserved.

The beautiful scenery and unique Nordic style add a special charm to the city, which is endlessly evocative.

No amount of beauty could have moved Philip Francis Thomas. As an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire, Francis was always arrogant.

However, his so-called arrogance was still defeated in front of reality. Since accepting this task, his whole heart has gone.

In order to win a new round of the Russo-Prussian War, the tsarist government not only tried to raise money from Britain, France and Austria, but also did not let go of the Nordic Federation, which was separated by a strip of water.

Of course, Francis's main task is not to raise money, but more to stabilize the Nordic Federation, lest this old rival stab them at a critical moment.

The unification of the three Nordic countries and the comprehensive national strength are not a matter of 1+1+1=3. After the three countries learned from each other's strengths and weaknesses, the Nordic Confederation has become a system of its own, and its comprehensive national strength is comparable to that of Prussia 20 years ago.

Thinking back to the old days of the struggle with Sweden for hegemony in Northern Europe, the tsarist government did not dare to underestimate this potential adversary, and finally decided to appease this old adversary first.

For diplomats, this is undoubtedly a chore. There is no way, it is not okay not to give in in the face of the cruel reality.

Having lived through the last war firsthand, Francis was well aware that the Russian Empire's advantage over the Pop-Po Confederation was not as great as government propaganda suggested.

To a certain extent, the Nordic Confederation already has the strength to tilt the scales. In order to win this war, the tsarist government could no longer afford to lose face.

Not only to appease the Nordic Federation, but all of their neighbors are the objects of their co-optation. Don't ask these neighbors to support them, just make them neutral.

With a depressed mood, Francis, as the Tsar's special envoy, stepped into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nordic Federation. Unlike the last time he was here, he no longer had the capital to be arrogant.

……

Francis: "Your Excellency, we are very sincere this time. The Russian Empire was willing to pledge Finland in exchange for a loan of 800 million crowns.

We can make a commitment that half of the money from this loan will be used to import goods from your country. The interest rate is 6% per annum in accordance with the practice of international commercial loans, and the principal and interest are repaid in annual instalments. ”

The currencies of Denmark, Norway and Sweden are all krona, and the value of the currency is the same (1 kroner is about 0.4 grams of gold), and after the establishment of the Nordic Federation, there is naturally no need to change the currency name.

"Your Excellency, you overestimate us. The Nordic Confederation is only a small country, not as rich as yours, not to mention 800 million kroner, even 100 million kroner we can't take it. Foreign Minister Carla Valenti of the Nordic Confederation decisively refused

Francis was not angry, he was already aware of it, and when he heard that Finland was used as collateral, Carla Valenti's eyebrows moved, and she quickly covered up the past.

This was to be expected, as after the establishment of the Nordic Confederation, calls for Finland to take back Finland grew louder and louder.

The reconquest of Finland by force is unrealistic. The Russian Empire is not something that the Nordic Confederation can challenge, and the difference in strength between the two sides is too great.

Moreover, there was still pro-Russian Denmark in the Nordic Federation, which had the audacity to provoke a war, and this fragile nascent government was not able to make a difference, and it was divided again.

If you take Finland back economically, the situation is completely different.

The Danish government will not refuse Finland to return, and a strong Nordic federation will be able to help them regain their two lost principalities.

That's right, the Nordic federation is a union of countries that compromise with each other. It was built while the Russian Empire was in a period of weakness and with the support of the Great Powers.

Against this backdrop, the government must also take into account the interests of all parties when conducting domestic and foreign affairs. For example, Sweden supports Denmark in recovering the two principalities in exchange for Denmark supporting Sweden in recovering Finland.

Of course, the premise is that the strength is enough. Although the Nordic Federation is a small country, it also has a historical background, coupled with a comfortable natural environment, and everyone tends to be conservative strategically.

In other words: the strength is enough, and when the opportunity comes, the lost ground will be recovered; If the strength is insufficient, then bear with it first!

The Russo-Prussian War was the opportunity they were waiting for, and the strategy developed by Oscar II was: whoever lost, he would be punished.

This is the obvious problem. If the Pop-Po Federation loses, the country will be gone, and it will naturally not be able to stop the actions of the Nordic Federation; The Russian Empire lost the war, and it was not much better, and the Finnish region certainly could not be saved.

It was also for this reason that the tsarist government was willing to use Finland as collateral. Anyway, if you lose the war, you won't be able to keep Finland in the end, so it's better to use it to stabilize the Nordic Federation first.

Francis: "Your Excellency the Count is too modest, and with the economic power of your country, a mere 800 million crowns is not a problem.

As far as I know, your government has generated 320 million crowns of revenue this year, and liquidity in the Stockholm financial market alone is more than 840 million crowns.

Your bank is well positioned to take on this loan. ”

800 million kroner is about: 87.43 million Aegis, or 43.715 million pounds. That's a lot of money for any country.

Francis's presentation of this figure is also well-founded. Although Finland is not a small area, it is a bitter cold land in Northern Europe after all, and it is a proper rotten land in this era.

There are many similar rotten Russians, and if it were not for the high strategic value, the tsarist government would not have paid so much attention to it.

In this era of the jungle, the European continent is not peaceful, small countries have no sense of security at all, and everyone is trying to strengthen themselves as much as possible.

The Nordic Confederation has its eye on Finland, and there is no better option than nationalism.

Carla Valenti shook her head: "Your Excellency, there are risks to consider when taking out loans. Your government's finances have been in poor shape, and there is a risk of war with the Pop-Po Federation at any time.

Once war breaks out, your country's ability to repay its debts will definitely fail, and you will have to rely on collateral to cover it in the end.

Finland is so barren that the revenues are barely enough to cover expenses. If you don't have enough minerals, you have to sell wood, how long will it take to pay for yourself?

A hundred years, or two hundred years, you can't wait that long. ”

It is not surprising that the rejection is not surprising, and some of the talks are half successful, indicating that the Nordic Federal Government is tempted.

Francis's task was to stabilize the Nordic Confederation, not how much money to borrow. If you want to raise funds for the war, you can only find a way from Britain, France and Austria, and other countries are too poor.

After a tentative inquiry to no avail, Francis took his leave, leaving Carla Valenti with a secret headache.

Although the pie falling from the sky is good, it is also necessary to consider whether it is poisonous. The Russians are not easy to get along with, and if they want to take advantage of them, they can easily be counterattacked.

……

In the royal palace, after receiving the good news, Oscar II's first reaction was not surprise, but fright.

After pondering for a moment, Oscar II voiced his doubts: "What if the Russians win the war and finally refuse to fulfill the treaty?" ”

No way, the credibility of the tsarist government is so good. Having lost the war, the Russians would have fulfilled their contract, because they had neither the money to pay their debts nor the strength to keep the Finnish region.

But winning the war is different, although most of the tsarist government still has no money to pay off its debts, but they can't stand it and dare to repay their debts!

When the time comes, the Tsar will be dumbfounded when he refuses to pay his debts and at the same time refuses to hand over the Finnish regions.

You can't collect debts by force, can you?

This is only the exclusive means of debt collection by the strong against the weak, and the weak against the strong will not work at all.

Foreign Secretary Carla Valenti said uncertainly: "Probably not!" The tsarist government was raising money for the war, borrowing not only from us, but also from Austria.

If the tsarist government defaults......"

Before the words were finished, Count Carla Valenti herself did not believe it. Borrowing money from Austria and borrowing money from the Nordic Confederation are two different things entirely.

In order to get rid of Austria's debts, the Tsarist government had to think twice about the political risks behind it and the possible countermeasures taken by the Vienna government.

The Nordic federation is different, and the debts are also relied upon. At least Carla Valenti didn't find out what countermeasures they could use.

Needless to say, lending money to the tsarist government was too risky, far beyond the risk tolerance of the Nordic Federation.

After a long silence, Oscar II: "Keep talking to the Russians, this is an opportunity anyway."

We simply can't refuse to be able to rely on economic means to reclaim the Finnish region, and the most important thing now is to reduce the risk.

Now that the Russians have asked for a loan, there must be measures that will reassure us. For example, there is a third party who provides a loan guarantee.

If the tsarist government can persuade one of the British, French and Austrian to provide a guarantee for the performance of the debt, it is not out of the question. ”

The tsarist government could not care about credibility, that is, their own credibility was not good. The situation is different between Britain, France and Austria, where the economic credibility of the three countries is leveraged, and it is not possible to buy it for just 800 million crowns.

……