On September 1, the negotiating delegation headed by Gregor and Ottove arrived in London. Two days earlier, the British delegation headed by Williams also arrived in London.
On September 2, negotiations officially began. The venue for the negotiations was Buckingham Palace, where the King of England lives. Due to the deliberate avoidance of the French army, this luxurious palace was not bombed into ruins like other buildings in London.
Walking into Buckingham Palace, Williams and others had expressions of emotion. Not long ago, they were still the masters here, but now they are different. The key personnel of the British delegation consisted mainly of Home Secretary Williams, newly appointed Foreign Secretary Palmerston and representatives of the royal family Edward, Duke of Kent (father of the famous Queen Victoria).
"Welcome everyone." When Williams and others were taken to the conference room specially prepared for negotiations, Gregor and others were already waiting there.
At this time, Williams and others were very embarrassed. Especially Edward, the Duke of Kent, whose face was already a little livid. This was originally their place, but now they come here as guests. After discovering the abnormality of Edward, Duke of Kent, Williams quickly pulled him to remind him to pay attention to the overall situation.
"Thank you for waiting." Williams said politely.
"It's nothing, we just arrived." The two sides exchanged pleasantries. "Okay, since everyone is here, let's start now." Gregor said. Under his auspices, the negotiations between Britain and France officially began.
"I won't say much about the reason for the war. Anyway, that's the same thing. What we all have to do now is how to end the war as soon as possible and restore the friendship between the two countries." Gregor Said with a full face of justice.
"Yes. I completely agree with your Excellency. Since the war has already happened, it doesn't make much sense for us to pursue the cause of it now. Please believe that our country is very sincere to end the war this time." Williams despised Gregor fiercely in his heart, but he still said hypocritically. The wars between European countries are only to satisfy the interests of the rulers, and there is no distinction between justice and injustice. If you want to strictly classify, you can only be divided into temporary winners and losers. Because no one knows what the future will hold? Maybe today's losers will be winners decades from now.
"In that case, I won't go around in circles anymore. According to His Majesty the Emperor, if your country wants to end this war, you must compensate us for the losses. According to the usual practice, the defeated country pays the war indemnity to the victorious country. It's normal. So this time will be no exception." Gregor said with a smile.
"We totally understand that!" Williams said with some shame. Once upon a time, the powerful British Empire begged the enemy for mercy, and then extorted a large sum of indemnities, but now it is the other way around.
"First point, the emperor of our country must demand that the king of your country must declare defeat and surrender unconditionally." Gregory said seriously.
"What?" Williams and others exclaimed. "Your Excellency, it seems a little inappropriate to do so." Williams smiled apologetically. He hoped that what Gregor said just now was not true. If the British king were announcing unconditional surrender, then the British royal family would never be able to lift their heads.
"Is there anything wrong? It's completely normal for the defeated country to surrender unconditionally to the victorious country." Gregory pretended to be stupid. Of course he knew what this meant to the British royal family, and he also knew that the other party would not agree easily, but helplessly, this was the premise required by Xiao Jie, and he had to resolutely implement it.
"Your Excellency, this is impossible. The royal family of the British Empire will never fail." Edward, the Duke of Kent, shouted.
"Hehe. Didn't you fail now? It's just that you dare not admit it." Otov sarcastically said.
"You!" Edward, the Duke of Kent, pointed at Ottove angrily, about to explode. But Williams hastily pulled him down. This man has a lot of background, he is the father-in-law of the current emperor of France. Not to mention now, even before Britain's defeat, he would never be able to provoke people.
"I'm sorry, Your Excellency Otto, the Duke has lost his composure." Williams quickly apologized.
"Hmph!" Otov gave Edward a contemptuous look. He didn't pay attention to a duke of a defeated country. But he remembered it, and secretly thought that when he asked for compensation, he must increase the amount. Hit the Brit hard.
"I'm sorry, Your Excellency Gregor. Your request is really too difficult. I can't answer you now. Please give us a little time. We will reply you after consulting His Majesty the King of our country." Williams requested.
"We will hurry up." Williams responded, and then hurriedly left with the others. Back to the place where they lived, they quickly sent someone to contact King George IV and conveyed the French request.
After learning that the French side wanted to announce their unconditional surrender, George IV cursed angrily and said that he would never surrender. However, in less than half an hour, soldiers from a regiment of the French army rushed into the palace in Manchester, dispersed the guards of the palace, and took control of the palace. George IV immediately changed his position and sent someone to inform Williams that he promised to declare his unconditional surrender.
On September 5, negotiations continued.
"Next, it's time to discuss the issue of compensation. In this war, our army paid more than 100,000 casualties and spent billions of francs. In order to make up for our losses and sympathize with the casualties, our country strongly Request, your country must compensate me for 30 billion francs for the expenses." Otov said with a smile.
"What? 30 billion!" Williams exclaimed. Although they had expected that the French side would open their mouths, they did not expect that their mouths would open so wide this time. You must know that 20 billion francs is not a small amount! Almost half of the national income of France before the war.
"Your Excellency Ottove, I completely doubt the sincerity of your country." British Foreign Secretary Palmerston said seriously.
"Robbery! Are you negotiating? It's naked robbery!" Edward also shouted angrily.
"By the way, I forgot to tell you. It's a little less. Starting today, the military expenses of our troops stationed in your country will be borne by your country. It's not much, just one million francs a day." Gregor Then he said.
The three of Williams were already very angry. Fortunately, the hearts of the three are relatively good, otherwise they would definitely be so angry that they would have a heart attack.
"Your Excellency Gregor and Otov, I want to tell you solemnly. Your country's request is too great, and our country can't meet it at all. In this war, our country's losses are also very serious. Even the capital is in ruins, where did you get so much money to pay your country!" Williams also said angrily.
"This is something you should care about, and it has nothing to do with us." Gregor spread his hands, thinking that there was nothing he could do.
"How is it possible that your country doesn't even have this small amount of money? You must know that your country is a maritime power that has been on the sea for hundreds of years. I am afraid that only you know how much wealth you have accumulated. I heard that the last time the royal family evacuated from London At that time, there were more than 100 large carriages for transporting treasures and gold alone. What a fortune that is!" Otov also said quietly, his eyes full of longing.
After hearing what Otov said, the three of Williams couldn't help but have the urge to vomit blood. What happened to our money? It was all accumulated by our ancestors with great difficulty, how could it be given to the enemy for nothing like this?
"Your Excellency Ottove, this is a bit exaggerated. Maritime trade has accumulated some wealth for the country, but over the years, it has been consumed almost. A while ago, Duke William betrayed and led his army to **** most of it. There are really not many treasures left in our hands now." Williams said with a sad face. Anyway, now that they have fallen out with Duke William's faction, they don't mind pouring dirty water on them again. That's right, when Duke William and the others evacuated Manchester, UU Reading www.uukanshu.com took some treasures with them, but that was at most one-tenth of the total. Most of the wealth is still in the hands of George IV.
"Really? You don't have to worry about that. Our army has now entered Scotland and is approaching Edinburgh. We will deal with his matter separately, so you don't have to worry about it." Gregory said lightly.
"Your Excellency, your country's requirements are really too many, can you reduce them appropriately?" Williams pleaded.
Gregory shook his head. What Xiao Jie meant was to remove all the wealth accumulated in the past dynasties in Britain. Since he didn't know the specific value, Autotoff set this number, and there was absolutely no reason to reduce it.
"We don't have that much money at all. Even if you are forcing us, we can't afford it." Edward said loudly.
"Hehe. Then we have to do it ourselves. Don't forget, Your Excellency, the whole of Britain is now under our control." Autov was not angry, but still said with a smile.
"You, if you do this, what's the difference between you and a robber?" Edward pointed at Otov angrily.