The Russians were not the only guests who came to Berlin at the end of May.

At Berlin's Spandau railway station, Sir Friedrich August Carl Ferdinand Julius von Holstein, the Reich Foreign Office's head of political affairs, was also quietly greeting, a president from a South American country.

Mariano Ignacio Prado is a military president from Peru in South America, who went straight to Europe on March 14 this year, at the beginning of Bolivia's declaration of war on Chile, in the name of asking for assistance from the Great Powers.

The Peruvian Finance Minister, Nicolás de Pirola, the de facto behind-the-scenes boss of the Peruvian government, who was left to take charge of the South Pacific war at home, was left to recommend himself to power.

The Second South Pacific War, known as the "Guano War" or "Saltpeter War" in European public opinion, is currently in the stage of the Peruvian and Bolivian federal armies beating Chile.

At sea, the Chilean Navy's largest warship, the Esmeralda, was sunk by the Peruvian Navy in the Peruvian port of Iquique; On land, Chilean troops were struggling to support the Peruvian and Bolivian forces in the port of Antofagasta, which was a Bolivian force.

On the one hand, it was to build momentum for the great victory of the coalition forces of the two countries, so that European bankers could lend money for the great victory of Peru and Bolivia, and on the other hand, he also wanted to obtain the military and political support of the European powers, hoping to retain the military superiority through the mediation of the European powers when the two countries' coalition forces gained an advantage.

Peruvian President Prado's itinerary is very interesting, he actually went to the home country of the first victim of the war, the joint venture, the United Kingdom, hoping that the British will come forward to solve the problem of the three countries.

In the end, President Prado received only a blank reply from British Foreign Secretary Robert Cecil: Bolivia must abide by the contract with Chile, waive the tax increase on the Chilean-British joint venture in the Antofagasta region, and compensate the Chilean-British saltpeter company for all losses.

The British government was not involved in the war and remained neutral.

This reply of the British is neither good nor bad for Peru and Bolivia, which are in the stage of war advantage, and compensation can be discussed, but in the hearts of Peru and Bolivia, it must also be after the victory of the war, and Chile, the defeated country, will have to pay the reparations.

In short, President Prado is in favor of the principle of the British outsider's neutrality with both hands and feet.

Immediately, President Prado went to his dear homeland, France. French President Grevy and Foreign Minister Frésine welcomed him very warmly, and the French were quite happy to do anything that could cause trouble for the British.

The two of them also agreed with both hands and feet for the just cause of Peru and Bolivia to resist Chilean aggression, and never mentioned the fuse of this war, which was the first to be provoked by the Bolivians, supported by the French, who lacked the spirit of contract and ignored the constraints of the treaty.

When President Prado proposed that he wanted to get financial assistance from the French, the French used their sense of humor to teach President Prado a vivid lesson, so that President Prado understood that the French had money, but the French did not know that it could be given to Peruvians that day.

In fact, these two Frenchmen know where their 2 billion francs are, but .......

The British were neutral, and the French were not able to benefit from the population, and President Prado, in desperation, wanted to leave for Italy again to seek more support.

Before leaving, he did not want to receive a verbal invitation from the German Foreign Office, Prince Chillingsfest, the German ambassador to France, inviting President Prado to visit Germany in a private capacity, and a certain senior member of the German Foreign Office was willing to discuss with him the issue of the South Pacific War.

President Prado was very excited by this invitation, and it was the first time that the foreign ministries of major countries had taken the initiative to meet him since he came to Europe for nearly a month.

This invitation from the German Foreign Office is the result of the private operation of Sir von Holstein, head of the political department of the German Imperial Foreign Office, who came to pick him up at the zoo train station today.

Sir von Holstein entered the German Foreign Office (including the former Prussian Foreign Office) before Chancellor Bismarck joined the Foreign Office as a diplomat.

After Bismarck became Prime Minister of Prussia, Sir von Holstein was in charge of one of the most important departments in the German Foreign Office: the Political Department, which was in charge of many important powers within the Reich Foreign Office, such as political review, promotion, supervision, and inspection.

Within the Reich Foreign Office, those close to Friedrich von Holstein often called him "the gray cardinal" who liked to wear a gray coat, while those who did not like him, or even resented him, often called him "coyote".

One of the main reasons why Sir Friedrich von Holstein suddenly invited President Prado to visit Germany was for the sake of Peruvian guano and Peru's inexhaustible guano resources.

The growth of the population in the nineteenth century stimulated the development of agriculture, which required the same land to produce more grains, and guano was the most important tool for European agriculture in the nineteenth century, improving the fertility of the land. That country has more guano resources, which means a good harvest of grain.

At present, German agriculture is at a low ebb, and Sir Holstein is powerless to change Crown Prince Frederick's attitude towards the land Junkers, and can only hope to import more guano to Germany to increase the fertility of the land, so that the Junkers, including their own land, can produce more food to reduce losses.

The most important guano producing region in the world is Peru in South America.

The Atacama Desert region, which led to the Great War of the Three Kingdoms, is interesting on the border of Peru, Bolivia and Chile.

Originally, according to an agreement reached by the three countries in 1874, Peru controlled Tacna, Arica, and Tarapaca in the northern part of the Atacama desert region, Bolivia occupied Antofagasta in the center, and Chile controlled a small area south of the 24th parallel.

In 1874, the Chilean government suffered greatly from the demarcation of the new border treaty between Chile and Bolivia, and in compensation, the Bolivian government promised not to raise the tax rate for 25 years on all Chilean companies involved in the country.

But soon after the border was demarcated, a staggering reserve of saltpeter was discovered in this desolate desert, and the Chilean government had no choice but to accept the situation and obtain some compensation through the operation of Chilean companies.

Last year, however, the Bolivian government unilaterally demanded an increase in the tax rate of the Chilean-British mining company, which refused to pay the increased tax under the New Treaty of 1874, so the Bolivian government confiscated all of the company's assets and auctioned them off to the French at a public low price.

The consequence of this kind of behavior of cutting off people's money can only be war.

In retaliation, Chile took the port of Antofagasta in February, Bolivia declared war on Chile in March, and in early April, Peru quickly entered the war as an ally of Bolivia under a secret pact with Bolivia.

Sir Holstein, who has been following Peru, sees this sudden war as a good opportunity for Germany to enter the Peruvian guano market, as long as he supports Peru and the Bolivian federal army to defeat the Chileans, which means that the saltpeter mines originally controlled by Chile and the British will be auctioned.

Since the Peruvian and Bolivian governments were manipulating the auction, the Germans, as their supporters, deserved to be paid guano and saltpeter.

Sir von Holstein was convinced that Peru and Bolivia would win the war, for the simple reason that Peru was rich and Chile was poor.

How rich is Peru? Between 1840 and 1878, Peru produced more than 10.8 million tons of guano and earned more than £100 million.

For example, because the Peruvian government is so rich, it writes off all the confused accounts of Peruvians during the War of Independence. Lima, the capital of Peru, imports everything from life to death, and the whole country is in a stage of rich and capricious.

The Peruvian army, which was fully equipped with French equipment and received military guidance from the French, was now a well-known regional military power in South America, as was the Bolivians, who were also funded by the French.

Peru, which is so rich, in the eyes of Sir von Holstein, can afford to pay for this war, afford expensive military spending, and fight a war.

And the poor Chileans, in the opinion of Sir von Holstein, probably do not even have the weapons and equipment of their own army, how can such a country win the war?!

On President Prado's journey to Berlin with Sir von Holstein, Sir von Holstein made his attitude straight to the point about the current South American problem.

"Your Excellency the President, if you want the support of Germany, you must have the support of the German Junkers, and I can say frankly, as long as you can get the support of the Land Junkers, you can get the support of the German government." Sir von Holstein, dressed in gray, said with a grim face.

"Dear Sir Lord, my country is in dire need of all support, and please tell me how I can get the support of the Junkers, especially the Junkers of German land." President Prado's expression and tone were anxious and sincere.

Sir von Holstein carefully observed President Prado's expression, and said unhurriedly, "Land Junkers, as the name suggests, is a land-related nobleman, a land-related nobleman, what is most worried about?" Nature is the harvest of this land. ”

Sir von Holstein then began to talk about the history of the German Junkers, especially the great contribution of the Land Junkers to Germany.

It wasn't until his mouth was dry that Sir von Holstein looked at President Prado, who still didn't know what he wanted to say, and suddenly felt that it was really boring to play diplomatic rhetoric with a guy from a military background.

Sir von Holstein, who was helpless, simply said, "Your Excellency, if you want to get the support of the land Junkers, then you need Peru to auction the saltpeter mining rights in the Antofagasta region to Germany, and the German land Junkers needs your country's saltpeter resources." ”

"Hehe, finally to tell the truth, it's also for the saltpeter mine of Antofagasta, am I really a fool, tell me about the history of the German land Junkers, do you really think that I don't know what your idea is!" Although President Prado secretly sneered in his heart, he still had a look of sudden realization on his face.

"Sir Sir, it turned out to be for saltpeter, in this respect the interests of the Peruvian government and the people of Peru are in the same interests as the Junkers of the German land, and the cause of this war is to break the monopoly of the British and Chileans on saltpeter!" President Prado waved his hand vigorously, "As long as Germany is willing to support the just actions of the Peruvian government and people, saltpeter mining in the Antofagasta region will definitely have shares in German companies." ”

"If Germany can support Peru and regain the old appearance of the vice-crown of Peru, I can make the decision and open up the saltpeter mining rights in the Atacama Desert region, and even the entire Peruvian guano mining rights, to German friends." President Prado whispered in a seductive tone.

"Saltpeter mining rights in the Atacama Desert region? And all the guano mining rights in Peru? Sir von Holstein's eyes suddenly lit up.

"That's right, all of them, especially the companies that are joint ventures between Chile and the British, I would suggest that the Bolivian government nationalize them and then sell them to German friends, for a nominal fee, of course." President Prado said with a smile on his face, smiling like a businessman who is old in business.

"I need authorization documents from the governments of Peru and Bolivia." Sir von Holstein finally kept a little sober in the face of great temptation, and did not forget to ask for a power of attorney from the government.

"Hehe, Lord Sir, the power of attorney is in my briefcase." President Prado smiled and patted his briefcase, "But your country also wants to sign an alliance with the governments of Peru and Bolivia to clearly support our cause in writing." ”

Looking at President Prado's briefcase, Sir von Holstein's eyes seemed to burn at this moment, and then said with a little excitement, Mr. President, I think, you need to see someone first. ”

Looking at the greedy Germans in front of him, President Prado seemed to know what he had caught.