Regarding Song Biao's proposal to end the Sino-French alliance, Zhang Jun and Gu Weijun were indeed frightened, and they didn't figure out the Song emperor's intentions after thinking about it for a long time.

Because he had already considered this and had been thinking about it in his heart for a long time, Song Biao himself put forward this idea very steadily.

He chose a Yuxi cigar and lit it quietly, took a few puffs, and continued to estimate in his heart that the success of withdrawing from the Sino-French alliance may be surnamed, not only to withdraw, but also to maintain the stability of Sino-French relations, which requires a lot of opportunities.

After thinking for a few minutes, Song Biao continued to say to Gu Weijun and Zhang Jun: "China and France have different national interests, and it is no longer appropriate to continue to maintain an alliance, and now it is just a matter of how to withdraw with dignity." I believe that from the perspective of the Asian League, the member states of the Asian League should advocate that the members of the Asian League should not maintain close military alliances with other countries, so as to ensure the unity of the political, military, and economic alliances of the Asian League. On this basis, we agreed to end the Sino-French alliance ahead of schedule and sign a strategic cooperation agreement with France to maintain the stability of Sino-French relations. In other words, if the German fascists continue to wage a new world war in Europe, China will be able to avoid this, not need to directly participate in the war, and concentrate on dealing with the enemies of Asia, which are none other than the two extreme countries of the Soviet Union and the British colonial hegemon. ”

Gu Weijun said: "If the Sino-French alliance relationship is reasonably and justifiably terminated in the name of the Asian League, this should be a very good choice." With the establishment of the Asian League, China's position in the international community has been mainly established as the leading and protective country in Asia, and the anti-imperialist colonialism and the hegemony of Europe and the United States are the center of China's diplomacy. From the perspective of national interests, with the recovery of the world economy and the signing of the Shanghai WTO Convention, coupled with the establishment of the Asian League, the withdrawal from the French colonial privileged market will not cause much loss to China, and it may not necessarily cause a greater loss. In addition to the special economic value, the current Sino-French cooperation in the world diplomacy and military and political fields has been very little, China's interests determine that we can not cooperate with France, and France is not willing to continue to cooperate with our country, the differences between the two sides have been large, and the Sino-French joint fleet that we actively advocated before was also unsuccessful due to the obstruction of the ultra-left members of the French ruling party, the radical Republican Party, so the current military cooperation is also lackluster, of course, as far as Sino-French relations are concerned, the two sides are still the most important partners among the great powers, As long as it is done in an appropriate way, it is still necessary for China to continue to ensure stable cooperation between China and France while ending the Sino-French alliance, but this may not help maintain world peace and stability, and the possibility of fascism continuing to stir up trouble in Europe will also greatly increase. ”

Song Biao is definitely not afraid of fascists and Soviets joining forces now, and he even welcomes Soviet-German alliances, even if this possibility is very low, if he can force Soviet-German to join forces, he can eradicate all the troubles at one time.

Song Biao and Gu Weijun emphasized: "From today on, the empire is already on the dividing line between two different eras, and from now on, the empire is not afraid of any military threat. If Europe is destined for a new war, it should also be Europe's own business. Our most important enemies at present are the Soviet Union and Ben, not Germany and Italy, and if there is a new world war, China and France and Britain and the United States will continue to form an alliance, then wait until later, sometimes short-sightedness is not too bad at all. ”

Although Gu Weijun's cabinet has greatly increased the real power of the cabinet compared to the previous two prime ministers' cabinets, it is expected that in Gu Weijun's current term, he still has a very high possibility of entering the Central National Defense Commission, becoming a member of the National Defense Commission, and realizing the first step for the cabinet premier to get involved in national defense and military forces, but in this empire, the person who really controls all the highest power in the country is always the emperor.

Now that Song Biao has made such a decision, Gu Weijun can't directly oppose it.

From the perspective of the national interests as a whole, ending the Sino-French alliance is indeed more in line with the overall interests of the empire, and ending this alliance will make the political and diplomatic goals and policies of the empire clearer against colonial rule and promote free trade in the world, and these two points are also the most in line with the long-term interests of the empire.

It is simply impossible for the empire to directly oppose colonial rule, and as the leading country of the Asian League, if it cannot put forward the foreign policy of opposing colonialism and supporting the country's sovereignty, it will be difficult for it to truly play a leading role in the Asian League.

In other words, the Empire's position as Asia's leader inevitably clashes with the Sino-French alliance.

How to deal with the Sino-French alliance is another matter, the top priority must be the Spanish Civil War, if the empire wants Spain to cooperate with the empire's policy of freedom in the Americas, it must firmly pull Spain together, and must not let Spain join the Soviet camp, nor can Spain join the German and Italian camp.

Taking advantage of the Great Depression in Europe and the United States, China's interests in Central and South America have been too deep, and now China is the largest investor, exporter and second largest importer in Central and South America, which determines that China must use all means to maintain its own voice and influence in Central and South America.

It just so happened that the emperor and the prime minister were here, and Zhang Jun made clear some of the latest situations in Spain.

At this time, Spain was still a civil war between the extreme left and the extreme right, but General Franco had accepted the advice and funding of the Central Military Intelligence Department, and as the strongest party in Spain, he could turn to China at any time, as long as the empire gave more support.

After Zhang Jun explained General Franco's conditions, Song Biao basically felt that there was no big problem, and said to Gu Weijun: "I think it is still feasible, send the Free Alliance Army to assist General Franco in fighting and suppressing civil strife, and at the same time, we can also provide post-war loans to support Spain's reconstruction, the condition is, of course, that Spain further expand the market and be more open to our country, and the two sides must establish a strategic cooperative relationship and maintain political and diplomatic synergy." ”

Gu Weijun has always felt that getting involved in the Spanish Civil War too deeply will lead to the rupture of Sino-Soviet and Sino-German relations, and even exacerbate the contradictions between China and France, but this matter is still profitable.

After pondering for a moment, he nodded in agreement, agreeing with the plan of the emperor and the military department.

As long as the cabinet agrees, the rest will be the matter of the Central Military Intelligence Department, as the largest military intelligence department in the world, the Central Military Intelligence Department has the power to subvert a country.

Soon after, Jiang Yanxing also arrived at the Central Palace to meet him, and he already knew that the emperor was ready to arrange for him to go to Spain to lead the Free Alliance army as a retired general, and he gladly accepted this.

The Empire would not only intervene in the Spanish Civil War, but would certainly also intervene more in the Italian invasion of Ethiopia.

The empire was deeply involved in the anti-Italian invasion of Ethiopia, and from the beginning sent some military advisers, and assisted a large number of military supplies through loans, which kept the war between Italy and Ethiopia going on.

To this end, the emperor chose to send Liu Gengyun, a previously retired lieutenant general of the army, to Ethiopia to lead the Freedom Alliance to fight, expel the Italian invaders, and ensure the reading power and freedom of the Ethiopian kingdom.

The Empire's insistence on helping Ethiopia defend itself against the Italian invasion did come as a surprise to the rest of the world, but it represented a move toward a more explicit anti-colonial rule in Imperial foreign policy.

Of course, the empire did cooperate with the Ethiopian Emperor Haile at this critical juncture. Selassie I concluded the Sino-Egyptian Strategic Cooperation Agreement, which would effectively safeguard the Empire's interests in East Africa and eliminate the need for the Empire to unite with France in order to intervene in Africa.

In Antsiranana, north of Madagascar, the Empire has established a long-established base in the Overseas Provinces, with naval and air bases that can be used as a springboard and supply ground for the Free Coalition forces heading to Africa, and with the Empire's ports in the Andaman Islands, it is not difficult for the Empire to increase its involvement in East Africa and Ethiopia.

In fact, the plan of the military department has not yet been fully revealed, if Italy seriously provokes and declares war on the Empire, the Empire will directly destroy all of Italy's colonies in East Africa without mercy, and deal with a second-rate country like Italy, which has always been very indifferent and ruthless.

Song Biao's dispatch of Liu Gengyun, the former dean of the Northeast Military Academy, to East Africa is itself a long-term consideration, to establish a military academy in Ethiopia, train pro-China soldiers to take power, take root in East Africa, and prepare for the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in the future.

Although Gu Weijun did not want a large-scale war with Italy, he really could not control the matter, and for him, supporting this decision was the only option.

In the empire, in fact, the situation is similar to that of the military department, and the prime minister who opposes the military department will basically not end well, but there is always an emperor who can coordinate between the imperial prime minister and the military department, unlike the one who directly tilts against each other, and in the end it always ends with the military department supporting the assassination of the prime minister.

After Jiang Yanxing arrived, Song Biao discussed with Gu Weijun, Jiang Yanxing, and Zhang Jun all the details of sending the Free Alliance Army in Spain and Ethiopia, saying that it was a Free Alliance Army with the Asian League as the main body, but in fact it must be the Central Army, and Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Cambodia, and Thailand would all send some other troops to fight together.

Military spending is not a very serious problem, the central government has already greatly reduced its direct investment in Germany and other European and American countries through the four major central trust companies such as CITIC and China Investment Corporation, and the cheap investment during the Great Depression has exchanged huge returns for the central government axe, which is enough to ensure the financial balance of the central government axe in the next few years.

…… Song Biao actually didn't care too much about how much impact his conversation would have on Gu Weijun this time, because Gu Weijun did not have a clear sense of direction for a long time, and he also knew that the empire would definitely face major policy adjustments so far, but how to adjust it specifically, he did not have a clear plan, and second, he lacked this kind of courage.

In today's empire, without the absolute support of the emperor, no prime minister has such courage.

…… After October 1936, under the coordination of the Song Emperor, the Central Cabinet and the Ministry of War agreed on the policy direction, and from this month onwards, the national policy of the empire began to take a clear and drastic turn, in fact, it was also to complete such a huge transformation from the Sino-French alliance to the Asian alliance and the Asian leader.

The magnitude of this turn is very large, and it is difficult for Gu Weijun, as a junior prime minister, to promote this matter.

At Gu Weijun's suggestion, at the end of October 1936, Song Biao made a rare decision to attend the National Assembly on voting in solidarity with Ethiopia's anti-aggression war.

In the empire, there is not much intersection between the emperor and the parliament, except for the speaker of the parliament, the emperor rarely summons members of the parliament, so many years, this is the first time that the emperor attends the parliament to give a speech.

After this news broke, the whole empire was nervous, and no one knew what was going on.

For more than 20 years, the emperor has never entered the Reichstag, and today he suddenly wants to go in and give a speech, what does this mean?

Everyone can't figure it out.

Because I couldn't figure it out, everyone was extremely nervous.

On the afternoon of October 30, 1936, Emperor Song arrived at the Prime Minister's Lounge in the Reichstag very early, there are many lounges in the Reichstag, and the Prime Minister's Lounge is usually reserved for the Prime Minister, and if other foreign leaders give speeches to the Imperial Congress, they usually use this lounge, and the Emperor does not have an exclusive lounge in the Reichstag, because in the 20 years since the Reichstag was built, the Emperor has not been here once.

According to the Second Constitution of the Empire, the Emperor has the right to dissolve the Diet, which does not have any right to deliberate on the Inner Court, and the amount of the annual expenditure of the Inner Court and how much it spends is not subject to the Diet's vote and deliberation.

Of course, for so many years, the emperor not only did not dissolve the Diet, nor did he have a head-on conflict with it.

After arriving at the prime minister's lounge, because there was still half an hour before his speech, Song Biao drank a cup of tea in the lounge, smoked a cigar, and thought about many questions about the changes in the new situation alone.

The empire is at a huge turning point.

At this moment, sitting in the lounge on the top floor of the Capitol, overlooking the scenery in the distance, Song Biao could easily see the golden Central Palace in the distance, and at this moment, he realized that he had been living under the noses of the congressmen.

The times are advancing, from only a few tens of thousands of voters in the country in the past to 24.75 million voters today, the development of the empire's ** revolution is still very smooth, and it will not be far from the real universal suffrage.

At this time, Song Biao also realized that as the emperor, it was necessary for him to strengthen his interaction with the parliament and grow with the new era.

As the bell of the Capitol rang, Lieutenant General Chen Jiayou walked into the lounge, invited Song Biao to the Central State Hall of the National Assembly to give a speech, and took the elevator back to the National Assembly Hall on the second floor of the National Assembly.

Song Biao glanced at it unmoved, there were 347 congressmen in the entire State Hall, and only 52 were directly appointed by him, and the rest were elected members, which shows that China's ** revolution is continuing to move forward.

He stepped up to the podium, placed the speech on the table, and glanced at his watch.

There was silence for a moment before he looked up again at all the members of Congress.

In the past two years, especially after the round trip, the emperor has rarely appeared in public, the national jiu-jitsu championships that he was keen on in previous years are no longer there, and there are few articles with the emperor's name in the editorial.

Even so, every household will still have a statue of the emperor, and the people continue to worship the emperor and be admired by all the people.

He still has the unrivalled authority and prestige of the empire.

Song Biao was already familiar with such an occasion and situation, and he was calm, and after he nodded, Lieutenant General Chen Jiayou, a first-class chamberlain, shouted "Finish the salute", and when he heard this, all the members of the National Assembly sat down together and looked up at the emperor with that kind of warm admiration.

Song Biao took another look at the opening part of the speech, then looked up again, and said calmly: "Members of the National Assembly of the Empire, we all know that the environment of the international community is gradually deteriorating, and under the impact of ultra-right-wing ideas and ultra-left-wing ideas, new wars, and even new world wars seem to be no longer far away from us, but I promise here, and I also want to demand here, no matter how the world changes, no matter whether there will be another world war in the future, That will not stop us from building the Chinese Empire into a great, prosperous and prosperous empire in the world. ”

Although Song Biao's opening remarks did not have much novelty, for these parliamentarians present, it was still the most exciting remark in the world, and everyone applauded warmly and excitedly, as if everything the emperor said would become true.

Song Biao looked at everyone quietly, laughing instead of laughing, or not laughing.

After the applause gradually subsided, he asked each member of the National Assembly again: "In your hearts, what kind of China can be regarded as a great and prosperous empire?" Looking back on history, we were prosperous in the Tang and Song dynasties, economically, people's livelihood, military and political prosperity, and even more so in culture and science and technology, we now understand that science and technology are the foundation of all prosperity, education and culture are the foundation of scientific and technological prosperity, if there is no culture, in a cultural desert will not be born a real power. Therefore, the common prosperity of the economy, military, politics, people's livelihood, culture, science and technology, and education can be regarded as a truly prosperous empire, but such an empire cannot be regarded as great. At its peak, the British Empire owned 1/3 of the world's territory and was prosperous, but it was not great enough, because it was an empire without justice where power is right, and a truly great empire should be just. We are a special country, we are an oriental country, we have our own culture and Confucian spirit, we cannot exploit and plunder other weak and small countries like the Western European and American powers, the big ones should not only be greater than the national strength, but also greater than the mind, if there is no big mind, even if it is prosperous and powerful now, it will inevitably weaken in the future. Now, we always call ourselves a big country, but we are still not as great as in the Tang Dynasty, because we do not have the courage to uphold justice, for the sake of interests, we are trying to survive, seeking peace, this is not right, this is against our traditional morality and the spirit of national governance, the rule of China, not in the military, but in virtue, to rule by virtue and called the world ......! ”

In this way, he opened the door to a change in the times.

The transformation of an empire from a world power to a great world hegemon requires a very strong social thrust, and this thrust usually takes many years of accumulation to emerge.

What Song Biao did was to speed up the pace of this transformation, so that the empire could change its national policy, assume more responsibilities, and actively expand more rights and interests.

In the past, the empire did not have the strength to challenge Britain and the United States, but now it can be said to have such strength, so the empire can stand up and say no to colonial rule, and re-establish a new world order in the world according to its own rules, and make it meet its own interests to the greatest extent.

In the past 20 years, Song Biao has never made any speech in the Congress, and even if he needs to control the Congress, he will use the imperial party and social public opinion to secretly adjust, and this is the first time he has made a speech in the Congress, in order to re-establish a new goal and a new direction for the whole empire today, when the Liberation Revolution is gradually succeeding.

Tang Shaoyi was never confused, and Ouyang Geng was never confused, that was because they both had a clear direction for the liberation revolution, and vowed to build China into a modern and powerful country, and to restore China to a powerful country.

Gu Weijun's confusion at this stage is not his problem alone, but the pride and complacency of the entire country from top to bottom that the economy has caught up with and surpassed the world's first, and the confusion of not knowing how to reform and develop in the future.

Song Biao, who is far away from politics and knows history, is one of the very few people who can clearly see the root problems of the Chinese empire at the present stage.

The development of the Liberation Revolution should be almost considered a success, but it is not enough, and the next step should be a greater recovery, which should be the recovery of Eastern civilization after absorbing the essence of Western civilization.

If we all do not have a new direction, then we might as well continue the revolution in accordance with the emperor's proposal, build a world-class industrial power with "three mediums", build a new empire with great prosperity in the seven aspects of culture, education, science and technology, economy, military, politics, and people's livelihood, establish a new Celestial Empire that integrates Eastern and Western cultures, establish a powerful empire to lead Asia, establish a new world order different from Western thinking, and regain standing on the top of the world. See the world from the perspective of a just leader.

Song Biao did not mention the Spanish Civil War or the Ethiopian war against Italy and aggression, as long as he proposed a new, greater program, everyone would understand that there were things that the empire should do, even if they seemed unprofitable.

(To be continued)