Chapter five hundred and forty-ninth self-indulgent (Part 2)
Baojiani was a little depressed, because he felt that he had lowered his dignity and face to beg Li Xiao, and the other party should give him some face, not to mention giving a discount or something, but at least he had to speak nicely.
For example, if you go to discuss with Wallachia or do some work for Wallachians, you have to show some expression, right?
But what Li Xiao just said was still nothing, and he didn't even say anything nice verbally. This is unacceptable. No wonder the conversation with Kossuth was so tense before. This Frenchman really thinks too highly of himself.
Come on!
Széchenyi's feeling was not much different from that of Baujani, and he was a little depressed. In addition, he felt that the relationship between countries was really a matter of interest, and there was no emotion at all.
If Li Xiao knew Szechenyi's thoughts, he would probably laugh at the count. Isn't it a relationship of interest between countries? Is it a pure friendship? Don't talk about national interests, don't consider the interests of the people of the country, and make contributions.
, how long can such a national institution last? After all, no one’s money comes from strong winds, so how can they not consider the gains and losses of interests!
In Li Xiao's view, any behavior that talks about international relations without national interests is a hooliganism, or simply a waste of money. There is really no such scapegoat in the world. Whenever you pay, you must gain something, even if there is no short-term benefit.
Long-term interests must also exist, otherwise any international relationship will not be sustainable.
Li Xiao replied calmly: "Gentlemen, I have done everything I can do for Hungary. I have tried my best... Now you need to work hard and find a way. I believe that Hungary, a huge country, has no shortage of people who can contribute to the country."
As long as you show dedication, all problems can be solved!"
For Széchenyi, this means standing up and talking without hurting your back. Consecration? How to consecrate? Aren’t the Hungarian people dedicated enough? They have put their heads in their belts and fought against Austria to fight for freedom, even with their lives.
Isn’t it enough dedication to sacrifice everything?:
"Tch, you can tell me how to donate!"
Li Xiao didn't care about Széchenyi's contempt and disdain at all. He laughed and said: "It's very simple. Aren't you financially strapped and have no money? Then mobilize the people across the country to donate money and materials. There are millions of Hungarian people, and no one donates a single dollar."
It’s a lot of money! This money is enough to solve the funding problem of purchasing arms, and it can even be a surplus, and it can also solve your government’s funding shortage problem!”
Széchenyi was immediately speechless. It was not that he thought the method proposed by Li Xiao was not good and could not be implemented, but that this method was indeed simple and easy to implement. If there was a person with such broad appeal such as Baojani
For example, when Kossuth launched an initiative, it was indeed not difficult to raise funds.
But the problem is not that simple! One dollar may not seem like much, but Széchenyi knows very well how difficult the lives of ordinary people in Hungary are. Most farmers cannot afford money at all. Take a look at the basic requirements at the beginning of the Hungarian revolution.
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In addition to the demand for freedom of political, religious, association and press, the strongest demand is actually for socio-economic reform and the abolition of the serfdom system. This fully shows that ordinary people in Hungary are actually very poor. Not only do they have no food, no clothing, but at least their lives are relatively difficult.
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Under such circumstances, if we ask for donations from ordinary people, not even a dollar would be able to donate more than a few cents. Moreover, Széchenyi and Baujani really couldn’t bear to reach out to these poor people.
If you don’t reach out to the ordinary people, then you can naturally only reach out to the elites at the top of the social pyramid. These elites are either aristocratic landowners or wealthy businessmen. To put it bluntly, they control most of the social wealth. They are sure of money. Yes, but the problem is that it is not that easy to get them to donate generously!
It is always easy to join the revolution and shout slogans, but it is not so easy to spend real money. For the Hungarian elite, the fundamental reason for participating in and supporting the revolution is to obtain more benefits and get rid of the Habsburg family. Exploitation, obtaining more political rights and protecting their own economic interests are the motivations for them to join the revolution.
In order to support the revolution, they have donated generously before, and now raising funds is equivalent to asking them for money again. They originally came here to make profits, but now they are bleeding out one after another before the benefits are seen. Do you think they can be happy?
What's more, among these so-called elites, there are also a large number of loud-mouthed and spiritual Austrians. Some of them just shout slogans to love Hungary, while others are coerced into shouting a few revolutionary slogans in order to protect themselves.
If you ask them to sincerely spend money to contribute to the revolution, I'm sorry, but they really don't want to!
What's more, more and more Hungarian political elites feel that the prospects of the revolution are not optimistic. They feel that with the intervention of Russia, the Hungarian revolution may stop at any time. There are even many people in Cao Ying who are worried about Han. Already secretly communicating with Austria and preparing to become a Hungarian traitor.
By raising funds under such circumstances, the proponent will definitely offend a large number of Hungarian political elites. To put it bluntly, he is cutting himself off from the "people", which is tantamount to consuming his own political capital to make generous contributions. This approach is very dangerous, isn't it?
Therefore, neither Kossuth nor Baojani and Széchenyi could accept Li Xiao’s proposal to raise funds. They all knew that it was very dangerous and they should never do it unless it was a last resort.
So Baujani laughed twice and replied: "Raising donations is indeed a way, but Mr. Diomed, I'm afraid you don't know how difficult the Hungarian people are. Their lives are already very difficult, and they have given everything they can for the revolution." We really can't bear to add to their burden..."
Li Xiao was very disdainful. He probably guessed why these Hungarian political elites resisted fundraising. They didn't want to increase the burden on ordinary people. They clearly didn't want to increase the burden on the elites, nobles, landlords and businessmen, or to put it bluntly, they didn't want to increase their rule. class burden.
[Damn you, if you don’t want to increase the burden yourself, then prepare to let me increase the burden? I don’t owe you anything, so why should I help you!]
"If that's the case, then there's nothing I can do to help!"
Li Xiao didn't answer Bao Jani's words at all, and rejected him again. Seeing what he meant, he didn't want to talk to these guys, so he almost didn't serve the guests directly with tea.
This undoubtedly made Baojani and Széchenyi very embarrassed, but they were unwilling to give up, so they shamelessly continued to ask: "Mr. Diomede, is there any other way?"