On the other hand, Nicholas II's representative of Russian Foreign Minister Sasonov also arrived in Sofia, and he came by plane, and it took just over a day to get from St. Petersburg to Sofia.

In addition to Russian Foreign Minister Sasonov, there is also a group of Russian economic experts, and it seems that Nicholas II is also afraid, and has prepared professionals in advance to bargain.

As soon as he got off the plane and had no time to rest, Sasonov hurriedly submitted a request to the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for negotiations, and the negotiations between Bulgaria and Russia officially began.

A day ago, in the palace of Sofia, Foreign Minister Metev asked: "Your Majesty, where is our bottom line in this negotiation with the Russians?" ”

Ferdinand smiled slightly and asked rhetorically, "What does your Foreign Ministry think?" ”

Metyev was dumbfounded, this kind of negotiation has always been decided by the government, and no country has ever asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to decide such a big matter!

After thinking about it, Metyev stiffened his head and said: "Your Majesty, this question has gone beyond the purview of our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it depends on what the government wants from the Russian Empire?" ”

Ferdinand casually asked, "Prime Minister, what does the government want from Russia this time?" ”

Konstantin thought for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, if possible, we intend to buy the Crimean Peninsula from the Russians!" ”

Sure enough, Ferdinand thought to himself. The Crimean Peninsula covers an area of only 25,500 square kilometres, with low hills in the southeast, but rich in iron deposits, while the central and northern parts are plains suitable for agriculture.

These resources alone are certainly not worth much, the problem is strategic value, after taking the Crimean Peninsula, the Black Sea will become an inland sea of Bulgaria, and even if the Russians want to develop a navy in the future, they will not be able to find a more suitable port.

If Nicholas II was willing to sell, Ferdinand wouldn't mind paying a high price, but of course it would be better if Nicholas II was more generous and willing to sell more land.

Ferdinand thought for a while and said, "Then let's talk about it, the Crimean Peninsula is not worth 10 billion, now we are only talking about economic value!" ”

Metev said with some hesitation: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid the government has no money to buy land!" This loan must only be provided by the three major banks in China, and we can't get the bank to pay for the land for us, right? ”

Ferdinand smiled and said: "Of course, I didn't let you take 10 billion leva to buy land, this loan is still the business of the bank, to let the bank provide a loan, the Russians must come up with enough collateral, otherwise who dares to lend to them?" ”

Konstantin became embarrassed, and wanted to take advantage of the fire, but the government did not have such money, and then he thought of the creditor's rights, and the question of selling Italian and German debts was already about the same as that of the British.

As long as these debts are sold, are you afraid that you will not be able to afford them? Although it was sold like this, Bulgaria suffered a little, but now it can't take care of so much!

"Your Majesty, the sale of our German and Italian claims has been almost negotiated with the British consortium, is it simply sold now?" Konstantin said with some hesitation

Ferdinand sighed and said, "Sell it!" What is the negotiated price now? ”

Now there are only a few British consortia left that can afford to buy this huge debt, and Bulgaria already owes them 680 million pounds, which they can directly deduct from it, and in fact the amount of money that needs to be paid is greatly reduced.

Foreign Secretary Metev thought for a moment and replied: "The British consortium only agreed to calculate it at a six-fold discount, and over the past few years, Germany and Italy have repaid part of our loans, plus the debts that were originally offset in kind, and now the two countries owe us a total of 2.812 billion leva, which is 1.6872 billion pounds at a six-fold discount."

Reducing our debts to the British, and to other international financial groups, we have 860 million pounds of money in hand.

They also asked for three installments, settled within a year! At the same time, we must make sure that Germany and Italy do not default on their debts! ”

I have to say that the consortium is good at doing business, and if it weren't for the economic expansion of the whole society in the future, he would have done this business himself.

With the development of science and technology, more and more gold is mined, and more and more wealth is produced by society, and the essence of this huge amount of money has been in a state of depreciation!

Ferdinand said without hesitation: "Promise them, but we only guarantee that Germany and Italy will not default on their debts, and we cannot guarantee when they will pay them off, and these debts have nothing to do with us!" ”

According to the current interest calculation, forty or fifty years later, when Germany and Italy repay the loans, the sum of principal and interest collected by these consortiums has exceeded 10 billion pounds!

Now they only have £860 million in cash, and the rest of the funds are offset between the consortiums.

This is similar to a bank loan, you take out a loan of 100 million in this bank, and you can't withdraw it all, right? Usually it is just an extra number on the account number, and most of the money is still in the bank.

Therefore, a bank's assets were only a few hundred million yuan, and its deposits were only two or three hundred billion yuan, but perhaps the loans they gave out had already exceeded 100 billion yuan.

As long as the credit does not go bankrupt, they can play in unison and use financial means to grab high profits, so even in some countries in later generations, the interest rate on loans is lower than the interest on deposits!

It's not that the bank is stupid, but people are still making money, and there is no so-called loss! Lending a sum of money once is a loss, lending it twice is profitable, and lending it three or five times is a blood gain!

Ferdinand guessed that maybe this consortium could make a profit without spending a big man, and the method was very simple, directly turn these debts into bonds and sell them to the British people.

"Yes!" Mejev replied without hesitation

Konstantin was reluctant to speak, and many people in the Bulgarian government were also very impressed by this lucrative interest, but unfortunately neither Germany nor Italy could come up with cash to repay their debts, and they were all using industrial products to repay their debts.

Bulgaria, on the other hand, has no effect on these industrial products, and they do not have such a strong sales network when they sell them abroad.

Therefore, it is appropriate to let the British consortium do this business, and by the way, it can also hit the industrial development of the British Empire, and when a large number of cheap goods hit their market, they will have a good life, Konstantin thought maliciously.

……

As soon as the negotiations began, Russian Foreign Minister Sasonov fell into a disadvantage, and there was no way who would let him borrow money? And in the whole world, now only Bulgaria dares to lend them money!

Not every country can resist the pressure of Britain and France, and not every consortium has the strength to provide them with this huge amount of money.

There are no more than ten international consortiums in the world that can come up with 10 billion leva at once, and most of them are in Britain and France, and the rest are Ferdinand's royal consortium.

Originally, the Americans also had this strength before, but not after the war, whether it was Morgan or Locke, or Citigroup, these consortia were all hit hard in the war.

Their appeal has been greatly reduced, and they can't do it before the war with so much money on their own strength? After all, the world war was not fought for four years, and the United States did not participate in it, and their assets also lost the opportunity to expand at a high speed!

Metyev said calmly: "Mr. Sasonov, we are in business, what kind of price can your country pay?"

You must know that the risk of this loan is as high as 98%, and if there is not enough interest, it is impossible for our domestic banks to undertake it!

The Bulgarian government will not be able to guarantee you for free, although our two countries have a good relationship, but the number of 10 billion is too huge, we really can't help it! ”

Seeing that the showdown had already begun, Russian Foreign Minister Sasonov thought for a while and said: "Mr. Metyev, please believe in our sincerity, the Russian Empire can sell the province of Bessarabia (Moldova) to your country!" ”

Metyev was overjoyed, but he still said with an unchanged face: "Not enough! The province of Bessarabia is not worth this price, at most 600 million leva, which is too far from a loan of 10 billion leva.

Mr. Sasonov, as long as you are willing to sell half of Ukraine, then you can sell it for almost 10 billion leva! ”

Russian Foreign Minister Sasonov's face sank, what kind of joke to sell half of Ukraine, if he really sold it, it is estimated that Nicholas II will pick his skin when he goes back!

"Mr. Metyev, the account cannot be calculated in this way, the strategic significance of the province of Bessarabia to your country is not small, and it is related to the security of the Romanian region in the east of your country, how can this price only be calculated for economic value?"

Metyev laughed and said: "It also depends on whose hands it is, if it is placed in the hands of the enemy, Bessarabia is indeed a threat to us, but in the hands of your country, we can rest assured!"

The long-standing friendly relations between Israel and Russia cannot be a threat in the hands of your country, does Mr. Sasonov think that war will break out between our two countries? ”

Sasonov was dumbfounded, he realized that people can be so shameless when they are shameless, Metyev is obviously deliberately pretending to be stupid, how can he answer?

Is it possible to say that there is a high probability of a war between Bulgaria and Russia in the future, so that Bulgaria can take precautions and buy Bessarabia back at a high price?

If that's the case, it is estimated that there is no need to talk about loans, this is simply another provocation, maybe the Bulgarian government will take it as an excuse to attack them first, and directly rob them!

Sasonov smiled bitterly and said: "Mr. Metev joked, with the relationship between our two countries, even if the government wants to break out into war, the people will not agree, right?" ”

Of course, I won't agree, there are so many Russian immigrants in Bulgaria, if the two governments can fight, then there will be a problem?

Now that Bulgaria and Russia are really fraternal countries, blood is thicker than water, there is not enough conflict of interest, and no politician will choose to turn his face?

Even if the Russian Empire is so weak now, Bulgaria has not fallen into the ground, and there is not even a voice in the government to take advantage of the fire to rob, it's not that the relationship between the two sides is too deep, and you can't turn your face if you want to!

If there were no such deep ties, Ukraine would not have changed hands, is this Ferdinand's style?

Metyev nodded and said: "Of course, the Russian Empire has always been the most important ally of Bulgaria, there is no one!" ”

Sasonov didn't know whether to cry or laugh, when the tsarist government supported Bulgaria, it wanted to infiltrate through immigrants and finally control Bulgaria.

As it turned out, their plan went very well, and now the Russian emigration had completed their infiltration into Bulgaria, which unfortunately rose as a result.

The Russian Empire, on the other hand, was in a difficult situation, and the original plan of infiltration has now become a link of friendly relations between the two countries!

Sasonov thought for a moment and said: "Of course, Bulgaria is also the most important ally of the Russian Empire, there is no one!"

Mr. Metyev, what exactly do you want? Now the Russian Empire really needs this loan, as long as it is not too much, we can discuss it! ”

Metyev would like to add to him, it seems that now the Russian Empire only needs Bulgaria as an ally!

After thinking about it, Metyev said: "Mr. Sasonov, please rest assured, we don't mean to open our mouths, in addition to the province of Bessarabia, we also plan to go to the Crimean Peninsula behind your country, rest assured that in terms of price, we will not make your country suffer!" ”

Sasonov's face changed, and he said in a panic: "No, the Crimean Peninsula is the most important port of the Russian Empire on the Black Sea, which is too important for the Russian Empire, and we can't afford to lose the most important commercial ports and military bases!" ”

Metev smiled and said: "It's not lost, even if it is sold to us, isn't it still normal for your country?"

We have an alliance, the two countries can share the port, and your merchant ships and warships can still be navigated freely, without the slightest restriction, and there will be no tariffs! ”

Sasonov rubbed his forehead, if it was just a commercial port, he really didn't mind selling it directly, Metyev was not wrong, the tariff between Bulgaria and Russia was about equal to zero.

All commercial trade is a symbolic tariff, and each trade, regardless of the amount, is taken by both sides. The Russian Empire charged one ruble, and Bulgaria one leva, which is almost equal to nothing!

Although the Black Sea Fleet has been abolished and Bulgaria has risen strongly, there are still many people in the country who want to rebuild the Black Sea Fleet, but the Baltic Sea is more important, which suppresses this voice.

Of course, it doesn't exist now, everyone is busy with the civil war, Nicholas II is already very good if he didn't dismantle the navy, and he wants to expand the navy, what are you kidding?

Sasonov thought for a moment and said: "I'm sorry, Mr. Metyev, I have to ask for instructions on this question at home, the Crimean Peninsula is the most important port of the Russian Empire on the Black Sea, and this is no longer within the scope of my authority!" ”

Metev replied very gentlemanly: "This is as it should be!" In that case, why don't Sasonov talk about it tomorrow? ”

Sasonov breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Good! ”

This issue is no longer something he can decide, it is better to leave it to the tsar to have a headache, anyway, it is not the first time that the Russian Empire has sold land, and the Crimean Peninsula is also taken by Russia from the Ottoman Empire and is not part of the core territory of the Russian Empire.

This is the difference between Western culture and Eastern culture, in the Eastern world, if the government sells land because of lack of money. The traitor's hat cannot be taken off; But in the Western world, there are still fewer land deals in modern times?

Originally, the land was regarded by them as a part of the property, and it was not unacceptable to sell the land for money, provided that the government did not sell the land!

Although the Russian Empire has no colonies and all the lands are directly ruled by the government, in fact, for the Crimean Peninsula, the province of Bessarabia, and even Ukraine, these regions are not considered the mainland of the Russian Empire, and many Russians regard them as colonies!

This is one of the reasons why, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in later generations, even such an important place as Ukraine allowed them to become independent!

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