After solving the puzzle of Governor Lanfang, Carlo felt much better. After all, this is related to trade with the Qing State, and this may be the only profitable colony of Italy in the past decade.

In addition to the Lanfang colony, Carlo was also concerned about Italian colonization in Somalia.

For example, Italy currently controls a few areas such as Massawa, Kinda, and Zaun in Eritrea, and the vast inland has not yet been occupied, while in other places, such as Djibouti, which was taken over from France, and Berbera, Mogadishu, and other places in Somalia. At present, there are also deep into the interior, all in the coastal areas.

"That's not going to work, you need to speed it up."

After learning about Italian colonization in East Africa, Carlo was not very satisfied. Of course, he also knew that running East Africa had not been much of a priority before, because Italy had focused on Tunisia at the time. It was only after the setback in Tunisia that it began to increase investment, but due to Italy's national strength, the increase in investment was also limited.

"Chief of the guard, invite the prime minister over, and say that I have something to discuss."

Carlo asked the chief of the guard to invite the prime minister, and of course the colony could not lack the support of the military, so the minister of the army and navy was also invited.

The military was most active in the development of the colony, and before the prime minister arrived, two generals rushed over.

So when the prime minister arrived, he found that the two military bigwigs were already waiting for him.

"Sorry, it's late."

In the face of the Prime Minister's words, the two generals who had already arrived said that they had just arrived.

Seeing that the leaders of the military and government had arrived, Carlo began to state the purpose of his rally. "As we all know, our current colonial activities are basically in East Africa. And a lot of these are funding private expeditions, which is too slow, and we need to speed it up, and I think it should be led by the government. ”

"I think it's doable."

"I think I can, too."

Carlo's words immediately attracted the support of the two military tycoons, although the cost of financing colonial activities was small, but the efficiency was too slow, and the government was much more efficient than private ones. More importantly, when the government comes into play, the military needs to be used, which is of course a good thing for the military.

In the face of the support of the two military bigwigs, De Pretis, as the prime minister, gave them a cold look. "I don't object to it, but the government doesn't have the extra money to pay for colonization."

The Prime Minister's words made the two military bigwigs stuck, how to send troops without money, and how to open up colonies without money?

"I remember that the government prepared 80 million lire to compete with the Dutch for Lanfang, but it only cost less than 50 million lira, why is there no more?"

The counterattack from the Minister of War, Admiral Golek, did not hesitate to reveal that the Army knew everything about government funding.

In the face of the Secretary of War's point, Prime Minister de Pretis smiled slightly. "It seems that the military cares a lot about the government."

"It's just that the military is naturally sensitive to funding."

In the face of the Prime Minister's words, Admiral Lake still gave an explanation, but the momentum was obviously much lower than just now.

"Then do you know that the remaining costs have been included in the Lanfang development expenses."

"Ah~"

The Prime Minister's words made the two military generals look surprised, the government is moving too fast.

Seeing that the military was not the prime minister's opponent, Carlo could only go down in person. "If the government is short of funds, then the royal family can advance some of it, and of course this requires the government to return the money to the royal family in next year's budget."

Carlo's words made the prime minister's excuse for money immediately untenable, and everyone knows the wealth of the royal family. Although it cannot be said that you can take a few hundred million lira casually (which requires the sale of the royal property in various places), but tens of millions of lira, the royal family can still take it out. In particular, the Prime Minister also knows that His Majesty has taken a lot of benefits from the temples of India.

"Thank you for your generosity, but although the government has no money, it is also very important for Italy to develop colonies in East Africa, so let me think about where to move some funds when I go back."

This is the prime minister in the soft, compared with before, after there is a big royal financier, the military can completely lead the colonial activities, which he does not allow, colonization can only be under the leadership of the government, which is why the government has no money just now.

It's just that he didn't expect that this majesty could make such a big determination.

Now that the prime minister has been relented, Carlo certainly will not embarrass the prime minister. "Since the government is considering diverting money from other places, it's not a good idea. If you don't want to issue bonds, the royal family can set an example and buy a batch. ”

"Then I thank the royal family for their generosity."

Faced with the steps given by the king, the prime minister immediately took it.

The topic of colonization can continue to be continued.

"According to our intelligence, the current situation in East Africa is the most favorable moment for us. Among them, our main competitor, the United Kingdom, has just been driven out of Sudan by the Mahdi, and according to their habits, they will not give up the occupation of Sudan, so our country only needs to face the indigenous people in East Africa. It should also be noted that in Abyssinia Johannes IV, the black emperor, has united the chaotic Abyssinia, and it is better to be cautious about our colonization activities in Eritrea. ”

After the chief of the guard told the current information in East Africa, the Minister of Army and Navy already had his own judgment, of course, they already knew this information, but it would not hurt to listen to it more often.

"Our army can send 5,000 men for colonization activities in the Somali region."

"Our navy can be responsible for protecting this area and providing the necessary assistance."

That's right, the army and navy believe that in terms of colonial activities in East Africa, they can give priority to the Somali region.

In the face of the idea of the Navy and Army, Carlo also agreed. Although Eritrea is closer, it is really not suitable for conflict with Abyssinia, an East African powerhouse, and its highland terrain is very unfavorable to Italy, and besides, there are no resources to make Italy covet except poverty.

As for His Excellency the Prime Minister, he also has some knowledge of the situation in East Africa, and he also believes that it is more appropriate to give preference to soft persimmon pinching, so he also agrees with the military's proposal.

However, in order to consider the purpose of saving money, he still gave priority to drawing a line for the military. "This time the government can only come up with 30 million lire of funds, two generals, you need to think about the scale."

"Rest assured, Your Excellency Prime Minister, we will not exceed the funding limit."

Facing the Prime Minister's words, the two generals patted their chests and assured.