In 1931, the economic crisis began to enter its third year. It was no longer an economic crisis, but a real Great Depression. Across the planet, 50% of tariffs are normalized. Only China still adheres to a 5% import and export tariff, and of course, China still adheres to a trade balance policy. The British ambassador to China, Sir Humphrey, was recalled to London as an old China expert.

This is not a punishment, but a normal just for the sake of transfer. The British side recalled Sir Humphrey for another purpose, they hope to study the expansion of British sales in China and stimulate the British economy. Sir Humphrey is also regarded as a good person, and his life as a minister in China is very good, but the People's Party is difficult to deal with, but he understands people. Sir Humphrey had a business attitude and was doing smoothly in Sino-British trade. For example, Sir Humphrey's strong promotion of the Malay land lease project, the BJP has to transport tens of millions of tons of oil palm seeds from Malaysia every year, and the export tax of one pound on one ton of oil palm seeds is tens of millions of pounds, and the UK also gets a stable supply of palm oil. The land of Malay was fully developed, and the British Empire benefited greatly from any of the comprehensive benefits.

This was just one of Sir Humphrey's exploits, and the trade in coconuts and oil in Southeast Asia expanded British profits. A man who adds hundreds of millions of pounds a year to the empire should naturally be treated as a hero. Now Britain needs this hero to make a greater contribution to the UK.

Britain has not changed much, and this is Sir Humphrey's most intuitive feeling about London. China has changed so fast that the capital, Zhengzhou, has gone from a city dominated by a railway station to a modern metropolis in a few years. Buildings, factories, railways, crazy construction. Not only Zhengzhou, but the whole of China is changing dramatically every day, and these changes have made Sir Humphrey go from being dizzy to being accustomed to it, and when he returned to England, he was not used to it. At least I'm not used to the food that's hard to swallow in the UK.

The British Cabinet meeting on Sino-British trade did not take place until after Sir Humphrey's return, and Sir Humphrey gave a report to the Cabinet Select Committee, introducing and assessing China's spending power, and the amazing achievements of the Special Committee shook the members of the Special Committee. Sir Humphrey, however, has been in China for so long, and he does not think that this proves that China has spending power, which he believes is precisely China's lack of spending power.

"China's wealth is spent on fixed asset investment, or long-term investment in heavy industry. The consumption power of the people has been reduced to a pitiful level. Since Britain has not been able to control these Chinese state-owned assets, it is impossible to get a piece of the pie from China's state-owned assets. If the UK wants to further open up the Chinese market, it needs to work harder. Sir Humphrey concluded with these words.

When the members of the Special Committee heard this, the old story of the Opium War popped up in their minds. Of course, this idea was quickly dispelled. China has overhauled railways, including Yunnan, which borders Myanmar. If China and Britain went to war, they would have to consider the possibility of Chinese troops storming Burma before Britain could gain full superiority. Next to Burma is India, and the thought of China's 5.5 million army makes the British upper echelons feel bad.

Originally, Britain wanted to export 20 million tons of crude oil to China in 1930, but after the economic crisis, the British economy suffered a lot of damage, and trade between China and Britain barely maintained the level of 1929. Seeing that in 1930 Sino-British trade might be interrupted and continue to grow for more than 20 years, and enter a downward trajectory, the British government was of course extremely anxious.

The economic crisis forced Britain to abandon the gold standard, and although the "non-convertible gold standard" sounds the same as the gold standard, it has actually become a fiat currency system. Now that the banknotes of China and Britain have been turned to paper, the biggest trade barrier between China and Britain has now been lifted. Of course, one problem is solved, and the next one arises. If the British allow China's renminbi to become the official world currency, allow China to have a trade deficit, and the British have a bunch of renminbi in their hands, how can they invest in appreciation?

One of the purposes of recalling Sir Humphrey to China was to ask whether China would accept British investment in China. It's not a petty fight, it's a really large-scale investment.

For the Chinese, Britain's big capitalists are "old friends of China." As far as the British upper echelons are concerned, the big British capitalists also regard the Chinese government as an "old friend of Britain". Now that friends have a problem, how can they help each other?

The British civil service is also a bureaucratic system, and Sir Humphrey did not dare to bring out all the preparations he had made in China. He now looks at the infinite scenery, and he doesn't know how many people are envious, jealous and hateful behind him. Sir Humphrey, of course, knew that the sedan chair was carried by everyone, and that there were some things that could not be done, not that they could not be done openly, but that they should see who would do them. Interest groups are very realistic, and if you defect to the right interest group, you can go to the next level. If you can't find the right person, then wait to wear small shoes until you die.

The Special Committee of the Cabinet is a general organization, and the daytime meetings are just appetizers, and the private banquets in the evening are the main course. The number of people who invited Sir Humphrey to the banquet was limited, but there were only five people, a cabinet minister, three tycoons, plus Sir Humphrey, all of whom had graduated from Cambridge University. After discussing the rowing competition about the Oxford Bridge, the meal was almost finished. This brings us to the critical part.

Sir Humphrey first received information from the Cabinet Ministers, and now the Cabinet has an idea to promote Sir Humphrey to the Treasury, but there is opposition to it. The minister will not continue.

Sir Humphrey glanced at the oil tycoons at the table before continuing: "I have some discussions with the BJP on the oil trade, and they want to establish oil processing bases in Cambodia and Hainan Island, and they need cooperation and investment. ”

The topic was right on the minds of the two oil tycoons, who stared at Sir Humphrey, waiting for him to continue. Even the Cabinet Ministers looked at Sir Humphrey intently.

"China wants to use Dutch oil nearby, process it in Cambodia and sell some of it to Southeast Asia, and part of it will be used in China." Sir Humphrey began to slowly unfold his cards.

"Is it a joint venture, or is it a method?" The Cabinet Secretary asked.

"The attitude of the Chinese is still hesitant in this regard, and the Chinese side has discussed that they want to set up a stock exchange in China." Sir Humphrey unleashed more cards.

"I heard that the Chinese side already has a 700,000-ton transport fleet?" The shipbuilding tycoon in the room asked.

"The latest news is more than 1.6 million tons. In 30 years, it is said that more ships will be launched. China has put a lot of effort into shipbuilding. Sir Humphrey replied slowly, sipping his tea.

"But the UK has not received any orders from China." The shipbuilder asked.

Sir Humphrey replied earnestly: "I have heard that the Chinese side once wanted to import some shipbuilding technology from the British, but did not get the consent of the British side. ”

The shipbuilding tycoon did not refuse to admit the news, and he went on to ask: "So where did China import the technology from?" Italy? ”

After saying this, several people present couldn't help but smile. Italy's industrial strength was far behind that of Britain, and after Britain rejected China's request, China had to go to Italy to seek technology.

"But we must consider the possibility of a military conflict between China and the United Kingdom." The oil barons have not let their guard down, and China's approach to Japan is a clear indication that China is not a pacifist at all.

Sir Humphrey was silent, and England did not now want a war with China at all. As an old colonialist, Britain could also feel the growing pressure from China. This kind of pressure is all too familiar to the British, and France and Germany have all given Britain basically the same feeling. If it weren't for the current full-scale contraction of the British Empire, Britain would have turned its face against China in an all-round way, and at least would have tried its best to contain China.

"War?" The cabinet minister replied with a slight contempt. After all, Britain had experienced a war of blood and fire in the European war, and it was clear that the cabinet minister did not believe that Britain would lose to China in the war. It's just that bordering an army power is the most hated thing for maritime countries. The Chinese population is about the same as all the countries under the British Empire combined, but there is a problem with the fact that the British Empire's industry is mainly concentrated in the North Atlantic Rim, while China is entirely concentrated in one region. Comparable to the Chinese population is the Indian region, and Britain is well aware that the industrial strength of the Indian region is simply not comparable to China. Not to mention the very different relations between the British Empire and the colonial countries. Even so, the British upper echelons did not believe that Britain would lose the war.

The shipbuilding tycoon dragged the subject back to the more advanced content, "Sir Humphrey, can you tell us about the establishment of a joint venture in China?" What kind of shareholding and dividend will China adopt? ”

In April 1931, Sir Humphrey returned to China as an official of the British Treasury. His goal is to negotiate with China to form a refining company. Oil refining is an interesting industry, and until the second decade of the 21st century, Iran was the only oil-rich country in the Middle East that could produce the oil it needed.

Theoretically, oil can be fractionated from gasoline and diesel after temperature control, which has very low equipment requirements, and many places in the northwest that opened small oil wells privately did this. This method is inefficient, wasteful, and polluting. Both economic and social benefits are very poor.

The quality of oil has a great impact on the refined product, and the price of crude oil suitable for refining is high. The People's Party took the petrochemical route, and before it obtained the artillery steel, the People's Party began to study a large number of petroleum cracking technologies, which greatly increased the output of gasoline and diesel. After obtaining the high-temperature and elegant artillery steel technology, the People's Party began to implement the petroleum cracking technology with higher temperature and high pressure.

The cracked petroleum contains more olefins and aromatic hydrocarbons, and products such as ethylene are important signs. Similarly, the hydrogenation reaction of high-octane alkenes can refine high-octane fuel. This is the fuel that the Air Force needs most.

In 1930, this petrochemical industry was also a technology- and capital-intensive industry, and China and the United States had two large-scale industries in the world. China's fractionation towers have gone from 20 meters, 40 meters, 50 meters, and now the tallest has reached 80 meters. And now it's still rising. Fortunately, this technology is "top technology" in this world at this time. The BJP has finally recovered all the costs, including the laboratory.

Chen Ke learns polymer materials, these are basic courses. Textbooks have long written down the various parameters and catalysts. With these parameters, with design ideas, and no one dares to question Chen Ke's views, so although China's chemical industry has a difficult start, it can insist on running in small steps, and it has been running for more than ten years.

The British can also guess that China has made a major technological breakthrough, but they do not know how far China has progressed, let alone how far China can use crude oil. The British believe that China's crude oil utilization rate is probably less than 30%, but they do not know that China's crude oil utilization rate is more than 80%.

Negotiation is to test the bottom line, and China's negotiators are all well-trained actors. Not only will the heart not be expressed because of the leakage of emotions at all, but also can make a trembling tone, sweating on the forehead, dilated pupils at any time when needed, and if the negotiation opponent observes carefully, you will also find that one or both hands or two of the Chinese negotiators are trembling slightly.

The advantages of Chinese are also reflected, as long as you can memorize a few nouns, you can imitate experts. The British probably believed that China's oil utilization rate was 25%, so based on this calculation, the two sides signed a fair agreement on the basis of 25%, and the British took advantage of it.

The investment is based on the model of crude oil provided by the United Kingdom, and the Chinese side is responsible for the construction and production. For the first five years, depending on the quality of the crude oil, China paid a certain amount of yuan to buy it. Britain takes 30% of the petrol and diesel, and at the same time can buy the rest of the petrol and diesel with yuan.

This is a great benefit for the British, who can cut off China's crude oil supply at any time. At the same time, these renminbi can be used to buy Chinese oil products, and they can also be used to buy goods that Britain wants in the Chinese market.

After the Second Industrial Revolution, gasoline and diesel belonged to the emperor's daughter, and even in the Great Depression, as long as the price was low enough, there was still a sufficient market. By handing over investment and production in oil refining to China, the British were freed not only from huge basic investment, from huge production costs, but also from the resistance of the workers. For the British, who had vast colonies and countless resources, this was a good thing that would do no harm.

Besides, Britain does not cooperate with China, and the United States is also eyeing the Chinese market. The British believed that China's domestic market was limited, and that Britain would not be able to eat such a big piece of cake if Britain grabbed it. Eventually, the British, under the mediation of Sir Humphrey, succeeded in raising the oil trade between Britain and China to 22 million tons per year. Nearly 10 million tonnes of this is sour crude oil that simply cannot be sold.

British economists believe that where there is production, there is surplus, and if there is excess, there will be an economic crisis, and where there is an economic crisis, there will be a workers' movement. It is enough to transfer all these troubles and hardships to a poor country like China, and use some leftovers that Britain does not look down upon to send China away and stabilize China.

Get rid of the big troubles caused by production, and establish Britain's position as the world's top food chain with the "global economic division of labor". As long as it has overwhelming naval superiority in its hands, Britain can guarantee stability in the Far East.

Chen Ke was very familiar with this kind of thinking of the British, and he had also learned in history textbooks that the British lived entirely on the colonial economy before World War II. But the British are the British, after all, the Great Powers of hundreds of years, and their IQ is beyond doubt. So from the beginning, Chen Ke still felt that he couldn't believe it. When it was finally determined that the British really thought so, Chen Ke had to sigh in his heart that the capitalist system really did not remember to eat.