"Your Majesty, Prime Minister, I don't think you should lend money to the Rus' country." The first to speak was the Earl of Winston, Governor of the Royal Bank of England.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Count Winston continued: "Now the annual financial revenue of the Rus' country is about four million gold francs, and it has been ten consecutive years, and the financial income of the Rus' country has not increased in the slightest.

Therefore, I think that if the Empire were to lend money to the Rus' state, it would be prepared that it would never be recovered. ”

"But obviously, compared to the loan of eight million gold francs, Tianzhu is more important!" The man who spoke out against it was the Duke of Boston, the English Foreign Secretary.

I saw the Duke of Boston continue: "The importance of Tianzhu to the empire, I guess I don't need to say anything.

Let's just say that there are no less than 1,000 ships lent to the empire by the Rus' country this time, including almost all the ships that can sail far away.

This is only the second thing, Your Majesty, Your Majesty the Prime Minister, and all my colleagues, have you not seen the deep meaning of this matter? ”

Seeing that everyone showed puzzled expressions, the Duke of Boston continued: "The Rus' country is France's most important ally, and now because of the empire, there has been a rift in the alliance between the Rus' country and France that is difficult to heal.

At this time, if the empire expresses enough goodwill to the Rus' state, then imagine if the Rus' country is likely to fall into the arms of the empire? ”

Prime Minister Tony Blair suddenly realized, "Are you saying that the empire can use this loan to try its best to win over the Rus state and develop it into an ally of the empire?" ”

"Of course!" Duke Boston said with a smile: "Although the Rus' country is poor, don't forget that the Rus' country is the largest country in Europe in terms of land area and population.

If such a country turns against France and becomes an ally of the empire, then in the future, France's hegemony in Europe is very likely to end completely, and no matter how it is calculated, it will be beneficial to the empire. ”

"But Lord Duke!" Count Winston still insisted on his opinion, "In any case, once the loan is made to the Rus' country, the loan cannot be recovered.

As the Governor of the Royal Bank of England, I still stick to my original view and do not lend to the Rus' country. ”

"Lord Winston, the interests of the Empire are above all else!" Prime Minister Tony Blair glanced at Count Winston, "I hope you remember that!" ”

"But...... But in this way, I can't explain it to the shareholders below! Count Winston cried.

"Nope! You have a way! Blair put it bluntly: "The interests of the shareholders of the Royal Bank of England are closely related to the interests of the Empire. Take the lost Tianzhu as an example, the most heavy losses are naturally the empire, but their interests have also been greatly damaged.

The matter of borrowing money from the Rus' country is also the same as Yang's reasoning. Once the Empire was able to oust France from the hegemony of the continent, they would receive tenfold or even a hundred times more benefits from the loan. So, I think you will understand if you can explain the details to the shareholders. ”

"I also think it's time to take out a loan from the Rus' country!" After listening to everyone's opinions, Her Majesty finally spoke, "As Your Excellency the Prime Minister has said, the interests of the Empire are above all else, and whether the shareholders agree or not, it is imperative to lend money to the Rus' State." ”

Her Majesty's words could be said to have settled the matter once and for all, and all they had to do was to wait for the Foreign Minister of the Rus' State to come to London, Lopunov, and sign a loan agreement with him, and that's it.

After five days of drifting at sea, Lopunov finally reached the London docks.

The Duke of Boston, the English Foreign Secretary, went to receive him personally.

On the way to the embassy of the Rus' country in England, the Duke of Boston said to Lopunov: "Your Excellency Lopnov, the empire has already approved the matter of lending money to your country.

All you have to do is sign the agreement and bring the loan back home, that's it. ”

"That's great!" Lopunov said happily.

God knows how much face he lost as a foreign minister and Alexander II, the emperor of the Rus' state, because of the fact that Hugo, the president of the Bank of France, went to Moscow to collect debts. Even, the face of the entire Rus' government was lost as a result.

So for the ally France, there was a big pimple in the hearts of both Lopunov himself and Alexander II.

After a night's rest at the embassy, and early the next morning, after breakfast, Lopunov was led by the Duke of Boston to Buckingham Palace to negotiate a loan with Winston, the governor of the Royal Bank of England......

"No! Decided no! Seeing the interest rate of up to 10 percent on the agreement, Lopinov immediately objected.

"Your Excellency Lopnov, this is just a formality. In fact, the Royal Bank of England will not charge interest on even a single copper coin from your country. Count Winston said bitterly, "You know, only in this way can I give an account to the shareholders below!" ”

"But the conditions in your country are too harsh!" Lopunov still shook his head and said, "The money that my country borrowed from France before was an interest-free loan, so why is it that when it comes to your country, it will become an interest-bearing loan?" And it's up to 10% interest? ”

The principal of the loan could not be repaid, let alone the interest. You know, because of the previous loan of 8 million gold francs, France has made the Rus' country miserable. Who knows, this loan agreement, is England also going to pit the Russ country?

So no matter what Winston said, Lopnov just didn't agree, and he had to ask for an interest-free loan.

Seeing that Lopnov insisted on his opinion, Winston had no choice but to compromise and agreed to an interest-free loan to the Rus' state.

But here Winston just agreed, and there Lopnov had a new condition, "The loan amount will be increased, and eight million gold francs is a little less, so I don't think it is as good as ten million gold francs." In addition, the repayment period should be changed from five years to ten years, and after ten years, the Chinese government will return the principal of the loan to your country. ”

Hearing this, the corners of Winston's eyes twitched, and he smiled angrily: "Your Excellency Lopnov, are you a little excessive?" ”

"Is it excessive?" Lopunov shrugged his shoulders 'innocently', "Your Excellency, you must know that of the ten million, eight million will be returned to France. Besides, you don't know the financial situation of our country, so what can you do with an extra loan of 2 million to help our country? It's not like your Royal Bank of England can't come up with this money? ”