After Gu Chen left, Mrs. Thatcher thought about the meeting alone, so she instructed the secretary to convene a meeting of all the cabinet members in London, and while she was waiting, she simply asked the secretary to bring all the documents she wanted to approve today to the conference room. Since the offices of the main government departments are located near 10 Downing Street, six or seven cabinet members gathered in the conference room in less than half an hour.

Packing up some scattered documents and handing them to the secretary to take back to the office, Mrs. Thatcher entered the topic as soon as she spoke: "I just had a conversation with Gu Chen here before you came, you must not have thought of his purpose in looking for me, he wants to obtain the exclusive exploration rights of oil and gas resources in the 200 nautical miles around the Falkland Islands, I don't know where his idea came from, but he did say so." ”

The Cabinet members on either side of the table look at me, I look at you, and then the Secretary of State says, "Is there really oil in the Falkland Islands?" ”

The Chancellor of the Exchequer shrugged his shoulders and said, "Who knows if there is oil there, Gu Chen has an oil company under his name, which contains shares of Bush's son, and he bought the Singapore Petroleum Company at the beginning of last year, and he just bought the Canadian Petroleum Company a few days ago." From these two acquisitions, it seems that he has an interest in the oil industry, and perhaps he has asked experts to study the geology of the Falkland Islands, but I have heard that the average water depth of the Falkland Islands offshore is more than 200 meters, and if you want to explore it, it will be a lot of investment. ”

Margaret Thatcher tapped the pen in her hand twice on the table to attract everyone's attention: "All right. Now we are not talking about whether there is oil in the Falkland Islands, but whether we should give him exclusive exploration rights, and whether we should know that the Falkland Islands are there. ”

The deputy prime minister groaned. "The Falkland Islands are indeed a sensitive place, and if there were companies authorized by the British government to carry out exploration activities there, it is almost certain that the Argentine government will protest, but now Argentina is weaker than it was before the war, and our protests can be ignored, but those South American countries will put some pressure on us if they show solidarity with Argentina," he said. ”

This time, the Minister of Defense also took part in the meeting. As soon as the Deputy Prime Minister's words fell, he said: "It's just the pressure of public opinion, if Britain succumbs to the pressure of public opinion." Now that the Falkland Islands have long been Argentine, those South American countries simply have the strength to confront Britain, and I think that even if Gu Chen does not make a request, we will carry out oil and gas exploration in the Falkland Islands in the future. ”

The Minister of Industry nodded. "Fowles is right. We sacrificed the lives of hundreds of brave soldiers to retake the Falkland Islands, but we did not let them look good, and since they were already our territory, we had the right to exploit them, not only for oil and gas exploration, but also for the exploration of the island's proven mineral resources such as coal and iron and the fishery resources in the sea. ”

After the Falkland Islands were suddenly occupied by Argentina, in order to recapture the islands in the South Atlantic, Britain did almost all its part, sending a task force, including two aircraft carriers, to thousands of miles away. Aside from the financial resources expended, the number of British casualties in the war alone exceeded 1,000. It has left at least a thousand families with eternal sorrow.

This was the heaviest British military casualties since the end of the Second World War, so it was only natural that the Falkland Islands, which had been recaptured at such a high cost, should be worth it in the eyes of all Britons, especially those with high nationalism.

Seeing that most of them believe that the Falkland Islands should be explored for oil and gas, the Foreign Secretary has a different opinion: "The United Nations Decolonization Committee has passed a resolution every year since the end of the Falkland Islands War, allowing us to negotiate with Argentina on the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands. ”

The Secretary of State for Industry shook his head and said: "After all, the impact of public opinion on the British diplomatic environment is only short-lived, and we do not need to give up real interests because of this temporary impact, and it is an indisputable fact that the Falkland Islands have become an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, and I think we should continue to strengthen our control over the Falkland Islands, including economy, culture, etc., and use more facts to make Argentines accept reality." ”

At this time, the Minister of the Interior said: "Maybe the matter is not as serious as we thought, just a few days ago there was a massive demonstration on the streets of Buenos Aires, which killed and injured more than a dozen people, and the continued economic downturn has made Argentines lose confidence in their first democratically elected government. Alphonsin is now definitely bothered by the situation in the country. In addition, Argentina's current economic downturn is directly related to European sanctions, and in order to lift economic sanctions in Europe, the Argentine government may not have much reaction to some of our moves in the Falkland Islands. ”

The economic sanctions imposed on Argentina by European countries led by Britain are a sharp weapon for Britain to deal with the Falkland Islands issue, but this sanction may not last long, and there are already voices within the French government calling for withdrawal from the sanctions agreement, after all, the interests of Britain in the Falkland Islands relationship, the French government has no need to damage its own interests for the sake of Britain's interests, and the reason why it joined the sanctions against Argentina in the first place is more because of the all-round close relationship between the two countries, and now the Falkland Islands war has ended for so many years, France has helped everything it should help, it's time to think about yourself. And with France's withdrawal, other countries are bound to withdraw as well.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer said: "If Gu Chen really intends to obtain exploration rights, I think we should charge him a higher fee, he is a rich man, and he will not pay attention to such a small amount of money." I mean, of course, the maximum amount set out by law. ”

The Minister of Industry rolled his eyes and said, "Are you crazy about money, Gu Chen is rich but not a fool, not to mention that you think it is necessary to affect the good relationship between the two parties for a little fee?" If you want him to pay for it, you'll have to wait until you actually find oil. ”

Listening to the words of the cabinet ministers, Mrs. Thatcher has already made a decision in her heart, but what Gu Chen wants is the exclusive exploration right, the so-called exclusive exploration right is that only one company can explore, if Gu Chen obtains the exclusive exploration right, it means that only the oil company under Gu Chen's name can explore the waters around the Falkland Islands, and it also means that if oil is really discovered, the oil company under Gu Chen's name will have the exclusive right to exploit it, although does the Falkland Islands own oil? If so, how much? It is not yet known, but out of prudence, Margaret Thatcher finally felt that it was not appropriate, and the necessary precautions were still needed......

Gu Chen received a call from the Secretariat of the Prime Minister's Office the next morning, and he guessed that Margaret Thatcher should have made a decision. Sure enough, when he sat down in the conference room, Thatcher went straight to the point and said, "I agree in principle to your request, but with a slight revision." ”

Margaret Thatcher took an A4-sized map of the Falkland Islands and the surrounding seas from her secretary's hand, and drew in red a long, irregular strip of land in the southeastern waters adjacent to the Falkland Islands, which was about half the size of the Falkland Islands.

"The 200 nautical miles around the Falkland Islands that you want to acquire are very much overlapping with Argentina's EEZ, and some are too close to Argentina, and while I think what you said yesterday makes a lot of sense, it's still necessary to try not to provoke Argentina too much. The area marked in red is the farthest from Argentina and is relatively safe to explore here. In addition, the UK government reserves the right to acquire a 40% interest in the field if the exploration is successful. ”

According to the current law in the United Kingdom, after the oil company that has obtained the exclusive exploration right discovers the oil field, it only needs to pay the exploitation fee to the government to obtain the exclusive exploitation right, and the more oil reserves, the more exploitation fees need to be paid, but the exploration company will obtain all the rights and interests in the oil field within the specified period of time It is a regular practice, and now Margaret Thatcher wants to retain the right to obtain 40% of the interest in the oil field obviously wants to keep a hand.

Gu Chen had already guessed that it was impossible for the British government to agree to all his requests, and besides, he really didn't dare to swallow such a big piece of cake in one bite, for fear of indigestion, he carefully looked at the red area on the map, and then said: "Although it is a pity that I can only obtain the exploration rights of this area, I respect Madame's decision." As for Madame's desire to retain the right to acquire 40% of the oil field, I find it a little incomprehensible, if the oil field is really discovered, according to the convention, I have the right to obtain the exclusive right to exploit the oil field for at least 20 years. Of course, if Madame insists, I have nothing to say, but 40% is too much, and you must know that the red area of Langdao is almost all deep-water areas with a depth of more than 300 meters, and more manpower and money must be invested in exploration activities here. ”

Mrs. Thatcher shrugged her shoulders and said, "Well, 30 percent, no less." ”

Hearing this, Gu Chen smiled slightly, and said a little helplessly: "As you wish." "In fact, if the British government has the interest in the oil fields, it is also very beneficial for him, at least in the face of the oil and gas dispute with Argentina, the British government will definitely be more aggressive and tough. (To be continued......)