Chapter 761 The next target is the Commonwealth
It usually starts with "Let me say something fair", and what is said next is probably not very fair.
The conflict between the Russians and the British does not need outsiders to mediate. Just watch your excitement.
Kusyazov was chatting with Henry, and the other Russian officers present were a little happy.
They are all young and strong boys, full of energy, and fighting is normal.
The key is to win, especially this kind of foreign war. If you can't win, you will be beaten in various ways.
The combat effectiveness displayed by the Russian army is indeed gratifying. Although it is not as overwhelming as 200 against 2000, the one-sided situation also regained the ground for the Russian army.
The most important thing for a soldier is combat effectiveness. Whether or not he plays football well is secondary. War in peacetime is all a gimmick promoted to hype up commercial value. No matter how good the football is, it will not make people anxious. Even if you beat your opponent, you still won't be able to avoid being beaten.
Kusyazov also came to his senses now. The so-called friendly match was simply a trap set up by the British. He really wanted to have friendship with Russia. Can Russian roulette work?
A quarrel is a quarrel. After all, you will be wronged if you hit someone, and you still have to pay for the money.
Henry offered a price of £1,000 for an arm and £2,000 for a leg.
Kusyazov counter-offered, 100 for arms and 200 for legs, and it was rubles instead of pounds.
The exchange rate between the pound and the ruble is still around 1:10.
Twenty pounds is actually quite a lot, equivalent to two months' salary of an ordinary British soldier.
This is the salary after the end of the world war. If it was before the outbreak of the world war, 20 pounds would cover half a year.
The two were at loggerheads, so they reported the situation step by step.
At the Sixth General Assembly of the League of Nations in 1924, Nicholas Jr. took the initiative to expose this matter, claiming that the Russian army owed the British army 4 arms, 3 legs, and 11 ribs——
< br>ribs.
Arthur Neville Chamberlain, who replaced Balfour as the British ambassador to the League of Nations, did not take up the challenge and allowed Nicholas to laugh at him.
Chamberlain was also miserable. Not long after he became Secretary of Health in Stanley Baldwin's cabinet, the Baldwin cabinet fell and Chamberlain was idle at home, so he was sent to the League of Nations.
From Gray to Balfour to Chamberlain, in just two years, Britain has changed three ambassadors to the League of Nations, which shows the bad situation of Britain in the League of Nations.
From March 22 to 24, the Suez Canal has been interrupted for nearly two years. Although all parties have thought of many ways, it now seems that the restoration of navigation is still far away.
In order to completely solve the canal problem, Nicholas Jr. proposed a new plan to build another canal next to the canal.
Since the canal was opened to navigation in 1869, the canal company has dredged the canal many times, and the tonnage of ships that can pass has continued to increase.
Before this time the canal was interrupted, the tonnage of ships that could pass had increased to 45,000 tons.
The "Suez" that caused the blockage happened to be 45,000 tons when fully loaded.
Therefore, it is useless no matter how wide the canal is built. Merchants will stick to the upper limit of the canal to build merchant ships. If the status quo is not changed, sooner or later it will be blocked.
The current canal has only one channel. Nicholas Jr. proposed to build another channel next to it. The one-way traffic will become two-way. If one channel is blocked, there will be another channel. It can be dredged in turn, so that it will not be like now. One block lasts for a year or two.
It doesn’t matter to Clemenceau, he is not a shareholder of the canal company. Anyway, no matter how you divide it, just pay France the dividends on time.
Chamberlain firmly opposed it.
Just to dredge the canal, the investment from all parties has now exceeded 2 billion rubles. The canal company has been unable to make ends meet and there are complaints.
How much will it cost to repair another one?
“No matter how much it is spent, all shareholders will share it in proportion and have no shirk their responsibilities.”
Little Nicholas is very wealthy.
Chamberlain frowned, this was obviously another trap.
It only took two years to dredge the canal, and not even half of the work was completed.
It took 11 years to dig this canal. How long will it take now?
Due to the improvement of construction machinery, it may not take more than 11 years.
But even if the time is cut in half, the canal company cannot afford it.
The reason why Nicholas Jr. raised this matter in the League of Nations was to seek the intervention of national capital.
The canal company model emerged in the last century and is now outdated. It not only cannot guarantee the operation of the Suez Canal, but has also become an obstacle to the upgrading of the canal.
“It’s okay if the canal company disagrees. Naturally there will be people willing to invest and contact the Egyptian government.”
Little Nicholas is confident.
When the canal company signed the agreement with the Ottoman governor, there was no exclusivity clause.
If Russia is determined to build a new canal, the canal company really has nothing to do.
Regardless of when the dredging work of the canal will be completed, when the new canal is opened, the profits of the canal company may plummet. It's not a fear, it's a certainty.
Chamberlain wanted to buy time for the canal company, but the League of Nations really had no secrets. The day after the plenary meeting, the news that Russia was going to build a second canal was The media broke out.
For two years, people have been tired of the canal company's soap opera. If there is no breaking news, it really can't arouse readers' curiosity.
As Chamberlain expected, after the news that Russia was going to build a second canal came out, the stock of the canal company, which had already hit the bottom, was completely ignored.
Even the most obtuse person now knows that the Canal Company is being targeted. It can be said that all of Europe is paying for the Canal Company's tyranny.
On March 17, the French Canal Company announced that it would sell the shares held by the French Canal Company to the Dolgorukov family for 150 million francs.
Rothschild had not digested this fact. Rockefeller took the initiative and asked for 15 million pounds to acquire the shares of the canal company held by the Rothschild family.
"Oh, very good, is this your plan?"
Old Rothschild did not expect that the Russians and Americans were so jealous.
"You can refuse, but in that case, no one can guarantee how long the canal crisis will last until it ends. It is possible in ten or eight years."
Little John doesn't care, from the standpoint of the United States, the Suez Canal The longer the blockage lasts, the better.
The old Rothschild was silent for a long time and offered a price of 30 million pounds.
Little John smiled, you really want money.
On April 1, after multiple rounds of negotiations, the British Canal Company agreed to transfer all canal company shares to American Rockefeller.
In Alexandria, Crimea, Little John and Sergey toasted to celebrate.
Since France and Britain have withdrawn from the canal company, the dredging project must be completed as soon as possible. After all, how much does it cost to block the canal for one day?
The model of the reorganized canal company is similar to that of the previous canal company. The canal is managed by the Dolgorukov family, and Rockefeller enjoys the dividends.
The Egyptians finally got what they wanted, and the New Canal Company agreed to distribute 10% of the proceeds to the Egyptian government.
“The dredging project has entered the final stage and will be completed within a month. Construction of the new canal will then begin and the construction period is expected to take 36 months.”
Sergey acted resolutely.
"What is the Grand Duke going to do next?"
What Little John is concerned about is George's follow-up plan.
The Suez Canal is just an attempt for Russia and the United States to build initial trust.
With this foundation, we can make persistent efforts and continue to attack the "Old King".
"The Imperial Conference is about to be held in London next month -"
Sergei has a big appetite and targets the Commonwealth.
In recent years, the United Kingdom has held an Imperial Conference almost every other year to discuss the internal affairs of the Commonwealth.
With the independence of South Africa, calls for independence in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand are getting louder and louder.
The British tried to seduce the overseas dominions by giving them more rights, hoping that the overseas dominions would remain within the Commonwealth.
The Overseas Dominions agreed to remain in the Commonwealth, recognizing the King of England as co-monarch of all Commonwealth countries, but only if the Overseas Dominions were granted all rights as an independent nation.
In other words, in the name of dish cooking, one is different and the other is broad.
Little John didn’t say much to Sergey. He went to Felix the next day and expressed his interest in the Free Trade Organization.
Felix welcomed the United States’ accession to the Free Trade Organization.
Little John calls for negotiations on tariff deal.
The Free Trade Organization no longer has zero tariffs, but rather countries negotiate among themselves based on their own circumstances.
Tariffs between Russia and most member states range from ten to thirty percent.
Only the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Grand Duchy of Yuriev, as well as the three Russian countries, still insist on zero tariffs.
Little John hopes to have tariff autonomy, which conflicts with the purpose of the Free Trade Organization.
The U.S. government has always used tariffs as the most powerful weapon to regulate imports and exports, making U.S. imports and exports completely beneficial to American companies.
If the United States had complete tariff autonomy, the basis for an FTA would cease to exist.
(End of this chapter)