London
"The Bulgarians have come to protest. Ignore them. The canal company operates purely as a business; whether it raises its prices is entirely our freedom!" Stanley Baldwin said dismissively.
"But, Prime Minister, it is said that the Bulgarians are preparing to dig the Gulf of Aqaba Grand Canal. If they achieve their aim, our Suez Canal will lose a huge source of revenue!" Chancellor of the Exchequer Chamberlain said bitterly.
This increase in Suez Canal tolls had originally been intended not only to make up for the fiscal shortfall, but more importantly to give the Bulgarians a rap on the knuckles, making them follow in the British Empire's footsteps in the international affairs to come.
The first objective had indeed been achieved. In the short term, the Suez Canal's profits had risen dramatically.
But the second objective had blown up in their faces. They had delivered the rap, certainly, but the result was not what they had wanted.
The Bulgarians had simply declared that they would not play along anymore and would dig a grand canal of their own. This had completely caught everyone by surprise.
To escape the British Empire's influence, they were willing to dig a grand canal. Could anyone still expect Bulgaria to support the British Empire in international affairs in the future?
"Damn it! Do the Bulgarians have pig brains? Or was what we meant too complicated, and they misunderstood us?" Stanley Baldwin said with a headache.
"Prime Minister, I think the Bulgarians believe that, since we control the Suez Canal, we could cut off their maritime lifeline at any time. That is why they made this decision! Fortunately, their finest cabinet has already grown old and become rational. Otherwise, we would have an even bigger headache!" Foreign Secretary Attlee explained.
"This counts as rational?