In July 1872, a news came from Europe, that was that more than a month ago, the Empress Dowager Sophie of the Austro-Hungarian Empire died.:.

After hearing this news, Li Mengyang immediately solved all the mysteries before, that is why Joseph I was so low-minded. Obviously, the old lady missed her second son.

But this matter has passed. The Austro-Hungarian Empire has also helped it, and it has also helped the Austro-Hungarian Empire... Well, this "aggression" is somewhat inconsistent, but then the two British officials are coming.

Disraelli and Gladstone, the arrival of these two people is absolutely extraordinary. They are definitely not the kind on the surface, they just recognize your empire and then establish diplomatic relations between the two sides. So what will everyone talk about?

"His Majesty, the Emperor of the American Empire, may God bless you and wish you good health!"

"His Majesty the Emperor! This is my handwritten letter from Queen Victoria of the British Empire..."

There will naturally be a ceremony for the formal state visit, but these two people are quite anxious.

Disraelli and Gladstone are really together. You should know that this situation is very unusual because there is no need, why do you have to be the Minister of Finance and the same leader?

But now, they have come together and come together, and we can have a meeting without any distinction. Let’s talk together.

So, what exactly should we talk about?

"Your Majesty, I believe you will be surprised by our visit, so we won't go around the corner. Let's just put it bluntly. I hope you can give us some discounts to the British Empire in terms of the purchase costs of those five warships..."

Disraelli said this. He is the Minister of Finance, so it is his strength to negotiate prices.

Discount?! Isn’t that just bargaining? Didn’t we negotiated before? Didn’t your British Empire accept it? Why did you change your mind so quickly?

This matter is really puzzling. If it is an ordinary transaction and Li Mengyang is an ordinary businessman, then he should have a very contemptuous look at him. Then he will make full mockery and tell them to get out, and he has no money to pretend to be a master?... All of this is fine.

But it is obvious that this is not an ordinary transaction. Moreover, the funds involved in this transaction are too high... Don't underestimate the value of 70 million pounds at this time, the price is definitely a sky-high price.

But Li Mengyang definitely doesn't think that his warship is priced too high, because in this era, the electrical era has not yet arrived yet, and the technology mastered by my empire is one dimension higher than you. If you want to catch up with it as fast as possible, then paying such a little money is not a problem at all, because there is a crucial thing here, time!

If time can be bought with money, it is like 70 million pounds can be used to shorten the R&D and practical process now, then this is definitely a good deal!

So, Li Mengyang said to the two big men from Britain in front of him.

"Mr. Disraelly, Mr. Gladstone. You won't let my empire suffer a loss, are you?"

Obviously, Li Mengyang did not go around. Simply put, what he meant was that our empire could not suffer losses. The previous price had to be maintained. However, if you have financial problems now, we can exchange some individual interests.

Yes, everyone understands what happened later, so Li Mengyang didn’t say it. So how did these two people in the UK react?

"His Majesty the Emperor of America!" Gladston spoke first. After all, he was the prime minister. "If possible, we can do some political exchanges. For example, in the interests of the Far East, we know that you are Chinese, and the Qing court also rejected you a lot, we can..."

Balabarabala... The price of this Gladstone is very good, that is, it is to use some of the interests of Britain in the Qing Dynasty to exchange it. I am afraid it is the colonial methods they have made. You, Li Mengyang, can inherit it.

It sounds good, because Li Mengyang is a Chinese. If you pass this transaction, then Li Mengyang is equivalent to interfering in the affairs of the Far East. To put it bluntly, I, Hu Hansan, oh, it's me, Li Mengyang, here I am, back!

Most people probably think so, this is a good thing. The American Empire has the opportunity to influence the Far East, and the imperial emperor can show his ambition to expel the Tartars and subdue China. Isn’t this good?

but……

"Mr. Gladstone, don't take out the topic of the Qing Dynasty for the time being..." Li Mengyang's words were simply straightforward and fools understood.

"..." But Gladstone didn't understand.

Why is the Chinese emperor in front of him not interested in his motherland?

No, Li Mengyang is definitely not uninterested in his motherland. The reason why he rejected Gladstone's proposal was due to his love for his motherland!

This is true, because it is a very simple truth. Some of the interests and practices of your British Empire in our China, such as the customs. What if I, Li Mengyang, get it?

First of all, what do the people of the Qing Dynasty think of themselves now?

Yes, the British left, and then an American empire came, and this empire was also here to bully us!

I must have thought this way and I definitely didn't run away. Moreover, it's hard for Li Mengyang to get any benefits from this.

The reason is actually very simple, that is, it is difficult for me, Li Mengyang, to copy the tricks you British guys!

You are colonists and Western powers, but I am a Chinese!

Or to say that customs, if Li Mengyang controls it, then to get benefits, the easiest thing is to do it according to the original operation and desperately reduce the tariffs of the Qing Dynasty. Of course, the benefits will come, but the people of the Qing Dynasty cannot hate themselves?

You, Li Mengyang, are not on the same journey with us at all!

They must think so, and Li Mengyang will go back to save us Chinese from the future. So now that he has a bad reputation, what should he do in the future?

So, on the other hand, we got the customs and helped the Qing Dynasty raise the tariffs. So what is the result?

The Qing court would never be grateful to itself!

Moreover, if I protected the Qing Dynasty in this way, how could I overthrow them in the future?

Isn’t this shooting myself in the foot?…Li Mengyang said that he is not a reactionary.

Also, if you do this, it means you have not gained any benefits, so the ship will be given to the British?

So, this kind of political exchange looks pretty good. Or in the eyes of the British, you Clint Lee is now the emperor of the American Empire. Are you in charge of the life or death of the Qing Dynasty?

So, what should I do?

"His Majesty the Emperor..." Disrael is about to speak here, obviously he is preparing to propose some economic solutions.

But Li Mengyang was not in a hurry to listen. He asked first, "I said Mr. Disraelli, why can't you Britain pay this money?"

This question is really good!

Li Mengyang initially offered 500 tons of gold, nearly 70 million pounds. This money is pretty good for the British, they have money. However, there is also a way to give money, which is to have a repayment mechanism. Isn’t your American Empire still building ships? It is impossible to pay 70 million pounds all at once. You must pay a certain deposit first, and then follow the construction progress and some evaluations. No one is a fool. It is impossible to take tens of millions of pounds for you at once.

Therefore, the number seems very large, but if we look at the details, it will take a long time. We can take it slowly... Of course, there will be interest problems here, but this is also easy to deal with. The loss can be minimized through actuariality, which can be temporarily ignored.

Then, there is no hurry to give money, and it is not particularly large. According to the awesomeness of the UK in the world today, they should be fine... Li Mengyang also calculated before he quarrels. You can't ask for the price like this for ordinary people. Didn't he give a quotation of one tenth of the Qing Dynasty?

"This matter is a long story. It's mainly because there are some problems with my British Empire's recent income and expenditure..." Since he asked, Disraelli gave Gladstone a color, and then he received a color that came back, saying it!

So what is the reason?

First of all, the open thing is that there is a problem with the UK economy now!

Yes, this year was 1872, and another sign of economic crisis emerged. Let’s put it this way, the economic crisis during this period was particularly frequent in history.

Li Mengyang also knew the reason, and he also used policies to avoid it, that is, the income distribution is seriously uneven!

Really, this is the reason for the economic crisis this year. Later economic masters have analyzed it thoroughly. To put it bluntly, capitalists are too fucking bastards. According to later economists, if capitalists in this era can have a little humanity and have good care of the working group, then...

What **, what kind of workers' movements, there will probably be no more... Even the later workers' welfare benefits will not be able to bear it. The later European and American workers are really the masters of the country. If you have nothing to do, you will be troubled by the strikes or something...

These are all the consequences of capitalists. Europe has not seen through this matter yet, or even if it is seen through, it cannot be done, because the entire situation in Europe is created by the bourgeoisie, and they are controlling it, and there is no powerful figure like Li Mengyang.

But this time, there is another reason why the British cannot afford the money, and this reason is quite interesting. It is very close to Li Mengyang's previous conversation when he met Joseph I.

“…because the Ottoman Turkish Empire had some problems with repayment…”

The Ottoman Turkish Empire, the sick man in Europe, appeared in the reason Disraeli mentioned!

This incident really aroused Li Mengyang's great interest, because the place where he conspired with Joseph I before was Romania, and Romania's current sovereignty belongs to Ottoman Türkiye! (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!