For von der Leyen's shameless words, even if Alenthal was favoring East Africa, the corners of his mouth twitched.

However, if you look at the scale of the war alone, East Africa's demands are completely reasonable, and if the scale of the South African war is placed on the European battlefield, it can also be ranked at the forefront.

It's just that what is Africa, what is Europe, Alenthal is sure that the losses caused by the South African War are not as great as the losses caused by Austria in the Venice War, after all, Venice itself is a big European city, even the surrounding economy is not bad, and most of the main battlefields of the South African War are wasteland, forests and grasslands, even if the war does not enter the core area of East Africa for ten years, it will not have much impact on Africa.

However, Alenthal could only say: "Okay, East Africa's request is quite reasonable, but we won't discuss whether the Portuguese can accept this price, we should focus on the Boer Republic and Cape Town, Natal issues, about these two areas, Your Excellency von der Leyen, you East Africa should make appropriate concessions to the British, after all, it is impossible for East Africa to occupy all good things." ”

He deliberately emphasized the word concession, after all, Salisbury did not speak just now, which already represents Salisbury's attitude to a certain extent.

Von der Leyen said very well: "For the conflict with the UK, it is actually just a misunderstanding between the two countries, in fact, historically, there is not too much dirt between us and the UK, so we are willing to respect the UK in East Africa, but the premise is that the UK cannot harm our interests." ”

The Earl von der Leyen had already taken the initiative to give way to the steps, and it was Salisbury's turn to speak.

In fact, at the time of the conversation between the two men just now, Salisbury had already understood that East Africa's colonization of Portugal was inevitable, and no matter how much Britain did, it would not be possible for the East African government to compromise on the issue of annexing the Portuguese colony.

In this case, it is no longer possible to continue to prevaricate East Africa with the Portuguese question, which will not end the war, and for Britain to continue the war in South Africa now will only pay more.

So Salisbury spoke: "We have our own plans for the Portuguese problem, but we certainly will not favor the culprit of the war in South Africa. ”

The rhetoric of von der Leyen and Salisbury is directly equivalent to putting the culprit of the South African war on Portugal, which is "playing soy sauce", and I wonder if the Portuguese would cry to death if they knew.

"We are now more interested in Cape Town and the surrounding area, and our attitude towards Cape Town and Natal has always been the same, both of which are sacrosanct and inviolable parts of the British Empire, and as for the Boer Republic, we also have important interests to have."

Salisbury basically singled out the bottom line of Britain, that is, the integrity of British territory and the existence of the interests of the Boer Republic.

"We can safeguard the relevant interests of the United Kingdom in Orange, the security of the property of British merchants, including the Kimberley, and the right to continue the exploitation and exploitation of the existing exploited minerals in Orange, provided of course, in accordance with our laws," von der Leyen said. ”

Salisbury frowned and said, "The Boer Republic is a legitimate regime after all, so it is best to continue to maintain it." ”

Von der Leyen said with a smile: "The Boers used to live around the city of Cape Town, and now they are returning to Cape Town, and as for the Boer Republic, which has actually existed in name only, in the past few months, except for the rebels and their families who have fled, most of the Boers have automatically become East African citizens, and we have de facto established government institutions in Orange." ”

"Hmph, this is just your unilateral rhetoric, what if it is threatened by you?"

"Of course not, Don't worry, Your Excellency Salisbury, listen to my detailed explanation, the original population of Orange is less than 300,000, and some of them have fled to Cape Town, and the Boers we have obtained from East Africa plus prisoners of war are only about 170,000, and at present, 130,000 of these 170,000 have been allocated to various regions of the country, even if we want the Boers to return to Orange, it is impossible to achieve it."

Von der Leyen's words are very clear, that is, the Boer Republic has completely existed in name only, and it is no longer possible for East Africa to spit out the Boer Republic again.

Von der Leyen continued: "The Orange River is the natural border between the two countries, and for the Orange region, it should be the natural boundary between East and Britain, and in addition we can withdraw our troops to the area north of Orange, and the Natal colony can restore the pre-war border between the two countries." Of course, as a matter of goodwill in East Africa, we can also appropriately reduce the war reparations claims against the United Kingdom. ”

"Hehe, is it possible that you really expect the empire to compensate you?" Salisbury scoffed.

Von der Leyen's words sounded like a renunciation to Salisbury's ears, and Britain had never compensated a country for war losses.

"In order to protect our national interests, we in Britain have also paid a huge price, including the navy and army, which exceeded 90 million pounds, and we have already given face to East Africa without asking you for war reparations, not counting the losses suffered by Durban, East London and other South African cities." Salisbury said.

At this time, Alenthal spoke: "On the issue of war reparations, I think that East Africa can ask the Portuguese government for it, of course, the British government should also make certain concessions, I think that the border between the two countries will be restored after the armistice, and at the same time, East Africa can make some compensation to the British." ”

After summarizing the opinions of the two parties, Alenthal gave a third set of plans.

Von der Leyen asked at this time: "Do we pay compensation to the British?" ”

East Africa, as the victorious side, naturally cannot be understood, after all, Britain still has more than 60,000 hostages in the hands of East Africa, no matter how you look at it, East Africa is in a dominant position.

"Be forgiving and forgiving, Britain has not made any effort in this war, and East Africa has already gained so much land, and the British government also needs to account for it at home, so this is a good way to solve the war." Alenthal said.

"Of course, this is certainly very unfair to East Africa, but I have a perfect plan that I don't know what the two think, that is, Portugal's war reparations can be paid by Britain in advance, so that Britain can get the money, but the Portuguese government will bear it, and East Africa will get the land, and both sides can get what they want."

Alenthal completely confused the representatives of East Britain and Britain, and then Alenthal interpreted his thoughts in detail.

That is, the winner of the South African War was East Africa, and Portugal had to cede land and pay reparations, and Portuguese land was obtained by East Africa, and the indemnity was obtained by Britain, of course, on the surface, this money must have been paid to East Africa, but East Africa and Britain privately signed an agreement, East Africa did not pay a penny, and Britain could obtain Portugal's debt relationship.

This is equivalent to the Portuguese land being taken away by East Africa at the same time, the economy is also controlled by the British, after all, Portugal already owes Britain a lot of debt, if the war reparations are implemented after the implementation of Portugal itself will be completely reduced to the British economic colony, after all, 40 million pounds plus Portugal's previous loan from the British, Portugal will not want to pay off for the rest of its life.

Of course, on the whole, Britain has losses and gains, and it is of course a good thing to be able to better control the Portuguese economy, but it is indeed difficult to recover the expenses of the South African war, but after controlling the local economy of Portugal, Britain has a way to get back the military spending, and the debt of war reparations alone can be half of the blood, and it can earn more with interest.

As for East Africa, it must be a big profit, but Britain can only stop losses in time, and the defeat of the South African war means that the last chance to contain East Africa is lost.

(End of chapter)