In Germany, the Austrian ambassador expressed to Eder the offer of the two countries for the latest oil products from Romania.

The next morning, as if to demonstrate against Germany and Austria, the British and French ambassadors rushed to the Prime Minister's residence.

Prime Minister Bretianu, who was in the office, received a report from his subordinates and immediately asked the two ambassadors to be brought in.

Prime Minister Bretianu pretended not to know and asked about the two visiting ambassadors. "I wonder what the two ambassadors are looking for me?"

The two ambassadors also ignored the Romanian prime minister, who was showing off his acting skills in front of his eyes, of course, they both knew each other's purposes.

"We are here this time to buy Romanian oil."

The British and French ambassadors explained their intentions straight to the point, and Prime Minister Bretianu knew that the time had come to get down to business. He preached earnestly. "The two ambassadors should know that Germany and Austria have already bid £9 a tonne."

"We all know that."

Prime Minister Brevianu was very satisfied with the British and French ambassadors' answers, so he continued. "I wonder how much the two ambassadors can pay this time?"

This time, it was the French ambassador who asked Bard to speak. "We are prepared to bid £10 a tonne this time, but we have to sell all the oil that needs to be exported."

The price offered by the French ambassador made Prime Minister Brettianu in a trance. Before the war, Romania's national budget was just over 20 million pounds, and now it sells half of its oil every year, which is also an eye-opener.

"Thank you to Your Excellency the Ambassador for your love of Romanian oil, and I will inform the crown prince of the quotations of the two countries, and I believe that this price will have a satisfactory result."

Prime Minister Bretianu replied with a pun intended. He knew that if it weren't for Romania, it would be the only oil importer from Germany and Austria. Where to sell at this price. Before the war, Romania exported oil to other countries at a price of only £2 per tonne, and after the war it was only £4.5. So if it weren't for the uniqueness, how could such a good thing come to Romania.

After talking about the latest oil prices, the two ambassadors continued to chat with Brettianu for a while, especially the French ambassador Jean Bard and the prime minister to discuss his experience of studying in Paris.

After seeing off the two British and French ambassadors, Prime Minister Bretianu immediately released the news that Britain and France had increased the price to 10 pounds per ton, believing that the German and Austrian embassies would be busy until late tonight.

Sure enough, the news sent by Prime Minister Brettianu was not in vain. At noon, both the German ambassador, Baslober, and the Austro-Hungarian ambassador, Berley, received the news. They didn't expect the British and French ambassadors to react so quickly and directly raise the price to £10 per tonne, which made them feel a little prickly.

In particular, the Austro-Hungarian ambassador Berley was the most nervous, which was already approaching the price limit given to him by the government. So after receiving the news, he hurried to the German embassy to seek advice from Ambassador Baslober about countermeasures.

Ambassador Baslober looked at Ambassador Belley, who was staring at him. For the British and French ambassadors poked and prodded the attitude. He also felt a headache. It's just that now there is no other way but to fight for economic strength between the two sides.

So he told Ambassador Belley. "Your Excellency would do well to inform your Government of the current situation in Romania so that they can raise the current price limit. I will also inform my government of this situation, and according to my estimate, the price offered by the government at the moment does not seem to be enough. ”

When Ambassador Belley heard the words of the German Ambassador, it seemed that he could only do so. Now Britain and France have made it clear that they want to use economic means to restrain them, and now they can only let the two sides compete for economic strength.

He addressed Ambassador Baslober. "I'm going back to the embassy to report to China, and now it's a matter of the same interests of both of us, so I hope that our two countries can support each other."

Ambassador Baslober knew that this was what Ambassador Belley hoped the German side would be able to take on a little more. What is mutual support, it is Germany that supports Austria-Hungary. It's just that now the two countries have become grasshoppers on the same line, and no one can escape, so he can only acquiesce to Ambassador Belley's words.

In the afternoon of the same day, they sent a telegram to the country, and Austria-Hungary, because of the disparity in economic strength, sent a telegram to Germany in the evening asking for help. Now the problem is concentrated in the hands of the German government, and the Kaiser and General Moltke Jr., who have been focusing on the war situation, have also rarely let go of their attention to the war situation because of this problem, and discuss the oil issue with Chancellor Holwig, which they have been ignoring for a long time.

In this special meeting for Romanian oil, Prime Minister Holwig, who is still in charge of the government, talks about the current situation in Romania. In the end, he concluded. "According to my estimates, we will need to spend a lot of money if we want to keep Romanian oil imports this time."

After listening to the Prime Minister's speech, the Kaiser was the first to ask General Moltke Jr., whose opinion was most important now that the German army was conquering northern France.

"General Moltke, do you think our oil needs are a necessity? If yes, then at what cost should we get it? ”

In the face of the emperor's inquiry, General Moltke Jr. said after sorting out his thoughts. "Your Majesty, in this war the use of vehicles has greatly exceeded the use of stored power, and in economic terms even 300 marks a ton of oil can compete with the transportation of stored power, but in terms of efficiency it is still faster and more convenient. So I think oil is a necessity in our war. ”

After Admiral Moltke Jr. finished speaking, Admiral Tirpitz also spoke. "Your Majesty, our naval ships also need fuel to travel, and now that the Empire's inventory of fuel has now reached the warning level, then seeking to replenish it is the only way."

The German Navy has not changed its power from coal to oil, but that doesn't mean the Navy doesn't need gas. When its warships are dispatched, they will also pour heavy oil on the coal to improve the combustion efficiency. And not all naval ships use coal, and many small ships that pursue efficiency have been converted to fuel power. But Marshal Tirpitz continued. "We, at the Admiralty, are working on a plan to restrict Romanian exports to other countries."

Wilhelm II asked with interest. "What's this?"

Marshal Tirpitz said about selling the guanzi. "The main thing about this plan is to win us an ally, and it will also keep Russia out of material supplies through the Black Sea. Restrictions on Romanian exports are only collateral effects. ”

All the ministers here are human spirits, and they have already guessed without him talking about the script specifically. However, this will not alleviate Germany's demand for Romanian oil, and the feasibility of competing for its oil still needs to be negotiated.

After the Admiralty's speech, Prime Minister Holwig also spoke about the economic needs. "Your Majesty, we need Romanian oil now, and many machinery in agriculture needs it, and many chemical plants must use its petrochemical raw materials to produce."

Wilhelm II continued to ask, after hearing the opinions of three important ministers whom he valued very much. "So what is the economic price that we are more affording now? It is impossible for the price of oil to continue to rise. ”

"Click~Click~Click"

While Wilhelm II was asking a little impatiently, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

The Emperor who had been interrupted did not show his displeasure, knowing that it was probably an important matter to send him at this time.

Sure enough, a guard walked in with a telegram and spoke. "This is a telegram from Vienna."

The Kaiser took the telegram and read it briefly, and after reading it, spoke to his ministers in front of him. "This is a telegram from Austria-Hungary asking for our help, also about the oil issue."

After speaking, he handed the telegram to the ministers present and circulated it to each other, and then asked. "What do we do now?"

Chancellor Holwig knew he needed to step in at this point. "Your Majesty, this is actually a problem, not only do we need oil, but Austria-Hungary also needs it, so we can inform them after the results are discussed, and at most we can give them a little subsidy help."

When Wilhelm II heard the words of the Prime Minister, he muttered something in a low voice, and General Moltke Jr., who was sitting next to him, seemed to hear what he said: "These Austrians need our help with everything." ”

The Kaiser then asked. "So how do we reply to the ambassador in Romania?"

General Moltke Jr. said. "I think 300 marks is a good price and I'm sure the Romanians won't refuse our kindness."

Admiral Tirpitz agreed. "I also think the price is reasonable."

Chancellor Holwig knew it was time to speak. "I also agree with the proposal of the two ministers, but I need to add that if Romania can accept our machinery and equipment to offset the oil payment, then it can be a little higher."

After hearing the unanimous approval of his trusted ministers, Wilhelm II also approved of this approach. So he told the Prime Minister. "The Prime Minister sent this news to the ambassador to Romania and at the same time let him know the importance of the matter, hoping that he would take Romania's share of oil exports for the empire."

Ambassador Baslober in Romania was given ample power to negotiate the matter at home, as was Ambassador Belley of Austria-Hungary. So in the following week, the German-Austrian ambassadors and the British and French ambassadors, who had sufficient funds, began to compete fiercely for Romanian oil. They fought back and forth at every price point, and finally after a week, the German-Austrian ambassadors won the victory with no strings attached.

Subsequently, in the presence of Prime Minister Brettianu, they signed a supply contract with the Romanian oil company. In this contract, Romania promises to supply Germany and Austria with at least 4 million tons of refined oil products and 2.5 million tons of petrochemicals over a three-year period. The most important price of refined oil products was sold at a combined price of US$75 per tonne (£15 4pence), with a total contract value of £90 million.

In terms of payment methods, Romania requires payment in US dollars or precious metals such as gold. Fifteen per cent of this amount will be for Romania to purchase German machinery and equipment, and the price of the equipment cannot be higher than 20 per cent before the outbreak of the war. As a concession to Germany for such a huge contract, Romania would have to pay Germany back every year to purchase petroleum products. However, now the annual repayment in Romania is only 20 million marks, which can only be regarded as better than nothing.

So the battle for Romanian oil also ended with the signing of this contract.

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