Chapter 993: Leopold II

At the Vienna Hotel, a touching side appeared, and two hapless guys complained about each other's bitterness. The scene was that the listener was sad and crying.
Then there was no more, and it didn't make any sense how much Massimiliano wanted to help.
In order to rehabilitate the country over the years, Massimiliano has not only exhausted his personal connections, but also owed a lot of favor. Today, his own influence on the Vienna government has infinitely approached zero.
In addition to being good-looking, Massimiliano, the Mexican emperor in exile, is an empty shelf. The only role is probably high enough to be able to help speak at critical moments, but I don’t know if it can play a role.
With such a little help, Leopold II was still unwilling to give up. In any case, it is better for someone to help speak than no one to help.
No matter how low Massimiliano's power to speak in politics, it is also the existence that can directly exert influence on Franz. The best proof is that hundreds of thousands of restoration funds can be obtained every year.
But people will grow up. Although I am very touched and willing to help Belgium, Massi Milano is no longer the boy he used to be.
"Leopold, I personally suggest that you don't have too much hope. As far as I know, the Vienna government is running a deficit again this year.
If you really want to get funds from Vienna, it is best to use private channels for financing. Although the interest on funds to be paid is a little higher, it is not necessary to pay too much politically. "
This is the true word of Massimiliano. It is too embarrassing for people to assist and obtain interest-free loans. It is no longer the period of the European War. Belgium’s importance to the Shenluo Empire has greatly diminished, and the Vienna government is not taken advantage of.
If the number is small, it might be useful for Belgium to cry and sell badly. The problem is that Belgium's current funding gap is huge, and the benefits involved are too great.
Leopold II naturally wanted these questions, but now there is no way. Ordinary international financing not only has high interest rates, it also comes with a lot of political additional conditions.
The most important thing is that the Belgian government has already mortgaged everything that can be mortgaged in its previous loans. Now it can't provide enough collateral. It is purely guaranteed by the government's reputation and financial consortia will not buy it.
Not only in Vienna, the Belgian government in all major financial markets in Europe has borrowed money. Now all the larger banks and financial companies in Europe are creditors of the Belgian government.
In order to raise enough funds, repeated mortgages and fraud, the Belgian government has done nothing less.
It is a pity that financial institutions are too savvy. They are not at ease with the Belgian government's ability to repay. Every time they charge a lot of collateral, they borrow very little money.
After the war, expenditures for reconstruction greatly exceeded the budget, and normal commercial channels were nowhere to be found. This led to Leopold II's visit to Vienna.
"Maximiliano, don't you know what those vampires are? With the current situation in Belgium, do you think it is possible to get a normal business loan?"
Seeing Leopold II's helpless expression, Massimiliano nodded sympathetically. Anyway, someone who has been an emperor naturally knows what the bank is.
"Borrow umbrellas on sunny days and collect umbrellas on rainy days." It's not just for fun, when he was the emperor of Mexico, Massimiliano suffered a lot of trouble.
On the surface, loans that look very conscientious are just used to fool ordinary people. The real interest rates are always terribly high.
So far, Massi Milano has cleanly remembered the first time he got the loan. I took a silver mine in Mexico as a mortgage and got a seemingly generous loan.
The apparent annual rate is only 2.5%. In fact, there are a lot of various handling fees. Even more boring loans are still issued in installments, but the interest has to be calculated in full. The final real interest rate is as high as 14.62% a year.
This is the conscience loan given by Napoleon III after personally communicating with the French consortium out of his support for him.
If there is no government intervention and the banks are allowed to play freely, that is real usury. The highest is how many people don't know. Anyway, Massimiliano borrowed a 50% discount on the principal. The interest rate is as high as 46.9%. There are a lot of international loans with various additional conditions.
Of course, Massimiliano is not a disadvantage either. Although the interest rate is a bit higher and the additional conditions are more than 100 million points, this is a high-risk loan. With the collapse of the Mexican Empire, these debts became bad debts.
The sequelae is that when Massimiliano wanted to finance the restoration of the country, no bank was willing to lend money to the government in exile. Even if he borrowed in his own name, no bank was willing to lend.
Government debt is not equal to the emperor's debt, and there is no joint liability between the two parties. Theoretically speaking, as a direct member of the Habsburg family, Massimiliano is still a high-quality customer in the eyes of the bank, and it is no problem to borrow more than 1.8 million.
It's a pity that Franz told the financial world early that whoever dared to lend money to Massimiliano would be unable to live with the Habsburgs.
Capital is profit-seeking and weak, and no bank is so ironclad that it has to fight the Habsburgs for a little interest income.
As a result, the unknowing Massimiliano repeatedly hit the wall, thinking that he had become a downright phoenix, and was hit by the vampires.
After hesitating for a while, Massimiliano said slowly: "Leopold, on this issue, I can only help you convey the difficulties your country has encountered.
In the end, it is the Vienna government that can make the decision. You had better not have too much hope. This kind of thing, my brother rarely mixes. "
Politics is such a reality, but all things that offend people have always been the secret of the cabinet, and the real decision-making Franz the Great usually only appears when everyone is happy.
According to Massimiliano's understanding of his brother, unless the Belgian government can come up with enough benefits in exchange, this kind of effortless work will probably not be passed.
"Thank you!"
"If the Vienna government can provide us with the assistance we need, all future international trade settlements in Belgium will be conducted with Aegis."
Leopold II gritted his teeth and said.
In a sense, this is a betrayal of national sovereignty, but Belgium has no better choice.
After the war there were insufficient funds for reconstruction, and the French could not get the compensation. In order to raise funds, Belgium had already mortgaged everything that could be mortgaged, and now there are only a few chips left in hand.
Had it not been for the discovery that the Vienna government was preparing to use the Aegis as an international settlement currency, Leopold II would not have known that the settlement currency could also be traded.
After all, the settlement of international trade before this was mostly done with gold, and sometimes with silver. The use of Aegis to settle settlements is when countries start trading with the Holy Roman Empire.
The full use of Aegis for trade settlement not only means that Belgium has given up on gold and silver settlements, but also means that Belgium will link its currency to Aegis, from a pure gold standard country to a mixed standard of Aegis and gold.
Only because Aegis and gold are freely convertible, and the currency value is relatively stable, there is not much difference between this mixed standard and the pure gold standard.
The small gap now does not mean that the gap will not be large in the future. Once Aegis and gold were decoupled, the situation changed completely.
There is no doubt that no one is aware of these problems yet. Normal people don't dare to imagine the decoupling of Aegis and gold. No one knows that the future economic development will be so fast that it cannot meet the actual demand as gold production.
If he knew this, Leopold II would never offer it so carelessly as a condition. After all, the negotiations have not officially started, and the current conditions can only be regarded as sincerity, and the final price to be paid will definitely be greater.
Massimiliano nodded, and he was relieved. The battle for currency hegemony between the Aegis and the British pound has not been a day or two. Even he, the emperor in exile who is far from politics, has heard of it.
Belgium's current position is not only about economic interests, but more importantly, the political team.
As early as a few years ago, Britain and Austria had their own settlement systems, and they had won over European countries. It's just that the conditions at the time were not mature enough, even if they were inclined, no country would dare to declare that all the currency of a certain country was used for settlement.
If Belgium stands up now, it will be the first country in the world to publicly announce the use of Aegis settlements. This alone can reap a lot of goodwill from the Vienna government.
Such a thing, Belgium, who is still impoverished, dares to do it. The full use of Aegis for settlement is not only politically evil to the British government, it also excludes its own products from the British market.
Whether it is for the sake of face or profit, the London government cannot accept Aegis as the settlement currency of British-Belgian trade. You should know that the Anglo-Austrian trade is now mainly based on gold settlement.
Even if the Vienna government wants to make Aegis as an international settlement currency, it is not so radical. At the moment it is only planning to make Aegis the internal settlement currency of the European Union.
Knowing the serious consequences, Leopold II did it anyway. The reason is very cruel. Only Britain and Austria have the ability to provide funds to Belgium.
Regardless of the fact that the Vienna government seems to be financially tight, it is also relatively speaking, and the money will come out after a squeeze.
Moreover, the fact that the government has no money does not mean that it cannot afford to pay. After more than a year of buffering, no matter how tight the financial market of the Holy Roman Empire is, it will not be impossible to get tens of millions of funds.
The funds for post-war reconstruction were not spent in one day. As long as there is a tens of millions of dollars for emergency relief, the remaining funds can be disbursed in the next month.
The situation in Europe is already clear, and Belgium can't help but keep half-hearted. If you go to hook up with the British for a loan right now, it is definitely a performance that you are tired of living.
Leopold II decided to take a gamble and grab the position of the number one horse. Although the top horse needs to charge and fight, it is a bit dangerous, but the benefits are very rich!
Prior to this, the top Belgian government had also carefully studied it.
With the current gathering momentum of the Holy Roman Empire, as long as the Vienna government does not die, the status of the European hegemon has been stabilized, and the probability of replacing the British as the maritime hegemon is very high.
Belgium's size is limited. If you don't lean on it immediately, once they are preempted by other countries, their value will be lost.