Chapter 548 The Power of the Greek King (2)
The Wallachians, on the other hand, believed that the Wallachian state had suffered a major blow and that they could not continue to fight, and that if they could recover the eastern half of Wallachia, they thought they should accept Russian terms.
Greece did not want to continue to pay, believing that Greece was in financial difficulty, Bulgaria could not provide support, and Wallachia was even more difficult. Therefore, Greece believes that this war can no longer be fought, and proposes to accept Russia's price adjustment.
As a result, on the issue of the armistice, Greece and Wallachia sided with Bulgaria. Bulgaria can disagree, but they continue to fight alone, only for the sake of the country.
The king knew very well in his heart that this kind of loose union would definitely arise, and he asked the three parties to quarrel first. Only then did he come up with a solution that he had been thinking about for a long time.
He persuaded the Prime Minister of the Principality of Wallachia that Bulgaria had indeed lost important territory to help Wallachia, and that if Wallachia had damaged Bulgaria in vain, it would be difficult to get Bulgaria's help in the future. In the future, neither Austria-Hungary nor the Russian Empire could be confronted by Wallachia alone, and without the help of its Balkan allies, the independence of Wallachians could only be a dream. Just like Moldova now, it can only become a puppet of Russia, like the current Transylvania, unprovoked persecution by the Hungarians.
The Balkan countries are all small countries, and only by uniting and forming an alliance of steel can they protect their precious independence.
So the king hoped that Wallachia would make amends to Bulgaria, and he hoped that the Wallachians would give Bulgaria the territory of Wallachia west of the Oort River, which was now occupied by Austria, and that it would be difficult to take it back anyway; The Prime Minister of Wallachia agreed, and then, after a heated discussion in Parliament, it was finally passed as well.
The king also persuaded Bulgaria that Dobroga, although strategically important, was mostly hilly and economically inferior to the Danube Plain. It was hoped that Bulgaria would accept Wallachia's cession of territory west of the Oort River to the Danube, greatly expanding the Bulgarian-controlled Danube Plain. Bulgaria is not a fool, they say where it is now occupied by Austria. The king assured the Bulgarian delegates that he would ask the governments of Wallachia and even Greece to sign a treaty with Bulgaria, and that the three countries would publicly pledge to help Bulgaria recover West Wallachia from Austria-Hungary.
Bulgaria, in a situation where it could not stand alone, had to accept this very reluctantly, losing its actual territory only with an empty promise to recover it on paper.
Zhou Chenggong has always had the strongest control over the Greek government, and he doesn't even need to explain to the Greek prime minister, because the Greek prime minister is simply an official under the imperial examination system he established, and will only obey him, and the most troublesome thing is the parliament. Because of the loss of the throne for a while, Zhou Chenggong's prestige in the parliament has declined, and a group of political forces have emerged in the parliament that can oppose him. The prime minister's task is basically to help the king convince the parliament so that the king's decision can be implemented smoothly.
But this time, the prime minister can't help him get the parliament right, and Zhou Chenggong must go out in person.
He made a majestic speech in Parliament:
"Distinguished Members of Parliament! It is an honor for me to stand in this sacred hall and to make an appeal to you. In our historic country, there are many ups and downs and sufferings. Our ancestors fought, triumphed, and lost. I believe that our compatriots, like our ancestors, will continue to fight and continue to win, but I do not want to see us lose again. Our geographical location is destined to face all kinds of forces in the east, west, north and south, and we can get friendship, but we can also be threatened. This has been proven time and time again, who can we rely on?
By the believers of God in Europe. But the first to capture Constantinople, the ancient capital of history, which should have belonged to us, was our knights of God from Europe. Instead of helping us regain lost territory, they formed crusaders in our land, in the name of God, to burn and plunder, and finally established a Latin Empire. We relied on the Asians to help us expel the Latins, but as a result, we became slaves to the Asians for five centuries!
Fellow citizens, history proves that we can only rely on ourselves. Only by ourselves will our homeland not be trampled by the horse's hooves of the infidels, and only by ourselves will our children not be sold into slavery in Africa; Only by fighting like the Spartans can we preserve our freedom and glory. Glory to Greece, distinguished parliamentarians, you represent not only yourselves, but a great country and all her great citizens. Your choice today will prove to the world that the Greeks have not lost their courage, that the Greeks still dare to fight, and that the Greeks deserve the glory that belongs to Greece!
Honorable parliamentarians, our ancestors, the victory of the Spartans over Persia kept us from being slaves of the pagans for thousands of years. But the Spartans were not alone in the battle, and the Spartan heavy infantry was surrounded by cavalry from Thrace, and on the sea, there were Athenian sailors who were fighting.
We cannot rely on Greece alone to stand alone in an era of fierce competition among the peoples of this world, and we must unite the peoples and nations around us. Just as the Athenians and the Spartans were united, it is possible for us to survive in this region where all sides are in vigour.
So we want to help the Bulgarians, the Wallachians who live with us in the Balkans, and in the future the Serbs, the Albanians. We have fought and fought for the enemy, but we all believe in the same God, and we believe in the same values. Today, when the homeland of the Wallachians has been invaded by enemies from the steppes of the East, and bullied by the Hungarian cavalry, shouldn't we stand up and help this people, who have been living the same culture as us since the time of the ancient Romans?
If we don't help them today, if we don't unite with these brothers of the same faith, one day when we face a foreign invasion. When the shepherds of the East regain their courage and wave their sabers again, when the pirate people from the unknown lands of the sea come to our shore in canoes again, who else will help us!
So we have to be in close solidarity with them, stand shoulder to shoulder with them, fight with them. Today we are going to sign a treaty with them to sign a mutual aid alliance, not only means that we are just giving, not only that we need to help them liberate their compatriots who are still being bullied, but also that we are a friend and a guarantee.
Parliamentarians, Greece needs allies. What other allies are more worthy of an alliance than these Balkan brothers, who, like us, have suffered brutally from the infidels of Asia, and what other people can be trusted more than these peoples of the same faith as us?
Vote, parliamentarians. Remember the great nation you represent and her glory, remember the historical mission you shoulder and her future! ”
Zhou Chenggong successfully persuaded the parliament to agree to an alliance with Bulgaria and Wallachia to help these peoples recover their lands. Although he won by a narrow margin, he was extremely satisfied, because he did not achieve his goal by confronting the council.
And this purpose is extremely important to him, and what he has received from the parliament today is not a support agreement, but the first step of combining the three countries into one empire.
After convincing Greece, the three countries quickly signed a Balkan agreement.
The protocol stipulated that the three countries agreed to a peace agreement with Russia, that Bulgaria would give up Dobroga, and that in reparation, Wallachia would transfer to Bulgaria the territories west of the Oort River occupied by Austria-Hungary. Finally, it was stipulated that the three countries would jointly pledge to help Bulgaria regain the territory west of the Oort River.
The treaty allowed Wallachia to recover most of its territory and then emerge as an independent state, allowing Greece to emerge from the war and continue its efforts to recover its economy. This will give Bulgaria a better chance of receiving a part of the Danube Plain as compensation.
At the same time, this treaty was also approved by the British, as long as Russia did not annex the entire Danube Valley, the British could accept it, and now Greece has recaptured the entire Russian-occupied Wallachian region, which has made the British very satisfied.
As a result, Zhou Chenggong, as the co-ruler of Greece, Bulgaria and Wallachia, quickly signed a peace and friendship treaty with Russia, and peace was restored between the two countries. Russia recognized the Duchy of Wallachia as an independent principality and the legitimacy of the Wallachian people in choosing the Greek king as their monarch; Zhou Chenggong recognized the Russian occupation of Dobroga on behalf of the Bulgarian principality.
After ending the state of war with Russia, the three Balkan countries began to lick their scars and focus on domestic affairs.
But at this time, the three countries suddenly found that they were all in a situation where they had taken practical actions but only received empty returns, and they all needed each other to pay in return, but they all lacked supervision and restraint over each other, and they now began to need a force that could undoubtedly tie the other two countries to their own strategic interests.
The reason why Greece finally agreed to help Bulgaria seize West Wallachia was to hope that it would be able to get help from Wallachia and Bulgaria in the future, but Greece fought for both countries, and how to ensure that these two countries also paid for Greece. Bulgaria has not yet received the promised territory, but it has actually lost the important territory of Dobroga, and it desperately needs Greece and Wallachia to fulfill their commitments and help Bulgaria get West Wallachia. Wallachia received more than it paid, but Wallachia still had two territories that had not been recovered, one annexed by Russia and the other by Austria-Hungary, both enemies, both so strong that Wallachia would never be able to confront them, and Wallachia needed the support of Bulgaria and Greece.
They all feel that they are at a loss and need the help of the other two parties in the future; Or if they don't suffer a loss, but now need the support of the other two sides, the three sides need to build a closer alliance.
What alliance is closer than a country, what kind of treaty is comparable to a constitution.
Thus, on the basis of a common need, a plan was developed for the establishment of a Balkan empire with a common royal power.