1933 was the year when the empire officially entered the era of World War II.

After becoming the world's largest power economically, the empire immediately began to pursue a new foreign policy, actively planning to form an Asian cooperation alliance, by including Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Brunei, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Thailand and other Asian countries into the alliance, and by supporting Asian countries to expel British and American forces in Asia.

While expelling Britain and the United States, the empire established its military and economic interests throughout Asia through the leadership of the Asian League.

To some extent, Song Biao's round-the-world visit in the second half of 1933 was only a cover for this plan, and while he visited the Soviet Union, Germany, Britain, the United States, France, and other powers, Foreign Minister Gu Weijun would secretly visit Asian countries, first building the Asian League around the imperial protectorate, and then absorbing Saudi Arabia and Thailand.

At the same time, the empire will continue to sign new bilateral trade agreements with the member states such as China and Iran, China and Thailand, and expand the empire's investment in Asia.

After communicating with the French presidential envoy, General Wigan, Song Biao changed his original visit itinerary, took a train directly from Omsk to Moscow to visit the Soviet Union, and then continued to visit Poland, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, and Spain along the railway, and the last stop of the European tour was the United Kingdom, and then took a boat from London to Canada for a visit, and continued to visit the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and then Australia and Brunei, ending the entire visit, and returning to China in mid-June next year to preside over the summer Lushan Conference.

On the one hand, the Asian Union has a huge threat and suppressive effect on the Asian League, and on the other hand, the empire also tried to downplay this threat in the early days of the establishment of the Asian League.

In the same way, trade between the empire and the Soviet Union has also become prosperous, and there has always been a great complementarity between the Chinese and Soviet economies, and China exports machinery, textile products, agricultural and animal husbandry products, sugar, tobacco, liquor, and non-staple food products to the Soviet Union, and imports mineral resources, oil, and timber from the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union is currently the country with the largest trade deficit with China in the world, with 70% of its imports coming from China.

The Soviet Union is a very serious threat, but as long as the Soviet Union does not clearly fall to the evil axis of Nazi Germany, the Reich will not have to force the Soviet Union into the Soviet-German coalition camp that worries the Reich the most.

It was precisely for this reason that when Foreign Minister Gu Weijun went to Iran on his first stop, Song Biao decided to put the first stop of his 1933 round-the-world tour in the Soviet Union.

On August 15, 1933, Song Biao, his wife Empress Shu Xuan, and daughter Princess Yuanyuan flew to Omsk by special plane, and then transferred to Moscow by train.

In China, we have been accustomed to the low noise and high-speed stability of the new electrified train, and the feeling of riding this kind of steam engine train again is very peculiar, the development speed of the CEV system of the Imperial Electric Train in the past ten years has been particularly fast, and in the field of steam engine trains, there is a lack of funds and scientific research investment, and only the steam train technology of the French company Tars has been introduced as a supplement.

Song Biao is now taking this train is from France to introduce technical improvements of the FET6 train, the maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour, the normal rated speed is 75 kilometers per hour, for the long-term needs of the development of trade between the two countries, China and the Soviet Union in 1930 to the Sino-Soviet railway carried out a large-scale unified upgrading, taking advantage of this opportunity, the Soviet Union also introduced this series of models, track control and monitoring systems from China.

The train sped through the Ural mountains, over the places where CSKA had fought, and as far as the reich, CSKA had crossed the Eurasian dividing line and fought in Soviet European territory.

Time flies, and it was just a trance that had become an old thing thirteen years ago.

Song Biao also has a lot of feelings about this, as a royal train, the carriage has been transformed very specially, Song Biao and Empress Shu have a single carriage as a bedroom, Shu Xuan's health has not been very good over the years, so a new carriage was set up in front of him as Emperor Song's reception room, where he can quietly read, or smoke, and talk with other diplomatic officials.

Sitting in this carriage, Song Biao lit a very ordinary cigarette, and looked at the empty forest in the distance casually, Foreign Minister Gu Weijun and Vice Foreign Minister Shi Zhaoji have other tasks, and the person in charge of accompanying him on his visits to Europe and the United States this time is Lu Zhengxiang, the Minister General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Europe.

Lu Zhengxiang is a veteran of the Imperial Foreign Ministry, who has served as deputy foreign minister in both cabinets, and unlike the deputy foreign minister, the foreign minister's general director in Europe is stationed in Belgium and is directly in charge of the work of the foreign ministry in Europe.

Because his first wife was Belgian, Lu Zhengxiang was also one of the very few Catholics in the imperial cabinet.

There are many affairs to be done on this trip, and there are many countries and institutions that need to be contiguous, and in the train, the officials of the inner court and the official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in each carriage are actively busy, constantly contacting the embassies in various countries by telegram to confirm the itinerary and the specific time of the visit.

In the emperor's exclusive reception room, only Lu Zhengxiang and Shu Fangde, the chief of the inner court, accompanied the emperor.

Due to physical factors, Zhang Futian only retained the post of first-class chief of the inner chamberlain for the past two years and took a leave of absence at the Shenyang Military Headquarters, and most of his work was transferred to General Shu Fangde, the chief of the inner court, and Major General Chen Jiayou.

Song Biao smoked a cigarette silently, thinking in his heart about the various complex surnames of the Soviet Union, in fact, whether it is a Sino-Soviet contradiction or a Sino-Chinese contradiction, it itself has the possibility of irreconcilability and concession, but in any case, the empire is indeed to prepare for the most difficult situation of the joint attack of the three countries at the same time, but it is also necessary to try its best to avoid such a situation, try to divide the three countries, it is best to maintain a relatively stable situation with the Soviet Union, even if it is to fight for a time difference, it is best not to face the siege of three enemy countries at the same time.

World politics is complicated, as the contradictions between the Soviet Union and Britain have expanded dramatically in these years, the empire also needs to use the Soviet Union to resist and distract the little energy left in the British Empire, the Soviet Union also has to consider the special situation after the war with Britain and the blockade of the sea frontier by the British, if that is the case, the Soviet Union needs to maintain peace with the empire.

It is precisely because of this that the Chinese Emperor's visit to the Soviet Union this time took place.

…… Airplanes are always faster than trains.

When Emperor Song was still on that train to the mainland, Imperial Foreign Minister Gu Weijun had already arrived in Tehran, the capital of the Kingdom of Iran, by special plane, as the foreign minister of the Empire, Gu Weijun had a strong enough control over Iran, and like most Asian countries allied with the Empire, in Iran, the Empire also arranged a central advisory group and state advisers to assist Iran in handling internal and diplomatic affairs.

Unlike colonial rule, the state advisers and advisory groups arranged by the empire usually do not adopt a tough and coercive attitude, and traditional Chinese culture is not keen on the colonial rule policies of Europe and the United States.

On this basis, the Central Advisory Group only provides the protectorates with modern management experience and models based on China's governance experience and modern management knowledge, as well as knowledge in specialized fields, to help the protectorates develop their economies, make rational use of the political axe support loans provided by the empire, and open up financial and other economic cooperation to the empire.

However, the empire chose to support the birth of the Pahlavi dynasty because the Persian Qajar dynasty was so corrupt that even if the last monarch appeared weak and weak, it was not enough to give the Iranians new hope.

The acquiescence and supportive attitude of the empire ultimately protected the Pahlavi dynasty.

The new Iranian king Reza Shah. Pahlavi was obviously disappointed, because the empire initially informed Iran that His Majesty would be the first to visit Iran during his round-the-world tour, which made King Reza Khan excited and honored, but did not expect that in the end it was only Foreign Minister Gu Weijun who came.

King Reza Khan and Imperial Foreign Minister Gu Weijun can also be regarded as knowing each other, and the two have met and met many times.

Although disappointed, King Reza Khan was obviously well aware of the special real power of this foreign minister Gu by the side of Emperor Hua and in the central political axe of the empire, and did not dare to slack off to greet Gu Weijun with the most noble etiquette.

In order to show the strength of the empire, Gu Weijun chose to take the latest SE-70 transport aircraft of the Shenyang Aircraft Company of Northeast Heavy Industry Group, which is a follow-up improvement of the SE-35, with 70 seats and a maximum load of 23 tons.

The disadvantage of this large aircraft is that the fuel consumption rate is too high, and two oversized star engines are used in order to pursue the load load, so it has lost many bids to Jiangnan Fudao Company in the competition among airlines, and the sales volume is not as good as the original SE-35 passenger aircraft.

In order to support this large aircraft, which had invested a huge amount of research money, the Imperial Air Force quickly procured 160 aircraft, and as support, the Imperial Central Political Axe also purchased six as business jets.

As the 201 project and the Far East consortium invested heavily in the development of the SE-70 transport aircraft because of the use of too many new technologies and has many shortcomings, especially the new model of the engine fuel consumption rate is too high The problem is criticized, but its biggest advantage is the strange aerodynamic shape and huge size.

The SE-70 transport aircraft went through a large number of wind tunnel tests during the development process, and finally chose a very strange coupling type twin-tail liner layout, similar to the later C119 transport aircraft and P38 lightning fighter in the United States, characterized by long sailing distance and large fuel load, this is because of the high fuel consumption rate of the new engine and forced to adopt a special structure, but also makes the SE-70 transport aircraft in the existing technical conditions to achieve a very high transport capacity, but also the only large aircraft in service that can airborne tanks.

The huge and strange shape of the aircraft has always had a high reputation around the world, which is enough to prove that China is strong in the field of science and technology, as well as strong national power.

It was on such a special plane that Gu Weijun arrived at the Shah of Iran Airport.

Under the influence of traditional Confucian culture, the collective image of imperial diplomats in the international world is elegance, and even in the protectorate countries such as Cambodia and Brunei, imperial diplomats and state advisers regard themselves as fair and benevolent, which is completely different from the kind of forceful diplomacy of Britain, France, and the Soviet Union.

Gu Weijun is a model of this kind of imperial diplomat, noble and elegant, full of poetry and books, shrewd, sensitive and open-minded, and he is also a well-known national beauty man in the imperial foreign department.

King Reza Khan personally arrived at the airport to greet Gu Weijun, and a grand welcome ceremony was arranged at the airport, and the two shook hands under the boarding bridge, because they had met several times before, and the two sides were still relatively familiar.

Seeing King Reza Khan, Gu Weijun first sent a pair of red Chixia Dan porcelain vases from the royal porcelain kiln and a handwritten letter from His Majesty the Emperor Hua. Pahlavi was particularly pleased, returning the gift with a celadon vase and Persian carpet from the Persian dynasty's collection.

After exchanging gifts, Gu Weijun and Reza Shah. Pahlavi apologized: "It is a pity that His Majesty the Emperor of China has temporarily decided to adjust the route of his global visit, and His Majesty the Emperor also regrets this, and specially asked me to come and apologize to you, and I hope you can understand." We always say that we should be friendly to our friends and even more friendly to our enemies, and the threat of the Soviet Union to the empire and Asia was enormous, and in order to ensure the security of the empire and its Asian allies, in addition to the strength of the empire, sincerity and friendship were also needed, even if it was a trivial friendship, and Your Majesty hoped that it would play some role. ”

Reza Shah. Pahlavi dared to accuse Emperor Song no matter how unhappy he was, and immediately replied: "I can understand the mind of His Majesty Emperor Hua, and if I want to apologize for this, it really makes me extremely frightened." China is a great country, His Majesty the Emperor is the greatest emperor in the world, without the full support of China and His Majesty the Emperor, as well as the military mutual assistance agreement between China and Iran, Iran would not have the freedom of reading today, we will be extremely grateful to China and the great Emperor Hua at all times. ”

Gu Weijun smiled slightly and said, "Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty the King." ”

After the two talked for a while, they took a car to the royal palace, and on the way, Reza Shah. Pahlavi couldn't wait to put forward the idea of buying an airplane, not only to buy military fighters, but also to buy the giant passenger plane that Gu Weijun was flying as a special plane for the royal family and the Iranian prime minister.

The price of the aircraft is still relatively cheap now, and a normal fighter is only four or five thousand yuan, but a large transport aircraft like the SE-70 is two different things, and its single price is more than 420,000 yuan, which can be called the most expensive aircraft in the world at present.

This price is still a loss price, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Central Academy of Aeronautics, and the Northeast Institute of Aeronautical Power have not invested in the cost, otherwise the price of a single aircraft will be at least more than 700,000.

Nowadays, it is a loss to make money, and the accumulation of technical advantages is the first.

Iran is still a relatively wealthy country, Reza Shah. The Pahlavi kings apparently did not take this expenditure seriously, and ordered 20 in one go.

Iran is not a country with only oil and gas resources, according to the ten-year mining census report conducted by the empire with the assistance of Iran, Iran's copper resources are about 2 billion tons, ranking among the top in the world, and the current census results of the entire Chinese empire are only about 600 million tons, and the copper and gold mines found in the Songgong and Dumeke regions are world-class reserves.

Iran's total reserves of lead-zinc-silver ore are also among the highest in the world, coupled with its rich ilmenite resources, the empire has been investing a lot of capital in the past ten years to develop mineral industry and oil and gas resources in Iran, and the empire has exported large-scale coal to Iran to make up for the lack of Iran's oil resources, and at the same time helped Iran to build natural gas and heavy oil power plants to solve Iran's power supply problem.

The empire itself does not have a direct monopoly on Iran's oil industry, but operates the Iranian oil company in the name of CITIC and the Iranian political axe, controlling Iran's main oil-producing areas, some of which are reserved for other private oil companies.

Therefore, Iran is a very rich country, and it is precisely because of its money that Iran can buy military equipment from China on a large scale, and even in this meeting, Iran will buy two high-speed battleships and four heavy cruisers from China.

In addition to this, the empire is also supporting other basic industries in Iran, selling machinery and equipment and other industrial products to Iran.

If China wants to achieve a major industrial upgrading, it is very important to support Iran and Thailand to develop basic industries, and only in this way can we expand the market of the whole of Asia and promote the development of the domestic machinery and machine tool industry, heavy industry and electrical industry.

At this stage, China was the most moderate and just among the world powers, giving these countries full freedom of reading and face, and in exchange for friendship, they also ended up with real benefits, and firmly controlled these countries economically.

Therefore, Iran does not have any possibility of rejecting China's current plan to build an Asian cooperation alliance.

On the way to the palace, Gu Weijun shared the empire's plan for the establishment of the Asian Cooperation Alliance with that of Reza Shah. Pahlavi communicated with Reza Shah. Pahlavi apparently did not have any objection to this, he was only worried about the reaction of Britain and the USSR.

Gu Weijun didn't answer this question immediately, when the car drove into the palace and walked out of the car, he thought about this question again and suddenly thought of it and Reza Shah. Pahlavi reminded: "Your Majesty, it is impossible to move forward with a pile of scrap iron, they will only be discarded in the scrapyard and constantly corroded, and only by assembling them into a car can they speed forward at high speed and be unstoppable." China and Iran have already read their strength, but there are still many countries in Asia that are still in the dark world ruled by the world powers, and only when we unite can Asia become a respectable Asia, an inviolable Asia. ”

Reza Shah. Pahlavi praised with great interest: "Foreign Minister Gu, your analogy is really very subtle and clever, but the Iranian people are tired of war, and it is impossible for us to fight for the cause of other peoples." ”

Gu Weijun replied simply: "His Majesty Emperor Hua and I both believe that Iran can become a great country, and you must have such hope, but we need a lot of efforts to develop slowly." ”

Reza Shah. Pahlavi did not answer, he knew that China was determined to promote the establishment of such an organization, and for Iran and Afghanistan, they had no way to refuse China's invitation, and without China's protection, they were not normal reading countries at all.

Of course, the benefits of cooperating with China are always very numerous, such as a lot of investment from China and economic development, military development, and equipment renewal.

Compared with Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States, China is a sincere world empire, and the advisory group from China has not only provided Iran with rich and reliable knowledge and experience in administrative and economic construction, but also provided Iran with a complete set of military modernization planning and basic industrial planning, including the military industry, and China is also willing to provide long-term support policies.

It simply doesn't get much better than this in this world.

Iran's Gurestan Palace is one of the most beautiful royal palaces in the world, Gu Weijun has seen too many royal palaces in his life, in his opinion, the most beautiful palace among the exotic palaces should be the Brunei Palace, followed by the Rose Palace in Iran.

Here, he also met with Yan Huiqing, Iranian state adviser to the Central Advisory Group stationed in Iran, and Hu Shize, minister to Iran, who were called prime ministers precisely because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had the largest real power among the cabinet departments, and was in charge of foreign affairs.

Gu Weijun is the imperial prime minister in charge of all foreign affairs.

After meeting with Yan Huiqing and Hu Shize, in a foreign place, the three of them are quite nostalgic here.

The empire is so powerful that they are the symbol of the empire abroad.

At the palace of Gurestan Palace, Gu Weijun spoke to Reza Shah in his capacity as the foreign minister of the empire. The Pahlavi king had a very in-depth conversation, and there are always big men on top of the sky when the sky falls, even if Britain and the Soviet Union have great hostility and oppression towards the Asian League, after all, there is the Chinese Empire behind it.

Under Gu Weijun's simple and shrewd persuasion, Reza Shah. The Pahlavi king quickly put aside some of his fears and decided to formally join the Asian League, forming a fuller military and economic alliance with China.

Of course, Reza Shah. Pahlavi is also a fuel-efficient lamp, and he took the opportunity to obtain some special aid loans with the empire, and Gu Weijun did not directly refuse the part within the scope of rights.

and Reza Shah. After the talks between the Pahlavi kings, Gu Weijun, accompanied by Yan Huiqing and Hu Shize, went to the imperial embassy in Iran.

Gu Weijun thought silently in his heart, it still takes a lot of effort to build the Asian League organization, and convince Reza Shah. The Pahlavi Shah is only the first link, and there is still a lot of work to be done.

He didn't like Reza Shah. Pahlavi kings.

He has always felt that the king's superficial deference to China is just a false compulsion, and behind the scenes, the king still admires the European and American powers more, even if he has been bullied by the British, he is still eager to cooperate with the British.

It was he many times with Sashah. Pahlavi had a direct feeling of dealing with him, so he felt the need to create some intelligence and new events to make Reza Shah. Pahlavi's relations with Britain became very strained, or he was holding the right size for Reza Shah. Pahlavi warned a little.

People who are too good at talking often don't get the most respect.

This is a very simple truth.

(To be continued)