"I don't agree to this condition."

In a hurry, he rushed to the palace and reported to Carlo that Bulgaria was on a good footing, and was beaten in the face.

He did not expect that the king's conditions for the Bulgarians would be rejected as soon as he opened his mouth.

For this, De Pretis considered it necessary to explain. "Your Majesty, the conditions of the Bulgarians are already very generous. The expansion of the port in Thessaloniki and the financing of the railway to Sofia, which will not only be able to exert economic influence on Bulgaria, but also have a lot of political benefits......"

Listening to the Prime Minister explain to him the benefits of Bulgaria's lucrative conditions, Carlo felt a pang of irritability in his heart, and he couldn't help but interrupt the other party's speech. "Prime Minister, the Bulgarians' conditions are prerequisite, this is to help them keep Salonica, have you considered that other countries may have different opinions?"

Faced with Carlo's words, De Preetis immediately explained. "Your Majesty, we've considered this before, but we don't think it's a big deal. The attitude of Serbia and Greece will be discussed by the Bulgarians, and we are mainly facing pressure from Britain, France, Austria, Russia and other major powers. In this regard, our Government considers that the attitude of Germany and France does not need to be taken into account, since they have little interest in the Balkans. Although Britain is inclined to the Balkan issue due to its relationship with Greece, its influence on the Balkan Peninsula is basically dominated by Greece, and it is not very interested in other regions and countries. Austria-Hungary is our ally, and as long as we concede some benefits from Bulgaria, we believe that we can gain the understanding of the other side, so the only thing to consider is the Russian attitude.

However, although Russia has the ability to exert influence on the Balkans, after all, it is separated by a Romania, so it is quite inconvenient in terms of actual influence and measures. In addition, our country's contacts with Russia are not intensive, and even if they want to take measures, it will only be in economic diplomacy, and we can afford this. ”

After a meal by De Pretis analysis, it seems that Italy only needs to put a certain amount of pressure to reap enough rewards.

This seemed to Carlo very incredible, when the government had become so confident that it completely regarded the pressure of Austria-Hungary as nothing.

In fact, this is a deviation between Carlo and the government's perception of Italy, in Carlo's mind, Italy is still that weak country, although it has the strength to crush other small countries, but in the struggle against the big countries, it is naturally at a disadvantage.

On the government's side, perhaps the result of Carlo's efforts to correct the situation, in the eyes of other Italian officials, Italy has opened up its territory to the outside world one after another, and it has the upper hand everywhere, so the current Italy is no longer the weaker in the Tunisian crisis. Economically, militarily, and politically, Italy has the confidence to make its voice heard in Europe, and other major powers must also give Italy the necessary respect.

It is precisely these two cognitive deviations that have led to differences of opinion between Carlo and the government on attitudes towards Bulgaria.

The government considered this condition sufficient to stand up for the Bulgarians, while Carlo believed that Italy was not yet in a position to fight Austria-Hungary and Russia in the Balkans.

Therefore, in the face of Prime Minister De Pretis's explanation, after thinking about it, Carlo still believes that Italy's focus cannot be shifted to the Balkans, even if Italy has already won a large territory in the region this time.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, we cannot accept Bulgaria's request this time, our country's current focus still needs to be on the domestic market, and improving our national strength is the first priority at present. Investing too much energy in the Balkans will only drag down our economy. ”

In the face of Carlo's explanation, Prime Minister De Pretis disagreed. "But we need markets, and Bulgaria's conditions this time are very conducive to our development of markets in the Balkans, which can also promote economic development."

De Pretis had already sent someone to calculate that according to Bulgaria's conditions, it would bring nearly 20 million lira to Italy every year. This benefit is already very good, enough for Italy to make the choice of fully supporting Bulgaria. Even if it costs a certain amount of money, it is worth it.

However, although De Pretis said how tempting the benefits of Bulgaria were, Carlo did not change his words, and he continued to ask Prime Minister De Pretis. "Your Excellency, what do you say is the core of our country's current diplomacy?"

Faced with Carlo's question, De Pretis replied without hesitation. "It's a treaty of alliance with Germany and Austria."

Yes, even Prime Minister De Pretis knows that the core of Italian diplomacy is the Triple Emperors Alliance. Italy has relied on this alliance to thrive in the last decade.

Hearing De Pretis's answer, Carlo continued to ask. "So is it worth it for us to fight Austria-Hungary for the sake of the Balkans?"

In fact, Carlo was not asking about Austria-Hungary, but about Germany behind it. In the Three Emperors Alliance, Italy is far less closely related than the other two countries, and this is not only known to Carlo, but also to the leaders of Italian politics.

Given the enormous benefits Italy received in the Three Emperors Alliance, Italy is now inseparable from this relationship. Not to mention the large territories that Italy is about to acquire at the moment, which will also take time to digest.

Not to mention that the other side had already been badly beaten in order to get Germany to agree to support this war, and if Austria-Hungary was offended again, what should be the way forward.

In this era, there are no clear boundaries and diplomatic relations between countries are not fixed, so Italy must take into account the attitude of its allies.

De Pretis, who was also well aware of this, was silent after hearing Carlo. Before, he was carried away by interests and thought about the problem too simply. It was only after Carlo proposed that he realized that if he fully supported it, it would inevitably ruin the relationship with Austria-Hungary, and that the alliance of the Three Emperors could be more important than that little benefit.

"It seems that the conditions of the Bulgarians are not good, it's a pity."

With Depretis's words, it was also announced that the Bulgarian attempt had failed completely.

And the ensuing negotiations were difficult to sustain in Bulgaria, which lacked the support of Italy.

In the face of other countries with malicious intentions, the Bulgarian delegation was left and right in the room.

A few days later, the Bulgarian delegation, with a grim face, even left the table in anger.

"These damn guys, they don't want to see our country completely reclaimed."

A member of the delegation who couldn't help but curse after walking out of the venue.

Prime Minister Stambolov, who was the head of the delegation, was indifferent to the scolding behind him. Because after Italy rejected their offer, he was mentally prepared.

But the thought of Salonica being returned to the Ottomans made him feel like he had been struck by a knife. In particular, Adrianople also had to be returned to the Ottomans, which was even more heart-wrenching.

However, although he left the venue angrily this time, Stambolov knew that this time it was just to let the countries see Bulgaria's dissatisfaction, and in the end they still needed to return to the venue. After all, after so many sacrifices, most of Macedonia must take it, otherwise it will disappoint the people in the country who are looking forward to it.

So after a month of sparring, the Bulgarians, who were quite dissatisfied, could only sign the treaty.

After more than a month of negotiations, the final countries signed the contract. Under this contract, the Ottomans lost most of their European and African territories in the war. Only Southern Macedonia (present-day Greek Macedonia) and Eastern Thrace remained.

And of these lost territories, Italy took the most, in Europe; They took Albania and Kosovo, as well as the South 12 Islands, led by Rhodes, which were also taken into their pockets. (Taking into account the feelings of other countries, Italy withdrew the least important of the Twelve Islands, half of them)

Moreover, they also guaranteed the independence of Crete, which could also be counted among its vassals. Coupled with the Libyan region it acquired, it can be regarded as a very profitable one.

After Italy, the seemingly aggrieved Bulgarians gained the second-largest amount of territory, and most of Macedonia was pocketed by them. Although its most coveted Salonija was not obtained, at least its gains were greater than its pay, and it was considered a big profit.

As for Greece and Serbia, although they each won a piece of territory by other factors, they were not comparable to Bulgaria. Therefore, in the face of the increasingly powerful Bulgarians, the two countries quickly reported a group, which made the future Balkan situation more and more turbulent.

As for the weakest Grand Duchy of Montenegro, a little benefit will make them last.

With the signing of the treaty, the war ended. But anyone with a discerning eye can see that the turmoil in the Balkans has only just begun. As for what the future holds, it will take the wisdom of all countries.