Vol 5 Chapter 81: Terrible debt

St. Petersburg
Nicholas II was worrying about the funding of the next war. Now that the war has been carried out, not only the Russian Empire has been impoverished, but also the wealth accumulated by the Royal Sands for hundreds of years has been consumed.
Even supporting his nobles and officials, their families have become real estate. In order to raise funds, Nicholas II sold everything he could sell.
For example: St. Petersburg state-owned enterprises, annihilation of the properties of the opposition, mines ...
These real estate are being sold at a discount. Originally these invaluable things have now become worthless.
The export of grain and mineral resources, which was the largest source of wealth for the Russian Empire, no longer exists.
Years of war have reduced their food production to historical lows. If it were not for the Russians' land area being large enough and fertile, they would now become food importers.
The same is true for the development of mineral resources. Under the influence of the war, the output could not be guaranteed, and the international market was gradually lost. Now this single buyer is left.
After the World War ended, Bulgaria expanded too much, and the vast colonies were able to provide most of the resources. With the continuous development of the colonies, the mineral resources imported from Russia also continued to decline.
The most obvious is the export of oil. Bulgaria was the largest importer of Russian oil before the World War. Half of the entire European continent was importing oil to the Russians.
The Baku Oilfield has become the largest foreign exchange earning industry of the Tsarist government. After the outbreak of the civil war, the Tsar Junior Nicholas also stationed heavy soldiers in the Baku area, fearing that Bulgaria would work there.
He was quickly disappointed. As new oil fields were discovered, international oil prices fell and fell, and then there was no rebound.
The Russian Empire, which was Europe's largest oil exporter, suddenly found that oil could not be sold, because of the cost of transportation, the oil produced in Baku gradually lost its competitiveness.
Bulgaria, the original largest buyer, developed oil fields in Romania, Iraq, Syria and other regions after the World War. From oil importers to oil exporters.
And under the deliberate control of Ferdinand, international oil prices have always been at a very low level, and many oilfields with high extraction costs have been forced to close. For example, British oilfield companies in the Persian region closed down because of long-term losses. Already.
Baku Oilfield is no exception. When Nicholas II's army captured the Caucasus, the first time they seized the Baku Oilfield, it was embarrassing to find that this was a chicken rib.
Due to the backward mining technology, the outdated refining technology, and the poor transportation hub of the Russians, the oil produced from the Baku region was transported to St. Petersburg, and the refined products were more expensive than the refined oil imported directly from Bulgaria.
In this era, the Russians did not establish oil pipelines, and the transportation of oil relied on trains, camels, and horse-drawn carriages. No wonder this cost can be low.
In the end, in order to save costs, Nicholas II had to reduce the production of the Baku oil field, and the oil produced could only be used in the Caucasus, and there was no need to transport it to lose money.
Without these sources of foreign exchange, of course, the life of the Tsarist government will be difficult. Weapons and ammunition will have to be imported. Self-reliance or something is not suitable for the tsarist government to play now, otherwise it will go bankrupt.
"Prime Minister, where else can the government take a sum of money, no matter how we want to ensure that the spring offensive runs smoothly, this time it can no longer be trusted.
Otherwise, after this spring, these rebels will resume their vitality again, and the John Bull will not let us easily unify.
Now we must be fast, or the weapons and ammunition from Europe will be sent back to our enemies again! "Nicholas II said carefully
Now that the battle has fought, he has understood that his biggest enemy is not these rebels anymore, but the European countries behind them.
Among them, the British did the most prominently. It was because of the appearance of the British that the Tsarist Nicholas government could support it until now, otherwise they would have compromised long ago.
"My Majesty the Tsar, I'm afraid this will not work. Now, more than 70% of our government's expenditures are used in the war, and other departments' expenditures have been suppressed to the lowest point.
You know, in order to support the war, we have misappropriated a lot of funds, and even the funds to repay Bulgarian loans have been misappropriated by us! The Prime Minister said with a bitter smile
The government's financial crisis has already appeared. He suggested to Nicholas II as early as half a year ago, and then borrowed a loan to come back. Unfortunately, Nicholas II was lucky, and he thought it might end this winter. Drop this war.
So hold on, you do n’t have to borrow international loans anymore, after all, that interest is really high! The Tsarist government is now heavily in debt. Once the country is unified, Britain and France should also come to force debts.
At that time, to repay the loans of the three countries, the government will have to squeeze out every ruble in the treasury and save a sum. After all, all the loans are usury, and there is no preferential international loan.
If it weren't for French debt, most of it would be low-interest or interest-free loans. The tsarist government wouldn't want to settle the debt. They may not even be able to pay the interest of the debt of hundreds of billions of francs.
(Note: After the French government gave up the gold standard, the franc depreciated, but international loans were linked to gold, and inflation was borne by the debtor in full)
Now Nicholas II knows that he regrets it, but it is too late. When it ’s most scarce, is n’t borrowing money sent to your door to be robbed?
If possible, Nicholas II did not want to borrow money from Bulgaria, mainly because the cost of reconciliation was too high. With his knowledge of Ferdinand, once the Russian government announced that reconciliation, Bulgaria had a direct chance of occupying Ukraine as high as nine Layer nine.
You ca n’t just fight against others because you want to take the collateral. If this battle is fought, the Russian empire will suffer a big loss, not only will it lose its last ally, but its international credibility will be directly lost.
Therefore, even if you want to rely on the account, you must choose a good target. For example, when Ferdinand organized a group to rely on the American account, it was justified. There are no hidden dangers, and now the grave of the US government has grown.
Compared with Bulgaria, the debts borrowed from Britain and France are more secure. Anyway, everyone is far apart, and they can't call them. If it is really amazing, everyone can slowly pull the skin.
If it does n’t work, drag it back. It ’s a big deal to pay a portion of the interest every year. Slowly grind with the British and French governments, waiting for them to compromise.
Nikola II is also very experienced in this respect. After all, this is an ancestral skill. The Russians have such a bad reputation in Europe, and it has nothing to do with them.
"Then speed up the contact with the international consortium, and strive for an early loan back!" Nicholas II thought for a while
"Your Majesty, I'm afraid this won't work! All the consortia we have contacted have rejected our loan applications!
We even contacted governments directly through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, without the consent of any government! The Prime Minister said with a bitter smile
"Isn't it possible to issue bonds and let them sell them for us?" Nicholas II asked angrily.
"Your Majesty, have you forgotten the bonds we issued five years ago?" The Prime Minister reminded
Nicholas II's face turned blue. Speaking of the bonds issued by the tsarist government that year, that was a deep shame.
In 1919, the Tsarist government issued 200 million pounds of bonds to the world. The end result was very touching, and less than one million pounds were sold.
Even the ones sold were mostly sold in Russia. His men were afraid that the Tsar's face would be too ugly. Everyone bought a part of it, and there was no one in the international market.
Of course, this is mainly because there is no support from the banking consortium. No one is willing to help them issue bonds. Even if the handling fee is even high, no one takes over. The Russians whimsically go to sell bonds in the international market.
Leaving aside the issue of bonds by banks, the banking consortiums of various countries invariably decided to give them a lesson. In the end, sales in the international market were less than 10,000 pounds.
They did n’t even bring it back. The people who bought the bonds eventually ran back and asked for a return. If they did n’t return, they would sue the Russians for fraud.
Since then, issuing bonds has become a taboo for Nicholas II, and no one dares to presume in his presence.
Now the Prime Minister reminds him, mainly to tell him not to shame. A few years ago, the credibility of the Russian Empire was gone. Isn't it funny to issue bonds now?
When most of the banks in the Russian Empire declared bankruptcy, the then tsarist government failed to take timely measures, and the credibility of the Russian Empire went bankrupt.
A large number of depositors' funds were swallowed up by bankers. Not only did they pit the Russians, they also killed a lot of foreigners doing business in Russia. They sought the Tsarist government to protest.
In the context of governments joining forces to pit Russians, it became a collusion between the Tsarist government and bankers, swallowing up depositors' money, and the international credibility of the Tsarist government was bankrupt.
This did not do them wrong. After Nicholas II reacted, they seized a lot of banks, set off an anti-Semitic wave in Russia, and took back a large part of the funds that had not yet been transferred.
Unfortunately, the money was used in the war and was not returned to the depositors.
Even Ferdinand, an outsider, admired the Tsarist government's ethics. He was really jealous. He dare to swallow any money!
At that time, the ruble was devalued hundreds of times. It was a big deal to print more tickets and return the money to the depositors. Anyway, cash was worthless, and all the responsibilities could be thrown to the rebels.
Now the Tsarist government will pay a price. The French who were most severely pitted at the time were the ones who made them invest the most in Russia?
Secondly, it is Bulgaria. Bulgaria and Russia have the largest trade volume. Many businessmen have deposits in Russia. Fortunately, most of them have deposited their money in Ferdinand's bank.
Although the banknote was devalued, there was no reliance on it. After the closure of the Russian Empire branch, the head office continued to complete the payment.
As a result, the black pot was carried away by the Tsarist government and unscrupulous Russian bankers. Ferdinand not only made a lot of money in the ruble, but also gave the bank a reputation.
"All rejected? How is this possible? Did Bulgaria refuse our loan request?" Nicholas II asked angrily
"Yes, Your Majesty! The Bulgarians have evaluated our repayment ability. They think that it is too risky to lend us money, and they are worried that we will be unaccountable!" The Prime Minister said.
"Humph!"
Nicholas II sighed coldly. At this time, heaven and earth conscience, he did not want to rely on the account. Especially with the Bulgarian loan, the collateral is in the Ukraine region, how could he lie on this loan?
"Are the conditions we gave them not enough for them to be tempted? You know that we have all put out so much tax as collateral, and they are still afraid of us being in trouble?" Nicholas II said angrily
"His Majesty, according to the Bulgarians' assessment, they consider the collateral we give us worthless.
They think that even if these taxes are mortgaged to them, the right to collect taxes is still in our hands. As long as we do something, they will not get any money at all! The Prime Minister explained
Nicholas II was embarrassed. This kind of thing seems to have been done by his predecessors, and mortgaged the salt tax. At the end of the repayment, he announced the exemption of salt tax very shamelessly, and then announced the introduction of salt tax.
The mortgage on the merchant is the salt tax, which has nothing to do with the salt tax, and the collateral has been handed over, so everyone is cleared.
With such a lesson learned, it is obviously not easy to use here at Nicholas II. No matter how much he can guarantee, people have reasons to not believe.
"Well then, what conditions did the Bulgarians put forward? Prime Minister, you can say it directly, I know Ferdinand must be robbing in the fire!" Nicholas II said helplessly
"Your Majesty, without any conditions, they directly rejected our loan request and also included a detailed evaluation report!
I have also read that report. They listed all our debts, including the salaries of government officials we owe, and the soldiers' casualty pension!
Adding all these debts together, the Russian Empire now owes up to £ 9.55 billion, and we no longer have the ability to repay! The Prime Minister said awkwardly
"How is this possible? How can we owe so much money, it's all fake!" Nicholas II growled.
"His Majesty, the data given by the Bulgarians is very watery. It is estimated that their calculation methods are slightly different from ours, but the data they give is still referenced.
For the casualty pension alone, we owe more than 5 million people! If Bulgarian pension standards were to be met, we would have to pay more than 85 billion levs, which translates to 3.4 billion pounds.
If calculated according to our standards, this number will be much smaller. For example, many soldiers' families have left Russia, and this part of the expenditure has been saved, which is about 1.5 billion pounds.
The second is our external debt. We are very clear about this. There are about 2.33 billion pounds. One-third of them are interest-free loans, and about 40% are low-interest loans. This is the ordinary commercial loan.
The remaining part is our internal debt, and the money owed by the government to various departments. This is very complicated to calculate and changes every day.
The biggest sum of money is probably the military puppet. From the World War to now, we have owed a large sum of military puppets. The specific figures are difficult to calculate.
But now we are adding 80 million pounds of soldiers' salaries and debt every year, and now we can actually only issue about eight months of military salaries.
The estimated 900 million pounds by Bulgarians ~ EbookFREE.me ~ probably no problem, but in fact we do not need to pay so much at all, many creditors do not know where to go, this is a mess. The Prime Minister explained
Nicholas II rubbed his forehead without knowing it, startled. If this number is calculated, the debt of the Russian Empire will also exceed at least 5 billion pounds.
Even if the government is more rude, relying on some pensions and some military garrison, and deducting internal debts that do not need to be repaid, then at least more than 4 billion pounds of debt must be repaid.
With the current fiscal revenue of the Russian Empire, it is obviously impossible to afford this huge debt, even the interest on external debt alone is enough.
"Damn Ferdinand, this is what he wanted to do in the fire!" Nicholas II complained helplessly
Obviously, he knew that Bulgaria had given this detailed list for certain reasons. It was impossible to help them make financial statistics for no reason, right?
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