Vienna is still cool in midsummer.

Schonbrunn Palace

Metternich said: "Your Majesty, the Russians have asked us to buy weapons production lines, which are almost everything from pistols to artillery."

Franz knew that Austria had robbed the interests of the Russian arms group, so these people would definitely take action, but he did not expect that their solution was to buy a weapon production line.

It is true to think about it. The British were the ones with the strongest mechanical equipment technology in this era, followed by Austria and France, and the industrial systems of Belgium and Prussia were imperfect again.

The mechanical equipment produced by the Russians themselves has high maintenance costs, but the equipment performance can only be said to be barely usable, and the production efficiency is not comparable to that of peers. Purchasing foreign production lines is also forced to do so.

Britain and France are going to war with the Russians. Even if they can buy from Britain and France, they dare not use it. Weapon production equipment is still very sensitive, and it is not civilian materials, so it is smuggled.

If you buy it from Prussia and Belgium, it is not impossible. But in this way, they will not be able to maintain the future maintenance of the expeditionary forces on the front line.

With the financial resources of the Tsarist government, don't expect them to discard weapons and equipment worth tens of millions of rubles. The annual maintenance of these equipment is also a business of millions of rubles.

Capitalists will not be unable to get along with money. In order to maximize profits, it is normal to purchase Austrian weapons production lines.

Franz said indifferently: "Sell it to them. Even the same equipment, the quality of weapons and equipment produced in the hands of the Russians will be reduced by a certain level."

This is not his despise of the Russians, but the fact. Because of the government's corruption, capitalists will definitely cut corners in order to obtain greater profits.

According to Franz, the Russians purchased ragged weapons and equipment locally at higher prices than in the international market. It is better to buy than to make it, and that's how it comes.

The domestic budget for weapons and equipment imported from Austria is increased by 20% to 50% compared to the actual import price. This specific ratio depends on the integrity and ability of the officials involved.

Metternik reminded: "Your Majesty, do you need to limit it? If the Russians get a complete set of production lines, it will be a problem for us in the future."

Although there is no such thing as a technical blockade in this era, in the military industry, it is not possible to buy any weapon and equipment, let alone a weapon production line?

Franz shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter. Now technological changes are changing with each passing day. These devices will not exist within ten years. If they are more than ten years later, they may be eliminated again.

Since the Russians are willing to buy, they should fulfill their benefits. It is best to turn them into long-term customers and use the profits obtained from transactions to promote the technological upgrading of our military industry."

Russia is indeed worthy of fear, but there is no need to care too much about Russia's industrial technology. Under the rule of the corrupt Tsarist government, it is impossible for their industry to develop greatly.

Metternich continued: “Your Majesty, the Russians have also applied for loans.

According to commercial trade, in the second and third quarters of 1852, our trade volume with the Russians increased by nearly triple.

The total trade volume of the two sides is as high as 292 million rupiah, of which our total import volume is 88 million rupiah, our total export volume is 204 million rupiah, and our trade surplus is 116 million rupiah.

This part of the trade surplus is mainly the export of arms and strategic materials, and the export volume of these two items alone is as high as 83 million rupiahs.

What remains is the trade of civilian materials, because of the war, British and French goods have withdrawn significantly from the Russian market, creating opportunities for us.

The loans we provided to the Russians have been almost used. The strategic materials we purchased in the early stage were basically exhausted after this battle.

If we cannot achieve a great victory, the military expenditure of the Tsarist government will continue to increase next year."

Franz calculated that in this era, everyone liked to do business with the Russians because they did not use paper money, but paid directly with gold and silver. (Paper rubles were abandoned, and international trade only used gold and silver rubles to settle)

The direct consequence of the trade between Russia and Austria is that a large amount of gold and silver flows into the Austrian treasury, and then turns into paper money and flows into the market.

From a currency perspective, the risk of this part of gold and silver inflow, Franz's inflow of gold and silver has been digested by the market. (Bookbooks and gold and silver are not issued 1:1, leverage is set according to the economic situation)

Franz thought for a while and said, "Don't worry when talking to the Russians, tell them that our financial resources are not rich and we are not able to provide them with huge loans."

Try to lower the amount of loans, delay the loan time, and let the Russians take out more gold and silver to pay. Don’t make too many requirements on loan interest, and you can give up the additional conditions.

We can also help them issue some of the bonds, which must be government bonds, preferably with collateral. The war bonds are probably not allowed to be sold. This interest rate is set by the Russians themselves and they can sell them out."

If the two countries were still in equal positions before the outbreak of the Near East War, Austria's initiative became increasingly important as the war broke out.

Now due to the war, a large amount of gold and silver flows in, causing the Austrian domestic economy to be deformed and prosperous, and there are still great hidden dangers behind this prosperity.

If Austria now provides too many loans to Russia, it will either draw funds from the domestic market or issue additional currencies.

The former is not conducive to the development of Austrian economy, while the latter is prone to inflation. This is caused by the economic volume. Austria's total economic volume is so large that some of the money market can be digested. Once the quantity is exceeded, it will not be digested.

The best way is to let Russia's gold and silver flow in first, the national treasury reserves increase, the market expands, and then there will be no inflation if the currency is added.

Metternik reminded: "Your Majesty, maybe we can ask the Russians to pay the goods and take out some gold and silver to reduce our risks."

Franz shook his head and said, "No need yet, our risks are still within controllable range. Don't rush to remind the Russians that their gold and silver flow into our country at a very fast speed.

The rapid development of our domestic economy depends not only on this war.

Mr. Metternich, you may not have noticed that in the past six months, British and French capital has flocked to Austria, 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 previous practice, the Russian-Turkey War will last for a long time. These capitalists all hope to make a fortune through this war and invest and build factories in Austria.

Due to the poor information, they don’t know how many peers they have added recently, and they don’t consider the demand for materials from Russians, and they are not infinite.

The market is crazy, and that guy Carl is almost frightened, afraid that the economic crisis will break out, and has formulated several emergency plans.

Judging from the laws of capitalist market economy, once the war is over, the Austrian economy will immediately face the problem of difficulty in transformation.

The capitalists who entered the market in the early stage were fine. They made profits and could support their transformation. The capitalists who came in the later stage were in a miserable state. Before they made money, they would face transformation, and a bankruptcy wave was indispensable.

At this time, helping the Russians digest some of their debts and cool down the hot market is also a good choice."

Since we know the economic crisis, why didn’t the Austrian government stop it? The answer is very realistic, in order to increase fiscal revenue and accelerate domestic development.

If this economic boom continues, it will take only two or three years before Austria's total economic output surpasses France. Even if the bubble bursts, these capitals will also leave a large amount of wealth for Austria.

It is easy to invest money, but it is difficult to withdraw it. Once it becomes a factory, it is not easy to cash out real estate in machinery and equipment.

These trapped capitalists either continue to contribute to Austria's development or cut off their lives. This is how the United States developed in history.

As long as you gain enough benefits in this war and increase market capacity, the impact of the economic crisis can be minimized. At that time, Franz will not mind letting the government interfere in the market and forcibly land the economy.

How many capitalists will be killed by doing this? But it has nothing to do with Franz, he is not the Virgin.

Investment is risky, so be cautious when entering the market.

...

When the Near East War attracted the attention of the outside world, Russia and Austria quietly reached a huge deal without causing any turmoil.

The arms trade is very profitable, especially when selling weapons production lines and transferring production technology, adding product added value will be 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 continues to be friendly and with the integrity of capitalists, they are likely to package the subsequent upgrade business to Austria.

The fundamental reason why "it is better to buy than to build" is that R&D, and the manufacturing cost is too high. Why are so many companies in later generations keen on importing? Don't they know the benefits of independent R&D?

The most critical point is that R&D investment, the gains and efforts are often disproportionate, which not only consumes a lot of time, but also is full of uncertainty.

For capitalists who are keen on making money, huge investments in this area really cannot maximize their benefits. If they are not lucky, they will fall down on the eve of their harvest.

This is especially true for weapon research and development, and a supporting industrial system is needed. If the Russians lag behind in these aspects, the risks of independent research and development of enterprises will be greater.

If a military-industrial enterprise does research and development, the population import production line will be put into production before they can produce results.

What would the Tsarist government choose? Equip the army with advanced equipment with mature technology, or wait for the performance they develop uncertain products?

Austria relaxed all restrictions on arms exports and allowed the Russians to freely choose production lines. The Tsarist government was naturally very happy, and such opportunities were rare.

You should know that in order to restrict Russians, European countries mainly export finished products in the military industry, and are very cautious about exporting production lines.

If you only purchase finished products, once a war breaks out, you will not be able to continue to obtain these weapons and equipment, and the Tsarist government will support domestic military-industrial enterprises.

There is no such concern for the production line. Nowadays, most of the equipment of Russian military-industrial enterprises is imported. They don’t mind continuing to import, as long as they can ensure the supply of arms.

People can't think so far about the future. Theoretically, as long as the overall industrial technology is improved, the military industry system will naturally improve, and the two complement each other.

Historically, the development of Russian military technology was at a time when relations with the Western world deteriorated. The more powerful the two sides confronted each other, the faster their technological progress would be.

It is the era of war, and no one has considered that much. Even if someone sees a possible crisis, he cannot object.

From a development perspective, Austrian ready-made equipment can be disassembled and learned, and their technological progress will be faster, and even if it is not good, it can be copied.
Chapter completed!