On January 25, 1898, after China officially announced its intervention in the situation in Colombia, Qin Kai unexpectedly summoned British Minister Bauer at the Prime Minister's Office in Beijing. Wide.

Naturally, Bauer felt the change, and this was exactly what he wanted to see as the chief foreign officer, moving away from talking with a cannon barrel and leaving it up to officials to reach an agreement, and it was clear that his goal had been achieved...... However, he understands one thing better, the rise of this Far Eastern power is happening irreversibly under the leadership of the young prime minister in front of him.

What worried him was that the mighty Chinese navy sailed around the world, and he never said whether it would officially visit the Kingdom of Great Britain, and he needed to understand China's position, so he quickly took the initiative to throw out his own question, "Dear Qin, I have heard about the fleet peace tour led by you, and I have proposed to London to build a plan, hoping that your navy can visit the Plymouth military port to enhance the friendship between the two countries!" ”

Qin Kai naturally understood the worries of the British, with the support of a strong and confident navy, especially the huge bait of the Nanyang Free Trade Zone, which played a good role in buffering the low-end light industry that prevailed in the British Empire in this era.

Meantime. These new territories also provide a very good sales channel for the country's thriving market economy. In the past decade, it has also rapidly increased the domestic low-end industrial capacity. Even in the shipbuilding, steel, machinery, and instrument industries, a number of industrial chains with considerable production capacity have been born, and of course, this open policy has limited industrial help for the provinces in the Nanyang Free Trade Zone.

In the provinces of Nanyang, including the territories administered by the Republic of South China, the public-private partnership industry occupies an absolute dominant position. The abundant agricultural products, rubber industry, and more than 240 specially approved mineral companies produced by the Chinese manor have formed a huge industrial network covering the entire free trade zone, and the model of high-end industries in Greater China and low-end industries in satellite provinces planned by the Ministry of Industry has begun to take shape.

Therefore, what Qin Kai needs most at present, and what the British need most at present, is undoubtedly temporary peace, of course, Qin Kai focuses on peace and development, but what the British pay attention to is only the transfer of interests of overseas trade to the island in a peaceful environment......

He immediately confirmed it to British Minister Bauer in a very high-profile manner. "Dear Bauer, your invitation. If Prime Minister Salisbury wishes, the Chinese Navy hopes to launch a maritime peace exercise with the British Royal Navy after visiting the German Empire to enhance the exchange between the two navies! ”

Maritime exercises, but also peaceful exercises...... These words made Bauer have to admire the magic of oriental words, the simulation of the confrontation of the cannon of the giant ship, and the word peace, but it seemed to sound very good...... Although the German Empire is now the strongest competitor for the British Navy's European rivalry, the only Chinese who have defeated the British Navy in the South China Sea are Britain's real rivals.

He immediately expressed his interest in this proposal, of course, today Qin Kai came to him, obviously not to talk about the circumnavigation of the navy, but about the interests of Britain in the Americas!

"Dear Bauer, do you have a definite position on Spain's interests in Cuba?" Qin Kai's words turned sharply and pointed directly at the target.

Cuba...... Although after the American Revolution, Britain had given up its interests in North America, but for the interests of South America, it had been competing with the United States and Spain.

Knowing that the British Empire pursued a foreign policy of isolation for hundreds of years, Bauer actually understands the essence of Qin Kai's problem, and the Chinese are asking whether Britain is ready to continue to support the confrontation between the forces of the Americas!

The British Empire was powerful enough to contain even any country of the era before the rise of China, except in the Far East, when the British Empire's attempt failed...... At the time, this actually meant that the British Empire either chose to unite with European countries to contain China......

This seems very unreliable at present, that is, the British Empire itself, because of Australia's existence, the Strait of Malacca, controlled by the Chinese Navy, completely choked the throat of the Australian mainland, and the huge Nanyang Free Trade Port opened to the outside world by China in fulfilling the treaty are all interests that the British Empire can hardly give up!

As for the other plan, it is to build a system of checks and balances like Europe, which is obviously even more unreliable, and the militarily powerful Greater China has become the only strong country in the Far East, and the surrounding small countries have either been included in the territory or have become puppet vassal states!

Therefore, on the Cuban issue raised by the Chinese Premier Qin, Britain obviously encountered another similar problem, since the War of Independence, the United States has become the dominant power in the Americas, and the Cuban issue is another challenge to Britain's foreign policy!

"Premier Qin, the London government has always hoped that the Spanish government will engage in constructive negotiations with the local armed forces in Cuba to resolve the ...... of the war that has been going on for several years."

Qin Kai seemed to have completely expected Bauer's answer, he smiled slightly, and interrupted the other party very dryly, "Dear Bauer, these are the positions of your country when it has been difficult to intervene in the Americas, what I want to ask you is, if there is a military conflict between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain, what position will your country take!" ”

American cowboy and Spanish bullfighter fight...... As a rising diplomatic star of the British Empire, he is very concerned about the situation in Asia, the United States and Europe, but President McKinley of the United States of America has also repeatedly stated that the United States does not hold a military position on the Cuban issue at all, which is obviously contrary to the judgment of the Prime Minister Qin.

After being stunned for 10 seconds, Bauer asked: "Premier Qin, where did you get the news that the Americans are preparing to attack Cuba?" They have always advocated a negotiated solution to the Cuban problem! ”

"Do you think the Queen of Spain will voluntarily give up her crown jewel?" Qin Kai picked up the teapot, poured a cup of strong tea for the frowning British minister, and asked quietly.

The answer to this question is obvious, and Bauer immediately realized that Qin Kai must have further information, and in addition, he was immediately a little more sure of the accuracy of Qin Kai's judgment, for a diplomatic official, if he has such important information, the first thing he should do is to weigh whether the national interest can benefit from it!

If the Americans were to go to war, the British Empire would have a choice, and both the United States and the Queen of Spain would have to offer an offer to the Kingdom of Britain, which controlled the Atlantic, but it would have to draw up a prescient report at once in this limited time, and once the prophecy came true, it would obviously be a great shining point in its diplomatic career.

"Premier Qin, I can't be sure of London's attitude, but I am willing to propose to London the possibility of cooperation between our two sides...... Although this is a bit unbelievable! Bauer couldn't wait to get up and say goodbye, of course, he naturally didn't know that at this moment, the German Minister Schleier was leisurely drinking tea in the back garden of the Chancellery, and he didn't know that in the conference hall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Spanish Minister Tohor was also surprised to hear the news brought by the Foreign Ministry Counselor Chen Jitong.

"Minister Tohor, our government intends to strengthen trade and cooperation with your country in all aspects, and I hope that you will convey our proposal to Her Majesty the Queen!" Chen Jitong is completely proficient in Spanish, a major language, and naturally communicates with Minister Tohor without translation, which is also more in line with today's special occasion.

Tohor obviously did not have much psychological preparation for the Chinese government's relatively sudden diplomatic construction, and the war between the two countries has been going on for many years, although trade is growing steadily, but diplomatically, considering that China has taken away all the Spanish territories, including the Philippines and Guam, although the other party finally paid 80 million yuan in compensation in name, and finally politely gave two more Japanese armored ships.

But the relationship between the two countries is like that, the two sides can't talk about cooperation and friendship at all, let alone a more in-depth relationship, he thought about it for a while, and immediately made a decision, anyway, these problems should be left to the Queen to deal with, "Counselor Chen, the construction of your country must be something that Her Majesty is happy to see, I will definitely do my best to convey the news to Madrid, if you have a further proposal, I can also convey it!" ”

Tohol replied lukewarmly, Chen Jitong did not have any surprises, today's Spain, to put it bluntly, is a third-rate European goods, especially in the Pacific Ocean after being completely beaten back to its original shape by the Chinese Navy, it is said that the Spanish naval tradition has not been lost, but since the complete demise of the Spanish Armada, the unrestrained Spaniards have little capital to show their enthusiasm at sea.

The reason why he was ready to contact the Spaniards first was naturally that Qin Kai was really a little relieved about Spain's scum with a combat power of 5, and in the history of his memory, the scum Spain's combat power of 5 was estimated to have been exhausted in the continuous suppression of civil strife, so that although the Queen of Spain swore a decisive battle with the United States, and Spain's home fleet was also rushing to reinforce Cuba everywhere, but the poor scum combat power collapsed in less than half a year.

The Spaniards funded the independence of the United States back then, and it was completely impossible to imagine that they would dig their own graves in the future, and now they want to let the scum with a combat power of 5 fight against the junior class of the American Emperor who can at least pass the combat power of this era, to be honest, Qin Kai is also very worried, so he is ready to involve the European powers to hold a round table of the great powers...... The United States is the dominant family on the west coast of the Americas, but it is not what I like to see, and it is obviously a good idea to pull people into the gang and fish in troubled waters! (To be continued......)