Welcome to 19th-century Europe, where strength reigns supreme

The land of British Malaya can be said to be a geomantic treasure, and it is no exaggeration to describe it as extremely rich.

There is a large amount of tin ore, which is needed in large quantities for the industrial revolution. In the future, a steady stream of natural gas and oil will be discovered, as well as other rare metal ores such as antimony, manganese, bauxite, chromium, titanium, uranium, cobalt and other rare metal ores. .

The rubber needed to build airplanes and cars in the future is also abundant here.

But in the 19th century of Blue Star, it was now at the end of the first industrial revolution. Yes, but the mining technology and the utilization of resources were not yet perfect.

The resources that the British have discovered in British Malaya are only a large amount of metals and coal mines. In addition, it is relatively close to the Dutch colony, and the British have not developed too much here.

Having said that, casually assigning the territory of the British Empire directly to another country will be a loss in this business. Although Britain itself is not so crazy in its desire for territory, but after all, if Prussia cannot create super value, then Britain will never buy it, and they are not fools.

What's more, there is one of the most important transportation hubs here, the Strait of Malacca. This is what the British really value. The British cannot give up here, just like they are unwilling to give up Gibraltar.

John responded directly, "We can't hand over British Malaya directly to Prussia. If Prussia is unwilling to join the war, we can continue the war with our own troops."

"No, no, no, Prussia is very willing to help our British friends, but it is obvious that Prussia does not have the ability now. To bear the pressure of going to war with a superpower, only Britain may be able to do it. If we go to war, the worst result will be The success of industrialization over the years has been burned down, and the price is unbearable for Prussia. Even if the British Empire loses this war, it will not suffer much loss. We will accompany you to bet on the victory of this war."

Tina began to flatter the British again. She first emphasized Britain's advantages in this war, first of all, it was well-equipped and well-trained, with strict military discipline and complete organization.

It also has a powerful navy, but its disadvantages are also obvious. Britain and the Ming Dynasty are separated by an ocean, and the number of troops they can project is very limited. If they fight a war of attrition, it will be more harmful to the UK. In the home court of the Ming Empire, the advantage of the Ming Dynasty is that it has a large number of people. With a strong mass, they can fight a war of attrition, but their equipment is not good, their training is not good, and their tactics are backward.

Therefore, the optimal solution given by Tina is to fight as quickly as possible, and the Prussian army is good at this.

John also had to admit that what she said did make a little bit of sense, but just being reasonable didn't move him.

He had learned about Prussia's economic and industrial reforms. They chose to give priority to the development of heavy industry and put a lot of effort into military industry, while investing relatively little in light industry. This would also result in the binding of the industrial system to the military. If the war If it loses, Prussia will have no money to repay the loans it borrowed.

This is just John's guess. Prussia may indeed have a backup plan, but in any case, if it loses, Prussia will definitely suffer a greater blow.

After a slight reply, Tina said, "Mr. John, you are a sensible person, and we in Prussia are not a reckless country. How about this, we buy the British Empire from the United Kingdom for one million pounds." Half of the territory of Malaya, the repayment period is twenty years.”

Tina circled the Sabah and Sarawak areas of British Malaya, which were the areas bordering the Dutch East Indies and were the most fertile areas.

When John heard Tina's proposal to purchase this territory, he immediately said that it was a business, so it was not out of the question. If Prussia only wanted Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia, then the price of one million pounds could still be considered.

In the eyes of the British, this business is simply profitable. The purchasing power of one million pounds in this era is quite amazing. There is certainly a reason why the Prussian government is willing to pay such a high price, but since it is a business, And it can win allies. If you don't do it, you'd be a fool.

But John felt that one million was too little, and he had to add a little more. If it was paid off in twenty years, some interest would have to be added. But the price John gave was two million pounds, which doubled.

Just like bargaining at the vegetable market, for this price, Tina had to argue with the entire British Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Lord of the Admiralty.

Anyway, after many rounds of bargaining, Tina finally reached an agreement: [-] million pounds, to be repaid in twenty years, with an annual interest of [-].

Tina's face turned dark. These British people were willing to give us a piece of land even though they could just grab it. He really made me cry to death.

The interest rate was worse than loan sharking, but there was nothing we could do. If the quarrel continued, August came back from shopping. Tina’s butt hurt from sitting in the parliamentary chair for five or six hours, so she didn’t want to talk nonsense anymore.

In the end, it was settled. Of course, now we only got a contract with the UK, but it was of no use, because Tina would definitely not be able to get the money, and Congress would have to allocate funds, which was another troublesome matter.

……

While Tina was quarreling with the British parliamentarians, August was traveling with the Queen of England. They visited many famous attractions, such as the British Museum, Oxford University, Cambridge University, etc.

The streets in London, UK, are obviously much cleaner, at least much cleaner than Paris. Of course, we cannot just look at the phenomenon. London is the center of world trade. To show the strength of the UK, it is not difficult at all to pay more attention to the maintenance of London. understand.

There are also a lot of newly built buildings in the UK, which to a large extent overshadow the dilapidated old cities. They give people a very new feeling. Compared with London, the old cities of Paris account for a larger proportion. If you want to build a building in Paris, It can be said to be extremely difficult and basically unrealistic.

Compared to Paris, London is more open. It not only retains a large number of medieval buildings, but also a large number of modern buildings after industrialization, which are more concise and in line with Auguste's aesthetic.

In order to take care of August, Victoria also invited her to the Royal Theater in the UK, which is the largest opera house in the UK. Victoria directly booked the venue and also invited some other nobles.

It’s just that August didn’t pay much attention to it.

Music from various countries is often played in the opera house, such as Bach's "Goldberg Variations" and "Destiny" by Beethoven, the king of symphonies. These are all famous songs that people in the upper class like very much, but they are hard to impress. August, she's not sensitive to any of this.

She couldn't even recognize a few of these tunes, which couldn't be helped. Her interest in music was very shallow. Basically, apart from the kind of music that could particularly arouse people's emotions, August had no interest in other music.

Other operas are even more incomprehensible. Even so, August must maintain her own attitude and give a fair evaluation. She will whisper in Victoria's ear privately.

This was August's habit when appreciating works of art. Victoria felt that August was an interesting person. She was not constrained by trivial matters and was good at expressing her emotions. She was not constrained by etiquette and was able to express her own opinions.

Until the end of the last performance, this long torture finally passed. Following the luxurious motorcade, August left the opera house. It was already around six o'clock in the afternoon, and she had to go back to pick up Tina and the others.

By the way, let’s listen to the results of today’s discussion.