Mediterranean hegemon

"Neville, have the Italians really sent more troops to Libya?" British Prime Minister Baldwin asked Foreign Secretary Chamberlain.

"Yes, we have added two more divisions, and we have also coordinated with our ambassador: we are prepared to increase the intensity of the suppression of Libyan tribal armed forces, and at the same time, we may consider putting pressure on Ethiopia."

"Is he really considering going to Ethiopia?"

Chamberlain shrugged: "Whether it is true or not, at least we can sell weapons to the Ethiopians... They are a little nervous about it. You know, the Italians fought Ethiopia once 30 years ago and lost miserably."

"Can they win this time? With these four divisions?"

"I don't know, I have no research on military affairs, but my personal intuition is that it is difficult... Think about us in Afghanistan and the Boer War..."

Baldwin nodded: "Whether he can win or not, it will not prevent us from selling weapons, and it can also consume Mussolini's excess energy. His government is already running a huge deficit due to huge expenditures. How dare he do this? He has nothing in his mind. No sense of financial health.”

"I almost forgot to mention that we received intelligence that Ciano Jr. funded 50 million liras to the government as military expenses because Libya cannot produce oil yet, so this can be regarded as military expenses."

"Damn it...where did he get so much money?" Baldwin cursed, "I heard not long ago that he donated 40 million liras to the education system, and now it's 50 million lire. Did all his money come from a big phoenix?"

"He is building up his prestige and has not donated the 40 million lire. How dare he take action against the education sector?" Chamberlain smiled, "I have received reliable information that 18 universities in Italy have fired nearly 400 teachers in three months. , including many professors with high reputations, because they do not agree with the family planning and public opinion control policies proposed by Ciano. Now he has a bad reputation in the educational circles and among public intellectuals. Of course, those who are fanatical statists The critics and militarists praised him even more highly, as if he was the younger Ciano below Mussolini.”

"Is it all stupid to praise a young man who is only 23 years old? What do you want Mussolini to think?"

"Don't mention it, flattery is still effective. Many people have heard Mussolini express his position in public, saying that Ciano Jr. can take over in the future... Of course, this will take more than 20 years."

"After more than 20 years, he is only in his 60s, and he is willing to delegate power?" Baldwin expressed great doubts.

"That's all I can say. Could it be that he said he would hand over power after his death? It will probably take more than 30 or even 40 years. Little Ciano can't stand it. He is currently trying to flatter Mussolini. , not only donated a lot of money, but also heard that they would build the Ida cruise ship, because they have established a relationship between boyfriend and girlfriend this summer vacation, and many people said that little Ciano will definitely marry this girl..."

"Boyfriend and girlfriend? How old is Mussolini's daughter? I feel like she's still a little girl..."

"I just turned 16, and Italian girls mature early, so...you know." Chamberlain shrugged, showing a smile that would make any man smile, and Baldwin couldn't help laughing.

"The cruise ship incident is not groundless. The ambassador has received the invitation. The ceremony will be held half a month later, on September 24. Celebrities will be present at that time... This cruise ship is said to be more than 30,000 tons and can reach a speed of 33 Festival……"

Neither Baldwin nor Chamberlain knew the secret of the special cruise ship. Grand Union Shipyard prepared two sets of drawings, one for the special cruise ship and one for the standard cruise ship to hide it from others. When the keel was just laid, who could tell whether it was a cruise ship or a cruise ship? Special cruise ship?

"So little Ciano is trying his best to please Mussolini because he wants to make his position more stable. The former has also given him some rewards. Now little Ciano is the secretary-general of Fascisti. This is a very important person." He is not a senior member of the party in an important position, but his words are very important. Besides, he has old Ciano above him. If it is inconvenient, old Ciano will speak. "

"I don't care about this. What I care about is where does this guy get so much money?" Baldwin said confused. "Last year he lost 2 billion lire, right? This year he will lose another 3 billion? And he still donates like this? His family Can you print your own money?”

"His money was all borrowed or exchanged for shares..." Chamberlain said, "But I have to admit that he is very talented in business. We sent people to carefully follow up and investigate his business, and we believe that he is very talented in business. He is very strict in management and operation, the quality is also very good, and he is very innovative. More importantly, he has introduced a large number of German engineers. You know, Italians are a bit out-of-the-box thinking, and Germans are a bit rigid. The two are well integrated. The Italians are responsible for creativity and design, and the Germans are responsible for production and quality management. Chain linkage, hunger marketing, and brand building are all things that the industry is currently studying, and the results are said to be good, so some people tout him as a management master and business genius, and Wall Street highly recognizes this.”

Chamberlain had a deep understanding of Contini, but he knew even more about Wall Street across the ocean. Contini spent money so recklessly, and what he spent was borrowed, so the Wall Street giants were a little worried. Now the United Group's loan exposure in the United States has exceeded 600 million US dollars. Although there are stocks and shares as collateral, these things are still very virtual. They want to focus on real industries. As a result, the investigators found that although the United Group spent money fiercely, it was also very fast. A 400,000-ton steel plant took only three years from new construction to production, which is unique in Italy.

At the same time, the construction of United Construction and United Real Estate also surprised them. United Real Estate alone built more than 20 million square meters of residential and other houses. Italy's cement consumption in 1925 was the sum of France and Britain, and the cement consumption related to the United Group accounted for at least half of Italy. This is a very scary number.

Therefore, from 1923 to 1926, in just four years, Italy's industrial compound growth rate reached 11%, which was second to none among the powers, far exceeding the second-placed United States, and far better than Britain and France. Moreover, this growth was not the result of waste. Italy's steel, cement, glass, ceramics, machinery, and metallurgy all achieved rapid sales, and the inventory turnover days were only 71 days, which was surprisingly fast. This rapid development also led to a sharp decline in Italy's unemployment rate, so it is not unreasonable for propaganda agencies to praise the leader and the president.

It is based on this consideration that Wall Street dares to continue to lend to the United Group with confidence. The United Bank, sponsored by several investment banks, is also intensively preparing for the final documents and issuance, preparing to land on the New York Stock Exchange in March 1927. At present, the equity of the United Bank is about 340 million US dollars. The issuers are preparing to increase its valuation to 400 million, and then issue 25% of the shares in New York to make it reach a market value of 500 million. They believe that by the end of the year, it will exceed 600 million at least, which is a very heavyweight IPO.

After listening to Chamberlain's explanation, Baldwin was stunned for a moment: he didn't expect that the business community would have such a high evaluation of Contini. Such a high evaluation means that his original idea of ​​economically tossing the United Group will have to change, because the United Group neither conducts large-scale trade with the UK nor has too many disputes with the British financial community, so it is difficult to attack it. As for spreading rumors and causing trouble in Italy, he didn't even consider that playing this trick in a fascist country would be a waste of time? They have already publicly called for prosperity and strength instead of freedom, openly dealt with public intellectuals, and controlled more than half of the media, so why would they be afraid of a mere rumor?

"How are his oil fields in Algeria? Mussolini actually reached out to the Middle East two months ago and dared to sign an agreement with Yemen. He is a little impatient with life."

"The situation is very clear. The oil fields in Algeria will be able to produce oil before the end of this year. And since the talks between Ciano and the French have failed, he will not leave from the port of Algiers..." Chamberlain took out a piece of paper from his briefcase, "This is what our personnel got after infiltrating Libya to survey. Ciano is laying an oil pipeline from Tripoli to the Algerian oil fields. At present, the project has been completed by 70%. I expect it to be completed by the end of the year!"

Looking at the black line on the map, Baldwin thought for a while and finally said: "It seems that the business community is not unreasonable to praise him. I can't think of this idea. Going through the port of Tripoli? It's a good idea. No wonder he has been carrying out the port dredging project. No wonder he has been indifferent to the failure of the French negotiations. It turns out that he has already considered the retreat. Really He is a smart guy. The more I see him, the more I like him. How can we highlight his ability without adding some difficulty to him? Nivelle, we have to help him. Let him continue to show his completely different business talent. Don't waste it. "

Chamberlain smiled: "I will meet with the French ambassador tomorrow. Do you need me to express it?"

"No, this is too direct. We should choose a suitable channel to let the French know but not let the news leak from us. Do you understand? Briand is as cunning as an old fox. He will not simply regard the intelligence we put out as good intentions. In order to avoid him from worrying, we have to trouble ourselves..."

"This requires me to think more. Which official should be arranged to get drunk and talk nonsense?"

"This time, learn from the Italians to be creative... For example, leave the drawings in a lady's salon or home, so..."

"A great idea." Chamberlain laughed, "I will arrange it immediately."