Chapter 318: Fight for Rubber

After seeing off the two ambassadors, Eder summoned the attendant and said to him: "Send the news to the Prime Minister, saying that the German and Austrian ambassadors have just come to visit and have raised the price of Greek rubber to 32 pounds per ton."

The guard also knew what he should do, and immediately nodded and said: "Yes, Your Highness."

······

After the two German and Austrian ambassadors left the palace, Ambassador Bass said: "Mr. Belial, why don't you rest at my place."

Belial knew that Ambassador Bass had something to say to him, so he said cheerfully: "It's been a long time since I've eaten German sausage or drank dark beer."

So the two ambassadors took the same carriage and headed to the German Embassy in Schweilistrasse.

After the servants served the sausages and porter and closed the door, only the two ambassadors were left in the office to enjoy the delicious food.

Ambassador Bass first spoke: "Ambassador Belial, your country's war in Serbia is not going smoothly."

Faced with the topic of Ambassador Bass, Ambassador Bailey knew that this was not a smooth process, which was a euphemistic comment.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire's attack on Serbia can be described as a failure.

Commander Potiorek, the military governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who failed to protect Archduke Ferdinand, led the 400,000 Austro-Hungarian army to attack Serbia. However, they faced Serbia's 400,000-strong army that mobilized the entire country. After losing 50,000 people, they , and retreated in defeat.

Faced with such a topic, Ambassador Bailey said shamelessly: "This is because the Russian frontline needs troops, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire faces the same predicament as your country, fighting on both sides, so the military operation did not go smoothly at the beginning."

"But now General Potiorek is ready. He will once again lead the army to attack Serbia and impose severe punishment on this rogue country that assassinated Crown Prince Ferdinand."

For the German ambassador, this is just Ambassador Bellier's personal judgment. The military operations of the Austro-Hungarian Empire depend on the level of General Potiorek's army command.

But it's none of his business, it's just an excuse.

"Mr. Ambassador, the task given to me by the German government this time is to ensure that this batch of natural rubber from Greece can be sold to us. The natural rubber reserves in Germany before the war are almost exhausted. Everyone thought this would be a quick war. A quick war, as you have seen the situation now, we can only compete with Britain and France."

Ambassador Bass stated his purpose this time: "So the central government of the Austro-Hungarian Empire gave you a quota to purchase rubber."

Facing the German Ambassador's inquiry, Ambassador Bellier had nothing to hide, so he said generously: "The country gave me a price of 35 pounds per ton."

Ambassador Bass calculated in his mind that the upper limit was 11 pounds, so he also told him the price the government gave him: "I have given a price of 37 pounds per ton. If it is higher, it is beyond my authority. "

As for why Germany is so much higher, Ambassador Bass did not give a specific explanation, and Ambassador Bellier did not ask.

However, he probably guessed that the German army was now equipped with more vehicles, so the demand for rubber was not comparable to that of Austria-Hungary.

In fact, as he thought, many recent battles have depleted Germany's rubber inventory to an alarming level.

Nowadays, rubber for German civilian vehicles is completely out of supply. Only agricultural and production units can get the supply of rubber. In addition, the government and the royal family can have a small amount of supply.

So for Greece, which is still the only country that can provide rubber in large quantities, they must purchase it.

Without the supply of Greek rubber, Germany will be in trouble with no rubber available in four months. This is not only a military problem, but also a big problem for domestic production.

Now that the two know each other's bottom price, all they need to do is wait for Britain and France to respond.

While they were sitting together talking, the British ambassador was receiving the French and Russian ambassadors.

In the private room of the British ambassador, the visiting French ambassador Le Mans hurriedly said: "The ambassadors of Germany and Austria have just gone to the palace. According to the information we found, they issued 32 pounds to the Greeks. price per ton. Our plan worked.”

Seeing the happy faces of Ambassador Le Mans and Ambassador Filalovsky, Ambassador Richard, as a veteran gentleman, also said with a smile: "Now the fun has just begun. Now we need to let the Germans economically The huge losses only meant that the gain could only be made by the Greeks.”

Russian Ambassador Filalovsky said in an envious tone: "This is really an enviable amount of money. They don't have to do anything, someone will help them raise the price. They can easily sell it for nearly twice the price. "

Hearing the jealous words of the Russian ambassador, the French ambassador Jean Le Mans persuaded him: "This is nothing. As long as we defeat Germany and Austria, we will have enough interests. Compared with this money, territory and influence are more important." is the most important."

Obviously, territory is more in line with the Russian ambassador's appetite than money. After hearing the French ambassador's advice, he stopped talking. Moreover, Russia does not need to import oil and does not have the economic strength to participate in this money game.

However, the three ambassadors did not come together to discuss the lucky country of Greece, but to talk about other things.

"Ambassador Le Mans, how high a purchase price did the French government give?"

After the three of them sat down, Ambassador Richard began to ask the French Ambassador questions that he was concerned about.

Faced with the British ambassador's inquiry, Ambassador Bader told him the price given by the country. "30 pounds per ton, but due to the current pressure on our country, we can only purchase 30% of the export volume."

Ambassador Richard was not very satisfied with the price mentioned by Ambassador Le Mans, but the price given by his own government was similar: "The price given by the British government is 28 pounds per ton, and the purchase volume is 50% of the export share."

He went on to say: "Now it seems that we have a 10% gap, but this is not a big problem. I believe that our two governments will coordinate this work. Now we are basically at a price of 5 pounds, so it seems that we still have competition with Germany and Austria."

In fact, Richardman was not very satisfied with the price given by the country. He believed that he could completely compete with Greek rubber to 35 pounds per ton. This will be a considerable expense for Germany. In peacetime, it can be used as a main warship for their navy.

It's just that government officials are afraid that if Germany doesn't buy it, it will become a hot potato for them to accept it.

And there is no way to explain to the parliament that spending twice the market price to purchase a large amount of rubber is to attack the enemy and strengthen themselves.

So the government can only give three times the price now, and either purchase all of it, or it will become a huge loss for itself. Richardman had no way to obey the government's order. After all, he was just an ambassador, not living in 10 Downing Street.

Then Ambassador Richardman discussed with the French and Russian ambassadors how the three countries could trap Germany and Austria and cause them to bleed. The Russian ambassador watched the whole process without saying a word. The government also negotiated quickly, and the result of the negotiation came that night. France still had a 40% share of imported high-priced oil, but the price was raised to 15 pounds, and the British government would purchase the remaining 60% share in exchange for France's price increase.

After the two countries reached a consensus on the negotiation, the two British and French ambassadors had enough confidence to let Germany and Austria dance to their batons.