In July 1872, news came from Europe that more than a month earlier, the Austro-Hungarian Empress Dowager Sophie had died.

After hearing the news, Li Mengyang immediately solved the previous mysteries, that is, why Joseph I was so low-profile, obviously, the old queen mother was thinking about her second son.

But this matter is in the past, and Austria-Hungary has helped itself and itself...... Well, this 'gang' is somewhat undisciplined, but then the two British bigwigs are coming.

Disraeli and Gladstone, the arrival of these two people is definitely not ordinary, definitely not the kind that seems on the surface, that is, to recognize your empire, and then establish diplomatic relations between the two sides, so what are you talking about?

"Your Majesty, Dear Emperor of the American Empire, may God bless you and wish you good health!"

"Your Majesty the Emperor! This is my handwritten letter from Queen Victoria of the British Empire......"

For an official state visit, there will naturally be a ceremony, but however, these two people are quite anxious.

Disraeli and Gladstone really came together, you must know that this situation is very unusual, because there is no need, why do you have to have a Chancellor of the Exchequer and a Prime Minister to come?

But now, they're coming together, they're coming together, and they're not meeting separately, so let's talk about it together.

So, what exactly is there to talk about?

"Your Majesty, I believe that you will be very surprised by our visit, so we will not go around the bush, let's just put it bluntly, I hope you can be in terms of the purchase cost of those five warships. Give us some deals for the British Empire......"

This was said by Disraeli. He's the Chancellor of the Exchequer. So talking about price is his forte.

Preferential?! Isn't that all about bargaining? Didn't we talk about it before? Didn't you British Empire accept it too? How did you change your mind so quickly?

This matter is really very incomprehensible, if it is an ordinary transaction, Li Mengyang is an ordinary businessman, then he should take out a very contemptuous look at this time, and then after full ridicule, tell them to fuck off, there is no money to pretend to be an uncle? …… And so on.

But it's clear. This is no ordinary transaction, and the money involved in this transaction is simply too high...... Don't underestimate the value of £70 million at this time, this price is absolutely sky-high.

But Li Mengyang definitely doesn't think that the price of his battleship is too high, because in this era, the electric age has not yet fully arrived, and the technology mastered by my empire is one dimension higher than yours, if you want to catch up with it as quickly as possible, then it is not a matter at all to pay such a small amount of money, because there is a crucial thing in it. Time!

time, if you can buy it with money. It's like you can spend £70 million now shortening the R&D process and the practice, so it's a good deal!

So, Li Mengyang said a word to the two big men from the UK in front of him.

"Mr. Disraeli, Mr. Gladstone, you are not going to make my empire suffer, are you?"

Obviously, Li Mengyang didn't go around the corner, to put it simply, what he meant was that our empire can't suffer losses, and the previous price must be maintained, but if you have financial problems now, we can exchange some individual benefits.

Yes, everyone understands the things behind this, and Li Mengyang didn't say it, so how did these two people in Britain react?

"Your Majesty the Emperor of the United States!" Gladstone spoke first, he was the prime minister after all, "If we can, we can make some exchanges politically, such as interests in the Far East, we know that you are Chinese, and the Manchu court also has a lot of rejection of you, we can ......"

Bala Bala Bala ...... The price that Gladstone said is very good, that is, to exchange some British interests in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, I am afraid that it is the colonial methods they engaged in, and you Li Mengyang can inherit it.

It doesn't sound bad, because Li Mengyang is a Chinese, and if this transaction is passed, then Li Mengyang is not equivalent to meddling in the affairs of the Far East, to put it mildly, I Hu Hansan, oh I Li Mengyang is back!

Isn't it good that most people will think so, this is a good thing, the American Empire has the opportunity to influence the Far East, and the emperor can show his ambition to drive out the Tartars and subjugate China, isn't it good?

But......

"Mr. Gladstone, don't bring up the topic of the Manchu Qing Dynasty for the time being......" Li Mengyang's words are simply straightforward, and fools understand.

"......, however, Gladstone didn't understand it.

Why is the Chinese emperor in front of him not interested in his motherland?

No, Li Mengyang is definitely not uninterested in his motherland, the reason why he rejected Gladstone's proposal is precisely out of love for his motherland!

This is true, because it is a very simple truth, some of the interests of the British Empire in our China, some practices, such as the customs, then what if I Li Mengyang get it?

First of all, how do the people of the Great Qing Kingdom see themselves now?

That's right, the British are gone, and then there is an American empire, and this empire is also here to bully us!

I must have thought so, and I definitely didn't run. Moreover, it is difficult for Li Mengyang to get any benefits from this.

The reason is actually very simple, that is, the tricks used by your British, it is difficult for me Li Mengyang to copy!

You are colonizers and Western powers, but I am Chinese!

Or is it that customs, if Li Mengyang controls it, then to get benefits, the easiest thing is to do it according to the original operation, desperately reduce the tariffs of the Manchu Dynasty, of course, the benefits will come, but the people of the Great Qing Kingdom must not hate themselves to death?

You Li Mengyang are not with us all the way!

They must think so, and Li Mengyang will go back to save us Chinese from fire and water in the future, so now that his reputation is stinky, what can he do in the future?

So. Turn. We got to customs. And then help the Manchus to raise tariffs, so what is the result?

The Manchu court would never be grateful to itself!

Moreover, if you protect the Manchus in this way, how can you overthrow them in the future?

Isn't this shooting yourself in the foot? …… Li Mengyang said that he was not a reactionary.

Also, if you do this, it means that you don't get any benefits, so the ship is for nothing?

So, this political exchange. It looks good, or in the eyes of the British, you Clint. Li is now the emperor of the American Empire, do you care about the Qing Dynasty?

So, what can be done about this?

"Your Majesty the Emperor......" Disraeli was about to speak, apparently he was going to come up with some economic solutions.

But however, Li Mengyang was not in a hurry to listen, he asked first, "I said Mr. Disraeli, why can't you Britain give this money?" ”

This question. It's really good!

Li Mengyang originally offered 500 tons of gold, nearly 70 million pounds. It's okay for the British, they have money. However, there is also a way to give money, that is, there is a repayment mechanism, isn't your American Empire still building ships, then it is impossible to pay 70 million pounds at once, you must pay a certain deposit first, and then according to the progress of construction, there are some assessments, no one is a fool, it is impossible to shoot you tens of millions of pounds at once.

So, the number seems very large, but if you look at the details, the time is very long, so we can take our time...... Of course, there will also be the problem of interest, but this is easy to do through actuarial calculations to minimize losses, which can still be ignored for the time being.

Well, the money given is not urgent, and it is not particularly much, according to the degree of awesomeness of the UK in the world now, they should be fine...... Li Mengyang also calculated it before knocking on the bamboo bar, you can't ask for such a price from ordinary people, didn't he give a tenth of the price to the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

"It's a long story, it's a long story, mainly because I have some problems with the recent income and expenditure of the British Empire......" Then since they asked, Disraeli gave Gladstone a color, and then he received a color back, and said!

So what exactly is the reason?

First of all, there is a bright thing, that is, the British economy is now in trouble again!

Yes, this year is 1872, and the signs of another economic crisis have emerged. Let's put it this way, in the original history, the economic crises during this period were particularly frequent.

The reason Li Mengyang also knows, and he is avoiding it with a policy, that is, there is a serious uneven distribution of income!

Really, this year's economic crisis is the reason, and later generations of economic masters have analyzed it very thoroughly, to put it bluntly, the capitalists are too fucking bastards. According to the analysis of later economists, if the capitalists of this era can have a little humanity and can care for the working group well, then ......

What kind of communism, what kind of workers' movement, I'm afraid there will be no ...... It is even said that the welfare treatment of workers in the later years will not make the capitalists themselves unbearable, and the later workers in Europe and the United States are really called a master of the house, and they will toss you if they have nothing to do, strike or something......

This is all the evil result of the capitalists, and the current Europe has not seen through this matter, or even if it does, it cannot do it, because the whole situation in Europe now is made by the bourgeoisie, that is, they are controlling, and there is no powerful figure like Li Mengyang.

But however, there is another reason why the British can't come up with the money this time, and this reason is quite interesting, which is very close to what Li Mengyang talked about when he met Joseph I before.

“…… Because the Ottoman Empire had some problems with repayment......"

The reason Disraeli is referring to is the Ottoman Turkish Empire, the sick man of Europe!

This matter really aroused Li Mengyang's great interest, because the place where he had conspired with Joseph I before was Romania, and the current sovereignty of Romania belonged to Ottoman Turkey! (To be continued......)

PS: What, those who have a marriage plan can arrange it a little later, because the diamond has fallen very fiercely recently, and the small diamond is the first to come down, well, the specific situation in our country is not clear, but however, De Beers can no longer hold on...... Not much to say, thank you for your support! Thanks a lot!