My Italy

The snowy scenery of the Alps in winter is charming, and a train travels on the railway in the mountain stream.

On this train, Carlo glanced at the winter scenery outside the window and said to the two navy and army ministers sitting opposite him. "We have been talking for a month this time, and the result is pretty good. Thank you both for your hard work."

Facing Carlo's words of thanks, the two military bosses hurriedly answered. "It's not hard, it's all as it should be."

Marshal Cadorna, Minister of War, expressed his feelings. "Your Majesty, it is really not easy to negotiate technical cooperation this time. If Your Majesty had not already negotiated the basic framework, I think the war ministers of Germany and Austria would not be very happy."

Facing the words of the Minister of War, Carlo nodded in agreement. "Of course, there is still a slight gap between my country and Germany and Austria in terms of army technology research and development. We need to recognize the fact on this point."

"Actually, it's not just the army. I talked with Admiral Tirpitz. Next year, the German Navy's investment in science and technology will exceed ours. The fact that we can still maintain the technological lead at present is due to the accumulation of advanced technology. If this continues, I'm afraid that sooner or later we will Naval technology is also likely to fall behind Germany."

Admiral Yagil, the Minister of Land and Sea, expressed his concerns, but he immediately changed the subject. "But now it's better. Our joint research and development will reduce the consumption of funds, and we can continue to invest in many new technology projects, instead of reluctantly cutting them off due to lack of funds."

Well, again, this is all about money. If Mr. Qian wants to be at the forefront of the world, he can only find allies for help. This is why Carlo strongly wants to promote joint research and development among the three countries.

Of course, Carlo also used a little trick in choosing the time. It happened to be the beginning of large-scale shipbuilding in Germany after the passage of the German Navy Act. At this time, Germany is most dependent on Italy. At this time, at least Germany is very willing to propose joint research and development among the three countries. Of course, Germany also knows that it is very easy to offend Italy just because it wants to take wool from Italy. Therefore, when Carlo proposed joint research and development of technology between the navy and army, Germany agreed after taking into account the importance of Italy. down.

In a sense, this also means that Italy's national power has increased. With enough strength, it is no longer the pseudo-power that no one looked down on before.

Look, Italy has been struggling in Carlo's hands for almost 20 years, and it is not easy to finally let other countries take seriously its strength.

After defeating Germany, the joint research and development of the three countries is basically completed. As for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they will basically not refuse.

For Austria-Hungary, there is still a small obstacle in conducting research and development with Italy. However, after Carlo made a guarantee and promised not to hinder the expansion of Austria-Hungary's influence in the Balkans, at least the small thorn in the heart of Austria-Hungary has been eliminated. The remaining things are It's basically a matter of course.

But although this talk was pretty good, there were some shortcomings. For example, joint technology research and development is basically focused on the follow-up research and development of existing weapons. As for the research and development of new weapons, each one still does its own thing.

"Your Majesty, I have a question that I hope your Majesty can answer for me." Marshal Cardorna suddenly asked at this time.

"Go ahead and I'll let you know if I can."

When asked by the Secretary of War, Carlo did not give a positive word because there were some things that he could not explain.

"Our Army is very concerned about the new French rapid-fire artillery that Your Majesty mentioned. I would like to ask Your Majesty once. Is this information accurate?"

Yes, not only Germany is very concerned about France's new rapid-fire guns, but the Italian Army is also very concerned about it, because it is related to Italy's national defense security. Moreover, the intelligence department of the Ministry of War did not know the news at all, which made the old marshal a little confused.

The main blame for this was that Carlo had not communicated with the Army before speaking, which made the Army Secretary a little embarrassed when he was questioned, but fortunately he covered it up. Now it's time for Carlo to explain the mistake.

However, this is not entirely Carlo's fault, because he also made a temporary decision at the time whether to speak or not, but he must bear part of the responsibility.

"Actually, I will tell you this question even if you don't ask." Carlo gathered his thoughts and replied. "This is the news that the royal family's intelligence personnel accidentally discovered. However, due to the strict confidentiality of the French, they were not able to take photos of the actual object. Instead, they only saw the test data."

Well, Carlo's answer dispelled most of Marshal Cardorna's doubts, because he also knew some information. The king has an extremely mysterious intelligence organization in his hands. As for how mysterious it is, it can be described in one sentence, Only his voice is heard but his person is not seen.

Marshal Cardorna obviously did not intend to continue asking questions regarding matters related to this mysterious intelligence organization. As a result, the atmosphere gradually became quieter, and the train carrying them moved forward quickly, passing through the Alps and returning to Rome in the middle of the Apennine Peninsula.

Rome was that Rome, and the air was filled with a familiar atmosphere.

But before Carlo could take a few more puffs when he returned to Rome, he was immediately informed of the news by the foreign minister who greeted him.

"You mean, the United States and Spain have finished talking in Paris?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, the peace negotiations between the two countries were concluded yesterday." The Foreign Minister said as he took out a piece of information. "Your Majesty, this is the information for the treaty signed between the two countries."

Listening to the words of the Foreign Secretary, Carlo took over the information on the Paris Peace Treaty (it felt awkward, but there was nothing wrong with it).

There are only a few of the above, the first of which is that the United States recognizes Spanish sovereignty over Cuba, Puerto Rico, and other Spanish islands in the West Indies.

Article 2: Spain must guarantee the property of American merchants in Cuba and the Spanish West Indies. If it is violated, Spain must recover and return it. (This is also the most difficult negotiation between the two parties.)

Article 3: Both sides shall repatriate prisoners of war to each other.

Article 4: In view of the huge gap between the prisoners of war between the two sides, and disputes caused by the differences may not be avoided, the United States decided to pay 10 million US dollars in food expenses.

Spain captured a total of more than 900 American naval officers and soldiers. This person's food expenses of more than 10,000 points were indeed heroic. Well, you don’t need to look at this kind of deceiving method to know that this is considered compensation.

After closing the contract, Carlo looked at the Navy Minister and said. "Then our soldiers can return home, right?"

Admiral Agil replied immediately. "Your Majesty, that's for sure. I will send a letter to the Spaniards to ask them to release our officers and soldiers."

After receiving a satisfactory answer, Carlo boarded the carriage. It had been a month since he had seen his little Vittorio, and Carlo was eager to return home.