Back at the negotiating table for the Anglo-Austrian peace talks, before Prince Albert could ask a question, Baron Brooke handed over another report to the British mission.

"This is the composition of China's fiscal and taxation, as well as a detailed financial analysis."

The financial situation of a country's government in this era was usually relatively obscure, so Baron Brooke's behavior once again surprised the entire British Mission.

At this time, only the United Kingdom, the United States, and France occasionally published financial information, and the traditional monarchies, especially Austria and Russia, never made such information public.

The strategic value of this information was not as important as it might have been, but some of the figures were a reflection of the economic power of the Austrian Empire.

758 million florins, and that's without counting the proceeds of seizures and seizures.

The total value of the seized property in Vienna alone was a dizzying astronomical figure, and many of them held bonds of the Austrian Empire.

These bonds had been held by many families for tens or hundreds of years, and the Austrian Empire repaid interest several times its value.

Originally, as long as it was not a family rebellion, they could have transferred those bonds to the names of family members who did not participate in the rebellion, even if they failed.

In this way, they can keep the capital of the rebellion forever, even if the whole family rebel population dies, they can leave the "fire" to like-minded friends.

However, with the introduction of the Wartime Approach and the Wartime Compensation Act, these bonds were either permanently voided or frozen for a long time.

According to incomplete statistics, 93,261 of the 1,651,220,000 debts of the Austrian Empire will be forgiven, and more than half of the remaining 718,610,000 are frozen.

Of course, the reasons for these debt problems will not be explained, and the main thing for the British is Austria's strong economic power.

To be honest, Franz himself didn't expect that the war would be like this, and that the land would still be half of the country that had fallen, but the financial revenue would increase.

In fact, the amount paid by the Hungarian government has hardly changed from 1830 to 1840 and now in 1847, except that it has changed from 21 million florins per year to 23 million florins in 1847.

However, the revenues of the Austrian Empire rose from 120 million florins in 1830 to 230 million florins in 1840 and then 758 million florins.

The Hungarian government now paid only 3% of the Austrian Empire's revenue, not even more than Venice alone.

On the other hand, Franz's policy of first the south and then the north has basically ensured the stability of the two major tax sources.

The Italian War and the Prague Rebellion did not last long, and Wendy Schgretz had no chance to raze Prague to the ground, after all, the hundreds of thousands of troops really wanted to have 10,000 ways to fight against thousands of militias who could not even match firearms.

The chaos in Germany in 1848 increased the export volume and market share of the Austrian Empire, after all, it was difficult for Austrian goods not to sell well when other competitors were paralyzed.

Franz personally led his troops to recover Venice in the first place, or the city did not completely fall, after all, Manin had just forced Fernando Riczi to hand over the city Franz's army arrived.

The two successive naval battles in the Mediterranean did not last long, so their impact on the Austrian Empire's overseas trade was limited.

In addition, the colonies are in shambles, although the European continent is in shambles, but the colonies are in good weather, especially in North America, which has ushered in a once-in-a-decade harvest.

Although the United States has also enjoyed a bumper harvest, European countries have set up quite high tariff barriers to prevent the outflow of precious metals.

So the Americans can't sell if they want to, and Franz is left-handed to right-handed, and he doesn't care about this kind of problem at all.

The most important thing is that Austria's fundamentals are not deeply tied to London, the world's financial center, and are not fundamentally affected by it.

So Austrians can proudly say, "Looking at the world, the scenery is unique here!" ”

However, this was a war letter for the British, but at this time the British side had neither the strength nor the basis for refutation.

When Prince Albert looked next to him, Charles Wood, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, could only bow his head in shame.

He was a little helpless, but still said calmly.

"Your country's economic achievements are gratifying, but I guess today we are here for peace, aren't we?"

"Yes. It's just that the last time we came, your Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, did not seem to want to talk to us about peace.

I think you should know that there are a lot of successful businessmen and professional economic analysts in our mission.

We can also see this negotiation as a business. ”

"Business? Interesting statement. ”

Prince Albert, though a little disdainful, had to admit that Palmerston would have liked the statement, and it seemed that the Austrians had done a good job.

Yes, such a metaphor does not seem so appropriate. But I hope in such a way that you understand that this war does not benefit either of us in any way.

And if we don't find a suitable solution, the Holocaust will last for a long time, which I think neither of us wants to see. ”

Even Franz could not have predicted this kind of thing to happen, after all, the Victorians were relatively low-key in history, and theoretically did not give others a chance to leave this excuse behind.

Franz's imaginary enemy was Palmerston and not Prince Albert, but Baron Brooke did not know that he was just a faithful executor.

"It is true that this war is not beneficial to either of us, but some of our islands, merchant ships, and the goods on them are still in your hands.

The fact that our country seeks peace does not mean that we do not have the capacity to fight again.

Even the Sun King and Napoleon were short-lived, and only our British Empire stood tall. ”

The words of Prince Albert did not surprise Baron Brooke, after all, Franz was well aware that it was impossible to get Britain to abandon the Mediterranean.

The islands and merchant ships were just some bargaining chips to facilitate the negotiation, and Franz had no intention of occupying these overseas territories of the LinkedIn people at all.

After all, these are battlegrounds, and the main task of the Austrian Imperial Navy is still to defend its own one-third of an acre of land, and it does not want to become a public enemy at sea because of its domination of the Mediterranean.

Of course, Baron Brooke didn't know this, he only knew that these were just some exchangeable chips.

"I understand that Your Excellency the Prince understands that the Austrian Empire has no intention of encroaching on the territory of other countries, and that everything it does is to defend the dignity of our country.

We could immediately end the siege of Gibraltar and return all the colonies except Crete.

At the same time, we will also return your captured personnel, including soldiers, spies, merchants, and Commander Seymour.

(Edward Hobart Seymour Sr., one of the protagonists of the Second Mediterranean Naval Battle, commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet.) ）

However, we would like to be able to lease the port of Durres in southern Albania, for which we are willing to pay a rent of £10,000 per year.

As for merchant ships and the cargo they carry, further investigation is needed. ”

The willingness of the Austrian Empire to return all British colonies except Crete already overjoyed Prince Albert.

He was really afraid that the Austrians would not be willing to give up the islands, after all, their strategic value was so important that the two sides would be in a long-term stalemate.

In fact, after the first naval battle in the Mediterranean, Britain was forced to transfer its rights to the Austrian Empire.

As for the lease of the port of Durres as for the refusal to return Crete, the Austrians clearly did not like to be barricaded at their doorstep.

And judging by the results of the two naval battles in the Mediterranean, the troops in the port of Durrës were simply not able to play the role of limiting the actions of the Austrian Imperial Navy, and could not even give early warning.

At the same time, the British occupation of southeastern Albania was costly, and a large amount of money was needed every year to maintain stability.

In the eyes of Prince Albert and the British government at this time, it was not unreasonable to sublease Durrës, and indeed the entire southeastern coast of Albania, to the Austrian Empire.

After all, as long as this thorn was there, the Austrian Empire would study it with great intensity, and Britain would have to shed its blood here.

However, Austria's hesitation regarding merchant ships and cargo was unacceptable to the British Mission.

"We demand that your country immediately return our merchant ships and goods!"

Before Prince Albert could act, the two silent heads of government could not help but take action, Edward Smith-Stanley and George Hamilton Gordon said in unison.

It was clear that these merchant ships and cargo were important to them, but Baron Brooke was not in a hurry.

"The blockade of the Mediterranean Sea by your country has also resulted in heavy losses of our merchant ships and cargo, and your navy has burned captured our ships and cargo as it left the island of Malta.

Therefore, the losses of our merchants should be borne by your country"

At this time, Edward Smith-Stanley suddenly said in a hurry.

"War is an act of state! It shouldn't be an individual's responsibility! Private property is sacrosanct! Don't you know? ”

However, halfway through the sentence, the members of the British mission remembered that the other party was from the Austrian Empire, and the understanding between the two sides seemed to be somewhat different in this regard

Whether private property is sacrosanct under an absolute monarchy depends entirely on the monarch's attitude towards private ownership.

In the time of Joseph II, private property was absolutely sacrosanct, and he defended it even as a result of his own personal demise.

However, during the time of Empress Teresa, private property was not so sacred, and the old lady had to fight with the French, and she would lend money to the old lady, and the old lady would do it for the officials, and write you an IOU, if you didn't borrow it, the old lady would kill you first.

As for the series of temporary measures proposed by Franz at the present time, it is clear that only legitimate private property in the Austrian Empire at this time can be inviolable.

Just as the members of the British mission looked at each other, Baron Brooke spoke again.

"No problem, the loss of our merchants is about one hundred and thirty-nine million nine hundred and forty-four hundred and twenty-four florins, or about thirteen million nine hundred and ninety-one thousand and forty-two pounds.

As for the businessmen who have committed war crimes, will your country also have to pay for them? ”