Chapter 1313: Dividing Great Britain (First update, please subscribe)

While old friends were thinking wildly, the war in South Africa had an unprecedented impact on Britain's reputation. Almost overnight, the whole world saw that the British Empire was strong on the outside but weak on the inside.

Being the boss comes at a price.

It also aroused a lot of hatred. When Britain was stuck in the quagmire of the Boer War and could not extricate itself, for the countries that had been eyeing it covetously, they saw Britain's weakness while also seeing opportunities.

Saw an opportunity to challenge Britain.

Of course, what they want is not just a challenge, but a division.

Russia, which had been eyeing the situation covetously, finally mustered up the courage. The British Empire's weakness stimulated their ambitions and made them take the initiative to stand up.

Invitations were sent to the French Empire, the Ming Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, inviting the foreign ministers of the three countries to hold a meeting in Yalta.

Discuss some international issues related to the interests of the four countries. Of course, this meeting is secret.

Even only a few people knew that this meeting was a feast, a feast of division.

Since it is a division, the countries involved must reach an agreement before the division.

So, in October 90, the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Gustav Sigismund von, the French Foreign Minister Emil Vanette, the Roman Foreign Minister Nikolai Karlovich Giles, and the Ming Empire's Minister of Foreign Affairs Zhuge Jun came together to the ancient city of Yalta in Crimea.

The foreign ministers of the French Empire and the Austrian Empire both arrived in Constantinople on the "Eurasia Express", a French imitation of the "Star of America". From there, they took the royal cruise ship to Yalta together with Zhuge Jun, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Ming Empire, who arrived by airship.

This meeting was filled with conspiracy from the very beginning. In fact... this is also the most common thing in international secret meetings.

Conspiracies are always accompanied by games. The foreign ministers of the four empires gathered together to "kill the eagle and eat the meat", or to say, to divide the world's sphere of influence in the future. Because of this, this negotiation is bound to be accompanied by some gunpowder.

"In the last war, each of you countries received rich rewards - France got Libya and the Middle East, and Russia got almost all of Turkey. What did Austria get? Almost nothing!"

At the beginning of the meeting, Gustav Sigmund von, the Foreign Minister of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, spoke in a rather dissatisfied tone.

"If we need to divide the sphere of influence this time, we must get compensation." "If you hadn't hesitated last time, you would have gotten more! Even from the beginning, you were half-hearted and didn't want to participate at all!"

Nikolai Karlovich Giles, the Foreign Minister of the Roman Empire, said bluntly.

"Any victory comes at a price! If you want to get enough rewards, you must first make enough efforts. How much did you contribute in the last war?"

When he finished speaking, Emile directly expressed his agreement, and Zhuge Jun echoed him.

"It's not impossible to make appropriate compensation. After all, the world is so big that it's not something that we can swallow up alone."

In this conference room, when Zhuge Jun said this, no one realized one thing - the people in this room would decide the fate of the world.

"First of all, we believe that each of our countries should have its own sphere of influence. For example, on the issue of India, the Ming Empire supports the division of India among all countries."

Zhuge Jun was honest and stated his purpose right away. However, his suggestion made Giles nervous and he spoke quickly.

"I think that the division of spheres of influence in the future should be based on the scope of our army's advance. In other words, whoever our army conquers should own that area. This is undoubtedly fairer. In addition, our cooperation in the last war was very smooth, which is also the premise for success!"

You know, Rome was planning to have the monopoly on India and make India a part of the Roman Empire, which of course also included Persia.

"Although that is true, we still negotiated to define the basic sphere of influence before that, and then we were able to make smooth military progress afterwards."

Emil said from the side.

"We can put forward our respective requirements first and then negotiate."

"Yes, Your Excellency, in Africa, Austria hopes to include Egypt and Sudan as its sphere of influence!"

Gustav's first request was for a sphere of influence of several million square kilometers. However, this was not because people were greedy, but rather... everyone wanted to obtain as much land as possible.

After all, they all realized that this might be their last time to divide the world, so they had to seize the opportunity.

However, his proposal was immediately opposed by the Emir. After all, France also had ambitions for Sudan. France not only had ambitions for Sudan, but also for Ethiopia and Somalia. Why? France also wanted to build a railway from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean.

Moreover, the Ming Empire's gains in African colonies over the years are obvious to all. If the Ming Empire can do it, then they can do it too. Since the Ming Empire can make huge wealth by opening up tropical plantations, France can certainly do it too.

In fact, Rome also thought it was capable, and so did Austria-Hungary. So everyone was eager for the land in Africa. However, when France mentioned Ethiopia, it was opposed by Gilles.

"This is impossible, Your Excellency. You should know that Ethiopia is like the Roman Empire. We share the same religious beliefs, and even our writing and language are similar. Scholars from all over the world have long proved that Ethiopia is our good brother who has been lost for thousands of years. How can we tolerate you occupying it?"

This is the research of the adventurer Ashnov. In 88 AD, he also published an article in Constantinople titled "Ethiopian Alphabet and Ethiopian-Russian Original Dictionary" to prove the relationship between the two countries and the two nations. Of course, these proofs are just to pave the way for Rome's next expansion. As for the good brothers who have been separated for thousands of years... For the Russians, the so-called good brothers are meant to be beaten.

Beating each other is a family!

The negotiations were not smooth from the beginning, after all, they each had their own demands and ambitions.

There are not only differences on the issues of Sudan and Serbia, but also on the issue of Egypt. After all, for France, it is absolutely impossible for France to give up the Suez Canal, so naturally it is impossible to make too many concessions on the issue of Egypt.

As a result, the negotiations ran into trouble on the first day.

But all this was within Zhuge Jun's expectations, or more precisely, within the expectations of Emperor Zhu. After all, there were too many conflicts of interest among them, and in order to reach a consensus, the three countries had to make appropriate concessions.

Although there was no progress in the first day of negotiations, after the meeting, the foreign ministers of the four countries still sat together to enjoy wine and dinner. After the banquet, Russian Foreign Minister Giles quietly visited Zhuge Jun, hoping to gain his support on the Ethiopia issue. Everyone knew that the Ming Dynasty no longer had much interest in African colonies.

"If you can support us on the Ethiopian issue, then we will support your demands on the issue of Lower Burma."

What is the Lower Burma Question?

The Ming Empire certainly had no interest in the Burmese region of Lower Burma occupied by the British, but... the Ming Empire hoped that China would occupy that area.

In fact, the Ming Empire had no ambitions for many regions. However, Southeast Asia was China's traditional sphere of influence, so it was almost common knowledge that the Ming Empire had always been unwilling for other countries to invade that region. Whether it was France invading Vietnam or Britain invading Burma, the empire intervened.

According to the Ming Empire, Southeast Asia, as China's traditional sphere of influence, must belong to China.

After all, this is an era of colonial frenzy. No matter what, China must get its own prey in this era.

And the imperial aspirations of course became bargaining chips for other countries.

After Giles took out his chips, Zhuge Jun did not agree immediately. He thought about it for a while before speaking.

"We are not against your special interests in Ethiopia, but we must also see the desire of the French Empire. If their wishes cannot be met, then perhaps it will be difficult for us to reach an agreement that satisfies everyone, and this meeting is likely to fail to make any progress."

Looking at Giles, the Foreign Minister of the Roman Empire, Zhuge Jun said again.

"Perhaps you could make some concessions in northern Ethiopia. For our mutual benefit, don't you think?"

All negotiations are like this. Both sides will constantly test and negotiate, and then propose conditions that everyone can accept. In secret diplomacy, those weak and small countries are like cakes on the table, and the great powers hold knives and carve them up piece by piece.

No country will seek the opinions of weak and small countries, as they are destined to be victims.

What about big and powerful countries?

They sat in front of this table, greedily devouring the weak, and even the occasional quarrels did not affect the knives and forks in their hands...

I have set up a book club: 335260551. Everyone is welcome to join and discuss and deduce the plot together.

(End of this chapter)