My Italian: Chapter 398 german meddling

General Revley's worries are actually justified. No, the Prime Minister and others are discussing contact with Italy.

"Prime Minister, the negotiations with the Italians are not going well. The Italians demand that we buy their warships. We will buy a few of them and they will support us with their ships. Moreover, Italy currently does not accept mortgages, as long as cash, precious metals and Bonds or other property that can be cashed out quickly."

In the Prime Minister's Office, Foreign Secretary Gibbs reported to Prime Minister Castillo the results of the recent negotiations with Italy.

After listening to the foreign minister's report, Prime Minister Castillo frowned. "Didn't you tell them we were willing to pay with the Philippine Colonial Territory?"

"As I said, there is not a small gap between the Italian side and our valuation of the territory. The main reason is the rebel problem in the Philippines. The Italian side said that some people in the Philippines have announced the establishment of the Philippine Republic. For my country, the price of Mindanao in the Philippines is 80 million. Lira also has objections. They say that although Mindanao is large in size, it is sparsely populated and not developed enough. They need to invest a lot of money to take the island, and they also need to spend money to counter the rebellion. They are only willing to pay 40 million lire."

After listening to the answer from the Foreign Minister, Prime Minister Castillo put his hand on his forehead and said, "I made a mistake. Italy already has Borneo in Southeast Asia, so it won't be so interested in Mindanao, and the drought in Italy last year. The loss is not small, and there should be no money to spend."

Regarding the Prime Minister's words, Gibbs said immediately.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, your analysis is almost the same as mine. When I talked with the Italians before, I felt that they value their assets that can be cashed quickly, and Italy is very demanding for the asking price of the three Turin-class ships. 80 million lire a piece There is no shortage of points. Moreover, in terms of the cost of hiring their officers and soldiers, they have to meet the requirements of five times the salary and the corresponding compensation. This cost is indeed a bit high for our country."

As soon as the Foreign Minister said that the cost was high, Admiral Shirvila on the side hurriedly took over the conversation. "The number of warships is already the lowest, we can't reduce it, otherwise I don't have the confidence to defend the Cuban colony."

Although I know what Admiral Shirvila said is true, what should I do if I don’t have the money, “Admiral Shirvila, the problem is that we can’t afford that much money right now.”

"How about issuing a batch of national bonds now?"

The Secretary of the Navy really didn't understand finances, and he borrowed money when he had difficulties. Although he is not a financial professional, Gibbs felt obliged to teach the admiral a lesson.

"Admiral Shirvila, this debt can't be borrowed at will. It takes time to prepare and at least find an underwriter. Moreover, there are many ways to sell bonds, and it takes time to prepare. In addition, my country's national debt is not easy to sell now. The interest has been given to double digits..."

Sure enough, following the foreign minister's explanation, the old Admiral Shirvila blushed, knowing that he had made up his mind, and now he dared not speak nonsense. "I, who is used to drifting at sea, really don't understand the things about money, so I will make things difficult for you."

Well, this Admiral Shirvila will stop talking and let the foreign minister and the prime minister say what next.

"I think we still need to find a way to deal with the money. We can't just watch the Yankees press on. Let's hand over Cuba."

"Actually, this matter..."

Just as Foreign Secretary Gibbs was about to speak, there was a knock on the door.

"what happened?"

Prime Minister Castillo asked loudly with some displeasure. If you disturb yourself at this time, if you don't give him a good reason, then the secretary on duty today must severely punish him.

"Prime Minister, it was His Excellency Gibbs' secretary who came to him and said it was urgent news and he must be seen immediately."

These words made the three of them suddenly thump in their hearts. Don't let the United States suddenly declare war on the kingdom, there are many things that are not ready yet.

"Let him in."

Following the Prime Minister's words, the door was opened, and Gibbs' secretary walked in.

"Gablin, what made you so anxious to find me, now in front of the Prime Minister, you can talk about it."

The foreign minister was also a little dissatisfied with the secretary who had acted rashly, and asked him to speak up quickly.

"Prime Minister, Your Excellency, it is like this. The Foreign Office has just received a telegram from Berlin from Berlin by the ambassador to Germany, Paredes. It says that the Germans told him that they are interested in buying our Philippines for 200 million marks. colony."

The secretary's words made the three of them overjoyed. This is really a road that never ends.

Why did the Germans suddenly offer to buy the Philippines?

Let us turn the time back to two days ago, in the Imperial Palace in Berlin, Wilhelm II discussed an important matter with Prime Minister Hillingsfest and Foreign Minister Bernhard von Bülow.

This is the matter of Spain's plan to sell the Philippines. As an advocate of world empire, Foreign Minister Bilow immediately contacted the Kaiser when he got the news, and strongly recommended the Philippines to him. According to his words, the Philippines is expected to become Germany's own Borneo.

Yes, Germany has been envious of Italy's harvest in Borneo for many years.

One more thing to say, the current German colonial activities have suffered a huge loss. The colonies won in Africa over the years have been receiving subsidies from the German Ministry of Finance. This was a little embarrassing for the Kaiser, who wanted to expand in the world. Of course, another thought, that all the good places in the world were taken up by other countries, also took root in his heart.

So after hearing Bilow's recommendation, the Kaiser was tempted, so a brief secret meeting was necessary.

"Your Majesty, although most of the Philippines is currently occupied by rebels, the land, minerals, and other tropical resources of the Philippines are urgently needed by our country. In addition, we also need to consider the location of the Philippines. It is used as a fulcrum. We only need to occupy the Philippines to expand our influence in the region, and we can also radiate the southern part of the Qing Dynasty in the Far East, which is really beneficial to us.”

Bilow talked about the advantages of the Philippines to Germany, which was also recognized by the Prime Minister and the Kaiser. Of course, I agree with it, but there are some things that must be asked clearly~www.mtlnovel.com~ But at present, the size of the Philippine rebels has reached more than 100,000. Although our country will not be afraid of them, it takes enough money to wipe out the rebels Energy and expenses, the money is not low at all. In addition, the current relationship between the United States and Spain is very poor, and the two countries are likely to break out of war. And if we buy the Philippines now, is it possible to turn against the United States? "

Facing the two questions raised by the Prime Minister, Bilo immediately explained. "The problem you mentioned, Prime Minister, I admit that it does exist. It cannot be concealed, but we must also consider whether the Philippines is worth our efforts. I think it is worth it. We can use the army to counter the rebellion. By the way It is good to win over a group of local tribes who are obedient. It only takes a few repetitions to make the local tribes in the Philippines recognize the facts.

As for the fact that buying the Philippines may cause hostility to the United States, I don’t think it’s a problem at all. As a world power, does buying a colony require the approval of others? How can such a performance make people recognize that we are a world empire? This should and cannot be a priority. "

Bilo's eloquent speech made Kaiser Wilhelm II furious, so an offer of 200 million marks to buy the Philippines appeared in the hands of the Spanish ambassador.

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . :