On June 10, 1944, Hersmann arrived at the High Command conference room in the Ministry of Defense building on Wilhelmstraße in Berlin and met a beaming Ribbentrop. The German Foreign Minister told him with a smile www.biquge.info his hand: "The Japanese have finally agreed to continue to stand with us, and although there are still some key issues that cannot be agreed upon, it is good news." ”

In a few days' time, the meeting of the leaders of the European Communities will be officially convened - a meeting that has been delayed for so long that it makes people feel tired.

"Yes, if the Japanese can deal a heavy blow to the United States in the Pacific, we will have a chance to give the Americans a taste of the Treaty of Versailles." As he spoke, Hersmann and Ribbentrop walked into the conference room.

Hitler had not yet arrived, but Schleicher, Hess, Goering, Goebbels, Himmler, Schacht, Speer, Count Krosik (Fatherland Party, Minister of Finance), Funk (Minister of Economy), Rosenberg, and so on had already arrived.

Dr. Schacht was the president of the Frankfurt-based European Union Bank, and he was responsible for the issuance of the Euromark. However, looking at his face was a little sad, it was obviously related to the excessive over-hair of the European mark.

In the spring of 1943, before Britain succumbed, the issuance of the European mark was relatively normal, and there was not much currency over-issuance. But with the successive victories in the war, the foundations of the Euromark have not become solid, but have been greatly shaken by the over-issuance of money!

The reason for this is actually the problems caused by the European Community line that Hersmann strongly advocates. Most things in the world have two sides, in some ways they are advantages, and in another way they become disadvantages.

Although the European Community line made it easier for Germany to exert the power of several major industrial countries in Europe, it allowed Germany to acquire a large amount of weapons and equipment without having to bear the responsibility of the occupation forces.

However, there is also a huge shortcoming in this policy, that is, it has turned a war of aggression into a war of reunification and a national war into a civil war. As a result, the defeated side was treated as a brother rather than an enemy. Germany would not be able to plunder the wealth of the defeated countries to cover the huge financial deficit caused by the war.

Moreover, after the surrender of Britain and the restoration of the Russian Empire, the European Community had to help the two countries recover their economies, and they had to put a lot of wealth on their way to feed the British and Russians who had lost their livelihoods because of the war.

So the Union Bank of Europe had no choice but to turn on the money printing press and issue a large number of Euromarks, which had no gold and silver as a preparation at all. Due to the good situation on the battlefield and the strict rationing system implemented by various European countries, the European mark can still maintain its value at present. But in the eyes of a more traditional banker like Schacht, there is a good chance that this unguaranteed and indiscriminate issuance of paper money will collapse after the war!

And the collapse of the European mark will also mean the collapse of the European Community!

Sitting with Dr. Schacht was Hersman's early secretary, and now a member of the Fatherland Party, Minister of Eastern Affairs Alfred Brown. Rosenberg.

He, like Shacht, looked a little sad. Because his Eastern Affairs Department is actually a mess. The ministry was in charge of the German-occupied Soviet lands of Eastern Ukraine and Belarus, and consisted mainly of emptying the Russians (meaning ethnic Russians) and Ukrainians (so the Ukrainians were settled in Western Ukraine), distributing land to German immigrants, and planning and building cities, roads, bridges, and industrial centers.

In short, the Oriental Office was in charge of matters that required a lot of money, but Hitler's allocation of funds to Rosenberg was never enough.

So the reason why Rosenberg is worried now is the opposite of Schacht, who is worried about what to do with "too much money", and he is worried about too little money.

And the issue that Hersman wants to discuss at the meeting of the High Command today also happens to be related to money. So instead of sitting next to the Minister of Defense, as usual, he squeezed between Schacht and Rosenberg, wanting to discuss the currency issue with the head of the United European Bank, Schacht. The Nazis in the conference room suddenly stood up, and some raised their right hands and shouted: "Hey! Hitler! ”

It turned out that Hitler had arrived, and he was a little late because he was talking to Mussolini on the phone, in which Mussolini assured him that the three battleships of the "Duke Alexander" class would definitely be delivered to the EC Navy by the end of June 45.

In addition, Mussolini allowed Germany to recruit volunteers in Rome and promised ships flying the Roman flag to transport supplies for Germany after Rome withdrew from the war.

However, Mussolini did not help Germany unconditionally, and he made a request on the phone to buy a set of "uranium enrichment equipment".

Clearly, the mighty Roman Empire is now ready to start developing the atomic bomb!

……

"Now that Rome is about to withdraw from the war, Mussolini has pledged to adopt a policy of neutrality in favor of us. And after Rome withdraws, we will no longer have to bear the obligation to supply them with oil. So the exit of Rome is obviously very beneficial to us. ”

Adolph. At the beginning of today's meeting of the High Command, Hitler informed everyone that Rome was soon to make peace with the United States.

"This is a good thing," said Hersmann, who said half-jokingly as soon as Hitler had finished speaking, "and if the Italians are going to go with us to a decisive battle against the Americans, then we will have to send German soldiers to protect their expeditionary force, which is a great burden." ”

"Hehe," Hitler said with a smile when he heard this, "and now that 12 days have passed since the atomic bomb was tested, I believe that all countries are fully aware of the changes in the international situation." Therefore, at the meeting of leaders of the European Community, which begins on the 15th, an agreement should be reached on how to end the war. Do you have anything to say about that? ”

"Prime Minister, we should come up with a feasible terms for an armistice with the United States at the meeting." Dr. Schacht, President of the United European Bank, was the first to speak, saying, "What is most needed now is a peace treaty that would establish the status of the Euromark as an international reserve currency, otherwise our economy will face great difficulties after the war." ”

After a pause, he continued: "The situation is similar to that of 1918, except that it is the United States that is at a disadvantage, and we are the equivalent of Britain and France at that time. Although victory in the war is in sight, the national strength is exhausted. If reparations are not obtained, there will be problems in the post-war economy. ”

The Minister of Finance, Count Krosik, went on to support Schacht's opinion: "The deficit has reached a very terrible level, and it is not only the huge deficit in the German finances, but also the serious deficit in all the countries of the European Community. Britain and Russia, in particular, have a complete collapse of their finances and are simply not able to issue public bonds under normal circumstances. So the public bonds of both countries are actually bought by the European Union Bank...... This is a very serious problem! ”

Now all the countries of the European Community have the problem of fiscal deficits, which is inevitable in the event of a war. Among the major EC countries, Germany, France and Croatia-Hungary are still in control of their fiscal deficits.

The finances of Britain and Russia can only be described as a collapse, with Britain's fiscal revenues accounting for only 25% of expenditures. This was due to the war in India and the de facto collapse of the British Empire, which required hundreds of thousands of troops to be committed. The latter led to the collapse of Britain's economic system, which was based on a large colony and a financial center. Now that both no longer exist, the British economy can only collapse.

Russia is even worse, with government revenues equivalent to only 5% of expenditures. The reason is obvious: the areas under the control of the Russian Empire are now in ruins, and only a small part of the land allocated to the peasants has been reclaimed - most of the land has been abandoned, because there is now neither enough labor nor livestock in the Russian countryside.

As a result, Britain and Russia are actually financed by borrowing, and their bonds are not bought. So in the end, it was all underwritten by the United European Bank, and this is the reason for the large number of Euromarks overissued.

Rosenberg went on to say: "The reconstruction and colonization of the East will require a great deal of money and materials, including foodstuffs, building materials, cloth, livestock, farm implements and seeds. Food, seeds and livestock, in particular, are very urgently needed and are needed in large quantities. As far as I know, the same thing is very much needed on the Russian side. ”

Hitler nodded his head as he listened to his ministers, and when Rosenberg had finished speaking, he nodded to Hersmann, who was sitting next to Rosenberg. "Chief of the General Staff, what do you think?"

"The Americans have to pay for it," Hirschman shrugged, "isn't that what we're going to keep fighting?" If the Americans do not pay 300-500 billion euromarks, will our economic problems not be easy to solve? ”

"3000-500 billion?" The head of the European Union Bank, Schacht, was taken aback by the figure presented by Hersmann, "How is this possible?" The United States simply does not have that much gold and silver...... There are not so many in the whole world. This reparation figure is the same as the one imposed on us by the Treaty of Versailles, which is not collected at all, and its only effect is to cause the collapse of the American economy. ”

Hearing this, Hersman laughed: "Doctor, if the economy of the United States does not collapse, how can our European mark become the only reserve currency in the world?" From now on, we are going to fight a currency war! ”