Chapter 398: Chapter 85, Secret Passage to Chen Cang
 

When Alexander II decided to upset the table, the true nature of the Russian Empire was revealed. The anti-Semitic movement began, and the government’s finances started to improve.

Initially, the Tsarist Government targeted only Jewish capitalists, but it quickly spread to the entire Jewish population, and a nation-wide anti-Semitic wave emerged in Russia.

The government introduced laws restricting where Jews could live, prohibiting them from purchasing land, engaging in agriculture, and from holding positions in the postal service, railroads, military, and other departments…

The well-informed Jewish capitalists fled, while ordinary Jewish people became scapegoats, bearing the brunt of societal hostility on their behalf.

The actions of the Tsarist Government ignited the spark of the anti-Semitic movement in Europe. Antisemitism became a hot social topic with the potential to spread like wildfire.

As a witness to history, Franz chose to observe dispassionately. It’s said that people who are pitied have their own despisable traits, and while this may be oversimplified, it wasn’t inaccurate regarding the Jews.

“Greed” is the original sin, Jewish capitalists, unrestrained in pursuit of profit, ultimately brought trouble upon themselves. To protect their interests, they hesitated not a moment to steer the disaster towards their entire nation.

Indeed, Jewish capitalists were behind the swift expansion of the Russian anti-Semitic movement—nothing surprising here as a capitalist’s integrity is notoriously superficial when faced with profit.

If their fellow Jews hadn’t diverted the external attention, then the Tsarist Government would focus solely on them, these few hundred people. Not to mention transferring capital, they would be lucky to escape with their lives.

Even running away to foreign countries wouldn’t ensure safety, as too many eyes coveted these ‘fat sheep.’ Only by muddying the waters could their own interests be safeguarded.

The facts proved their plan was successful. From the end of 1865 to the summer of 1866, more than three hundred thousand Jews fled the Russian Empire.

Blending into the vast sea of humanity, it wasn’t easy to pick out these ‘fat sheep.’ This was certainly much safer than fleeing alone.

All this was of no concern to Franz since he had no intention of seizing their wealth. Given Austria’s immigration conditions, few of these people could stay, so why bother with unnecessary complications?

For a multi-ethnic country like Austria, any extreme nationalist policies carried severe risks. Thus, while anti-Semitic slogans were chanted by the public in Austria, the government strictly prohibited such movements.

Even if Franz needed to ‘slaughter a pig,’ he wouldn’t do it as crudely as the Tsarist Government. With so many scandals involving capitalists, almost all could be taken down within the rules of play.

Alright, he admitted that Alexander II was right, Russian bureaucrats indeed couldn’t handle such a complex task, and overturning the table was more pragmatic.

Franz inquired with concern, “Carl, estimate how much money the Russians will be able to obtain this time?”

For the Russian Empire, how much money the Tsarist Government had determined their strength. Thus, assessing the Russians’ power simply meant looking at the Tsar’s purse.

Finance Minister Karl thought for a moment and said, “The Tsarist Government can likely acquire about 600 to 800 million Rubles in cash and 1.5 to 1.8 billion Rubles worth of stocks and securities, with other types of industries possibly bringing in even more.”

“However, many of those industries are not easy to liquidate in the short term, and their actual value is hard to estimate; a preliminary assessment suggests these assets won’t be less than 2 billion Rubles.”

Franz nodded, acknowledging the substantial wealth of the Jews—it was unsurprising they had so much property. If one were to calculate per capita wealth, they would undoubtedly be the richest nation in the world.

Franz said with a smiling expression, “So, the financial crisis for the Russians is resolved, and they even have a surplus?”

Those who knew Franz understood that once he showed that expression, he definitely had some calculations in mind.

Finance Minister Karl considered and then said, “Your Majesty, these are only theoretical figures. Taking into account the actual situation of the Russian bureaucratic class, how much money will ultimately enter the treasury remains unknown.

“Nevertheless, the Tsarist Government will have a period of financial abundance, which will support the current war without any problem.”

These funds were not easy to secure, and thankfully, the Russian Empire was merely a feudal empire; otherwise, economic turbulence would have started long ago, potentially even triggering an economic crisis.

Franz thought for a moment and said, “Have the Foreign Ministry assess how likely it is that the British plan will succeed. We don’t need them to defeat the Russians, merely to consider the chances of provoking other nations into action.”

There was no way around it; the wealthy Tsarist Government was not to be trifled with. Even if the Kingdom of Prussia didn’t perish next year, it would most certainly meet a swift demise the year after.

There was no longer any hope in relying on the Polish, and the Prussian Army would inevitably have to shoulder more combat duties, which meant a substantial increase in soldier casualties.

Losing hundreds of thousands of troops each year would be crippling for the Russians, but for the Prussians, it was utterly unsustainable.

To keep the Prussians in the fight, they must find them allies.

The Russians had a powerful capacity to make enemies, all across Eurasia. As long as these nations were stirred into action, the Tsarist Government would not be able to commit all its resources to the Prusso-Russian war, giving the Kingdom of Prussia a glimmer of hope.

The war was a massive gamble, with the Prussians initially betting on the Russians not joining the fight—an assumption that obviously failed, leading to the outbreak of the Prusso-Russian war.

Then Europe’s countries began placing their bets, wagering on whether the Prussians could severely damage Russia. After the victory in East Prussia, the British saw the chance to topple Russia and decided to up their stakes.

Now, Franz was also prepared to make his bet, but he preferred to play the game from outside the table, rather than sitting down at it.

Foreign Minister Wessenberg replied, “Your Majesty, due to strategic location and distance, we only have a good understanding of the intelligence regarding Sweden and the Ottoman Empire. We have too little information about Central Asia, Persia, and the Far East to make any judgments.

Currently, Sweden is internally divided into two factions. One advocates joining the war to reclaim lost territories, while the other believes that the Russian Empire is still strong, and getting embroiled in this war would be a disaster.

Thanks to the conflict in East Prussia, many now think the Russians aren’t as formidable as they were. At present, in Sweden, the War Party has a slight upper hand.

If the Kingdom of Prussia can secure another major victory in the coming year’s battles, there’s an 80% likelihood that Sweden will join the war.

The situation in the Ottoman Empire is similar; initially, the Peace Party dominated, but following the battle in East Prussia, we are now seeing the ascendance of the War Party.

The War Party is rapidly growing stronger, and more and more young Ottomans want to reclaim the Constantinople area from the Russians.

I believe that if the Russian Army suffers another defeat, the likelihood of the Ottomans entering the war is very high, as their Radical faction will drag them into the fray.”

These analyses are all backed by data; the anti-Russian activities in Sweden and the Ottoman Empire have intensified lately, with frequent protests at the Russian Embassies and garbage being tossed there…

Clearly, the British have had a hand in this. Otherwise, the anti-Russian movement wouldn’t have erupted so conveniently.

The Tsarist Government, undervaluing the reactions of two declining neighboring countries, failed to take timely action, leading to the current situation.

Franz said carefully, “Then let’s fan the flames and further the anti-Russian tide in the Ottoman Empire. It would be best if we could use this opportunity to draw the Ottomans into the war, and use the Russians’ hands to create opportunities for us.

We’ve been setting the stage in the Arabian Peninsula for so long, it’s time to reel in the rewards. Ideally, we can buy the rights to these regions from the Ottoman Empire at a low price.”

Franz never harbored any illusions about the Ottoman Empire; stirring up their war with the Russians was not to weaken Russia, but to use Russia’s blade to weaken them.

The battle of wits, not strength, was what civil men like Franz preferred, naturally avoiding unnecessary warfare as much as possible.

After the Near East war, Austria also signed a treaty, and the sovereignty of the Ottomans was explicitly recognized by all countries through this treaty.

Without sufficient reason, rashly provoking war would draw the enmity of European nations. Franz did not intend to be the one who broke the rules, and thus was not prepared to start a war with the Ottoman Empire over the Arabian Peninsula.