My Italy

"Sir Antonio, our country is very sincere and is willing to offer 330 million lire for the warships sold by your country. This price is enough to prove our country's sincerity."

The speaker was Teppei Osawa, the Japanese ambassador to Italy, and the place where he spoke was at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In front of him, in addition to Foreign Minister Bacona, there was also Prime Minister Antonio, as he called him, and there was another person who was the protagonist of this ship sale, Admiral Yagir, Minister of the Navy.

As for Ambassador Teppei Osawa, this time he was authorized by Tokyo to appoint him as the plenipotentiary representative of this ship purchase. If necessary, he can even ask for help from the United Kingdom.

Of course, if the power is great, then the consequences will be severe if things are not handled well. Osawa Teppei certainly knows how important his responsibility is, and his decision here is likely to directly affect the outcome of the war with Russia. So after receiving the authorization, he first approached the British Ambassador Coulson. After discussing with him and getting an accurate answer from the British, he approached the Italians and prepared to offer a price to win the stolen ship.

Faced with Ambassador Teppei Osawa's quotation, Prime Minister Antonio did not answer. Instead, he looked at Admiral Yagir. The meaning was obvious, let him, the protagonist, answer.

It seems that Prime Minister Antonio has some regrets, because in the previous shipbuilding plan, he promised the Navy to pay for the sale of warships. As a result, the Navy was so bold that it actually sold out all its main warships. Doesn’t the kingdom’s coastal defense no longer need to be maintained, and its overseas interests no longer need to be protected? This is simply nonsense.

He also talked to the king about this, but the wise king didn't know why and didn't stop the navy's nonsense.

Since the king doesn't care, how can he, the prime minister, be a bad person? It would be too bad if he was thought to want to influence the military power. Don't forget that there is a National Socialist Party behind you. Although its leader, Cruz, behaves well in his position as interior minister, anyone who dares to underestimate him will be in trouble.

Admiral Yagir didn't know about the dirty things in the Prime Minister's belly, but he knew that he was not satisfied with the current price. These days, the navy's attention to the Russo-Japanese War can be said to be the highest among all departments in Italy, not even as much as the army. After all, the army has no interest in this war, but the navy has huge interests.

Therefore, Admiral Yagier, who was familiar with the battle situation, shook his head and said, "Ambassador Osawa Teppei, thank you for your country's bid for our country's upcoming warships, but this price cannot meet the needs of our navy, because the performance of these warships is very excellent. But it cannot meet our country’s coastal defense needs, so it was sold.”

What a joke, the two sides had just fought a naval battle in the Yellow Sea at this time, and the two sides lost a total of five battleships. How could it be possible to agree at this time? At least the prices in Japan and Russia must be forced to the highest price they can bear. Otherwise, this great opportunity will be wasted.

Ambassador Teppei Osawa did not pay attention to Admiral Agil's words, because he also knew that it was not that easy to negotiate the sale of warships with Italy, but there was one thing that he had to ask clearly first.

"Then your navy must have a price for selling warships. You can't keep us guessing."

Faced with Ambassador Osawa Teppei's words, Admiral Yagir thought about it. It was indeed inappropriate not to come up with a price. So I saw him stretch out four fingers and gesture. "The psychological price of our navy is 400 million lire."

Admiral Yagir did not say the price casually. If it was too high, it would appear that the Navy was not sincere in selling the ship. If it was too low, it might be sold at a high price. The price of 400 million is neither high nor low, it is just right.

"400 million lire?"

The price given by Italy shocked Ambassador Teppei Osawa. This price accounts for two-thirds of the procurement costs of Japan's Six-Sixth Fleet.

Of course, he also knows that selling ships in Italy at this time is definitely not ordinary, and it is normal to ask for high prices.

However, now that he had received the answer he wanted, Ambassador Teppei Osawa did not stay long. After bidding farewell to the three senior Italian officials, he left.

"To the British Embassy."

After getting in the car, Ambassador Teppei Osawa told the driver to go to the British Embassy. At this moment, he wanted to discuss with the British Ambassador.

But when he arrived at the British Embassy, ​​he was stunned by a piece of news from Ambassador Colson.

"You said France provided Russia with a loan of 420 million francs?"

Facing the surprised Japanese ambassador, Coulson immediately replied with confirmation. "Yes, our country has just learned from Paris that the French government has transferred this loan to the Russians."

This time France's loan to Russia was not concealed, and the British could easily detect it. Of course, the British can also guess what the French are thinking. Isn't it just that they don't want to see Russia focusing its energy on the Far East?

This is also easy to understand. After all, Russia's expansion in the Far East has not brought half a dime of benefits to France, but has a lot of disadvantages. If it weren't for the fact that France would benefit too much from its alliance with Russia, Paris would be so easy to talk to.

"That would be bad."

After confirming the news of France's loan to Russia, Teppei Osawa looked shocked.

"Ambassador Osawa Teppei, what's wrong?"

Facing Colson's inquiry, Osawa Teppei immediately informed the other party of Italy's answer to him.

"It does seem to be a problem."

After listening to Osawa Teppei's story, Coulson also felt a little difficult.

"Don't worry. If the Italians finally sell their warships to the Russians, you have to believe that our country will help your country. At worst, our country will also sell its warships to you."

Coulson's words made Osawa Teppei feel nervous. He originally thought that the ambassador would say that the British Empire would continue to borrow money, but he did not expect that he would actually say that he would sell ships to them.

The British Empire violates the principle of neutrality and openly sells ships. Just listen to this and don't take it seriously. There are things that others do, but Britain cannot do. Because it is the world's hegemon and takes the lead, it must have standards.

Think about it, what would be the consequences if the British Empire openly violated the norms of neutrality?

Newspapers all over the world will report the incident the next day, and London will be criticized by thousands of people. The Prime Minister may even step down because he has done something that damages the prestige of the empire.

Maybe some people say how can Italy do it?

It's very simple. They are scoundrels, poor people, people who are greedy for money, and will sell their souls to the devil as long as they are given money. Is it surprising that such a country violates the law of neutrality?

So there is a saying that goes well: everyone is used to it when bad people do bad things, but when good people do bad things, they should be widely publicized, and the results will be different if the requirements are different. Although the British are not good people, they are now the world's hegemon, so they can only be treated with high requirements.