1909, April 2, morning.
London, the capital of the United Kingdom, No. 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the Prime Minister.
Miller, secretary to the Prime Minister, submitted the last message to Herbert Henry Asquith.
"Your Majesty, Prime Minister, here is a telegram from Francisco, Duke of Braganza, concerning the Arabian Peninsula."
"The Arabian Peninsula is a remote place like this. Do you need the Braganza family to contact us?"
Herbert Henry Asquith was a little confused. He picked up the telegram and read it. He wanted to know why the Duke of Braganza wanted to contact Britain for this ruin.
"Well, that's it.
The Duke of Braganza has run out of dates, and the production of date palms in Qatar and Bahrain is limited. In addition to wanting us to buy dates from the UK, he also wants to take over the Hassa region, the Arab enclave of Ottoman Turkey on the west coast of the Persian Gulf.
However, His Excellency the Duke does not want to seize this area by force. He wants to spend money, but he does not want to spend more, so he asks us, the United Kingdom, to come forward and make a statement."
The Hassan area is a long and narrow area between Qatar and the British protectorate of Kuwait.
In 1891, in order to control the Persian Gulf, the British took over Kuwait at the end of the Persian Gulf, but the unimportant Hassan area was not taken seriously at all, so it has always been an enclave of Ottoman Turkey.
Ottoman Türkiye didn't care about this barren enclave.
There is a lot of sand in this place, and a bunch of Shias live there. The only products available in the entire area are Persian pearls and dates.
The British don't like it, and the Ottoman Turks don't like this place either. Their management power is not that big, they just need to maintain their presence on the map.
Pearls and dates are not precious things. They are sold on the streets in the Persian Gulf, especially dates, which can be found in almost every region in the Middle East.
"We can totally help with this little thing.
Miller, ask our foreign minister to the Ottomans to contact Francisco and ask him to help the Duke of Braganza take over this area from the Ottomans at a low price."
It's just a wasteland. In addition to producing dates, which are very common in the Middle East, and some valuable pearls, the rest is of no value at all.
The Al-Khasa region is neither at the head nor the tail of the Persian Gulf. It is blocked inside and has no strategic value.
Trading this area for the Duke of Braganza's affection is a great deal.
Francisco, Duke of Braganza, is an important force in Portugal, and his son Tangning Pedro is the king of Brazil. He has recently been away from Germany. For Britain, the leader of the Allied Powers, he is a worthy target.
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"Yes, Prime Minister."
Miller received a reply from the Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith, but he did not leave. He was not in a hurry to arrange affairs, but talked about dates.
"The Prime Minister, Duke Francisco, has recently been expanding his business. Dates are an important dessert ingredient in Luxembourg teahouses. Now they have a huge demand for dates.
This time, the Duke wants to take over the Hassan region in order to obtain a stable and large date palm producing area to make up for their small date palm producing areas of Qatar and Bahrain.
In the Middle East, the UK has three protectorates: Oman, Trusil Oman, and South Yemen, and it also has great control over the Kingdom of Persia.
The date palm production in these places is amazing. Do we want to give up some profits when we cooperate with His Excellency the Duke?"
As the Prime Minister's secretary, Miller has a very good relationship with the Prime Minister and is also an important confidant of the Prime Minister. Of course, he has the right to provide advice to the Prime Minister.
"You can give in, there are plenty of places for these dates anyway.
Dates are just a dessert in the Luxembourg teahouse run by the Braganza royal family. They are not an important thing, and they actually have no great value to us in the UK.
Miller, this fruit is actually not very good. It is only eaten by those who have a sweet tooth. I have tasted it and it is not very good.
I suspect that if this thing were not made into desserts, it would not be sold at all. If it was valuable, this fruit would have become popular in the UK."
"Yes, Prime Minister, this thing is indeed too sweet."
Miller also tasted this thing. If it wasn't made into a dessert with pasta, he wouldn't be able to eat it at all.
After being made into a dessert, his wife and daughter like to eat it very much. They often go to the Luxembourg teahouse with some of their best friends to order this dessert.
"Your Majesty, Prime Minister, should you let Ottoman Turkey also provide dates at low prices as an additional condition for this purchase of land?"
When Miller said this, his expression was very natural, and he did not expect that Ottoman Turkey would have any objections.
The Ottoman Empire has long been a thing of the past. It cannot even defeat the small countries in the Balkans, and almost all its European territory has been lost.
Europeans used to call Ottoman the Sick Man of Europe, but now Europeans call him the Sick Man of West Asia.
Britain, France, Germany, and Russia were overwhelming in the face of the Ottoman Empire.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire also often beat up the Ottoman Empire. Now it is facing the decline of the Ottoman Empire.
Italy has also recently set its sights on the Ottomans. They have set their sights on the two enclaves of Ottoman Turkey in North Africa.
However, Italy, after experiencing the lessons of the failure of the Ethiopian War, they have become much more cautious. They have been cautious again and again, but they have maintained a stable penetration and waited for the opportunity.
But Italy's little thoughts can be seen by even a European power. Faced with this situation, Ottoman Turkey has no big solution and has been pretending to be dead.
Britain is not Italy. For such a small matter, you don't need to care about the opinions of Ottoman Turkey. The British ambassador can solve it.
As long as the British ambassador made a statement in Sudan and conveyed his intention, it would be difficult for the Ottoman Turks to object.
If the Ottoman Turks dare to have any objections, the Ambassador will get a little angry, and the Ottomans will obey with fear and fear.
This time, the Duke of Braganza did not refuse to give money. If it were replaced by Britain, Britain would not only ask for land, but also ask for money from Ottoman Turkey.
"Miller, I learned from you as a secretary because you are careful."
Herbert Henry Asquith was very satisfied with his secretary, who often made useful suggestions.
"Okay, add this item to the purchase plan.
Well, inspired by you, we can go one step further and use British influence to directly hand over the date palm business monopoly in the Middle East and North Africa to His Excellency Francisco, Duke of Braganza. I think it will win him greater friendship.
."
"Oh, my Lord Prime Minister, this is a great idea, you can do it.
A date palm monopoly is very helpful to the Luxembourg teahouse, which is an important industry of the Braganza royal family.
I think he can appreciate our sincere help to His Excellency the Duke."
"Haha, Miller, you are still so interesting and always so good at complimenting others. I can only imagine that you also reminded me."
Herbert Henry Asquith, laughing and joking at his old friend.
"But the situation is exactly as you said.
Duke Francisco and King Pedro III responded promptly to our British kindness.
Now, their relationship with William III is very bad. I believe that if they work hard, their relationship will go bankrupt sooner or later. One day, Brazil and Portugal will completely side with our Allied Powers.
Wilhelm II, that idiot emperor, didn’t understand diplomacy at all, so he kept trying to find allies.
In addition to the Allies, if he can find a useful country as an ally, then I admit that I am a fool and he is a genius."
This chapter has been completed!