Bulgarian Empire

Chapter 52: Deal?

After cheating Britain and France, Ferdinand was refreshed, and then he turned his attention to another unlucky guy—Japan. In this war against the United States, all countries have more or less benefited , they alone are exceptions.

Hawaii was forced to give up, and now it is about to give up the Philippines. The three countries of Britain, France and Paul have given them an ultimatum.

Carving up the Philippine archipelago is once again on the agenda. Regardless of its small size, it is composed of more than 7,000 islands. The island is naturally rich in resources. Just look at the population of hundreds of millions of people in this tiny place in future generations. .

And the mineral resources in the Philippines mainly include more than 20 kinds of copper, gold, silver, iron, chromium, nickel, etc. Copper reserves are about 4.8 billion tons, nickel 1.09 billion tons, and gold 136 million tons. Geothermal resources are estimated to have 2.09 billion barrels of crude oil standard energy, and there are about 350 million barrels of oil reserves in the northwest sea area of ​​Palawan Island.

But the problem is that this place is not easy to divide. The Philippine Islands are mainly divided into three components: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, and an accompanying Mariana Islands.

It shows that one family and one area are well divided, but in fact the development of the three areas is very unbalanced. Luzon is rich in oil, and the other two areas have not yet developed in this era.

How to divide is a problem. Britain will not argue this time. Their main purpose is to pull the two countries to the Pacific region to contain the Japanese.

If it is possible, Ferdinand does not mind selling the interests of the Philippines. It is enough for Bulgaria to retain a port. Unfortunately, this issue can only be thought about at most.

The British are not stupid. If it were not for the purpose of pulling Bulgaria into the Pacific Ocean to establish regional balance, it is estimated that the Philippine Islands would have nothing to do with them.

Foreign Minister Megev came up with a bad idea: "Your Majesty, why don't we wait until we talk about it. If it doesn't work, the three parties will form a coalition government to manage the Philippine Islands!"

Well, for Ferdinand who has no idea, a bad idea is an idea, isn't it? As long as it can solve the problem, why bother so much? The Philippine Islands can generate millions of pounds in income every year, which is a rare good place among the colonies!

Ferdinand smiled wryly and said: "Let's do this first, and we will decide later on depending on the situation. We can't fight the French for the sake of the Philippine Islands, and the French are probably the same!

If it doesn’t work, we can also make concessions and get certain financial compensation, or we can give them financial compensation, and they make concessions on this issue, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can figure it out! "

In a short period of time, overseas colonies have not played a great role in Bulgaria. At least ten years later, when Bulgaria has the strength to develop colonies, they will be able to play a role!

Megev replied: "Yes! ~ Your Majesty's Russian loan issue, the negotiations have reached a deadlock, their asking price is too high, we cannot accept it, do you want to change the plan?"

Ferdinand asked with concern: "How big is the appetite of the Russians?"

Megev replied: "The province of Bessarabia plus the Crimean Peninsula, the Russians asked for 3 billion levs, which is 50% less than our expected 2 billion levs!"

Ferdinand thought for a while and said: "The price is indeed a bit high. Continue to negotiate with Russia. If it doesn't work, we won't buy it. They probably won't last long."

Megeve immediately replied: "Yes!"

Is the price high? If it were eight years ago, even if it doubled, the Bulgarian government would happily buy these places.

But now, it's really too high! With the decline of the Russian Empire, these strategic locations have gradually depreciated.

After hesitating for a while, as if thinking of something, Ferdinand said again: "Wait, maybe we can buy these two places first!

However, the issue of loans still requires the Russians to come up with collateral.

At least half of Ukraine is required as a mortgage. If the government is not convenient to come forward, you can ask the bank representative to talk to the Russians! "

Ferdinand suddenly remembered, maybe there is no need to haggle with the Russians on the issue of price, the loss in the early stage is to take advantage of the later stage.

With the finances of the Russian Empire, their repayment ability is very limited. Once they are unable to pay the loan, the collateral will belong to the Bulgarian Bank. Naturally, this has become Ferdinand's private domain!

The most important thing now is to encourage the Russians to borrow more. Anyway, the corrupt nature of the tsarist government cannot be reversed in a short while. Once there is no crisis, they should still be corrupt, no matter how much money they spend!

If Nicholas II hadn't defeated the bourgeoisie in advance, there might have been arms reselling, instead of the current deduction of a little military pay, weapons and ammunition can be supplied in full!

You can see this problem by looking at the world wars. The front-line troops are starving, and there are still capitalists who export food to Germany. You can see how serious the corruption of the government is.

The more Ferdinand thought about it, the more he was wrong. He always felt that Nicholas II had no strength to rule the country, but the current situation on the Russian battlefield was that he was able to withstand the situation with one against two. In theory, as long as he had money, he could win.

Megev's mind was a little confused. It was the first time he had seen Ferdinand change his mind so suddenly, but he knew from Ferdinand's expression that this was the final decision.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" replied Megeve

...

In St. Petersburg, Nicholas II was not in such a good mood. The front-line troops were asking him for money and supplies. After the world war, he already understood that these things really cannot be less, less The battle is about to be lost!

However, the loan negotiations did not go well, and the first round got stuck on the transaction price of the land. Bulgaria refused to pay the high price he had expected.

Nicholas II asked: "Prime Minister, is it possible for us to obtain loans elsewhere?"

The Prime Minister shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, small loans may be okay, but I don't think anyone but Bulgaria can provide such a huge loan!"

He is not talking nonsense. Now that the British are supporting the new tsar, and the French are supporting the Moscow government, there is no need to think about getting loans from these two countries.

Among the remaining countries, Germany and Italy are still licking their wounds and repaying their debts, and there is no money to lend them at all. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was not much better. Affected by the defeat of the war, the domestic consortia were also seriously injured.

The small countries in Europe may have some money, but they definitely dare not take risks with such huge loans. Once the Russian Empire reneges on its debts, won't it be caught blind?

Nicholas II hesitated and said: "Aren't the Japanese planning to buy Manchuria? Is it possible for them to provide us with a loan?"

It has to be said that Nicholas II has become a qualified politician, and even personal hatred can be put aside for the sake of profit.

The Prime Minister said with a wry smile: "Your Majesty, the Japanese government's finances have not been very good, and they owe a lot of debts. Their domestic consortiums are only a few third-rate consortiums, and it is impossible to come up with such a huge sum of money!"

Nicholas II didn't say anything more, since he had no money, there was no need to discuss it. After looking around, he found that it seemed that only the Bulgarian government had money now, and he was willing to lend to them.

The only bad thing is that the appetite of the Bulgarians is getting bigger and bigger. If this war cannot be ended as soon as possible, there will be nothing for them in Europe in the future.

The French have once again become the overlord of the European continent, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is also recovering, and Bulgaria in the Balkans is also growing rapidly.

If things go on like this, the European continent has already been filled, so where is the future of the Russian Empire?

After hesitating again and again, Nicholas II reluctantly said: "Let's restart the negotiations on Russia!"

...

This time the negotiation will be much smoother. Both parties intend to make concessions. After some haggling, Megev and Sassonov finally fixed the transaction price at 2.468 billion levs (approximately 98.72 million pounds).

After the deal was concluded, Megev breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Congratulations, Mr. Sassonov has made another contribution to the Russian Empire!"

Sassonov said with a wry smile: "I hope His Majesty the Tsar thinks so too!"

Megev said in surprise: "Of course! Isn't it credit that you solved the financial crisis for your country?"

Sassonov did not answer directly, but instead asked: "Mr. Megev, now that the agreement has been reached, when can we get the money?"

Megev was slightly taken aback, then issued a check with the largest denomination in the world, handed it to Sassonov, and said: "As long as the Tsarist government approves this transaction, your government can buy money from any company in Bulgaria. Cash this check in the bank!"

There is no repentance. Once the tsarist government approves this transaction, the Bulgarian army will be stationed in the two places. The tsarist government now has no capital to breach the contract.

Sassonov nodded and said, "Alright then! Is it possible for us to continue negotiating on the loan issue?"

Megev thought for a while and said, "You have to discuss this issue with the bank delegation. This time, the three major banks in Bulgaria are providing you with loans. You need to communicate directly with them about the specific interest rate and collateral. !"

Sassonov's face changed. Obviously, negotiating with the bank is better than negotiating with the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At least Megev won't bother with a small account of 1.8 million yuan, but the bank's negotiators can be accurate to every column. f.

The issue of collateral is even more troublesome. The bank consortium only recognizes economic value. The so-called strategic value and military value are completely worthless in the eyes of capitalists.

Sassonov asked unwillingly: "Could it be that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of your country can't negotiate on behalf of you?"

Megev thought for a while and said, "There is no way. According to Bulgarian law, the government and enterprises are separated, and the government cannot make any decisions on behalf of enterprises!"

Sassonov said helplessly: "Well then, when can the negotiations start?"

Mezev smiled slightly and said, "You can do it anytime. If you don't feel tired, I can call the bank representative to come over now. You can negotiate in an hour at most!"

Sassonov was overjoyed at first, and then reacted and said: "Don't be in such a hurry, why not just three days later!"

Are you kidding, or are you in such a hurry to negotiate with the bank, those greedy capitalists don't open their mouths?

This is what Sassonov judged from the habits of Russian bankers. In his opinion, bankers all over the world are the same, they are all greedy guys.

There seems to be no problem with this idea. The banks controlled by Ferdinand are no different from the banks outside. At most, they have better business reputation and generally do not lend usury.

Megev didn't think too much about it. This problem is the Russians' own business. They just sold two plots of land and got a huge sum of money, which should be able to support Russia for two months. Maybe they are not in a hurry now.

Megev kindly reminded: "No problem, then three days later! The location is still in our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where the secrecy is stronger. If you don't want to leak the news, even if you get the loan, no one will know! "

Sassonov's face brightened, and it is of course a good thing that he can keep it completely secret. He thought to himself: If the enemy doesn't know that they have obtained this huge loan, can they catch their opponents by surprise?

Well, this is completely a dream. With the secrecy ability of the tsarist government, the enemy will know it in a day or two at most, and they don't even know who leaked the news!

"Then trouble Mr. Megev!" Sassonov said.

Before leaving, he also took away a check with a face value of one million levs. This is also a tradition for officials of the Russian Empire. I don’t know when they have been used to receiving kickbacks.

At the same time, they still take kickbacks very ethically. For example, now that Sassonov has taken away one million levs, two million levs can be deducted from the final transaction amount.

In short, it will not let friends suffer, it can be regarded as sharing benefits, but it is a pity that Megev does not have this interest, and a mere one million levs is not considered by him, the Marquis.

Bulgaria's Anti-Corruption Bureau is very powerful, and there will be a major operation almost every few years. The highest cabinet minister was arrested. The Wei Zheng-Ivanlov promoted by Ferdinand was involved because of corruption and bribery.

...

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