Chapter 36： The basis of cooperation (1/2)
”If you just want to buy some old-style arms, then you don't need to discuss with me at all. You can communicate with your subordinates and my subordinates on these matters. Things like these trivial matters can't be put on the table at all. Our prices will be very high. Reasonable. It will be about 20% lower than Krupp's lowest price. You can tell things clearly within a few minutes, and there is no need to waste your precious time.” Ruprecht spoke openly.
”Then may I ask you a question. You know that the potential enemy we face is the most powerful country in the world, so why do you stand with us instead of cooperating with the British?” Passionate and sincere conversation cannot convince the other party. Kruger must know what caused the prince to choose to cooperate with them. This is very important, he must understand.
”The reason is very simple. The British almost dominate the minerals of the colony. They don't give us the opportunity to cooperate at all! The cheap minerals keep the British firmly in control of the price of raw materials, and those of us who are forced to follow are at a disadvantage. Their easy wave of hands will cost us a lot.”
”Fortunately, your high import and export tax rate has weakened the competitiveness of the British. In a sense, this is the basis for our cooperation!” Prince Ruprecht had very good reasons. In history, not many people were directly engaged in mining by the Boers. In the two Boer republics, almost all mines set up by the British were mining. The Boers imposed heavy taxes on all mining-related products, and the annual import tariffs were as high as 1 million pounds! The Kruger government had a fiscal revenue of 3.54 million pounds in 1894. It is precisely because of such high taxes that the competitiveness of the British mining industry has been greatly reduced.
”Second, we have a large area of land in Namibia. We need a large number of technical personnel and labor. The number of indigenous people in Namibia is limited. Even if we recruit all of them, it will be difficult to meet our needs. The local Germans Now I don’t want to go to Africa, so I need the help of the Boer Republic to provide us with labor and technical personnel.”
”The third is the traditional friendship between Germany and your country. We have a lot of investment in the Boer Republic and the two sides have established a good relationship. We have no direct contact with the British colonial government. Bavaria is just a kingdom, and diplomacy is the central government. The matter of cooperation with the British may cause dissatisfaction with the central government, and in order to exclude British capital from our land, it is determined that we should not get involved with the British.”
”As for the last point? What the kingdom can provide is in line with the needs of your country! The number of Boers is scarce, even if the number of soldiers is limited, so you need high-performance weapons, and our newly developed weapons have a small output because The price is more expensive, but I know that for the wealthy Boer government, if things are good enough, you will not spare money.”
”The fundamental reason why you choose to buy weapons from us is that the artillery in our inventory is basically similar to the new ones. What you value more is the performance. The price is only a subordinate factor. I think the situation of the products in our hands, you should Has it been collected through various channels?”
”Yes, there is one more thing I forgot. You need horses! There are many countries with horses, but few can provide horses to the Boer Republic. It is impossible for the British. The Russian Don is not suitable for the African environment. Italy has a limited number of horses. It is naturally impossible for the French to provide many pure military horses in order to maintain their vast colony. Therefore, your choice can only be Germany!”
”In Germany, in all kingdoms except Prussia, the Bavarian military horses are good in terms of quantity and quality. The Bavarian standing cavalry has 18 regiments, accounting for one-sixth of the total German cavalry. And the horses are good, and their own needs are limited. They are the most suitable sellers to provide horses to the Boers. I said these reasons are pretty reliable!” Ruprecht said with a smile.
”If I hadn't asked the doctor to recommend me temporarily, I would even suspect that the prince had been preparing for this summoning for a long time!” Kruger had to admire that the other party's rhetoric was very strict! There are good reasons and a good understanding of the situation in South Africa, and a very attractive suggestion is put forward-the assembly of a fast cavalry unit to solve the problem of insufficient strength.