The third more

The telegram sent back by the Portuguese ambassador in Paris almost made King Louis I angry with a heart attack, and the French president's arrogant and domineering attitude was simply unreasonable, and he dared to openly ask the Portuguese ambassador in Paris to snatch the Congolese colony, and France simply did not take Portugal seriously.

What made him most angry was the concealment of the Portuguese governor, who originally thought that Portugal would be able to bully France, but in turn was slapped in the face by others!

Louis I swept the papers on the table, not wanting to see the humiliation of Portugal by France. What is even more hateful is that after being humiliated, he has to swallow his anger, because they are no match for the French at all.

However, Napoleon did not need to take Portugal seriously, and if he had been in the Age of Discovery, he might have taken the protests of the Portuguese ambassador seriously. However, at this time he was already the second colonial empire after Great Britain, and he did not need to pay any attention to the painless protests of Portugal.

Do you really think that a Franco-Prussian war can break France's bones? In addition to losing the banner of the first military power in Europe, the French Army retains most of its strength, just waiting for the next revenge. If France had fallen to the third-rate level of Portugal because of a defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, the Second Colonial Empire would have collapsed long ago and been carved up by the Great Powers.

However, what is even more infuriating is the statement issued by France on this matter, French Foreign Minister De Kaz said that France is a peace-loving nation, and asked the Congolese colonial side to immediately put an end to the obstacles and difficulties set up by the Congolese side against the French scientific expedition. It is also hoped that the two sides will be able to stop the dispute and resolve the matter at the negotiating table. If it continues to do so, France will not tolerate relenting. We will take countermeasures.

The countermeasure Paris was to make Portugal lose all of its colonies in Central Africa.

The French and Belgium ransacked the Portuguese colony of the Congo in an open manner, and showed a reasonable appearance, which Louis I was very angry about, and he believed that France was forcibly humiliating Portugal.

"France has made it clear, they are humiliating me! Damn it! Damn it! Remove the Congolese governor from office immediately! ”

Minister Vigille de Mello looked at the furious king and was at a loss for a moment. After finding out that the telegram was nothing more than a hoax by the Portuguese governor in the Congo in order to avoid impunity, Luis was outraged.

"It's just humiliating us, 100 years earlier, these French were still making revolutions, why are they qualified to humiliate Portugal like this!"

"Why!"

Regarding Louis I's attitude of "ancestors are also broad", Chief Minister de Mello could only comfort him and said, "But Your Majesty, we can bring in the Germans, the sworn enemies of the French." Even if we don't get the whole of the Congo, then we can promise the disputed lands to Germany and let the Germans handle them as our pawns. ”

Minister de Mello gave Louis I a lot more to look at, anyway, Portugal's strength is no longer able to control the entire Congo, so it is better to pull more people in, the higher the chance of Portugal fishing in troubled waters.

Luispo wanted to say something, but Minister Vila de Mello continued, "My Majesty, it is no longer the Portugal of 200 or 300 years ago. We are now facing the second largest colonial empire in the world. Although they had lost badly in the previous war, it was more than enough for France to clean up Portugal. We cannot afford to have a great power just because of this problem, especially when there is also the possibility of losing the African colonies. You have to endure it until the Germans pinch each other with them! ”

Louis I scratched his head, he thought for a long time, and finally could only sigh and say, "It seems that there is no other way to solve the problem now, and it can only be like this for the time being." Send a telegram to the ambassador in Berlin, telling him of our plans and promising the Germans. As long as they are willing to help us, they can give each other the other colonies that Portugal has discovered, as a token of gratitude. ”

The declining Portugal and the Germans, who were in dire need of expanding their colonial markets, came together, and when King William received a request from the Portuguese, he saw an opportunity.

The world's markets have been carved up, and Germany can only grab it if it wants to expand its territory. However, wherever he went, the British stood in his way, and now the Congo, which he had managed to send to his door, happened to be an excellent choice for Germany. For this reason, he wrote a letter to Bismarck, who was still recuperating in the Val Ching estate, telling him the good news.

Bismarck sat in the back garden of the farm, reading carefully the letter sent by King Wilhelm.

"Now Berlin has a golden opportunity, the conflict between the Portuguese colonists and the French in the Congo region, and now Portugal is turning to Germany for help, and they are willing to give up other areas as long as they help Portugal to hold the mouth of the Congo River. Prime Minister Bismarck, a colony of more than 300,000 square kilometers is now beckoning to Germany. ”

From the words of the letter, Bismarck could see that King Wilhelm's excitement was overflowing. He stared at the map and thought about it for a long time, thinking that this was an opportunity. In the previous war crisis, France used the good offices of other countries to win. If only the same excuse could be used to go to the protectors of the Portuguese colonies, and attack the French.

It's a game with no solution.

Bismarck took the letter and stood up and walked into the room, picked up the quill on his desk, and began to reply to King Wilhelm. He sat down in front of his desk, thought about it, thought about it for a long time, and finally wrote down a few words briefly.

"Proceed carefully, we do not know whether this meeting will be a different game, the cunning of the French, the greed of the British, and the stupidity of the Portuguese. We are fighting alone in this meeting, and it is naturally best to get the colony, and if we can't get the colony, don't force it too much......"

Bismarck, after being carried away by the anger of the previous period, has now calmed down and has a clearer sense of the situation.

He personally believed that in addition to Austria-Hungary as the most reliable ally, France was a superficial enemy, while Britain was a potential adversary, and the Russian Empire swayed from side to side and could not count on each other at all.

Bismarck stuffed the letter into an envelope, sealed it with fire paint, and ordered his lieutenant to send it to Berlin.

He looked at the sky that was gradually darkening, and his whole person fell silent. I had no way to participate in this meeting, but I only hoped that the German ambassador in London would be better.

"Napoleon!"

As soon as he thought of Berlin's face, a nameless anger welled up in his heart. He regarded the other side as an opponent of the entire Germanic people, and always believed that the moment when France surpassed Germany in strength would be the beginning of the other side's revenge.

"You wait for me!"

Bismarck roared and shook his fist into the sky, roaring angrily. 、

However, just as the King of Portugal was hooking up with William I, Napoleon also found his partner, Prime Minister Gladstone. It was the Parisian ambassador to London, Benay Eddy, who expressed his will to London.

"The French president is no less ambitious than the Napoleonic emperors before him."

Prime Minister Gladstone looked at the document and said, "Squeeze out the Portuguese and annex their colonies." The partition of the Congo between the two countries and the prevention of the German invasion were tantamount to saying that London would get a new colony as long as it made its political stance, which was a very good deal. ”

Chancellor Russell asked, "What do we do now, do we just promise them?" ”

"Promise, why don't we say yes? This kind of colony can be obtained for free, and if we eat it too ugly, it will only end up cheapening everyone else. It is better for us to unite with France and divide up the whole of Congo, and by the way, swallow the Portuguese colonies in one bite! ”

The careful calculations of the French and the greed of the British were destined to be a one-and-off deal. However, the French were not stupid, how could Napoleon leave the mineral-rich region to London, when only France had carried out detailed exploration and development of the Congo River basin. So it's up to him that Britain will get that piece of land.

Of course, the British at this time were not aware of the problem, and since Napoleon made such a request, Prime Minister Gladstone agreed to it all. There are enough British colonies, and there is no shortage of such a piece, since it has been sent to the door, there is no reason to refuse.

Gladstone, also not wanting to start a direct conflict with the Germans at the outset, proposed a joint conference in London to discuss a solution to the Congolese question.

"Minister Russell, go and get ready. At this meeting, we must let Berlin know that if Germany wants to expand its colonies, it must first pass the British hurdle. ”

Gladstone's vigilance and suppression of Berlin has never been relaxed, he just wants to let King William know that Britain and France have the final say on the land of Africa.

When Britain, as the international arbiter, announced the news of the peace talks, King Louis breathed a sigh of relief, believing that his plan had worked, and that no matter how greedy France was, it would not be able to stop the joint suppression of other countries.

King William was equally confident and prepared to stomp France to the end at this meeting.

Both Portugal and Germany thought they would win this time, but the two old powers remained silent and privately began to sign an agreement on how to divide the Congo.