My Italy

Chapter 192 Assigning tasks

As the Prime Minister also agreed, Carlo breathed a sigh of relief. He did not want to have a dispute with the Prime Minister at this time, which would delay Italy's war preparations.

Next, we need to move on to the next agenda. Thinking of this, Carlo continued. "Your Excellency Tejela, your Ministry of Finance will find a way to raise 1.5 billion lire within two years to fund the war."

Carlo's words made Tejela, the finance minister, almost jump.

"Your Majesty, this task is too difficult for our Ministry of Finance. If we want to raise an additional 1.5 billion lire, we must issue bonds, and it is completely impossible to keep a secret of such a scale of bonds."

As finance minister, Tejela was very knowledgeable about bond issuances and believed that the figures given by Carlo were too high to be kept secret.

Those old foxes in the capital market can smell the slightest sign of trouble.

When faced with Tejela, Carlo was of course unwilling to lower his demands, because he had prepared the funds based on the situation that everything was pretty good. This is already the minimum requirement in Carlo's heart, so Tejela is not given a chance to bargain.

"In this case, then we should create a clever name and issue debt in multiple batches."

It was very rare to hear these words from Carlo, who was a king, and everyone in the venue was stunned.

As for Tejela, this is even more true. Although he has done this before, he did it quietly in private. This is the first time he has seen the king do it so blatantly.

"Your Majesty, doing so will affect our country's reputation in the securities market."

Tejela held it in for a long time before saying this.

"As long as we win, it won't affect our reputation."

Carlo's statement is more straightforward, but he is right. As long as Italy can defeat the Ottomans, Italian bonds will remain strong. But if it fails, Spain will learn from its mistakes.

But is it possible for Italy to fail?

In Carlo's view, there is no such possibility.

It's just a matter of big victory or small victory. What gives him confidence is Italy's national strength. Although Italy is at the bottom among the great powers, it is not something that the declining Ottoman can deal with.

The Italian-Austrian war in the previous life was more about Italy's chicken-stealing mentality and wanted to obtain the maximum results at the minimum cost.

This kind of thinking also caused Italy to go into battle without adequate preparation. Moreover, the location he chose was wrong. Libya was a vast and sparsely populated place, making it a perfect place for guerrilla warfare. After procrastinating for a year and a half, it was only the Italian fleet that threatened the Black Sea Strait that made the Ottomans surrender.

Of course, Carlo would not make such a mistake, he had his own ideas.

Faced with such blatant words, Tejela didn't know what to say. After thinking for a long time, she could only respond silently.

If you don't speak, it means you acquiesce.

With this in mind, Carlo turned the topic to the Prime Minister.

Although the Prime Minister just issued his own protest, after the protest was ineffective, Carlo still had many problems that he needed to deal with. However, compared to threatening the finance minister, Carlo's tone this time was much better. After all, the prime minister wanted preferential treatment.

"Prime Minister Depretis, next I want public opinion to arouse hatred towards the Ottomans. In this regard, we can start with history and then gradually move to the present."

And Carlo is now applying what he has learned. The Ottomans have harassed southern Italy quite a bit in history, not to mention fighting Venice for a century. With a little manipulation, the Italians, who are full of nationalist sentiments, can direct their anger towards the Near East. sick man.

"Your Majesty, I will let the government provide guidance in this regard."

The unflattering words from the Prime Minister declared his attitude.

Facing the Prime Minister who was a little moody, Carlo ignored him and set his sights on Foreign Minister Bacona.

"Your Excellency Bacona, your next task is very important. You need to try to win the support of the British. Even if you cannot win it, you need to ensure that they are neutral."

Yes, Carlo believed that the British attitude was crucial in this war with the Ottomans.

Although Italy has a good relationship with the United Kingdom, the Ottomans are the most important link in its containment of Russia. If the British think that the war between Italy and the Ottomans will affect the goal of locking the Russians in the Black Sea, something may happen.

"Okay, Your Majesty."

As Foreign Minister, Bacona immediately agreed to Carlo's request.

"In addition, we can also make contact with Russia and the Balkan countries first, which is also good for us."

After the Foreign Secretary finished speaking, Carlo did not forget to give some instructions, which shows that he attaches great importance to diplomacy.

Of course, some people may ask, is there a country that has forgotten?

What about France?

Carlo certainly did not forget France, which had a huge influence in the Mediterranean. But it is a pity that Carlo believes that no matter what Italy does, France will intervene just like Italy did in the Sino-French War.

In addition to Italy's blow to France in the Sino-French War, there is also the relationship between France and the Ottoman Empire. The relationship between the two countries can be traced back to the era of Louis XIV. Moreover, France has also had good interests in the Ottomans in recent years. Considering the relationship between France and Italy, even if Carlo is the leader of France, he will stumble in the battle between Italy and the Ottomans.

Therefore, instead of focusing your limited energy on France, it is better to pay attention to the countries in the Balkan Peninsula. Among them, there must be countries that can be helpful to Italy.

After the explanation with the government was completed, it was the turn of the army to directly participate in the war.

Carlo then spoke to Admiral Gorek. "When can the three launched Turin-class battleships join the navy, and how long will it take for them to exert their due combat effectiveness?"

The Turin class mentioned by Carlo is the battleship that was previously tendered and has epoch-making significance, officially entering the pre-dreadnought era.

At present, three warships have been launched and are in the process of installing weapons and debugging equipment. After sea trials, they can enter the navy. Of course, if you want to develop combat effectiveness, you also need the hard training of all officers and soldiers on the ship.

So faced with Carlo's question, Admiral Gorek answered carefully. "If you want the three warships to enter service, you have to wait until next year. If you want to form sufficient combat effectiveness, you have to wait until the year after that."

The time given by Admiral Golek is considered fast. He has not yet taken into account the various problems that may arise in the warship. The biggest problem with a new warship, in addition to equipment, is design problems. . without

Any designer who can design a flawless battleship will have some problems. However, excellent designers basically only leave small problems that do not require major changes. As for mediocre designers, let the navy officers and soldiers cry.

Admiral Gorek's answer was quite satisfactory, Carlo said after thinking about it for a while. "It's better to speed up the progress as much as possible."

After talking about the navy, next is the army, which will inevitably become the protagonist of this war.

However, when facing General Saraget, Carlo didn't know what to say. In the final analysis, he still did not control the army and his influence on it was limited.

But it’s not good not to say anything. Why don’t you start talking now? So Carlo could only start with equipment.

"General Saraguet, I hope the Army can complete the army's replacement in two years. The M88 Carcano rifle must be mastered by every soldier and put into battle."

If there is anyone in this room who is most passionate about this war besides Carlo, then it is none other than Admiral Saraget. Because this seems to be a war in which the army plays the leading role, and it is also against the weakened Ottomans. Although the Italian Army is not very strong in Europe and is a bit difficult to deal with France and Austria-Hungary, it is still no problem to defeat the Sick Man of the Near East.

Moreover, this war comes at the right time, which can completely improve the army's status in the minds of the people. For these military leaders, there is nothing more popular than war. If so, it is a war that is easy to win.

So in the face of Carlo's request, Admiral Saraget stood up and patted his chest and said. "Your Majesty, please rest assured that the Army will definitely complete the change. We will intensify training and strive to let the Italian people see the Army's style."

Now that General Saraget has said this, what else can Carlo say? He can only give enough support.

"Since General Saraguet has said this, I will ask the government to provide the army with sufficient funding in the next fiscal budget."

Well, now that the government provides sufficient funding and there are no checks and balances, the Army's performance is worth looking forward to.

There is one more chapter, the steamed buns will be coded as soon as possible...

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