Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 66

Chapter 66: Chapter 66: “It’s easy to get on board, hard to disembark

Translator: 549690339

Having no money is an awkward issue, and the Kingdom of Sardinia, located in the northwestern part of Italy, is considered to be the best developed among the Italian sub-states.

Regrettably, this doesn’t change the fact that the Kingdom of Sardinia is poor by nature, with just over 70,000 square kilometers of territory and a population of merely five or six million, lacking significant resources, and only just beginning industrial development.

But their aspirations are not diminished by their poverty, as they have always struggled for the unification of Italy. Because of their ambitious spirit, the Kingdom of Sardinia has become even poorer.

To unify Italy, it naturally relied on military force, hence the Kingdom of Sardinia’s military spending was just a tad excessive, causing their finances to be in a constant state of deficit.

Until 1852, when the legendary Prime Minister Cavour took office, reformed the taxation system, increased national revenue; and implemented a series of measures such as expanding railway and port constructions and promoting industry and commerce to finally escape the financial crisis.

Prime Minister Azelio echoed with a frown, “Your Majesty is right; we indeed have run out of money. The war came too suddenly, and our preparations were not sufficient.

The occupation of the Lombardy Region has consumed a considerable amount of financial and material resources, greatly exceeding our budget. To date, over 28 million lire has been spent.

(1 lira = 4-5 grams of silver)

Owing to the war, we cannot count on tax revenue from the Lombardy Region this year and will continue to be in a net expenditure state for the second half of the year.

The French suddenly terminated the prior-promised weapon support, and now we have to squeeze out funds from our limited war budget to purchase arms and equipment—this alone will cost us at least more than 17 million lire.

The combination of these two items has already consumed nearly forty-five percent of our war budget. We are also maintaining an army of nearly 200,000, with a daily expenditure of at least 1 million lire; if this drags on, we will be bankrupt in at most two months.”

After hearing the Prime Minister’s explanation, Minister of Army Li Qi’s first reaction was disbelief, and he immediately questioned, “Prime Minister, how could we spend so much money? According to our plan, the 100 million lire should have been enough to support us in the war for half a year!”

“Minister Li Qi, are you suggesting that I embezzled funds?” Prime Minister Azelio angrily retorted.

Embezzlement? In this era, how many officials are not corrupt? But this widely known secret is better left unmentioned, as it wouldn’t look good for anyone involved.

Li Qi quickly clarified, “No, Prime Minister, I meant no insinuation. I’m just curious about these expenses!”

After hearing Li Qi’s response, Azelio’s expression softened somewhat. He explained calmly, “Let me give you a rough idea so that you can see where the money has gone.

In the Lombardy Region, we spent 8.65 million lire on bribing members of the Liberal Party, 10.5365 million lire on solving food problems, 3.657 million lire on aiding war refugees, and 3.8623 million lire on establishing administrative institutions…

Due to the never-ending revolutions in Europe, the prices of arms and equipment on the international market have risen by thirty-seven percent. Your Army Department was also involved in this matter, so there’s no need to ask me, right?

According to our preliminary plans, we did not expect to recruit an additional 70 ,ooo troops in the Lombardy Region. The increase in numbers naturally led to higher expenses!”

After the Prime Minister’s explanation, Li Qi had no response. What could he do? The army felt insecure about engaging in battle with the Austrians. To increase their chances of success, they adopted the simplest method— expansion of forces.

Before the Industrial Revolution, the mobilization capacity of agricultural societies was low, making it impossible for the whole population to participate in the war.

Sardinia had mobilized hundreds of thousands of people internally, practically reaching the limit of their mobilization capacity. At such a time, the eagerness of the Lombardy people to enlist was high, and it made no sense to turn away good recruits.

At this point, Li Qi had no other concerns. As the Minister of Army, he had to take a stand for the army, to minimize the risk of failure as much as possible.

“Prime Minister, the British support this war; can’t we ask the British for another loan?” he asked.

Prime Minister Azelio frowned, smiling wryly as he replied, “British loans are not easy to come by. We have already paid a sizeable price for this loan of 3 million pounds.

Now that the war has broken out, if we ask them for another loan, I’m afraid the terms will not be so simple anymore!”

(1 pound 25 lire)

There was no way around it; this was almost a tried and true tactic of the British: lure someone aboard with an initial loan. But once on board, it’s hard to disembark, and by mid-river, you’d have to accept whatever terms they dictate.

“What about the French then? Don’t they want us to drive the Austrians out of Italy? Don’t they have any inclination to signal their support at this critical time?” asked Li Qi, unwilling to give up hope.

Charles Albert scoffed and said, “Hmph! The French are a bunch of untrustworthy bastards. They’ve even backed out on the weapon equipment support they promised us before. Do you think they can be relied upon?” No one continued the topic. The French support was initially there, but it fell through once they learned that the Kingdom of Sardinia had annexed Lombardy.

According to the French, the Lombardy Region had to establish its independence, which was undoubtedly unacceptable to them.

Independence is manageable, but re-unification afterward would be difficult. If they missed the current opportunity, would the Kingdom of Sardinia ever get another chance to annex Lombardy?

Li Qi, after weighing the situation, said, “Your Majesty, based on the current circumstances, guarding the Venice Area is the cunning old fox Radetzky of the Austrian army. He won’t be fooled a second time after one loss.

If the Austrian army only defends and refuses to battle decisively, it would be impossible for us to end the war within two months.

If the Austrians are unwilling to end the war, even if we capture Venice, the war would still continue, hence we will need to find a solution for the war funds.

He was laying his cards on the table; ending the war was not solely up to them, unless the Sardinian army could march all the way to Vienna, forcing the Austrian Government to surrender.

This was clearly impossible. Everyone present was a rational politician, and even with utmost confidence in the Sardinian army, no one believed they could pull off such a feat.

Given the situation, if they wanted to win the war, the government had to find a way to raise military funds; otherwise, losing the war due to lack of funds would no longer be the Army Department’s responsibility.

Azelio, the Prime Minister, said with a wry smile, “Alright, Minister Li Qi, we will find a solution to the problem of military funds, but you must also ensure victory. We cannot afford to lose this war!”

“Prime Minister, rest assured. Marshal Badoglio is commanding this war, and he has already beaten the Austrians once. Dealing with a group of defeated foes is not a problem!” Li Qi quickly assured.

Charles Albert, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly asked, “Prime Minister, how do you plan to solve the shortfall in funds?”