"Once a war starts, the biggest issue is how to end it."

Although in Zhu Yifeng's memory, he can't remember where he saw or heard this sentence, it does not prevent him from understanding this sentence. In Chinese terms, it is to accept it when you see it!

The insight of a century and a half ahead of the times made Zhu Yifeng very clear that if the war continued to expand without limit, what would be the final result? Germany and Japan have given him some inspiration.

The hardest part of the climb is the downhill part!

Since ancient times, most troops have not been defeated in the attack when they are "uphill", but they have not been defeated in the aftermath design of "downhill" after the attack. "War is the continuation of politics", there is a beginning and there must be an end.

What would have been the outcome if Germany or Japan had negotiated an end to the war under the right circumstances? Of course, the other side is not necessarily willing to negotiate, just as Churchill will never surrender, will not negotiate, and even does not hesitate to cooperate with the Soviet Union.

It is precisely because of this that Zhu Yifeng will expand this war indefinitely, launch attacks on the British in various battlefields, and even send the main force of the fleet to Northwest Africa, resulting in a situation where Britain is unable to send troops to the colonies.

From the very beginning of the war, China won strategically - the entry of Russia and France, subverting the balance of power between the two sides.

When Napoleon III's ambitions swelled, the reason why Zhu Yifeng was willing to cooperate with him, and even spent a huge amount of money to mobilize troops, was to create a false appearance of a large number of soldiers for Britain, so as to pave the way for the next negotiations, and even he deliberately chose the most outstanding diplomat of this era - Bismarck, as the intermediary between the two countries, of course, Bismarck's mediation was not gratuitous, and China had already expressed its support for German reunification in private.

Of course, Zhu Yifeng will not oppose the unification of Germany, because this will help balance the power of Europe - between France and Russia, there is still a strong country, so that the power of the European continent will be balanced, and as for Britain, Britain also needs to maintain a certain amount of strength, so as to ensure the balance of Britain on the European continent.

"Your Majesty, the British think, we know what they want......"

Zheng Zaoru looked at His Majesty cautiously, he didn't know what the British Prime Minister was playing, what did he want? And what do you want from China? Could it be that he wants China to cede its colonies?

What about the colonies that China will cede to the next place?

Zheng Zaoru immediately thought of the evaluation of the imperial capital's diplomatic circles about China's colonies - except for the Cape Town colony, the whole of Africa was an uninhabitable land, Canada was a desolate land of ice and snow, and among all the colonies that China had acquired through war, only Australia was worth mentioning, where there were gold mines, but ...... Australia's outback is inhospitable and unsuitable for immigrants.

All right!

Where are the best colonies?

In India!

There is fertile land, and there are hundreds of millions of docile Indians who create all kinds of wealth for the suzerain. It is for this reason that India is the most splendid jewel in the crown of the British Empire.

But...... It is now the territory of the Russians and the French, and even the reason why Russia and France are willing to make concessions on the colonial issue is because India is too rich. Even when China expressed its willingness to cede Ceylon to France, France immediately agreed to the Chinese occupation of Canada.

In this case, if Britain returns a piece of its colony to China at the expense of it, what will China return to that piece?

Could it be Australia?

While Zheng Zaoru was thinking about all possibilities, Zhu Yifeng was also thinking about it, and unlike Zheng Zaoru's consideration of how to exchange the colony for peace, he was thinking about what Palmerston said to Bismarck.

"The world of the future is that if a country does not have colonies, then it will be reduced to a third-rate small country, and Britain must have its own colonies! This is necessary to be a great power, otherwise Britain would have to look up to France's snort, like other continental European countries! ”

Any great country must have vast colonies!

If there is one thing that has changed the world from another time and space, it is probably this change, Russia is trying to occupy northern India, and their army has even captured Istanbul and restored it to its original name "Constantinople". The Russians have finally fulfilled their 400-year-old dream that Russia, in addition to St. Petersburg and Moscow, has a real capital - Constantinople, and that one day the tsar will insert a cross on the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. In the future, they will occupy northern India and annex Iran, and the Russian boots have enjoyed the warm waters of the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean, and a more powerful Russian empire will emerge before the world.

And what about France?

They gained access to southern India, Syria, and Mesopotamia, and of course the Bahamas, Mexico, Madagascar, and France's colonial empire, perhaps not as large as Russia, but for sure, France got everything they needed – resources and markets.

And what about Britain, the former maker of the world order?

They have lost almost all of their colonies, even their native Ireland, and in this case, after the collapse of the British colonial empire, is it possible for Britain to recover after losing its markets and resources?

The answer is obvious, the First World War caused almost devastating trauma to Britain, but only a dozen years later, with its vast colonies, Britain recovered, and when the United States fell into the Great Depression due to the economic crisis, Britain and France quickly emerged from the shadow of the economic crisis with their colonial empires. After World War II, when the United States and the Soviet Union dismantled the British colonial empire, Britain inevitably declined, and decades later, the declining Britain became the object of ridicule - "Lafayette, foreigners are coming to build a railway for us." ”

Behind this seemingly ridiculous sentence, it actually shows a fact - Britain, without colonies, will inevitably become a second-rate country. Compared with the Labour governments after World War II that did not understand the imperial mind at all and did not know the importance of colonies to Britain, the British aristocratic politicians of this era were well aware of the importance of colonies, and without colonial Britain, they were nothing!

The British want colonies!

It's an obvious need if the UK is to be kept strong, but how is that possible? It is impossible for China, France, and Russia to spit out the colonies they have occupied, and the three countries have finally seized the opportunity to re-measure and re-divide the world, how can they spit it out again?

What is this requirement in the UK?

Could it be because they see clearly their determination to stop the war at any cost?

No!

They absolutely do not see that even within the government, most people do not know the government's finances, and China still has the ability to issue bonds, but the UK ...... Britain did not have the strength to stop the joint attack of China and France, and Russia would also send their fleet, in short, Britain had no hope of victory.

Now, what does Palmerston want?

Colony!

This is the simplest answer, but the question is, what colony does he want? Which colony is what they want?

But which colony is it that you are willing to give up?

Who the hell wants to spit out the meat they want to spit out?

When this voice appeared in such pain in his heart, Zhu Yifeng's brows were tightly locked, he was thinking about Palmerston's bottom line, what did he mean? Is this a dumb fight with yourself? Don't they know that if they want to, there is a good chance that Britain will become history next year?

Britain needed colonies, the question was ...... Just as China needs colonies, it is precisely because China needs colonies that it will unite France and Russia to press Britain to the ground and turn it hard, so that it has to remeasure the world......

Re-measure the world!

Suddenly, Zhu Yifeng seemed to grasp something, his eyes suddenly lit up, and then he walked to the front of the globe, this is the latest division of earth forces, from the globe you can see that the world has been re-measured by China, France and Russia, this world has undergone fundamental changes!

It is no longer a world in another time and space, the only criterion for the great powers of this world is colonies, France has even divided Mexico into several provinces, the French Empire, the Russian Empire, the Chinese Empire...... If Britain is not willing to be reduced to a second-rate country, they must join it, and re-measure the world, only in this way can he maintain his status as a great power without declining, but Palmerston did not know that it was almost impossible to spit out their colonies to the Three Kingdoms, and in this case, what they needed was to redivide the world like the Three Kingdoms, that is-

"The British want here!"

Brazil on the globe with a hand on it!

Zhu Yifeng said with a sneer.

"Your Majesty, you are saying that the British want to ...... Want to take over Brazil? ”

Zheng Zaoru looked at the position of the globe in surprise, and then said in surprise.

"Your Majesty, is it possible that Britain will go and occupy there? That's a ...... country."

Brazil is an empire, the Brazilian Empire, how could the British have occupied a country for the sake of colonies? To be precise, a member of what they call the "civilized world".

"It's not just Brazil, it's South America!"

Zhu Yifeng said in a very positive tone.

"Palmerston knows very well that we can't spit out even a single colony, but the future of Britain makes them need a large number of colonies, which makes Britain need to be like ours, through the redivision of the world, to keep Britain from falling into decay and retreat, and now, Africa and Asia have been divided by us, these places will never be allowed to be occupied by Westerners other than France and Russia, and even the Philippines will soon be back in our hands......"

When mentioning the Philippines, Zhu Yifeng's heart was full of pride, Spain, a declining empire, had agreed to sell the Philippines to China, but it was only 8 million Chinese dollars, which was far more cost-effective than war. However, it also brought a negative impact - France negotiated secretly with the Netherlands, and the Netherlands agreed to sell the Dutch East Indies to France, and Zhu Yifeng was still hesitant to make concessions on this issue.

But in this case, the British must know very well that they could not get any colonies in Asia, then they would only have one choice left - South America!

"That means they'll have to look elsewhere – South America is their only option, and as for the so-called republics in South America, will they be able to stop the British attack?"

The answer is obvious, South America has no power to stop Britain, and Britain can easily expand their colonial empire in South America.

"But how could they possibly accept British rule when it had just been freed from Spanish colonization decades ago?"

Zheng Zaoru asked in disbelief, he didn't believe that the natives of South America, who always fought with others with a conceited mentality, would willingly accept British rule.

"At first they won't, they will rebel, but the British will certainly quickly suppress their revolt, and then the British will use their set of colonial methods that are completely different from Spain to rule the colonies of South America, and the people of South America will quickly adapt to all this, and they will even willingly accept British rule, because, the British colonial rule, well, more scientific, don't forget, in this regard, we are also their students!"

No one can deny that compared with other countries, the British are better at running colonies, and their management of colonies is far ahead of other countries, and even many people in colonized areas are willing to be colonized by them, for example, India is not grateful to Britain for colonizing it in another time and space?

"Your Majesty, if their goal is South America, then why ask for our opinion, we are in South America, we do not have any special interests other than Panabas, well, and the saltpeter mines of Chile......"

Zheng Zaoru's question made Zhu Yifeng look at him with a strange look, as if he was looking at a joke.

All right!

After a while, Zhu Yifeng realized that now Zheng Zaoru and they have not adapted to the changes in China's status, and they don't know that Britain is not asking for advice, but it is negotiating with China, so as to reach a consensus of interests, even if it is between powerful countries, it also needs to be negotiated! Even more negotiable.

"Because, we are the only country that can help the UK!"

Smiling at Zheng Zaoru, Zhu Yifeng's expression became relaxed, and he even deliberately walked to the table, and then took out a cigar from the cigar box, lit it, and then said in a relaxed tone.

"Well, now it's all over, tell the British...... We support any action they take in South America and pledge that they and other countries do not meddle in South American affairs, but ......"

After a slight pause, the corners of Zhu Yifeng's lips lifted slightly, and he said with a smile.

"We need something in return, too!"

The new book "Daming Iron Bone" will be released tomorrow, and this is a bloody, Jedi counterattack, always full of blood. Well, it should be bloody from beginning to end, and I hope you can continue to support it! Welcome everyone to join the discussion group of "Daming Iron Blood": 150536833, welcome book friends to join and discuss the plot together! Welcome to sign up!