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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fenris" data-source="post: 6258618" data-attributes="member: 2820">"I think that would be a reasonable suggestion. Let us proceed while the English debate and deliberate. George offers his arm to the princess and together they follow Hassan. They are announced to the Queen and shown in, the Queen smiles at her sister. "Well Mr. Eastman, have you reached an agreement or are you reporting progress""Well, your Highness. I think we are tremendously close. General Orabi and the rebel faction....." George turns to Hassan and says "what? fully capitulated?" he grins to Hassan. Returning to the Queen he continues "Their primary concern was really over the autonomy of Egypt. I have given them assurances that address their concerns. They will disband fully. I suggested a public demonstration of disarming, and re-swearing allegiance to you, the monarchy and Bast. This will cement the loyalty of most of the forces, as well as show the populace your power. The rebel force will be nearly fully disbanded. With the consultation of Lt. Col Hassan, I think that some reduced form of the force should be retained to supplement the national army. This would NOT be an army contingent but rather a police force or security detail, assigned to guard and maintain order at the canal. Most if not all the commissioned officers should be dismissed and not retained. It is of course Your Majesty's prerogative whether to show mercy to them or assign punishments. I made no promises of amnesty for any of them. A loyal officer to oversee this force would be needed" says George placing his hand on Hassan's shoulder."Onto the British. I played a dangerous game of brinksmanship with Woolsely, but did stop short of outright war. The game paid off well I think. Not that I was bluffing though. You and I have some arrangements to make after all this is done by the way. I think we both need to ensure the best future we can. Anyway, the negotiations with the British are nearly complete, if you agree of course. As it stands now, the British are to remove all forces from Egypt. I will give them one month to remove those troops. The British will be able to maintain a resupply depot in Alexandria for a period of 10 years with a small garrison. The will receive priority berthing in Alexandria and Port Said again for 10 years. The crux of the matter of course was the canal, and that was a point of contention. I will confess to you Neferka, I threatened to fully nationalize the canal and seize it outright. Woolsley went apoplectic. It was not an idle threat either, I was fully prepared to see that through. In the end the agreement calls for the canal agreement to be revised so that all vessels will pay the full rate, there will no longer be a discount. This will enable Egypt to repay the loan on time. Control of the canal will revert to Egypt. The only concession I made on this was to provide for British naval vessels, and only naval, mot merchant, to pay the discounted rate. Again for the period of 10 years. Again in full disclosure I did issue some veiled threats about joining with the Boers or the Turks. Just so you know. But we do still have to hammer out a few details. Size of the garrison in Alexandia, mechanism for extension, which I said was entirely at your discretion.  That is the general framework we are dealing with. Oh and I did threaten to assault Woolsley if he cast any aspersions on your or your character or competency.  I have done as well as I could to fulfill your desires. I hope I have justified your trust and faith in me." ends George.</blockquote>

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