From ancient times to the present, war reparations are not simply a list of military expense reimbursements, but a humiliating fine with severe punishment.
If you are a loser, then you must not only reimburse me for military expenses and compensate me for all property losses, but also pay a high fine, just to let you know how serious the consequences of launching a war are.
And it is extremely threatening. Let other countries around the world see that I am not easy to mess with. Don’t think that I am easy to bully. If you want to use violence against me, you have to think about the consequences. Once you lose, you cannot bear it. of pain.
Military expenditures, compensation for property damage, punitive fines... these are not enough. Another very important point is the redemption of prisoners!
Sedan and Metz surrendered a total of more than 300,000 French troops. Then in the Battle of East Frisia, although it was the Chinese and Prussian coalition that ended the battle, the French navy surrendered at that time. The sword was handed to Xiang Ying.
In other words, the captives in the East Frisian naval battle belonged to the Chinese ethnic group in a legal sense. Most of these people were imprisoned in Port William for hard labor. There were more than 30,000 captives.
Altogether, there are about 350,000 prisoners of war in France in the hands of the enemy. What will be the fate of these people?
Bismarck looked at Thiers coldly: "Mr. President, please remember that if you cannot solve the problem of these prisoners of war, your ruling foundation will not be stable!"
"Three hundred and fifty thousand prisoners of war, that's three hundred and fifty thousand French families. You have offended these people and still want to be re-elected? Do you still want votes?"
Thiers' face turned pale and he could not utter a word. He never expected that the enemy did not include the redemption costs of prisoners of war, but calculated them separately.
Trochu, Favre, how did you negotiate? This is simply a big hole. You didn't touch on the key issues at all. Are you trying to make me take the blame?
In fact, we can't blame Trochu and Favre. The situation at that time was so bad that they had no room for bargaining. The ability to force a truce was the limit of their abilities.
"You...how much do you want..." Thiers said this and felt his heart bleed.
Xiao Letian and Bismarck looked at each other, and then the head of state dipped a little tea into his little finger and wrote a number on the table. Thiers stood up immediately after reading it, as if there was a spring under his buttocks.
"Oh God! You are going to hell! Impossible, absolutely impossible..." The president was circling back and forth in the room like a trapped animal, and the number frightened him so much that his face turned pale.
Not only the president, but also the translator he brought was dumbfounded. The pen in his hand kept shaking, and the scrawling under the pen tip looked like a spider crawling.
Thiers' reaction was expected. Bismarck and Xiao Letian watched his performance quietly without saying a word!
"You have no sincerity in negotiating at all. Such an amount of compensation will collapse the entire France. There is no way the National Assembly will agree to it. They will completely tear me apart, impeach me, and drive me out of office!"
"No French president dares to agree to such conditions. You just want to continue the war..."
"Then let's fight! Then let's fight! France will not allow such blackmail... As long as I make this condition public, it will arouse the common hatred of the entire French people, and the entire French people will devote everything to fight you. of!"
"The war will not stop, and your blackmail will never succeed!"
The hysterical president roared for more than ten minutes, but Bismarck and Xiao Letian were not angry at all, and just watched his performance quietly. When the president got tired and leaned against the window to breathe heavily, Bismarck again spoke.
"Have you finished talking? Then I will continue to talk about our conditions...the compensation is this number and it absolutely cannot be changed. What we are going to talk about next is the cession of territory!"
"In order to punish France for its aggression and protect Germany's border security for the next hundred years... you must cede the two provinces of Alsace and Lorraine to Germany..."
"And your colony Annan, please cede it to the Chinese. This is also a punishment condition for France..."
There was a muffled sound, and Thiers' fist hit the window sill before Bismarck could finish his words. A muffled sound interrupted the iron-blooded prime minister's speech.
"This is nothing to discuss! Even if you kill me, I won't agree to your terms, because this is impossible! I can only say goodbye with regret..."
After saying that, the president stepped out and walked out. At this time, Xiao Letian stood up with a playful smile and said, "Wait, wait a minute... Your Excellency, isn't that what negotiations are all about? Bargaining is the fun, why bother to fall out..."
"Bargaining? There has to be a bottom line! If you offer such an astronomical figure and cede my French land, if I agree, I will be France's eternal sinner!"
Xiao Letian smiled evilly, "With all due respect...Mr. President...what charges do you still care about? Before the war even started, you secretly collaborated with Prussia and the Chinese to make music. How much financial support did you get from us?"
"What happened to the 250,000 francs missing from the Imperial Bank? What happened to the dead Henry? Don't you know how you came to power?"
"Rights are such a good thing. They can actually make people selectively forgetful. But people are not that forgetful. If you want to break up, then please open this door. I will never stop you..."
"If you still want to talk, then sit back and sit down!"
Thiers' legs slumped and he sat back on the sofa like a frustrated ball. His eyes were a little panicked, but this guy was really a hero. The panic completely disappeared in just ten seconds, replaced by absolute Calm.
"I didn't expect that the head of state is also proficient in the negotiation of the underworld? He is really a leader born out of recklessness. No wonder he can rise so rapidly in Asia... I admire him, I admire him!"
"Okay, now that we've said it, let's be honest! I bet you don't dare to announce it to the public, because destroying me will not do you two any good!"
"I, Thiers, am alone. I can only die with this life, so what if I dedicate myself to France? It doesn't matter even if I carry the eternal crime on my back!"
"However, the exposure of all the conspiracy will definitely anger the people of France... Let's continue the fight then! I want to see how long this war will last!"
"I don't care, I don't believe you don't care either!"
The negotiation suddenly reached the point of mutual threats. Xiao Letian said happily that he was still a bachelor!
Those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes. Thiers is a gangster with three tastes. If he were placed in Sijiu City, he would probably be a gangster and have a bit of the quality of a wild hero!
