Since it's a conspiracy,

Zhao Bei's wishful thinking is to instigate a European war, but at the same time, he is unwilling to endorse the side that cannot occupy the moral high ground in this European war, in other words, he will not seek a military alliance with Germany or Italy, Germany, Italy, and Japan can form an Axis bloc as "historically", but China will definitely not participate in this bloc.

So the question is, since China is unwilling to form a so-called "Four-Power Axis", then why should Germany, Italy, and Japan serve as cannon fodder for China? That's right, these three countries all have the desire to expand outward, and this desire is still very strong, but judging from the current situation in Europe, it is difficult for Zhao Bei to guarantee that these three countries, especially Germany, will have the idea of taking action immediately.

If Germany does not act immediately, then China will pay a greater price in this Sino-British war, so Zhao Bei hopes to create a European war immediately, reduce China's military pressure, and at the same time start receiving the British and French colonial legacies in Asia as soon as possible.

How could Germany and Italy be pushed into the vortex of war at once?

Zhao Bei pondered this and was worried, when the visit of Italian Foreign Minister Ziano gave him an idea, and this idea is quite a bit of reverse thinking, that is: if Germany and Italy are not willing to start a war immediately, then why not find a way to let Britain, France, and the Soviet Union do it first? At the very least, let these three countries express strong "hostility" towards Germany and Italy, so as to stimulate the nerves of Germany and Italy and force them to strike first.

At first glance, Zhao Bei's reverse thinking seems to be a bit wishful thinking, aside from the Soviet Union, just the British government and France, these two governments and Nazi Germany and fascist Italy are completely different in terms of organizational structure and national polity, Britain and France are both real constitutional countries, if these two countries want to wage war abroad, they must go through the organs of public opinion, such as the House of Representatives, Congress, if the majority of the parliamentarians are unwilling to fight, then the British government and the French government are obviously impossible to carry out a full-scale war abroad, In this respect, the predicament faced by the British and French governments is similar to that of the United States government.

The problem is also here, after the baptism of the European war twenty years ago, Britain and France are facing the same public opinion, that is, the anti-war ideology is strong, especially France, in the European war, not only suffered heavy casualties and property losses, but also has not really recovered after the war, especially the population of France, which has been in "equilibrium" since the end of the nineteenth century, and this is still based on the premise of a large number of foreign immigrants to supplement the "balance", In fact, the native population of France is on a downward trend, which poses a serious problem, the French army, especially the army, is not enough to fight a full-scale war similar to the European war, so it is understandable that the French government began to build the Marzinot Line, and the French government tried to make up for the demographic disadvantage with technological superiority.

Correspondingly, both the British and French governments adopted "appeasementism" in their foreign policy toward Germany, and Britain and France took a step back as Germany went further, which was not only helpless because of the decline of the national strength of the two countries, but it was not necessarily because of the anti-war sentiment of the people of the two countries, and in countries where the votes decided the future of politicians, public opinion played a decisive role in how the war began.

In such a European situation, how could Britain and France be the fuse that prompted Germany or Italy to eagerly ignite the powder keg of all-out war in Europe?

The answer is to look for the "strategic excitement" of Britain and France and "stimulate" it, and this "excitement" can be artificially created, and Zhao Bei has decided to use Italy as this "strategic excitement" to stimulate the nerves of Britain and France, so that the two countries will show a stronger "initiative" towards Italy.

This time, Italian Foreign Minister Ziano secretly visited China, bringing Zhao Bei a personal letter from the Italian "leader" Mussolini, the letter itself is nothing special, but it is a mutual praise and self-boasting between the "international ** comrades", but Zhao Bei decided to take advantage of Mussolini's conceit and turn it into a "strategic excitement" that can be used to stimulate Britain and France.

However, before the stimulus, Zhao Bei needs to test the current position of the Italian government, although Ziano is not a firm main battle faction, but after all, he is Mussolini's plenipotentiary representative, and he must have received Mussolini's instructions before the visit, and he should be very clear about what the Italian "leader" is now ideal and delusional, and it is precisely for this reason that when Ziano raised the issue of the "four-nation alliance" in a roundabout way, Zhao Bei answered the question and pulled the topic to the "four-nation alliance" In the event of a world war, Ziano was very calm, and Mussolini apparently considered it.

"Mr. President, are you worried that the alliance between China, Japan, Germany and Italy will lead to a world war? Such fears are not unreasonable, but in the face of the provocation of the "London Mutual Defense Treaty" of Britain, France and the Soviet Union, our concessions will only be exchanged for the rampant arrogance of the enemy. If a world war is inevitable, then perhaps, this war has now quietly begun, and in the face of the enemy's provocations, why can't we fight back head-on? ”

Ziano said "we" in one mouth, and was translated by the translator very enthusiastically, which made Gu Weijun, who was sitting on the side, uncomfortable, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he had visited Italy many times, he knew very well what the Italian fascists were, and he also insisted that China should stay away from Italy, the "monster of European politics", although Zhao Bei is indeed a politically strong figure, arbitrary, but after all, he has a halo of "defending constitutionalism" shining on his head, with this halo, The Italian "leader" who started out with a coup d'état could not catch up, and in such a situation, it was not wise to get close to Italy.

Gu Weijun had talked to Zhao Bei about the situation in Europe before, and he agreed with Zhao Bei's view that according to the current momentum of expansion in Germany, there will be a full-scale war in Europe sooner or later, and China really needs this European war to win strategic opportunities for its own country.

Although it is still necessary to support Italy, Gu Weijun also believes that China and Italy are not natural allies, on the contrary, on the road to China's rise, fascist Italy must be kicked away, which is the same as Nazi Germany must be kicked away, because fascist Italy and Nazi Germany are both militaristic countries built on ultra-nationalism and highly exclusive, if these countries control Europe, it is not good news for China's international environment.

Therefore, when he heard Ziano full of "we", Gu Weijun couldn't help but twist his brows, and his little action was seen by Zhao Bei.

"Chief Gu, what do you think about the alliance of the four countries?" Zhao Bei kicked the ball to Gu Weijun at the right time and asked.

Gu Weijun hesitated for a moment and said: "At present, the situation in Europe is unstable, and there is already a war situation in Asia, at this time, it is very inappropriate to talk about the alliance of the four countries, which will seriously stimulate Britain and the Soviet Union, and make them jump over the wall, in addition, our Congress may not approve the conclusion of military alliance treaties with foreign countries, since the Paris Peace Conference, the basic diplomatic norm pursued by our government is the 'principle of neutrality', which is now deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and is not so easy to change." ”

This was said very reasonably, which made Zhao Bei very satisfied.

"What General Gu said is very reasonable, the matter of forming an alliance cannot be bypassed by the Congress. Judging from the current position of the members of Congress, the Italian government's practice in the Spanish Civil War actually affected the image of your country among our people, you know, our country is a republic, and it practices constitutional government, which is in line with the propaganda of the Spanish republican government, and our people have always had the mentality of helping the weak with the strong, so if I apply to the Congress now to form an alliance with Italy, I am afraid that I will hit a wall, and my personal prestige will be weakened. ”

Zhao Bei nodded, and when he said something, he was also remarkable.

Seeing that Zhao Bei echoed his own views, Gu Weijun suddenly came back to his senses, no wonder the president specially called him to the Xishan Mansion today to "go to the banquet", it turned out that he was here to help, this issue of principle in diplomacy is still the Minister of Foreign Affairs has the most right to speak, and the role of the Congress has been reflected again, the facts have once again proved that even rubber stamps have practical uses, in addition to fooling the people, they can also be used to fool foreigners, no wonder the president has always kept the Congress of 1,000 people.

But which of the envoys here is not an experienced politician? The president and the foreign minister said that this is the scene, Ziano is actually skeptical of their statement, the "Far East madman" is not a joke, doesn't Italy also have a parliament now? But so what? Mussolini alone has the final say? Even the king had to listen to the "leader".

"What is Mr. President's personal opinion? In your opinion, is the four-nation alliance realistic? ”

Ziano is worthy of being a diplomatic expert, and he immediately grasped the key point, originally he still wanted to put the Soviet issue on the table, but after thinking about it, he decided not to mention the Soviet issue first, after all, China is now going all out to deal with Britain.

"It's very realistic, but it's not easy, and it's a variable whether the United States will abandon its current neutral stance after the four-nation alliance is formed."

Zhao Bei's remarks also reminded the diplomats of various countries present that the position of the US government must be taken into account.

Perhaps for fear of frightening the Italian foreign minister, Zhao Bei immediately said something after showing the American card, and these words were his real test of the "Italian excitement" of Britain and France.

"Mr. Earl, if you want our MPs to strengthen their goodwill towards Italy, and then agree to a treaty of military alliance between the two countries, I suggest that the Italian government should first make some gestures, such as lending a port to China as a naval base in the area of Somalia under Italian control, and now that China is at war with Britain, the Chinese Navy needs a naval base capable of controlling the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, and the Air Force has the same needs, and in my personal opinion, is located in' Somalia in the Horn of Africa is clearly very suitable for the role of this military base, this area faces the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, and it is very advantageous for defense and attack, and if the Italian government is willing to lend a port in Somalia to the Chinese government, I think the Chinese parliament and its citizens will look at Italy differently, and at the same time change the distrust of the Italian government because of the Spanish Civil War. ”

As soon as this statement came out,