At first glance, Zhao Bei knew very well why the British government wanted to make a fuss about affairs, and for the British government, the value of Tibet was reflected in the confrontation with Russia, although Britain and Russia were now allies. But the purpose of the alliance between the two countries was only to confront Germany, and it was Britain that dominated the Anglo-Russian alliance, and Britain needed a strategic ally more than Russia, which was hesitant to go east and west. Russia was vital to Britain, but this did not mean that Britain would sit idly by and watch the growth of Russian power in Asia, and Russia's value was only against Germany, not against Britain in Asia.

Got it. It is also understandable why Britain is holding on to Tibet, and the British government is trying to contain the southward movement of Russian power by controlling Tibet, and to limit Russian power to Central Asia.

Before the fall of the Manchu Dynasty, the British had already begun to infiltrate Tibet on a large scale, and through the Sino-British Treaty of Renewal of Tibet and India signed with the Qing court in the past year, the British government was not satisfied with this and was still waiting for an opportunity to further deepen its control.

After the outbreak of the "Wushen Revolution", the British took advantage of the chaos to try to solve the problem in one fell swoop, but because the Tibetan monks and lay leaders XIII were not in Lhasa at that time. But in the far north, the British did not achieve the goal of controlling power through the upper aristocracy, and the British originally planned to wait for the Beiyang Bloc to stabilize the central power before talking about the matter, but the Beiyang Bloc quickly collapsed, which gave the British government a blow to the head, and then the coming to power of the United Front made the British government's plan completely defeated, and after that. The central government of the United Front transferred the Xikang Provincial Army to Lhasa and carried out a ruthless sweep of the upper echelons of the Tibetan aristocracy, so that the British completely lost the opportunity to control local power through puppets?

Now, the British Indian colonial authorities gave the British government an idea, intending to use those exiled nobles as a breakthrough to continue to seize the initiative on this issue, so the British government decided to let Zhu Erdian come forward to discuss this issue with Zhao Bei, but unexpectedly, Zhao Bei immediately rejected the British government's "proposal" to hold diplomatic talks.

Zhao Bei does not intend to be arrogant at all, this issue is negotiated with any foreign government, this is of course for the national interest, but more importantly, he wants the British to understand that the current China is no longer the China of the past, the British are not willing to be friends with the Chinese, then, the Chinese will definitely not go to the hot face and cold ass, in this era, there are many "international friends", without England, and Germany.

What's more, now there are a group of people in the Congress who are making a big fuss about the Outer Mongolia issue, and at this time, it is really not appropriate to continue to take risks on diplomatic issues, which is also an important reason why Zhao Bei rejected the British proposal.

For the past two years. Although the British Government has not made any major moves, it has continued to make small moves against China, and the Tibet affair is one thing; in the Yunnan region, Britain provoked the "Pianma Incident" last year. "On the one hand, the British government does not want to see the United Front continue to hold the central power, on the other hand, the British government is worried that once the united front loses the central power, it will cause chaos in China, because this chaos can only be beneficial to Russia, and not good for Britain.

It is precisely in this kind of oscillation that the relationship between China and Britain has been stumbling for two years. During this period, Zhao Bei was dedicated to developing industry, and did not take the initiative to provoke Britain, and the British government turned a blind eye, as long as China did not form an alliance with Germany, then Britain would no longer take the initiative to provoke. Britain needs to wait for the situation in Europe to stabilize before it can seriously pack up the united front.

However, as the situation in Europe became more and more turbulent, the British government's wishful thinking was about to come to naught, so the current relations between China and Britain have reached a critical point, and Zhu Erdian was ordered to consult with Zhao Bei on Tibetan affairs, and the British government also had the intention of testing to see where the bottom line of this united front government was, so as to help the British government adjust its policy in the Far East.

But now it seems. This "Far Eastern madman" does not seem to be at all worried about forcing the British government to the edge of a cliff and jumping over the wall, is he really so sure that the British government will not use Japan to contain China?

His Zhao Bei expressed his attitude. Zhu Erdian suppressed the anger in his heart and tried his best to continue the temptation in a calm tone.

"Mr. President. Did I hear me right? You mean, you refused to consult with the British government on Tibetan matters? ”

Zhao Bei quietly took out a work notebook from his pocket, opened it and looked at it, then closed the notebook, and said unhurriedly: "Mr. Zhu Erdian, Tibetan affairs are China's internal affairs, foreign governments have no right to interfere, and now Tibet is undergoing a social reform movement to change the land and return to the stream, for this movement, American reporters and German reporters have already done relevant news reports, this reform movement has won praise in the world, the British government supports the group of nobles and monks who insist on slavery, Isn't it too against the trend of the times? As far as I know, the abolitionist movement in Britain had very early origins. In my opinion, it is unreasonable for the British Government to interfere in China's Tibetan affairs, and it is easy to provoke right and wrong in the international community. Mr. Zhu Erdian should have understood. ”

"Mr. President, the British government is taking this issue very seriously because it involves British interests in Asia." Zhu Erdian reminded him very seriously.

Britain has interests. Doesn't China have no interests? ”

Zhao Bei glanced at Zhu Erdian, changed his words, and said: "However, my refusal to hold diplomatic consultations with the British side is not a matter of money, I will deliberately harm British interests, as long as China's interests are not damaged, then British interests will naturally not be damaged."

I know that British businessmen have always wanted to be able to participate in the construction and management of the Sichuan-Han Railway, and now the American consortium is concentrating on the construction of the railway in the northeast region, and the Sichuan-Han Railway cannot use American capital for the time being, so. If Mr. Minister does not object, I can hold consultations with the British consortium on the construction of the Sichuan-Hankou Railway, which will obviously also strengthen the friendly relations between China and Britain. ”

The president took out a candy, and it was up to the British to see if they were willing to eat it.

Zhu Erdian was a little speechless. In the past two years, only the Chengdu-Chongqing section of the Sichuan-Hanzhou railway began to be built, and the use of Chinese businessmen's investment, foreigners have no share, although Britain, Germany, the United States, and France are very coveted by the railway connecting Sichuan and Wuhan, but considering that the terrain conditions of Sichuan are too complex, only Britain and the United States are really interested in completing the construction of this railway, and the foreign consortium that fiercely competes for this railway is basically from these two countries. In order to help the British consortium obtain the right to build and manage the railway, Zhu Erdian did not hesitate with Zhao Bei, but due to the troubles of Germany and the competition of the United States, the British have not succeeded, and the Sichuan-Han Railway has not been able to speed up the construction progress, so far, the railway has been completed less than 100 kilometers.

Now seeing that Zhao Bei suddenly used the Sichuan-Han Railway as bait in an attempt to force the British government to turn its attention to this, Zhu Erdian could only sigh at the other party's cunning, and he even suspected that the Sichuan-Han Railway was very likely to be a bureau laid by Zhao Bei from the beginning, which was used to come in handy at a critical time, otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why he delayed giving the Americans this opportunity. So much so that the American consortium has lost patience. I had to turn my attention to the construction of the Northeast Railway to fight the Japanese.

"But Mr. President, the issue of railway construction and the Tibet issue are two issues, and the British government will not confuse them, and your suggestion may excite British businessmen, but it may not make the British government change its mind." Zhu Erdian was still unwilling.

"If the British government does not support British businessmen, then I have to hand over this railway to German engineering experts to preside over the construction, I believe that German technology can cope with the terrain of Sichuan, and the German consortium will definitely not let go of this opportunity to make money, then." What the British businessmen will think, I don't know. In fact, the German government has long wanted to use the Sichuan-Han Railway as collateral to provide a huge loan to our government, but the stakes are very high, and this matter has been delayed and not done

。

The president's words were very blunt: if the British government is determined to interfere in China's internal affairs, then do not blame China for moving closer to Germany, which can be seen as a threat.

Zhu Erdian was very helpless. Encountering such a "unprincipled and unpositional" state head, any diplomat will probably feel as helpless as him, in his opinion, this. Mr. President's thick skin and dark heart are enough to be proud of the Far East, and the ability of this "thick black study" is clever, and the people in Beiyang are probably beyond their reach.

"Then there is no need for me to be verbose, and I will convey this intention of His Excellency the President to the British Government. But I must remind you, Your Excellency, that your views are not necessarily correct, that the British Government has always been tough on defending British interests, and that if China gets too close to Germany, it will be an absolute disaster for your country. ”

Zhu Erdian finished speaking. stood up, bowed politely and retreated, and left the state guesthouse with the British Tu Ze who was completely furnished, Tang Shaoyi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China, hurriedly got up to see him off, and Zhao Bei just stood up. watched Zhu Erdian leave.

I saw the president sit back. The foreign affairs department members brought by Tang Shaoyi all looked at each other.

"Mr. President, do you want Chief Tang to mediate again? If we really provoke the British, we will be isolated internationally, and if there is another conflict between China and Japan in the future, we will not be able to find a mediator. ”

One of the clerks had the courage to persuade a few words, and the others also chimed in.

Zhao Bei snorted coldly. said, "What are you afraid of? Since the South African War, what other big battles has the British ** team fought? Even if it provokes the British government, China and Britain will definitely not go to war, at most, Britain will support Japan to make some small moves, but with the current economic situation in Japan, the Japanese army will not be fully mobilized in the near future, and we still have time in China. ”

"Mr. President. It's better not to fight this war. ”

"Don't fight? What you think is beautiful, if you don't hit others, others will come and beat you sooner or later. War is the main theme of this era, and there will be a war between China and Japan, either it will fight me, or I will fight it. I advise you to give up your illusions early and prepare for war. ”

Ready for war?

If everyone here is alarmed, they suddenly appear, and their Mr. President seems to be in the direction of a "war maniac".