My Italy

The state of war between Germany and France caused by Morocco has been calmed down by the mediation of various countries, but the impact has been very far-reaching. For various countries, the crisis in Morocco has accelerated the behavior of various countries in taking sides. Smart people can feel the trace of gunpowder currently floating over Europe, so all countries have begun to make some necessary preparations.

Leaving aside other countries, Italy, as one of the major participating countries, can certainly feel this atmosphere even more. Therefore, after the relations between Germany and France have just eased, a parliament related to national defense and security is convening.

"Your Majesty, colleagues, our army currently has 18 division-level establishments, 6 brigade-level establishments, and several regiment-level establishments, with a total strength of only 193,000. Its troops, weapons and equipment are the weakest among all countries. This It has also caused great pressure on our country's land. As the situation in Europe becomes increasingly uncertain, to the east of us is Austria-Hungary, which has a strong army of 410,000 troops. Although our country and Austria-Hungary are allies, we cannot pin our hopes on it. On the allies. Besides, our country and Austria-Hungary have conflicts of interest in the Balkans. We cannot rule out that this will cause conflicts in the future.

To the west of us, France is currently the main threat to our land. France has 530,000 troops, which is more than 300,000 more than our country. Fortunately, the French focus their main attention on the German-French border, so we can withstand their pressure. However, given the current complicated diplomatic situation, our country cannot rule out the fact that the French will focus on our country.

In addition, our country currently has military needs in the Balkans, North Africa, East Africa and the Far East, so the army in these places is also indispensable. Therefore, our army believes that the strength of our army must be no less than 60% of France or 80% of Austria-Hungary in order to meet the basic defense tasks. "

In the conference room, an army officer was speaking impassionedly about the pressure on the Italian Army, but he kept saying one word: lack of funds.

In the past few years, the Army has been celebrating the Chinese New Year with Wang Xiaoer, and every year has been worse than the last. Although the Army's funding has not decreased or even increased over the years, the proportion of funding has been decreasing year by year.

The proportion of army funds in military expenditures has dropped from a high of 79% (the Tunisia crisis) to the current 39%. So far, the Italian Army still has some early breech-loading guns that have not been decommissioned.

Looking at the prosperous activities of the Navy next door, no one in the Army could not express envy. There is even a small rumor circulating in the army that the king is dissatisfied with the army, so he has ignored the army's silent efforts over the years.

These rumors can also be seen as the Army's complaints about not being taken seriously in recent years. But now, His Majesty the King finally remembered the Army, and this meeting is proof.

Because this meeting was discussing Army issues.

In fact, in these years, the government and Carlo knew that the Army was having a hard time. However, the army is not like the navy and cannot protect the Italian economy. Therefore, for the Army, which is purely money-consuming, it is difficult for the Italian government, which focuses on economic development, to spare money for the Army.

After all, Italy is not financially wealthy, and in order to develop its economy, it can only reduce military spending. As the Army cannot protect the Italian economy, it naturally prioritizes compression.

However, in the face of the Army's complaints, the government has been well prepared. Although the Army is suffering, and His Majesty also plans to increase military expenditures for the Army, how much is a big question. We must know that the current total military expenditure of the navy and army is nearly 400 million lire, which has accounted for more than 20% of the fiscal revenue. This is not a small amount of money.

So I saw Finance Minister Antonin Aldini stand up and speak. "Everyone, I just listened to the Army's speech, and I feel a lot from the bottom of my heart. We all see the Army's contribution, so the issue of increasing the Army's expenses is also urgent. I propose to increase the Army's expenses by 50 million lire every year. expenses to aid the development of the Army.”

Aldini's words surprised many people. In particular, General Simeone, the Chief of General Staff as the representative of the Army, showed a shocked expression. He also knew how difficult it was for former Finance Minister Tejela when the Navy wanted to build ships two years ago. And this new Aldini actually doesn’t tighten the government’s purse strings?

It is completely normal for Simone and others to think this way. People in charge of finance have always been difficult to deal with, because being lenient in entering and being strict in exiting is a thought that everyone in charge of financial power has.

In fact, for Aldini, who has been in office for more than a year, he must have his own ideas if he can offer 50 million lire per year.

First of all, as a newcomer, Aldini has worked in the bank and the Ministry of Finance for more than 20 years, but he has only been at the top of the Ministry of Finance for four or five years. Compared with his predecessor Tejela, he lacks prestige. In addition, as a candidate recommended by the Prime Minister and hand-picked by His Majesty, how could Aldini go against His Majesty's will after receiving almost explicit hints.

In addition, perhaps due to his experience in the bank, Aldini is not as crazy about money bags as Tejela. As long as he is sure that it is urgently needed, he will be willing to allocate funds.

Of course, there is actually another core issue, which is that Italy’s fiscal revenue has increased significantly. To put it simply, the Italian government has money. Yes, this is the key to why the new chancellor is so generous.

As for why the Italian government is rich, it is very simple, because the rapid development of the Italian internal combustion engine industry has led to the great development of the Italian petrochemical industry and related industries.

Many of these industries are run by the government, such as the Italian Petroleum Company and the Naples Machinery Factory, which has a monopoly on diesel engines and related manufacturing. Take Italian Petroleum Company as an example. Last year, the company extracted 4.73 million tons of oil. Currently, most of the oil in Europe is provided by Italy. The profits and taxes paid by Italian Petroleum Company exceeded the 100 million lira mark in one fell swoop.

Not to mention the Naples Machinery Factory, which monopolizes the production of diesel engines in the world. The factory also uses the characteristics of diesel engines to produce various special vehicles, and its life is prosperous. Although the profits and taxes paid are not as high as those of oil companies, they still exceed 30 million lire. This is under the premise that in order to ensure the development of the enterprise, the government only takes away half of the profits.

As for Fiat, the largest private enterprise in the country, it pays a lot of taxes. The tax revenue of 15 million lire is the highest among private enterprises.

It is precisely the large-scale development of these enterprises that has allowed Italy's finances to grow very rapidly in recent years. So much so that Aldini, the new finance minister, was jokingly said by many to have picked up a political dividend.

However, in the face of Aldini's increase of 50 million lire in military expenditures, although Simeone was excited for a moment, he did not agree immediately. Instead, he continued to speak. "Fifty million lire is still not enough for the current army. Among them, the army needs to be expanded to more than 390,000, and the expenses such as purchasing equipment and personnel funds are not small at all, so our army believes that an increase of 100 million lire every year , is a very realistic number.”

Simeone's words shocked everyone present. This guy has a great appetite too. Even if I ask for 100 million lire, I won't be afraid of the wind blowing my tongue.

Simeone's words also frightened Aldini. Although the revenue of the Ministry of Finance has increased a lot, the army's appetite is too big. How can it be accepted?

"No, the Ministry of Finance can't come up with 100 million lire. The maximum is 60 million lire. Any more will be gone."

"Our Army has owed too much debt before, and it can't do with less funding."

"There are only 60 million lire. It is impossible to increase it for you."

"Sixty million is simply not enough, we..."

"Only sixty million lire..."

"Our army..."

"Sixty million..."

After a verbal battle, in the end, when the finance minister bit down 60 million lire, Simeone had to accept this condition on behalf of the Army.

Well, the Italian Army has finally come to an end!