The British government has refused to form a military alliance with China. The reason is not so much that President Naren "offended Britain, but because China's military power is not as strong as Japan's, especially its naval power, and for Britain the foundation of strategy lies in the colonies." And the main means of protecting the colony is the navy. Britain's founding also lay fundamentally in a strong and invincible navy.

Although the strength of China's Sixth Army cannot be ignored, the strength of the Far East that the British government values is not the strength of the Sixth Army.

Although Japan's naval strength is far inferior to that of Britain and Germany, Japan's navy is second to none in the entire Far East, and even the Far Eastern Navy of the United States is no match for Japan, after all. The strategic focus of the US Navy has always been in the European direction, and the Atlantic Ocean is the focus of the US Navy's attention, so that Japan's naval power plays a pivotal role for the British government in the entire Far East.

There are many British colonies and protectorates in Asia, Burma, Malaya, India, Iran, Ceylon, these countries and regions are all the crown jewels of the British Empire without exception, and none of them can be missing, Britain's survival depends on these countries and regions, cotton, rubber, tin ore, spices, and grain. Even human resources, these are things that Britain needs, if Britain is compared to a train that is moving high, then these resources are the coal that is necessary for the motivation of the train, without coal, the train will soon lose power and eventually stop moving, and at that time. Perhaps it was time for the British Empire to fall apart.

The resources of these areas had to be protected and guaranteed to be in British hands, and for this purpose, the British built up the Minta fleet. In peacetime, this fleet was sufficient to ensure the interests of the British Empire in Asia, but if war broke out in Europe, would the British fleet still be able to maintain the British Empire's rule in these regions?

The answer is no. Ever since the German emperor began to build his high seas fleet, the balance of naval power in Europe has changed radically. Although the size of the German fleet was far inferior to that of the British, the attention to contain the British fleet was sufficient in the event of a full-scale war in Europe. Britain will have to gather its naval forces and concentrate on Europe to defend its homeland.

Since the main fleet can no longer protect the interests of Britain in Asia, then. Britain must maintain a powerful naval ally in Asia and the Far East, and that ally can only be Japan, at least for now.

The British government's wartime policy in the Far East and Asia was clear: in the event of a full-scale war in Europe, Britain would concentrate its naval forces in Europe, keep an eye on the German navy with the French navy, and blockade the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, while at the same time, the maritime order in Asia and the Far East would be maintained by the ally Japan. Rely on Japan's powerful Far East naval power to protect the British Far East routes, ensure the safety and smooth flow of sea routes in the Far East and Asia in wartime, and even ensure the maritime connection between the British mainland and the Australian Dominion.

Got it. It is understood that the British government's choice is that in any case, Britain cannot afford to lose Japan, a maritime ally, and even if it is possible for Japan to expand its interests in China as a result, Britain must accept this exchange, which is an exchange of national interests, and Britain sacrifices a part of its small interests in China to ensure its overall interests in the Asia-Zhejiang region.

Therefore, when the Chinese also expressed their willingness to form a military alliance with Britain, the British government rejected this proposal after careful consideration, for the simple reason that Britain feared that it would anger Japan, so that Japan would abandon Britain and turn to Germany, in which case Britain's wartime Asia policy would become very ridiculous, and the maritime strategic initiative in Asia would also be transferred to Germany.

Although the possibility of Japan completely surrendering to Germany is relatively low, the British government does not dare to take risks, and in the current international situation, Japan cannot do without Britain, but Britain cannot do without Japan.

The national interest is paramount, and Britain must be cautious about its relations with China and Japan. Japan must continue to win over, and China must keep its distance from Germany.

This is a very difficult foreign policy, and the British government is very aware of the deep contradictions between China and Japan. Jurdian also knew very well, but as a British diplomat, Jurdian had to complete this task. Therefore, when Liang Shiyi again proposed to him that China and Britain should form a military alliance. Zhu Erdian hesitated for a long time, he did not reject this proposal of alliance, after all, now the situation is delicate, the Chinese Talent Network and the Germans held high-level diplomatic talks in Qingdao, if the arrogance of the British caused the anger of the Chinese, no one dares to guarantee that China and Germany will not form an alliance, although there is no shortage of pro-British people in the parliament of this country, but don't forget that the supreme leader of this country is the president, and this president has always been a strong figure, "madman" 's nickname is more than just a nickname.

"Mr. Liang, I am very surprised by your words. Actually, the last time I met Mr. President. Mr. President has expressed the same sentiment, and I deeply agree with Mr. President that an alliance between China and Britain would be beneficial to peace in the Far East. For the time being, however, the British Government is preoccupied with the situation in the Ergan region, and is temporarily considering a change in its policy in the Far East; Kailian, therefore, I can only agree with your views in my personal name. ”

Zhu Erdian's words were a bit tortuous. However, Liang Shizhi is a smart man, he quickly understood what the other party meant, Zhu Erdian couldn't make up his mind, he didn't know if the British government would change its position, so these words were just a false and wrongful remark.

"Although our country does not have a strong navy, our air force is still considerable."

Liang Shizhao can't stop there. It was a task assigned by the president, and he had to give it his all, so he pushed the Air Force out.

Zhu Erdian smiled faintly, looking. The other party is also a smart man, and he can actually see the real reason why the British government values Japan. Yes, the current Chinese Air Force is indeed impressive, but what can this change? Due to the limitations of the technical level, the performance of the current aircraft does not really make people believe that it can replace the warship.

"Mr. Liang, you may not be a true connoisseur, although neither am I. However, I did read some professional papers on aviation technology exhibitions, as far as I know, today's planes can only carry dozens of pounds or one or two hundred pounds of bombs, this kind of light bombs may be able to deal with the infantry in the trenches, but it cannot be compared with the naval heavy artillery, a new type of naval heavy artillery, can easily shoot thousands of shells to more than a dozen nautical miles away, can easily destroy any light warship. So. It seems to me that the Air Force is not yet able to confront the Navy, and. In the mainstream view. There are also many who are skeptical about the combat effectiveness of the Air Force

Zhu Erdian's words made Liang Shizhao a little helpless, there is no way, this is called a hot face and a cold ass, no wonder the president gave him this arduous task, so arranged, the president and the central government can stay out of the matter and avoid embarrassment.

Just when Liang Shizhao was embarrassed, the president had already concluded his meetings with representatives of the Shimin and friendly personages at home and abroad. He was leading a group of people to this side, and when he reached Zhu Erdian, he stretched out his hand to shake hands with the British minister.

"Mr. President, just now, I had a very interesting conversation with Mr. Liang here, and I am sure that Mr. President may be interested in the content of our conversation

Zhu Erdian smiled and said, the meaning of these words was very clear, he knew that Liang Shizhu was sent by the president.

"Oh? What is the content of the conversation? Is it convenient for Mr. Minister to tell me? The president also has a smile on his face, and he can't see the taste of acting at all, and the acting skills of this officialdom have indeed been perfected.

"On the matter of international affairs, Mr. Liang believes that the current Entente is not strong enough, and it is necessary to win over a new partner, and this new partner is preferably a Far Eastern country

"Really? What do you think, Mr. Minister? ”

"It seems to me that it is too early to talk about this topic at the moment, after all, Britain already has a fairly reliable ally in the Far East."

Zhu Erdian's words went a little far, but the president was also playing meditation when he spoke.

Zhao Bei smiled and glanced at the Japanese minister to China who was standing beside the British minister. Then he looked at Liang Shizhao, who had no expression. After that, there is a meaningful sentence.

"I also know a little bit about the international situation, although I don't know what the British government's policy is, but one thing I know very well, in our ancient Chinese adage, that is, "the righteous are more helped, the unjust are less helped" international politics, and the national interest is supreme, but this does not mean that the national interest is everything, and sometimes, justice is also directly related to the success or failure of the national policy

Perhaps because he felt that Mr. President's words were a bit profound, Zhu Erdian couldn't find the right words for the moment, so he had to talk about the topic to other aspects first.

"Mr. President, on international affairs, perhaps we can leave it for a detailed discussion later. Now, I have good news to tell you, Mr. President, that, after careful consideration, the British Government has decided to transfer the functions of the General Department of Customs and Excise to the central government of your country, and perhaps it will not be long before the General Department of Customs and Excise will be filled by Chinese. ”

"Oh? That's great, and I'm very relieved that the British government understands it. ”

To Zhu Erdian's surprise, after learning the good news he had brought to Mr. President, the president only smiled slightly, and it could be seen that the smile on his face was stiff and purely out of politeness.

The General Department of Customs and Excise has always been held by the British, which was established through loan treaties in the former Qing Dynasty, but now, in order to win over China, the British government has even given up this privilege, which in the eyes of the British is already a big concession made by the British.

But what does this change? The basic level of customs personnel has long been taken over by the Chinese, and the General Department of Customs and Excise is just a symbolic figure that has been hollowed out, and Britain's abandonment of this chicken rib is at most to make the Chinese happy, and it is not enough to make the Chinese grateful.

China, what is most needed now is not the post of the General Department of Customs, but an ally, an ally that will not bring disaster to the country.

Where is this ally?

The Chinese are hesitating, and so are the British.