Vol 4 Chapter 162: Exchange Persian Gulf

On January 28, 1917, the five-party talks started again. After obtaining the domestic authorization, Sassonov breathed a sigh of relief. What he feared most was that the country would stick to the original bottom line, and then this negotiation would not proceed. Up.
Leopold von Bechtor, the Austro-Hungarian minister, now looks a little bit spirited, and he can't see the appearance of a defeated country at all. No, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is not yet a defeated country, at best it can only be regarded as a half lost!
Obviously, after gaining the support of Britain and France, they are more confident about the Russians. If it were not for the Russian Empire’s significant contribution in this world war, the Tsarist government would have been insisting on the war even if it was a civil unrest. Perhaps they would not even have to pay the compensation.
Of course, this is obviously impossible. It is impossible for the Allied Powers to be so ugly. Everyone is also an ally. If you eat your own meat, you have to leave a bowl of soup for the Russians!
At the beginning of the meeting, Sasonov made another request: "Considering the repayment ability of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, after careful study and decision by the Tsarist government, we agreed to reduce the amount of indemnity. We asked the Austro-Hungarian Empire to pay 1.5 billion pounds in war indemnities. , Paid off in thirty years, paying principal and interest and 125 million pounds a year."
Leopold von Bechtor was of course not satisfied. He paid the Bulgarians’ 430 million pounds of debt to the French. Half of them were interest-free loans, and the annual interest was less than 10 million pounds. The Russians demanded that they only pay 75 million pounds in interest every year. How is this possible?
"I'm sorry, Mr. Sasonov, we can't achieve your request! The fiscal revenue of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is limited. We can't even pay the interest on your claim for compensation. Can you give us a figure that we can afford? ?"
Sasonov's face suddenly collapsed, and he said coldly: "Then how much is your country's ability to pay?"
Leopold von Bechtor thought about each other and said: "Our financial situation is already very bad, and the domestic economic situation is also very bad. We will not be able to pay debts in the next three years.
After three years, the annual debt payment cannot exceed half of our fiscal revenue. Based on our peak fiscal revenue, our annual maximum payment is only 30 million pounds.
Now the debt of the Austro-Hungarian Empire itself is as high as 1.5 billion pounds, and our fiscal revenue cannot even pay interest..."
"stop!"
Sassonov interrupted, "If you follow your country's requirements, do you plan to pay?"
Leopold von Bechtor is also now pretending to be overwhelmed, but he still said with the same expression: "How could it be! The Austria-Hungary Empire is also a large responsible country, and you always have to pay for things you do wrong." At a price, let’s pay your country’s five million pounds in war reparations every year. How about paying for a hundred years?"
Sassonov said coldly: "Mr. Leopold, we came to negotiate with sincerity, not to listen to your nonsense, five million pounds a year, at a loss of what you said for export! You pay 100 million pounds a year. , Paying for a hundred years is almost the same!"
...
The two clashed with each other. More than two hours passed in a flash. Constantine and the British had a good time-George and French President Poincaré exchanged opinions. Everyone agreed to let them quarrel slowly!
The three of them left the conference room one after another, and Constantine took the initiative to speak: "Mr. George, regarding Sicily, I think I can continue now!"
Lloyd-George smiled slightly and said, "Oh, what do you want in your country? As long as it is not our major dominions, other regions can be discussed!"
Constantine skipped it automatically, so I can discuss it, do we want the Suez Canal? Of course, Constantine would not make such a stupid request!
"How about the Persian Gulf? If Bulgaria wants to get out of the Mediterranean, it needs an outlet in the Indian Ocean. The Persian Gulf is the most suitable for us!"
Lloyd George still kept a smile. Obviously, Bulgaria's request for the Persian Gulf was in their expectation. His think tank had already inferred the road of Bulgaria's development from the expansion of Bulgaria.
This is the age of sea power. If Bulgaria really said that they did not want to enter the ocean, it is estimated that normal people would not believe it. Don’t you see that the Russians have worked hard for the maritime strategy for hundreds of years!
The exhibition in Bulgaria is completely determined by its geographical location. For Bulgaria, the easiest route to succeed is to obtain the Persian Gulf region.
This also explains why Bulgaria has to grab so much sand. That’s right, the Arabian Peninsula acquired by Bulgaria is sand!
And the Mesopotamian Plain in the Persian Gulf region is suitable for agricultural production and can provide supplies to the navy. Part of it has been occupied by Bulgaria during the World War. Now it is normal for Bulgaria to request the Persian Gulf!
Lloyd-George suggested: "You want the Persian Gulf region, but what about the oil transportation in our Persian region?
How about the Strait of Hormuz, half of our family, so everyone can rest assured? "
Constantine cursed inwardly. If he can't get control of the Strait of Hormuz, isn't the Bulgarian navy in the British cage?
"Mr. George is worried. Of course, your country's interests in the Persian region can be guaranteed. Do you still think that we will hinder your oil transportation?
Besides, in Persia, what is there besides oil? As far as we know, your oil companies in Persia have been losing money. What is the value? "
Obviously everyone has done their homework. The interests of the British in the Persian Gulf are clear in Bulgaria. The economic value of this era is not much!
Lloyd George said calmly: "Can't say that. With the development of science and technology, the importance of oil has become more and more prominent. Oil security is also related to the global strategy of our Royal Navy!"
Constantine said confidently: "Is there a shortage of oil in the British Empire, why don't I know? Why should we take matters into account if capitalists make up lies for their own benefit?
As far as I know, there have been many new oil fields in the world in recent months. The international crude oil price has dropped by 30% recently. The output of your Persian Petroleum Company is not worth mentioning at all! "
Lloyd George was taken aback. He has been busy with the Paris Peace Conference recently. He hasn't paid attention to these little news for a long time, but he doesn't think Constantine will lie in this regard.
Lloyd George said calmly: "If this is the case, I think we can make a deal!"
Constantine shook his head and said, "Mr. George, one area of ​​the Persian Gulf is not enough!
You know that our navy started too late, and now that we want to make a global strategic layout is over, so we hope that your country can provide us with 20 overseas ports, the strategic value does not need to be too high, you can stop the ship to supply it!
The other is that this war has too much impact on our finances, so we intend to take out the creditor’s rights in our hands, hoping that your country can take over. Of course, if your government is not interested, we will contact your country’s consortium to take over, and hope you can make it easier. The door! "
Lloyd-George hesitated and said: "We can open 20 overseas military ports for use by your navy. As for civilian commercial ships, don't worry, the ports of the British Empire are open to the outside world!
You want to take out the creditor's rights. We welcome this. The consortium of the British Empire should be happy to take over this business! "
Obviously, Lloyd-George changed the concept. Constantine hoped to obtain 20 overseas ports. When he arrived, he opened up 20 ports to the Bulgarian navy. The nature of this is completely different. Everyone has a good relationship. At that time, it can be used naturally. Once the two sides turn their faces in the future, this agreement is equivalent to invalidation!
As for the issue of creditor's rights, this is not a problem at all. After the world war is over, the British government may have been poor, but their domestic monopoly consortium has indeed made a lot of money.
The consortium holding large sums of cash is still worried about where to invest the funds? After the end of the First World War in history, most of these funds flowed to the United States, followed by the European Big 6!
As far as the consortium is concerned, as long as the benefits are large enough, there is no business that cannot be negotiated. Anyway, the success or failure is not related to his Lloyd George's business. If the two parties negotiated, he can also become an introducer and draw a commission from it. The reason for opposition!
After hesitating for a while, Constantine still chose to compromise. Anyway, he has obtained twenty temporary ports for the Navy. It is already a surprise. If you want to obtain ownership, you should not dream. The British will not cultivate competitors. !
...
Compared to the happiest talks between Bulgaria and the British, the French are in trouble. They want to dismember Germany, and they want to empty the German wallet~EbookFREE.me~ This is a trivial matter, and it makes John the most. What the cattle cannot tolerate is that they want to establish Euro 6 hegemony!
Just crossed a Germany, and now another France is coming. Aren’t they fighting for nothing?
Unlike Bulgaria's sudden rise and no foundation, the French has a very deep background. The most important thing is that Napoleon was too fierce. After so many years, John Bull still has lingering fears!
But for the French, they have a lot of colonies. Apart from gaining concessions on the German issue, they feel that they have lost too much in exchange for colonies.
In this respect, Bulgaria’s attitude has made the French very satisfied, so in many places it is also reciprocated. The cooperation between the two parties is very good!
Constantine has publicly acknowledged that France has the right to take back Lorraine and Alsace, and has fully understood the French's demands on the dismemberment of Germany and compensation.
Since there is no direct conflict of interest between the two sides, the relations between the two countries have recently heated up sharply, and they have returned to their pre-war state.
This makes the British very upset. It is their consistent national policy to keep Europe evenly matched, but it is a pity that Bulgaria is not doing it well now.
No, even if Bulgaria wants to compete for European hegemony, it can't do it now. The Austro-Hungarian Empire is still there, which directly blocked their way forward!
If Germany is dismembered, the British will not be able to support the Austro-Hungarian Empire to counterbalance France, right? With the strength of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they have no worries, it is not enough to pk with the French!
At least they didn't dare to jump out without getting the full support of Bulgaria, otherwise they would be attacked by the two countries if they didn't operate well, that would be a fart!
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