Bulgarian Empire

Regarding the issue of dealing with Italy, the negotiations among the three countries went surprisingly smoothly. In the final analysis, each country needs to get what it needs. Due to the rise of Bulgaria and the closeness of Bulgaria to each other, the British felt the crisis. In order to maintain their natural status in the Mediterranean, they had to Make concessions.

But Ferdinand did not rush to be happy. The Sarentina Peninsula was just a windfall. If Sicily was not obtained, then the Sarentina Peninsula would be of little significance.

There is no way to control the Mediterranean Sea. The Adriatic Sea alone is not worth the effort of Bulgaria. Is it just returned to the Italians?

After thinking about it, Ferdinand finally realized that if he took the Sarentina Peninsula, he could at most extort some money from the Italians. The strategic position is not that important, and the economic value cannot develop tourism in this era, right? ?

"Your Majesty, why not exchange the colonies along the Persian Gulf with the British! Now many ports along the Persian Gulf are under the sphere of influence of the British, and our navy is still restricted from entering the Indian Ocean!" Naval Minister Petrov suggested.

Ferdinand smiled slightly, Petrov's proposal was very constructive, and now is a good time to pick up the loopholes!

In terms of economic value, the entire Arabian Peninsula is now inferior to Sicily; in terms of strategic value, the Persian Gulf in this era is not a strategic location, and the two are even more incomparable.

But for Bulgaria, it now has a certain strategic value, which will help Bulgaria strengthen its control over the Arabian Peninsula.

Most British people would suspect that Bulgaria wants to expand into the Persian region, but this is not their core interest. As long as Bulgaria does not go too far, the two sides can still carve up the Persian region!

Ferdinand thought for a while and said: "Well, let's exchange the colonies along the Persian Gulf with the British. Except that the Mandeb Strait is forbidden by the British, this time we simply annex the entire Arabian Peninsula. Let the Foreign Ministry and the British delineate their respective spheres of influence in the Persian region!"

Even if you want to pick up the leaks, you have to do a full set of tricks. The Persian region actually has some value, and of course it is only agricultural value in this era.

But this is still not enough. If the conditions are too low, they will probably be suspicious because of John Bull's feces!

After a pause, Ferdinand added: "One more thing, we hope that the Italians will repay the debts owed to the British, and tell the British that we need money urgently, so that they will not hinder the domestic consortium from purchasing the goods we have obtained. War reparations claims!"

Well, as long as the British consortium really wants to buy it, it is estimated that Bulgaria does not need to take the initiative to propose it. They have plenty of ways to get the government to agree.

As for whether the British would oppose the Bulgarian navy's entry into the Indian Ocean, Ferdinand was not worried at all. As long as they don't imitate the Germans and Americans, it doesn't matter where you go.

What can really make them afraid is that they have the strength to threaten their world hegemony. Obviously, Bulgaria in this era does not have this strength!

The Bulgarian navy was divided into two, and there was no other way. After the war, Bulgaria still had such a huge fleet in the Mediterranean. Not only John Bull was uncomfortable, but even the French would feel the pressure.

In this case, either dismantle the ship or disperse the fleet, reducing the strength of the Bulgarian navy in the Mediterranean!

Ferdinand, who knew it well, naturally chose to divide his troops. In the era of sea power, there was no strong navy. How can Bulgaria's overseas interests be guaranteed?

With the current strength of the six dreadnought ships in Bulgaria, they rank among the top five in the world, only after Britain, the United States, Japan, and France, and the naval strengths of Japan, France, and Bulgaria are still very close in this period. There is no distance yet!

The "August 4th Plan" formulated by the Japanese in 1915 has just begun. As for the subsequent "86th Plan" and "88th Plan\

,"There is no plan yet, and the Japanese naval riot has just begun.

The tonnage of the French Navy is indeed large, but the number of capital ships is not large, and there are too many old ships, and now they are about to face large-scale retirement, so their naval strength is not very good at this period!

...

After receiving the domestic telegram, Constantine was not in a very good mood. Once the Bulgarian navy entered the Indian Ocean, it would not be so easy to complete the government's previous plan to reduce naval military expenditures.

During the war, Bulgaria had no budget for military expenditures. Anyway, if you ran out of money, you would reach out to the government. Once the war is over, this kind of good thing will naturally end!

If there is no accident, the military expenditure of the army in the coming year may be cut by more than 95%, and the navy will also be cut by 80 to 90%. Now it is estimated that it can be cut by 60 to 70% .

In Constantine's view, this meant that Ferdinand didn't want the government to lower the military expenditure too much, so it would inevitably cut the budgets of other departments. As the boss of the government, he was naturally in a bad mood.

No matter what his mood is, what should be done still has to be done, and it must be done beautifully! It's not so easy to work under Ferdinand!

In contrast, Megeve is in a much better mood. The government budget matter has little to do with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Anyway, their funding has always been guaranteed.

With the navy entering the Indian Ocean, the importance of their foreign ministry will only increase, not decrease, and even the international affairs that the foreign ministry will deal with in the future will greatly increase!

To put it simply, before the World War, the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was only active in the diplomatic affairs of the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Now it is estimated that they will appear in most of the foreign affairs of the world.

...

Negotiations on the Italian issue have started again. The biggest issue now is the issue of compensation. The total amount of compensation from the three countries is as high as 7 billion pounds. Obviously, the Italians cannot afford it.

Even if it is cut in half, Constantine doubts whether the Italians will be able to repay the debt. If they have no money, they can pay off the debt in kind. Unfortunately, the Italian family is really thin. It is calculated on the basis of 7 billion in reparations and an international interest rate of 5%. , the annual interest is 350 million pounds, which is seven times the fiscal revenue of Italy at its peak!

Lloyd George said very responsibly: "Everyone, the current population of Italy is probably less than 35 million. If it is calculated at 7 billion pounds, each person will have to bear a huge debt of 200 pounds. Based on their pre-war In terms of national income (note: Italy’s gross national income in 1913 was 4 billion US dollars, or about 822 million pounds), it would take 8.5 years to live without eating or drinking!

According to the calculations of economic experts, even if their economy returns to the pre-war level, the annual repayment amount of the Italians still cannot exceed 210 million pounds!

And we must also accept repayment in kind, otherwise the number will be even lower, so we must reduce the amount of compensation, otherwise the debt cannot be paid off now, and the Italians are likely to pretend to be dead again! "

The venue fell into a state of silence, and Constantine broke the silence: "In this case, let's waive their interest, let the Italians pay us 200 million pounds in cash or the equivalent amount of materials every year, and they will pay us 35 years. Debt can be paid off!

If there is a default in the middle of the contract, or if there is a deliberate default in repayment, the total compensation will be calculated at 50,000 per day overdue, so that everyone will not have to worry about it! "

Well, Constantine's proposal is no different from reducing the amount of compensation. In fact, if the interest is calculated, the amount of compensation is only equivalent to more than two billion pounds!

French President Poincaré said with some hesitation: "Is this not very good? It seems that the number is too big. It is better to reduce the amount of compensation for the Italians to 2.8 billion pounds, based on the monthly interest rate of 4.5 per thousand." Let's do the math!

If the birth date is overdue, it will be calculated as one thousandth of a day, so it seems that the number is better, and everyone should distribute according to their respective shares! "

Constantine gasped, as expected of being from a usury empire. According to this figure, the Italians would have to pay 1.26 million pounds in interest every month, and 151.2 million pounds in interest every year. I can pay it off!

If the monthly payment cannot be made, the rolling interest will be even more terrifying!

No one can refuse in front of interests! Even the British want to preserve Italy's strength as much as possible, but when it comes to their own interests, all this is thrown out of the blue!

"This proposal is good. We have already cut 60% of the Italians' war reparations, which is enough for the whole world to see our benevolent side!" Lloyd George said righteously

Constantine just nodded his head in agreement, and suddenly found that compared with the old empire, he was still too immature, and he dared to believe that John Bull would give up his own interests for the sake of the Italians!

After a pause, Poincaré said: "The Italians still have some colonies that can be used to offset the compensation. We should give them an estimate and then decide who will take it!"

Neither Constantine nor Lloyd George had any objections. The economic value and strategic value of the Italian colony were not high, and no one was very interested in fighting for it. They simply assessed the value against the war reparations.

Constantine thought for a while and said, "Let's just evaluate the colonies that don't have much strategic value, and whoever estimates the highest price will pay to buy them back!

Anyway, in the first few years, the Allies have to restore their economies, and their ability to pay is limited, so use this money to repay the war indemnity of our three countries! "

That's right, the Three Kingdoms. Constantine just dismissed other countries' qualifications to carve up colonies. On this point, everyone's interests are the same. Britain and France will naturally not object to this proposal.

Lloyd George thought for a while and said: "For the sake of fairness, everyone writes the answer directly on paper, and then everyone makes it public, and declares first that no one can go back on their word once they make an offer!"

"Okay!" Everyone said in unison

Constantine had a headache. The Italian colony was Somalia, and it was only half of it. The north had already been John Bull's sphere of influence as early as 1887.

Half of Somalia, for Bulgaria, is simply tasteless and a pity to discard!

After hesitating again and again, Constantine casually wrote a number that he thought was appropriate, and then turned his eyes to the other two.

Lloyd-George and Poincale have already written the answer. As a veteran colonial empire, they are more professional in the valuation of colonies!

Poincaré smiled and said: "Since everyone has written it, let's show it together!"

After speaking, he picked up the notebook and wrote a big 35 million in red pen on it, but unfortunately the final unit was francs!

Lloyd George also showed his notebook, and the number given on it was 1.41 million. Fortunately, his unit was sterling.

Constantine was a little dumbfounded. Looking at the bids from Britain and France, he knew he was at a disadvantage. Half of Somalia was not worth so much money. Anyway, he didn't regret selling the medicine here, and he also showed his offer of 3 million pounds!

Don't think that this price is not high. The key is that the population of Italian Somalia in this era is less than one million, and the economy is in a mess. After deducting administrative expenses, the fiscal surplus of the colony seems to have always been negative.

Even counting the bonus brought by resources and the market, it is still a loss! If Bulgaria wants to open Somali, Bulgaria will have to invest a lot of money. Obviously, it will not be possible in the short term!

Lloyd George gloated and said, "Congratulations, Mr. Constantine. From now on, Somalia belongs to you!"

Constantine is in a very depressed mood now, and he decided to find a professional to evaluate all the colonies of the Allied Powers later, so as to avoid this kind of oolong joke!

However, Constantine still said with a smile on his face: "Thanks to the two of you for wanting to let me know. After the negotiation is over, how about we settle the bill together?"

Poincaré agreed immediately: "Okay, this is just the beginning, just over a million pounds is a small problem for all of us!"

It can be regarded as a relief for Constantine. It is true that Bulgaria quoted 3 million pounds, but after deducting its own compensation, the actual payment is only 1.714 million pounds, so it is not too bad.

Constantine took the topic along the way: "Okay, let's move on to the next item. Let's deal with the Italian navy first. They also have two dreadnoughts and a bunch of small warships. Let's divide them up first!"

Everyone was very interested in the Italian warships, but John Bull soon chose to give up. He suddenly found that if they participated in the division of the Italian navy, it did not mean that Bulgaria and France were also eligible to divide the German navy!

Lloyd George said very calmly: "We did not fight against the Italian Navy, so we will not participate in the distribution of the property left by the Italian Navy!"

Poincaré smiled and said, "We are all allies, so why share it with each other? Let's share it together!"

It's a pity that Lloyd George looks like a gentleman, and if he is killed, he will be distributed according to his contribution. They will not participate in the distribution if they have not fought against the Italian Navy!

Seeing that he was not fooled, now only Paulo and France are left to participate in the distribution. The Italian Navy still has two dreadnoughts, two former dreadnoughts, five cruisers, six destroyers and some small warships.

Bulgaria does not have much demand for these warships, and if they take too much, they will consume precious military expenses. Constantine asked directly: "It's better to have half of our two countries. The one hundred and ten dollars we should pay to your country Seventy thousand pounds of colonial subsidy, how about just erasing it?"

Poincaré secretly calculated that if the distribution is based on the contribution, the Bulgarians who severely damaged the Italian Navy will definitely take the lead. His expectation in his heart is that the two sides will share four or six points. Now the two sides will share equally, even if it is compensated The Bulgarians have more than one million pounds, and they still don't suffer.

So Poincaré replied straightforwardly: "Well, we will divide the Italian Navy equally!"

...

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