Romanian Eagle

The German and Austrian ambassadors expressed to Eder the offers of the two countries for the latest Romanian oil products.

The next morning, as if to demonstrate against Germany and Austria, the British and French ambassadors rushed to the Prime Minister's residence.

Prime Minister Bretianu, who was working, received the report from his subordinates, and immediately let the two ambassadors come in.

Prime Minister Bretianu pretended not to know and asked the two visiting ambassadors. "I don't know what the two ambassadors have to do with me?"

The two ambassadors ignored the Romanian Prime Minister who was showing his acting skills in front of them. Of course, they both knew each other's goals.

"We are here to buy Romanian oil this time."

The British and French ambassadors' straight-to-the-point explanations meant that Prime Minister Bretianu knew that it was time to get down to business. He preached earnestly. "The two ambassadors should know that Deo has bid £9 a ton."

"We all know."

Prime Minister Bretianu was satisfied with the answer from the British and French ambassadors and continued to speak. "I wonder how much the two ambassadors can offer this time?"

This time, the French ambassador let Budd speak. "We are prepared to bid £10 a ton this time, but we need to sell all the oil we need for export."

The price quoted by the French ambassador left Prime Minister Bretianu in a trance. Before the war, Romania's national finance was only more than 20 million pounds, but now only half of the oil is sold every year, which also made him an eye-opener.

"Thank you for your liking for Romanian oil. I will inform the crown prince of the quotations of the two countries. I believe this price will have a satisfactory result."

Prime Minister Bretianu came back and said this with a pun. He knew that if Romania was not the only oil importer for Germany and Austria. Where can I sell this price. Before the war, Romania's oil exports to other countries were only £2 per ton, and after the war the price was only £4.50. So if it is not unique, how can such a good thing come to Romania.

After the two ambassadors talked about the latest oil prices, they continued to chat with Bretianu for a while. In particular, the French ambassador Jean Budd discussed with the Prime Minister about his experience of studying in Paris.

After sending off the two British and French ambassadors, Prime Minister Bretianu immediately released the news that the British and French prices were increased to 10 pounds per ton. I believe that the German and Austrian embassies will be busy late tonight.

Sure enough, the message sent by Prime Minister Bretianu was not in vain. At noon, the German ambassador Baslob and the Austro-Hungarian ambassador Berley received the news. Did not expect the British and French ambassadors to react so quickly, and directly mentioned the price of 10 pounds per ton, which made them feel a little prickly.

In particular, the Austro-Hungarian ambassador, Berly, is the most nervous, which has approached the price limit given to him by the government. So after getting this news, he hurried to the German embassy to ask Ambassador Baslob to discuss countermeasures.

Ambassador Baslob looked eagerly at his Ambassador Bailey. The poking attitude towards the British and French ambassadors. He also had a headache. It's just that there is no other way now, but the two sides can only fight for economic strength.

So he spoke to Ambassador Bailey. "You'd better inform your government of the current situation in Romania and let them raise the current price limit. I will also inform our government of this situation. According to my estimation, the price the government has given me now seems to be not enough."

After hearing the words of the German ambassador, Ambassador Bailey thought that he could only do this. Now Britain and France have made it clear that they will use economic means to restrain them, and now they can only let the two sides compete for economic strength.

He spoke to Ambassador Baslob. "I will go back to the embassy to send a report to the country. Now this is related to the common interests of both of us, so I hope our two countries can support each other.

"

Ambassador Baslober knew that this was what Ambassador Bailey hoped that the German side would take on a little more. What supports each other is that Germany supports Austria-Hungary. It's just that now the two countries have become grasshoppers on the same line, and no one can run away, so he can only acquiesce to Ambassador Bailey's words.

In the afternoon, they sent telegrams to the country. The Austria-Hungary Empire sent a telegram to Germany in the evening to ask for help because of the gap in economic strength. Now the problem is concentrated in the hands of the German government, and the Kaiser and General Moltke, who have been focusing on the war situation, rarely let go of the war situation because of this problem, and discuss with Prime Minister Holwig the oil issue that has been ignored by them.

In this special meeting for the Romanian oil, it is still the Prime Minister Holwig, who is still in charge of government work, to describe the current situation in Romania. Finally he concluded. "According to my estimation, this time, if we want to keep the import of Romanian oil, we need to spend a lot of money."

After listening to the Prime Minister's speech, the German Emperor was the first to ask General Mooch. Now that the German army is attacking the city in northern France, his opinion is the most important.

"General Moltke, do you think our need for oil is a necessity? If so, how much should we pay to get it?"

In the face of the emperor's inquiry, General Mao Qi said after sorting out his thoughts. "Your Majesty, in this war, the use of vehicles has greatly exceeded the storage capacity. Economically, even a ton of oil of 00 marks can compete with the storage capacity. However, in terms of efficiency, vehicles are still faster and more convenient. So I think oil is a necessity in our war."

After Admiral Moltke finished speaking, Admiral Tirpitz also spoke. "Your Majesty, our navy ships also need fuel for travel. Now that the fuel in the empire's inventory has reached the warning level, seeking to replenish it is the only way."

Now the German Navy has not changed its power from coal to fuel, but this does not mean that the Navy will not use oil. When its warships are dispatched, it will also pour heavy oil on the coal to improve the combustion efficiency. Moreover, not all naval ships use coal, and many small ships that pursue efficiency have been converted to fuel power. But Marshal Tirpitz continued. "We in the Admiralty are working on plans to restrict the export of substances from Romania to other countries."

William II asked with interest. "What plan is this?"

Marshal Tirpitz talked about it smugly. "This plan is mainly to win an ally for us, but also to prevent Russia from getting material supplies through the Black Sea. Restricting Romanian exports is only a side effect."

All the ministers present here are talented people, so I have already guessed it without him talking about the script in detail. However, this will not ease Germany's demand for Romanian oil, and the feasibility of competing for its oil still needs to be discussed.

After the Navy Secretary's speech, Prime Minister Holwig also spoke about the economic needs. "Your Majesty, we need Romania's oil now. Many machinery in agriculture need it, and many chemical plants must use its petrochemical raw materials to produce it."

After hearing the opinions of the three ministers that he valued very much, William II continued to ask. "So what is the economic price we can afford now? There is no way this oil price will continue to rise."

"ta~ta~ta"

When William II asked impatiently, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

The emperor who was interrupted did not show dissatisfaction, he knew that it was probably due to urgent matters at this time.

Sure enough, a guard came in and spoke with a telegram. "This is a telegram from Vienna."

The Kaiser took over the telegram and glanced at it briefly, and after reading it, he told the ministers in front of him. "This is a telegram from Austria-Hungary asking for our help, also about the oil."

After speaking, he handed the telegram to the ministers present to circulate it to each other and asked. "What shall we do now?"

Prime Minister Holwig knew it was time for him to come forward. "Your Majesty is actually a problem. Not only do we need oil, but Austria-Hungary also needs it. Then we can inform them after the negotiation results, and at most we can give them a little subsidy to help."

After hearing the Prime Minister's words, William II murmured in a low voice, and General Mooch, who was sitting next to him, seemed to hear that "These Austrians need our help in everything."

the Kaiser then asked. "So how do we reply to the ambassador in Romania?"

General Mooch said. "I think 00 marks is a good price, and I believe that the Romanians will not reject our kindness."

Admiralty Tirpitz agreed. "I also think the price is reasonable."

Prime Minister Holwig knew it was time to speak for himself. "I also agree with the proposal of the two ministers, but I need to add that if Romania can accept our use of mechanical equipment to offset the oil payment, then it can be higher."

After hearing the unanimous approval of the important ministers he trusted, William II also approved this method. So he spoke to the Prime Minister. "The prime minister sent this message to the ambassador to Romania, and let him know the importance of this, hoping that he could take Romania's share of oil exports for the Empire."

So Ambassador Baslob in Romania was given sufficient power to negotiate the matter at home, and also the Austrian Hungarian Ambassador Berli was given this power. So in the following week, German and Austrian ambassadors with sufficient funds and British and French ambassadors began to compete fiercely for Romanian oil. They fought back and forth at each price point, and after a week, the German ambassador, who had no strings attached, was victorious.

Then, in the presence of Prime Minister Bretianu, they signed a supply contract with the Romanian oil company. In this contract, Romania guarantees to provide at least 4 million tons of refined oil and 2.5 million tons of petrochemical products to Germany and Austria within three years. Among them, the price of refined oil, which is the most important, was traded at a comprehensive price of US$75 per ton, and the total contract value reached 90 million pounds.

In terms of payment methods, Romania requires that precious metals such as U.S. dollars or gold be the payment currency. 15% of the payment will be for Romania to purchase German machinery and equipment, and the price of the equipment cannot be higher than 20% before the war broke out. As a concession to Germany for such a huge contract, Romania needs to pay Germany's money every year to purchase oil products. However, the annual repayment in Romania is only 20 million marks each year, which can only be considered better than nothing.

So the competition for Romanian oil also ended with the signing of this contract.

PS; Book friends will keep the monthly passes for next month for Mantou. I will make 2 updates every day since June, and if there are more rewards, I will add more. Tomorrow, on Children's Day, the steamed bread will be guaranteed.