At first glance, Zhao Bei certainly hoped that his subordinates would be able to mention his orders and obey him, but this was just his wishful thinking, in the cabinet. The more talented people are, the more stubborn the arrogance in their bones becomes, and they are represented by Foreign Minister Tang Shaoyi and Finance Minister Xiong Xiling. It's just that Zhao Bei can't do without these two people now, so he can only endure it now, he is planning to focus on cultivating Wang Yongjiang to replace Xiong Xiling, but the person who can replace Tang Shaoyi has not yet been seen, and Zhao Bei does not plan to let Tang Shaoyi get out now.

In Zhao Bei's view, although Tang Shaoyi occasionally disobeys his orders, this is usually not out of malice, for example, now he called the British Ambassador to China Zhu Erdian to the president to act as an expert on the Middle East issue, Tang Shaoyi does not want to embarrass the president, but wants to remind Mr. President that on the Middle East issue, it is best to consult the opinions of British politicians first, after all, no one knows the British government's Middle East policy and position better than the British ambassador.

Therefore, Zhao Bei was patient and listened to Zhu Erdian give him a lecture.

As for Zhu Erdian, he is also willing to popularize the current common sense of the Middle East region, the basic common sense of politics, economy, society, military, diplomacy, strategy, and so on, to this "madman president," lest this president suddenly come up with some undesirable ideas and interfere with the British Government's Middle East strategy.

"Mr. President, we have already talked about it. As a monarchy that has long since declined. The Ottoman Sultan is already there! Zhu Nian lost real power in that coup d'état, and now. The power in this West Asian country is actually in the hands of a political organization with an officer as the main body, that is, that. It was under the planning of the self-proclaimed "Association for Unity and Progress", or rather the "Young Turkish Party", that the leadership of this organization was in the hands of three military and political strongmen, and it was under their planning that the new Ottoman government began to implement a new domestic and foreign policy, internally, they practiced Greater Turkism, abolished the Arab majority in the imperial parliament, and externally. In order to realize their strategic vision, these Great Turks began to turn to Germany in an all-round way, seeking full cooperation and even an alliance with Germany. After the outbreak of war in Europe, the Ottoman Empire finally declared its membership in the Central Powers at the end of the old year. Fight alongside Germany, and take advantage of the advanced weapons and geographical advantages that Germany has given them. It did create some problems for the Allied army in the early stages of the war, and presumably Mr. President had also heard of the setbacks suffered by the Entente ** team at Garibaldi, although the Turks exaggerated the results very exaggeratedly, but it was indeed a fact that the Entente's landing operation was unsuccessful, but on the other hand, the Entente quickly changed their tactics and decided not to attack the Ottoman fortifications from the front, but to make a strategic detour from the flanks and rear flanks, that is, from the Tigris and the Eurates to the Anatolian plateau, In order to achieve this strategic goal, the Entente considered it necessary to strengthen cooperation with the Arab tribes. With the support of the British, a great revolt of Arab tribes against Ottoman rule broke out in the middle of the old year. As a result, with the assistance of the Entente ** team, especially the British ** team, the Arab coalition quickly won a series of tactical victories, and finally controlled the situation on the Arabian Peninsula, and the attack of the Entente ** team was also very smooth. At present, the British team has occupied Baghdad, and the next goal of the advance has been locked on that Greater Syria.

Mr. President just asked me, what is the current British policy towards the Middle East? Although I am not entirely aware of the specific policy of the British Government, I can tell you, Mr. President, that since the Suez Canal, which is vital for the transportation of the East and the West, is located in the Middle East, and since the "Fat Crescent Zone" in the valley of the two rivers is directly related to the final outcome of this all-out war between the Entente and the Central Powers, the British Government certainly does not want any change in the Middle East, and the French and Russian governments also hold the same position as the British Government on the Middle East question. The Entente was completely aligned with their interests.

In addition, since Mr. President asked Lawrence as an archaeologist, then I think it is necessary to remind Mr. President that although this man is currently serving in the British ** team, his views only represent his personal views, and have nothing to do with the British government, nor with the British government's administrative organs in the Middle East, as a world power. The British government will never tolerate any so-called "unity" imposed on the Arab tribes. The British government must respect the wishes of the local Arab tribal lords and maintain their domains and subjects. ”

There was more to Zhu Erdian's words than just hints. also carries a threat, and at the same time confirms Zhao Bei's speculation, the current Britain is indeed not capable of completely controlling the situation in the Middle East, so it will bluff.

After clarifying the position of the British government, Zhao Beilifu decided to end the discussion on the Middle East issue.

"Thank you, Mr. Ambassador, for coming to give me a lecture in your busy schedule, there is an old Chinese saying, "If you are a threesome, you must have my teacher" When it comes to the Far East, you are not as good as me, but when it comes to the Middle East, I don't

Well, that's all for the Middle East. Now, let's explore the current situation in Europe. As far as I know, the revolution has broken out in Russia, and judging from the current situation, this revolution is very much about to end the tsarist system, so once Russia ends the tsarist system and forms a new government, if the new Russian government decides to withdraw from the war against Germany, then the situation of the war in Europe is likely to change accordingly, and there is no threat from Russia. Germany could be free to concentrate its forces on the Western Front. Seeking a decisive battle with France and England, then. I think that in this case, the war on the Western Front will become even more tragic, I wonder if the British government and the French government are ready for the upcoming Armageddon on the Western Front? ”

"Mr. President probably did not know that Mr. Kerensky, the Minister of Justice of the new Russian Government, had made it clear to the British Ambassador to Russia that he was determined to continue the war against Germany, so that even if the Tsarist system could not be maintained, Russia would not withdraw from the war against Germany. It seems to me that Mr. President is overthinking

"Oh? That's what the new Russian government said to the British government? Hopefully, Russia's economic situation will support the new Russian government's determination to fight, and it must be remembered that the economy is the basis for determining politics. ”

Zhao Bei is not as optimistic as Zhu Erdian, he knows very well that now, Russia is "February grass life." Although his intervention in history has changed many historical details, Zhao Bei still believes that the contradictions accumulated in Russian society for a long time cannot be completely changed by these historical details, and that what should come will still come, and as long as the new Russian government still stubbornly insists on the war against Germany, then the deterioration of Russia's domestic economy will not be fundamentally changed. And if the economic crisis is not resolved, then the political crisis will not be resolved.

However, since Zhao Bei has set his sights on this revolution in the Russian Empire, how this historical trajectory should unfold does not depend entirely on the inertia of history, perhaps, after the end of this intervention in the Russian Revolution, this history will become even more unrecognizable. Seeing that Zhao Bei seemed to be in a good mood, Zhu Erdian decided to strike while the iron was hot and pulled the topic to the issue of morality

。

"Mr. President, I heard that yesterday the United States Ambassador, Mr. Stade, came to the Presidential Palace, and it is said that he came to suggest that Mr. President change his policy toward Germany, and that he seemed to want to suggest that Mr. President declare war on Germany, but I heard that Mr. President refused? Why did Mr. President refuse the U.S. government's offer? ”

Zhao Bei smiled faintly and said, "I must admit that Mr. Ambassador is still very well-informed. However, I would like to ask you, Mr. Ambassador, that the United States entered the war. What is good for the United States, but what good can China get from the European theater if it enters the war? ”

Zhu Erdian did not expect that Zhao Bei would so blatantly mention the issue of the interests of participating in the war, this is not like the US president, who obviously wants to enter the war to seize the interests of the United States, but he wants to show an image of upholding international justice and safeguarding US security in Congress.

But then again, this is not a formal diplomatic meeting, and it is understandable that the president will speak casually, not to mention that he and Zhu Erdian also know each other's details, and there is no need to disguise themselves as international righteous people.

"For the sake of justice and peace in the world, and for the sake of international justice, is this not what your government values?"

Zhu Erdian decides which pot not to open and which pot to mention, and the other party does not be an international justice person, he does.

"Ahem! Cough! ”

There was a cough from Foreign Minister Tang Shaoyi, obviously. The foreign minister was reminding the president. When speaking, we should pay attention to proportion, after all, this is not the number of the Jianghu Party. This is an informal foreign exchange between the two countries, and there must be room for speech, so that it can turn difficult in the future.

Zhao Bei glanced at Tang Shaoyi, and then said to Zhu Erdian unhurriedly: "Speaking of world peace, some time ago, I made a proposal to the British and French governments through the Far East Peace Committee, asking the two governments to seriously consider the peace initiative of the Manluo Thai government, immediately achieve a ceasefire on the front line, and immediately conduct peace negotiations with Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Zhu Erdian and Tang Shaoyi both frowned, they both knew what the "peace initiative" Zhao Bei was referring to, and they both thought that the "peace initiative" was a bit ridiculous. Because that peace initiative was put forward by the government of Palo, and as a small country that was actually regarded as a "quasi-public colonial" by both Britain and France, what qualifications did Palo have to put forward any peace initiative to the European powers?

However, at the same time, the two of them also knew very well that the government had always been concerned about internal affairs and had no time to care about the affairs of the Europeans, and the reason why they suddenly proposed such a European peace initiative to the "Far East Peace Committee" was entirely instigated by someone behind their backs, and this person was none other than President Zhao Da in front of him. It is said that the situation is a mustard umbrella