Chapter 289

The sudden economic crisis has made it even more difficult for the turbulent Sudanese government.

Although the Ottoman Empire was still an agricultural country, the withdrawal of funds from British and French capital still dealt a heavy blow to them.

Out of desperation, the Sudanese government was forced to make concessions, and the only problem was money.

Ade fought hard and said: "Your Excellency, your price is too low, there is no such cheap land in the world!"

Johannes said calmly: "Don't worry, Your Excellency, our quotation is based on the international market price of comprehensive land transactions.

Not long ago, we negotiated with the Russians. They intend to sell Alaska, more than 1.5 million square kilometers of land. The Tsarist government only quoted 4 million Aegis. Our bid has been very sincere. "

Yes, the Russian Foreign Minister proposed to sell Alaska. This land can't make any money at all, but there is still worry about the British calling.

However, due to the opposition of Nicholas I, the great Tsar felt that selling the land would damage his glorious image, and the matter was shelved.

This matter is also causing uproar in the world. As a diplomat who cares about international affairs, Xi Ade is no stranger to it.

"Your Excellency, Alaska is a big block of ice, and it is worthless at all!"

Johannes shook his head and said: "Alaska still produces leather, the Bering Strait is rich in fishery resources, and the southeast and south-central have a temperate climate, which is rich in wood.

Also, there is an inland basin, we have sent people to investigate, the Matanuska Valley area has fertile land, which is very suitable for agricultural production.

Referring to the Nordic region, it is not a problem for this piece of land to feed tens of millions of people. By contrast, the Libyan region is all sand.

The real valuable areas of the land we want to buy are only a few islands. If your country is worried that the price is too low, we can kick out the Libyan area and calculate it separately.

So for a total of more than 20,000 square kilometers of island area, we bid 20 million Aegis, which has broken the world record for the transaction price of large comprehensive land. "

Zhang Ade was stunned. Alaska was an ice cube in his impression, and the population living in this era did not necessarily exceed 10,000.

As a result, Johannes actually found such a valuable thing, these are not just made up, completely the information provided by the Russians.

Wang Po knows how to sell melons and boast, and the Russians are no exception. In order to sell a good price, it is very natural to exaggerate a little.

If there is nothing, why sell it? Even with so many resources, the Russians' offer is still only 4 million Aegis, which shows how worthless the land in this era is.

To put it bluntly, everyone is not short of resources now, and only the developed land is valuable. No amount of resources are worthless until they are developed.

Who has lost their minds and went to Alaska to fish, log, and farm? It doesn't matter if it is frozen into a dog, the key is that the cost of local land development is still high.

The land of the Chosen Country is too fertile. After the development of the Great Plains of the United States, there is too much food to be eaten, and every year I have to worry about the slow sales of the food.

In this context, Alaska's land will naturally lose its agricultural development value, and idiots will invest in agriculture in the past.

Not to mention in this era, the coastal plains have not been fully developed, and the development cost of inland basins is so high that fools will run over to develop them.

Otherwise, the Russians have already organized immigration, and why should they worry about being robbed by the British?

Anyway, the negotiation is just bragging, and Johannes naturally doesn’t mind depicting Alaska better, omitting the cost of land development, and depreciating the value of Libya to lower the price.

Zhang Ade argued: "Your Excellency Count, no matter how you say Libya, there is such a large area, even if the inland is desert, but the coastal area still has tens of thousands of square kilometers of fertile soil.

There are still more than 500,000 or 600,000 people in the local area, and there is a ready-made labor force. Your country can develop it directly. The value is much higher than that of the desolate Alaska. 8 million Aegis is really not high.

And these islands, their most important value is not economic value, but strategic value.

Cyprus is the junction of Asia, Europe and Africa, and its strategic position is very prominent; Crete is in the core of the Mediterranean Sea and radiates to the Aegean Sea...

These islands are definitely not of pure economic value. After adding strategic value, they need at least 35 million Aegis. "

Johannes replied with a smile: "Your Excellency, this price is too high, we don't need the so-called human resources at all. That's it, all the people on the land we traded belong to you.

Since you think strategic value is important, we don't want any other islands except Crete and Cyprus.

Everyone can accept it like this. I raise the price again. How about 30 million Aegis? This price is not low! "

The price of 30,000,000 Aegis is indeed not low. If the Vienna government does not need to offset the so-called creditor's rights, Xi Ade directly agrees.

Obviously, Johannes was not prepared to spend much money from beginning to end, and used the bonds purchased at the cabbage price as the payment for the land purchase, and a higher price was acceptable.

Ade directly showed his trump card and said: "Your Excellency Count, we can make concessions again, the debts of the two countries are written off, and your country pays another 10 million Aegis for the land purchase, how about it?"

If gold and silver are paid, the Vienna government will not agree to this price in any case, if it can

If it is offset in kind, then the problem is not big.

When the economic crisis broke out, Austria had a large backlog of surplus products, and it was also a good choice to be able to deal with it.

Johannes pondered and replied: "If your country can repatriate the people on these lands, then it's a deal. We can pay the bill with the materials your country desperately needs, and make up for the shortfall in cash."

After a moment of silence, Xi Ade gave the answer: "The immigration costs are all borne by your country!"

There is no other way. First, the Balkan Peninsula was lost, and then a civil war broke out. Now the population of the Ottoman Empire has dropped to the lowest point in a century, and the total population is already less than 13 million.

Once the Civil War ended, labor shortages became a pressing reality. Although there are not many people on the trading land now, it is also a supplement to them.

Johannes replied: "Yes!"

...

The two reached an agreement, which does not mean that the matter is over. It is impossible for Britain and France to watch Austria occupy many islands in the Aegean Sea. Next, Johannes will continue to argue with the representatives of Britain and France.

Especially with the British, John Bull still has Kofu Island in his hands. If he does not take down this portal, the Vienna government will have trouble sleeping.

In contrast, the French are quite easy to pass up, and both parties have an agreement in advance. Selling a few islands to make them military bases, and everyone sharing the interests of the Aegean Sea, the matter is done.

Anyway, there is not much else in the Aegean Sea, that is, there are many islands, there are five or six thousand, and there are hundreds of them suitable for human survival. The Vienna government did not plan to occupy this place from the beginning.

...

The British representative Nigel said dissatisfiedly: "Your Excellency Count, it is too much for your country to trade the land of the Ottoman Empire with us!"

"No, we have reached an agreement with the Ottoman Empire. We have invested forty-five million Aegis to buy their many islands in the Aegean and Libya.

Now we are using Austria's islands in the Aegean Sea to exchange the Ionian Islands. This is the map of the Aegean Sea. You can take a look. The red dots are all Austrian islands, and the rest are Greek and Ottoman islands. "

Johannes deliberately omitted Cyprus. During this period, the British had already started colonial activities in Cyprus. Of course, this was a non-governmental organization and had nothing to do with the London government.

Nigel did not pay attention to this little detail. Cyprus did not have much strategic value in this era. Before the advent of aircraft, the strategic value of this island was not high.

In contrast, the dozen islands in the Aegean Sea have higher strategic value. Once the Russians break out of the Dardanelles, this is the island chain blockade.

In order not to irritate the Ottoman Empire too much, so as not to push the Sudanese government in a hurry, their offshore islands are not within the scope of the transaction.

Now that it is trading with the British, there are not many valuable islands that the Vienna government has come up with, and it is more about the Indian issue.

From 1857 to the present, the Indian rebellion has not been extinguished, but has become more serious. The London government has no idea of ​​continuing to delay time.

This is of course the credit of the Russians. Without the selfless assistance of the tsarist government, the Indians would not have been able to raise such a big wave.

It's hard to say what role the Vienna government played in it. In short, Austria apparently did nothing, and at most provided a small loan to the Russians.

This is a friendly symbol of the alliance between the two countries, and it is definitely not money to support the Indian rebellion. What the Russians did with the money has nothing to do with the Vienna government.

Nigel didn't have time to continue to consume it. Now that Austria supports the Indians with one million Aegis weapons and ammunition, they may not be able to suppress it even if they spend ten million pounds.

There are too many people in India, and if you stir up a group at will, with the help of the Russian instructors, they can bring them huge trouble.

"For this deal to be done, your country must immediately drop its support for the Indian insurgents, including financial aid to the Tsarist government."

Johannes replied innocently: "Your Excellency is overly concerned, the Vienna government is peace-loving, how could it possibly support the chaotic party in India?

As for the question of supporting the Russians, that is even more nonsense. The Vienna government is not financially rich, but it does not have such a great capacity. "

It is okay to do small tricks in the dark, but it is absolutely impossible to admit it on the surface. All countries do that. Now, don't the British also smuggle arms into Nigeria to support the native kingdoms and cause trouble for Austria?

Anyway, there is no evidence, everyone is pulling each other's backs, and that's it. The integrity of the foreign powers is so high, if they don't stab each other on the bright side, then everything is easy to say.

Nigel listened to Johannes's overtones, that is, everything is easy to talk about, and it is inevitable that it will not be so disruptive.

"Then best, as long as your country promises to support us in suppressing the Indian rebellion, then this land transaction case is easy to negotiate."

Johannes was very cooperative and assured: "Please rest assured, Your Excellency, colonies are also part of a country's sovereignty.

The Vienna government firmly supports your government's practice of safeguarding national sovereignty and opposes all external interference. "

This is international politics, and everything depends on interests. In West Africa and the Mediterranean, Britain and Austria reached a tacit understanding. The British acquiesced in Austria's expansion. Naturally, the Vienna government would give up its actions in India.

On March 12, 1858, the New Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire signed the "Mediterranean Land Transaction Treaty", and the Vienna government contributed 4586

80,000 Aegis, purchased Libya, and more than 300 islands including Crete and Cyprus.

Among them, 35.868 million Aegis were paid for by creditor's rights and late payment fees, and the remaining 10 million Aegis were paid in kind. Don't think about cash, it is not difficult at all to collect 10 million Aegis materials.

The next day, Johannes signed the Aegean Islands Transaction Treaty and the Territorial Replacement Treaty with Britain and France respectively.

The much-anticipated conflict in the Mediterranean has been resolved, the three countries of Britain, France and Austria have once again made it clear that they are in the sphere of influence in the Mediterranean, and North Africa has officially been included in the sphere of influence of the French.

Obviously, John Bull bleed this time and gave up a lot of interests in the Mediterranean in exchange for the support of France and Austria on the Indian issue.