Hearing the appalling figure of "300 million Aegis", if it weren't for the fact that Wessenberg was used to seeing strong winds and waves, the wine in his mouth would have to squirt out.

Frankly speaking, at this moment, he really wants to make a targeted counteroffer of "3 million". It's just that considering that doing this is too child's play, it will damage his great image.

"Your Excellency, you are joking! Throughout human history, there has never been such an expensive colonial trade.

Only half of the land in Morocco is valuable, and the average unit price per square kilometer of land is as high as 150 Aegis.

At such a price, you can go to your country to buy land. In addition to the peri-urban areas, most of the rural land in your country is also at this price. ”

This is an exaggeration, although the land in Spain is not valuable, but it is not cheap to 150 Aegis per square kilometer.

Unless it's the worst mountainous area, it's estimated that you can buy it when you count it together with the uncultivated areas.

It doesn't matter how bad the land is, as long as you can buy it. By the standards of the year, the land in Europe had to be the most expensive.

In the absence of special resources, the worst mountainous area in Spain is also more expensive than the fertile land of Morocco.

This price is determined by market supply and demand. Compared with the vast and sparsely populated colonies, Europe has more people and less land, and the price of land naturally rises.

Brad was unmoved: "If you simply calculate the value of the land, the Moroccan region is indeed not worth 300 million Aegis." But with the addition of strategic and political values, it's a completely different story.

Once your country has taken the Moroccan region, it has locked the gateway to the western Mediterranean, and it is easy to keep the British out.

After turning the Mediterranean Sea into an inland sea, your country is inherently invincible in the following international competition.

If your country wishes, you can also take the opportunity to buy Portuguese Africa, and I don't think the Portuguese government will refuse.

Everyone has withdrawn, and the British alone will not last long, and the African continent will sooner or later be in your country's pocket.

In addition to the strategic value, the political value is equally substantial. The Holy Roman Empire, with its views on the Mediterranean, was the real Roman Empire.

The recreation of the glory of the Roman era is definitely an important plus for your government. Don't you, Your Excellency, want to accomplish this great deed? ”

It is impossible not to be tempted. If it weren't for the fear of bad repercussions, the Vienna government would have taken action against the Moroccan region long ago.

Napoleon's experience was that in order not to draw hatred, the Vienna government had always been cautious after becoming the hegemon of the European continent.

Knowing that the Moroccan region is of great significance, the Vienna government still restrained its desire, just to show the European countries that it was harmless as the new hegemon.

After a political show, the vigilance of European countries against the HRE has dropped a lot.

The Anti-HRE Alliance eventually did not appear, but the Viennese government was trapped and unable to continue its expansion.

If you can't expand, then it's better not to expand, anyway, the HRE is already full.

The current high-level Vienna government is a bunch of old men, who have long passed the age of the second year of secondary school, and they are completely "stable" in doing things.

knows that winning the Moroccan region can win the name before and after his death, and bring himself a higher historical evaluation; But in order to avoid irritating the countries of Europe and causing the emergence of the Anti-HRE Alliance, everyone held back.

It turns out that this world is still "the cautious is king". The more restrained the Vienna government became, the more restless the Spanish government became.

Especially after the Spanish-Japanese War, the Spaniards, who had been severely beaten by society, successfully realized the lack of their own strength and restrained their ambitions.

After a few more rebellions, the Spanish government, fully awakened, finally realized that the Moroccan region was in their hands, and it was a hot potato.

Although the Spaniards have not heard the allusion of "conceiving their guilt", everyone still understands the truth.

Anyway, I can't eat it myself, so I might as well take this opportunity to exchange a large sum of money from the Vienna government, and by the way, I can also pay back the favors I owed to HRE before.

The added value of Morocco is so great that even if the deal is a money-paying, the Vienna government will have to think of the Spanish government.

Facts are facts and must be acknowledged. As the foreign minister of the HRE, Wessenberg couldn't do anything helpless

"The Minister is right to say that the Moroccan region is indeed very important to the Holy Roman Empire.

I would also like to agree to this deal if possible, but your country's appetite is just too great.

In any case, Morocco is an independent country. Your country has never really controlled this country, and now it is only a nominal suzerainty that can be traded with us.

The value of the Moroccan region is high, and that was based on the complete control of your country, but now your country is not doing this.

Nor do I ask your Government to have full control over Morocco. As long as you defeat the Kingdom of Morocco and establish a preliminary social order, these 300 million Aegis will be out.

If your government can't do this, then I can only give 30 million Aegis at the highest premium. ”

The reserve price is that there is no reserve price, and before that, Weisenberg did not know that the Spaniards were so determined to sell the Moroccan region, and the Vienna government naturally did not negotiate it.

Without an assessment in advance, Wessenberg didn't know how much the Moroccan region was worth.

What's more, the value of this thing has always been determined by demand. The more you need it, the higher the price you can give, and it's normal to have a premium.

If you're not sure how much it's worth, then it's better to land and pay it back. Anyway, the most important thing in negotiation is to negotiate, and such a large deal is not a vegetable market to buy vegetables, and a deal can be reached in a few words.

For the Viennese government, the most important thing is to be able to get the Moroccan region without causing a bad impact, and it doesn't really matter how much it costs.

The Spaniards talked about the value of the Moroccan region to the HRE, and Wesenberg talked about control. Anyway, he was sure that the Spanish government would not be able to take the Moroccan region.

……

Cocktail parties have never been a place of secrecy, and the Spanish government wanted to sell the Moroccan region, but it never wanted to keep it secret.

Although it was decided that the Viennese government was the sole buyer, there was no logic to anything when it came to politics.

Spread the news, in case any country got into the water and jumped out to compete with the HRE, wouldn't it be better to sell it for a good price?

Of course, the probability of such a thing happening is too low. The main reason is that the Spanish government's asking price is too high, even if some people want to grab food, they don't have money in their pockets!

"300 million Aegis" is converted into more than 1,000 tons of gold. There are only two countries in the world that have this kind of financial resources.

It just so happens that these two countries are in a state of competition again, and it is not a day or two that the two countries have been making trouble with each other, and the purpose of the Spanish government is self-evident.

……

London

Since receiving the news of the Spaniards' intention to sell the Moroccan region, Prime Minister Robert Cecil has had a headache.

Frankly, Robert Cecil was also an unlucky one. As soon as he came to power, he ushered in Britain's biggest rival for 300 years.

Compared with the current Holy Roman Empire, Spain, the Netherlands, France, and Russia encountered earlier are all weak.

"The Spaniards are going to sell Morocco, what the hell is going on, why haven't we received the news before?"

There is no doubt that this is nonsense. Britain and Spain first formed a bond on the Philippine issue, and then they had an awkward quarrel over the Cuban issue.

As an old-school imperial Spaniard, they also have a temper, and no matter how much they want the British to jump out and raise the price, it is impossible to send it to the door themselves.

Foreign Secretary Cameron: "The Spanish government has been in financial trouble for many years, and the high debt has overwhelmed them.

In order to get out of the financial crisis, they had to find a way to save themselves. Although the Moroccan region was nominally a Spanish colony, they never really controlled it.

From the beginning of colonization to the present, the Spanish government has benefited far less from the Moroccan region than they have paid.

A colony that does not make money is worthless. For the Spanish government, Morocco is a piece of chicken ribs that are tasteless and discarded. ”

"His chicken ribs, my bear's paws".

The Moroccan region, which was meaningless to the Spanish government, became invaluable in the eyes of Britain and the HRE.

Admiral Flora: "In any case, we can't let the Moroccan region fall into the hands of the HRE, or else everything will be doomed for us in the Mediterranean." ”

As the hegemon of the world, Britain's tentacles are all over the world. In such an important area as the Mediterranean, the British naturally have a layout.

Half of Tunisia and the Maltese Islands are the harvest of the British in the Mediterranean.

In the mid-to-early 19th century, Britain even controlled the hegemony of the Mediterranean for a time through these tentacles.

Unfortunately, the glory is in the past tense, and with the rise of France and Austria, Britain's hegemony in the Mediterranean was soon suppressed by the two regional hegemons.

By the time of the HRE, the situation had deteriorated even more. Don't say it's a hegemony, and the main forces of the Royal Navy don't dare to set foot in the Mediterranean easily.

If even Morocco now falls into the hands of the HRE, then the door to the Mediterranean Sea will be completely closed to Britain. Malta and Tunisia, which were originally military powerhouses, will also become meaningless.

War Secretary Skyebru: "Sir is right, under no circumstances can Morocco fall into the hands of the HRE." We have to sabotage this deal, preferably to take Morocco. ”

It is absolutely problematic to be able to make the positions of the army and navy, which should be opposite, suddenly become unanimous.

In addition to major national interests, then there is only military spending. Compared to the former, the energy of the latter is actually a little stronger.

"It's easy to take the Moroccan region, as long as you are willing to spend money. The question is what do we do after taking the Moroccan region?

Everyone knows what the situation is in Africa. Our colony in South Africa has now shrunk to the Cape of Good Hope; In the colonies of East Africa, it is now less than half of its peak.

If it weren't for the heavy troops we stationed in the later period to stabilize the situation, we would have been driven out of the sea by those greedy barbarians.

Although Morocco has the Sahara Desert to block the enemy in the south, it also faces a threat in the east. It happens to hold the gateway to the Mediterranean, and it belongs to the battleground of soldiers.

If you want to hold this land, it is difficult to do without 200,000 troops. If a war breaks out between us and the HRE, even if we deploy 500,000 troops, we may not be able to hold it. ”

It's not that Cameron looks down on the lobster soldiers, it's just that Britain has too few resources allocated to the army. If you don't have noodles, how can you make bread?

Don't look at Britain's wealth, but that's more of an accumulation left over from hundreds of years of colonization. In terms of government revenues, Britain lagged far behind the HRE, even with colonization.

Against the backdrop of all-out development of sea power, it is necessary to hollow out the British government by building another continental army.

War Secretary Skaiburu didn't buy it: "It's a big difficulty, but we don't have a choice, do we?"

In the face of the Holy Roman Empire, the empire was already retreating again and again. We have already lost the European continent, and if we lose the African continent again, what will be left of the empire?

Perhaps everyone will think that the empire has little interest in Africa, and if it is lost, it will be lost, anyway, we still have Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India.

However, the enemy's power became stronger day by day, and the empire continued to retreat.

It won't be long before ......"

Whether it's a fact or an alarmist. It is also an indisputable fact that Britain is going downhill.

The Victorian era was the pinnacle of Britain, and it was also the beginning of the transition from prosperity to decline. With the rise of the HRE, it is time for the replacement of the old and new overlords.

As an old-school empire, Britain must find a way to hold down the HRE if it doesn't want to go down like this.

The British government has worked very hard, but it is difficult to defeat the general trend. In the face of the pressing HRE, Britain seemed very passive.

After hesitating for a while, Prime Minister Robert Cecil said slowly: "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent someone to tell the Spanish government that the empire intends to buy Moroccan territory.

At the same time, it was released that Shinra was coercing the Spanish government and wanted to forcibly occupy the Moroccan region. Creating public opinion pressure on the Vienna government.

If necessary, the Reich could stand up and openly support Spain's occupation of Morocco and disrupt their negotiation process as much as possible.

Even if they can't stop them from making a deal in the end, they can't let HRE easily take the Moroccan region. ”

Knowing that it was the Spanish government's calculations, Robert Cecil had to cooperate. From the position of Britain, it would rather cheapen the Spaniards than allow the Holy Roman Empire to easily get the Moroccan region.

……