Wang Li pointed out the crux of the Berlin-Baghdad railway plan very sharply, and the prospects for German expansion into the Middle East and Asia Minor were naturally quite promising, but in fact, in the past 100 years, Europe's plans to set foot in these two lands have all been unsuccessful, and the countries in the Middle East are almost all loose countries under the control of the Ottoman Empire, so even if Britain infiltrates the Middle East, a large part of it is only the need for colonial ports.

The British support for Ottoman Turkey was also largely due to the need to control the loose states of the Middle East, at a time when the vast oil resources of the Middle East had not yet been truly tapped, and which was especially important given the role of the Ottoman Empire in Europe's fragile balance, especially in the powder keg Balkans.

In front of German Prime Minister Hohenlohr, he made it very clear that the British had already paid so much price to the Ottomans, including the military support in the Russian-Turkish war and the favoritism to the Ottomans in the later negotiations, but in the end Britain chose to give up most of the Middle East interests, which is obviously an intriguing issue.

German Foreign Minister Schleier was very enthusiastic about China's proposal, and his advice was more moderate than that of Wang Li, and after nearly 2 hours of secret talks, Prime Minister Hornlore finally accepted the proposal from China's friends!

On 9 January, German Foreign Minister Schleier sent a note to French Minister Brisson on behalf of Germany, in which he very simply gave the French two options: one was to withdraw from the colonial competition in Africa, and the other was to choose to defend the agreement on African colonization with Germany...... It took only 3 minutes for the French to make the right choice.

In the afternoon of the same day. In Berlin, the two ministers officially announced their agreement on the question of Gisanja. It is hoped that the British Government will abide by what was signed in the Berlin Treaty. After engaging in the military stance on the Jisanja issue and resolving the dispute between the two countries through diplomatic means, China, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands also expressed their welcome for the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Africa.

The emergence of this situation is obviously very unfavorable to Britain, as the only empire in this era on which the sun never sets, the great power of the British Empire is obviously proportional to the number of its enemies in the world, however. The British Empire, which had always believed in the diplomatic tricks of breaking down and honorably isolating, was this time confronted by the joint confrontation of almost all the African colonial powers on the African question, which apparently greatly surprised Salisbury's cabinet

On January 12, London gave a strong statement, the Nile Basin is Britain's traditional sphere of influence, Britain is unlikely to make any concessions, if Britain's interests in Africa cannot be guaranteed, the British Empire will consider withdrawing from the "Berlin Treaty"!

This was almost equivalent to a declaration of war, and it immediately caused great panic in the whole of Europe, especially Portugal and the Netherlands, which are now weakening their national strength. Diplomatic declarations have been made one after another, hoping that London will abide by the multinational agreement. Rather than arbitrarily breaking the African colonial agreement reached 15 years ago, even Italy, which had a very good relationship with Britain because of its rights and interests in the Mediterranean, began to worry about its small colonial territory in North Africa, and sent special envoys to operate in London.

In the first few days of the 13th, the British Foreign Office held separate diplomatic talks with Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Italy, but the results of the talks were obviously not ideal; under the influence of the British Empire's powerful national armaments, Italy began to be a little indecisive, and the Dutch were extremely disgusted with Britain's attitude toward the war because of the Boer problem, and they could not talk about it at all.

The content of the talks between Germany and Britain was to try to avoid the intensification of contradictions, but in addition to the Berlin-Baghdad railway, it was also hoped that Britain could give more interest support to the Middle East and Asia Minor, which was obviously beyond the bottom line that Salisbury's cabinet was willing to accept, so there was no progress for a while, and as for the French, they suddenly had the support of almost the entire European continent, and Prime Minister Dupiy seemed to see the hope of restoring the glory of France, and was determined to fight the British on this matter.

Of course, the French also have a good calculation, although France has received unexpected support because of common interests, but the size of the fist determines the strength of the speech, this simple truth is naturally very clear, on the 20th, the Dipiy cabinet sent an invitation to the Chinese minister to Germany, Chen Lin, inviting the Chinese Navy Grand Fleet, which is currently visiting the Netherlands and Spain, to visit Marseille.

The situation in Europe is changing day by day, when the interests of Britain, France, Germany and other big countries are playing, small countries are constantly swaying for their own interests, and diplomats have become undoubted brokers between national interests.

On January 28, at the invitation of German Prime Minister Hohenlohr, the six-nation mediation meeting was finally held in Berlin again after a hiatus of nearly a month, but after the diplomats privately communicated Guò's mediation plan, it was still rejected by British Minister Lubet, for France and Germany's proposal to exchange part of Algeria's interests, Britain only accepted the gift of benefits, but denied giving up the rights and interests of the Nile Basin, and only agreed to give France the right of passage in the Gisanja region under the same conditions, not sovereignty!

However, to the surprise of European countries, one of the important conveners, Chinese Ambassador to Germany Wang Li, did not put further pressure on Britain from beginning to end, although he seconded a series of joint proposals, but only expressed that China respects the agreements of European countries on African issues and is willing to reach a consensus with other countries on China's interests in Africa.

By the morning of 4 February, the British Minister Lubet had completely lost interest in continuing to argue with the French about Algerian interests and those of the Nile Basin, and announced that he would refuse to negotiate until the French made further concessions.

After visiting the British Minister Lubet that afternoon, German Foreign Minister Schleier also had no choice about John Bull's foul temper, and then he hurried to visit Wang Li, and as soon as they met, he relayed what he knew about the current requirements of France and Britain......

In the past month or so, the British have rapidly increased their troops from Egypt along the Nile River to the Gisanja area, although they have to cross the Nile Basin no man's land, and the logistics and supply are also quite difficult, but the British still play the strength of the global hegemon, the local British expedition has increased from the initial 300 people, to nearly 1,300 today, and the British even transported two 100mm large-caliber field guns.

Of course, the French were obviously not to be outdone, but the French were clearly full of military headaches, they had to cross the Sahara desert, although only from the edge, and because Colonel Marchand's troops had enough experience, the number of troops became a burden in the face of this prohibitive force of nature.

"Dear Ambassador Wang, your proposal has indeed allowed the German Empire to obtain extremely favorable negotiation conditions, and it seems that Britain and France cannot reach any substantive agreement in their current state, and the German Empire also needs such a diplomatic opportunity, but after a few days of consideration, I am still worried that the French may not be able to support it and finally retreat!" Schleier was quick to make his intentions known.

Although in recent years, the Intelligence Department has made full use of the opportunities of overseas Chinese all over the country and domestic businessmen to actively participate in overseas trade, and has established many overseas news channels, but in the inland Congo region of Africa, which is full of blacks and indigenous people, it is indeed a blind spot.

And the situation that Tongguò has obtained now, it is clear that the British are obviously suppressing the French whether on land or on the sea, Schleier's worries are obviously not groundless, although the French have been calling themselves fiercer at the negotiating table these days, but the British Minister Lube on the opposite side is not affected at all, which shows that the attitude of the British is by no means as simple as it seems.

He pondered the information he had recently communicated with the country, and immediately smiled and said: "Your Excellency Schleier, no matter what benefits Britain has taken from the French, I think that what the German Empire and you want to establish is obviously a normal state of competition in Africa, especially at the stage of the growth of your country's maritime power, and it is necessary to ensure the implementation of this strategy, otherwise, the British will always be able to isolate either side with their oppressive sea power!" ”

Hearing Wang Li's words, Schleier immediately realized that the Chinese diplomat was obviously fully aware of his position, even the position of the German Empire, and the naval cabinet had made it clear that in the current state of fierce conflict, the Royal Navy's home fleet, which was close at hand, had the absolute power to blockade Germany's access to the sea......

Vice Admiral Tirpitz and Rear Admiral Seydon, who had just been promoted, shared the same sentiment that Germany's strong industrial output had surpassed that of Britain three years earlier, but that the German Empire still had at least half the way to overtake the British Empire in heavy industry, so time was ...... It was what the German Navy needed most.

"Ambassador Wang, do you have any suggestions for the current situation? In addition, I implore you to report to Beijing, and I hope that the wise Premier Qin can provide me with some solutions! Schleier immediately put forward his idea, and it is clear that the German top brass is also quite worried about the chaotic situation in Europe. (To be continued......)