After a few words of non-salty nonsense, Mussolini suddenly said: "Calais, are you free now?" Can you come to the Prime Minister's Palace, the Navy has a business to talk to you, oh, your father is also there. ”

Although the question was whether he was free, Contini knew that this sentence was not a consultation, but an order - if there was no more time, he had to pass. So he said, "Okay, I'll be there right away." ”

When I went to Mussolini's office, Mussolini, the Minister of the Navy, Paulo Tauné di Lefehr and the old Ziano were all there, although the old Ciano was now the Minister of Transport and Leffel were on an equal footing, but because he was only a colonel in the war, and Lefeel was about to be promoted to marshal, so he was more polite in front of the other party, and even opened his mouth on behalf of the navy.

"Calais, the situation is like this, the Greeks are ready to give in, will pay 17 million dollars, the leader from this mobilization, believes that there are still many deficiencies in the army, need to speed up the promotion, and intends to allocate 15 million of the 17 million to the army and navy, and the other 2 million to make up for the losses of the government on other occasions." Old Chiano's tone was very calm, "Although the army and navy can get 7.5 million US dollars, relatively speaking, the navy has a more urgent need for funds, and a few years ago, because of financial constraints, we even dismantled the unfinished Caracciolo-class battleships......

After some explanation, Contini understood that in order to avoid aggravating the situation in the Mediterranean, the British side, after suppressing Greece's concessions, also demanded that Italy not trade warships with Turkey except for the agreement already reached, which Mussolini of course agreed. However, since there was already the idea of abandoning these third-rate battleships, the idea of the navy could not be contained, so the British opened their mouths, originally according to the "Washington Naval Treaty", Italy would not allow the construction of new battleships until 1927, but because Italy itself was not satisfied with the tonnage, coupled with early retirement, Britain was ready to agree that the Italians would start construction in January 1925 - two years in advance, but the restrictions remained the same.

At the same time, Britain also intended to agree to Germany's request to allow Germany to expand the Wehrmacht from 100,000 to 125,000 (originally Britain said 150,000, but France refused to accept it, and finally put it to 125,000), that is, to increase the configuration of 1 infantry division and 1 cavalry division.

Contini was dumbfounded, he didn't expect him to make so many things out of these fames: there were too many German soldiers, and Italian warships could be built in advance...... It's really laughable. What is even more strange is that France did not object, presumably France must have reaped some kind of benefit, but Mussolini did not grasp it.

He pondered for a long time and asked, "I understand all this, the question is, what does it have to do with the United Group?" Although we have a shipyard, we are in ruins, and even the dockyard has not yet been expanded. ”

"The Navy wants to sell the other 3 warships to the United Group."

"Sell?" Contini smiled wryly, "It's useless for me to buy it...... Besides, my money also has other projects to build, and I can't just use it to support the country. ”

Mussolini smiled: "The cause of the United Group has just started, and we are also considerate of this, so I thought of a way, didn't you donate 20 million lire to the military?" In return, the government decides to invest $5 million in preferred shares in you, on the same terms as the Holy See, and you use the money to buy warships. ”

Contini understood: on the surface, the state gave $5 million, but in fact it immediately used three broken warships to get the money back, and the United Group had to pay an additional $300,000 in interest every year - equivalent to the government buying 5 million preferred shares with three warships that the United Group did not need, which was a really good idea.

Leffel smiled: "Calais, for your father's sake, the Navy has already discounted you, originally we asked for 5.8 million US dollars for 3 warships, and it only costs 5 million to package them together and sell them to you!" ”

Contini thought to himself: Let's lie to the ghosts, 5.8 million is simply taken out to pit the Turks, and the ghosts imagine that it is worth 5 million, but with this 5 million, plus a little other moves, the navy can indeed start building a relatively new warship.

He looked at Mussolini, whose face was full of eagerness, and then at his father, who was embarrassed, and Lefeel, who was the only one to do business, was very calm, as if he had settled himself. If you think about it carefully, you can see that Mussolini has extended his hand to the army through the Black Shirts, and has controlled the air force with Balbo, and in the face of the self-contained navy, of course, he also wants to intervene; And because the old Ciano was born in the navy, he had no room to refuse this matter, so he could only cooperate with the Admiralty to pit his son together.

Since ancient times, there have been pit fathers, but I have never seen pit sons! Contini looked indignant, but it was not an option to refuse - one prime minister, two ministers, this is something he cannot refuse. How did he know that this method was still thought of by Mussolini for him, according to the opinion of the navy, since the United Group received an investment of 30 million US dollars from the Holy See, it should be directly taken out and purchased!

He said euphemistically: "This, if you buy an airplane, you can still transform it into a civil aircraft, but it's useless to buy a warship?" ”

Lyfel smiled: "Why is it useless? The United Group has the experience of dismantling warships, and can also harvest all kinds of information such as boilers, hull designs, materials, etc., which cannot be bought with money, besides, in the future, the Navy will build new ships, and with the current package of deals, is it much more convenient for me to speak for the United Group? ”

Contini couldn't refute these reasons, and he turned his head and said: "It's not impossible for the United Group to buy a ship, but I have a few conditions that I implore you to consider." ”

"You say ......"

"First, I should be allowed to sell after the purchase, and the government of the target of the sale must not interfere, of course, I must be in the form of selling old ships."

Leffel nodded: "Of course it's no problem, except for Turkey, you can sell the rest." ”

"Second, if the ship arrives at the United Group, if it cannot be sold for a while, the normal maintenance of the warship will still require people, and this part of the people will be transferred to the United Group."

This time, it was Mussolini who opened his mouth: "The Youth Volunteer Army can be expanded to a regiment of about 2,500 people, and the navy warships do not need to be full, and they can be coordinated and solved in this formation." ”

"Third, the price of 5 million is too high, I can only pay 4.7 million, and the other 300,000 as the first year's dividend, I pay it in advance, and the annual preferred stock dividend will be paid in the last month."

Lefell thought: Isn't this equivalent to a year less in dividends? He looked at Mussolini, and when he saw the other party nodding, he smiled and said: "Okay, this time the United Group is a donation, and it is also a campaign, which has helped the Navy a lot, and this money can be used!" ”

So the trade was concluded, and the three Queen-class obsolete battleships would soon become the property of the Coalition, under the public name of Hulk Ships.

After saying goodbye from the Prime Minister's Office, the elder Ciano said embarrassedly to his son: "Calais, there is really no way to do this, Leffel first found the leader, and then found me......"

"Father, you don't need to explain much, this is really the only way to do this." Contini smiled, "It is the duty of every citizen to share the country's worries and solve problems, and the United Group is naturally no exception, besides, what about my career in the future?" ”

The first half of the sentence is okay, but the second half of the sentence Old Chiano doesn't dare to take it: his son's tone is clear that he will take over in the future, and he will not care about this kind of disadvantaged behavior now - when he becomes prime minister, isn't this the left pocket to the right pocket? How big is that......

"What are you going to do next?"

"One is cheaper to sell to the Bulgarians, another is trying to find another customer, and another ......," Contini smiled, "and then dismantled the ...... after playing."

"Demolished after playing?"

The $1.6 million warship was dismantled after playing?

Old Ziano was dumbfounded: "Are you telling the truth?" ”

"Truth!" Contini smiled, "Didn't you hear the leader expand the establishment to 2400?" If I dispose of it as soon as possible, all the personnel can become volunteers, and then, what is the most on the warship? ”

"What is it? Steel? Old Ziano muttered subconsciously.

"No, it's artillery." Contini smiled, "After these artillery pieces are disassembled, the volunteers can practice how the artillery is used, this regiment, do you dare to underestimate it in the future?" ”

Old Chiano shook his head helplessly: "I don't care about the rest, I just say one thing: no matter what you do, you must get the leader's consent!" If he doesn't nod his head, he must not do it, this is the bottom line! ”

PS: No. 1 is on the shelves, and the update rhythm will be accelerated after it is put on the shelves, so remember to leave me a little bit when you have tickets......