Chapter 1757: Fifteen. Aphrodite (2)

The Battle of Yamliza is tantamount to disaster for the Principality. For this war, it also means the Tianwang Mountain that decides the direction of the battle. But the war itself did not really tell the difference.
The Principality has certainly lost the key material turnover center, Amritsar. The weight, equipment and weapons stored in the stronghold have also been lost by more than 70%. The key train dispatch assembly center and airport facilities have also been lost. In terms of results, the Principality has lost all possibilities of breaking through the Mannerheim line before the severe winter. In contrast, Lapland also lacked the strength to launch a counterattack to drove the Duchy to the frontier completely.
The gradual decrease in temperature is one of the reasons. The more direct reason is that the finances of both sides have been unable to support the war.
Huge military expenditures have overwhelmed the Principality’s fiscal system, and the already unhealthy finances now have to be supplemented and maintained by borrowing. Facing the severe economic situation, even though the Principality still has a large reserve army, it can be put into war It is also difficult to put it into action.
Lapland’s finances are even more unbearable than that of the Principality. The Principality’s finances continued to function until the Battle of Amliza. It was only after the battle that they had to open up loans to supplement them. From the beginning, Lapland relied on the Empire's low-interest loans and war bonds to maintain its operations. By the end of the battle, the War Debt alone amounted to 1.125 billion imperial marks. Huge debt must be accompanied by huge interest. It’s not hard to imagine how much pressure Lapland’s fiscal system will face when the first public debt enters the debt servicing stage... to know that Lapland’s family is not as strong as the principality, even if it is borrowed to survive. Hold on.
Neither side has the ability and willingness to continue the war, and it is time to solve the problem through negotiation.
"The initial intention of the two countries is to hold talks in Danzig-Gdynia. The chief representative of Lapland is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lord Vino Donner, and the chief negotiator of the United Principality of Ross is Sergey Yuriye. Count Victor Witt."
"It looks like it will be a very difficult negotiation. After the notification, it must be entertaining and the medical team must be on standby at all times. The two delegations must not be allowed to have any accidents on the imperial territory."
After glancing at the relevant information reported by Stasi, Li Lin drew a bet on the end of the document.
Regarding the representation of the two parties and the prediction of the bottom line of the two sides, the conclusions of the intelligence agencies are consistent, that is, neither side will propose conditions for the other party and other countries to feel in danger, and it will also adhere to the principle of the bottom line Strive for national interests as much as possible.
The specific performance of the negotiation conditions is that Lapland hopes that the Principality will return to the border line before the war. In addition, it is best to pay a symbolic compensation; the Principality hopes to use the actual line of control of the two parties as the new boundary, and it will stabilize. Don't think about what you pay. In short, if you want money, if you want me to lose money, then continue to fight.
Both sides have the will to end the war, and Earl Witt is even more eloquent: "Nothing else is required, just for peace."
Considering the internal and external forms facing the two countries, there is no need to doubt their sincerity in pursuing peace, and it is not too difficult to reach a peace agreement. The only thing that is considered an obstacle is nothing more than a dispute over face and interests that takes a lot of time.
How long this "many time" depends on the internal pressure of both parties.
Lapland is under considerable economic pressure. People's livelihood is worse than that of the Principality. However, successive victories have effectively boosted morale, making people in Lapland more tolerant of the impoverished life in front of them.
The economic pressure on the Principality is much lower than Lapland, but the internal pressure is much greater. The military defeat allowed the previously suppressed contradictions to explode at a stretch. After news of the defeat of the Battle of Amliza came, in just one week, 235 uprisings broke out across the Principality, and as many assassinated officials by rioters and terrorists More than one hundred people. Peasant rebellions, factory strikes, student strikes, intellectual protests, and local self-government councils even jumped out to demand citizen equality and a constitutional monarchy. The traditional monarchy was crumbling in the Principality for a time. If it were not for Earl Witt to act personally as a diplomatic representative, the voice of
stopping war and seeking peace
was satisfied by the vast majority of people. . The Gendarmerie and Okrana are given great powers, and they can convict on the basis of "subjective suspicion" without the evidence. The gendarmerie and secret police who gained great power executed the assassins and the "suspected revolutionary party" almost as fast as they thought. They were often buried by the assassins. The killers and the "suspicious elements" and the whole family had been burned. Ashes poured into the river.
Thanks to blood and terror, the social unrest of the Principality was temporarily suppressed. But people with clear eyes can see that this is only a temporary phenomenon. It may be possible to temporarily suppress the problem by killing people, but never talk about destroying the problem, let alone solving the problem. In terms of the internal and external forms currently faced by the Principality, no matter what kind of peace can be reached in the end, the Principality must face the crisis-ridden domestic form and seriously think about the way out in the future.
"As it is said, the nobles, the army, the church, the tsars-the traditional tradition of gain, profit, and interest groups would not be willing to sacrifice the interests of individuals and groups for the sake of national development and social stability. Perhaps some of them have long-term vision Smart people, such as Earl Witt, Stolypin, and Uncle Nikolay, but no matter how good the individual is, how can he reverse the decline of the entire group?"
Looking through the copy of the prince Nikolai Nikolaevich's copy to Tsar Nicholas II, Li Lin's mouth raised a sharp knife-like smile.
Archduke Nikolay was a hallowed figure in the military world for a long time. He was one of the few royals who could lead soldiers to fight, and he was also quite insightful in political affairs. This member of the Romanov family was supposed to be a loyal defender of the traditional monarchy and a pioneer in defending the imperial power. It was Archduke Nicholas who wrote a hard-worded dictation to his tsar's nephew and made it clear that either a government responsible for the country and the people (in fact, a constitutional monarchy) should be established, or that he should be retired early to live abroad as a public official Elderly care (that is, picking the pick, which can scare the tsar the best, and can not jump off the declining ship of the Principality to avoid being affected by possible revolutionary storms).
Even those with the status of Grand Duke Nicholas firmly believe that if there is no change, the Principality will be swallowed up by the revolutionary storm, and the degree of danger in the Principality's internal situation can be seen.
And this is an excellent opportunity for the empire, a hearty gluttonous meal.
According to the current format, the probability of the Principality agreeing to pay even symbolic war reparations during negotiations is minimal. Not only can Lapland fail to obtain war reparations, it may also have to endure the loss of some territories. But with the defeat of the Principality, Lapland’s international status and national credit will rise rapidly, and within a foreseeable time, this country will become the world’s hottest investment destination.
Empire Financial Capital will certainly not miss this opportunity to deepen its control over Lapland, but compared to another big meal, investing in Lapland is nothing more than an appetizer before dinner.
Providing loans to the principality to help it maintain its rule is the carnival of imperial financial capital.
The benefits of providing loans to the Principality are manifold. First of all, the rich resources, population, and market of the Principality make it unnecessary to worry about its solvency. For the expanding imperial capital and consumer market, this is a good business; secondly, at present, only the empire can provide a huge loan sufficient to maintain the social order of the Principality, which makes this business largely exclusive. Even Albion will provide loans, but once the gold source of the empire is lost, with Albian’s small amount of money, which is not enough to stop the teeth, the principality will soon fall into more turbulence than at present. So this loan will actually largely influence the camp of the Principality in the next war; the last and most important thing is that through the issuance of financial loans, the empire will support the capital of the Principality and obtain great power in the State Duma and government agencies. Influence.
Many people may be surprised. As a standard monopoly capital group, the empire will want to foster foreign capital? Is this the wrong medicine?
It is true that monopoly capital is extremely exclusive. But things have to be looked at separately. Empire Capital actually has the characteristics of both trust and Kanzern, and at the same time is a monopoly capital that only serves the national strategy. It is the emperor himself who holds the collar of the capital behemoth, and the emperor can decide the capital flow in one word. It is precisely because of such traits that no country welcomes such national monopoly capital to enter its own development, even if it is allowed, various policy restrictions should be added. To put it bluntly, all countries including the Principality can accept loans, but they will never accept imperial monopoly capital to turn themselves into hunting grounds.
Considering the general environment, it is necessary to allow foreign capital to form cartels, syndicates, and other forms of transnational cooperative capital that cooperate with Imperial Capital through capital injection and shareholding. It is necessary to provide channels and tools for Imperial Capital to prepare for future financial harvest. Through these platforms, Imperial Capital can better hide the asset prices and exchange rates of various countries behind the scenes, detonate the financial crisis at the right time, and then use the vest of "national enterprises" to copy the high-quality assets of each country at a low price. It not only made a profit, but also avoided the local people's antipathy towards the empire to the greatest extent.
In addition to economic benefits, the benefits at the political level cannot be underestimated.
With the development of the economy and the process of industrialization, the capital of the Principality has long been reluctant to be excluded from the political game. The foundation of capitalist economics, or the nature of capitalism, is based on the greed of human nature. After accumulating enough wealth, capital will naturally desire to grasp political rights and become the rule maker. On the basis of the existing rules, adhere to and support all the rules that can protect their own rights and interests, improve those old problems and eliminate all rules that restrict the operation of capital.
The defeat of the Principality happens to be an excellent opportunity for the capital of the Principality-since the government has lost its authority and lost its face because of the defeat, then in order to maintain the rule, the tsars, nobles, bureaucrats and soldiers must bow their heads to capital and put politics Separation of power...
This process is not easy. No matter how Sergey Witt and Stolypin will let businessmen grow bigger, let alone the reluctance of His Majesty the Tsar. If strong foreign capital joins at this time, things will be easier. As for the return of the peach afterwards, it is naturally essential.
"At present, the agent of the Principality Capital is a political association called the "October 17 Alliance", or "October Party" for short, whose leader is Mikhail Vladki, the landlord of Yekaterinoslav Province. Milovich Rodenko and industrialist Alexander Ivanovich Guchkov. Judging from their current propaganda program, this is a moderate reformist political association. The Intelligence Department feels that it can be classified as a potential Partner."
Niederhogger said sarcastically.
The captain of the Guards has no doubt that this political party representing the interests of the big landowners and big capitalists will choose to cooperate with the empire~EbookFREE.me~These people may be patriots, but their origins give them their inherent compromise and Weakness, as long as the conditions are right or the pressure is high enough, without the empire's signal, this group of people will cry to the door to hug the empire's thigh.
With the national power of the empire, it is not difficult to open a higher price tag, but gifts and alms alone can at best earn a moment of gratitude, not to mention loyalty. Needless to say, with the personality traits of these people, the degree of credibility of their sworn loyalty is a very questionable question.
To tame the capital power of the Principality and let them serve the empire wholeheartedly, in addition to giving them benefits, they must also feel pressure. Let them understand that once the support of the empire is lost, their lives and property will vanish in an instant.
This pressure comes not only from the empire, but also from the traditional ruling class of the Principality, but also from the neglected people at the bottom who are accumulating dissatisfaction and waiting to erupt.
When nobles, businessmen, and politicians are calculating the distribution of rights. The survivors of the soldiers who died in the Lapland forests are unconcerned. Those returning soldiers who ate defeated or captured are not seen by others. Those who died or did not die in a series of uprisings, riots, strikes, strikes need What is left unnoticed. The rich and those in power do not care about them, because in their eyes, those are nothing but tools, labor, and cannon fodder, but they are not equal to themselves. If the rights holders and wealthy people of the Principality still have a trace of kindness towards the people at the bottom, it just hopes that these laborers will have the strength to continue to work, and hope that the cannon fodder will not refuse to sell their lives, and nothing more.
It is a breeze to induce those who have nothing but one life to stand up and put pressure on the upper prince of the Principality to let the Principality take the initiative to lean towards the empire.