The German and Austrian ambassadors expressed to Edel the offers of the two countries for Romania's latest petroleum products.
The next morning, as if to demonstrate against Germany and Austria, the British and French ambassadors rushed to the Prime Minister's residence.
After receiving the report from his subordinates, Prime Minister Bretianu, who was at work, immediately asked the two ambassadors to come in.
Prime Minister Bretianu pretended not to know and asked the two visiting ambassadors. "I wonder what the two ambassadors want from me?"
The two ambassadors ignored the Romanian Prime Minister who was showing off his acting skills in front of them. Of course, they both knew each other's purpose.
"We are here to buy Romanian oil this time."
The British and French ambassadors explained the purpose of their visit straight to the point. Prime Minister Bretianu knew that it was time to talk about business. He preached seriously. "The two ambassadors should know that Germany and Austria have already bid 9 pounds per ton."
"We all know it."
Prime Minister Bretianu was very satisfied with the answers given by the British and French ambassadors and continued, "I wonder how much the two ambassadors can offer this time?"
This time it was French Ambassador Jean Bader who spoke. "We are prepared to bid 10 pounds per ton this time, but all exported oil needs to be sold to us."
The price mentioned by the French ambassador made Prime Minister Bretianu feel dazed for a while. Before the war, Romania's national finance was only more than 20 million pounds, but now it only sells oil and it reaches half of it every year. This is also an eye-opener for him.
"Thank you Ambassador for your love for Romanian oil. I will inform the Crown Prince of the quotations from the two countries. I believe that this price will have a satisfactory result."
Prime Minister Bretianu came to his senses and said this with a pun. He knew that if Romania was not the only oil importer between Germany and Austria, where could it be sold at this price? Before the war, Romania's oil exports to other countries were only
The price is 2 pounds per ton, and after the war broke out, the price was only 4.5 pounds. So if it were not for its uniqueness, such a good thing would not be Romania's turn.
After talking about the latest oil prices, the two ambassadors continued to chat with Bretianu for a while. In particular, French Ambassador Jean Bader discussed his experience of studying abroad in Paris with the Prime Minister.
After seeing off the two British and French ambassadors, Prime Minister Bretianu immediately released the news that the British and French prices had been increased to 10 pounds per ton. I believe that the German and Austrian embassies will be busy until late tonight.
Sure enough, the message sent by Prime Minister Bretianu was not in vain. At noon, German Ambassador Baslob and Austria-Hungary Ambassador Belli both received the message. Unexpectedly, the British and French ambassadors responded so quickly, and
Lifting the price directly to 10 pounds per ton made them all feel a little bit stingy.
In particular, the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador Belli was the most nervous. This price was approaching the price limit set by the government. So after receiving the news, he hurried to the German Embassy to seek advice from Ambassador Baslob to discuss countermeasures.
Ambassador Baslob looked at Ambassador Belli, who was looking at him longingly. He also felt a headache due to the aggressive attitude of the British and French ambassadors. But now there is no other way but to fight for economic strength.
So he said to Ambassador Belli, "Your Excellency, it is best to inform your government of the current situation in Romania and ask them to increase the current price limit. I will also inform our government of this situation. According to my estimation, the government will now give me
The price doesn’t seem to be enough.”
After hearing what the German ambassador said, Ambassador Bailey thought about it carefully and seemed to have no choice but to do this. Now that Britain and France have made it clear that they will use economic means to restrict them, they can only let the two sides compete for their economic strength.
He told Ambassador Baslob, "I will go back to the embassy and report to the country. Now this is related to the common interests of both of us, so we hope that our two countries can support each other."
Ambassador Baslob knew that this was Ambassador Bailey's hope that Germany could take on more responsibility. What is meant by mutual support is that Germany supports Austria-Hungary. But now both countries have become grasshoppers on the same line, and no one can escape, so
He could only acquiesce to Ambassador Bailey's words.
In the afternoon of the same day, they sent a telegram to the country. Due to the gap in economic strength, the Austro-Hungarian Empire sent another telegram to Germany in the evening to request help. Now the problem was concentrated in the hands of the German government, and the Kaiser and Moltke, who had been focusing on the war situation,
Because of this problem, the general rarely put aside his attention to the war situation and discussed with Prime Minister Holweg the oil issue that they had always ignored.
In this specially convened meeting for Romanian oil, Prime Minister Holweg, who is still in charge of government work, described the current situation in Romania. Finally, he concluded. "According to my estimation, if we want to maintain Romania's oil import needs this time,
We spend a lot of money."
After listening to the Prime Minister's speech, the Kaiser took the lead and asked General Moltke that the German army was currently attacking cities and territories in northern France, so his opinion was the most important.
"General Moltke, do you think our need for oil is a necessity? If so, how much should we spend to get it?"
Facing the emperor's inquiry, General Maoqi sorted out his thoughts and said, "Your Majesty, the use of vehicles in this war has greatly exceeded the storage capacity. Economically, even 300 marks per ton of oil is only as much as the storage capacity.
It competes with force transportation, but in terms of efficiency, vehicles are still faster and more convenient. So I think oil is a necessity in our war."
After General Moltke finished speaking, Navy Minister Tirpitz also said, "Your Majesty, our naval ships also need fuel for travel. Now the fuel inventory in the empire has reached the warning level, so seeking to replenish it is the only way.
method."
At present, the German Navy has not changed its power from coal to fuel oil, but this does not mean that the navy will not use oil. When its warships are dispatched, they will also pour heavy oil on coal to improve combustion efficiency. And not all naval ships use coal.
Many small ships pursuing efficiency have been converted to fuel power. However, Marshal Tirpitz continued, "Our Navy Ministry is working on a plan to restrict Romania's exports to other countries."
William II asked with great interest, "What is this plan?"
Marshal Tirpitz said coquettishly. "This plan is mainly to win us an ally, and it will also prevent Russia from obtaining material supplies through the Black Sea. Restricting Romania's exports is only a side effect."
All the ministers here are smart people, and you can already guess it without him telling the script in detail. However, this cannot alleviate Germany's demand for Romanian oil, and now it is still necessary to discuss the feasibility of competing for its oil.
After the Minister of the Navy finished speaking, Prime Minister Holweg also talked about economic needs. "Your Majesty, we need Romanian oil now. Many machinery in agriculture need it, and many chemical plants must also use it.
Only raw materials for petrochemical industry can be produced.”
After hearing the opinions of three ministers whom he valued very much, William II continued to ask, "So what is the economic price we can bear now? It is impossible for the price of oil to 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 any dissatisfaction. He knew that it was probably because of important matters that he sent it.
Sure enough, a guard came in with a telegram and said, "This is a telegram from Vienna."
The Kaiser took the telegram and read it briefly. After reading it, he told the ministers in front of him, "This is a telegram from Austria-Hungary asking for our help. It is also about the oil issue."
After finishing speaking, he handed the telegram to the ministers present and circulated it to each other and asked, "What should we do now?"
Prime Minister Holweg knew that he needed to step forward at this time. "Your Majesty, this is actually a problem. Not only do we need oil, but Austria-Hungary also needs it. Then we can inform them after the results of the negotiation, and at most we can give them a little subsidy."
help."
After hearing the Prime Minister's words, Wilhelm II murmured in a low voice. General Moltke sitting next to him seemed to hear what he said was, "These Austrians need our help for everything."
The Kaiser then asked, "How shall we reply to the ambassador in Romania?"
General Moltke Jr. said, "I think 300 marks is a good price, and I believe the Romanians will not reject our kindness."
Admiral Tirpitz agreed. "I also think the price is reasonable."
Prime Minister Holweg knew that he needed to speak at this time. "I also agree with the plan of the two ministers, but I need to add that if Romania can accept that we use machinery and equipment to offset the oil payment, then it can be higher.
OK."
After hearing the unanimous approval of his trusted ministers, William II also approved this method. So he told the Prime Minister. "The Prime Minister sent this news to the Ambassador to Romania and let him know the importance of this matter.
Hopefully he will capture Romania’s share of oil exports for the empire.”
So Ambassador Baslob in Romania was given sufficient power to discuss the matter. Also given this power was the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador Bailey. So in the following week, the German and Austrian ambassadors, who had sufficient funds, negotiated with the British and French ambassadors.
Ambassador, began to compete fiercely for Romanian oil. They fought repeatedly at every price, and finally won the victory after a week with the help of funds and no strings attached.
Then, under the witness of Prime Minister Bretianu, they signed a supply contract with the Romanian Petroleum Company. In this contract, Romania guaranteed to provide Germany and Austria with at least 4 million tons of refined oil and 2.5 million tons of petrochemical products within three years.
Among them, the price of refined oil, which is the most hotly contested, was traded at a comprehensive price of US$75 per ton (15 pounds 4 pence), and the total contract value reached 90 million pounds.
In terms of payment, Romania requires US dollars or precious metals such as gold as the payment currency. 15% of the payment will be used for Romania to purchase German machinery and equipment, and the price of the equipment cannot be higher than 20% before the outbreak of the war. As a guarantee to Germany
With the concession of such a huge contract, Romania needs to repay Germany every year and can also purchase petroleum products. However, Romania's current annual repayment is only 20 million marks, which is better than nothing.
So the fight for Romanian oil ended with the signing of this contract.
PS: Book friends, save your monthly tickets for next month for Mantou. I will do two updates every day starting from June. If there are more rewards, I will add more. Tomorrow is Children's Day, and Mantou will update three times.
