"Gentlemen, we can toast. The financial situation last year was very good. I hope we can continue like this." On August 10, 1695, a group of well-dressed gentlemen were holding a meeting to discuss in the largest harbor of the Principal of Courland, which is also the largest city.

The speaker was Grand Duke Frederick, the supreme ruler of the principality, a sick and poor middle-aged man. He entrusted the blessing of the East Coast people. Grand Duke Frederick's fame in the Baltic region has been increasing day by day in recent years. He not only became a guest of honor for many city-states in Sweden, Denmark, Poland and Germany, but also a famous lender and art investor. Many countries, including the Swedish royal family, borrowed money from him. Artists from England, France and Germany also flocked to follow the Grand Duke and created various artworks with his support.

The most famous ones are the two palaces located in Mitao, the capital of the principality, and the commercial city of Wendao. These two palaces cost more than three million yuan of the Duke (half of which were loaned to the East Coast Bank). Their magnificent level made everyone amazed. In particular, many local bun lords in the German region often travel here and check out the palace. After returning, they inevitably boasted, which made the famous Duke Frederick rise to a higher level.

In addition, this grand duke is also a person who likes lively scenes. Just two years ago, he also paid a lot of money to Wen Dao to perform at various celebrations of Louis XIV, and performed for three consecutive months. During the three months, the grand duke himself not only often came to watch the show, but also rewarded a lot of money and property at any time. The most exaggerated thing was that he even invited the people of Wen Dao Port to dinner and set off fireworks at night. Their luxury was amazement to the French who were used to such scenes.

There is no doubt that these cost a lot of money! Although Kurland is in good financial condition, it cannot withstand such a prodigal Duke Frederick. You should know that their country now owes a loan of 2.2 million yuan in principal and interest for the East Coast people. Most of this money has been used by the Grand Duke himself to enjoy it. Only a small part is used to improve the sanitation facilities of the Principal State, build roads, and help the poor. The degree of waste can be seen.

This year, Grand Duke Frederick even planned to build a luxurious manor for his mistress. Naturally, in addition to embezzling the treasury funds (the funds were used to establish a university), he also planned to lend 200,000 yuan to the East Coast Agricultural Bank. At this time, even the East Coast people could not bear it anymore, and they had to come forward to warn that the debts of the Principality of Kurland had reached the brink of danger and reasonable financial control must be implemented.

Subsequently, with the support of some officials of the principality, the East Coast sent an experienced working group to review the financial status of the principality. The review results were mixed, and the country was happy that the country had good cash flow and could obtain huge trade income every year by exporting tobacco, sugar, pepper, wood and even slave labor to the East Coast. Although merchants had to share a large part of these income and the colonial government also collected part for their own construction, the Principality also obtained considerable fiscal revenue through equity participation and dividends, tax collection and other means.

In addition, the Principality of Kurland acted as an agent of East Coast goods and also obtained considerable income. They still had a way. After picking up goods from Riga and Wendao, they sold the goods to Poland, Livornia and some German territories through various ways that the East Coast people could not do. Their gains were quite abundant, and it was a very stable fiscal revenue of the Principality.

Therefore, the Principality of Kurland is still rich, as long as it is necessary to control expenditures, and the splurge of Grand Duke Frederick is the largest item of his expenditures and must be greatly reduced. The East Coast people made not suggestions, but warnings raised in their capacity as their largest creditors. If your Excellency the Grand Duke still insists on his own, the East Coast bank group may require him to repay the loan in advance and custody his assets until the debt is paid off.

Unlike the Genoa-Asian bankers who had borrowed money to the Spanish royal family but had no return, the East Coast people's ability to collect debts is still remarkable. Therefore, Grand Duke Frederick had to summon several ministers to his resort estate to discuss how to arrange the national fiscal expenditure for the next year.

"Your Majesty, my financial situation last year was good, and I received a total of 480,000 Dukat's fiscal revenue, including dividends, taxes, merchants and aristocratic aid, but it should be noted that we need to repay about 170,000 Dukat's principal and interest of the debt. According to regulations, we need to deposit this money into the special account of the East Coast Agricultural Bank before the end of December. If you don't want to lose your glory, it's best not to move the money." Secretary of the Finance Department Stefan Hein replied seriously. He is a Pomeranian. Because he is dissatisfied with the rule of the Swedes, he came to the Principality of Courland, which has a strong German atmosphere. He has a good ability and has worked as the Minister of Finance Department for five years.

He had always been a strong supporter of the Grand Duke and did not stop the king's extremely squandering actions. However, after the East Coast Agricultural Bank forced debts and several capable subordinates who had studied abroad in the East Coast, he quickly changed his attitude and tended to tighten his spending to save the finances on the verge of collapse.

"Your Majesty, our ships need to be repaired, the ports need to be dredged, the cities need to be managed, the schools need to be funded, and the army needs to be built. These all require a lot of expenses. The allocation of 40,000 Dukat a year is too small, and many soldiers are hungry. You have disbanded more than two thousand soldiers in the past two years. The remaining regiment cannot owe wages anyway, otherwise the public security of the principality cannot be guaranteed." Maximilian Haman, the minister in charge of national defense expenses, also spoke. This is also a German, born in Lübeck, served on a warship when he was young, and now in charge of the entire country's navy and army. He is an old man who came from the father of the Grand Duke Frederick, and has a very high prestige.

Haman's words reveal a lot of helplessness. To be honest, the Principality of Kurland is a small country, with only a few citizens in Europe in the past 300,000, and is a country that is too small to be smaller. However, such a small country is very rich and has a greater income than many surrounding countries. In addition, the uncontrollable extravagant expenses of their monarchs have made many countries, including Sweden, Poland, Russia, Brandenburg-Prussia, covet it.

Before, Moscow had already shown some intention of the Russians when he wanted to marry the Grand Duke Frederick. They were very jealous of the small Duchy of Kurland that could master such a huge amount of wealth. At the same time, they coveted a large number of professional and technical talents of shipbuilding, trying to recruit them and improve the Russians' shipbuilding technology in order to lay a solid foundation for their future entry into the Black Sea. The Russian Empire has obtained the first batch of technical talents through cooperation with the East Coast people (Little Star Shipyard), but it is not enough. Now the second batch of talents is urgently needed to supplement the insufficient.

Grand Duke Frederick was once very close to Moscow, and he also liked the Russian lady. Unfortunately, the East Coast people "break up the couple" and forcibly exterminated the duke's fantasy, and finally forced him to marry a Polish noble lady. Marrying a Polish does not mean that he will stay away from trouble from now on! Although the Poles' main energy is now involved in the south and has always been entangled with the Crimean Tatars and Ottoman Turks, it is easy for them to interfere with a wealthy small country with a population of only 300,000. Moreover, the main ethnic group of this country, Latvians, is not many in Livonia, and it is difficult for Kurland to find foreign aid for its own nation, so it may be possible to deeply influence the country with just a few small actions and pay some small prices.

In addition, we cannot ignore the Prussians in the Konesburg area. The Hohenzollern family, who owns this land, is not a fuel-efficient lamp. They also covet the relatively wealthy Duchy of Courland and want to swallow it quickly. After all, their country is undergoing vigorous construction from top to bottom, and the military expenditure is also very large. If the Duchy of Courland can be merged into it, it will be a big supplement to their finances.

The same motive as Prussia was also poor Sweden, and even some German states were thinking about how to make money. Therefore, the Principality of Kurland was really very dangerous, and the surrounding countries formed a subtle balance. At the same time, the people on the east coast were also supporting them, so they did not fall down. But their monarch was so fucked, and they didn't understand the principle of not revealing their wealth. A country as big as a booze actually learned from Louis XIV and was caught by oneself.

The East Coast people had carefully discussed the issue of the Duchy of Kurland before, and concluded that the country could not be collapsed. Moreover, they also found that Grand Duke Frederick had some problems with his physical health, but he was still uncontrollable and continued to roam around, and his physical deficit further deepened. The doctor who had sent Mitao to help Grand Duke Frederick check his body was worried that if this situation continued to worsen, the Grand Duke would likely die within a few years, and the future of the Principality would also usher in variables.

To this end, the East Coast people have formulated a plan, that is, once Grand Duke Frederick dies, they will immediately use all resources to support Grand Duke's young heirs to take the opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the two countries and tie the country to the East Coast. If this plan fails, they will no longer invest resources and do useless work, but will directly instigate the independence of New Kurland to maximize the protection of the interests of the East Coast.
Chapter completed!