The internal problems of the anti-Turkish alliance were solved, and now the last link remained, to find a king for the newly independent Armenians.

The kingdom of Armenia has been extinct for thousands of years, and the former royal family has long since disappeared into history, and the legitimate heir does not exist at all.

The sandwich biscuit, located between Russia and Austria, is destined to make the future of this new country not too comfortable.

Russian-Austrian relations have always been friendly, but once relations between the two countries deteriorate, Armenia will be forced to take sides.

Franz had no interest in such a bitter position. The Habsburgs gave up, but it didn't mean that other royal families would give up too.

The last thing that Europe lacks is the declining royal family, and the core members are just that, and the prominent status can still enter and exit the upper class, and with these resources, you can also be a rich man at the very least.

The side line is miserable, the declining royal family has no spare resources to provide them, and they must fend for themselves.

If you're lucky, you can still live with an empty title; Those who are unlucky will be reduced directly to civilians.

These people who have nothing will not give up any opportunity, and the success story of Napoleon III inspires everyone to work hard.

A hot potato?

What is there to be afraid of, to be a king one day is also a king. As long as it is recognized by European society, it is a class jump, and it is still the kind that climbs to the sky.

Since the Habsburgs announced their renunciation, the sequelae of having many relatives have been exposed, and the Vienna Palace has become particularly lively, and there are countless people who have come to climb the relationship.

Foreign Secretary Wessenberg: "Your Majesty, the Russians want to support Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich as king of Armenia.

The tsarist government had already begun lobbying the Armenian top, and they prescribed conditions that the Armenians could not refuse. As long as we don't object, the outcome of the subsequent elections is doomed. ”

Franz smiled slightly: "Oh, the Russians are willing to give up the Batumi region?" ”

(Note: Batumi, present-day southern Georgia port city)

The Kingdom of Armenia exists as a buffer between Russia and Austria, and its territory and original time and space have also changed, and the current territory is like a banana.

It is bordered by Persia to the east and the Black Sea to the west. The territory covers an area of about 30,000 square kilometers, and the capital is Yerevan.

If this is the case, the Armenians should be considered to have made a lot of money. It's a pity that the Russians don't let go of the way to the sea, and the newly formed kingdom of Armenia is still a landlocked country.

Batumi, a small city in the Caucasus, is the closest outlet to the sea from Armenia and the most desired area for Armenians.

Wesenberg shook his head: "No, the tsarist government is still reluctant to give up, but Alexander III turned Batumi into a fief of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich.

If the Armenians accept the king's transformation, they will not be subject to any restrictions on their import and export trade, and on the contrary, they will have to ......"

This is normal operation, such a good bargaining chip, how can the Russians give it up so easily?

Perhaps the Armenians could borrow from Austria, but unfortunately even to get to the nearest port of Hopa would have to walk a hundred miles.

In later generations, this matter of an hour away is naturally nothing. But in this era, that meant two more days of shipping time.

It doesn't matter once or twice, but the more times it takes, the loss will be greater. From the very beginning, the Russians dug the pit well.

Having figured out the ins and outs, Franz replied indifferently: "Since the Russians are so well prepared, it is better to fulfill them." ”

Armenia is not worth much and is not worth much effort from Austria. The special topography of the Caucasus has been determined by nature - it cannot be the main battlefield of the Russian-Austrian confrontation.

It is not impossible to win over the Armenians, the main reason is that the pay is not proportional to the benefits, it is better to give it to the Russians and lure the Russians south to Persia.

Prime Minister Felix reminded: "Your Majesty, the Russians do not necessarily want to take control of the Kingdom of Armenia.

Although we have already determined the territory of the Kingdom of Armenia, the migration of people will not only take time, but also require a lot of money.

From relocation and resettlement to subsequent reconstruction, without tens of millions of Aegis, this Armenian kingdom would not have been established at all.

Although the tsarist government has just made a deal with us, most of the money is used to cover the debt, and the tsarist government can only get its hands on 20 million Aegis.

For the sake of an Armenian kingdom, throw away half of the proceeds, I'm afraid the Russians are not so generous. ”

There is nothing wrong with it, the Kingdom of Armenia currently exists only theoretically, the Provisional Government is still on its way to the capital, and in reality there is nothing in the country.

It is easy for immigrants to relocate, but difficult to resettle. Even if you go to farming, you have to have rations, seeds, basic tools, and a house for daily living in the first year, right?

The war lasted more than a year, and for such a long time there was no income, and the Armenian family had long been depleted in the war.

The Armenian rebel army in the middle and late stages was able to support it by airdropping supplies to them by Austria, otherwise they would have been cold a long time ago.

If the Russians wanted to take this little brother, they had to pay for the help of the Armenian kingdom.

Unfortunately, not only did the tsarist government run out of money, but also the Russian financial institutions did not have money now.

This involved the Russo-Prussian War and the reforms of Alexander II, the old financial institutions were on the wrong side and were scratched, and the new financial institutions were still in the stage of primitive capital accumulation, and there was no surplus capital to engage in international lending.

As the so-called "soft man", the tsarist government, which lived on Austrian loans, was itself influenced by the Vienna government, let alone tiny Armenia?

Once the Austrian loan was accepted, the Kingdom of Armenia could only follow the Vienna government, or the financial collapse would be in minutes.

Franz shook his head: "That's not for sure. The money that the Kingdom of Armenia needs is not going to be spent immediately.

The Russians can invest in batches, first give 1.8 million Aegis for emergency, and the rest will spend 300,000 or 400,000 Aegis every month.

After this debt reduction, the tsarist government was able to reduce its debt expenditure by 950,000 Aegis per month, and the monthly squeeze of 300,000 Aegis was also out.

It's better for us to encourage the Russians to do it, but it really can't be done, British and French capital can also be introduced, and we don't invest until we have to. ”

Not only was the tsarist government's purse bag shriveled, but even the Vienna government's purse bag was not rich now, and Franz really did not want to take such a loan with uncertain returns.

The war is a gold-swallowing beast, and for this war, the Austrian government has successively spent nearly 260 million Aegis military spending, which is still based on the joint dispatch of troops.

Otherwise, there will be hundreds of thousands of more military expenses, as well as tens of thousands of casualties, and 400 million Aegis will definitely not be enough.

In order to fully possess the Ottoman Empire, the Vienna government also paid the price, the cost of resettlement, and the compensation to the allies, if all converted into cash, it would be almost 300 million Aegis.

And that's not all, it's the post-war reconstruction that really spends money.

Because of population migration, the peninsula of Asia Minor will be uninhabited for a long time in the future.

By the time the Austrian immigrants were in place, the grass had already grown, the cities had become ruins, the roads had become jungles, and the farmland had become ......

According to the Vienna government's plan, within the next ten years, the government will invest 1.2 billion Aegis to rebuild the Asia Minor peninsula.

Even on average, that's 120 million Aegis per year.

With so much money to be spent in a short period of time, the Vienna government's purse bag naturally dried up.

If it weren't for the fact that Austria's domestic financial markets had grown up and had sufficient financing capacity, Franz would not have laughed now.

Of course, the Vienna government's finances are still loose compared to other countries.

Austria has enough gold production to be able to print money as long as the country's economy grows.

With sufficient gold reserves + a huge economy, Aegis is already the world's currency, and the annual seigniorage revenue of the Vienna government is an astronomical amount.

Let's put it this way, Austria's annual seigniorage revenue is approaching that of the Russians.

In terms of economic size, the Russian Empire was one-third the size of Austria proper, but the gap between the two governments was already ten times larger.

The superiority of the industrial countries over the agricultural countries is vividly reflected here, and the only country in the world can compete with Austria for financial resources.

Just because you can raise more money doesn't mean you can squander it at will. The British, with their small homeland, might be able to, but Austria could not.

The development of newly acquired territories is bound to squeeze out a lot of money. Just the one billion Aegis invested by the government, wanting to develop millions of square kilometers of land is completely a dream.

Government investment is only an introduction, and the development of the Near East still requires more private capital.

Of course, the first step is to immigrate. Otherwise, after the railway is completed, there are no people along the way, and there is no need to open the train at all, which will be embarrassing.

Domestic capital has a place to go, and Armenia is such a chicken rib, naturally it will be thrown out.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Foreign Secretary Wesenberg replied

……