Mediterranean Hegemony Road

After playing with Britain and France, Ferdinand was refreshed, and then he turned his attention to another unfortunate person - Japan. In this war against the United States, all countries have more or less benefited. , they alone are the exception.

Hawaii was forced to give up, and now they are going to give up the Philippines. Britain, France and the three countries have given them an ultimatum. The deadline is this month. If they don’t leave, they don’t have to leave.

Carving up the Philippine Islands has been put on the agenda again. Don’t look at its small area, but it is composed of more than 7,000 islands. The islands are naturally rich in resources. Just looking at the small land of the future generations, there are hundreds of millions of people. .

And the mineral resources in the Philippines mainly include more than 20 kinds of copper, gold, silver, iron, chromium, nickel and so on. Copper reserves are about 4.8 billion tons, nickel 1.09 billion tons, and gold 136 million tons. Geothermal resources are estimated to have 2o.9 billion barrels of crude oil standard energy, and there are about 350 million barrels of oil reserves in the northwestern waters of Palawan Island.

But the problem is that this place is not good. The Philippine Islands are mainly divided into three components, namely: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, and an incidental Mariana Islands.

It shows that one area is very well divided. In fact, the exhibitions in the three areas are very unbalanced.

How to divide it is a question. The British will not fight this time. Their main purpose is to pull the two countries to the Pacific region, so as to achieve the purpose of containing the Japanese.

If possible, Ferdinand doesn't mind selling the interests of the Philippines. For Bulgaria, it is enough to keep a port. Unfortunately, this problem can only be thought about at best.

The British are not stupid. If it wasn't for the purpose of pulling Bulgaria into the Pacific region to establish a regional balance, it is estimated that the Philippine Islands would have nothing to do with them.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Metev came up with a bad idea: Your Majesty, why don't you wait and talk, if you really can't, form a coalition government of the three parties to manage the Philippine Islands!

Well, to Ferdinand, who has no idea,

Bad ideas are ideas, aren't they? As long as the problem can be solved, why bother? The Philippine Islands can generate millions of pounds of income every year, which is a rare good place in the colony!

Ferdinand smiled wryly and said, Let's do it first, and then we'll decide based on the situation. We can't fight the French for a Philippine archipelago, and it's probably the same with the French!

If it really doesn't work, we can also make concessions and then get some financial compensation, or we can give them financial compensation. If they make concessions on this issue, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will decide!

In a short period of time, the effect of overseas colonies on Bulgaria is not very big. At least ten years later, when Bulgaria has the strength to open colonies, it will be able to play a role!

Metev replied: Yes! ~ Your Majesty's loan issue to the Russians, the current negotiation has reached a deadlock, their asking price is too high, we can't accept it, do you want to change the plan?

Ferdinand asked with concern: How big is the appetite of the Russians?

Metev replied: Bessarabia province plus the Crimean peninsula, the Russians are asking for 3 billion levs, which is 50% less than the 2 billion levs we expected!

Ferdinand thought for a while and said, The price is indeed a bit high. Let's continue to negotiate with Russia. If it really doesn't work, we won't buy it. They shouldn't last long.

Metev replied immediately: Yes!

Is this price high? If it was put on hold eight years ago, even if it doubled, the Bulgarian government would happily buy these places.

But now, it's really too high! With the decline of the Russian Empire, these strategic locations have gradually devalued.

After hesitating for a while, as if thinking of something again, Ferdinand said again: Wait, maybe we can buy these two places first!

However, for the loan issue, the Russians still have to come up with collateral, at least half of Ukraine must be used as collateral. If the government is inconvenient to come forward, the bank representatives can talk to the Russians!

Ferdinand suddenly remembered, maybe he doesn't have to worry about the price with the Russians.

With the finances of the Russian Empire, their repayment ability is very limited. Once they are unable to pay the loan, then these collaterals will belong to the Bulgarian Bank, which naturally becomes Ferdinand's private domain!

The most important thing now is to encourage the Russians to take more loans. Anyway, the corrupt nature of the tsarist government cannot be reversed in a short time. Once the crisis is over, they should embezzle or embezzle, no matter how much money they spend!

If it wasn't for Nicholas II's advance over the bourgeoisie, there might have been the existence of reselling arms, instead of deducting a little military salaries now, weapons and ammunition can be supplied in full!

Just look at the world war to know this problem. The front-line troops are starving, and there are still capitalists exporting grain to Germany. You can see how serious the corruption of the government is.

The more Ferdinand thought about it, the more wrong he felt. He always felt that Nicholas II did not have the strength to unify the whole country, but now the situation on the Russian battlefield is that he is still able to withstand one enemy and two. In theory, as long as he has money, he can win.

Metev's mind was a little confused. It was the first time he had seen Ferdinand change his mind temporarily, but he knew from Ferdinand's expression that this was the final decision.

Yes, Your Majesty! Metev replied

...

St. Petersburg, Nicholas II's mood is not so good. The front-line army is reaching out to him for money and supplies. After the world war, he has understood that these things are really indispensable. The battle is about to be defeated!

The loan negotiation did not go well. The first round was stuck on the land transaction price. Bulgaria refused to pay the high price he expected.

Nicholas II asked: Xiang, is it still possible for us to obtain loans elsewhere?

Xiang shook his head and said, Your Majesty, a small loan may be okay, but such a huge loan, I don't think anyone except Bulgaria can provide it!

He is not talking nonsense. Now that the British are supporting the new tsar, and the French are supporting the Moscow government, there is no need to think about getting loans from these two countries.

Among the remaining countries, Germany and Italy are still licking their wounds and paying their debts, and they have no money to lend at all. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was not much better. Affected by the failure of the war, the domestic consortium was also severely damaged.

Small countries in Europe may have some money, but with such huge loans, they definitely dare not take risks.

Nicholas II said hesitantly: Aren't the Japanese planning to buy the Manchuria area? Is it possible for them to provide us with a loan?

It has to be said that Nicholas II has become a qualified politician, and even personal hatred can be put aside for the sake of profit.

Xiang said with a wry smile: Your Majesty, the Japanese government's finances have not been very good, and they owe a lot of debt. Their domestic consortiums are only a few third-rate consortiums, and it is impossible for them to come up with this huge sum of money!

Nicholas II didn't say anything else, since there is no money, there is no way to negotiate. After looking around, he now seems to have money from the Bulgarian government and is willing to lend to them.

The only bad thing is that Bulgarians have a growing appetite. If this war can't be ended as soon as possible, they will have nothing to do with them in Europe in the future.

The French have once again become the hegemons of the European Big Six, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is also recovering, and Bulgaria in the Balkans is also growing rapidly in strength.

If it goes on like this, the big 6 of Europe has already been filled. Where is the future of the Russian Empire?

After hesitating again and again, Nicholas II reluctantly said: Restart the negotiations on the Bulgarian Russia!

...

This negotiation is going to be much smoother. Both sides are willing to make concessions. After some bargaining, Metev and Sassonov finally settled on the transaction price - 2.468 billion levs (about 98.72 million pounds).

After the deal was concluded, Metev breathed a deep sigh of relief and said, Congratulations, Mr. Sassnov has made another contribution to the Russian Empire!

Satsunov smiled bitterly and said, I hope His Majesty the Tsar will think so too!

Metev said in surprise: Of course! Isn't that credit for solving your country's financial crisis?

Satsunov did not answer directly, but instead asked: Mr. Metev, since the agreement has been reached, when will we get the money?

Metev was stunned for a moment, then he wrote a cheque with the largest denomination in the world, handed it to Sassonov, and said, As long as the tsarist government approves this transaction, your government can make any payment in Bulgaria at any time. Cash this check in the bank!

There is no estoppel. Once the tsarist government approves the transaction, the Bulgarian army will be stationed in the two places. The tsarist government now has no capital to default.

Satsunov nodded and said, Okay then! Regarding the loan, is it possible that we continue to negotiate?

Metev thought for a while and said: This issue, you have to talk to the bank delegation. This time, the three major banks in Bulgaria are providing loans to you. The specific interest rates and collaterals require you to communicate directly. !

Satsunov's face changed. Obviously, it is better to negotiate with the bank than with the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry. At least Metev will not negotiate with the small account of 1.8 million, but the bank's negotiating experts can be accurate to every column. Eph.

The issue of collateral is even more troublesome. The banking group only recognizes economic value. The so-called strategic value and military value are completely worthless in the eyes of capitalists.

Satsunov asked unwillingly: Can't your foreign ministry be able to negotiate on your behalf?

Metev thought for a while and said, There is no way. According to Bulgarian law, government and enterprise are divided, and the government cannot make any decisions on behalf of enterprises!

Satsunov said helplessly: Well, when will the negotiations start?

Metev smiled slightly and said, You can do it anytime. If you don't feel tired, I can call the bank representative to come over now, and in an hour at most, you can negotiate!

Sassunov was overjoyed at first, then reacted quickly and said, Don't be in such a hurry, why don't it be three days later!

What are you kidding, or in such a hurry to negotiate with the bank, those greedy capitalists still don't speak out?

This is Satsunov's judgment from the habits of Russian bankers. In his opinion, bankers all over the world are the same, all greedy and greedy.

There seems to be nothing wrong with this idea. The banks controlled by Ferdinand are no different from the banks in the outside world. At most, their business reputation is better, and they generally do not lend usury.

Metev didn't think too much about it. This problem is the Russians themselves. They just sold two plots of land and got a huge sum of money. They should be able to support Russia for two months. Maybe they are not in a hurry now.

Metev kindly reminded: No problem, then three days later! The location is still in our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the confidentiality here is stronger, if you don't want to leak the news, even if you get the loan, no one will know!

Satsunov's face was happy, and it was a good thing to be able to keep it completely secret. He thought to himself: If the enemy doesn't know that they got this huge loan, can they catch the enemy by surprise?

Well, this is completely a dream. With the secrecy ability of the tsarist government, the enemy will know about it in a day or two at most, and they don’t even know who leaked the news!

Then trouble Mr. Medev! said Satsunov.

Before leaving, he also took a check with a face value of one million levs. This is also the tradition of the officials of the Russian Empire. I don't know when they have become accustomed to taking kickbacks.

At the same time, they are still very disciplined in taking rebates. For example, now that Sassunov has taken away 1 million levs, the final transaction amount can be reduced by 2 million levs.

In a word, it will not let friends suffer, and it is considered a shared interest. It is a pity that Metev has no such interest. With a mere million levs, he is not in the eyes of the marquis.

Bulgaria's anti-corruption bureau is very powerful. There is a major operation almost every few years. The highest cabinet minister has been arrested. The Wei Zheng-Ivanlov, who was promoted by Ferdinand, was brought in because of corruption.

...

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