On January 3, 1917, Hu Chuyuan arrived in Brussels, Belgium, by ship, and negotiated with Britain, France, and other countries on the disposition of the Allied Powers.

Due to the thorough preparation in advance, except for Germany, which can barely compete with China in terms of army equipment, the rest of the countries are not China's opponents at all, including the seemingly powerful Tsarist Russia, which actually did not resist for long.

Before the war, Russia claimed to have more than 3,000 armored vehicles, but in terms of trucks and other auxiliary vehicles, there was a big gap with China.

Basically, except for the fact that the level of grenades and mines is about the same, the gap between China and Russia is really too large, including the combat quality of the soldiers.

The combat quality of the 74 divisions of China's main force was extremely high, and in the entire First World War, only the German Army could compete with the Chinese Army.

Therefore, the first world victory was not difficult, at least for China than in the Far East.

However, during his time in Brussels, Hu Chuyuan was very keenly aware of the rapid changes in the international situation, and with the rapid rise of China's strength, the goal of the entire international community, especially the European and American forces, did not seem to be more to restrain Germany and Russia, but to restrain China.

In terms of economic strength and military strength, China is already the world's largest power, and the white noble theory that has been maintained for more than a century has been completely torn apart by the Chinese, but it is difficult for Britain, France and the United States to accept this.

The current situation is very similar to that after the end of World War II, and before the war ended, a new rupture began to emerge within the Entente countries -- the European and American forces with Britain, the United States, and France as the main body, and the Asian forces with China as the main body, and the two forces will start a follow-up competition for world hegemony.

Arriving in Brussels, under the special arrangement of British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, Hu Chuyuan lived alone in the Belgian royal family's Château de Nofideil, only a few kilometers away from the castle of Le Fengong, where the meeting took place.

A further 37 kilometres to the south is the famous Waterloo.

Scattered in the suburbs of Nofidey Castle, Hu Chuyuan was silently pondering the meeting and its possible consequences.

The uneven distribution of the development of the industrial countries and the colonies led to the First World War, which led to large-scale monetary and international debt expenditures, which triggered the world economic crisis of 1929, which further exacerbated the contradictions between the great powers and led to the outbreak of the Second World War.

This is a chain reaction that is almost impossible to avoid.

What really made the world say goodbye to world war once and for all was the ultimate weapon, the atomic bomb, because each side had the ability to destroy the opponent, and the war between the great powers finally became taboo.

Hu Chuyuan silently sighed in his heart, he is fifty-seven years old, and he doesn't know if he can support World War II?

Even if he survived to World War II, will he still be able to continue to support China in his old age?

It's really unknown.

Therefore, this Brussels meeting must be extremely careful.

This world war is almost equivalent to declaring China to become the world's number one power, but it has also torn apart the space for China, Britain, France, and the United States to continue to cooperate, and new international forces will be reorganized and face new challenges.

Hu Chuyuan had a hunch that Britain, France, and the United States seemed to have begun to conspire.

The United States has money and industry, and Britain and France have colonies and markets, and if the three cooperate, they can completely isolate China economically and restrict China's further development.

It was getting late, and when it was time for dinner, Chancellor Herbert Asquith arrived at Nofidey Castle in a car and joined him for dinner.

He was joined by French President Raymond Poincaré and US Vice President Thomas R. Marshall.

Hu Chuyuan doesn't like Raymond Poencaré very much, he looks proud, and constantly pretends to be the greatest victorious country.

In order to win, France paid a very big sacrifice, which was only caused by French incompetence, if France could at least have the fighting power of the Russians, it would not have been chased all over Europe by the Germans.

After dinner, Wu Shuzhen and several other ladies made an excuse to leave, and asked Hu Chuyuan and the four of them to sit down and slowly discuss countermeasures.

Without waiting for Hu Chuyuan to speak, Raymond Poincaré couldn't wait to say: "Prime Minister Hu, Sir Asquith, we obviously must severely punish war criminals, only by making them feel eternally afraid, can we protect our rights and interests, and ensure that they will never dare to provoke the order of the times." ”

Hearing this, Hu Chuyuan did not express his position easily.

He drank his tea in silence and continued to think in his heart.

Prime Minister Herbert Asquith and Hu Chuyuan have been working together for a very long time, and he also understands an even more terrible fact - one devil has fallen, and another more terrible devil has risen, and now, there is nothing more terrible than China.

He couldn't help but think of Napoleon's words, and thought to himself that what the French said was really not wrong.

Thinking about this, he looked at Hu Chuyuan and asked Hu Chuyuan quietly, "What do you think?" ”

Hu Chuyuan thought for a moment and said: "It is a basic commitment to guarantee the territorial integrity of Germany, but the land previously occupied by Germany must be returned, and Poland must be re-read from the territory of Germany and Russia. As for Russia's other issues, Russia has reached a legitimate agreement with our country, and I hope that all countries will respect the agreement between the two countries. ”

Herbert Asquith didn't say anything.

He sighed in his heart, did he really want to cut the Tsarist Empire to such an extent?

According to the peace armistice agreement reached between China and Russia in advance, China's total territory will increase by at least 2.2 million square kilometers, while Russia's losses are very heavy, and a large number of territories have been set up as autonomous states, basically losing the right to rule over these areas.

At this scale, China's territory is almost more than 25 million square kilometers, and although more than half of the territory is uninhabitable, it is still terrifying!

Once Russia is weakened to that extent, what other country will be able to contain China?

This is really an even more terrible question.

The problem is that this has already become a result, and it is not something that Britain, France and the United States can contain together, at least not now is the time to tear up with China.

For Hu Chuyuan's request, Raymond Poincaré also felt a little hesitant.

After a brief thought, Raymond Poincaré decided to make a decision that was more favorable to France in the present situation, and he cleared his throat and said: "I think this is a very reasonable suggestion, but it is time to return to us the colonies illegally occupied by Germany in Africa." ”

Hu Chuyuan nodded and said, "Yes, China needs Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea to link China's major overseas provinces in Africa." In Asia, New Papuguinea should be under the protection of China alone, and besides, we have no special requirements! ”

"So...... That's it! ”

Raymond-Poincaré was quick to agree, and then continued: "The question of the return of Alsace and Lorraine by Germany is also a subject that is not controversial, and we in France need to settle this matter as soon as possible." ”

Hu Chuyuan did not speak.

In fact, he was sympathetic to Germany, and the region of Alsace and Lorraine, which had been predominantly German, had only been formally incorporated into France in 1766.

Of course, to a certain extent, in the case of his control of Poland and Ukraine, Germany without Alsace and Lorraine is easier to be controlled by him, in order to deliberately strengthen the role of Ukraine, in the Sino-Russian armistice treaty and the division of the territory of the Republic of Ukraine, he resolutely divided the Belgorod and Kursk regions to Ukraine, further weakening Russia's iron ore resources.

At this time, Russia lost two oil producing areas of Western Siberia and Volga-Kazan, and lost at least 90% of its total oil reserves, and lost nearly half of Russia's total iron ore reserves.

In any case, weakening and controlling Russia is Hu Chuyuan's greatest responsibility.

The French are greedy and can't wait to enjoy the joy of the victors.

After receiving everyone's acquiescence and permission, Raymond Poincaré could not wait to continue asking: "What about military reparations and other restrictions on Germany, Austria, Russia and Italy?" ”

On this point, Hu Chuyuan does not have too mature opinions.

Since he got more territory from Russia and divided Russia, he must have given more interests to Britain and France in order to balance.

Therefore, the war claims of Britain, France, and other countries against Germany, Austria, Russia, Italy, and other countries have become an inevitable general trend and cannot be stopped.

There is no way out...... It's a big deal to study the atomic bomb early.

Hu Chuyuan thought so in his heart.

On this issue, it was basically Raymond Poincaré and Herbert Asquith who were discussing, and Hu Chuyuan and US Vice President Thomas R. Marshall did not say anything.

Although the scale of the First World War was reduced, the whole was unprecedented, and at this time, except for China and the United States, all the other participating countries were facing huge debt crises and inflationary pressures.

France put forward a new idea, which is to lend money to Germany and Russia and other countries through the state, support them to restore their economies, and gradually repay military reparations.

The question is who has the money?

Now there are only two countries that still have money, the United States and China.

Neither Hu Chuyuan nor Thomas R. Marshall rejected the plan for a joint loan between China and the United States, which is certainly a good opportunity, but in terms of total proportion, Britain and France clearly support the United States to control Germany through loans, rather than letting China do it.

At this time, Britain, France, and the United States seem to have seen the situation further afield, China has taken control of Russia, Poland, Ukraine, and the Balkans, and Germany is a very important front line in the event of a war between China and Britain, France, and the United States.

In the end, the "two sides" made a rough division, with China mainly lending to Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Seville, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Greece and other regions to support the reconstruction of these countries and to exercise its obligation to pay compensation to the warring countries.

Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, including the Netherlands, Great Britain, and France, were supported by the United States, especially in Germany, which also bore the largest amount of war reparations.

On the question of Germany's eventual reparations, France offered a total of £18.7 billion to be repaid over twenty years, while France occupied the Saarland until Germany paid off its debts.

France's consistent position was to establish hegemony on the European continent and to suppress Germany forever.

Although Britain and the United States did not explicitly oppose this proposal and were secretly not very satisfied, they were not very easy to refute France's demands, but Hu Chuyuan explicitly opposed them.

According to Hu Chuyuan's proposal, the total amount of Germany's final reparations should not exceed 5 billion pounds, while retaining the control of the Hohenzollern family over the German kingdom.

In addition, the differences between China and Britain and France are also very clear about Turkey, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans.

Although the two sides have roughly divided their spheres of influence, it is undeniable that Britain, France, and the United States are unwilling to allow China to really control these areas, and Britain and the United States have also held new discussions on the issue of the status of the country after the conclusion of the Far East War Treaty, and it is clear that they want to reuse the treaty to contain China.

In the midst of a series of debates, the Brussels conference has become a new battleground.

The conference lasted from March to the end of May 1917, when the Asian camp with China as the main body and the British, French, and American camps reached a final agreement, and the final total German reparations were 7.2 billion pounds, with 37% of Germany's fiscal year income as a repayment, for an indefinite period of 3% per annum, until it was repaid.

The debts of Britain and France to China and the United States were transferred to Germany, which was included in the total compensation of 7.2 billion pounds, and the final calculation resulted that the total compensation of Germany to China was 1.4 billion pounds, with the right of priority, and at the same time, China had to spend 1.7 billion pounds as a loan to Germany to ensure that Germany could finally complete the total compensation plan.

In the overall international situation, through the First World War, the Ottoman Empire and Persia were freed from the protectorate of China and Britain, respectively, and became fully readable countries.

Britain re-recognized the Kingdom of Afghanistan as a protectorate of Persia, and Persia became the United Kingdom of Persia with three autonomous states of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan, while the Ottoman Empire had six autonomous states of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Cyprus, and Libya.

Macedonia, Albania, Armenia, and Georgia were non-Islamic states that broke away from the two empires and became readable states, but militarily and economically, they still belonged to the Eurasian alliance of China, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Persia.

Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Seville, and Bosnia also belong to the Eurasian Union.

Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Croatia, and Slovenia belong to the European continental bloc of France, and the countries have signed a unified mutual insurance agreement to prevent the rise of Germany and the threat to the countries.

Basically, whoever fights down the area belongs to whose camp, and who is responsible for stationing and maintaining troops in the area.

In terms of African interests, at the insistence of China and the Ottoman Empire, Britain recognized Egypt and Sudan as the basis for Egypt's reading, and at China's insistence, the Suez Canal became the supervision of China, Britain, France and Egypt, and the four countries established a common canal management company to operate the canal.

Nigeria, Cameroon, Benin, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Angola, Mozambique, Sao Tome Islands, Comodo Islands, and Djibouti are among China's overseas provinces, while the rest of the region is basically divided between Britain and France.

In the immediate aftermath of World War I, the two major camps in the world were already divided, and the United States, although it did not receive much colonial benefits, received a promise from other powers not to compete with the United States in South America, and at the same time, the United States became one of the world's largest creditors.

As a promise to China to send troops against Germany, Britain had agreed to transfer Singapore, Malay, and Burma to China, and China to transfer Mozambique to Britain.

As the two camps began to split, Britain eventually reversed itself and only transferred the Singapore area to China for £14 million.

In the Middle East, China occupies the largest area of the United Arab Emirates (which later includes Saudi Arabia and the four countries of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Qatar), while Britain maintains suzerainty in Oman and Yemen.

Britain agreed to the partition of Islamic regions within India, and Pakistan and Bangladesh were separated from the British Empire.

The long-term cooperation between China and Britain basically moved towards an inevitable split at this stage, Britain and the United States became a new alliance, France tried to establish its own system on the European continent, and the United States continued to pursue the policy of "America is America for Americans."

On the issues of Africa and Asia, the conflict between China and Britain is greater than cooperation, and on the issue of South America, the competition between China and the United States is greater than cooperation.

This is the inevitable trend of historical development, the world is no longer the unipolar hegemonic world of Britain, but the four major powers of China, Britain, the United States, and France, especially the economic complementarity and reunification of China and Britain The basis of interests is gradually disappearing, and the two countries have begun to enter the final stage of competing for hegemony, and competition will comprehensively surpass cooperation.

China is undoubtedly the world's first in terms of military and economic strength, but it can only be regarded as the second in terms of traditional international influence.

After the end of the war, the British Navy relied on the reparations of the German Navy's warships to regain its position as the world's number one naval hegemon, followed by China, France in third, and the United States in fourth.

However, in terms of army strength, China deserves to be the first, and the German and Russian armies, which were originally able to compete with the Chinese army, have been destroyed and attacked.

At the end of the First World War, the rivalry between China and Britain and the United States began, while France maintained the systemic policy of the European continent alone.

Under the maintenance of China and Britain, Germany maintained a constitutional monarchy, and Wilhelm II's eldest son, Crown Prince Wilhelm, became the new king of the German Kingdom, and the German capital was moved to Hanover.

However, it remains to be seen what Germany's future holds, and whether it will return to its old ways.

In order to minimize the probability of Germany attacking Poland, at the insistence of Hu Chuyuan, Germany retained the Volkeng region, while East Prussia became the Königsberg region of Poland, and the two regions carried out a large migration in exchange style.

The Poles in the Volkeng area were transferred to the Königsberg area, and the Germans in the Königsberg area were transferred to Volkeng, and the funds required for the entire migration were paid by China, and it took 15 years to complete the entire transfer work.

For China, this is certainly not a loss-making war, and even without war reparations, the additional land area will be enough to offset all the losses during the war, especially the complete occupation of the oil mining regions of Western Siberia and Tyumen, which may contain more than 25 billion tons of oil reserves.

From the beginning.

From before the outbreak of the Far East War, Hu Chuyuan dreamed of occupying this land.

Now, he's finally got his wish.

Although China now controls potential oil centers in the world, such as the United Arab Emirates, Nigeria, Kuwait, and Iraq, these places will still have to read the power after all, and they will take charge of the oil themselves.

Therefore, being able to occupy the Western Siberian region in the name of its own territory is really the best thing for China.

What needs to be done now is to firmly control the new land, to occupy the new land.

After the signing of the Brussels Agreement and the further transformation of Singapore and the autonomous states of Sumancia into autonomous provinces, China's total territory increased to 24.78 million square kilometers, continuing to consolidate its position as the world's largest territorial power.

(To be continued)