"What's going on, Your Majesty?"

The prime minister was a little confused by Carlo's words. It wasn't that Antonio couldn't understand, but that he knew what kind of person the king was, so he also knew that the king's words were not just literal.

"Let the Foreign Secretary tell you."

Under Carlo's gesture, Bacona spoke. "Our embassy in Madrid received a summons from the Spanish foreign minister, who wanted to buy a new battleship from our country."

Of course, the foreign minister's words were more than that, otherwise Carlo would not need to signal, and then Bacona continued to explain the reason why Spain bought the warship island.

This matter still has to start with the United States.

As we all know, Spain, which is currently sunset, is like a dilapidated household, and most of the family property has been ruined by it. But no matter what, the poor and settled ancestors are also richer, and they still have two treasures. Among the poor and settled treasures in Spain, Cuba is the most valuable. How valuable is Cuba? Let’s put it this way. At present, Italy’s most profitable colony in Borneo is far behind Cuba. The Cuban colony can provide Spain with an annual income of 5-6 million pounds (1 pound ≈ 25 lire).

And Cuba can provide such a high fiscal revenue, thanks to its unparalleled sugar cane cultivation and sugar industry. Cuba has a unique environment, which makes Cuba's sugar cane sugar the highest, so Cuba's sugar cane production reaches 30% of the world. Although the sugar at this time is not an expensive food, it is much more expensive than the two yuan a bag in later generations. It is also by virtue of the sugar industry that Cuba has become the richest region in the Caribbean.

The richness of Cuba is also a temptation for the United States across the sea.

As a late-developing country, although the industrialization of the United States did not start early, with its unique geographical environment and resources, the United States became the world's number one in the economic field in the first two years. As the saying goes, Qian Zhuang is cowardly. This American with big pockets wants to make his own voice in the world, let people know that the United States is no longer ordinary, and needs to be respected.

After a round of selection, Po Settle in Spain was lucky to be selected.

First of all, Spain is the first generation of world powers. Although it is now dilapidated, it is well-known enough anyway. Second, Spain has a colony of Cuba in the Caribbean, which is not far from the United States and is very rich.

At this time, Spain is also giving the Americans the opportunity to squeeze Cuba for a long time, which makes the local people in Cuba extremely dissatisfied. So in February 1895, a massive uprising broke out in Cuba. The United States used this to express its sympathy for Cuba. The U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution on April 6, 1896 to approve the official recognition of the Cuban rebels and urged the president to help them gain independence.

America's ambitions for Cuba have been fully exposed. Spain, as the owner of Cuba, immediately felt the heavy pressure.

At this time, when Spain faced the naked threat of the United States, on the one hand, it wanted to seek help from various countries, and on the other hand, it wanted to strengthen its own armaments, and purchasing warships from Italy was one of them.

And choosing to buy warships from Italy, on the one hand, you have a good relationship with the two countries, and the price will not be too high. Another reason is that it is fast, and the speed of getting the warships is relatively fast. As for how fast, it depends on when the Italian shipyard is building this type of warship.

What, you said it was built for the Navy, sorry According to the government and the Navy's own regulations, the shipyard has the right to dispose of the warship under construction before delivery. This is to find orders for shipyards, specially stipulated by the Italian government and navy

"Your Majesty wants to take the opportunity to win over the relationship with Spain?"

Antonio is worthy of being the prime minister. After listening to the details of the foreign minister's explanation, he immediately thought of Carlo's intention.

"Yes, I would like to win over Spain, but not in the west of France."

Obviously, Carlo was afraid that the prime minister would misunderstand his intentions. Although encircling France from three sides sounds good, Carlo knew that Spain should never expect the capital to be fooled.

"So, we want to strengthen Spain's strength, try to narrow the gap between Spain and the United States, and then plan. For example, can we start from other places, or let Spain voluntarily sell a certain place to ease its financial collapse? "

Well, although the Prime Minister's guess was not accurate, it was already very close.

Carlo stopped him from guessing and said. "I don't think one battleship can enhance the strength of the Spanish navy at all. To be able to contain the US Navy, Spain needs at least two new battleships, and it is best to add two cruisers."

Sure enough, he knew that it would not be easy for the king to find him. Antonio sometimes felt that the king himself liked to gather in hot spots. terrible eyes.

So after hearing the king's thoughts this time, Antonio was not surprised, but asked instead. "Then, Your Majesty, under what conditions are we going to purchase two warships without the Spanish knowing?"

"I'm going to use this as a loan, what do you think?"

Antonio frowned at the king's thought. "Your Majesty, this is not good. Sudden loans for no reason will arouse suspicion. It is better to use barter. We allow Spain to pay for two cruisers with wool and pyrite~lightnovelpub.net~Spain It must be delivered within three years. I think this way, the Spaniards will not be suspicious."

The wool and pyrite mentioned by Antonio are just what the Italian industry needs, not to mention the necessary raw materials for wool spinning. In this era, pyrite, in addition to being used as raw materials for chemical sulfur and sulfuric acid, can also be used as jewelry. Its light brass color and bright metallic luster are often mistaken for gold, so some parts have higher gloss. The ore can also be used as a decoration.

"That's no problem, but can Spain sell so many goods?"

Don't blame Carlo for asking this question. You must know that the two new warships are not cheap at all. The price of one is as high as 25.5 million lire, and the price of two ships is 51 million lire. This is not cheap at all.

"Your Majesty, I think Spain will not refuse this condition, because there is no more suitable choice than us."

It was Foreign Minister Bacona who said this, because he not only knows Spain, but also knows the character of its Prime Minister Antonio Canovas del Castillo. This Castillo Prime Minister is a dictator He will not give up on Cuba.

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . :