The second more

Prime Minister Cranston did not care about the curse issued by Empress Eugenie. He did not believe that France was invincible, and even if they did not make a mistake in the two encounters with Germany, Britain would not have to adopt a policy of encirclement, encircling and blocking them until finally the other side disarmed and surrendered.

Anyway, the British Empire has a fleet, some has time, and some has energy, but what about the French? They are nothing more than a country that is trying to revive again in the cracks. So for the French, Prime Minister Gladstone was contemptuous, because he never believed in the legends of the First Empire, and even less in the valor and invincibility of Napoleon.

The British fought with hundreds of thousands of troops, and they also wanted to take down the Deland gold mine. They don't care if the Boers live or die, but they don't let go of a potential mountain of gold. When news of the Deland mine leaked, shares on the London Stock Exchange rose several points. The British were bound to win, and for them, if they did not take the Transvaal, they would definitely not retreat.

The French were even more resolute, and Napoleon sent 18 telegrams to Frederick III explaining to him the importance of taking the gold mines. Napoleon had already seen that a full-scale war between the two sides was impossible, that is, a conflict over the issue of gold mines, and whoever had the tougher means and attitude would be the winner.

Speaking of toughness, Napoleon never lost to the British.

The first is that on the issue of South Africa, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made a rare start to make its position clear. With the murder of Napoleon IV as the center of their contradictions, they began to send colonial troops to the Transvaal as support. Because from the beginning, in order to avoid the conservative army, Napoleon first gave new weapons and equipment to the colonial army, such as the French Foreign Legion. Therefore, it has also allowed African soldiers to take the lead in equipping more advanced weapons.

Even though the sea traffic has been blocked, the French can still maintain logistics by land, but they are not as strong as before.

Then there was Napoleon's personal visit to Berlin, one of the few visits he made, and everyone knew that every time the leader left the Tuileries Palace, it meant a major change in the situation on the continent. And this change is mainly focused on Napoleon and his opponents, France is not the steel red bear of the past, even if they want to put pressure on the British, they must find a European partner. Frederick III, who tried to reform because of this, became his best collaborator.

Napoleon visited Sanssouci and was received in Frederick III's office.

This time it was a dialogue with the head of state, Bismarck had left Berlin forever, and no one would stop Napoleon's plans.

"We've heard about what happened in South Africa, and now the point is how much the French side is willing to give to Germany, and we can run the Transvaal in South Africa together."

Frederick III was very realistic, in the face of national interests, national contradictions could be retreated, not to mention a world-class gold mine, once the British were defeated, they had the largest gold mine in the world at the least cost.

"As we have agreed, we will pay France 20% of the annual mining as a reward for this political struggle."

Frederick III paused, and he whispered, "Isn't that too little?" ”

"This figure is already the biggest profit that France has conceded, and if you can't accept it, then there is no point in continuing this conversation."

Napoleon pretended to shrug his shoulders very helplessly, he had long expected that Berlin would open his mouth, after all, no one wanted to let go of such a large gold mine, but the reality was that no one could swallow him alone, not even France.

"Your Majesty, I must stress one point. The Germans had to get 20% of the rough gold ore at no cost, and the French had to provide shelter to the Boers in the Transvaal, and even stationed armed forces there, which was an expense, and nearly half of the ore was shared with Berlin, which was absolutely impossible. ”

Frederick III wanted to make other demands, but Napoleon rightfully refused.

"We won't give up more than 10% of our interests, not at all, because that's our bottom line."

When Frederick III saw that Napoleon did not accept this, he tried to threaten him, and said in a cold voice, "Are you afraid of France, and in the end you will face a situation of fighting alone?" We can pull our hands at any time, because it's not in our interest in the first place. ”

"I ask you that you won't do that, because it's only now that Germany has to develop a major naval program. You have realized that you cannot guarantee your interests in the overseas colonies without a strong enough naval fleet. So you need our support no matter what. ”

Frederick was gagged by the French, because Napoleon saw through the Germans' ideas at a glance, and in fact they hoped to build a strong naval force from the income from these minerals. The lion's wide opening was also expected by everyone.

After being seen through the real thoughts, all the chips in his hand were invalid. Frederick III was even surprised, because no one knew that Frederick's idea was to build an army that could rival Great Britain, but Germany was unable to create a strong offensive naval fleet due to its own economic strength, which caused Frederick III's plan to be delayed again and again.

Both sides fell into an awkward silence.

Napoleon knew that the negotiations could not be concluded if this continued, and he made concessions at the necessary moment, and finally Napoleon took a deep breath and said, "Twenty into five, but Germany should also send armed forces to protect the Boers, this is our demand, if you can't do it, France would rather go it alone than cooperate with the Germans." ”

The other side retreated as an advance, forcing Frederick III to have no way out, and finally had to agree to Napoleon's request. In fact, Berlin had taken advantage of enough that the Kaiser realized that he could no longer push Napoleon, otherwise he would end up with no money.

"Yes, I grant your request. But I have the same request. France must accede to the demands of the German side in order for us to be able to,"

Frederick III said with chagrin, "France and Germany must form a combined fleet to resist Great Britain, and only the Germans cannot resist the mighty English fleet." ”