Chapter 921 Spain does not play its cards according to the routine
And it is naturally impossible for Ernst to say such stupid things to his subordinates as "I am a time traveler. It is clear that the United States will conflict with Spain...".
Ernst said: "Of course we don't intend to offend Spain. After all, I have a good relationship with the Spanish royal family."
The royal family of Hechingen used to be before Alfonso XII ascended the throne. They have made great efforts, so the relationship between the two countries has always been friendly, of course. , now Alfonso XII has been offline in November 1895, and the current king of Spain is his son, Alfonso XIII. The relationship between the two countries has not changed due to the change of king, not to mention the relationship between the two countries. The connection is that even the current strength of East Africa deserves Spain's attention.
After the South African War, the relationship between East Africa and Spain even got closer. After all, Spain and Portugal next door were not too confrontational. At that time, Alfonso XII wrote a special letter to Constantine to express his congratulations.
“So, how we get Mindanao requires your Ministry of Foreign Affairs to play a role.” Ernst continued.
“What do you mean, Your Highness?” Herman asked with some confusion.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs came forward and we purchased the ownership of Mindanao from Spain.” Ernst explained.
This is indeed a solution, but Herman is not optimistic about it. After all, although selling land is not unprecedented, the most classic one is the Alaska colony purchased by the royal family, but could Spain be the Tsarist Russia at that time? Herman naturally did not believe that Spain would want to sell its colonies. After all, there was news that Russia was selling Alaska.
But it’s not a bad thing to give it a try. It’s more reliable than a group of agents from the National Defense and Security Administration staging a coup on the island.
So Herman asked: "Your Highness, how much do we spend to buy Mindanao?"
In Herman's opinion, whether we can get Mindanao still depends on how much we spend. If the price is right, let alone Mindanao. , they are sold even in India, but no one can afford that price.
In response to Hermann's question, Ernst did not say anything clearly, but stretched out two fingers.
“Twenty million? Pounds or US dollars? Is it too high? After all, a large piece of land like Alaska only cost a few million US dollars. Even if the currency has depreciated now, it is not very cost-effective.”
Ernst said: "It is the Rhine Guild, how can it be pounds and dollars, and it is the highest price. It is impossible to exceed this price."
Twenty million rhine guilders is almost three million US dollars. If we look at the US$20 million that the United States paid to Spain in its previous life, it is indeed more sincere to buy Mindanao at this price. After all, East Africa is not buying Luzon.
Of course, the accounts cannot be settled this way. After the Spanish-American War, the United States gained not only the Philippines, but also colonies such as Cuba, Guam, and Puerto Rico.
As for 20 million, which seems like a lot, in fact, Cuba alone is much more than this price. At most, it is a little "comfort" from the United States to Spain. After all, Spain is a great power, even if it loses to the rising star of the United States. , according to the strength of the United States at the time, it did not want to completely offend Spain.
Purchasing Mindanao for US$3 million seems very insincere. After all, Mindanao accounts for nearly one-third of the Philippines. And if East Africa offers this price, why should Spain accept it? It's not like Spain was defeated by East Africa and forced to cede land.
Herman's mental thought at this time was that even if Mindanao had little value, Spain would be unlikely to sell its colony. Of course, Herman did not say much. After all, the asking price was 20 million Rhine guilders. In his opinion, East Africa's sincerity is enough, and it can do a lot of things without buying territory.
In fact, Ernst also believed that Spain would not accept the conditions in East Africa. After all, the Philippine colonies were very important to Spain, mainly because of their location. To the north was the supermarket of the Far Eastern Empire. The conditions in the Philippines were relatively mature after hundreds of years of development by Spain. .
"Okay, your Ministry of Foreign Affairs will first contact the Spanish government. If this kind of thing can be realized, it is best. If it cannot be realized, we can only use other means. Of course, 20 million Rhine Guilder is our bottom line. , don’t throw it out at the beginning, start bargaining with Spain at a lower price, provided that Spain is willing to sell Mindanao,” Ernst said decisively.
According to Ernst's idea, even if Spain does not sell now, when Spain and the United States come to war next year, East Africa can make another bid. At that time, it will not be up to the Spaniards. As for offending the United States by trading during the war, then So what! In fact, there was another beneficiary in the previous Spanish-American War, and that was Germany. After the war, Germany took the opportunity to purchase Spain's Palau Islands and the Mariana Islands except Guam.
In fact, before the Spanish-American War, Germany had the idea of purchasing the Philippines and surrounding islands from Spain, but Spain did not agree.
Therefore, Ernst judged based on this that Spain would not agree to East Africa's conditions. After all, even if East Africa offered money, it would not be higher than the wealthy Germany.
......
However, the actual situation is always unexpected. What Ernst and the East African government thought was impossible, actually happened.
"What? Spain agreed to our conditions?" Ernst asked Hermann in disbelief.
Hermann was also very excited at this time, but he calmed down and explained the reason to Ernst: "We first expressed our willingness to purchase Mindanao to the Spanish government, and then this matter was affected by Alfonso The Thirteenth King paid great attention to it, and they actually agreed. However, we had some disputes with the Spanish government over the price. According to His Highness’s request, we initially only quoted 10 million Rhine guilders. Spain thought this price was too low. , after some wrangling, the two parties finally set the final price at 17 million Rhine guilders.”
Ten million Rhine guilders is a price of more than 2.6 million US dollars, which is nearly 400,000 US dollars lower than Ernst's psychological price.
“It shouldn’t be!” Ernst couldn’t believe it, “Why did the Spaniards just agree?”
Hermann thought the same way: “Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also surprised. But later I got the answer from Count Rawls in Spain."
"What did he say?" Ernst asked curiously.
Herman: "Mindanao is still too barren. If we ask Germany to buy Luzon and other islands, Spain will definitely not agree. After all, Luzon is the essence of the Philippines. Where. ”
"Of course, another important reason is that Mindanao is a hot potato in the eyes of Spain, and they have not established effective rule there. The local Moro people are green believers and have been fiercely resisting Spain, so the Spanish government has also There are only a few fixed strongholds in Mindanao, but there is no actual rule over the area.”
As expected, there is no free lunch in the world, and Spain is actually not optimistic about the prospects of Mindanao, so it is willing to sell Mindanao.
Of course, there may be other factors interfering, such as the attitude of Alfonso XIII, the offer from East Africa, etc.
The prices in East Africa are indeed low, but Spain also has its own considerations. First of all, East Africa only purchases Mindanao, which does not involve Luzon, the core of the Philippines. Otherwise, Germany will learn from its mistakes.
Secondly, the Spanish government believes that if Mindanao is not sold to East Africa, does East Africa have no other means? East Africa has also made some achievements in the Pacific region in recent years. For example, Lanfang Overseas Province, Southern Ryukyu Islands, Northern Hawaii Kingdom, and Balabac Island have become new players in the Pacific region.
Therefore, the Spanish government believes that it would not be a big deal to sell Mindanao, which cannot be actually controlled, cannot generate economic value, and is fiercely resistant, to East Africa.
Of course, this also means that the problems encountered by the Spanish government in Mindanao will also be passed on to East Africa as Mindanao becomes an East African colony.
(End of this chapter)