African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1245 The deal is concluded
After all, Siam, as the younger brother, has been relatively obedient to Britain and France in recent years. In addition, given Siam's strategic position and important value, Britain and France will not abandon Siam unless it is absolutely necessary.

……

East African Legation in Siam.

At this moment, the East African Embassy has been strictly protected, the gates are closed, and East African soldiers armed with live ammunition are wary of passers-by.

Obviously, the East African Embassy was still relatively cautious. After all, if the news spread in Siam and aroused public outrage among the local Siamese people, leading to local people attacking the East African Embassy, ​​that would not be good.

In the afternoon after finishing the conversation with Rama VI, Sir Clare and Minister Kliaba arrived in front of the fully armed East African Embassy.

"Sir Claire, the East African embassy should be here!" asked French Minister Kliaba.

The British Minister Sir Clyde nodded and said, "This is also my first embassy in East Africa, but judging by the flag, this is definitely the place."

After confirming, the two knocked on the door and a head popped out from the small window of the iron gate.

"who are you?"

Claire and Kliaba introduced themselves respectively. After confirming their identities, the staff of the East African Embassy let them in and took them inside the embassy.

The East African Minister to Siam, Will, came forward and said, "Haha, Sir Clare and Minister Kliaba, you two are really a great honor to be here!"

Although it was the first time for the two to come to the East African Embassy, ​​Weir and the others knew each other. After all, diplomats from the major powers often had the opportunity to meet each other.

Minister Kliyaba said: "Minister Weir, we are here to lobby for His Majesty Rama VI. We hope that your two countries can resolve this misunderstanding."

There is naturally a reason why Kliaba took the lead. After all, between Britain and France, Britain had had conflicts with East Africa, while France, on the other hand, has always had good relations with East Africa.

Upon hearing this, Will's face immediately changed. He said to the two men, "What is there to discuss? Siam just needs to accept our conditions. After all, they are directly killing our citizens, which is obviously challenging the bottom line of the empire."

Minister Kliyaba said: "Minister Weir, please don't rush to refuse. We are here with the goal of maintaining regional peace and consolidating regional stability."

"Siam was indeed at fault this time, but it is not a crime punishable by death. The conditions offered by your country are too harsh and Siam will never accept such conditions."

Weir said: "I think the Empire's attitude towards Siam is relatively lenient. After all, such a small amount of compensation plus a few pieces of land can turn hostility into friendship, which is definitely a bargain for the Siamese government."

Hearing Will's shameless words, the two men's brows jumped. What do you mean by a little compensation? 80 million Rhine guilders is not a small amount. Most countries in the world cannot afford it.

As for the pieces of land that Weir mentioned, they were indeed not large in area, but it also depended on where they were located. East Africa proposed that Siam cede four pieces of land along the Gulf of Siam to East Africa.

These include parts of Bangkok and most of the surrounding areas, which can be said to be the most essential places in Siam. If East Africa really gets these places, East Africa can use them as a springboard to control the national economy of Siam.

This is not an exaggeration at all. Thanks to the efforts of Britain and France, Siam’s seaports are currently mainly concentrated on the southern coast.

Although Siam also has access to the sea on the Malay Peninsula, it is a protrusion of Siam's territory and is not closely connected with the hinterland of Siam. There are also pagan forces there.

If East Africa occupied Bangkok and the surrounding lands, it basically meant that the hinterland economy of Siam would be controlled by East Africa. This is definitely not what the two governments want to see. After all, neither Britain nor France did so in the past.

Sir Clare said at this time: "Minister Weir, let's be frank. Everyone knows the purpose of East Africa this time. You must have some plans for Siam."

"We can allow East Africa to obtain some benefits, but your demands must not exceed Siam's ability to bear, so the compensation must be reduced, and the land can be ceded, but it must not be the areas divided by your country."

Will said, "Oh, I wonder what Sir Clare has to say?"

Sir Clare said, "As for the compensation, I think it should be less than 5 million Rhine guilders. As for the land, it should not be so large, or you can choose another place." Will said, "No, 5 million Rhine guilders is too little. You know, the Empire's Pacific Fleet has already set out. The cost of the fleet alone is not small, not to mention the compensation for the sacrifice of our citizens and the cost of the damage to the Empire's reputation..."

In fact, the Pacific Fleet in East Africa did make preparations, but did not set out. After all, East Africa naturally hoped to defeat the enemy without fighting.

War is often the last option, and given the strength of the East African Pacific Fleet, it is estimated that a random squadron can be sent to annihilate the Siamese Navy without the need for a full-scale attack.

After all, the main battleships of the Siamese Navy were only steam-powered ships of a few hundred tons. To put it bluntly, such warships could be easily dealt with by the gunboat formations of East Africa in the 1970s.

What's more, the Siamese Navy was only equipped with a few of these most "advanced" warships for Siam, as well as a bunch of wooden-hulled ships.

In contrast, the Pacific Fleet in East Africa, although the weakest among the three major navies in East Africa, ranks third in the Pacific region, while the top two are the United States and Japan respectively.

Therefore, to deal with the Siamese Navy, the East African Pacific Fleet did not need to put in much effort to shatter Siam’s naval dream.

In fact, Siam was the country with the most awareness of maritime power in the South Seas. However, due to its poverty and weakness, as well as external threats, it could not develop at all.

"How about eight million Rhine guilders?" Sir Clare asked tentatively.

Weir said, "For the sake of both countries, seventy-eight million."

"Ten million Rhineland Shields can't be any higher!"

"Seventy-six million..."

The two men were caught in a lengthy negotiation, but the gap between their expectations was so great that they ended up in a stalemate.

Kliyaba acted as a peacemaker at this time. He said, "Why don't we talk about the land first?"

So the three of them started a fierce battle over which part of East Africa Siam should cede.

Britain and France did not want East Africa to have too much influence in Siam, so they tried their best to prevent East Africa from entering the core area of ​​Siam.

Minister Weir naturally did the opposite and made a fuss about Siam's seaports and key cities.

The negotiations between the two sides lasted for three days. Finally, Weir made a concession: "60 million Rhine guilders, no less. At the same time, the territory of the Malay Peninsula in southern Siam will be ceded to the Empire. This is our final bottom line. If the Siamese government does not agree, then the two countries can only decide the outcome at sea."

Weir threatened war, and it was quite effective. After all, if a war really broke out, East Africa might not stop.

However, Britain and France have neither the time nor the strength to care about Siam's life or death, unless they negotiate peace with Germany and Austria in Europe at this time.

Sir Clare and Kliaba looked at each other and finally accepted the result.

Although the conditions in East Africa were still harsh, the indemnity was at least 20 million less than before. At the same time, the territory of the Malay Peninsula was not actually too important to Siam.

Siam is a Buddhist country, while the residents on the Malay Peninsula are mainly Arabic, so if it is this area, Rama VI should be able to accept it.

And this is indeed the case. The Siamese government represented by Rama VI accepted the conditions of East Africa. After all, throughout Siam’s modern history, the Siamese have never been a country that can stand firm to the end.

Rama VI, who had studied abroad, also understood the strengths and weaknesses of the East African country. East Africa was never something Siam could provoke, otherwise he would not have asked Britain and France to mediate.

(End of this chapter)