Chapter 11: Hope

London's Westminster, 10 Downing Street next to Whitehall in Westminster, is a Georgian building, which is the official residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and it is here that the United Kingdom rules up to 35 million square kilometers of land and colonies around the world, and it is the heart of Britain's global interests. Mixed & Mixed Talk Network // (ww no / pop-up window wide / advertise full text TXT download)

Lloyd at this time? Prime Minister George was tapping his fingers nervously on the desk in front of him. He looked extremely tired and troubled, and the Foreign Secretary, Mr. Grey, resumed the abruptly terminated subject.

"I don't understand,"

Looking at Gray, Lloyd? Prime Minister George said,

"If we make concessions on Hong Kong, it will mean a complete withdrawal of our power in East Asia, which will undoubtedly be catastrophic for Britain's global interests!"

"It's true that if we hand over Hong Kong to Chinese, we have to face the reality of losing our voice in East Asia, but ......"

After a pause, Gray looked at the Prime Minister and said.

"Now, Japan's Foreign Minister Kikujiro Ishii has just arrived in London!"

Rausch? Prime Minister George looked up.

"What do you mean......"

Gray smiled faintly, but the smile was a little helpless.

"In the case of China, we have to face a very real problem, which is that as China is strong, we have to face this fact, and this fact forces us to make some decisions that we don't want to make."

"What do you think—"

Rausch? Prime Minister George hesitated.

"Now do we give Hong Kong back to the Chinese? Of course, as China grows stronger, this is the reality that we must face, either we will voluntarily hand it back to the Chinese, or in the future the Chinese will snatch it from the hands of Britain, that is, as long as Hong Kong is still in our hands. We have to take into account the potential war factors that it will cause. ”

Lloyd's? George pinched his fingers, then looked at Gray again.

"Can war be avoided? It is not in the interests of Britain to hand it over! ”

"And now, for Britain, the most fundamental interest is to ensure the fundamentals of Britain, to prevent Britain from being dragged down by this protracted war, otherwise, everything is empty talk, if Britain is dragged down by this war, then we will lose more than just Hong Kong."

"Okay, so you're leaning towards handing Hong Kong back to the Chinese, right?"

"If there are other options......"

With a long sigh, Gray continued.

"I'd rather not make that choice!"

"It looks like we really don't have any other choice."

Lloyd's? Prime Minister George said thoughtfully.

"It seems that we should really meet with Ishii, and if we lose Hong Kong, then we have to think about restoring the real order in East Asia at all costs, rather than the order in East Asia dominated by China as it is now, I think...... The misstep on the East Asian issue is probably one of Britain's biggest diplomatic mistakes since the beginning of the 20 th century! ”

Lloyd's? George smiled wryly that if Britain could see the future, Britain might not have made one mistake after another in the twentieth century, and in the end these mistakes led directly to the decline of Britain.

"Do the Japanese have the courage to challenge China's East Asian power?"

"Your Excellency, don't forget that the Japanese are a bunch of ambitious monkeys, they have never given up, to challenge China, no, Japan is more inclined to the present, to fight for real national independence than to challenge China."

"What do you mean?"

"Now, we can reach some consensus with Japan, of course only some consensus, of course, and now Britain is not in a position to maintain this consensus, and Japan understands that we just need to ......"...,

"Wait until after the war to solve all these problems?"

Lloyd's? Prime Minister George's brow furrowed slightly. N.ET/ * small * say net / no pop-up ad full text TXT download

"Yes, the fundamental reason why Chinese can do whatever they want now is because the power of Britain and France has been completely dragged into Europe, so they are facing an extremely empty Asia, but Chinese know very well......"

Gray's body leaned forward slightly.

"They know very well that with China's current strength, it is impossible to challenge the international order that has lasted for a century, and it is precisely because of this wisdom that they will not hesitate to betray Germany and side with Britain, rather than challenge the British-led international order."

"Please go on."

"Therefore, we should leave some issues, especially those that involve the fundamental interests of Britain, to be resolved after the war, and then China will have to consider whether they are capable of challenging Britain on their own, and believe that at that time, they will make a wise choice, such as making appropriate concessions on the Japanese issue......"

"Oh?"

Shrugging shoulders, Lloyd? George said disapprovingly.

"It seems that if we do this, we will not solve one problem, which is the problem of Hong Kong, and it will not solve the problem that we must hand over Hong Kong to China, and, Gray, you have to understand that for the Chinese, if they do not eat Hong Kong, they will definitely not send their troops to Europe, let alone provide loans to Britain or buy British war bonds."

Compared to the post-war period, Lloyd's? George attaches more importance to the present, the interests of Britain are of paramount importance, and even Britain has reached the threshold of exhaustion, once he was full of hope for the United States, but now, the hope for the United States has long turned into despair, and for China, the ambitions of the Chinese are extremely difficult to satisfy.

"But if we promise them, today they can ask us for Hong Kong, tomorrow they can ask us for Singapore, and the day after tomorrow, maybe India, God knows, what will be needed to satisfy them in the future......"

"Their ambitions are the same as those of the Japanese, but they value the historical glory of their country more than the Japanese, Your Excellency."

Gray neither agreed with nor disliked the Prime Minister's views.

"In their view, Hong Kong is directly related to their national dignity, which is why they have persisted on this issue until now!"

Gray, who knows the inside story of the Sino-British Hong Kong negotiations, naturally knows what Hong Kong means to China, what Gibraltar is to Spain.

After a moment of silence, Gray continued:

"But now, the Chinese are preparing to use their abilities in this war, so I think the British can also make appropriate concessions!"

At this time, a sudden idea swept over Lloyd's? Prime Minister George's mind,

"We can negotiate with the Chinese to set a deadline for restitution, say 10 years, or 20 years."

"Your Excellency, what do you mean ......?"

Gray immediately understood what the Prime Minister meant,

"I think the Chinese need his national dignity, and the British Empire also needs to defend its own dignity!"

Lloyd's? George smiled and touched his chin.

"But ten or twenty years from now, perhaps...... Who can see the future? However, I don't mind giving the Chinese a hope, just as the Chinese are now giving hope to the Russians! ”

This is a special train that runs on the Jinpu Railway. The 11-car special-purpose blue train has been heading south from China's Manchuria station for the past few days. …,

As soon as the train left the Lunan Mountains, it immediately entered the North Jiangsu Plain. Compared with the mountainous areas of southern Lunan, the plains of northern Jiangsu are more attractive, because the color of the carriage is integrated with the snow, the iron bridge and the plain, so this train has become the most characteristic landscape in this area.

After the train passed through Xuzhou, it entered the plain area, it was the middle of winter, but on the plain under the winter snow, it was the season when new green began to sprout, and the green of the spotted wheat seedlings was very conspicuous in the snow. In the midst of the speckled green and snow, the blue special train runs in the middle of it, forming a beautiful scenery.

Along the way, the special train only stops at the necessary stops to refuel coal and water, and beyond that, it travels all the way. After the train entered Bengbu Station, it slowly stopped, after stopping at a platform, the staff on the platform immediately began to get busy, the closed coal conveyor belt immediately passed the coal to the carriage, and the water pipe began to fill the locomotive head with fresh water, and on the platform, several railway company employees were stunned when they saw the train, -- the carriage was impressively wearing the royal dragon badge.

Everything that followed became extremely natural, and except for the working platform staff, everyone else stood on the platform in a procession, watching the royal train salute, and although they had not heard of anyone from the royal family, they still had to observe the basic etiquette.

And in the carriage, a girl about ten years old, but blinked like jewels to look at the railway station, but the railway station in front of her made her extremely disappointed, in this journey of tens of thousands of kilometers, the girl has seen one railway station after another, and in her opinion, it seems that along the way, the railway station she saw, none of them is comparable to the railway station along the Trans-Siberian Railway, those railway stations are more beautiful, some disappointed girls, finally, or turn their eyes to the carriage.

She jumped down from the soft seat of the sofa, stepped on the thick Xinjiang carpet with her feet, and leaned on the chaise longue to the side, next to her mother, who was reading a book there, and then she sat on the carpet very casually, looking at her mother with some disappointment, as if the "fairy tale kingdom" was not very attractive.

"What? Nasha, feel a little disappointed, don't you? ”

The strange appearance of her daughter was in Lisa's eyes, and there was a slight smile on her beautiful face.

"It doesn't seem to be as beautiful as it seems!"

How is it not as beautiful as imagined, it is simply a big disappointment, Nasha thought in her heart, if it is only the scenery along the railway, I am afraid that since entering China, she has been shrouded in disappointment, compared to here, along the Trans-Siberian Railway, it is more like a fairy tale kingdom.

At this time, there was a wave of flags and whistles on the platform. The train jerked unwillingly and slowly drove out of the station. In the carriage, Nasha looked at the pictorial in her hand with some disappointment, which was a Chinese pictorial.

"Beauty, isn't it just what you see!"

Unlike her daughter, when Lisa said this, she took a deep breath, this is the air in China, different from the dry and cold air of the Russian winter, the air here even in the cold winter, there is a hint of sweetness, everything here is always so fascinating.

Although the scenery was always a little disappointing to Nasha, she was full of anticipation, because she knew from the map that she would soon reach Nanjing, the capital of China, where she could see the emperor's uncle......

She is a thirty-year-old woman!

Early in the morning, when Lisa faced the mirror, she was nervous, her hand trembled, and she wanted to give him a beautiful and good impression:

"When can I get to Shimonoseki Station?" …,

She asked this question about a hundred times, and as she got closer to Nanjing, she became more and more nervous.

"It's about half-past twelve, auntie."

Shi Liyun replied softly that she was married to Russia as a maid with her wife, and this was also the first time she returned to Nanjing and returned to China.

At this time, the train was heading towards Shimonoseki Railway Station through the ferry, and through the glass window of the carriage, you could clearly see that on the river in the distance, there was a busy construction site, a bridge was under intense construction, lying by the window, wiping away the white fog left on the window from time to time, Nasha was a little surprised to look at the busy construction scene, she had never seen such a huge construction site, and even never seen such a towering bridge.

"Your Royal Highness Princess, this is the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge! The second bridge on the Yangtze River and the longest bridge in the world! ”

The attendant on the side helped Princess Nasha explain her doubts.

"It's truly spectacular!"

Nasha whispered, wiping the fog from the window.

"When you get to Nanjing, maybe you can go there and have a look!"

"Of course, Your Highness Princess, you can go anywhere you want!"

Finally, the railway ferry docked at the port of Shangxiaguan Wharf, after completing the railway connection, the train entered the Xiaguan Railway Station, at this time, in the Xiaguan Railway Station, it was already crowded with people who came to greet it, and standing in front of the crowd was a little boy who was only about eleven or twelve years old, the little boy was wearing an army uniform, although he was not tall, but at this time no one could ignore the little boy, and beside the little boy stood a Western young woman in palace clothes, with blonde hair very conspicuous in the sun, these two are the crown prince and empress of the Chinese Empire, at this time they are standing on the platform, looking at the train that is slowly coming, Ji Li's face is overflowing with smiles, and Chen Yixuan's expression is very calm, although he is not very old, but he always puts on a solemn look like a father, and on the other side of him stands his sister, compared to him, her face is full of expectation, as if looking forward to seeing her relatives as soon as possible.

When the train stopped, the first thing that caught Nasha's eye was the queen in palace clothes, and then she saw a boy, was that him?

Nasha would secretly ask in her heart, did her mother tell him a lot about the crown prince on the way? In fact, she can also feel that compared to the crown prince and princess, her mother is probably more familiar with the princess, not the crown prince, but at this time, looking at this serious crown prince, she muttered in her heart.

"Pretend!"

Finally, the train stopped, and when the door opened, Lisa stepped off the train, and at this time the queen had already greeted her, although she didn't see His Majesty, but thinking that he couldn't appear here, Lisa was relieved in her heart, of course, it was more of a relief.

"Lisa, my sister!"

At this time, Ji Li did not have the dignity of the so-called "mother's world" at all, almost as soon as Lisa got out of the car, she greeted her and hugged her.

"Queen's ......"

The two hugged each other for a moment, but Ji Li bent down and looked at Nasha, who was standing behind Lisa like an angel, and said with a smile.

"This must be Nasha, honey, you're so pretty!"

"Yes, ma'am."

Nasha replied with a standard European court etiquette.

"Nephew has seen Aunt Lisa!"

For this aunt Chen Yixuan, who seemed a little strange, he didn't seem particularly affectionate, but just saluted according to the rules, as for the little girl next to him, he didn't even look at her, although she gave him a feeling of amazement, but in his opinion, it was just a little girl dragging her nose. …,

Looking at this "nephew", although Lisa wanted to get close, but she didn't know how to get close, just looked at his pair of dark and fearless eyes, still the black and thick hair, inherited from his father's hair, although he was not very old, but this expression was no different from his father, he was really a little adult.

"Aunt Lisa."

After giving a salute first, Chen Xiyun's eyes were somewhat filled with tears, and she may have some impressions of this aunt.

"...... clouds"

hugged Xiyun, who had not been seen for many years, and tears suddenly flowed down Lisa's eyes.

"Okay, don't cry, sister, let's go home quickly!"

In the face of the queen's suggestion, Lisa nodded, and suddenly felt a blockage in her throat. When the group of them left the station by car, looking at the strange buildings on both sides of the street, when Lisa was surprised by the changes in Nanjing, Nasha was interested in these oriental-style buildings, she looked at everything around curiously, and looking at the little girl's curious look, Chen Yixuan said softly as if she wanted to deliberately stimulate her.

"Little Nizi who has never seen the world!"

"You...... yes......"

Nasha, who originally wanted to refute, said softly in Chinese with a Shanghai accent:

"I'm a country girl who has never seen the world, but you, Your Royal Highness the Crown Prince, don't know where you have been except Nanjing?"

Her words only made Chen Yixuan dumbfounded, and he was about to open his mouth to refute, but he listened to an unceremonious word.

"It turns out that the crown prince is just a canary in a cage......"

Said disapprehantly, Nasha turned her eyes out the window again, to admire those strange oriental-style buildings, she didn't look at Chen Yixuan's annoyance on the side, and even secretly laughed in her heart, is it possible that this little adult will also be angry?