Rebirth of the Spanish Empire

After Talal was far away from where Ibn Saud and the others were, he turned back and took a deep look, sighed, and said: "I don't want to do this, but this world is so cruel. I hope , you won’t really touch Spain’s bottom line. In that way, I feel better. I really envy that guy Hadi, who also sells arms. How come that guy lives so well, wandering around Istanbul every day, enjoying Enjoying the luxurious life of the upper class, if I had known, I would have switched with him, I went to the Ottoman Empire and he came to the Arabian Peninsula. Alas, now I have to run around in the desert all day long, What a crime."

Watching Talal leave, Ibn Saud pondered for a moment and then said: "If you have any doubts, investigate them secretly."

Naturally, Najib would not have any objections. Based on his understanding of Ibn Saud, this should be the outcome. However, he still had a little concern, that is, "Would Spain know more about this?" It’s our business”

"But what if we control the development of things in our hands?" Ibn said in a joking tone: "Since we know that Spain has arranged internal forces on our side, why don't we follow this line of thinking and provide them with our Where do you want things to go?”

"But will Spain doubt our intentions? Moreover, I am very worried that Spain will change the development of the situation with strong policy changes."

"For example?" Iben looked at Najib solemnly. This thing is really possible.

"If the other side forcibly changes the rules and brings the Ottoman Empire in, we will no longer be attacked from the north. By then, the west will also receive the same treatment. By then, we will be unable to cope."

"Uh, so, I want to change my attitude towards Britain."

"But, Chief, I'm afraid that the British influence will extend to us."

"As long as we promote Islamic teachings well, continue to use Wahhabism for our purposes, and implement the brotherhood we intend to create in the hearts of everyone under our rule, even then, we can still be able to follow As relations with the British improve, they will propagate these teachings to the areas under their rule. Hey, by then, maybe we will influence them instead of them influencing us."

Najib really doesn’t know what to say, because what Ibn Saud said is indeed very reasonable. Most of the people on the peninsula are Islamic. If the situation can really be opened up by then, then, That might actually happen.

"The damn thing is, if it weren't for Rashid's resurrection, as long as we have a few years, the Kingdom of Hejaz under the Ottoman Empire will be occupied by us, and by then there will be Islam With the holy land of Mecca in our hands, our religious conviction will be stronger and more people will believe in us. Instead of being absorbed in such a crappy way, it is Spain's fault. I really hope Allah punishes us. Give them a try"

"As for the Ottoman Empire's desire to exchange territory with Spain?"

Hearing Najib's words, Ibn Saud was really depressed. The King of the Ottoman Empire and Prime Minister Billet really took it for granted and actually imitated Spain's trick. It really made them dumbfounded and at the same time. I feel deeply fearful, because the impact of this is that the Ottoman Empire will further consolidate their relationship with Spain. At the same time, from those places, if it is in the Mediterranean, of course it is the best, even Port Sudan on the Red Sea is also good for them. However, if the latter two are really Basra or even Al-Khasa, Spain will strengthen its presence on the Arabian Peninsula and its influence will increase accordingly. This is very important to Saudi Arabia. That would be the worst case scenario.

He really didn't know how to deal with this. After all, the Ottoman Empire was a huge behemoth to them. It was absolutely impossible to influence them. Their influence on their own side was pretty much the same. As for the world of Spain, A big country, halo, that is even more out of the question. How could Spain be affected by them? If it affected them, the British would be almost the same. British? have no idea.

"Leave this matter to the British!"

"British?" Najib asked doubtfully.

"What, the Ottoman Empire wants to imitate Spain and exchange land?" Edward VII looked at Asquith in disbelief. Why did this happen again?

Asquith's mind is still buzzing until now. The Ottoman Empire is really imitating this.

He looked at His Majesty the King with a wry smile and said, "Yes, it's hard to believe, but God just made a joke on us. This is exactly what they did."

Seeing the wrinkles on His Majesty's face becoming more and more obvious, and the more obvious spots unique to the elderly becoming clearer and clearer, Asquith's heart became heavier and heavier.

He took out the cigar from his mouth and blew out a puff of smoke. What he didn't see was Asquith's frowning eyebrows, and then said with an unpleasant expression: "It's really like this. That guy Mohammed V is It’s not because my brain is rusty that I would have such an idea. You must know that Spain comes from hungry wolves, so it’s just like this.”

Asquith: "They are trying to defend us, so they want to drag Spain into the water to cover for them."

King Edward VII smiled and said: "I'm afraid, it's easier for them to invite God than to send God away. Don't let them get into trouble and be unable to save themselves."

Asquith said with a wry smile: "They may have thought of this, but maybe in their hearts, we should be more hateful tigers than them, and they are more worried about us than they are about Spain."

These words made Edward VII silent. He also understood that in today's world, if there is a ranking list of reputation, then if France is the second in the world and Russia is the third, then the United Kingdom is definitely It is a stable number one, and a large number of colonies have made Britain a controversial presence around the world. As for Spain, he does not understand that the other party has been improving its relations with other parts of the world in recent years.

It was not that he had never had this idea, but after thinking about it for a while, he gave up. Why, because the large number of British colonies had doomed and eliminated the possibility of him living in peace with the locals, not to mention improving his reputation, even if it was possible , but look at Spain at that time. Needless to say, the huge amount of money it took for more than ten years has already put the British government back. Not to mention, compared with the Spanish colonies, the British were at least larger. More than doubled, and more importantly, Spain was in South America nearly a hundred years ago. Over the past few generations, people have forgotten the bad feeling Spain had in the hearts of the locals, and even if it had, it had lessened. It's the lightest, but with this existence, Spain's special improvement funds for this every year are still so huge, it is said that they are calculated in tens of millions of pesetas.

And what about the UK? There are more than 30 million square kilometers of colonies, and more colonies are still populated. If funds are used to improve them, it will definitely be a huge existence, and it is definitely not something that the UK can afford.

And more importantly, with British warships, how could he give up the benefits in exchange for the favor of these lowly people? Even if he agrees that other British people are different, the House of Lords and the House of Commons will never pass such a bill. Action, so although he usually envied Spain's world image problem, every time he saw the French and Russians, he would find solace in them. Their current image may not be as good as what it was before.

"If such an agreement is really reached between the two countries, what impact will it have on us?" Edward VII took a puff of his cigar again and was concerned about this issue.

"It depends on where the replacement is," Asquith said: "If it is in Tripoli on the Mediterranean, the impact on us may be minimal, but the impact on the French and Italians there will be very big."

"Why?" During this period of time, Edward VII spent most of his time in bed due to his illness, so when he was concerned about political issues, he mostly paid attention to matters related to Britain. For other things, he didn't have the energy. It's up there, so he doesn't know much about this.

Esquith obviously knew that, so he said without any hesitation: "The French and Italians have been fighting for their interests there recently. Both countries are peeking at the Ottoman Empire's interests there, so the Ottoman Empire wants to stop the two countries. If so, Spain is a good choice.”

This is true, Spain is really suitable. As for the idea of ​​offending the other two countries, Edward VII does not quite believe that the little guy Alfonso XIII would not dare to do it because of this. He dared to do so many things that offended people back then. , He likes this kind of thing even more, how could he be deterred by it?

After seeing that Edward VII had no explanation, Asquith pointed to the next place and said worriedly, "However, the next place will make us worried."

"Where is it?" Putting down his cigar, Edward VII was curious about where this worrying place was.

“Benghazi in the Gulf of Sirte”

"Benghazi?" Edward VII was shocked. "If this is here, it would really worry us." It is so close to Cyprus, where the British governor in the Mediterranean is located. If it were on land, it would be almost the same. However, Benghazi Garcia is one of the few seaports in Africa in the Mediterranean. Needless to say, its existence does not pose any threat to Britain because it is in the hands of the Ottoman Empire. However, if it falls into the hands of Spain, The result is different. Now Spain has the world's third largest navy after the British and German Empire. It exists in a seaport like the Mediterranean. Especially this seaport is still directly located in the central and eastern part of Longhai. For Britain, Said, the threat is not ordinary.

"Yes, fortunately, according to the information given to us by the Saudi family, Benghazi is just the third option of Mohammed V."

"oh?"

"According to the information given to us, Mohammed V unified the ranking according to his own ideas. The Al-Hassa region was ranked as the first option, the second option was Basra, the outlet of our two river basins next to Kuwait, and the third option was Ban Ghazi, and the fourth is Tripoli.”

"Hazard and Basra?" Edward VII thought for a while, and he really remembered these two places. Britain has too much territory in the world, and he would not be able to remember many places, if it were not for the fact that these two places are more important. He really couldn't remember where the places were. In particular, the Persian carpets produced in Persia were sent by Kuwaiti mail some time ago, which made him even more impressed by that place.

"Yes, that's right there"

"If it is really there, then" Edward VII squinted his eyes and thought for a while, then said: "If the Ottoman Empire really wants to choose, then we will oppress them in order of Benghazi, Basra, Al-Hassa and Tripoli. Let us People in Istanbul put more pressure on them to minimize the threat to our interests. Especially Benghazi, just tell Mohammed V directly that if Benghazi they are giving up to Spain, then in order to retaliate against them, we I will definitely dig out an equally important location directly from them and tell them to open their eyes a little brighter."

"Would this cause dissatisfaction among the Saudis? After all, they mean to prevent the expansion of Spanish power on the peninsula."

"Asquith, do you think they are still the same as they were a few months ago and still have the ability to negotiate with us? The interests of the British Empire always come first. As for other people's interests, they are only our interests. It’s just a maintenance tool. Needless to say, Benghazi threatens our dominance in the eastern Mediterranean. We will never allow such existence. In this way, Spain should also know this if they want to come. They will choose not to accept it because they are wary of our attitude. Yes, but we still need to let them know our attitude."

Asquith nodded, saying that he could not be sure of Spain's attitude if he remained silent.

"As for several other places, Basra is close to our sphere of influence, such as Kuwait. Although the Persian Empire still exists, its pro-us attitude has been implemented and is equivalent to our sphere of influence. But God knows whether they will Because Spain can get closer, we changed the course and replaced us with Spain. When we signed the alliance with Spain, it was stipulated that if the two countries have territorial disputes such as colonies, they will choose who to join based on the local government. , so we must pay attention to this issue. Therefore, we should do our best to prevent Basra from falling into the hands of Spain. As for the other two places, if we can help the Saudi family and Hassa not fall into the hands of Spain, If so, of course we would take action and give Tripoli to Spain, but this possibility, I think, is extremely small even if the attitudes of Italy and France merge with Spain's Middle East ideas."

"His Majesty means that we should regard Al-Hassa and Tripoli as our final bottom line."

"Yes, this is where we can tolerate Spain in both places. Although British Petroleum has declined a bit in recent years, we are still a strong Britain. If the Ottoman Empire refuses to listen, we don't mind letting them know. How powerful our gunboats are, tell them that we can still continue to carry out devastating strikes against them." Edward VII said forcefully. At this moment, he obviously regained the tough attitude of his youth, just like back then. When he was still a prince, he always advocated being tough on the German Empire, and his attitude was still so tough.

Asquith almost felt like crying, because in the past few years, such His Majesty has become increasingly rare. The thunderous Majesty back then returned at this moment. However, seeing those wrinkles still remain on it, That person sighed in his heart, how wonderful it would be if His Majesty were twenty years younger!

On April 21, 1909, thunder roared over Europe, and it was accompanied by heavy rain. While the heavy rain fell, there were also various exciting news that people paid attention to.

Many people are reading the latest issue of the world's largest newspaper "International Online", especially the latest current news: What does it mean to be close without hunger?

"The relationship between the United States and Russia is thawing. On April 20, the President of the United States will visit Russia, and William Howard Taft will hold talks with Nicholas II. The background that promotes the talks between the two is the rise of Spain. If there is a tension between the United States and Russia At close range, it will change the power map in Asia and the Pacific. Countries in the Pacific are paying attention to this, and other countries in the world, especially Europe, are also paying attention to this.

A former senior official of the Department of Defense who participated in formulating Taft's foreign strategy said: "The United States also hopes that the United States and Russia will improve relations, and the reason is Spain. If Spain is too strong in Asia and the Far East, it will destroy the regional balance of power." U.S.-Russian cooperation can help prevent this."

The article stated that although the United States and Russia have conflicts on many issues. However, the U.S. government still believes that "the thaw in U.S.-Russian relations will help stabilize Asia." The Far East occupies more than one-third of Russia's territory. If American funds flow here and promote development, it will help strengthen Russia's control over the Far East, which can achieve the effect of containing Spain. The United States has high expectations for U.S.-Russian cooperation on this issue. "

The article most pointed out that the "fusion" staged by the United States and Russia will help contain Spain--this is exactly what the Kremlin wants.

The article stated that this situation is not bad for the United States. However, the United States cannot afford to take it lightly. As for, to what extent can the United States influence Russia's attitude toward Spain on territorial issues? What level of cooperation can be obtained from Russia? The article pointed out that to achieve these goals, the "delicate" relationship between Spain and Russia must be understood and fully utilized. (To be continued.