On October 28, 1917, the five-party talks started again, and after obtaining the authorization of the country, Sasonov breathed a sigh of relief, and what he was most afraid of was that the country would stick to the original bottom line, and the negotiations would not be able to continue.

The Austro-Hungarian Prime Minister, Leopold von Berchtor, now looked quite in high spirits, and did not look at all the appearance of a defeated country. No, Austria-Hungary is not a defeated country now, at most it can only be regarded as half lost!

Obviously, after gaining the support of Britain and France, they became more confident towards the Russians. If it weren't for the fact that the Russian Empire did make a significant contribution to this world war, and the tsarist government had been holding on to the war even when civil strife broke out, perhaps they would not have even had to pay this reparation.

Of course, this is obviously impossible, it is impossible for the Entente to eat so ugly, everyone is also an ally, and if you eat meat yourself, you have to leave a bowl of soup for the Russians!

At the beginning of the meeting, Sasonov again made a request: "Taking into account the ability of Austria-Hungary to repay, after careful study and decision by the tsarist government, we agree to reduce the amount of reparations, and we demand that Austria-Hungary pay 1.5 billion pounds sterling war reparations, to be paid over thirty years, with principal and interest and 125 million pounds per year." ”

Leopold von Berchtor, of course, was not satisfied, and paid the 430 million pounds of the French debt for the Bulgarians, half of which was interest-free loans, with interest not exceeding 10 million pounds a year, but how could it be possible to pay 75 million pounds a year in interest alone, according to the demands of the Russians?

"I'm sorry Mr. Sasonov, but we can't do what you ask! Austria-Hungary's revenues are limited, and we can't even afford to pay the interest on the reparations you demand, can you give us a figure that we can afford? ”

Sasonov's face suddenly fell, and he said coldly: "Then how much can your country afford to pay?" ”

Prime Minister Leopold von Berchtor thought for a moment and said: "Our financial situation is already very bad, the domestic economy is very bad, and we will not be solvent for the next three years.

After three years, we cannot pay more than half of our annual revenues, and our maximum annual payments are not more than £30 million, based on the revenues of our peak.

Now the debt of Austria-Hungary itself is as high as 1.5 billion pounds, and we cannot even pay the interest on our revenues......"

"Stop!"

Sasonov interrupted: "If according to your country's requirements, this is not going to be paid, is it?" ”

Leopold von Bechtor also noticed that pretending to be B had gone too far, but he still said with the same face: "How come! Austria-Hungary is also a responsible power, and there is always a price to be paid for doing wrong, so how about we pay your country five million pounds a year in war reparations, and pay for a hundred years? ”

Sasonov said coldly: "Mr. Leopold, we came to negotiate with sincerity, not to listen to your nonsense, five million pounds a year, thanks to your export!" You pay 100 million pounds a year, and it's about the same for a hundred years! ”

……

The two had a war of words, and more than two hours passed, and Konstantin exchanged views with British Prime Minister Lloyd-George and French President Poincaré, and everyone unanimously decided to let them quarrel slowly!

The three of them left the conference room one after another, and Konstantin took the initiative to speak: "Mr. George, regarding the question of Sicily, I think it can be continued now!" ”

Lloyd-George smiled and said, "Oh, what place does your country want?" As long as it's not our major dominions, the rest of the regions are easy to discuss! ”

Konstantin automatically skipped it, so let's discuss it, do we want the Suez Canal for you? Of course, such a stupid request, Konstantin would not have made it!

"How about the Persian Gulf? If Bulgaria wants to get out of the Mediterranean, it needs to have an outlet to the Indian Ocean, and the most suitable for us is the Persian Gulf! ”

Lloyd-George still smiled, and it was clear that Bulgaria's claim to the Persian Gulf was expected for them, and his think tank had long since deduced the path of Bulgaria's development from its expansion.

Now is the era of sea power, if Bulgaria really says that they don't want to enter the ocean, it is estimated that as long as it is normal, people will not believe it, you don't see that the Russians have worked hard for hundreds of years for the maritime strategy!

The development of Bulgaria is entirely geographical, and the easiest route for Bulgaria to succeed is to acquire the Persian Gulf region.

This also explains why Bulgaria grabbed so much sand, yes, in this era, the Arabian Peninsula that Bulgaria obtained is sand!

And the Persian Gulf region and the Mesopotamian plain, which is suitable for agricultural production and can supply the navy, has already been partially occupied by Bulgaria in the world war, and now it is normal for Bulgaria to ask for the Persian Gulf!

Lloyd-George proposed: "You can want the Persian Gulf, but what about our oil transportation in Persia?"

Otherwise, in the Strait of Hormuz, half of our family, so that everyone can rest assured? ”

Konstantin secretly cursed, if he couldn't take control of the Strait of Hormuz, the Bulgarian Navy was not in the cage of the British?

"Mr. George, you have thought too much, and of course your country's interests in Persia can be safeguarded, do you still think that we will hinder your oil transportation?

And besides, what is there but oil in Persia? As far as we know, your oil companies in Persia have been losing money, so what's the value? ”

Obviously, everyone has done their homework, the interests of the British in the Persian Gulf region, Bulgaria are clear, and the economic value of this era is not much at all!

Lloyd's-George said calmly: "It can't be said that with the development of science and technology, the importance of oil has become more and more prominent, and oil security is also related to the global strategy of our Royal Navy!" ”

Konstantin confidently said: "Is the British Empire short of oil, how do I not know?" Why should we bother with the lies that the capitalists have made up for their own interests?

As far as I know, in recent months, there have been many new oil fields discovered in the world, and the international price of crude oil has fallen by 30% recently. ”

Lloyd-Georges was shocked, he had been busy with the Paris Peace Conference lately, and he hadn't paid attention to these little news for a long time, but he didn't think Konstantin would lie about it.

Lloyd George said calmly: "If that's the case, I think we can make a deal!" ”

Konstantin shook his head and said, "Mr. George, one Persian Gulf region alone is not enough!"

You know that our navy started too late, and now we want to carry out a strategic layout around the world, so we hope that your country can provide us with 20 overseas ports, and the strategic value does not need to be too high, we can just stop ships and replenish!

In addition, the impact of this war on our finances is too great, so we intend to sell the creditor's rights in our hands, and hope that your country can undertake it, of course, if your government is not interested, we will contact your country's consortium to take over, and I hope you can open the door to convenience! ”

Lloyd-George hesitated for a moment and said: "Overseas military ports, we can open twenty to your navy, as for civilian merchant ships, you don't have to worry, the ports of the British Empire are open to the outside world!"

If you want to take over the debt, we welcome this, and the consortium of the British Empire should be happy to take over the business! ”

Obviously, Lloyd-George secretly changed the concept, Konstantin wanted to get twenty overseas ports, and to him it became to open twenty ports for the use of the Bulgarian Navy, this nature is completely different, when everyone has a good relationship, it can naturally be used, once the two sides turn their faces in the future, this agreement is equivalent to invalidation!

As for the question of creditor's rights, this is not a matter at all, the world war is over, and perhaps the British government has been impoverished, but their domestic monopoly consortium has indeed made a lot of money.

Where are the conglomerates with large sums of cash still worried about where to put their funds? Historically, after the end of World War I, most of this money went to the United States, followed by the European continent!

For the consortium, as long as the interests are big enough, there is no business that cannot be discussed, anyway, the success or failure is not his Lloyd's-George's business, if the two sides negotiate, he can also become an introducer, from which to extract a commission, naturally there is no reason to object!

After hesitating, Konstantin still chose to compromise, anyway, it was already a windfall to get twenty ports for the navy that could be used temporarily, if you want to get ownership, don't dream, the British will not cultivate competitors!

……

Compared to the Bulgarians and the British, the French were in trouble, they wanted to dismember Germany, and they wanted to empty the Germans' wallets, these are all trivial, and the most intolerable thing for John Bull is that they want to establish European hegemony!

Haven't they just crossed a Germany, and now they're coming to France soon?

Unlike Bulgaria, a sudden rise of a great power with no roots, the French have a very deep background, and the most important thing is that Napoleon was too fierce back then.

But for the French, they also had a lot of colonies, and in exchange for concessions on the German question, they felt that it was too much of a loss.

In this regard, Bulgaria's attitude is very satisfactory to the French, so in many places it is also reciprocated, and the cooperation between the two sides is very good!

Constantine had openly recognized the right of France to recover Lorraine and Alsace, and on the question of the dismemberment of Germany and the payment of reparations, he expressed full understanding of the demands of the French.

Since there is no direct conflict of interest between the two sides, relations between Bulgaria and France have recently warmed up sharply and are likely to return to the pre-war situation.

This made the British very unhappy, it is their consistent national policy to maintain a balance of strength in Europe, but unfortunately now Bulgaria is not strong, directly cowardly!

No, even if Bulgaria wants to dominate the European continent, it can't do it now, and Austria-Hungary is still there, directly blocking their way forward!

If Germany is dismembered, the British will not be able to support Austria-Hungary as a counterweight to France, right? With the strength of Austria-Hungary now, they have no worries about protecting themselves, and it is not enough to PK with the French!

At least they don't dare to jump out before they get the full support of Bulgaria, otherwise if they don't operate well, they will be caught between Bulgaria and France, and they will be a fart!

……