"As far as I know, Your Majesty, there is already a fierce strife within the Rothchild family. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info "Cold sweat oozed from Bismarck's forehead, "The reason for this situation is the result of a fierce fight between their families. ”

"You mean, someone within the Rotchild family deliberately leaked the news?" King Wilhelm stared at Bismarck, and his thick eyebrows suddenly twisted into two black bumps.

"Yes." Bismarck said, "Since the death of 'Great James,' there have been signs of division in the Rothchild family, although they are still ostensibly united. ”

"I can't imagine that our war hasn't started yet, but the war within the Rothchild family is about to begin." William I sneered, took his hands, and paced the room.

"Do you think they might get the gold they need from the Dutch?" William I asked.

"That should be fine." Bismarck immediately replied in the affirmative, "The lack of cash in the Dutch bank will not last long." ”

"What if Rothchild of France and Rothchild of England came to their aid?" William I asked again.

"Most of their money has been invested in food speculation, and now they don't have any extra cash to help ABN AMRO." Bismarck said, "This time they deliberately leaked the news to the Dutch, which actually shows that they have no money to help the Dutch, so they have to resort to this method." ”

"Anyway, Your Excellency Prime Minister, I don't want to see any other problems arise." Wilhelm I turned around and looked at Bismarck, his voice revealing a rare sternness, "We have been preparing for the unification of Germany for four years, and I hope that everything will be as precise as a clock." You see, one small mistake can ruin everything. ”

"Rest assured, Your Majesty, nothing can stop us from victory." For the first time, Bismarck felt so embarrassed in front of the king that he could not speak.

"You should pay more attention to Baron Rothschild, and if necessary, you can help him become the next James." William I said, "I do not want to see the leadership of the House of Rothchild transferred from France to England. It is also for the happiness of Europe. ”

After Wilhelm I finished speaking, his eyes fell on the blue and white porcelain plate hanging on the wall.

These plates are beautifully crafted blue and white porcelain, with traditional European curly grass decoration on the edges, and in the center of the plate is the Black Eagle family emblem of the Hohenzollern royal family.

These porcelains were specially fired by the Prussian royal family in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China. This kind of porcelain with the family coat of arms has always been very popular in Prussia, and many nobles have similar porcelain for decoration in their homes, even Bismarck's.

"By the way, have you heard of it? The emperor of the French Empire seems to have recruited a Chinese son-in-law. William I said, "I heard that he thus granted citizenship to the Chinese merchants in France." ”

"I've heard similar rumors, but I haven't heard of such a princess in the French royal family." Bismarck said, "However, it is true that Chinese businessmen are granted citizenship rights to Chinese not all in France." ”

"This Mr. Emperor, like his uncle, is overly energetic." William I sneered, "It's a pity that his energy is not used in the right place. ”

"This is exactly what we want, Your Majesty." Bismarck could not help but breathe a sigh of relief in his heart when he heard Wilhelm I change the subject.

"If he can give us an excuse to go to war, it's perfect." William I said as if talking to himself.

"Excuses are always there, Your Majesty." Bismarck replied quietly.

William I came to the window, looked at the scenery under the mountain, and said: "Solve the problem of military spending as soon as possible." ”

"I'll give you good news as soon as possible, Your Majesty." Bismarck replied immediately. It's just that Bismarck didn't know how much he would have to pay for this good news.

After the visit, Bismarck left Sanssouci by car, and by the time he returned to his home in Berlin, it was already late.

As soon as Bismarck entered the house, the butler handed him a letter.

Seeing that the letter had been written by Mrs. Braischroeder, Bismarck felt a faint sense of unease, and without even taking off his coat, he hurriedly opened the letter and read it.

In a few moments, the letter fell from Bismarck's hand and fell to the ground like a dead leaf.

The butler looked at Bismarck in astonishment, as if he couldn't hold it, and immediately stepped forward to help him.

"What's wrong with you? Mr? Do I need to call a doctor? ”

"No, I'm fine, maybe I'm tired...... Thank you, Herode, for helping me pick up the letter...... I need to be alone for a while and don't let people bother me......"

"Yes, sir."

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

In the evening, Breschroeder, who was sitting at his desk, signed his name on the last document, and after carefully examining all the papers, he put them away and put them in a drawer.

He habitually took out a small golden key and wanted to lock the drawer, but when he was about to insert the key into the keyhole, as if he suddenly remembered something, he couldn't help but smile wryly and shook his head, and put the key away.

yes, after tonight, it all has nothing to do with me.

He first read the last letter he had written to his wife, which was now asleep, and he read it, and felt that there was still much to say to her, but ......

He put it away again, placed it in the most prominent place on the table, and then took it from Baron Mayerkar von Rothschild and read it.

“…… Our efforts to raise funds on the European market to buy shares in ABN AMRO were met with a total resistance from the Dutch, who believed that the funds would be used by Prussia for the war effort, and there were rumors in the market that our family and the Oppenheimer family might be buyers. Obviously, your plan has failed, and you have not yet found a huge source of cash for the Dutch! ”

“…… So far, there has been no substantial progress on the problems we are facing, while preparations for war have escalated. The Prussian army had already begun to prepare for war on a large scale. In the event that a buyer could not be found, the Prussian Ministry of Finance was ready to openly sell shares in the Cologne-Minden railway on the market. However, market conditions are in a downturn under the shadow of war, and large-scale sales will lead to serious asset losses. Prussia announced a military alliance with Italy, and the stock market has already plummeted. You know, as soon as the war is about to begin, we have to throw away all the bonds in Berlin at once. And I just found out that you've been selling off our family's bonds in a big way to solve your own problems! …… According to our original idea. War will never be waged rashly until His Excellency the Prime Minister has received substantial funds, so an alliance with Italy does not mean that war is about to begin. …… There is no evidence that you are protecting the interests of our family, and we would like to hear an explanation from you for selling our bonds. In the telegram we sent to you in the morning, it was stated that we do not accept your recent sale! ……”

Seeing this letter, which was full of anger and rebuke, the bitterness of Breschroeder became even stronger.

He knew that the Rothchild family had abandoned him because of the failure of his attempt to snipe at ABN AMRO.

From the very beginning, the Rothchild family did not fully trust him. This was true even at the closest moment of cooperation between the two sides before and after the Austro-Prussian War.

On that occasion, Bismarck's preparations for war against Austria required a total of about 60 million taylors, and raising such an astronomical amount of war expenses was both a temptation and a challenge for Braeschroed. After careful calculations and careful consideration, Breschroeder proposed the highly controversial proposal for the privatization of the Cologne-Minden railway. When the plan was introduced, it was opposed by many who believed that the Braischroeder plan would make windfall profits for the railroad shareholders, including Braischroeder himself, at the cost of long-term losses for the government. In this scenario, the government would lose up to 30 million taylors in total of various rights and interests in exchange for only 10 million taylors in compensation and 4 million taylors in available deposits. The Cologne-Minden railway is a very profitable project invested by the government, and the privatization plan can provide the government with emergency funds in the short term, but the price paid is to sell the good assets at a price of less than 5%, and at the same time lose the long-term right to income in the future, which is not a good deal for the government in any way. But Bismarck's ambition to unify Germany overpowered, and in preparation for war against the Austrian behemoth, the other costs were not much to consider.

Such a big deal was certainly not something that Braischroeder could nibble on, and he brought in the Oppenheimer family in Cologne and the Rothchild family in Frankfurt. On July 18, 1865, the Prussian government signed a contract with the Cologne-Minden railway company. The end result was that the government relinquished the right to nationalize the railways, received compensation of 13 million taylors, and in recognition of Breschroeder's contributions, Bismarck entrusted Breschroeder with the transfer of funds involved in the Prussia-Austria treaty. The transfer of 2.5 million Taylor was made to Austria's Rotschild, and Breschroeder took the 1% "management fee" in his hands.

Bismarck, after the initial euphoria cooled, came to realize that the Cologne-Minden railway was still some time before the funds were available, and the feedback from Braischroeder's contacts with international bankers was not encouraging. The transfer of 9 million taylors between the Rothschild family and the Cologne-Minden railway came to a standstill because the two sides could not agree on a price. The Rothschild family believed that this was the result of Braischroeder's failure to fulfill his duties at all.

――――Dividing Line――――

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