"Hello, Lord Marco."

"Hello, Lord Bacona."

In the palace of parliament in Rome, the Italian and Dutch negotiators over the dispute over Borneo finally sat together.

In order to reduce the impact of the negotiations, Italy and the Netherlands formed delegations headed by foreign ministers.

However, although the level has been lowered, the importance is clear to both parties.

No, after the two sides were seated, Marko, who was the foreign minister of the Netherlands, spoke. "The whole country is very indignant about the dispute between you and us in Borneo. However, in the spirit of maintaining the friendship between our two countries, we are willing to make concessions to this end, and we are willing to hand over the colony of Borneo to your country for management, but we have invested a lot of money in infrastructure construction in Borneo, so in line with the principle of who uses it, who pays, this cost should also be paid by your country. ”

Marko's words were a condition for the Dutch concession, and it could be regarded as giving an account to the country. The Netherlands did not transfer the Borneo colony under pressure from Italy, but that this colony could no longer be paid, and it happened that Italy wanted it, and it could be used to exchange some funds to improve people's livelihood, which is not ashamed.

Faced with the conditions of concessions from the Dutch, Bacona, who was the head of the Italian negotiators, nodded and replied. "This is also reasonable, your country has invested a lot of money in Borneo, but our country's finances are not very rich, and I hope that your country will not talk too much."

The Italian government had also negotiated the payment of funds to the Dutch. Paying part of the money in exchange for the remaining territory of Dutch Borneo would also be advantageous in resolving the problem, and Italy did not mind. Of course, if the Dutch lion opened his mouth, it wouldn't work, so there is this sentence added later.

"£3 million, which my country considers to be a very reasonable figure."

Marko, who was the Dutch negotiator, immediately voiced the demands of the Dutch.

In the face of the request made by the Dutch representative Marko, even though he knew that this was just a condition for the Dutch to ask for a sky-high price, this still caused a burst of laughter from the Italian representative. Three million pounds, that's the cost of two and a half Turin-class ships, just to compensate the Dutch, they have too much face. Besides, Italy is not rich either, and it is not worth spending money here at all.

Bacona, as the Italian negotiator, said even more bluntly. "Your Excellency Marko, your country's request is a bit incomprehensible."

The subtext is that the Dutch are unrealistic.

To be reasonable, is the Dutchman's request reasonable?

From a fair point of view, the Dutch asked for three million pounds at all. Don't look at the fact that Borneo is only about a third of Borneo in the hands of the Dutch, but there are still more than 200,000 square kilometers, although they have not yet been developed, let alone three million pounds, five million is not expensive.

But is the deal fair?

Italy prepared for so much time and spent a lot of money to force the Dutch to sell their colony of Borneo just to buy the rest of Borneo in the hands of the Dutch?

As long as normal people don't think so, don't forget that the Dutch in this colony had to be sold to Italy, and this is a buyer's market.

Of course, one might argue that the Dutch would not be able to transfer the land to someone else, such as the French, who had bad relations with Italy, and let the two countries fight over the land.

Those who can say this bad idea must not have a diplomatic concept. Leaving aside whether the French were willing to take the trouble out of the fire for the Dutch, the consequences of the Italian outrage alone were not something that the Dutch could bear.

To put it mildly, if you can't clean up the foreigners, you can't clean it up, what should Italy do if it turns its head and attacks the rest of the Spice Islands?

Do you sell these places to other countries as well?

It is not a colony divided by the countries into the Netherlands, and this is called blood loss.

Bakona, who also understood this truth, stretched out a palm and opened it. "We are willing to pay a price of 500,000 pounds for this."

Well, the counteroffer is only more than one layer, which is considered a broken bone.

Upon hearing the Italian counteroffer, the Dutch delegation knew that the negotiations would not be too short.

While the two countries were negotiating for Borneo, as the monarch of Italy, Carlo paid a little attention to the negotiation process, and he and the government focused more on another contingency situation.

The Abyssinians fought the Sultans on the shores of Lake Tana and won a resounding victory. In this battle, Menelik II, as the king of Abyssinia, used the enemy to show weakness, luring the sultans deep into the hinterland, and even surrendered the old capital of Abyssinian Gondar.

When the Sultan thought that Abyssinia was weak and became more and more pampered, he immediately cut off his rear road, and even used the familiar terrain to press in, and suddenly appeared near Gondar, besieging the enemy.

The sultans, who were besieged in Gondar, found out that they had fallen for the Abyssinians. Rather than fighting around Gondar, the enemy is much more powerful and has too many rifles and artillery.

The Sultans, who knew that they were invincible, chose to break through at this time, but it was too late to break through at this time. The Abyssinian Janissaries, who were on a mission, lived up to the expectations of their own king and stopped them at a place called Qurakya, less than fifty kilometers from Gondar.

The two sides fought for two days, but the Sultans failed to break through the interception, and by the time Menelik II himself arrived with the main force, the Sultans collapsed. Of the 120,000 people, only 40,000 escaped, and the remaining nearly 80,000 were either killed or captured.

And Menelik II not only drove the Sultans out of the Tanna Lake, but also rushed out of the Ethiopian plateau and occupied Damazin, Sinja, Adariv and other places.

Now, as long as he is ruthless, then it is not impossible to occupy Khartoum along the Blue Nile. Of course, this was only for a short period of time, and the Abyssinians would not be able to hold on for long before they were driven back.

The shrewd Menelik II, of course, knew that a temporary occupation would not be beneficial to him, so after obtaining the important land to enter the Sultan, he was even more induced, and waited for the Sultan to make an offer. With more than 60,000 captured hostages, the Sudanese did not come to sue for peace.

Menelik II had his own mind, and Italy, as the suzerain, could also benefit from it.

No, Carlo summoned the military and political officials to discuss the benefits that the Abyssinians' victory would bring to him.

"Your Majesty, this victory of the Abyssinians has come at a very timely time."

As a military boss, Field Marshal Kadolna, the Minister of War, was the first to speak. "This victory will give us the opportunity to go deep into Sudan. Although, given the attitude of the British, we can't do it ourselves, but the Abyssinians can. I suggest that another shipment of weapons could be sold to them, hinting at the blows they would inflict on the Sudanese, who would be of great interest in expanding on both sides of the fertile Blue Nile. ”

That's right, how could Marshal Cadorna, the representative of the hawkish military, give up the opportunity to expand Italian interests and let the Abyssinians occupy more land, whether it is a trade with others or in exchange, it will be used.

Although what Marshal Kadolna said seemed to be very reasonable, there were still people who did not agree. I saw De Pretis, who was the prime minister, stand up. "Your Majesty, I do not agree with Marshal Kadolna's thoughts. The status of the Sudan is too important for my country to show interest in the region in order to avoid complications. ”

Although neither of them said it explicitly, everyone knew that it was the British.

Carlo felt that what they said made sense, but one of the methods was radical, wanting to exchange more benefits for benefits, and the other was steady, which belonged to taking it when it was good.

Carlo also knew that the British had been eyeing an independent sultanate since they were driven out of Sudan. The fact that Italy has already occupied Libya has already aroused the vigilance of the British, and if they continue to reach out to the Sultan, it is difficult to avoid a backlash from the British.

It should be said here that the British Mediterranean Fleet has moved, and its home port has moved from Malta to the Pressure Mountain, almost twenty years earlier than the original time and space. The reason for this was that Italy had already occupied Libya, which made the British fleet in Malta feel somewhat awkwardly positioned.

Of course, Carlo was not a historian and did not know much about it, but he could feel the significance of the relocation of the Mediterranean Fleet by the British.

"Well, let's continue to sell arms to the Abyssinians, and hold it off for the better. Prime Minister, you talk to the British ambassador first, and first look at the attitude of the British people. ”

That's right, Carlo is now stable. He doesn't want to make more trouble this year, and everything will wait until this year.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

After hearing Carlo's reply, Prime Minister De Pretis was overjoyed, and Marshal Cardorna could only reluctantly accept it.

Carlo took in Marshal Cardolna's disappointed expression, and he then spoke. "Marshal Kadorna will stay first, there is something I need to discuss with you."