Chapter 195: Russia-Austria trade

Vienna in midsummer is still cool.
Schönbrunn Palace
"My Majesty, the Russians asked us to buy a production line for weapons, from pistols to artillery almost everything," Metternich said.
Franz knew that Austria had snatched the interests of the Russian arms group. This group would definitely take action, but did not expect that their method was to buy a weapons production line.
If you think about it, the strongest in mechanical technology in this era is the British, followed by Austria and France, and the imperfect industrial systems of Belgium and Prussia are again.
The Russians produced their own machinery and equipment with high maintenance costs. The performance of the equipment was barely usable. There was no way to compare the production efficiency with their counterparts. They were also forced to buy foreign production lines.
Britain and France are at war with the Russians. Even if they can buy production lines from Britain and France, they dare not use them. Weapon production equipment is still very sensitive. It is not civilian materials, and smuggling is also smuggled.
It is not impossible to buy from Prussia or Belgium. Just so, they will not be able to maintain the arcane weapons of the expeditionary forces in the future.
With the financial resources of the Tsarist government, do not expect them to be able to discard weapons and equipment worth tens of millions of rubles. The maintenance of these equipments is also a business of millions of rubles each year.
Capitalists do not live with money. In order to maximize benefits, it is normal to buy Austrian weapons production lines.
Franz said indifferently: "Sell them. Even the same equipment, the quality of weapons and equipment produced in the hands of the Russians will be reduced by a grade."
This is not the fact that he despised the Russians. Because of the government's corruption, capitalists will certainly cut corners in order to obtain greater profits.
According to Franz, the homegrown weapons and equipment purchased by the Russians are higher than the prices on the international market. Why not buy it?
The domestic budget of weapons and equipment imported from Austria has increased by 20% to 50% compared to the actual import price. The specific ratio depends on the discipline and ability of the officials.
Metternich reminded: "Your Majesty, do you want to limit it? If the Russians get a full production line, it will be a trouble for us in the future."
Although there is no such thing as a technical blockade in this era, in the field of military industry, not all weapons and equipment can be bought, let alone weapons production lines?
Franz shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter. Technological changes are changing with each passing day. These devices will not exist for ten years, and if more than a decade later, I am afraid they will be eliminated.
Now that the Russians are willing to buy, they are fulfilled. It is best to turn them into long-term customers and use the profits obtained from the transaction to advance our military industry technology upgrade. "
Russia is indeed worthy of fear, but Russia's industrial technology really does not need to care too much. Under the rule of the decaying tsarist government, it is impossible for their industry to develop greatly.
Metternich continued: "His Majesty, the Russians also applied for loans.
In terms of commercial trade, in the second and third quarters of 1852, our trade with the Russians more than tripled.
The total trade volume between the two sides is as high as 292 million dong, of which our total imports are 88 million dong and our total exports are 204 million dong. The trade surplus is 116 million dong.
This part of the trade surplus is mainly the export of arms and strategic materials. The export value of these two items is as high as 83 million dong.
The rest is the trade in civilian goods. Because of the war, British and French goods have largely withdrawn from the Russian market, creating opportunities for us.
The loan we provided to the Russians, they have almost used up. The strategic materials purchased in the early stage have basically been exhausted after the war.
If the victory is not achieved, the military expenditure of the Tsarist government next year will probably continue to increase. "
Franz figured it out. In this era, everyone likes to do business with Russians because they do not use paper money and pay directly with gold and silver. (Paper rubles are deprecated, and international trade is settled only with gold rubles and silver rubles)
The direct consequence of the trade between Russia and Austria is that a large amount of gold and silver flowed into the Austrian treasury, and then turned into banknotes flowing into the market.
From a monetary perspective, the inflow of this part of gold and silver, Franz's risk of allowing the central bank to print banknotes, has been absorbed by the market. (Banknotes, gold and silver are not issued 1: 1, and leverage is set according to economic conditions)
Franz thought for a while and said, "Talk slowly with the Russians and don't worry, tell them that our financial resources are not rich, and we are unable to provide them with huge loans.
Try to keep the loan amount as low as possible, delay the loan time, and let the Russians take out more gold and silver to pay. Don't make too many demands on the loan interest, and you can give up additional conditions.
We can also help them issue some bonds, which must be government bonds, preferably with collateral. War bonds are estimated to be unsold. This interest rate is set by the Russians and can be sold. "
If the two countries were on an equal footing before the outbreak of the Near East War, Austria's initiative became greater with the outbreak of the war.
At present, due to the war, a large amount of gold and silver inflows has caused the abnormal prosperity of the Austrian domestic economy. There are still hidden dangers behind this prosperity.
If Austria is now providing too many loans to Russia, either the domestic market funds will be adjusted or additional currencies will be issued.
The former is not conducive to Austria's economic development, while the latter is prone to inflation. This is caused by the size of the economy. With Austria's total economy so large, some currency markets can be digested. Once the volume is exceeded, it cannot be digested.
The best way is to let Russian gold and silver flow in first, the state treasury reserves increase, the market expands, and then there is no inflation if the currency is printed.
Metternich reminded: "Your Majesty, maybe we can ask the Russians to pay for the goods and take out some gold and silver to reduce our risk."
Franz shook his head and said, "Not yet, our risks are still under control. Don't rush to remind the Russians that the speed at which their gold and silver flow into our country is very fast.
The rapid development of our domestic economy depends on more than just this war.
Mr. Metternich, you may not have noticed that in the last six months, British and French capital has poured into Austria in a frenzy, and the total investment has more than doubled compared with the same period last year. In fact, there is no shortage of gold and silver in the Austrian market.
According to past practice, the Russian-Turkish war will last a long time. These capitalists are counting on the war to become rich and invest in building factories in Austria.
Because of the lack of information, they do not know how many peers have been added recently, and they have not considered the demand for materials by Russian personalities, which is not unlimited.
The market is crazy, and Carl is almost frightened, for fear of the outbreak of the economic crisis, he has formulated several emergency plans.
Judging from the laws of the capitalist market economy, once the war is over, the Austrian economy will soon face difficulties in transition.
The capitalists who entered early are okay. They have made a profit and can support their transformation. The capitalists who came in later will be miserable. Before they make any money, they will face transformation. Bankruptcy is inevitable.
At this time, it is also a good choice to help the Russians digest some of the bonds and cool the hot market. "
Now that we know the economic crisis, why hasn't the Austrian government stopped it? The answer is very realistic, in order to increase fiscal revenue and to speed up domestic development.
If this economic boom continues, it will only take two or three years for Austria's economic aggregate to surpass France. Even if the bubble burst, these capitals also left Austria with a lot of homes.
Money is easy to come in, but hard to get out. Once it becomes a real estate in the plant, machinery and equipment, it is not easy to realize it.
These trapped capitalists either continue to contribute to the development of Austria, or they are cutting away meat. This is how the United States developed in history.
As long as sufficient benefits are obtained in this war and market capacity is increased, the impact of the economic crisis can be minimized. By then, Franz would not mind letting the government interfere in the market and force the economy to land.
How many capitalists would be killed in such a job, but it has nothing to do with Franz, and he is not the Virgin.
Investment is risky and you need to be cautious when entering the market.
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When the Near East War attracted the attention of the outside world, Russia and Austria quietly reached a huge deal without arousing a slight wave.
The arms trade is extremely profitable, especially when selling weapons production lines and transferring production technology, and adding value-added products, which is even more profitable.
The huge profits made the Austrian government very satisfied.
This is not a one-time business. If the relationship between the two countries has continued to be friendly, with the restraint of capitalists, they are likely to package the subsequent upgrade business together with Austria.
The root cause of "it is better to buy" is that the R & D and manufacturing costs are too high. Why are so many companies in the next generation keen on importing, don't they know the benefits of independent research and development?
The most critical point is that R & D investment, harvest and effort are often not proportional. Not only will it consume a lot of time, but it is also full of uncertainty.
For capitalists who are keen to make money, huge investments in this area really cannot maximize the benefits. If you are unlucky, you fall on the eve of the harvest.
This is even more the case for weapon research and development, which also requires supporting industrial systems. The Russians lag behind in these areas, and the risks of independent research and development by enterprises are even greater.
If a military industrial company does R & D, it will not wait for them to produce results, and the population import production line will be put into production.
What will the Tsarist government choose? Equip the military with advanced equipment with mature technology, or wait for the products they have developed with uncertain performance?
Austria has lifted all arms export restrictions and allowed the Russians to freely choose production lines. The Tsarist government is naturally very happy. Such opportunities are rare.
We must know that in order to restrict the Russians, European countries mainly export finished products in the military field, and they are very cautious about exporting production lines.
If you only buy finished products, once the war is blocked, you will not be able to obtain these weapons and equipment, and the Tsarist government will support domestic military enterprises.
The production line no longer has this kind of worry. Most of the equipment of Russian military enterprises these years are imported goods. They don't mind continuing to import as long as they can guarantee the supply of arms.
You can't think about things that far in the future. In theory, as long as the overall industrial technology goes up, the military industry system naturally goes up, and the two are mutually reinforcing.
Historically, the development of Russian military technology was at a time when relations with the Western world deteriorated. The more confrontation between the two sides, the faster their technological progress.
This is the age of war, and no one thinks so much. Even if someone sees a possible crisis, they cannot oppose it.
From a development perspective, there are ready-made equipment in Austria that can be disassembled for learning, and their technological progress will be faster, and they can also be copied if they are not good.
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