Mediterranean Hegemony Road

10 Downing Street, London, Prime Minister Lloyd George is worrying about the international situation that the British Empire will face next. Affected by the October Revolution, proletarian revolutions broke out in Brazil, Argentina, Japan, Mexico and a series of countries.

Although these revolutions failed, the ideology of the proletariat continued to spread. The British Empire was affected by unemployment, and a labor movement broke out. In India, a proletarian revolutionary party has emerged.

Forced to be helpless, Lloyd-George could only agree to the autonomy of Ireland. Of course, he actually wanted to learn about Bulgaria and send all the Irish away. There were so many colonies in the British Empire.

Of course, this kind of thing can be thought about, as long as the capitalists are not willing to give up these cheap labor one day, this situation cannot happen in the British Empire.

Just after the Irish were appeased, the independence movement in Egypt broke out again. From the anti-British demonstrations of students in Cairo in 1919, student strikes, workers' strikes, and businessmen's strikes broke out, and now they have turned into armed uprisings.

Formed guerrillas have emerged in the rural areas of Egypt. They have begun to attack the local garrison of the British, destroying the railways built by the British there, and even occasionally guerrilla elements have stormed into the city and fought with the British army. street fighting.

Some of the policies implemented by the British government during the First World War have already shown their evil consequences. In the face of these insurgents, the local garrison of the British did not do their best to suppress them.

Obviously, the unjustified treatment after the World War has made the British soldiers lose their interest in working for the country. When dealing with these Egyptian rebels, they did not take the initiative to go out to suppress them, but just stick to the city and let the situation deteriorate.

These circumstances, the London government may or may not know, not only the soldiers do not want to fight, but even the officers do not want to fight now.

Their poor fiscal policy during the war left many officers who served the British Empire in despair during the World Wars.

They bleed their lives on the battlefield, but go home and tell them that they are bankrupt, their fiefs have been taken back by the government, and their families don’t know where they are. They give subversion.

Although it was suppressed, the incompetence of the British Empire has become a fact. Fortunately, the British did not increase many colonies in this world war, otherwise Lloyd-George would be more worried.

For example: the Iraqi uprising in history has nothing to do with them, it is a matter of Bulgaria.

However, Ferdinand has never received the news of the Iraqi uprising. It is estimated that it has been extinguished before it even started. Not only Iraq, but all the colonies in Bulgaria have no way to overthrow the uprising.

After all, Bulgaria's co-existing method is a bit ruthless. One person rebels and the whole village is exiled. In just three or four years, more than three million people in Asian colonies were exiled to Africa, and more than two million people were sent to mines. Probably no one was there. Capable of making trouble.

This is incomparable to the British. The fief aristocrats hate the rebels deeply. These people are ruining their jobs. Usually, they do not need the government's order, they put out the hidden danger in the cradle.

Such trivial matters naturally do not require Ferdinand to intervene, so generally speaking, the current Bulgarian colony is still peaceful.

Of course,

Don't watch the Egyptians make a revolution for so long. In fact, their results are very limited. Except for the cannon fodder troops, the British casualties did not exceed three digits.

Lloyd-George has seen that the British Army is retaliating for the repression of the previous government.

Soy sauce doesn’t have to be so messed up. The rebellion has been going on for nearly two years, but it has not been suppressed, and the colony has tens of thousands of troops stationed, and the casualties add up to less than three digits. Perhaps the casualties they cause in life are more than in the High casualties on the battlefield!

Of course, the British were not without suppression. In 1919, they dispatched 60,000 troops to suppress the peasant uprising. This is really a peasant uprising, although the momentum is huge, in fact, most of the uprising troops are cold weapons, and the colonial troops can handle it.

Like India's non-violent non-cooperation movement, the Egyptian people launched a movement for independence through peaceful means, so it is not correct to say that they were uprising.

Except for a few guerrillas that really attacked the British army, most Egyptians also chose peaceful means such as protests, demonstrations, strikes, etc. to fight for independence.

The so-called critical situation is essentially that colonial officials are blocking the cabinet, or they are fighting for their own interests.

However, if this chaos continues, it is also a problem. What about the economic losses of the capitalists? And what if the turmoil continues and finally affects the navigation of the Suez Canal?

Regarding the current issue, both Bulgaria and France expressed their close attention to the situation, and even Bulgarian Foreign Minister Metev suggested to him that if the British Empire was unable to maintain social stability in Egypt, Bulgaria could help.

Lloyd-George was even more angry. Now he really envies the Bulgarian system. There are not so many restraints in the country, and the government never has to worry about the stability of the colonies.

But let the Bulgarians help. The British Empire can’t afford to lose that person, and more importantly, it’s easy to ask God to send them off. Once Bulgaria is put into Egypt, it’s hard to say whether the Suez Canal belongs to the British Empire or not.

Lloyd-George asked: Mr Gray, how are the negotiations between the Foreign Office and the Egyptians going?

Gray shook his head and said: Egyptian Prime Minister Adri rejected our goodwill, they did not agree to legalize our military presence!

Lloyd-George said coldly: Damn it! Don't the Egyptians know that once they leave our protection, they will soon become colonies again?

Gray said with a wry smile: The Egyptians thought that being colonized by us was no different from being colonized by Bulgaria, and they judged that we would not let Bulgaria control the Suez Canal.

Prime Minister Adrie also sent a diplomatic note, he believed that once Bulgaria really took force against Egypt, whether the British Empire stationed troops or not, it would all be the same result. They thought that this was an excuse for us to continue to colonize Egypt!

Well, this Bulgarian threat theory has no effect. The Egyptians said they would not eat this. They have already determined that the United Kingdom will not give up the Suez Canal.

Lloyd-George had to admit that the Egyptians' guesses were very accurate. Without the Suez Canal, the British would have to go around a big circle if they wanted to go to India, which was not conducive to the British Empire's rule over India.

Lloyd-George complained helplessly: Well, tell the Egyptians that our patience is limited, and if we can't reach an agreement, we will resort to military measures!

By the way what is Bulgaria doing now? They are really safe and a little uneasy. The empire has specially made plans to deal with them, so far none of them have been used!

Gray thought for a while and said, It seems like they're working on a 'ten-year plan'. By the way, they just bought the province of Bessarabia and the Crimean Peninsula from the Russians!

There is not long ago, the Bulgarian government submitted a motion to the Congress to open the stock market. As a result, not only was it rejected, but their Congress also issued a decree to permanently ban the stock market and securities trading.

Lloyd-George thought for a while and said, I've heard of that decree, too. The newspapers in London are popping up everywhere these days. I think the Bulgarian capitalists are going to be blown away!

Mr. Gray shook his head and said, No, in fact, the capitalists in Bulgaria are not angry, it is the capitalists in our country who are really angry!

Judging from the intelligence collected by the embassy, ​​Bulgarian capitalists are also very supportive of this decree. They believe that restricting these messy stock markets will allow their descendants to do business well and pass on their industry from generation to generation!

If there is no accident, this decree is likely to appear in the Bulgarian constitution. The old gentlemen of their Congress believe that the stock market is unearned, and the traditional virtues of promising Bulgaria must be extinguished in the cradle!

Lloyd-George rubbed his forehead and said: This is really a conservative country, it seems that they are repulsive to any virtual economy, which seems to be a good thing for us!

Otherwise, once the stock market is opened, the Bulgarian government's fiscal revenue can increase by at least 50%, and their economic aggregate will surpass that of France in a short period of time!

Gray replied: Of course! It is this kind of conservatism that has restricted Bulgaria's external expansion. In fact, they have always been only interested in things on their doorstep, and they even gave up after finally entering the Americas. .

Even if they have Ferdinand, the greatest king of this century, it cannot change the conservative nature of their nation. Compared with the ocean, they are more interested in the continent!

Lloyd-George thought about it and said: Forget it, leave them alone, let the Bulgarians continue to work hard, as long as we integrate the three North American countries, they will find that these efforts are in vain!

What are the French and Japanese doing? I can't believe they would be so peaceful!

Gray thought for a moment and said: The French have not been having a good time recently. The Moroccan Lady Rif established the Rif Republic, and the French and Spain are busy putting out fires.

In addition, the economic situation in France is developing very badly. There have been proposals in China to expel the more than seven million Italians and Germans. If the operation is not good, the possibility of civil unrest cannot be ruled out!

The Japanese have been very restless recently. They were just blocked by us from the Pacific region. It seems that they are very unwilling. The Japanese government is starting to expand its military again.

At the same time, they have also accelerated their penetration into the Far East, and we are not sure whether he is going to take advantage of the Russians, or attack the kingdom of Arisgar, or attack...

The Chancellor of the Exchequer suddenly said: Maybe we can hold a meeting to limit the naval power of various countries. Our financial expenditure is too large. If no action is taken, once an arms race is formed, it will be very unfavorable for us!

Due to Ferdinand's butterfly effect, the strength of the Royal Navy of the British Empire has increased by at least one third compared with the same period in history. The increase in strength also comes at a price, and the corresponding British naval military expenditure has also increased by one third compared with the same period in history.

Lloyd-George was still hesitating, and Gray thought about it and said: This is not a big problem. In today's world, only France, Bulgaria, and Japan can pose a threat to us.

Now the French are not having a good time, their financial pressure is also great, and it is in his interest to limit the size of the navies of various countries; the current strategic focus of the Bulgarians is not on the sea, and they should be indifferent.

The last Japan, to be honest, I don't understand them. It is already very difficult to support the current navy with their finances. It is really unacceptable that they dare to continue to expand the army!

After hesitating for a while, Lloyd-George suddenly said: We will talk about this later, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can make preparations and test the attitudes of various countries.

Now let’s talk about it first, the endless rebellion incidents in the colonies, if not dealt with as soon as possible, this situation will be contagious!

The Colonial Minister smiled bitterly and said: I think this question should be asked of the Army first, if the Army is willing to contribute, these are not problems!

We all know that these are all petty troubles in the colony, and as long as there is no trouble behind them, they can be easily eliminated.

However, according to the situation from all over the world, our army is not active in suppressing the uprising. This situation must be changed, otherwise the hegemonic position of the British Empire is likely to collapse!

This question is why, as everyone knows, it is nothing more than the fact that during the World War, the government did not act honorably in order to raise funds. In addition, the World War did not last as long as in history, and the strength of the British aristocracy was not weakened. So miserable!

Although the coup they launched failed, it did not mean that they would not fight back. Now they have used practical actions to tell the London government that without their cooperation, the British Empire's position of world hegemony cannot be maintained!

Lloyd-George said with a wry smile: This is indeed a headache. I didn't expect these military nobles to have such a large influence in the army!

The Minister of War suddenly said, No! It's not just these noble officers who did it, they don't have such a strong strength yet. In fact, ordinary soldiers are also very dissatisfied with the government's behavior!

You must know that their military salaries during the World War were not as high as those of ordinary domestic workers, and their pensions after the war were unimaginably low. The pensions of army soldiers were less than half of those of navy soldiers. !

Everyone turned their attention to the Minister of Finance. Now that they want them to fight, let's raise the army's salary first, otherwise no one will die if they don't have money!

With his scalp numb from being stared at, the Chancellor of the Exchequer thought for a moment and said, Can we learn from Bulgaria and distribute land to soldiers as military pay? The British Empire has land!

Lloyd-George shook his head directly and said, I'm afraid not, I think any Englishman now has no interest in our land!

The reason goes without saying. The land tax and inheritance tax levied during the World War have dispelled everyone's enthusiasm for land.

Bulgaria has never added a land tax from the beginning to the end. The 5% agricultural tax is all, and the military aristocracy has also been reduced by half. Compared with the British Empire, which was once as high as 80% of the land inheritance tax, an idiot is right. Interested in land?

Now, even telling the soldiers that all their land is exempt from tax will have no effect. After all, the government's actions have deeply hurt them, and it will be difficult to rebuild their credibility.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer said helplessly: Then there is only an increase in military salaries. Our financial situation is not very good. How about an increase of 20%?

The Minister of War shook his head and said, I'm afraid not. According to what we know, military salaries must be increased by at least 50% during normal times. During wartime, military salaries will be tripled and pensions will tripled, so as to mobilize everyone's enthusiasm. !

The Minister of Finance exclaimed: Why don't you go grab it. With such a high military salary, your standards are about to catch up with the navy?

The Minister of War asked back: Is there any problem? Do you still want the soldiers to work hard for a salary lower than that of ordinary domestic workers?

Do you think they are all idiots? Don't forget that they are basically veterans from the World War, who will work for you if you don't give money?

The Chancellor of the Exchequer thought for a while and said, Why don't we recruit mercenaries, maybe it's cheaper?

The Minister of the Army just smiled coldly, and everyone shook their heads. Mercenaries are no longer useful these days, and soldiers who are cheap and can be beaten have long ceased to exist.

Lloyd-George interrupted the quarrel between the two and said: First try to increase the salaries of the soldiers on the front line, and then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will contact the Egyptians again. If it doesn't work, let's try the Egyptians first! If If the effect is good, even if this part of the expenditure is increased, it is worth it!

The Chancellor of the Exchequer thought for a moment and said, Well then!

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