In the Vienna Hotel, the touching side appeared. The two hapless people complained to each other. The scene was sad and weeping.
Then there is no more, no matter how much Massimiliano wants to help, it doesn't make any sense.
In order to restore the country over the years, Massimiliano not only exhausted his personal connections, but also owed a lot of favors. Today, his influence on the Vienna government has infinitely approached zero.
In addition to being good-looking, Maximilian, the Mexican emperor in exile, is an empty shelf. The only effect is probably that the identity is high enough, and it can help to speak at a critical moment. As for whether it can play a role, I don't know.
With just such a little help, Leopold II was still reluctant to give up. In any case, it is better to have someone to help talk than no one to help.
No matter how low Massimiliano's political voice is, it is an 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 grow up. Although he is very moved and very willing to help Belgium, Massimiliano is no longer the boy he used to be.
"Leopold, I personally advise you not to get your hopes up. As far as I know, the Vienna government is running a deficit again this year.
If you really want to get funding from Vienna, it's best to go private. Although the interest on the funds to be paid is a little higher, it is not necessary to pay too much politically. "
This is Massimiliano's sincere words. It is too embarrassing for the help and interest-free loans. Now is not the period of the European Continental War, the importance of Belgium to the Shinra Empire has been greatly reduced, and the Vienna government is not taking advantage of it.
If the number is small, it may be useful for Belgium to cry poor and sell miserably. The problem is that Belgium's current funding gap is huge, and the interests involved are huge.
Leopold II naturally thought of these questions, but now there is no way. Ordinary international financing not only has high interest, but also comes with a lot of political strings attached.
The most important thing is that the Belgian government has mortgaged everything that can be mortgaged in the previous loans, and now it can't take out enough mortgage items. It is purely based on the government's credit guarantee, and the financial consortium does not buy it at all.
Not only Vienna, the Belgian government has borrowed money in major financial markets in Europe. Now all the bigger banks and financial companies in Europe are creditors of the Belgian government.
In order to raise enough funds, the Belgian government has not done much to repeat mortgages and abductions.
It is a pity that financial institutions are too shrewd, and they are not assured of the repayment ability of the Belgian government.
The post-war reconstruction spending was far beyond the budget, and the normal business channels were unable to work, so Leopold II's trip to Vienna this time.
"Maximiliano, don't you know what those vampires are? Given the current situation in Belgium, do you think it is possible to get a normal business loan?"
Seeing the helpless expression on Leopold II's face, Massimiliano nodded sympathetically. After all, he was an emperor, so he naturally knew what a bank was.
"Borrow an umbrella 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.
A loan that looks very conscientious on the surface is only used to fool ordinary people, and the real interest rate has always been terribly high.
So far, Massimiliano has always remembered the first time he got a loan. He took a silver mine in Mexico as collateral and got a loan that looked like a good deal.
The annual rate on the bright side is only 2.5%. In fact, there are a lot of fees. The more pitted loans are still issued in installments, but the interest must be calculated in full. The final real interest rate is directly as high as 14.62% per year.
This is the conscience loan given by Napoleon III after communicating with the French consortium in person out of his support.
If there is no government intervention, and the banks are allowed to do their own thing, that is the real usury. No one knows how much the highest is. Anyway, Massimiliano borrowed a 50% discount on the principal, the interest rate was as high as 46.9%, and there were a lot of additional conditions for international loans.
Of course, Massimiliano is not a disadvantage. Although the interest is a little higher and the additional conditions are more than 100 million points, this is a high-risk loan. With the fall of the Mexican Empire, these debts turned into bad debts.
The aftermath is that when Massimiliano wanted to re-finance the country, no bank would lend money to the government-in-exile again. Even if he borrowed money in his own name, no bank would lend it.
Government debt is not equal to the emperor's debt, and there is no joint liability between the two parties. In theory, as a direct member of the Habsburg family, Massimiliano is still a high-quality customer in the eyes of the bank, and there is no problem if he cannot borrow more than 1.8 million.
It's a pity that Franz told the financial world early, whoever dares to lend money to Massimiliano personally will be in trouble with the Habsburg dynasty.
Capital is profit-seeking and weak, and no banker is so determined to compete with the Habsburg dynasty for a little interest income.
So that the unknowing Massimiliano ran into the wall again and again, thinking that he had become a desolate phoenix, and was attacked 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's the Vienna government that can make the decision, and you'd better not get your hopes up. This kind of thing, my brother is rarely involved. "
Politics is such a reality, but anything that offends people is always the culprit of the cabinet. Franz the Great, who really makes decisions, usually only appears when everyone is happy.
Based on what Massimiliano knew about his brother, unless the Belgian government can provide enough benefits in exchange, most of this kind of effort will not pass.
"thanks!"
"If the Vienna government can provide us with the assistance we need, then all international trade settlements in Belgium in the future will be carried out by Aegis."
Leopold II gritted his teeth and said.
In a sense, this is a betrayal of national sovereignty, but Belgium has no better choice.
The post-war reconstruction funds were insufficient, and the French could not get the reparations. In order to raise funds, Belgium had mortgaged everything that could be mortgaged, and now there are only so many chips left in their hands.
If it wasn't for the discovery that the Vienna government was going to make the Aegis into an international settlement currency, Leopold II didn't know that the settlement currency could also be traded.
After all, most of the international trade settlements before this were done in gold, and sometimes in silver. The use of Aegis settlement is when countries trade with the Holy Roman Empire.
All use of Aegis for trade settlement not only means that Belgium has abandoned gold and silver settlement, but also means that Belgium should link its currency to Aegis, from a pure gold standard country to a mixed standard of Aegis and gold.
Just because Aegis and gold can be freely exchanged, and the currency value is relatively stable, the gap between this hybrid standard and the pure gold standard is not big.
The difference is not big now, but it does not mean that the difference will not be big in the future. Once Aegis and Gold were decoupled, things changed drastically.
Undoubtedly, these problems are not currently recognized. Normal people dare not imagine the decoupling of Aegis and gold, and no one knows that the future economic development will be so fast that the production of gold cannot meet the actual demand.
If he knew this, Leopold II would never have taken it out as a condition so carelessly. After all, the negotiation has not officially started, and the conditions offered at the moment can only be considered sincerity, and the price to be paid in the end will definitely be greater.
Massimiliano nodded with a sigh of relief. The battle for currency hegemony between SHIELD and the British pound is not a day or two, and even he, an exiled emperor who is far from politics, has heard of it.
Belgium's current position is not only about economic interests, but more importantly, it is a political team.
As early as a few years ago, Britain and Austria have developed their own settlement systems, and they have also attracted European countries. It's just that the conditions at that time were not mature enough. Even if there was a tendency, no country dared to declare that all settlements were made in a certain country's currency.
If Belgium stands up now, it will be the first country in the world to publicly announce that all settlements are made using Aegis. Based on this alone, you can reap a large wave of favor from the Vienna government.
This kind of thing, at present, only poor Belgium dare to do it. The full use of Aegis for settlement not only disgusted the British government politically, but also excluded its own products from the British market.
Whether for the sake of face or for the sake of profit, it is impossible for the London government to accept Aegis as the settlement currency for British-Belgium trade. You must know that the British-Austrian trade is now mainly settled in gold.
Even if the Vienna government wants to make Aegis an international settlement currency, it is not so radical. At present, 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. Now only Britain and Austria have the strength to provide funds to Belgium.
Despite the fact that the Vienna government seems to be financially tight, it is also relatively speaking.
Besides, just because the government doesn't have money doesn't mean that it doesn't have money. After more than a year of buffering, no matter how tight the financial market of the Holy Roman Empire is, it will not be able to get tens of millions of funds.
Funds for post-war reconstruction are not spent in one day. As long as there is a thousand and eight million emergency services, the rest of the funds can be allocated in the next month.
The situation in Europe has become clear, and Belgium cannot continue to be halfhearted. If you are going to hook up with the British for a loan now, it will definitely be a sign of tiredness.
Anyway, to be a horse boy, Leopold II decided to take a gamble and grab the position of the number one horse boy. Although the number one horse boy needs to charge into the battle, it is a little dangerous, but the benefits are very rich!
Prior to this, the Belgian government has also carefully studied.
With the general trend of the Holy Roman Empire, as long as the Vienna government does not die, the status of the continental hegemon has been stabilized, and the probability of replacing the British as the maritime hegemon is also very high.
Belgium's size is limited. If you don't pass by immediately, once other countries take the lead, their value will be lost.