The Darjeeling black tea in the bronzing bone china teacup exudes aroma, the alfalfa honey from the Sultan is served in a gilded-edged white bone china vat, and the crystal Guangxi rock sugar is in another bronzing bone china jar of the same texture. This is a set of tea sets presented by China to the British Foreign Minister, and it is also a tea set that the British Foreign Minister likes very much.

China has found a very suitable way to use a large number of Sudanese beef bones, making China, the country of porcelain, once again stand on the pinnacle of porcelain in the world. It must be said that bone china is an original of the United Kingdom, but how could Weeser let Britain continue to be so arrogant in this era. China not only controls the vast majority of the world's tea producing areas, but has also developed a set of tea grading standards. With the use of a large number of beef bone resources, China has also regained its voice in the international porcelain market.

The British Foreign Minister did not want to get back into this field with China, in fact, Britain did not think it was too much of a problem, Chinese porcelain has always been the most well-known product in the world, and now European merchants are very free to order the type they expect in China, both in terms of price and quality. On April 5, 1985, the British and Chinese foreign ministers met in Mumbai to discuss the Russo-Turkish war, not a commercial dispute.

"Do you know about Grand Duke Alexander I of Bulgaria?" The British Foreign Minister asked.

Can't a foreigner's name have a new meaning? Chinese Foreign Minister Li Xin sneered in his stomach. Now the Russian tsar is Alexander III, and the father of this third is Alexander II. If you look at the name alone, you might mistake this Alexander I of Bulgaria for the grandfather of the current Tsar. Actually, it's not the same thing at all.

"I've heard of such a person." Li Xin answered the question.

"Our country has a proposal for the Ottoman Empire on the question of Bulgaria." The British foreign minister explained the latest move by the United Kingdom. Eastern Luminia demanded annexation to Bulgaria, and the British proposed a proposal whereby the Ottoman Sultan would appoint the Archduke of Bulgaria as the administrator of Eastern Luminia and keep Bulgaria de facto united. However, this proposal provoked quite a fierce response in the Balkans and beyond.

Li Xin was still slandering in his heart. It's really a small demon in the temple, and there are many people in the pool. The size of this eastern Meliá region is probably not as large as that of a large county in China, and many of the new Chinese territories are even larger than the whole of Bulgaria. These are the fourteen counties of East Africa, each of which is larger than Bulgaria. It's such a big thing that can cause a shock across Europe. Governor Wezetus once said that the Balkans were a powder keg of Europe. This evaluation is really to the point.

However, Europe is such an operation, and Britain can actually determine the national politics of the Ottoman Empire, which proves that Britain has a very deep penetration of the Ottoman Empire. So Li Xin listened carefully to what the British Foreign Minister said.

"The Russians are very unhappy with this, and the reason why Russia did not choose to send troops in Europe in the war this time is also because Bulgaria does not welcome Russia." The British Foreign Minister told about the situation in Europe.

After listening to this, Li Xin immediately said, "If your country wants our country to exert pressure on Russia, then I can only tell your country that my country has no interest in this. European affairs have nothing to do with our interests at all, and if it were not for the necessary homework for diplomacy, we would not be interested in collecting the names of the Grand Dukes of Bulgaria at all. I would like to begin by stating my country's position. ”

This position is not unusual, and after Li Xin's position was clearly stated, the British foreign secretary was able to determine how his hopes conflict with China's position.

The British foreign minister used his bargaining chips, "We know that China has developed oil fields in the Basra region and has started to build oil pipelines. If the Ottoman Empire had been more cooperative with China's Shangya, there would have been much less problem with the development of China's oil fields. That, after all, is tens or hundreds of kilometers of oil pipelines, and there are still problems with a large number of factories in the Basra region. The Arab tribes are not a very easy people to deal with. ”

It is true that the Ottoman sultans presented themselves as leaders of the Islamic world, but the Turks and Arabs did not come out of the same pot. At least the Turks consider themselves to be descendants of the Turks who once harassed China's western frontiers, just as the Hungarians with their surnames in front of their first names are considered to be descendants of the Xiongnu defeated by the Han Dynasty.

In Basra were Arab tribes, in Turkey were Turkic descendants, and the Persians were great powers that had been at odds with the Romans for centuries long before they embraced Islam. Even if they profess the same religion, three different forces have very different origins.

For the two big countries, China and the United Kingdom, they have a clear position on themselves, "China and Britain are both outsiders in the Middle East". The British Foreign Minister believes that there is ample room for cooperation between the two sides in this regard.

Li Xin seriously explained China's position, "Even under such conditions, it is impossible for our country to make any military threats against Russia. The Sino-Russian border is now peaceful, and the costs of any hostility will cost our country enormous. Compared to this cost, that little oil benefit is insignificant. With our country's weak stance of not using force and not threatening, it will only be laughed at if it is mixed into European affairs. So I really don't see any reason or need for my country to do this. ”

Seeing Li Xin's attitude so serious, the British Foreign Minister felt very strange. China's desire to establish itself in Basra was so strong that both Britain and the Ottoman Empire felt it clearly. Neither Britain nor the Ottoman Empire wanted to see China play a role in Basra. Therefore, the British foreign minister thought that the conditions he proposed could make China move, but he did not expect Li Xin's attitude to be so firm.

"So how far can China go?" The British Foreign Minister again tried to determine Li Xin's attitude.

"If Russia asks us, then we can say that we support the British proposal. The Ottoman Sultan appointed the Grand Duke of Bulgaria as the Administrator of Eastern Continental Melia. This is by no means a problem, and my country has always been very much in favor of the British proposals for the Ottoman Empire, which, if implemented, can indeed effectively resolve the conflict in the Balkans. That's all. Li Xin replied, and after saying that, he added, "Of course, if the Ottoman Empire has to take military action in these areas, our country will also meet the commercial requirements of the Ottoman Empire." ”

With the current level of communication between China and Europe, it is clear that China has its own clear position on this. This position was undoubtedly pro-British, pro-Ottoman.

The British foreign minister also knows very well that it is impossible to drag China into the water immediately, and the premise for a country like China to go into the water is that China itself is willing to take the initiative to go into the water. So the British foreign minister made a determination about what Li Xin said, "That is, if an international conference is convened, China will openly express its support for the position of the British Empire." ”

"Yes, we will openly support the proposal proposed by the UK." Li Xin also gave a promise unequivocally.

With this commitment, the British Foreign Minister has also achieved the purpose of this meeting to a certain extent. The next discussion was the position of China and Britain in the Russo-Turkish war, and the positions of the two countries were quickly agreed. Russia and the Ottoman Empire fought eleven major wars in two hundred years, an average of one every dozen years. In other words, each generation of young people from Russia and the Ottoman Empire grew up to fight. There is nothing to talk about this centuries-old enmity, let them continue to fight, until they can't fight anymore, Russia and the Ottoman Empire will stop. That's when Britain and China intervened.

After discussing the war, the two sides discussed the issue of building currency settlement centers for each other. Chinese goods are sold all over the world, and although the renminbi is not a gold standard currency, its purchasing power is resounding. Britain was forced to make an exchange pegging to China's renminbi, and then it became necessary to establish an offshore renminbi center in London. Even if there are 10,000 unhappy hearts, the British financial industry must face this fact.

At the end of the meeting, the Chinese Foreign Minister promised that instead of returning to London, the British Foreign Minister went straight to Viena, the capital of Austria-Hungary. If you want to make a difference in the Balkans, you have to cooperate with Austria-Hungary.

After the meeting between the foreign ministers of the two countries, Britain directly put forward the hypothesis that "if Austria-Hungary is unable to hold out, Hungary will learn from the position of those countries in the wave of independence in the Balkans." So what kind of situation is your country facing? ”

The face of the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister immediately collapsed, and once Russia marched into Bulgaria, it was bound to control Romania. At that time, Hungary will be surrounded on three sides by Russian Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria. There is also a possibility that the Austro-Hungarian Danube lifeline could be cut off. Maintaining power and influence in the Balkans was both a symbol of Austria-Hungary's status as a great power and a symbol of the empire's survival.

Under the influence of a wave of independence, there have long been various changes in Hungary, and Austria was once one of the masterminds of the partition of Poland, but at this time and then, the last thing Austria wants to hear is independence.

"Our country has already received the support of China, which has made it clear that it supports our plan to appoint the Grand Duke of Bulgaria as the administrator of East Rumelia by the Ottoman Sultan." The British Foreign Minister told the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister about the results of his diplomacy.

Immediately after the meeting with the British Foreign Minister, the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister sent a telegram to their embassy in China, asking to determine whether this was true. The Austro-Hungarian foreign minister also summoned the Chinese ambassador to the Austro-Hungarian Empire to verify the matter.

The British Foreign Minister, on the other hand, played shuttle diplomacy, and immediately after leaving Austria, he went straight to Italy to communicate with the Italian Foreign Minister on the matter.

Under the skillful hand of the British foreign minister, the Chinese foreign minister's statement began to form the impression in Europe that China was going to roll up its arms and sleeves.