Chapter two hundred and fifty-four usury that killed people
The Austrian envoy naturally refused William's answer, which had already benefited Prussia once. Obviously Austria was not prepared to be taken advantage of a second time.
When negotiations with Austria were fruitless, William sent Count Hans to Frankfurt again as a representative of Prussia. This time William gave Hans the task of doing his best to get the Imperial Parliament to pass Prussia's proposal to impose sanctions on Denmark. If he failed, then
Prussia will still insist on its own opinions, and William will not let those who have offended him get away with it!
In Frankfurt, Hans used Meyer's network to get acquainted with many bankers and capitalists in Frankfurt. These wealthy people welcomed Hans' visit. After all, Prussia was one of the few powerful countries in the empire. As its envoy
, Hans was naturally the one that no one wanted to offend. Moreover, there were rumors that Count Hans's daughter might become the queen of Prussia, which also gave Hans a grand welcome in Frankfurt.
Following the opportunity to meet with the capitalists in Frankfurt, Hans implicitly proposed that if these capitalists can make certain contributions to Prussia, then the market of the Kingdom of Prussia is very welcoming to these capitalists, and Prussia can even make outstanding contributions to the country.
Businessmen confer titles.
The news that Meyer was knighted naturally caused a storm in Frankfurt. This was the first time that a businessman known as an upstart became a noble in a powerful country. Although it was just a title, as long as he had the title of noble, then he would become a noble.
With access to Europe's upper class, this is also a place people flock to.
"Count Hans, are you telling the truth?"
When he heard Hans say that Prussia would confer titles on merchants who had made outstanding contributions, Melius couldn't sit still. Melius was born in a noble family in a city-state in Northern Italy. Of course, his family goes back to his father's generation.
At that time, it had declined, and even the noble titles were deprived of it, which became an eternal pain in the hearts of the Melius family.
Compared with the nobility of a city-state in northern Italy, the title of nobility in Prussia is undoubtedly more valuable. This makes Melius, who has always been eager to restore the family's reputation, not be excited.
"Of course, Your Majesty Merius, although His Majesty the King of our country is willing to commend you, due to the opposition of the cabinet, our King only has a few quotas. Please pay attention to this."
Hans was naturally no stranger to Melius. Melius came to Frankfurt when he was less than twenty years old. After more than ten years of struggle, Melius has become a shadow in Frankfurt.
One of the giants, he controls 80% of the casinos and 70% of the brothels in Frankfurt.
"Then, Your Excellency Count Hans, I wonder what contribution we need to make to obtain the titles of these nobles?"
Before Melius could sit down, another businessman stood up. This businessman's name was Padkin. His properties were spread throughout Frankfurt. And this Padkin was not like Melius. Padkin's
He has both industries in the sun and businesses in the shadows.
"It's very simple. I heard that many members of the Imperial Parliament have taken a lot of loans from you. I hope that you can ask these nobles for these loans as soon as possible."
As soon as this statement came out, the wealthy people in Frankfurt who were sitting under Hans looked at each other in surprise. Obviously, for them, this request was a bit too simple.
Speaking of which, we need to talk about the composition of the Holy Roman Empire Parliament. The Holy Roman Empire Parliament was established hundreds of years ago. At that time, the members of the Parliament were composed of various princes in the territory and bishops of each archdiocese. But after
Over hundreds of years of evolution, with the development of the times, many of the descendants of these princes and bishops have gradually fallen into decline, and the decline of the family is inevitable.
Although those members of the Imperial Parliament seem to be some great big shots in front of others, everyone here knows what kind of stuff these members are behind the scenes. These members go to high-end consumption places all day long, and
Many of them are addicted to gambling and prostitution. The income of these members alone will naturally make them unable to make ends meet very quickly. However, the nobles are all about face. In order to maintain the apparent prosperity of the family and to compare and show off with each other, such a
Borrowing money from merchants became the best way to maintain superficial respectability.
But in the early days of the empire, businessmen did not dare to lend money to these congressmen casually, because these congressmen had immunity. In other words, even if the congressmen did not repay the loan, the businessmen had nothing to do.
This situation did not change until more than a hundred years ago. With the decline of the empire, merchants had greater autonomy. In this way, merchants did not have to fear the noble status of the MPs. If they did not exchange loans,
Businessmen can also take coercive measures.
Hans had already done a lot of work before coming to Frankfurt. He learned the inside story from Meyer and got to know these businessmen through Meyer's relationship. Hans' purpose was to use these businessmen to inform the parliamentarians.
Apply pressure.
There are hundreds of members in the entire Imperial Parliament, and only a small part of them are nobles from the ruling class of powerful countries and frugal nobles who manage their families. Most of them are nobles who have lost their territories. The annual subsidy from the Parliament alone is of no use at all, so
In this way, Hans's strategy becomes extremely feasible.
"Count Hans, do you mean that simply?"
"Well, my condition is that simple. I believe everyone knows that some members with ulterior motives made unwarranted accusations against Prussia in the Imperial Parliament. This is an irresponsible move for the entire empire. I hope you can do it for
Make your own contribution to the fairness of the empire!"
"Of course, I will do my best"
"Since everyone agrees, let's start taking action tomorrow. Once things are done, the kingdom will not treat you badly!"
Faced with Hans's frankness, the businessmen present were all shaking their hands. It was not too difficult for them to urge the MPs for loans. You must know that there are many MPs asking them for loans in the drawers of these businessmen's homes.
Voucher for borrowing money at a high interest rate.
The next day after Hans finished discussing with these businessmen, the whole of Frankfurt was in commotion early in the morning. A large number of businessmen, carrying thugs and servants, went to the houses of various congressmen in the city to ask for loans.
.
Seeing the menacing appearance of these businessmen, many congressmen turned pale with fear. You must know that many congressmen mortgaged their homes and land to these businessmen. Only a small number of congressmen could afford to repay the loans. Most congressmen
They all demolished the east wall to make up for the west wall.
When a congressman was forced to commit suicide because he could not repay the high-interest loan, the whole of Frankfurt was in chaos. The congressmen were like dogs when faced with the businessmen who came to collect debts. They begged grandpa and grandma just to postpone the loan repayment.
However, these businessmen had already received hints from Hans. No matter how these congressmen prayed, the businessmen refused to agree and had to either pay back the money or free up their respective properties to pay off debts in accordance with the original agreement.
Some congressmen were forced to take their families and leave the family homes where they had lived for hundreds of years, and those who were unwilling to leave were also driven away. The usually aloof congressmen now turned into the most miserable group of people in Frankfurt. Some congressmen
They were simply kicked out of the house, and those stingy businessmen didn't even give the congressmen a pair of decent clothes.
Count Hans leaned on the window facing the street and laughed. That night, Hans personally led his people to find the MPs who had been kicked out of their homes one by one, and then laid out his conditions.
"Either agree with Prussia's sanctions on Hamburg, or continue to oppose it, but the consequence of doing so is to sleep on the streets and starve to death."
Facing Hans's threat, these congressmen no longer had the same spirit as before. They all lowered their heads and tremblingly agreed to Hans's conditions. Of course, there were some stubborn ones who refused to agree to Hans's conditions.
But the next moment they saw businessmen with loan vouchers appearing and trying to sell the wives and children of these congressmen to some service industry establishments, no matter how hard their bones were, they turned into mud.
After that, at the initiative of nearly a hundred members, the Imperial Parliament held another meeting to vote whether to agree to Prussia's sanctions on Hamburg. The results of this vote were satisfactory. More than 70% of the members approved of Prussia's sanctions on Hamburg.
Sanctions were imposed, and 10% of MPs abstained from voting.
Although during the voting, those members who had been taken care of by Hans in advance felt as uncomfortable as eating poop, the voting results still had legal effect.
On March 5, 1789, the Parliament of the Holy Roman Empire passed Prussia's proposal to impose sanctions on the Free City of Hamburg. The imperial parliament entrusted Prussia with full authority to implement this sanction, and this sanction allowed the use of military force for sanctions.
The voting results were out, and the Austrian representative slammed the table hard, but the deal was already done.
On March 13, 1789, the Prussian 1st Division, which had already been prepared for war, set off from Brandenburg with its target directly aimed at Hamburg. The 5th Division, which had just stopped to rest for a short time, was once again ready for war. If necessary, they
Can cooperate with the 1st Division to attack Hamburg.
Just when the Prussian army began to operate in an orderly manner, William once again had a headache. This headache was caused by Schleswig and Holstein. Although the two dukes were in Prussia during the Danish War,
The army was pressured to join the Prussian side, but this was not good news for William.