My Italian

"I didn't expect that there would be such a situation."

Carlo couldn't help sighing when he looked at the message Lefer sent back.

That's right, Carlo saw the news about Lanfang sent by Leifer. Some past life memories that had been forgotten, now resurfaced in my mind.

Although there were various praises for this Chinese republic in the Internet in the previous life, in Carlo's view, Fanglan's annexation was inevitable, and the overseas Chinese who lacked local support had no strength to resist the wolf-like European colonizers.

Although some people compare it with the founding of the United States, in its bones, this country is more of a gathering of fellow villagers to keep warm, and its interior is very narrow and exclusive (the leader can only be held by Meizhou people, and the deputy leader is held by Dapu people) , and some other factors are mixed in it, so it is impossible for Lanfang to grow and develop.

Since he couldn't grow stronger, Lanfang seemed very isolated and helpless in front of the European colonists, but fortunately Lanfang was still a little clever. They claimed that they were a vassal of the Qing Kingdom, but it was intimidating. However, now that the Qing Kingdom itself is in decline, this fake vassal state cannot be its life-saving card.

So no, the Dutch took advantage of the Sino-French war to attack Lanfang. This news is really timely for Carlo and Italy.

However, he still needs to find out what is going on in the local area. The few words Lefer sent cannot be the basis for his decision at all.

Thinking of this, Carlo recruited a servant. "Immediately send a telegram to Minister Jia Liwen in the Far East, asking him to immediately find out the relationship between Dutch Indonesia and Lanfang, and mark this telegram as expedited."

When Carlo's telegram was sent to Minister Jia Liwen from the Far East, the envoy immediately felt that the telegram was unusual. The bright red urgent sign on it made him not dare to neglect, and immediately arranged for the staff to go as quickly as possible. Find out about Lanfang and the Dutch colonies.

Of course, it takes time to inquire about news, but sometimes, some help can speed up the progress of inquiring about news, such as banknote capability.

Therefore, after Jia Liwen showed sufficient banknote ability, the information he needed immediately appeared in front of him. Don't think that the officials in the colonies have high morals. There are countless people who worship the ability of the banknotes like crucian carp crossing the river. Jia Liwen immediately sorted out the information and sent it back to Rome.

When Carlo got this information, he smiled. Now he needs to call a meeting and get Italy to step in.

The bright palace hall has been rarely used, because unless a very important meeting is held, it will not be used easily. Of course, it has been closed since Carlo succeeded to the throne.

But today, when the large conference hall was in use again, the maids started to clean it early in the morning, while the servants were responsible for placing some items needed for the meeting.

At nine o'clock, everything is ready here, and it's time for someone to come to hold a meeting.

The first person to come was the Secretary of the Army, Admiral Saragate, and then the Secretary of the Navy, Admiral Gorek. I didn't expect the military to come so early, and then the cabinet ministers also arrived in twos and threes, and finally the Prime Minister. Depretis arrives.

After everyone arrived, Carlo also appeared in the large conference room.

With Carlo's arrival, the discussion in the conference room stopped abruptly. Carlo was very satisfied with the effect, which at least represented that he initially had authority among these people.

After patrolling the venue with his eyes, Carlo explained the topic of this meeting in a simple and clear manner. "It's a little unfortunate to let everyone participate in this meeting during their busy schedules, but because of its importance, this meeting must be held."

After briefly saying the opening remarks, Carlo did not continue, but instead said to Baron Filimic, who was beside him. "Head of the Guard, let's get started."

"Huh" As the cloth on the wall was pulled away, a huge map of Kalimantan Island appeared in front of everyone.

I saw Baron Filimic with a baton and started explaining the situation in Kalimantan. "This map is a map of Kalimantan Island in Southeast Asia. At present, the island is mainly composed of three forces. The north is Sarawak and Brunei occupied by the British, the west is the Lanfang Republic established by Chinese immigrants, and the south and east are Dutch colony. Currently the island…”

No one in the presence was impatient as the captain of the bodyguard spoke, and all of them listened to his remarks carefully, and some people took notes from time to time. Everyone is not a three-year-old child, and since the situation in Kalimantan was mentioned at the beginning, there must be a reason.

Sure enough, when the captain of the guard said that Lanfang and the Dutch were currently fighting, many people had already turned their heads.

After the captain of the guard finished speaking, Carlo's speech after he took the stage was more certain of their thoughts. "This battle between Lanfang and the Dutch is an opportunity for our country."

What kind of opportunity, let Carlo tell you slowly.

"As we all know, the trade volume between my country and the Chinese is increasing, and my country's interests in the Far East are getting heavier and heavier, so it is necessary to have its own foothold in the Far East. In view of the current relationship between my country and the Chinese and trade reasons, it is not necessary to It is convenient to seek leased land in China, so it is inevitable to choose the surrounding area. Next to it, Japan and Japan are not suitable for various reasons. Therefore, Southeast Asia is the best choice, and since Southeast Asia has long been occupied by various countries, so It is very difficult for me to get involved in it, and the current war between Lanfang and the Dutch is a very good opportunity for our country."

After Carlo finished speaking, there was applause in the conference room. Although he did not necessarily agree with the king's remarks, Italy did need a colony in the Far East.

Of course, after the applause, the next step is the question-and-answer session. It is obvious that you want to intervene. If you don't have enough troops, you have no room to speak. Since you want to send troops, it will involve costs. All these things take time.

So Foreign Secretary Bakona was the first to speak. "Your Majesty, may I ask, does Your Majesty want to intervene and take down Lanfang alone?"

Facing the foreign minister's question, Carlo said without hesitation. "Yes, the strength of our country is enough for the Dutch to withdraw from the competition rationally."

"What if they don't retire?"

"Then we just use the excuses in turn to expand the scope and expel the Dutch from Southeast Asia."

Carlo's words made many ministers' eyes shine. The interests of the Netherlands and Indonesia are even coveted by Britain and France. If Italy occupies such a big interest, of course, Italy can't take it all, and it will also share a part of it. out, but its profits are still staggering.

"But Your Majesty has considered it, is there any English and French standing behind the Dutch?"

Bakona's words made many people sober their minds. Although the Netherlands and Indonesia have huge interests, the British and French behind them are equally difficult to provoke. What does Italy need to prevent Britain and France from intervening?

"Please rest assured on this point, I am going to use absolute strength to press the Dutch to bow their heads. Of course, our goal this time is very clear. We only need Lanfang. At the same time, I assure the British that they will not have anything to do with Sarawak and Brunei they occupy. Ideas. Of course, the most important thing is that my country needs to take an absolute advantage in terms of theory and law, so that the Dutch have nothing to say.”

Carlo said here and glanced at everyone in the venue. "For this, I have arranged for Minister Jia Liwen to prepare, and I will definitely give the Dutch a surprise."

Carlo's words made the Foreign Secretary stop asking. Although there are still many details unclear, there are generally no questions.

Although the Foreign Secretary had finished asking, there were others who wanted to ask, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Toston Teyera, stood up. "Your Majesty, you said that you want to suppress the Dutch with absolute strength. I don't know how much strength you plan to send?"

The Tejera, who succeeded Sabot as Finance Minister, although he does not have too amazing ability, his nearly two decades of experience in the Ministry of Finance is enough to make everyone in the Ministry of Finance unable to escape his eyes, so under his control Now, the Ministry of Finance is much better than before.

"I can answer this question."

Before Carlo could answer, the Admiral of the Navy stood up and saw Admiral Gorek speak. "Our navy plans to use a fleet consisting of Dolio, Henrico Dandolo and Francisco. It is expected that the fleet will reach 27 ships with a total tonnage of 89,000 tons. In addition, we will also carry 3,000 troops. Officers and soldiers, go together."

Admiral Gorek's words caused a stir in the conference room, because the warships he reported were all new ships that had been commissioned by the Navy in the past ten years. It can be said that the essence of the Italian Navy was basically concentrated in this fleet. With such strength, let alone let the Dutch withdraw from the Lanfang competition, there is no problem at all in conquering Indonesia. The three battleships alone have a displacement of up to 38,000 tons.

Facing the scale reported by Admiral Gorek, the finance minister was the most anxious, because a fleet of such a size would cost a lot to sail half the world.

"Then may I ask, has your military made a budget?"

"Done~www.NovelMTL.com~ How much is that?"

"It's just deterrence, the cost is 60 million lire, and if you fight the Dutch, it's 250 million lire."

Hearing the figures reported by the military, the discussion in the conference room grew louder.

"Snapped"

I saw Carlo slammed the table, making the scene quiet immediately.

"Don't think this cost is too much, I'll give you some statistics. The Dutch collected 14.2 million guilders from Lanfang in 1880. In 1881 it was 15.2 million guilders, in 1982 it was 16.7 million guilders, and in 83 17.4 million a year."

Although Carlo did not go on, anyone could see the importance of Lanfang to the Dutch, and the Dutch were not satisfied with the tax, so they were going to take over Lanfang directly.

So now the candidity of the conference room has changed immediately, and the cost is no longer a problem. Such a place that provides the Netherlands with a wealth of 30 to 40 million lire every year, Italy can't let it go. (The exchange rate between Dutch guilders and lira is around 1 to 2.2)

Sure enough, money moved people's hearts. The ministers who wanted to continue asking questions just now stopped asking. Next, everyone was eager to get the disgusting Dutch people out of Lanfang.

Everything at the meeting was watched by Prime Minister DePretis. He didn't speak at all at this meeting, but just sat here watching Carlo's every move.

The result of the meeting did not exceed his expectations. Italy couldn't wait to get a colony, not to mention a fertile and well-developed colony like Lanfang, which would have a fatal temptation for it.

After the meeting, Depretis returned to his carriage and couldn't help sighing. His Majesty Carlo had already shown his political charm, what should he do?

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