In modern Asia, there are only three countries that have not completely become colonies, that is, Japan, China and Siam, many people know more about China and Japan, Japan carried out the Meiji Restoration, not only got rid of the fate of the colony, but also became a rising power, while China did not completely fall because of its own huge size and popular resistance.

And how did Siam do this in such a small country, in fact, the secret is very simple, that is, Li Hongzhang advocated to raze and raze, walking a tightrope between the powers, Siam is the future Thailand, located in the Indochina Peninsula, since the beginning of the Age of Discovery, Portuguese and Spanish colonists have come to the South Seas.

The Siamese people keenly discovered the contradictions between Spain and Portugal, and then decisively introduced the power of the Netherlands, so that they maintained their independent status in the early period of the colonial era, and then Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands all declined, and the British and French power rose, and Siam still took the same measures and maneuvered between Britain and France.

At this time, the British occupied India and Burma, the French took Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and the two sides had formed a balance of power, and Siam was sandwiched in the middle.

Any country attaches great importance to face, especially the big powers, if they are too close, it will inevitably cause some friction, and even a big war is inevitable, no matter which of Britain and France occupies Siam, the two countries will inevitably clash, so Britain and France are relatively jealous.

It is precisely because of this mentality of Britain and France that King Rama V Chulalongkorn of Siam successfully maneuvered between the two powers, and carried out fruitful reforms, turning Siam into a modern country and an important buffer zone in Southeast Asia.

Revered as the father of modern Thailand, Chulalongkorn died in 1910, but Siam continued to follow his established national policy. At this time, it was Chulalongkorn's youngest son, Rama VII, who was in power in Thailand. There was also Rama VI in the middle, but since he had no son, he passed the throne to his younger brother in the middle.

In fact, Rama VII did not want to be this king, he was well aware of the difficulties in the future of Siam, and the small country had to have its own consciousness, and the reason why Siam was able to maintain its independence was because of the balance between the great powers. And with the end of the First World War, both Britain and France were severely weakened.

The rapid growth of China's power, especially in the Battle of North Vietnam, in which France was forced to spit out half of Vietnam, was a huge shock to Southeast Asia, coupled with the earlier Battle of Northern Burma. Siam was already smelling something unusual.

China is rising! The old sect master is back!!

Siam, like all Nanyang countries, has always had a huge shadow in its heart, that is, the former Heavenly Empire, the Central Plains Dynasty! It was only one or two hundred years since the Western colonial powers entered the South Seas, but China had influenced the region for thousands of years before that, and it can be said that it is deeply rooted.

At first, the Siamese also had illusions that they would be able to use China as a counterweight to the Western colonial powers, but they soon discovered that China was hopelessly declining. It's not just Western powers. Even Japan can't beat it and has become a piece of fat. Anyone can cut a knife, and there is no hope at all.

However, beyond the imagination of all Siamese, China broke out in the revolution to overthrow the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and then China gradually ended its state of chaos, re-became a unified country, and quickly restored its sovereignty, fought in the north and south, drove Britain, France, Japan, Russia and other countries out of the mainland, and not long ago defeated the Japanese combined fleet, becoming the most powerful maritime power in East Asia.

Just when the Siamese people clearly knew that the wind direction had changed, the Celestial Empire had returned again, the international balance of power had changed seriously, and for a small country, it was time to take sides again, and there was no doubt that this was the most difficult moment, and one wrong step would be doomed.

After careful weighing, Siam still believes that it should first show goodwill to China, and it is best to bring in China's power to balance Britain and France, everyone knows that the three-legged stand is the most stable structure, so Siam took the lead in sending an invitation on the occasion of China's victory over Japan, hoping that the Chinese Navy can visit Siam and recount the situation.

It is also China's established national policy to attack the South Seas, but now the situation in the South Seas is very chaotic, and the most powerful is the United Kingdom, followed by France and the United States, and the Netherlands.

It would not be good for the war between the Caucasians and the Yellow race to turn into a war between the Caucasians and the Yellow race, so Siam's invitation undoubtedly provided the best excuse for China, and the Chinese government immediately decided to send the battleship Guangxi to visit Siam, and at the same time, Foreign Minister Gu Weijun and Finance Minister Jiang Yonggui led a delegation of more than 200 people to Bangkok.

China's visit to Siam with such fanfare naturally aroused everyone's minds, especially for countries such as Britain and France, which China is increasingly afraid of, is it impossible for China to intervene in the South Seas!

Soon, Britain and France learned through secret channels that China was going to strengthen exchanges with Siam and discuss the issue of the Kra Canal, and that China was willing to send manpower and financial resources to help Siam build this canal and promote Siam's economic development!

After hearing the news, the British were furious, Singapore was under the control of the British at this time, that is to say, the Strait of Malacca is just a plaything in the hands of the British, if the Kra Canal is completed, Singapore's position will be greatly weakened.

According to Mahan's doctrine, the narrow waterways that connect the seas are invaluable to the rise and fall of an empire, and to control it is to control the lifeline of the sea, and thus the world!

The reason why the empire can run rampant in the world, in addition to the huge navy, there is also a major foundation is that the sea arteries such as the Strait of Gibraltar, the Suez Canal, and the Strait of Malacca are firmly controlled by them, and China's attempt to build the Kra Canal at this time is simply digging the ancestral grave of the British, how can John Bull not be crazy!

"President, the British ambassador has lodged a protest, hoping that China can explain the matter of the Kra Canal, and our step can be regarded as touching the lifeblood of the British!"

Qiao Yu didn't answer directly, but said with a smile: "Brother Baili, a few years ago, the diplomatic relations between countries and China were still at the level of ministers, and it was obvious that China was regarded as an inferior country, and the meaning of humiliation was obvious, but at that time, these ministers all became emperors one by one. Dictate to the Chinese government. Flying and arrogant, now they have all become ambassadors, but they can only put forward some painless protests, the Chinese often say that thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in Hexi, that's the reason! ”

Jiang Baili's face was full of smiles, and it felt really good to be protested by others. "President, in fact, the British are also doing this too much, the Kra Canal is more than 100 kilometers, and it will not be completed in ten years, and we still have to do a preliminary investigation, so the British don't need to be in such a hurry!"

"Hahaha! Brother Baili. You still don't understand the meaning of this, for example, the U.S. stock market, why has it risen wildly over the years, to put it bluntly, it is a matter of confidence, everyone thinks that the U.S. economy will have greater development, so they are willing to invest money in it, as if it is a bubble, more and more. Bigger and bigger; The reverse is also true. If faith is lost, decline will only happen overnight. As long as the Kra Canal starts to be built, everyone will look down on Singapore, capital will not flow in, the economic situation will deteriorate, and if Britain sits idly by and watch China build the Kra Canal, it will mean that Britain is weak, and once it shows weakness, this colonial empire will mean the end! ”

In fact, Britain was able to maintain a huge colonial empire with the strength of island countries, to a large extent, because of fear, just like Britain before World War I, it had stood at a dizzying height, and there could be no retreat, no matter what the prospect was, it must fight to the death with Germany, that is, it could not show weakness, because once it showed weakness, it meant prosperity and decline, and the current situation in the South Seas is the same, and Britain has no way to retreat at all.

"President, since the Kra Canal is so important, once it is built, won't it be a showdown with the British?"

"There are clouds in the art of war, but the truth is virtual, and the virtual is real! This trick is both virtual and real, it depends on how Britain responds! ”

Qiao Yu showed a smug smile on his face, after all these years of experience, Qiao Yu has also made great progress in political skills, in the past, he relied on foresight and foresight to lay out in advance, and now Qiao Yu has learned to hang the horns of the antelope and use his strength to fight.

Everyone knows the intention of building the Kra Canal, if Britain doesn't care, China will simply turn this trick into a real move, drive a wedge in the South Seas, and then shake the British colonial order, if Britain jumps out to intervene, then Britain has to come up with benefits in exchange, otherwise China will definitely not let go!

Of course, Britain can also not exchange, then it can only rely on force to deal with China, but China at this time with the divine power of defeating Japan, Britain has the ability to fight with China, as long as the brain is normal, this situation will not occur.

It can be said that China went to Siam, and there was an extra chip in his hand out of thin air, which was simply made out of nothing, and Jiang Baili also guessed Qiao Yu's mind at this time.

"President, now that your methods are getting more and more sophisticated, no matter what the British do, they can't escape the calculation!"

"This is still a trail, if you don't have enough strength as a support, you can't play like this at all, and in order to make this play more realistic, I am also going to set up a canal company with Siam, and then get the New York IPO financing, I guess those Wall Street tycoons will definitely like this project!"

At this time, the United States already has the intention of replacing Britain, and Wall Street financiers are the most greedy group, China pulls them in, undoubtedly to make the chips in their hands more valuable, and when the time comes, Britain will highlight more blood, and it can deepen the contradictions between Britain and the United States!

"President, what are you going to exchange this chip for, Hong Kong, or the navy?"

Since the Beijing peace talks reached an agreement on the redistribution of the tonnage of the Navy's capital ships, all countries are actively preparing, of course, no one will be stupid to wait for negotiations, at this time the United States and Britain and other countries have begun to design and build new aircraft carriers, the Americans have a lot of money, put forward the strategy of aircraft carriers and battleships in parallel, Britain has also gritted its teeth to follow up, and a new naval competition is brewing.

China is also sparing no effort to develop its navy, and it is definitely a good thing to be able to exchange for a larger share at this time and clear the obstacles to China's development! (To be continued.) )

PS: Suddenly the network was disconnected, and it was sent late, sorry. Another mistake was corrected, Thailand was still called Siam at the time, and it was written incorrectly, but it was just a thing.