I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 761 The next target is the Commonwealth
It usually starts with "Let me say something fair," but what comes next is most likely not very fair.

The conflict between the Russians and the British does not need to be mediated by outsiders. Just watch the fun quietly.

While Kusyazov was arguing with Henry, the other Russian officers present were smiling happily.

They are all young and strong guys, full of energy and it is normal for them to fight.

The key is to win, especially this kind of foreign war. If you fail to win, you will be bullied in various ways.

The combat effectiveness displayed by the Russian army is indeed gratifying. Although it is not as powerful as 200 against 2000, the one-sided situation has also helped the Russian army regain the advantage.

The most important thing for a soldier is combat effectiveness. How well he plays football is secondary. Any war in peacetime is just a gimmick created to hype up commercial value. No matter how good a soldier is at playing football, he will still be beaten if he provokes his opponent.

Kusyazov also came to his senses by now. The so-called friendly match was simply a trap set by the British. If they really wanted to make friends with Russia, how about Russian roulette?

No matter how much you quarrel, you are in the wrong after hitting someone, and you still have to pay compensation.

Henry offered a price of £1000 for an arm and £2000 for a leg.

Kusyazov counter-offered, 100 for the arms and 200 for the legs, and in rubles instead of pounds.

The exchange rate between the pound and the ruble is still maintained at around 1:10.

20 pounds is actually not a small amount, equivalent to two months' salary for an ordinary British soldier.

This was the salary after the end of the World War. If it was before the outbreak of the World War, 20 pounds would be enough for half a year.

The two were at a stalemate, so they reported the matter to higher authorities.

At the Sixth General Assembly of the League of Nations in 1924, Nicholas II took the initiative to expose the matter, claiming that the Russian army owed the British army four arms, three legs, and 4 ribs.

rib cage.

Arthur Neville Chamberlain, who replaced Balfour as British ambassador to the League of Nations, did not respond and allowed little Nicholas to laugh at him.

Chamberlain was also miserable. Not long after he became Minister of Health in Stanley Baldwin's cabinet, the Baldwin cabinet fell. Chamberlain was unemployed at home, so he was sent to the League of Nations.

From Grey to Balfour to Chamberlain, Britain has replaced three ambassadors to the League of Nations in just two years, which shows how bad Britain's situation in the League of Nations is.

From March 22 to 3, the Suez Canal has been interrupted for nearly two years. Although all parties have thought of many solutions, it now seems that the resumption of navigation is still a long way off.

In order to completely solve the canal problem, Nicholas Jr. proposed a new plan to build another canal next to the canal.

Since the canal was opened to navigation in 1869, the canal company has dredged the canal many times, and the tonnage of ships that can pass through it has continued to increase.

Before the canal was interrupted this time, the tonnage of ships that could pass through had increased to 4.5 tons.

The Suez, which caused the blockage, weighed exactly 4.5 tons when fully loaded.

Therefore, it is useless to build the canal wider. Merchants will stick to the upper limit of the canal to build merchant ships. If the current situation is not changed, it will be blocked sooner or later.

The current canal has only one waterway. Young Nicholas proposed building another one next to it to turn the one-way traffic into a two-way one. If one waterway is blocked, there is another one, and they can be cleared in turn, instead of being blocked for one or two years as it is now.

Clemenceau didn't care, he was not a shareholder of the canal company. No matter how you divide it, just pay the dividends to France on time.

Chamberlain strongly opposed it.

Just to dredge the canal, the investment from all parties has already exceeded 20 billion rubles. The canal company is already running out of money and there are complaints everywhere.

How much more would it cost to repair another one?
"No matter how much it costs, all shareholders will share the cost in proportion. It is their responsibility."

Little Nicholas was rich and powerful.

Chamberlain frowned, this was obviously another trap.

It took two full years just to dredge the canal, and the work was not even half completed.

It took 11 years to dig this canal. How long would it take now?
Due to the improvement of construction machinery, it probably won’t take 11 years.

But even if the time was halved, the canal company could not afford it.

The reason why Nicholas the Younger brought up this matter at the League of Nations was to seek the intervention of state capital.

The canal company model emerged in the last century and is now outdated. Not only can it not guarantee the operation of the Suez Canal, it has also become an obstacle to the canal's upgrade.

“It’s OK if the canal company disagrees. There will naturally be people willing to invest who will contact the Egyptian government.”

Little Nicholas was confident.

When the Canal Company signed the agreement with the Ottoman Governor, there was no exclusive clause.

If Russia is determined to build a new canal, the Canal Company really can't do anything about it.

No matter when the canal dredging work is completed, when the new canal is opened, the profits of the canal company will plummet. It is not a possibility, but a certainty.

Chamberlain originally wanted to buy time for the canal company, but the League of Nations really had no secrets. The day after the general assembly ended, the news that Russia was going to build a second canal was revealed by the media.

People have been tired of the soap opera about the canal company for two years. If there is no explosive news, it will be impossible to arouse the curiosity of readers.

As Chamberlain expected, after the news that Russia was going to build a second canal came out, the canal company's stock, which had already fallen to the bottom, was completely ignored.

Now even the most slow-witted person knows that the Canal Company is being targeted. It can be said that the whole of Europe is paying the price for the Canal Company's tyranny.

On March 3, the French Canal Company announced that it would sell its shares in the French Canal Company to the Dolgorukov family for 17 million francs.

Before Rothschild could digest this fact, Rockefeller came to them and asked to buy the canal company shares held by the Rothschild family for 1500 million pounds.

"Oh, very good, is this what you are planning?"

Old Rothschild did not expect that the Russians and Americans would be so blatant.

"You can refuse, but then no one can guarantee how long the canal crisis will last. It could be eight or ten years."

Little John doesn't care. From the US's point of view, the longer the Suez Canal is blocked, the better.

Old Rothschild was silent for a long time and offered a price of 3000 million pounds.

Little John smiled and said, "You guys are really greedy for money."

On April 4, after several rounds of negotiations, the British Canal Company agreed to transfer all of its shares to Rockefeller of the United States.

In Alexandria, Crimea, John the Lesser and Sergei toasted.

Since France and Britain have successively withdrawn from the canal company, the dredging project must be completed as soon as possible. After all, how much does it cost to block the canal for a day?

The model of the reorganized canal company was similar to the previous one. The canal was managed by the Dolgorukov family, and Rockefeller just collected dividends.

The Egyptians finally got what they wanted, and the new canal company agreed to distribute 10% of its profits to the Egyptian government.

"The dredging project has entered its final stage and will be completed within a month. Construction of the new canal will then begin and the project is expected to take 36 months."

Sergey is vigorous and decisive.

"What is the Grand Duke going to do next?"

What Little John is concerned about is George's follow-up plans.

The Suez Canal was just an attempt to build initial trust between Russia and the United States.

With this foundation, we can build on our efforts and continue to attack the "old king".

"There will be an Imperial Conference in London next month—"

Sergei has a big appetite and sets his sights on the Commonwealth.

In recent years, the United Kingdom has held an Imperial Conference almost every other year to discuss internal affairs of the Commonwealth.

With the independence of South Africa, calls for independence for Australia, Canada and New Zealand have become increasingly louder.

Britain tried to tempt the overseas territories by giving them more rights, hoping that they would continue to remain in the Commonwealth.

The overseas dominions agreed to remain in the Commonwealth and recognize the British King as the common monarch of all Commonwealth countries, but on the condition that the overseas dominions were given all the rights as an independent country.

In other words, in the name of democracy, we should part ways.

Little John didn't say much to Sergey, and went to see Felix the next day to express his interest in the Free Trade Organization.

Felix welcomed the United States' joining the Free Trade Organization.

Littlejohn called for negotiations on a tariff agreement.

The Free Trade Organization no longer has zero tariffs, but rather countries negotiate among themselves based on their own circumstances.

Tariffs between Russia and most member states range from 10 to 30 percent.

Only the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the Grand Duchy of Yuriev, and the three countries of Russia still maintain zero tariffs.

John Jr. wants tariff autonomy, which conflicts with the purpose of the Free Trade Organization.

The US government has always used tariffs as the most powerful weapon to regulate imports and exports, making US imports and exports completely beneficial to US companies.

If the United States has complete tariff autonomy, the basis for the FTA will no longer exist.

(End of this chapter)