Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 1056: Chapter 70, The Shit-stirrer Goes Online
 

Hearing the staggering number, “300 million Divine Shields,” Wessenberg would have spat out his wine had he not been accustomed to weathering great storms.

Frankly, at this moment, he wanted to counter with “3 million.” However, considering that doing so would be too frivolous, it might damage his grandiose image.

“Envoy, you must be joking! Throughout the entire history of mankind, there has never been such an expensive colonial trade.

Only half the land in the Moroccan Area is valuable, and by your asking price, the average cost per square kilometer would be 150 Divine Shields.

With such a price tag, one could buy land in your own homeland. Apart from the areas surrounding cities, most of the rural land in your country is priced similarly.”

This was an exaggerated claim; while land in Spain might not be expensive, it wasn’t as cheap as 150 Divine Shields per square kilometer.

One could only hope to purchase the worst mountainous land, including some unarable areas, at that rate.

No matter how poor the land was, being able to purchase it was all that mattered. By the standards of those years, land in Europe had to be the most expensive.

Even the worst mountainous land in Spain, lacking special resources, was pricier than the best farmland in Morocco.

The price was determined by market supply and demand. Compared to the sparsely populated colonies, Europe had a high population density with scarce land, naturally driving up land prices.

Brad was unphased, “If we look purely at land value, the Moroccan Area might not be worth 300 million Divine Shields. However, when you add strategic and political value, it’s a whole different story.

Once your country acquires the Moroccan Area, you effectively lock the gateway to the Western Mediterranean, easily keeping the British at bay.

Turning the Mediterranean into an inland sea would give your country an inherent advantage in the upcoming international competition.

If your country is willing, you could even take the opportunity to buy Portuguese Africa, which I believe the Portuguese Government would not refuse.

With everyone else out of the picture, the British alone won’t last long, and the African Continent will eventually fall into your hands.

Beyond the strategic value, the political value is also substantial. Only the Holy Roman Empire that possesses the Mediterranean can be deemed the true Roman Empire.

Rekindling the glory of the Roman era would significantly augment your government’s prestige. Don’t you aspire to achieve this great undertaking?”

It was impossible not to be moved. If not for the fear of a negative impact, the Vienna Government would have already made a move on the Moroccan Area.

With the lesson of Napoleon before them, the Vienna Government had been extremely cautious since becoming the dominant power in Europe, to avoid attracting hatred.

Knowing the extraordinary significance of the Moroccan Area, the Vienna Government had restrained their desire to demonstrate to the other European nations that their new overlord was harmless.

There is a reward for every effort. After a round of political posturing, European countries indeed became much less wary of Shinra.

A potential Anti-Holy Roman Empire Alliance was seemingly off the table, but this also tied the Vienna Government’s hands, making it difficult for them to continue their expansion.

If they couldn’t expand, then they wouldn’t. After all, Shinra was already well-fed.

The current high officials of the Vienna Government were all old men well past the age of youthful folly, acting with utmost prudence.

They knew that securing the Moroccan Area could earn them enduring fame and a higher historical regard, yet they refrained, to avoid arousing an Anti-Holy Roman Empire Alliance from the European nations.

It had been proven that “the cautious ones reign supreme.” The more restrained the Vienna Government appeared, the more unsettled the Spanish Government became.

Especially after the Spanish-Japanese War, when Spain was severely chastened by social turmoil and came to terms with their inadequacies, curtailing their ambitions.

After a few more rebellions, the fully sober Spanish Government finally realized that holding on to the Moroccan Area was like a hot potato.

While the Spaniards might not have heard the story of “the crime of possessing a precious jade,” they understood the principle.

Since they couldn’t handle it themselves, why not seize this chance to exchange it for a large sum of money from the Vienna Government and repay the favors owed to Shinra?

Even if this transaction required a payment, the added value brought by Morocco meant that the Vienna Government had to acknowledge Spain’s generosity.

Facts had to be faced. As Shinra’s Foreign Minister, Wessenberg couldn’t play the part of the helpless fool.

“The envoy speaks truthfully. The Moroccan Area is indeed of great significance to the Holy Roman Empire.

If possible, I too would like to agree to this trade, but your country is asking for too much.

Regardless of the circumstances, Morocco is an independent nation. Your country has never truly controlled this nation, and what you now offer to trade with us is merely a nominal suzerainty.

The Moroccan Area’s high value is predicated on your country’s complete control, which you have not achieved.

I’m not requiring that your government gains full control over the Moroccan Area. Just defeat the Kingdom of Morocco and establish preliminary social order, then we will pay the 300 million Divine Shields.

If your government cannot achieve this, then at the very highest premium, I can only offer 30 million Divine Shields.”

The bottom line was that there was no bottom line; before this, Wessenberg didn’t even know the Spanish Government was so resolute in selling the Moroccan Area, and the Vienna Government had naturally not discussed it.

Without a prior assessment, Wessenberg had no idea how much the Moroccan Area was truly worth.

Moreover, the value of something has always been determined by demand. The greater the need, the higher the price offered, and a premium was perfectly normal.

If the price was uncertain, then they’d just settle the payment upon delivery. After all, the most important aspect of negotiations was the discussion; such major trades couldn’t be finalized in a few words as if haggling in a vegetable market.

For the Vienna Government, securing the Moroccan Area without causing adverse effects was critical; the actual price was of little concern.

When the Spaniards emphasized the value of the Moroccan Area to Shinra, Wessenberg focused on control. He was certain that the Spanish Government couldn’t secure the Moroccan Area.

…

A banquet was never a place for secrets; the Spanish Government’s intention to sell the Moroccan Area was never meant to be concealed.

Although they had identified the Vienna Government as the sole buyer, logic ceased to exist once politics entered the equation.

If they spread the news and by some chance, a nation acted rashly and competed with Shinra, wouldn’t that drive a better price?

Of course, such an event was highly unlikely. Mainly because the Spanish Government’s asking price was too steep for anyone wanting to snatch it from Shinra’s jaws without the means to afford it.

“300 million Divine Shields,” when converted, amounts to over a thousand tons of gold. There are only two countries in the world with such financial strength.

And these two countries happen to be in competition with each other, sabotaging one another not just for a day or two; the objective of the Spanish Government goes without saying.

…

London

Since receiving the news that the Spaniards intended to sell the Moroccan Area, Prime Minister Robert Cecil had been suffering headaches.

To be frank, Robert Cecil was also quite unlucky. He had assumed his position only to meet the greatest rival that Britain had faced in three hundred years.

Compared to the current Holy Roman Empire, previous encounters with Spain, the Netherlands, France, and Russia seemed entirely insignificant.

“The Spaniards want to sell Morocco, but what exactly is going on? Why didn’t we receive any news earlier?”

There was no question, this was a superfluous remark. England and Spain had first clashed over the issue of the Philippines, only to subsequently fall out over Cuba.

As old imperialists, the Spaniards too had their pride, and even if they desperately wanted the British to intervene and drive up the price, they wouldn’t just bring the offer to them.

Foreign Minister Cameron: “Years of war have caused financial problems for the Spanish Government, and the crippling debt is leaving them gasping for breath.

To extricate themselves from this financial crisis, they’ve had to find a way to self-rescue. Although the Moroccan Area is nominally a Spanish colony, they have never truly controlled it.

Since the dawn of colonialism, the benefits that the Spanish Government has reaped from the Moroccan Area have always been much smaller than their expenditures.

A non-profitable colony holds no value. For the Spanish Government, the Moroccan Area is a flavorless rib—they can’t savor it, yet they can’t bear to discard it.”

“What is a tasteless rib to them is a bear’s paw to us.”

The Moroccan Area, deemed meaningless by the Spanish Government, had become invaluable in the eyes of both Britain and Shinra.

Naval Minister Frola: “No matter what, we cannot allow the Moroccan Area to fall into Shinra’s hands; otherwise, everything we have in the Mediterranean is doomed.”

As the world’s hegemon, Britain’s reach spanned the globe. Of course, the British had made strategic placements in such an important region as the Mediterranean.

Half of Tunisia and the Malta Islands were the fruits of the British labor in the Mediterranean.

In the first half of the 19th century, Britain even briefly dominated the Mediterranean through these tendrils.

Unfortunately, those days of glory had gone by. Following the rise of France and Austria, Britain’s hegemony in the Mediterranean was soon suppressed by these two regional powers.

By the time the Shinra era arrived, the situation worsened drastically. Talk less of hegemony—the Royal Navy’s main forces didn’t even dare to easily venture into the Mediterranean.

If Morocco now fell into Shinra’s hands as well, the Mediterranean’s gates would be firmly closed to Britain. The once strategically important Malta and Tunisia would become meaningless.

Army Minister Skye Bruce: “Sir is correct; under no circumstances can we allow the Moroccan Area to fall into Shinra’s hands. We must disrupt this deal, and ideally, secure Morocco for ourselves.”

For the historically opposing army and navy to suddenly agree on a stance clearly hinted at trouble.

Apart from major national interests, the only other matter could be military spending. Compared to the former, the latter’s influence was, in fact, even greater.

“Securing the Moroccan Area is simple; we just need to be willing to spend money. The question is, what do we do after securing it?

Everyone knows the situation in Africa. Our colony in South Africa has shrunk to the Cape of Good Hope; in East Africa, we have less than half of what we had at our peak.

If we hadn’t stationed a large force there to stabilize the situation later on, we would have been driven into the sea by those greedy savages long ago.

Although Morocco is shielded from southern enemies by the Sahara Desert, it faces threats from the east. Conveniently, it also guards the gateway to the Mediterranean, making it a highly contested strategic location.

To defend this land, less than two hundred thousand troops would hardly suffice. If war breaks out with Shinra, even deploying half a million troops might fail to hold the area.”

It wasn’t that Cameron underestimated the Lobster Soldiers; it was simply that Britain allocated too few resources to its army. Without substance, how could one produce bread?

Despite Britain’s wealth, most of it was just an accumulation from centuries of colonization. Considering purely the government’s fiscal revenue, Britain was already far behind Shinra, even with the colonies included.

Amidst their all-out focus on naval power, to develop an additional continental army would surely bankrupt the British Government.

Army Minister Skye Bruce unapologetically said, “The difficulty is indeed great, but do we have any other choice?

In the face of the Holy Roman Empire, the Empire has been retreating step by step. We have already lost the European Continent; if we lose the African Continent as well, what’s left of the Empire?

Perhaps one might think that the Empire’s interests in Africa aren’t significant, and if lost, it wouldn’t matter much, considering we still have Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and India.

But as our losses mount and the enemy grows stronger day by day, the Empire falls into decline through constant concessions.

It won’t be much longer…”

Regardless of whether these were facts or fear-mongering, Britain’s decline was undeniable.

The Victorian Era marked the zenith of Britain, which also heralded a period of decline. With the rise of Shinra, it was the era for the change of old and new superpowers.

As an old-school empire, if Britain did not want to continue on a downward spiral, it had to find a way to hold back Shinra.

The British Government had been exerting much effort, yet it was an uphill struggle against the inevitable. Facing the encroaching Shinra, Britain seemed very passive.

After hesitating for a moment, Prime Minister Robert Cecil spoke slowly: “Have the Foreign Office inform the Spanish Government that the Empire is interested in purchasing the Moroccan Area.

At the same time, release news that Shinra is coercing the Spanish Government, intending to forcefully take over the Moroccan Area. Create public opinion pressure on the Vienna Government.

When necessary, the Empire can step forward to publicly support Spain in deploying troops to occupy the Moroccan Area, disrupting their negotiation process as much as possible.

Even if we ultimately cannot prevent the transaction, we cannot let Shinra easily secure the Moroccan Area.”

Knowing full well it was a calculation by the Spanish Government, Robert Cecil had no choice but to play along. From Britain’s perspective, it was better to let the Spaniards benefit than to allow the Holy Roman Empire to effortlessly secure the Moroccan Area.

…