The Qing Dynasty is about to end

Chapter 708 As long as the United States fights a civil war, China, Britain, France and Russia will all win!
"Sasha," Natalia blinked her blue eyes, "You should have heard that there is a civil war in the United States!"

"I heard about it, but what does that have to do with us?" Alexander II's mind was now full of "reforming serfdom" and "Russian victory studies", and he didn't care at all about the trivial matter of the American Civil War.

"It matters a lot!" Natalia explained. "As long as the United States fights a civil war, everything will be fine!"

"Everything?" The Tsar was stunned. "Everything of whom?"

"Everything for all the great powers!" Natalia said, "Except for the United States, all the great powers in the world will be improved because of this civil war, including Russia, of course."

"Oh?" Alexander II was now interested. "Did this idea come from that prophet?"

Natalia nodded.

"Tell me about it." The Tsar walked to the window and looked out at the sparkling Neva River. On the Neva River, a steam-sailed ship from Britain, loaded with Russian wheat, was slowly leaving with black smoke. On the side, an old first-class sailing battleship was flying a faded Russian naval flag.

"Sasha," Natalia said, "I have been to the United States and have seen with my own eyes how vast and rich this country is. Although our Russia is very large, most of its treasures are buried in the hard frozen soil. But in the United States, precious metals such as gold, silver, and copper are buried under warm and soft soil, and the country is very flat. Water resources in most areas are also very abundant, which is extremely suitable for the development of agriculture. Cotton and tobacco in the southern United States and wheat in the north have a huge market in Europe! In other words, the United States has the ability to pay! And war can create huge demand, especially for the southern United States, which is rich in cotton and tobacco. In 1860, the southern states of the United States exported nearly $2 million in cotton and $2000 million in tobacco. That is about 4500 million pounds! And how much was Russia's export and fiscal revenue in 1860?"

The Tsar's face turned bitter: "Last year Russia's fiscal revenue was 2.67 million rubles, about 3560 million pounds. Exports were 2.3 million rubles, about 3070 million pounds."

Natalia smiled and asked: "Now the South of the United States can pay 4500 million pounds a year for their war. How much should we in Russia take? 500 million? Or 1000 million?"

The Tsar immediately showed his delight: "Natasha, do you mean to send mercenaries to help the South of the United States fight and make money?"

Natalia nodded gently: "Your Majesty, although the American South has an annual payment capacity of 4500 million pounds, they only have a white population of 600 million, including women, children and the elderly. What is the maximum casualties they can bear? How many troops can they maintain? On the other hand, we in Russia have more than 6000 million white people, the country with the largest white population in the world, and we also have hundreds of thousands of veterans who fought in the Ninth Russo-Turkish War! What else can these veterans do except drinking, fighting, making trouble, and beating their wives? It is better to send them to the United States to fight and make money!"

This is indeed a big deal, and a good deal!

The Tsar was so excited!

Not to mention an annual income of 1000 million pounds, even if it was only 500 million, it would be equivalent to one-seventh of Russia's total fiscal revenue and one-sixth of its total exports in 1860. With this extra income, Tsarist Russia could import more foreign machines and accelerate industrialization!

In addition, the Russian mercenaries earn real money from fighting in the United States, in pounds! The Russian government pays them in rubles. This is different!

Russia implements a monetary system of partial gold and silver reserves plus credit notes, but Russia's "partial gold and silver reserves" are pitifully small. Russia's gold reserves are only equivalent to 1.02 million rubles, and its silver reserves are only 2.8 million rubles.

In other words, all the gold and silver reserves of the Russian Empire were equivalent to the maximum amount of funds that the southern United States could spend to purchase "military services" in one year.

If Russia can earn 1000 million pounds a year, it will be equivalent to an additional 7500 million rubles in gold reserves, which will greatly enhance the credit of the ruble.

As the credit of the ruble increased, the resistance to serfdom reform would decrease - because serfdom reform required the government to support a large amount of paper money to the landlords as compensation.

Therefore, sending mercenaries to help the Americans fight the civil war was a huge win for Tsarist Russia!

But could France and Britain agree to Russia winning like that?

"Natasha," the Tsar's brows were twisted into a "川" shape again, "Has your prophet ever considered the positions of France and Britain?" Natalia nodded: "Sasha, don't worry, Britain and France will never object."

"Why not?"

"Because they can win too!" Natalia laughed. "We in Russia can't afford a business worth 4500 million pounds a year! At most, we can send out mercenaries, and we still have to rely on Britain and France for arms. In addition, Britain can get cheap American cotton, and France can take the opportunity to interfere in the civil war in Mexico. As for my prophet, he can continue to profit from the gold mines on the west coast of the United States. You see, if the United States starts a civil war, China, Britain, France, and Russia can all win. Who would oppose such a good thing?"

Alexander II's eyes lit up: "I never thought that the American civil war would benefit all mankind. We can't let them stop!"

Natalia nodded. "Your Majesty, you are right. So, I plan to do something to help all mankind. I will register a private military contracting company in the Alexander Islands, and sign a military contract with the U.S. federal government in the name of this private contracting company to provide them with white mercenaries from Russia who participated in the Ninth Russo-Turkish War! As for the pounds, gold, and silver I get, I will only take a 5% commission, and the rest will be given to your Majesty's government."

The Tsar was certainly satisfied with Natalia's proposal. After all, sending mercenaries to the United States to participate in the civil war was a profitable business, but it was also risky, so a white glove was necessary. Otherwise, if the industrial states in the north of the United States got angry, they would send a few ironclad ships to the Atlantic Ocean and attack any Russian ships they saw. How would Russia conduct normal foreign trade?
The Tsar thought about it for a moment and then asked, "Does it have to be white?"

There are yellow people in Russia as well, so the Tsar had to ask clearly, otherwise he would send someone and have them refuse to accept him.

"Yes, Americans believe in white supremacy!" Natalia laughed, "Otherwise the Chinese and Japanese would definitely come to steal our business."

Hearing this, Alexander II burst into laughter: "That's great, we in Russia have the largest number of white people in the world, and they are especially white!"

St. Petersburg, on the banks of the Neva River, the Mathilde Palace on the English Embankment was originally a gift from Mathilde’s first husband, a wealthy Russian businessman (this failed marriage earned Mathilde a large sum of money, which she later invested in Napoleon III). Now, a rather "time-traveling" sign is hung outside the gate of this residence - the Tang Dynasty Embassy in the Russian Empire!

Although the "Tang Dynasty" is still in the history books of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Zengzhou Dynasty, it is already well known in St. Petersburg - it is part of the glorious victory of Alexander II! Of course, it has to be boasted about.

In order to cooperate with Alexander II's "Russian victory", Li Hongzhang also specially found a few Shaanxi men, all dressed in Tang Dynasty military uniforms, with straight swords hanging from their waists and "Tang spears" on their shoulders - that is, Tang-style flintlock smoothbore rifles, and stood at the door of the embassy. When they saw Li Hongzhang and Mathilde's carriage approaching, the "Tang soldiers" stood at attention and shouted together: "Great Tang. Mighty!"

Li Hongzhang, who was sitting in the carriage, was holding the French princess in one hand and holding the "Tang-Russia Secret Treaty" in the other, looking like a winner in life. When he heard people outside shouting "Great Tang is mighty", he turned his head and smiled at Mathilde, "My dear, soon they will shout 'Long live' when they see us!"

"Long live me too?" Mathilde asked with a smile, "In China, isn't it only the emperor who can be called long live?"

"The Tang Dynasty is different. The Tang Dynasty can have two emperors ruling the country." Li Hongzhang said with a smile, "Let's be emperors together. I will be the emperor and you will be the empress."

As the two were talking, the carriage had already entered the garden of Mathilde Palace and stopped in front of a neoclassical building. A tall young man in a Russian military uniform came out quickly. When he saw Li Hongzhang and Mathilde getting out of the carriage together, he bowed to them and said, "Greetings, second brother and second sister-in-law."

"Sixth brother," Li Hongzhang asked in a low voice when he saw the anxious look on the young man's face, "what happened?"

This young man turned out to be Li Hongzhang's sixth brother Li Zhaoqing. He followed Mathilde to St. Petersburg three years ago, then studied Russian for half a year and enrolled in Russia's Nikolay Engineering Academy. He is now a third-year student and will graduate in a year.

In addition to studying at the Engineering Corps Academy, Li Zhaoqing was also Li Hongzhang's representative in St. Petersburg, and was actually the "Tang Dynasty"'s ambassador to Russia.

"An urgent telegram from Qiu Ming," Li Zhaoqing handed over a telegram as he walked with Li Hongzhang and Mathilde into the main building of Mathilde Palace, "The Taiping Army has begun a large-scale attack on Tongguan!"

At present, Russia's telegraph line only extends eastward to Tyumen, so the "Tang Dynasty" established a "consulate" in Tyumen. The 8000-li journey between Tyumen and Chang'an had to be traveled by horse, and it was impossible to travel 600 miles in an expedited manner throughout the journey. The average was only three or four hundred miles a day, so the news on the telegram that Li Zhaoqing gave to Li Hongzhang was from more than days ago.

More than twenty days!
With the military knowledge that Li Zhaoqing learned at the Nicholas Engineering College, it was nothing for the Taiping Army to capture Chang'an within 20 days!
(End of this chapter)