Upon hearing this, Dick sat back on the negotiating table expressionlessly.
Although Britain is far away from Europe, it does not rely much on the Suez Canal.
But that was peacetime.
It's wartime now, and Britain's own army is still fighting at sea against the Franco-Austrian alliance.
Its own fleet docks at the port near the Suez Canal.
That's not just one or two ships.
In order to compete with France in the Mediterranean, Britain spent most of its wealth on ships.
The purpose is to seize and block France's shipping lanes in the Mediterranean.
Force France to submit and give up its hegemonic interests at sea.
Now it is indeed a good deal to choose to join forces with Long Yan to block the connection between France and Africa.
"Mr. Dick, now that we are back at the negotiating table, I hope you can show a little bit of sincerity."
"The port cities in France can be given to you, but you have to pay a certain amount of money or something." Jiang Xuan said lightly.
A port city, although a Mediterranean port city, had little impact on Britain.
But it's definitely not optional.
Britain's colonial areas are blocked outside the Mediterranean Sea, which means that Britain is on the Mediterranean coast and currently does not have a port city of its own.
Therefore, both its own fleet and its merchant ships have to rely on the ports of other countries for parking.
Every year, we have to pay exorbitant parking fees to foreign countries.
If there were port cities in Egypt, they wouldn't need to rely on others.
Dick weighed the options, looked at Jiang Xuan, and said in a deep voice: "We can use the money to buy this city from Long Yan."
"But the specific amount will be reported to Britain."
Jiang Xuan thought for a moment, money...
British money is actually no different to Long Yan than toilet paper.
Jiang Xuan sneered and said: "The only sincerity you have in Britain is money?"
Dick raised his eyebrows: "What else do you Long Yan want?"
"This is our greatest sincerity in Britain."
"Mr. Dick, we are all sensible people. Don't you know the rules of transactions between big countries?"
"Barter for barter!"
Dick's face suddenly sank. Of course he knew the rules of transactions between big countries. Money, something that can be produced repeatedly, is used to trade between big countries.
It's useless.
You can't spend money from other countries in your own country, you can only use the money when you go to Britain.
Therefore, any transactions between big countries have always been barter-for-barter.
Only when both parties feel it is appropriate can the deal proceed.
"Barter for things...then what do you Longyan plan to exchange for our Britain with this port city?" Dick said in a deep voice.
Now it's his turn to be manipulated.
It's a port city. He said he didn't want it, but he was actually very honest in his heart.
What Britain lacks now is a central city. If the relationship with Long Yan breaks down, it will be much more difficult for Britain to target mercenaries from the European continent in the future.
Jiang Xuan glanced at him with interest and laughed: "Is this right? The most important thing in a transaction is fairness."
"You see, our port city is also a city, and its value is also very high. You, Britain, have to give at least one city in exchange for it."