ps: Thanks to book friends 2017... 205 students gave tips and support, as well as students who voted for monthly tickets and recommended votes.

After the war in Paraguay, the domestic economy of the Brazilian Empire was sluggish, and the country's financial revenue was tight, and Pedro II not only did not have extra funds to buy warships, but owed a large amount of foreign debt to the British, so he could only choose to borrow from the British to buy ships.

In the evening, Flores, the Minister of Finance in charge of the economy of the Brazilian Empire, arrived in front of the British Embassy in the Brazilian Empire in a horse-drawn carriage.

As the head of the finance of the Brazilian Empire, Flores was indispensable to deal with Edmund, so the British guards guarding the gate of the embassy also had an impression of Flores, and after seeing the other party get out of the car, they quickly ran into the gate to report.

Flores and the attendant waited outside the door for a few minutes, and then saw a fat man in his forties come out with a smile: "I am busy with affairs, I couldn't greet Count Flores in front of the door, please forgive the Count for the rudeness." ”

After the fall of the British Prime Minister, the former Minister to Brazil was removed by the new Prime Minister Gladstone for dereliction of duty, and replaced Edmund, also from the Liberal Party, as Minister to Brazil, while handling British business interests in South America.

Edmund was born into a family of new capital merchants, and has been working in the diplomatic system since entering politics, with 20 years of diplomatic work experience, after arriving in Brazil in mid-February, Edmund changed the arrogant and loose work attitude of his former minister, personally visited the main officials and ministers of the Brazilian Empire, and used a moderate and equal attitude to squeeze out the competitors of France, the United States, Prussia, the Netherlands, and other countries, so that British financiers and businessmen received about seventy percent of Brazil's share of loans and a large number of industrial and commercial orders. It has been recognized and praised by the London government.

Although he knew that Edmond was courteous to him as the Minister of Finance of the Brazilian Empire, Flores still felt very useful, and replied with a smile: "I came late at night to have something important to do, so I can't inform Your Excellency the Minister in advance, and I will invite the Minister to meet next time I meet to make amends." ”

Edmund was obese, but his movements were not clumsy, and he took the initiative to greet Flores and the accompanying Brazilian soldiers, not caring and said: "It is cold in the middle of the night, the count should enter the house early, and if there is anything important to go to the house and discuss it in detail." ”

As he spoke, Edmund instructed the embassy staff to arrange for Flores and the others to enter the door.

In the hall, the embassy staff brought two cups of cocoa tea, and then Edmund sent them down.

"The Count has come this time at the behest of His Majesty Pedro II?" Edmund asked.

"Your Excellency, the Minister, is as expected." Flores took a sip of cocoa tea slowly with the etiquette of the nobility, and said in a calm tone: "The Imperial Navy lost more than half of the main force after the first battle of Paraguay, and two days ago the Rio Gran do Sul purchased two ironclad ships from your country were included in the army, and since then the sea power of Rio Gran do Sul has surpassed that of the Imperial Navy, His Majesty Pedro II is deeply worried about this situation, so he sent me to the embassy to discuss a solution with His Excellency the Minister. ”

"Flores, as a friend of the Brazilian Empire, I am very sorry for your country's defeat in the Paraguayan War, but the purchase of warships of the British Empire in Rio Gran do Sul is a normal commercial transaction, and I cannot do anything to the detriment of the interests of the British Empire because of my personal emotional tendencies."

"The good intentions of the minister, His Majesty Pedro II and I understand that I have not come this time to interfere in the commercial transactions of Great Britain, but to make another transaction with your country on behalf of Your Majesty."

"Count Flores, as far as I know, your country suffered great losses in the Paraguayan War, and your country's foreign debt has been postponed for two years, can you still come up with money to trade it?"

Edmund asked deliberately.

"Well, the Empire's financial gap is gradually easing, and we will fulfill our commitments to pay the foreign debts when they are due, so Your Excellency Minister does not have to worry about the ability of the Brazilian Empire to pay."

The Brazilian Empire was riddled with debts, and Flores had the burden of being assigned by Pedro II, and even though he was embarrassed, he had to continue: "The funds in Brazil are mainly used to restore the domestic economy and industrial production, and His Majesty Pedro II cannot come up with cash to trade with your country for the time being, so His Majesty wants to borrow a loan from your bankers again to buy warships and offset the threat of Rio Gran do Sul to our seas." ”

"The difficulties of the Brazilian Empire are temporary, and I am confident that under the wise leadership of His Majesty Pedro II, your country will soon overcome the current difficulties."

Hearing Flores' intentions, Edmund's mood immediately improved.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when asked what the great powers were most happy to do, borrowing was undoubtedly at the top of the list. By exporting funds to the borrowing country, the great powers penetrate into the economic field of the other country, and at the same time use the conditions attached to the loan itself to control the mineral resources and political trends of the other country, and finally turn it step by step into a dumping ground for raw materials for their own commercial capitalists, so as to achieve the goal of controlling a country without spending a single soldier.

The Paraguayan War was a battle of interests provoked by the British, although due to the Chinese troops joining halfway, the direction of the war was changed, and the goal of defeating López Jr. was not achieved, but in terms of economic interests, Paraguay, Brazil, and Rio Gran do Sul signed a contract to pass the British navigation and business power on the Paraguay River, which not only achieved the commercial interests of controlling the great rivers in the La Plata region of South America, but also deepened the penetration of British capital into Brazil.

The Brazilian Empire was rich in mineral resources, and the defeat in the Paraguayan War gave the British the first favorable opportunity to penetrate the Brazilian economy, and the immediate request from Flores was another great opportunity to further expand British commercial interests in Brazil.

Ten years of the army, a hundred years of the navy, the development of the navy, and the military competition at sea is a very costly act, and the maintenance and installation of supporting weapons after the purchase of the ship is also a large expenditure, so Edmund will not let go of this several times, but intends to take advantage of the favorable opportunity of Pedro II's urgent need for ironclad ships to make Brazil pay more economic benefits transfer.

Edmund quickly figured out how to get the most out of the deal for the British, and then quickly came up with a plan for the purchase of ships that he had screened for the Brazilians.

The first option is to customize a "Sovereign"-class ironclad

The Monarch-class battleship is a first-class ironclad ship, with a displacement of 8,455 tons, and its main armament is: 4 305mm guns, carrying 430 people, and selling for 400,000 pounds.

The second option is to purchase two third-class ironclad ships of a similar model to Rio Gran do Sul, with a unified displacement of 3,500 tons, equipped with four 228mm guns, and a single ship priced at 130,000 pounds. A total of £250,000 will be paid for the two vessels.

The price of the two ironclad ships sold by the British to the Chinese was 265,000 pounds, which was 15,000 more expensive than the Brazilians, and it can still be seen here that the British attached much more importance to Brazil than Rio Gran do Sul, but even with a reduction of 15,000 pounds, Flores still gave up the second ship sale plan and chose the first option instead.

From an economic point of view, the addition of two ironclads of the same class can already suppress the navy of Rio Gran do Sul, which is still a novice, but Pedro II appreciates the sense of security brought by the cannon giant, so he directly ordered Flores to buy large ironclads, and small and medium-sized ironclads are not considered for the time being.

After choosing the type of warship to buy, Flores directly stated the goal of customizing a "Sovereign" class ironclad ship according to Pedro II's order, but at this time, Edmund stopped him: "Your Excellency, I need to remind you in advance that 400,000 pounds is only the cost of a bare ship, and the weapons and equipment installed on the warship need to be calculated separately." ”

"Your Excellency, when your country deals with the Chinese, you don't have to calculate the cost of weapons and equipment, why does Brazil have to pay extra money?"

Flores was a little dissatisfied.

"You are mistaken, if your country buys ships according to the second plan, the cost of artillery and equipment can be exempted, but the monarch-class battleship is the main type of warship newly commissioned by the British Imperial Navy, and there is only one warship of this type in the current Imperial Navy, and the naval shipyard needs to improve the construction of new warships according to actual needs, so there will be additional expenses."

"How much does it cost to do extra?"

"The amount is uncertain, but a total of about 100,000 pounds of improvement will be required for a warship."

Edmund observed Flores' expression and weighed to give a reasonable number.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Minister, the amount of the warship transaction exceeds His Majesty's maximum authorized price, I need to go back and ask Your Majesty for instructions, and then I will reply to you."

"The Monarch-class battleship is currently the most advanced ironclad in the world, and I am sure that His Majesty Pedro II will recognize its value." Edmund smiled indifferently, without the slightest hint of the look that a failed trade should have.

"I hope so." Flores was not in high spirits, and after a polite word, he quickly left.

After Flores left, Edmund's face immediately became solemn, the monarch-class ironclad is a new type of warship that was just launched in May last year, the technical performance is not perfect, and it has not really been included in the naval sequence, and the reason why he just listed the monarch class as the first ship purchase plan is to take advantage of the high construction cost of the monarch class to repel the Brazilians' intention to purchase ships, and instead choose the second ship purchase plan, but he didn't expect Pedro II to trade with the British for the purpose of buying giant ship cannons.

The sale of new capital ships to foreign countries was beyond Edmund's purview, and in order to avoid the embarrassment of the Brazilians being genuinely willing to pay the price for the monarch-class warships, Edmund quickly used the telegraph to deliver the news to the British mainland.

The telegraph messages from Brazil were transmitted through transit points set up throughout the Americas and soon reached the top cabinet members in London.

After half a day of discussions, the British cabinet officials who received the news reached a unanimous agreement to build a monarch-class ironclad for Brazil.

Generally speaking, it takes a long time for a democratic government to decide on a matter, but the decision to build a new ironclad for Brazil is rarely passed with great efficiency, driven by the new capitalists and naval forces.

The new capitalists and industrialists undoubtedly looked at the economic interests attached to the warship deal, while the naval forces proceeded from their own economic interests. Because the navy in the steam period because of the rapid development of science and technology, the time for the replacement of ironclad ships has been greatly shortened, and in the decades since the construction of ironclad ships, a new type of ironclad ships will be produced every few years, and the old ironclad ships will be eliminated in only five or six years.

Britain was not the first country to choose to do so, as was the case with the Dingyuan and Zhenyuan ships built by Germany for the Manchus a little later, and Germany experimented with new warship construction techniques on the two ships, and the costs incurred by the continuous improvement were paid by the Manchus, resulting in the purchase cost of the two ships increasing and eventually exceeding the price of similar warships built by Britain and France.

It took several days for Britain to pass the news back and forth from the mainland, and after Edmund received a clear reply from London, the ministers of France, the United States, Prussia and other countries who had received the news from other sources took the initiative to visit Pedro II, hoping that they would provide loans and take care of the warship deals.

If it were just the British, Pedro II would have gritted his teeth and increased the amount of borrowing and acknowledging more strings attached to the acquisition of monarch-class ironclads, but his mind changed after the French and American ministers entered Rio de Janeiro.

Of the two countries, France and the United States were the first to build ironclad ships, and their naval strength was comparable to that of the British, but the loans offered by the French were too high-yielding and the strings attached were no less than those of the British.

The Americans, on the other hand, are much more sincere, not only promising low-interest loans, but also having no draconian political and economic strings attached, and simply hoping to trade with Brazil on an equal footing.

Britain, France, and the United States all had the funds and the ability to build ironclad ships, but because of various concerns, Pedro II never made up his mind to make a choice.

Britain and France are the two major hegemons in the world at present, and the introduction of French power is conducive to balancing the influence of Britain on Brazil, and it may also lead to a rift in the relationship between Brazil and Britain, and the Americans are rich and rich, but Pedro II does not believe in the technology of the Americans to build warships.

It was difficult for Pedro II to make a final choice, and when Edmund and Flores met again, they were hesitant and did not give a clear answer.

The setback in the deal between Brazil and Britain gave confidence to the French and American ministers, who lobbied key Brazilian officials and frequently transmitted messages to their own governments, and a competition over the warship deal for the Brazilian industrial and commercial market unfolded among Britain, France, and the United States.