No matter how tough the British political axe may be, it is in fact not willing to go to war with China at all, especially if it is convinced that China really wants to fight Britain in Asia.

After the Central Ministry of Defense gave Britain a stern warning on the imminent entry of the main British naval force into the Indian Ocean, Britain also became more aware of China's willingness to resolve the current problem with Britain through negotiations on behalf of the Asian League.

To Winston. For Prime Minister Winston Churchill, this is very good news, unlike when he had just formed a wartime cabinet, China has basically ended the Sino-Soviet war, and a large-scale army, air force, and navy are moving to the South Asian continent, ready to crush the British troops stationed in South Asia to pieces.

On the other hand, given that France and the United States had refused to explicitly support Britain, and that China was on the verge of reaching a formal agreement with Germany to divide the Soviet occupation zone, it would be extremely unwise to go to war with China, which was at its military peak.

Regardless of Winston. Prime Minister Churchill's stubborn and tenacious desire to preserve the former glory and dignity of the British Empire is cruel after all.

After a warning from the Chinese Ministry of Defense, the British Navy was forced to withdraw its navy, which had already arrived in Somalia, and docked the fleet to the south of the Suez Canal in Egypt, without stepping into the Indian Ocean again.

British Foreign Secretary Sir Halifax rushed to Yenching to hold the second round of Sino-British talks with the Central Cabinet Foreign Minister Guo Taiqi to conduct new negotiations on the South Asian issue. Second, Britain should commit to gradually withdrawing its troops from Southeast Asia and allowing Singapore and the surrounding Chinese to hold a referendum on political status; Third, Britain promised to resolve the question of autonomy of all Asian colonies within a certain period of time and to cease its colonial hegemony in Asia; Fourth, China and the UK will hold a new round of bilateral territorial negotiations to lay the foundation for further promoting the autonomy of various regions in Southwest Asia.

In the eyes of China and the Council of the Asian League. The four basic conditions put forward by the Chinese side were not excessive, but in the actual negotiations, they were rejected by the British almost from the very beginning. Britain is not arrogant. It is not a loss of reason, but it is true that such a large-scale concession cannot be accepted, in the words of Lord Halifax. Britain would rather have a war.

After a month-long negotiation, the two sides were still unable to reach an agreement because the gap was too great.

At this time, the world's attention is focused on the China-UK and the Yenching talks. It seems clear to everyone that if China and Britain cannot reach an agreement at the last moment, China and Britain will start a real world war.

The special envoys of the United States and France arrived in Yanjing one after another to participate in the talks, hoping to mediate an agreement between the two countries, but the great powers of various countries still hope that Britain will back down, first of all, Britain does not have any reason, and after all, dozens of Asian countries on the Asian League side have unanimously demanded that Britain withdraw from Asia. It is impossible for so many countries to make significant concessions to Britain, not to mention that Britain is not as powerful as it was in the past.

The meeting was scheduled to be held at the Zhongnanhai State Guesthouse in Yanjing, and the atmosphere throughout the talks was tense, with contradictions between the two sides being very intense, and the Iranian ambassador rebuked and angrily scolded British Foreign Minister Sir Halifax in front of many international diplomats on several occasions. Demand that Britain get out of Asia.

By mid-May 1941, both sides could almost confirm that the negotiations had ultimately failed, and that Britain could only accept some of the four basic conditions put forward by the Chinese side, Articles 3 and 1, even in Article 3, the League of Asia proposed a maximum period of 10 years, while Britain demanded a gradual settlement of the question of British colonial autonomy in Asia over a period of 30 years.

That night, China, Britain, the United States, and France held a penultimate round of final negotiations, and in order to reach an agreement, Britain made some new concessions at the last minute, agreeing to allow Pakistan, Assam, Bangladesh, and Malaya autonomy within two years, agreeing to withdraw from Oman, and promising to withdraw its navy in the Persian Gulf region.

The negotiations did not end until about 11 o'clock in the evening, after which Foreign Minister Guo Taiqi immediately went to the Central Cabinet to report, and at about 1 o'clock in the morning, the Prime Minister of the Central Cabinet and Foreign Minister Guo Taiqi made a special trip to the Central Palace to meet with the Chinese Emperor.

Song Biao didn't sleep that night, he had been waiting for news.

The Central Military Department was ready for its part, and as soon as he approved the military department's operational plan, the Tenth Army and the Eighth Army would move south to attack Pakistan and India, and the Central Asian Army would move south from Iraq and Saudi Arabia to liberate the emirates on the Arabian Peninsula.

In Southeast Asia, the Imperial Navy will prioritize the elimination of the British Channel Fleet in Singapore, and send the main aircraft carrier group into the Persian Gulf to eliminate the main force of the British Navy before it reaches the Persian Gulf.

During the Sino-British talks, both sides were strengthening their military and air forces in South Asia, but in this simultaneous expansion, Britain was far less fierce than the Empire, which had already arrived in Afghanistan and Iran with many army groups transferred from the north.

The Central Military Department has been planning for a long time, and as long as the Central Political Axe announces the breakdown of the negotiations and the final authorization of the Asian League Council, the Imperial Defense Forces will annihilate the British army without declaring war and in the name of the Asian League South Asian Alliance.

In the quiet and solemn office, after listening to Foreign Minister Guo Taiqi's report, Song Biao has been silently thinking about the final answer, and he smoked a whole Yuxi cigar without opening his mouth.

After extinguishing the last remaining half of the cigar, Song Biao made the final decision, and instructed Prime Minister Gu Weijun with a strong attitude: "Suspend the talks, promote a new resolution in the Council of the Asian League, demand that Britain unconditionally recognize Pakistan and Oman, give autonomy to Assam, Bangladesh, Malaya and other Asian colonial countries, promise to completely ban all British colonial privileges in Asia within ten years, and at the same time ask all member countries of the Asian League to mobilize for war for the freedom and reading power of Asia, and do not hesitate to go to war with Britain. In the event of a war between the Asian League and the British Commonwealth, the Asian League needs to immediately impose comprehensive sanctions on the United Kingdom, seal all British assets in the Asian Union member states to compensate for the injuries and losses suffered by Asian countries during the British colonial rule, prohibit the circulation of pounds sterling, and cut off trade in accordance with the resolution of the Asian League Council. If Britain fails to respond positively to the demands of the Asian League Council and hold a third round of positive talks, the Asian League Security Coalition will formally send troops to liberate Asian countries and regions one month after the resolution is passed. ”

Emperor Song Biao was very resolute in his words, and there was no room for maneuver.

He admitted that the terms of the Asian League Council for negotiations offered to Britain were too high. However, Britain's attitude is indeed too arrogant, and after all, this is not a bilateral representation between China and Britain, but a representation made by the Council of the Asian League to Britain on behalf of the majority of countries in the whole of Asia.

Not to mention that Britain's current strength and international status are not as good as before, even if it was in its heyday. The British Empire should not have been so arrogant.

He can only say that Britain has no sincerity in solving the problem at all, and since this is the case, it is better to fight late than early. If the British wish to drag on with such lengthy negotiations, they are miscalculated.

Prime Minister Gu Weijun could only accept this arrangement of the emperor.

This means that the Council of the Asian League is willing to hold a third round of political negotiations and extend the negotiation period for another month or so, but then it also raises the new conditions significantly, and if the Asian League and the United Kingdom still fail to reach an agreement in mid-June, then there is really a war, and along with the war and the Asian League's severe economic sanctions against the British Empire.

Prime Minister Gu Weijun nodded silently in approval. The emperor's offer was accepted.

Emperor Song Biao continued to think about it for a while, and added: "The resolution stipulates that once the sanction against the circulation of the pound in Asia is passed, the sanction will be valid for thirty years. ”

Gu Weijun felt that something was wrong and asked, "Your Majesty." Is this sanction too long? ”

Emperor Song Biao replied: "It is indeed too long, but otherwise it will not be able to really threaten Britain, we must let Britain understand a simple truth, if once the war starts, as long as Britain does not win us, we will completely continue to sanction Britain, so that Britain will pay the most painful price." ”

Gu Weijun could only agree again and nodded yes.

Emperor Song Biao also instructed: "After the passage of the second resolution against Britain in the Council of the Asian League, arrange an audience with Sir Halifax, and I am willing to talk to him personally." ”

"Yes!"

Prime Minister Gu Weijun continued to agree, in fact, he knew very well that this battlefield was finally inevitable, and he knew very well that the emperor did not support the start of this war now, but the emperor also had more concerns.

Not only the Emperor, but also the entire empire and the members of the Asian League could not have allowed Britain to reach an agreement with a very small concession.

This is when you don't want to go to war, but you have to go to war.

In the early morning of that day, Emperor Song Biao had not slept until then, and after that, he urgently summoned Chen Jin and all the principal responsible persons of the central bank and the Central Reserve Bureau to the general office to fully discuss the various economic problems that might arise if the Asian League adopted the agreement.

It is certain that once the Asian League begins to impose sanctions on the United Kingdom, especially after the confiscation of British assets in Asia and the ban on the circulation of the British pound, the British economy will be devastated, the British pound will fall off the throne directly, and the foreign exchange reserves of the pound sterling in all countries in the world will be reduced to waste paper.

It will be a very scary thing in the entire international financial market.

In addition to military warfare, financial warfare was also a special weapon that could be used by the empire, and now, the empire has decided to use this weapon, and Emperor Song Biao's decision to promote this agreement in the Asian League is precisely because of such a plan. The next day, China and Britain temporarily suspended the Yenching talks and urgently decided to convene a new round of foreign ministers' level meeting of the Council of the Asian League in Guangzhou.

On the same night, Chen Jin, Minister of Finance of the Imperial Central Cabinet, secretly summoned Zhang Jiahua, governor of the Central Bank, Chen Guangfu, president of the Far East Consortium, Yu Qiaqing, general director of the Jiangnan Foundation, Zhang Huici, chief of the Central Reserve Administration, as well as the four presidents of the four major political axe trust companies of CITIC, China Reserve, China Holdings, and China Investment Corporation, and six experts and advisers in the field of finance and economics from the Central Economic Commission, a total of 15 people, secretly held a special meeting at the Summer Palace to discuss launching a financial war on an unprecedented scale against Britain.

This meeting is very important, it should be the first time in human history that political axes have waged a financial war between political axes, and it may be the only time that public political axe declassified documents can be confirmed.

At this time, the Chinese Empire accounted for a huge proportion of the world's total economy, while the United States accounted for 22.4%, and the sum of China and the United States reached 62.7% of the world's total GDP, while the once magnificent British Empire accounted for only 7%.

In the international market, Britain has a traditional international position and the size of its colonies, as well as the long-term status quo policy of China and the United States over the past two decades. The pound still accounts for 30% of the world's currency in circulation, which is both the basis for Britain to dare to say no to China and the Asian League, and its most vulnerable weakness.

It is this abnormal situation that determines that the pound sterling is the most vulnerable link among the three major international currencies of the Chinese dollar, the US dollar and the British pound. It is also the most easily defeated international currency.

The governor of the central bank, Zhang Jiahua, put forward a very reasonable plan, that is, to sell the pound sterling with other financial institutions in a big way, run on the British gold reserves, and once the pound is banned from circulating in Asia. Britain's gold reserves will collapse in an instant.

Eventually, the pound will inevitably depreciate sharply, and this depreciation will be accompanied by this depreciation. Prices in the UK will also skyrocket several times, and if the UK announces the suspension of gold exchange to maintain its gold reserves, it will be a pile of waste paper because the pound will soon be unable to circulate in Asia, and the pound and British bonds in the international market will depreciate on a larger scale, which is enough to pull the UK into the abyss and hell.

At the same time, everyone is aware that the entire world economy will be pulled into the abyss and hell together.

This will most likely be a new economic crisis no less than the Great Depression.

Emperor Song Biao and Prime Minister Gu Weijun were also aware of waging a financial war against Britain. It would inevitably lead to a world financial crisis and a wider economic depression, and the emperor and prime minister needed the Ministry of Finance, and the Big Four political axe trusts, to make a reasonable inference about the extent to which the empire and Asia would be implicated, and under what circumstances Asia would be less affected. Even more beneficial in the long run.

After three days of secret discussions, the 15 magnates and experts who participated in the secret meeting of the Summer Palace basically reached a consensus, and the Minister of Finance Chen Jin reported the conclusion to Prime Minister Gu Weijun and His Majesty the Emperor.

In the end, it was concluded that Asia and the Central Economic Zone would be less affected, with Europe being the hardest hit, followed by the United States and Central and South America, and then France.

France's economy is relatively closed, its entire French and colonial economies and Britain and the United States trade volume is relatively low, the franc itself is the fourth largest international currency, and the franc economic zone and the middle circle economic zone are also the most extensive international trade.

Other countries in Europe, the British Commonwealth, and the British colonies as a whole still take the pound sterling as the main foreign exchange reserves, and these countries constitute a relatively stable Atlantic trade structure with the United States, once the pound collapses, the impact on Europe and the European colonial countries will be very alarming, with the chaos and sharp depreciation of the international currency, international trade is almost interrupted, and the United States will be greatly implicated.

Subsequently, the economic crisis will spread to China and Central and South America.

In the whole world trade system, China is the world's largest import and export trading country, 3/5 of the world's international trade occurs between China and Europe and the United States, as the economy of Europe and the United States suffers a heavy blow, China will inevitably suffer a heavy blow, but China and Europe and the United States are different, China's situation is relatively similar to France, China's largest import and export market and investment market are the Asian Union, the Asian Union member countries are mainly with China for international trade.

As the crisis spreads, as long as China can continue to expand its international trade and investment within the Asian Union Free Trade Area, China will still be the first to get out of the international economic crisis, and the impact of the first wave of the international financial crisis on China will be relatively low, or even beneficial.

Zhang Huici, the general director of the Central Reserves Administration, raised another question, that is, silver in this cycle may occur many times of sharp rises and falls, in the beginning of the crisis stage of the pound, silver as the only precious metal reserves that countries can buy, the price will rise very high, with the outbreak of the economic crisis, the depreciation of national currencies, the price of silver will rise higher and higher, but after the crisis spreads to a certain extent, and the depreciation of national currencies to the bottom, silver will set off a new round of plunge again, As a result, the global economy has been hit again.

Of course, all this is only the estimation of experts and financial oligarchs, and it is difficult to say what the actual situation will look like.

Gu Weijun hates the international financial crisis more than anyone else, which will cause his approval rating to plummet, and if the world suffers a heavy blow and he can barely hold on to it, it will not be too much of a problem, after all, this is his last term.

As for whether the central government and the empire can buck the trend in this crisis, it depends on the ability of Chancellor of the Exchequer, the central bank and the four major trust companies, and in this regard, Chen Jin is not afraid.

……

After a period of secret deliberations, when Foreign Minister Guo Taiqi presided over a new round of foreign ministers' meeting of the Council of the Asian League in Guangzhou, the empire had already made a decision to officially prepare to launch a financial war on Britain on an unprecedented scale.

On June 4, 1941, the meeting of foreign ministers of the Council of the Asian League in Guangzhou passed a unanimous vote and adopted a new resolution with 17 votes in favor and 2 abstentions, requiring Britain to accept three new conditions within one month, namely, unconditional recognition of Pakistan and Oman; self-government of Assam, Bangladesh, Malaya and other Asian colonial states; Within ten years, all British colonial privileges in Asia were completely abolished.

The new resolution is more stringent than China's four conditions, as a condition that the Asian League agrees to hold a third round of talks and extend the talks until July 10, while the Asian League retains comprehensive sanctions and all military authority against the United Kingdom.

This means that if Britain fails to reach a final agreement with the Council of the Asian League on the Asian colonies by July 10, the Asian League will impose comprehensive economic sanctions on Britain and the possibility of resolving this series of problems through war.

As soon as the resolution was passed, the whole world was in an uproar again.

Britain, France, the United States, and other countries are not particularly worried about the Asian Union declaring war with Britain, because once the Asian Union imposes comprehensive sanctions on Britain, the British pound will completely lose its world currency circulation value, and after the Asian Union breaks off trade with Britain and the Commonwealth countries, British ships will not be able to sail through the territorial waters of the Asian Union countries, and all this will completely lead to the collapse of the world economy.

This is a full-scale panic, the world silver price rose by 47% in two days, and the global commodity price has declined sharply, because of the factors of the Sino-Soviet, Sino-Soviet and Soviet-German wars, the world silver price itself has been at a high price, at this time it has broken through the highest value in nearly 30 years, and gold has reached a historical high of 1:15.4.

At this price, the empire began to gradually accelerate the sale of silver reserves, strengthening gold and silver reserves, before that, the empire through the four major trust companies to sell a large amount of pounds and British bonds, and control other holding financial companies to sell stocks in the London financial market.

People don't realize that this is the first formal financial war in human history.

Through the four major trust companies of Imperial Holdings, the Empire and the Asian League are dealing a heavy blow to the British pound and the financial industry on which it relies to maintain its international position, a situation that the UK did not expect, and in just four days, the UK's gold reserves plummeted from 2,752 tons to less than 700 tons.

In order to maintain the international currency status of the British pound in a hawkish manner, Churchill's cabinet urgently passed an act of parliament to suspend the exchange of gold and ask the United States and France for help, but when the United States and France were engaged in close discussions on this matter within the Parliament, the price of British bonds in the international market quickly collapsed, and the massive sell-off of bonds made British government bonds a pile of waste paper.

At this time, Britain had no choice but to turn to China for help.