Chapter 789: The Czarist Government That Went Astray
Chapter 772 – The Czarist Government That Got Away
The mainland can’t be sold, the colonies are still negotiable. Don’t look at the tsarist government seems to be all localized management, but in fact many areas are colonial in nature.
Specifically, you can refer to the tax charter system, even after Alexander II completed the tax reform, there were still many places in the Russian Empire that continued to use the tax charter system.
It was not that the Tsarist government was blind to the dangers of the tax system, but the Russian Empire was so large that the tax revenue from many remote areas was not enough to pay the salaries of the tax collectors.
In order not to let the already bad finances go bankrupt, the Tsarist government had to sell the power to collect taxes to the capitalists.
Even in order to save costs, the administrative power of certain regions, also directly below to the local nobility.
Of course, this was all a special product of wartime, with a time limit. If the finances improved, the Tsarist government would still take it back when it expired.
Alexander III said as if nothing had happened, “Let’s talk about it first, no matter what plans the Austrians have, we just need to do well for ourselves.
We must learn a lesson this time, we must explore the local resources in advance so that we can talk to the Austrians about the price, we can’t let them pick up the advantage again.”
The tsarist government did not lack territory, and Alexander III was even a pacifist among the tsars, and his desire to spy on land was considered the lowest of all the tsars.
He wouldn’t even have started the Russo-Turkish War at this point in time if Austria hadn’t pulled a raw deal.
The newly occupied territories will not be able to create wealth in the short term, on the contrary, they will have to invest a lot of administrative expenses, and will not be able to make ends meet for a long time to come.
For the Tsarist government, which was not financially well off, adding territories now was essentially adding to the burden.
As long as the price was right, it would not be a problem to allocate a piece of land from the spoils of war to the Armenians for independent statehood.
Foreign Minister Oscar Jimenez said, “Your Majesty, a message has just come from the embassy in Vienna.
There is a plague in Asia Minor, highly contagious and suspected to be the Black Death, and many medical experts believe that the region is no longer suitable for human survival.
In order to minimize human losses, the Vienna government has activated the Emergency Shelter Law and is preparing to evacuate the population of the newly occupied areas.
They intentionally outsourced this operation and issued a high resettlement fee for immigrants, ranging from 15 to 40 Shenduan per person, depending on the distance traveled.
As long as these people are taken away from Austria and resettled, they will receive a subsidy of at least 15 God’s Guilders.
If the government is in financial difficulties, perhaps we can consider ……”
There was naturally an epidemic, but it wasn’t a large-scale plague, much less some kind of black plague, or Austria wouldn’t be able to take action at this time.
Capitalists were greedy, but people were more precious about their lives. The profits of human trafficking are high, but also the risks involved are high.
The death rate of the great voyage is already high, if we add the plague, then it can be destroyed at any time. Even if the ship is not wiped out, when the people are almost dead, what will they take to collect the money?
Under the banner of immigrant resettlement, it was essentially for the sake of reputation. If people are dying halfway across the country, then recruiting butchers would be enough, so why spend a lot of money?
Alexander III frowned, from the bottom of his heart he rejected this kind of business, the Russian Empire was at least one of the four great powers of the world, how could it be reduced to the point of being a human trafficker.
However, the reality is cruel. Looking at the eager eyes of the crowd, Alexander III knew that everyone was hoping to make a profit to subsidize the finances.
After all, the price given by Austria was too tempting, even if it was calculated at the lowest standard of 15 divine guilders per person, a million people would be 15 million divine guilders.
The purchasing power of the guilders is not low, with the current domestic food prices in Russia, 15 guilders can buy 3 tons of rye, or 5 tons of potatoes.
In reality, the price will be even higher, Alexander III still know Franz’s style very well, in order to a good name, that person is absolutely willing to spend money.
Calm down, Alexander III said the doubt in his heart: “Know why the Austrians want to relocate these people to leave?”
Pay such a big price, just to make room, say anything Alexander III will not believe.
Oscar Jimenez shook his head, “It’s not clear the exact reason, there are gossip rumors that it seems to be because of the discovery of oil in the Two River Basin.
But the persuasive power is still a bit lacking. Although Austria’s demand for oil has grown rapidly in these recent years, oil is not a precious mineral, and the annual import is only a few hundred thousand divine guilders.
In order to save a few hundred thousand divine guilders in expenses, it would cost tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of divine guilders to relocate the population, how could it not be justified.
Furthermore, the extraction of oil only required the safety of the oil fields, so there was no need to make a big deal out of it.
Another theory is that the Vienna government intends to build a railroad connecting Baghdad to prepare for the advance into the Persian region, fearing that the Ottomans will sabotage it.
Persuasion is still a bit lacking, and as a colonial empire, Austria was no Mr. Nice Guy.
The Ottomans are not afraid of the Ottomans, but if they dare to cause trouble, the Vienna government will not mind killing them.
This war brought very large casualties to the Ottoman region, after the war there were not one in ten young men left, as long as some of the nobles are partitioned over, the local area is still very easy to rule.”
Although primitive, the “partition of the nobility” is the most effective means. Austria, known as the stronghold of conservatives, is still widely used in the colonies.
After the Czarist government reoccupied Poland, they all followed this policy, and in the short term it still had a positive effect.
It is easy to be confused by news that is “true or false”, and Alexander III found himself helplessly confused.
The benefits were clearly not proportional to the costs, and he would have preferred the decision of the Vienna government to have been made out of its head, rather than to believe these two pieces of “gossip”.
After a moment of confusion, Alexander III slowly said: “Using our power to investigate, not to figure out the real purpose of the Austrians, is really unsettling.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Foreign Minister Oscar Jimenez replied.
Alisher Gurov, the Minister of Finance, who was eager to speak, couldn’t help but speak up, “Your Majesty, if the Austrians are not plotting, can we not consider selling some of the newly occupied areas to them?”
Seeing that Alexander III did not answer immediately, Alisher Gurov continued to add, “According to the prior agreement, after the war we can obtain half of the Asia Minor Peninsula and part of the Greater Caucasus Mountains.
Because of the war, these areas are basically deserted and will be dependent on central government financial allocations for the next ten years or so.
The only areas of value to us are the western plains near Constantinople, the rest can be sold.
If a deal is struck, we will not only receive an income from the sale of land, but also from the resettlement of immigrants.
Theoretically, we could receive hundreds of millions of guilders in cash at once.
Even if the Vienna government wants to offset the arrears, we’ll be able to reduce our debt holdings by a large amount, reducing the government’s financial pressure.”
It wasn’t that Alisher Gurov wanted to sell the land, it was mainly because the Ministry of Finance was really poor. If Austria hadn’t agreed to defer payment of its debts after the economic crisis broke out, the tsarist government would be bankrupt by now.
Against this background, adding a new drag would undoubtedly send itself into the abyss.
Once there is a debt default, the Austrians are contractually obligated to receive collateral, which is not these rotten lands on the Asia Minor Peninsula.
Seeing that Alexander III hesitated, the Minister of War, Paradru Wald, hastily objected, “No! The Russian Empire may be large, but there is no surplus of every inch of land.
Today it is able to sell the Asia Minor Peninsula because of financial problems, tomorrow it will be able to sell the Balkans, the day after tomorrow it will be able to sell Ukraine, and next isn’t it even the Holy Land?”
Looking at the Minister of War with a righteous face, Alisher Gurov was furious, this was putting the hat of a traitor on his head.
Angrily rebuked, “Nonsense, who is going to sell out the Holy Land, Walder you kid don’t slander people here!
Asia Minor Peninsula is Ottoman territory, I want to sell is the enemy’s territory, what’s wrong with that?”
Selling one’s own land, and selling someone else’s land, that’s a completely different concept, especially if it’s the enemy’s.
Wald said disdainfully, “But wherever the Russian army’s troops are pointing, it is the territory of the Russian Empire.”
Alisher Gurov said defiantly, “Well, then, you’ll just hold on to Asia Minor for the rest of your lives, and don’t ask me for money for your post-war pensions.”
The gold master, ever the bully, threatened with a post-war pension, and Wald had to be moved.
The heart is weak but the mouth is not weak, still tough: “If you dare to withhold the pension, I will lead people to block the Ministry of Finance …… every day.”
Do not wait for the latter words out, Alexander III stopped: “All give me shut up, here is not where you quarrel, to quarrel home slowly quarrel.
Called you here is deliberating. To sell or not to sell the Asia Minor Peninsula, this is a matter that needs to be considered in a comprehensive manner, not decided by the subjective consciousness of some people.”
How to look at it all has the meaning of pulling the blame, although not explicitly said, everyone is still able to hear, the tsar is inclined to sell Asia Minor Peninsula.
After all, you can transfer two money, after this village there is no this store. Another point in time, can not guarantee to sell at such a good price.
A penny can be difficult to defeat the hero, let alone the billions of gold ruble shortfall.
If you want to complete industrialization, you can’t do it without financial support. Other than that, the most basic infrastructure is still necessary.
Unfortunately, the losses brought about by the Russo-Prussian War were too heavy, leaving a huge pile of mess to be cleaned up by the government, especially the huge debts owed to the Tsarist government, but also the pressure to gasp for air.
In favor of also can not default, this time the debtor is not to be messed with, the Nordic Confederation and Austria a south and a north, bundled debt collection can not allow them to renege on the debt.
(End of chapter)