My Italy

When the telegram that Beiyang wanted to find an Italian naval officer to be his instructor was handed to Carlo's desk, Carlo himself did not expect that Li Zhongtang actually wanted to be tutored in Italy.

I don’t know whether it was because of too much help that Li Zhongtang had a good impression of Italy, or whether it was the ability of the Italian navy that convinced Li Zhongtang that he actually asked Italy to teach him. But Carlo himself estimated that it might be both.

Faced with Li Zhongtang's request, Carlo still needed to ask the Navy Department before he could give an answer. After all, the Navy still needed manpower.

"Your Majesty, of course I have to agree to such a good opportunity."

They called Admiral Gorek, but unexpectedly, as soon as Carlo said it, the Navy Minister couldn't wait to agree. This made Carlo very embarrassed. The general was not reserved at all.

We can't blame Admiral Gorek for not being reserved. Every naval power is very happy to serve as an advisor to other navies. That is to say, the strength of the Italian navy is not obvious, and this is the first opportunity to become a consultant. If you don't agree quickly, what are you waiting for?

I haven’t seen that the British Navy has naval advisers in many countries. It is simply a shame. And there is no fear of teaching apprentices to starve their masters to death, because the British Empire’s navy is the best in the world. This is also recognized by the world. Even the German High Seas Fleet, which will compete with Britain in the future, has never thought about overturning Britain's position. It is just to protect itself.

Therefore, for the Italian Navy, participating in the construction of the Qing Navy is simply a dream. The benefits are very considerable. If nothing else, let’s just say that warships need bases, so they need maintenance docks, berthing docks, cranes for lifting heavy objects, rail cars, etc., all of which are needed.

Many of these things are not available in the Qing Dynasty, so do you need to consider purchasing them abroad? At this time, if the consultant asks which one is better, doesn't that mean there is business?

Of course, this is just a small profit, there are more to it.

But for Carlo, the idea of ​​​​the Navy is all that matters. However, he also wanted to ask if there was a suitable candidate for the Lord Admiralty.

"Your navy needs to think carefully about the candidates sent to the Qing Dynasty."

"Okay, Your Majesty, after the Admiralty has researched the candidate, I will definitely show it to Your Majesty."

It was obvious that Admiral Gorek understood what Carlo said.

After sending the Admiral away, Carlo picked up another telegram. This telegram was sent from Berlin. The Berlin Conference is currently being held, with a total of 15 countries participating. The conference is nominally to solve the issue of ownership of the Congo River Basin, but in fact it is discussing more about the division of power in Africa.

Italy also sent a delegation headed by Foreign Minister Bacona, and this telegram was sent back to the country by the Foreign Minister.

In fact, when it comes to the division of Africa this time, the Italian government is very interested, but Carlo, as the king, does not have much interest.

This is not because Carlo does not know the importance of Africa, but that the places with oil and water are basically divided up by various countries. Although the Congo River Basin has huge opportunities, there is no chance for Italy at all.

Although the Belgians got a big deal, Carlo didn't want to do it at all. Because for the current Italy, the market is the key, and developing the domestic economy is much more important than seizing colonies.

In addition, Germany, France, Britain and other countries can accept a weak Belgium, but they will never accept Italy's intervention in the Congo River Basin. Although Italy is the weakest, it is also a strong power.

Otherwise, why would Britain, France, and Germany withdraw from part of their territory and give it to Belgium? King Leopold of Belgium also took advantage of this and proposed that companies from various countries could develop in the Congo River Basin, which would be temporarily governed by Belgium. It is precisely because of this that the Belgians got a very big piece of the cake.

In addition, developing colonies requires huge costs and must endure years of losses, which Italy's current finances do not have.

In this era, Africa can only serve as a raw material base, and its market is extremely small. How many industrial products can you expect Uncle Black to buy? It was not until the end of the twentieth century that the African market was gradually developed, and its scale was still not comparable to that of Asia, America and Europe.

Not to mention anything else, Africa's harsh climate and various diseases caused huge losses to the colonizing countries.

For Italy, North Africa is the focus of its attention, because it is close to the country, which is very conducive to colonization and alleviating the pressure on the domestic population. It’s just that North Africa has been robbed by Britain and France.

Only the Ottoman Empire still had a territory in Libya, but it was basically desert, with only some Arab herdsmen grazing here. Since it was too barren and the Ottoman Empire was behind it, Italy did not attack it.

As for other places, Carlo believes that Italy currently does not have the energy to take care of it, and it is the last word to give priority to the development of industry. If you don’t have strong fists and don’t dare to speak loudly, how can you snatch benefits?

However, I did not expect that His Excellency Bacona had a good negotiation at the Berlin Conference, and Italy also captured Somalia in East Africa. I don’t know if it was affected by the butterfly effect, but Britain did not insist on its colonial stronghold in Berbera, Somalia, but used this stronghold to reach an agreement with Italy. Italy gave up its colonial stronghold in Hodeidah, Yemen, in exchange for the British stronghold of Berbera in Somalia.

Of course, in addition to this, Italy also signed with the United Kingdom their respective spheres of influence in the Red Sea. It can be said that Italy currently has only one achievement in Africa, Somalia.

And Carlo felt a toothache when he saw the telegram sent back by the Foreign Secretary like a treasure. Italy really went to pick up some remote areas. It would be great if Sudan was a colony of Italy. He would no longer have to worry about Italy's small land and large population.

However, this can only be Carlo's wish. The British will exchange Sudan to Italy if they are crazy. No amount of money is possible. This is related to their core interests in Africa.

The Berlin Conference to carve up Africa is still going on this time, but according to news analysis, the results are similar to those in the previous life. It would be great if a conference could be held to carve up Asia. Compared to Africa, Asia has everything, and the market is also very leveraged.

I say all that needs to be said, Africa is really not a good time for Italy to get involved right now. When various countries have initially developed, World War I just happened to break out. Wouldn't it be nice to accept other people's mature colonies?