Holy Roman Empire

The internal issues of the Anti-Turkish Alliance had been resolved, and now only the final piece remained, finding a king for the newly independent Armenians.

The Kingdom of Armenia had perished a thousand years ago, and the once royal family had long vanished in the river of history, with no legitimate heirs in existence.

Being sandwiched between Russia and Austria destined this fledgling nation for an uncomfortable future.

If Russian-Austrian relations had always been friendly, it would have been one thing, but once their relations soured, Armenia would be forced to choose sides.

To such a pitiful position, Franz had no interest whatsoever. The Habsburg dynasty might give up, but that didn’t mean other royal families would do the same.

What Europe was not short of were declining royal houses. Core members were one thing; given their illustrious status, they could still move in high society, and with those resources, at the very least could be a wealthy man. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The collateral branches, however, were miserable; the fallen royal houses no longer had excess resources to offer them, and they had to find their own way.

Those with good luck could still spend their days with an empty nobility title; those with bad luck would directly become commoners.

Those with nothing would not pass up any opportunity—Napoleon III’s success story further inspired everyone to strive for betterment.

A hot potato?

What was there to fear? To be a king for even one day was still to be a king. Once European society’s recognition was secured, it would be a leap across social classes, the kind that soared to the heavens.

Ever since the Habsburg dynasty declared its renouncement, the repercussion of having many relatives was exposed. The Vienna Palace became unusually busy with countless people trying to establish connections.

Foreign Minister Weisenberg said, "Your Majesty, the Russians want to support Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich to become the king of Armenia.

The Tsarist Government had begun to lobby the Armenian elite, offering conditions that Armenians couldn’t refuse. As long as we do not oppose, the result of the subsequent election is decided."

Franz replied with a slight smile, "Oh, are the Russians willing to let go of the Batumi region now?"

(Note: Batumi, a port city in the southern part of Georgia today)

The Kingdom of Armenia existed as a buffer between Russia and Austria, and its territory had changed compared to the original timeline, now resembling a banana.

It bordered Persia to the east and the Black Sea to the west. The territory was approximately 30,000 square kilometers with Yerevan still the capital.

If that was the case, the Armenians should consider themselves to have made a good deal. Unfortunately, the Russians were clinging to the port, and the newly established Kingdom of Armenia remained a landlocked country.

The small town of Batumi in the Caucasus region was the nearest seaport to Armenia and the area most coveted by the Armenians.

Weisenberg shook his head, "No, the Tsarist Government is still not ready to give it up, but Alexander III turned Batumi into the fiefdom of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich.

If the Armenians accept this king, their import and export trade will face no restrictions; otherwise, they must..."

This was a standard move; how could the Russians easily give up such a valuable bargaining chip?

Perhaps the Armenians could still use Austrian territory as a passage, but even to get to the nearest port of Hopa, they would have to travel an extra hundred miles.

In the perspective of the future, such a distance would only be a matter of an hour and naturally didn’t count for much. But in that era, it meant an additional two days of transportation time.

Once or twice wouldn’t matter much, but the loss would become significant if it happened frequently. From the start, the Russians had dug a pitfall.

Having understood the full picture, Franz answered nonchalantly, "Since the Russians are so well-prepared, let’s just make it happen for them."

The value of Armenia was not high, not worth Austria expending too much effort. The special geography of the Caucasus region was inherently decisive—it was impossible to be the main battlefield of Russian-Austrian contention.

To win over the Armenians was not impossible, but the effort and gains were disproportionate; it was better off given to the Russians, to entice them to move southward toward Persia.

Prime Minister Felix reminded, "Your Majesty, the Russians might not truly intend to control the Kingdom of Armenia.

Although we have defined the territory of the Kingdom of Armenia, population migration not only requires time but also a significant amount of money. Read exclusive adventures at empire

From relocation to subsequent reconstruction, without tens of millions of Divine Shield, this Kingdom of Armenia cannot truly come into being.

Although the Tsarist Government just completed a transaction with us, most of the funds were offset against debts. The real funds the Tsarist Government could get their hands on were only 20 million Divine Shield.

To toss out half of the profits for an Armenian kingdom, I doubt the Russians are that generous."

There was no problem; the Kingdom of Armenia was currently only theoretically in existence, with the provisional government still on the way to the capital—in essence, the country had nothing yet.

Immigration and relocation were easy, settlement was not. Even if all of them were to farm, wouldn’t they need food, seeds, basic tools, and daily living quarters for the first year?

The war had lasted for over a year, with no income for such a long period, the Armenians’ savings had been exhausted in the conflict.

In the middle and later stages, the Armenian Rebel Army was able to hold on because Austria had been air-dropping supplies to them, otherwise, they would have been finished.

If Russia wanted to bring this little brother under its wing, it had to be willing to spend money to help establish the Kingdom of Armenia.

Unfortunately, not only was the Tsarist Government short of funds, but Russian financial institutions were also strapped for cash.

This related to the Prusso-Russian War and the reforms of Alexander II, where old financial institutions that had backed the wrong side were wiped out, and new ones were still in the stage of primitive capital accumulation, with no spare funds for international lending.

As the saying goes, "He who takes the king’s shilling is his man," bound by Austrian loans and even under the influence of the Vienna Government, the Tsarist Government had to toe the line, let alone little Armenia.

Once it accepted loans from Austria, the Kingdom of Armenia could only follow the Vienna Government, otherwise, it would face a financial collapse within minutes.

Franz shook his head, "That’s not necessarily true. The funding that the Kingdom of Armenia needs doesn’t have to be spent right away.

The Russians can invest in batches, starting with an emergency fund of one or two million shied, and then a monthly disbursement of three or four hundred thousand shied would suffice.

After this debt reduction, the Tsarist Government could cut its monthly debt expenses by 950,000 shied, and squeezing out three or four hundred thousand shied each month was doable.

We would still be better off pushing the Russians to do it, and if that really wasn’t possible, English and French capital could also be brought in. We should not invest unless absolutely necessary."

It wasn’t just the Tsarist Government’s purse that was lean; even the Vienna Government’s funds were not plentiful, and Franz truly did not want to take on such uncertain loans.

War was a gold-consuming beast, and for this conflict, the Austrian Government had gradually spent close to 260 million shied on military expenses, even as part of a coalition force.

Otherwise, the cost of a few hundred thousand more troops and pensions for tens of thousands of casualties would require at least 400 million shied.

In order to fully occupy the Ottoman Empire, the Vienna Government also paid a price, with the costs of resettling immigrants and compensating allies, all of which would nearly amount to 300 million shied in cash.

And that’s not all; the real expense came with post-war reconstruction.

Due to population migration, the Asia Minor Peninsula would be uninhabited for a long time to come.

By the time Austria’s settlers took their place, nature would have reclaimed the land, with cities turned to ruins, roads overgrown with jungles, and farmlands...

According to the Vienna Government’s plan, within the next ten years, the government would invest 1.2 billion shied in rebuilding the Asia Minor Peninsula.

Even on an average, that would be an annual investment of 120 million shied.

With such a large amount of money to be spent in the short term, the Vienna Government’s finances were naturally tight.

If it wasn’t for the domestic financial market in Austria that had grown and possessed sufficient financing capacity, Franz would not be smiling now.

Of course, compared to other countries, Vienna’s finances were still relatively relaxed.

Austria had sufficient gold production, and as long as the domestic economy kept growing, it could print money.

Sufficient gold reserves combined with a huge economic scale meant that the shied had become a world currency, and Vienna Government’s annual Coincage Tax revenue was astronomical.

To put it this way, Austria’s annual Coincage Tax revenue was almost catching up with the Russian fiscal income.

Simply comparing the economic scale, the Russian Empire was only a third of Austria’s mainland, but the gap between the funds the two governments could mobilize was already tenfold.

The advantage of an industrial nation over an agricultural one was fully demonstrated here, and the only country in the world that could compete with Austria in terms of financial strength was Britain.

Having more funds to mobilize doesn’t mean one can splurge at will. The British, with their narrower homeland, might be able to, but Austria could not.

To develop newly gained territories, a considerable amount of funds had to be allocated. Dreaming of developing millions of square kilometers of land with just 10 billion shied invested by the government was pure fantasy.

Government investment was just a catalyst; developing the Near East required more from private capital.

Of course, the first step was still immigration. Otherwise, once the railway was built but there were no people along its route, there would be no need for train service, which would be awkward.

With domestic capital already earmarked for other purposes, Armenia, a place of little strategic value, naturally had to be cast aside.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Minister Weisenberg replied.

…