The sudden economic crisis has made it even more difficult for the stormy Sudanese government.

Although the Ottoman Empire was still an agrarian country, the withdrawal of funds by British and French capital dealt a heavy blow to them.

In desperation, the Sudanese government was forced to make concessions, and the only problem was money.

"Your Excellency, your offer is too low, there is no land so cheap in the whole world!" ”

Johannes said unhurriedly: "Your Excellency, don't worry, our quotation is based on the international market comprehensive land transaction price.

Not long ago, we were negotiating with the Russians, and they were interested in selling more than 1.5 million square kilometers of land in Alaska, and the tsarist government only offered 4 million Aegis, and our offer was already very sincere. ”

That's right, the Russian Foreign Minister offered to sell Alaska. There was no money to be made on this land, but there was still a fear that the British would call.

However, in the face of opposition from Nicholas I, the great Tsar felt that the sale of the land would damage his glorious image, and the matter was put on hold.

This matter has also caused a stir in the international community, and as a diplomat who cares about international affairs, he is naturally no stranger to it.

"Your Excellency, Alaska is a big ice cube, and it's worthless!"

Johannes shook his head and said, "Alaska also produces leather, the Bering Strait is rich in fisheries, and the southeast and south-central have a temperate climate and are rich in timber.

And, there is an inland basin, which we have sent to investigate, and the Matanuska Valley has fertile land that is very suitable for agricultural production.

Referring to the Nordic region, it is not a problem for this land to feed tens of millions of people. In contrast, Libya is all sand.

The land we want to buy, the real value of the area is only a few islands, if your country is worried that the price is too low, we can kick out the Libyan region and account for it separately.

Then for a total island area of more than 20,000 square kilometers, we bid 20 million Aegis, which has broken the world record for the transaction price of land in Dazong. ”

Alaska was confused, Alaska was an ice cube in his impression, and the population living on it at this age was not necessarily more than 10,000.

As a result, Johannes actually found such valuable things, which were not made up nonsense, but completely provided by the Russians.

Wang Po knows that she sells melons and boasts, and the Russians are of course no exception, and it is very natural to exaggerate a little in order to sell them at a good price.

If you don't have anything, why sell it for money? Even with so many resources, the Russians' offer is still only 4 million Aegis, which shows how worthless the land is in this era.

To put it bluntly, there is no shortage of resources now, and only the developed land is valuable. No amount of resources is worthless until they are developed.

Who got into the water to go to Alaska to fish, cut wood, and farm? Even if you freeze into a dog, the key is that the cost of local land development is still high.

The land of the Chosen Country is too fertile, and after the development of the Great Plains region of the United States, there is too much grain to eat, and there is no need to worry about unsalable grain every year.

In this context, the land in Alaska naturally loses its value for agricultural development, and idiots will invest in agriculture in the past.

Not to mention in this era, the coastal plains have not been developed, and the development cost of inland basins is so high that fools will run over to develop them.

Otherwise, the Russians would have organized emigration long ago, so why worry about being robbed by the British?

Anyway, the negotiations are bragging, and Johannes naturally doesn't mind portraying Alaska better, omitting the cost of land development and devaluing Libya in order to drive down prices.

"Your Excellency, no matter how you say it, the Libyan region has such a large area, even if the interior is a desert, but the coastal area still needs tens of thousands of square kilometers of fertile land.

There are still more than 500,000 or 600,000 people in the local area, and there is a ready-made labor force, and your country can be developed directly, and its value is much higher than that of uninhabited Alaska, and 8 million Aegis is really not high.

And then there are the islands, the most important of which is not the economic value, but the strategic value.

Cyprus is at the junction of Asia, Europe and Africa, and its strategic location is very prominent; Crete, in turn, is at the heart of the Mediterranean Sea and radiates to the Aegean Sea......

These islands are definitely not purely economic value, and after adding the strategic value, at least 35 million Aegis are needed. ”

Johannes replied with a smile: "Your Excellency, this price is too high, and we don't need the so-called human resources at all. Well, then, all the people of the land we trade in belong to you.

Since you consider strategic value important, we do not want any islands other than Crete and Cyprus.

In this way, everyone can accept it, I will raise the price again, how about 30 million Aegis? That's not a low price! ”

The price of 30 million Aegis is indeed not low, and if the Vienna government does not use the so-called debt offset, Ade will directly agree.

Obviously, Johannes was not prepared to pay much money all the time, and used the bonds bought at the price of cabbage as money to buy land, and it was acceptable to pay a higher price.

Zhang Ade directly showed his hole card and said: "Your Excellency, we can make concessions again, the debts of the two countries will be written off, and your country will pay another 10 million Aegis for the purchase of land, how about it?" ”

If gold and silver had been paid, the Viennese government would not have agreed to this price in any case, and if it could be offset in kind, then it would not be a big problem.

When the economic crisis broke out, Austria had a large backlog of surplus products, and it was a good option to be able to dispose of it.

Johannes pondered and replied, "If your country can repatriate the people of these lands, then it will be done." We can pay the bill with what your country urgently needs, and compensate for the shortfall in cash. ”

After a moment of silence, he gave the answer: "The immigration costs are all borne by your country!" ”

There was no way, first the Balkans were lost, then a civil war broke out, and now the population of the Ottoman Empire has fallen to the lowest point in a century, and the total population is less than 13 million.

Once the civil war is over, labor shortages will become an urgent reality. Although the population of the traded land is not large, it is also a supplement to them.

Johannes replied, "Yes! ”

……

The two reached an agreement, which did not mean that the matter was over, Britain and France could not watch Austria occupy many islands in the Aegean Sea, and then Johannes would continue to argue with the British and French representatives.

Especially with the British, John Bull still has the island of Kofu in his hands, and if he does not take this portal, the Viennese government will not be able to sleep.

In contrast, the French are quite easy to deal with, and the two parties have agreed in advance. A few islands were sold to them as military bases, and everyone shared the benefits of the Aegean Sea, and the matter was settled.

Anyway, there are not many other islands in the Aegean Sea, there are five or six thousand, and there are hundreds suitable for human existence, and the Vienna government was not prepared to occupy this place in the first place.

……

Nigel, the British representative, said dissatisfiedly: "Your Excellency, it is too much for your country to trade the land of the Ottoman Empire with us! ”

"No, we have already made an agreement with the Ottoman Empire. We invested more than 450,000 Aegis in the Aegean Sea and in Libya for their many islands.

Now we are exchanging Austrian islands in the Aegean Sea for the Ionian Islands, this is a map of the Aegean Sea, you can see, the red dots are all Austrian islands, and the rest are Greek and Ottoman islands. ”

Johannes deliberately omitted Cyprus, which the British had already begun to colonize at this time, and of course it was a civil organization that had nothing to do with the London government.

Nigel didn't pay attention to this little detail either, Cyprus didn't have much strategic value in this era, and the island was not of much strategic value before the advent of aircraft.

In contrast, the dozen islands in the Aegean Sea are more strategically valuable, and once the Russians break out of the Dardanelles, this is the blockade of the island chain.

In order not to provoke the Ottoman Empire too much, so as not to force the Sultan government into a hurry, their offshore islands are not within the scope of the trade.

Now that it was trading with the British, the Vienna government did not offer many valuable islands, but more about the Indian question.

From 1857 to the present, the Indian rebellion has not been extinguished, but has become more serious, and the government in London has no intention of stalling for time.

This is naturally the credit of the Russians, and without the selfless assistance of the tsarist government, the Indians would not have been able to make such a big wave.

It is difficult to say what role the Viennese government played in this, but in any case Austria did nothing on the surface, at most it provided a small loan to the Russians.

This is a friendly symbol of the alliance between the two countries, and it is definitely not a contribution to support the Indian rebellion. What the Russians did with this money has nothing to do with the Vienna government.

Nigel didn't have time to go on, and now Austria was supporting the Indians with a million Aegis weapons and ammunition, and they wouldn't necessarily be able to suppress it for ten million pounds.

There are so many people in India that they can bring a lot of trouble to them if they are agitated at random, with the help of Russian instructors.

"To conclude this deal, your country must immediately abandon its support for the Indian insurgents, including financial assistance to the tsarist government."

Johannes replied with an innocent face: "Your Excellency, the Vienna government is peace-loving, how can it support the Indian rebels?"

As for the question of supporting the Russians, it was even more nonsense, and the Vienna government was not financially wealthy, but it did not have such great ability. ”

It's okay to make small moves in secret, but on the surface, it is absolutely impossible to admit that all countries do that. Now don't the British also smuggle arms into Nigeria to support the indigenous kingdoms and cause chaos in Austria?

Anyway, there is no evidence, and everyone pulls each other's backs, and it is ripped off. The discipline of the great powers is so high, if you don't stab each other in the open, then it's easy to say anything.

Nigel listened to Johannes's over-the-top voice, that is, everything is easy to talk about, and it is inevitable that it will not be so troublesome to talk about.

"Then it is best that as long as your country promises to support us in suppressing the Indian rebellion, then this land deal will be negotiable."

Johannes was very cooperative and assured: "Your Excellency, rest assured that colonies are also part of the sovereignty of a country.

The Government of Vienna firmly supports your Government's approach to safeguarding national sovereignty and opposes all external interference. ”

This is international politics, and everything is based on interests. In West Africa and the Mediterranean, Britain and Austria reached a tacit understanding, and the British acquiesced in Austrian expansion, and the Vienna government was naturally about to abandon its operations in India.

On March 12, 1858, the New Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire signed the Mediterranean Land Transaction Treaty, and the Vienna government contributed 45.868 million Aegis to purchase more than 300 islands in Libya, including Crete and Cyprus.

Among them, 35.868 million shields were compensated by debts and late fees, and the remaining 10 million shields were paid in kind. Don't think about cash, it's not difficult to get together 10 million Aegis supplies.

The next day, Johannes signed the Aegean Islands Treaty and the Territory Exchange Treaty with Britain and France.

The much-anticipated conflict in the Mediterranean was resolved, and Britain, France, and Austria once again made it clear that they were in the Mediterranean sphere of influence, and the north was informally included in the French sphere of influence.

Apparently, John Bull gave up a lot of interests in the Mediterranean in exchange for the support of France and Austria on the Indian issue.