Boist left Rome the next day, but the coronation was not over, as the first day was only the main part, and there were several banquets to come.

Taking this opportunity, Alfonso reached a series of collaborations with people in South America, the main of which was, of course, regarding the import of struvite and saltpeter.

In recent years, because South America has been reluctant to do business with Spain, there has been quite little trade on the surface, although there are still some, but it is not enough at all.

In particular, Spain fought with Chile, Peru, and Bolivia in 1866 for guano, and even more so after losing the fight, almost offending more than 80% of the struvite export market.

There was no choice but to carry out entrepot trade through France and Portugal, and the cost was sharply higher.

The export price of a ton of guano in the first year was about 17 pounds, which can be said to be a high-value mineral, and the higher the unit price, the higher the total cost will be.

After the rapprochement with Peru this time, there is finally one less matter to rely on France.

In addition to this, Alfonso also pitched his ironclad to Peru.

There were 13 of them, and two more were purchased from Genoa, and five of the captured ironclads were repaired, bringing the number of ironclads in Spain to 20.

This amount, this tonnage, can already match France, and the only one who can steadily surpass Spain is the United Kingdom.

However, Spain does not need such a large navy, not to mention how much maintenance cost is required for so many ironclad ships every year, and it even affects the subsequent construction plan.

At this stage, the forms of "sideside guns" and "shipside guns" will eventually be eliminated, and if they are forcibly retained, there may be an embarrassing situation in which there are annual expenditures, but they are useless at critical moments.

Alfonso had originally intended to dispose of these redundant ships through Japan, the Ottomans, and Obikiyo.

But the Ottoman side talked well at first, but the Sultan of Aziz suddenly fell, and the new Murad V did not like the navy, so the Ottoman business collapsed.

It is obvious that Japan can't handle many warships just by taking the Qing and Japan, Japan is a little better, Spain has always had little influence on the Qing State, and it is difficult to say whether the other party will buy it.

Alfonso was having a headache with this, and Peru sent it to the door.

Peru's economy is based on guano and nitrate, which account for more than 70% of the country's total income, and can be compared with the oil countries of later generations.

The industry of such countries is generally poor, and Peru is no exception, and weapons and ships need to be purchased from foreign countries.

And they just recently had the need to buy ships.

In recent years, Chile, Peru and Bolivia have disputed the ownership of the Atacama Desert.

Although some agreements have been put on hold for the time being, no one can say when the bomb will explode.

In the 1866 treaty between Chile and Poland, the output of the Atacama Desert was divided between the two countries, and Peru only picked up some soup and water to drink, and it is impossible to say that they had no opinion.

Sure enough, Peruvian diplomat Toma made it clear his interest as soon as he heard about the proposal.

In addition to being a diplomat, he is also a mine owner, and even has a small and medium-sized mining company under his name, and he can also take a little profit if Peru can take the Atacama Desert.

"Your Majesty, I am personally very interested, but this is a business of hundreds of thousands of pounds, and I only have the right to ask for instructions from the country, and I can't make a decision if it can be done."

Alfonso smiled, he just met at the ball and said it casually, and he didn't expect to achieve it immediately.

"It's okay, but it's rare to see such a cheap ironclad, I hope you can seize the opportunity."

The ironclad he recommended to Thoma was the Castelfeda, an ironclad ship with a displacement of 4,200 tons.

The cost of an ironclad ship of this size in Britain was about 270,000 pounds, but this ship was built by Italy itself and cost 330,000 pounds.

Alfonso's price was slightly higher than the British cost: 280,000.

The reason why it is lower than the market price is because the ship has experienced several battles, and even returned to the factory for a small repair, which is considered an old ship, and it has to be depreciated to some extent.

The 4,200-ton ship is considered medium in size among ironclads, not too large, but it is enough for Peru to dominate.

You know, at this time, no country in the whole of South America except Brazil can take out an ironclad ship.

The Castelfeda is capable of striking at the wooden ships.

It is on this basis that Alfonso believes that Peru has no reason to refuse, it is useful or inexpensive, so what is there to hesitate about?

After saying goodbye to Thoma, Andrew couldn't help but congratulate on the side: "Congratulations to Your Majesty on successfully buying 280,000 pounds." ”

Alfonso smiled casually when he heard this: "This is more than 280,000, it may be a business of nearly one million."

I don't think the three countries will be able to fight for a while, and maybe we will be able to sell a few ships to Chile and Argentina. ”

When he said this, Alfonso was very confident that no matter how cheap British shipbuilding was, there was a cost, and they were doing a business without capital.

In terms of price war, Britain must not be able to compete with Spain.

As long as the nerves of South American countries are stimulated through Peru, a few ships may be sold out before they can be sold out without taking Qingguo to sell.

What's more, this is the first ship sale case in South America other than Brazil, as long as you develop inertia, the ironclad ships behind can also shoot here.

Spain's own naval build-up would only provoke British oppression, and Alfonso would not do so until he had enough strength.

But the only way to ensure that a large fleet can be quickly exploded when needed is to support its own shipbuilding industry through foreign markets.

That's what the workers who had been extradited from Italy had done just that.

Combined, Spain and Italy may not be long before they catch up with France's shipbuilding capacity.

At the end of the three-day coronation ceremony, Alfonso was full of harvest, not only receiving the news that Austria-Hungary wanted to start a war against Prussia, but also saw an opportunity to repair relations with South America.

When Alfonso returned to Madrid, a week flew by.

On March 6, Austria-Hungary, as they say, delivered an ultimatum to Prussia on time.

The ultimatum demanded that Prussia withdraw from South Germany, return Bavaria to Ludwig II, and automatically be at war if Austria-Hungary did not receive the news at 8 a.m. on March 7 (12 hours later).

One stone stirs up a thousand waves!

Even when the Franco-Prussian War broke out, Europe was never so shocked.

Because the Franco-Prussian conflict has been going on for a long time, and Austria-Hungary, it is widely believed that he has been subdued by Prussia in the Brothers' War.

I didn't expect Franz to respond to this speculation with such tough means, and they were not convinced!

Hit Italy first, then Prussia, and the north and south bloomed!

As the news spread outward, the whole of Europe moved as a result.

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