Duke Uvarov naturally had no intention of stepping into the trap his opponent had set. Instead, he brought out another trump card.
"There are at least a thousand attendants accompanying the ambassadors of various countries during the conference. Who will pay for their hospitality?"
Duke Uvarov deliberately emphasized the word "hospitality." After all, lodging, meals, transportation, and security for a thousand people already amounted to a hefty expense.
Yet compared with the cost of their recreation, entertainment, and souvenirs, it was truly insignificant.
The two Vienna Conferences had cost 13 million florins and 7 million florins, respectively. The total cost of both conferences was nearly equal to a secondary power's annual revenue.
(Comparable to the Netherlands' revenue historically, 1.5 times that of Portugal during the same period, and 50% of Belgium's.)
Nearly ten million rubles was no small sum. At the time, Russia's annual fiscal revenue was only 340 million rubles.
Compared with 340 million, ten million rubles might not seem like much, but Russia's expenditures were already fully allocated.
On top of that, the country was at war. Chernyshev truly had no way to cover this nearly ten-million-ruble extra expense, but the old prime minister, a soldier by training, still stubbornly refused to admit defeat.
"Do you have any other ideas? If not, shut up."
Nicholas I knew Duke Uvarov was right, and he had a favorable impression of both Franz and Austria.
"Young people, Russia's future depends on you."
"I will not disappoint Your Majesty's expectations."
In truth, Russia had very few young people in either its military or political circles. In politics, one had to build seniority, and the military was much the same.
Even those prodigies who rose to high positions at a young age were mostly just occupying posts without doing the work. Others had