Chapter 20: The Empire's Abacus on the Never Set

An empire on which the sun never sets is an empire in which the sun sets on one part of the territory while the sun still hangs high on another part of the territory, and is often used to describe prosperity, strength, and prosperity

All had colonies and held the hegemony of the empire at the time.

The term "empire on which the sun never sets" was first used to describe the Spanish Empire in the 16th century, and it comes from a passage written by King Carlos I of Spain.

"In my land, the sun never sets."

In the 19th century, the term was popularly used as another name for the British Empire, especially during the Victorian era, when it was published in England

The map depicts the British Empire in pink, vividly illustrating British hegemony on a global scale. The territory of the British Empire is represented in all 24 time zones on Earth. The international order under British hegemony was called "Peace under Britain".

In 1865, the British economist Jevons described it this way: The plains of North America and Russia are our corn fields, Canada and the Baltic Sea are our forest areas, Australia is our pastures, Peru is our silver mines, South Africa and Australia are our gold mines, India and China are our tea plantations, the East Indies are our sugar cane, coffee, and spice plantations, and the southern United States is our cotton plantations.

This is by no means Jevons' show-off, what he says is the truth, in fact, in the hundred years since the Battle of Trajafar, all

No country has as much international influence as Britain, no country dares to challenge the "peace under Great Britain", and no one can shake Britain as this

The status of the only "superpower".

This does not mean, however, that peace under Great Britain will never be challenged, and in fact there will always be a constant stream of challengers on the European continent and in North America, some of whom will eventually become "friends" of Britain and others who will become enemies of Britain.

The UK has all

The largest overseas colonies, overseas markets, and for the backward countries of Europe, this is undoubtedly their dream, in order to let their flag enjoy the glory of the sun setting forever, there will always be people who stand up and challenge Britain, starting with industrial economic competition, then to the arms race, and finally, that is war.

Now, 109 years after the Battle of Trajafar, peace under Great Britain has been turned upside down, and a strong challenger is trying to challenge the British order by force.

war

At this time, Britain was involved in the war, and Britain was involved in the war that really affected the lifeblood of the country after the Battle of Tralagafar, and in the face of the challenge from Germany, Britain categorically chose to respond to the war.

"The British team has no clocks and no calendars...... It took Britain 20 years to defeat Napoleon...... In this war, the war will go on for as long as it takes, and Britain will fight to the end until our enemies are completely defeated"

Chancellor of the Exchequer Lloyd? George's words show Britain's determination in the face of challenges.

"Do we have any other options?"

Inside the Prime Minister's office at 16 Downing Street, Herbert? Henry? Prime Minister Asquith tapped his fingers nervously on the desk in front of him. At this time he looked tired and annoyed, and as he spoke, he looked up at Churchill, the Admiralty-Chancellor, in front of him.

"I don't think we have any other choice at this time,"

Churchill affirmed.

"At least not yet"

"What you really mean is the current situation

So desperate? ”

"You know, China's population is almost twice the population of Britain, France, and Russia, and they are very rich in resources, although there is no oil.

But they had the right to extract oil in the southern Dominion of the Dutch, and they had garrisons that could take charge of the Southern Dominion at any time, so as to obtain the output of 10 million tons of oil per year, and through nine years of development,

Industrialized China can provide all the weapons needed for war, from Zhiyuan ships to airplanes, any kind of weapons needed on the battlefield."

"Let's take a look at the letters of the Chinese emperor."

At this time, the First Admiral Fisher suddenly said that after the outbreak of the war, he was asked by Churchill to re-serve as the First Admiralty, the Admiralty, and now he is in charge of the combat readiness of the entire navy.

As everyone in London knows, Fisher was a pro-China faction in Britain, and after he stepped down from his post as First Admiral four years ago, he went to China for a visit and stayed in China for three years. ,

The letter from the Chinese Emperor was forwarded by the Chinese Embassy, and in fact it was a telegram from China, which was then written by the Embassy's civil officer, explaining his military operations in German East Africa and the German New Guinea Civil War.

"Respect Prime Minister Asquith.

China builds a modern military

The bitter lessons of the past tell us that only with a strong military can the country and the nation maintain their dignity and the people can enjoy peace and happiness, and to build a strong military force, we need not only a strong military strength, but also a strong comprehensive strength, in order to have a strong army, and it is for this reason that we learn from Germany for the army, from Britain for the navy, and from the United States for law,...... As we all know, after the founding of the Chinese Empire, the German Empire was the first European power to wait for me on an equal footing, and then China and Germany had signed an alliance treaty because of the need for the two countries, and Germany gave China a lot of help, in nine years, more than 150,000 Chinese students studied in Germany, nearly 30,000 German experts worked in the Chinese government and enterprises, and with their help, China has achieved the modern transformation of the country, the government has been able to build a responsible government, and the enterprise has become a modern enterprise, so to speak, there is no Germany, There will be no progress and development in China."

The content of the letter, which only surprised everyone, yes, this is a well-known fact,

The reality is that China has attacked such a country that has "benevolence" to its country.

"It can be said that there is a wide range of pro-German in China

What is certain is that if it had not been for the delay and persuasion of the Cabinet and the Cabinet, the renewal of the Sino-German Treaty of Alliance would have been approved by the Reichstag, and China would have declared war on France, Russia, and Great Britain for the German alliance."

When the secretary read this, everyone's expressions became very complicated, and no one could doubt the existence of a pro-German faction in China, a country that had industrialized with the help of Germany, and thus became a member of the civilized state, indeed, as the emperor said, it was not at all unusual that China would become an ally of Germany in such a deep pro-German sentiment, and in fact, until China declared war on Germany, Britain was most worried about the direction of China.

China's Navy

may be far inferior to Britain and France,

When the British and French navies

When they were all caught in the European battlefield, the entire Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, there was none

Even if the United States has 13 Zhiyuan-class warships, it cannot guarantee that it can defeat the Chinese Navy, which only has 10 Zhiyuan-class and super-Zhiyuan-class warships.

whole

Except for China, no country's Zhiyuan ship has ever been engaged in naval warfare, and the Chinese Navy may be young.

However, he has rich experience in naval warfare, especially in the use of Zhiyuan ships.

“…… The German Empire's challenge to the international order by force had a serious impact on the interests of all countries, and in this regard, China and Britain shared the same viewpoint, and they also had common interests, and, more importantly, the reason why China built up its military

for the purpose of maintaining one's own security, and not for the benefit of others or for the expansion of one's own country,......"

Everyone smiled knowingly, in the eyes of anyone, this was just a lie, for that emperor, they could be said to know very well, in his eyes there was always only interests, all this is just his excuse.

“…… However, if we fail to take corresponding measures, China may now have declared war on France and Russia, which is undoubtedly undesirable to see and is not in China's interests, China yearns for peace, and will not hesitate to pay any price for the great peace of its own country, and in order to avoid China's complete involvement in the war, only by taking decisive corresponding measures can we ensure the peace and ...... of our country."

Although he understands that what is mentioned in his letter is true,

In this letter, they still see the emperor's true intentions - China's expansion and China's interests.

Six years ago, when the Chinese empress's name changed from the "British-Persian Oil Company" to the "China-Persian Oil Company", the Sino-Polish Oil Company in Persia, extracted oil from its oil fields. Faced with Britain's request for a share of the shares, he refused without hesitation, even sending a training fleet to the Persian Gulf.

Interests: In his eyes, there are only interests.

Declaring war on Britain is not in the interests of China, he will not do it,

Declaring war on Germany, but he can get some returns, so he will declare war on Germany, as for what to seize the German colonies, it is just to "block the mouth of the pro-German faction in China".

"What do you think?"

Herbert? Henry? Prime Minister Asquith looked up. ,

"The purpose of seizing 1,200,000 square kilometers of colonies was to force the pro-German faction at home to acquiesce in the declaration of war with practical interests, so as to prevent China from declaring war on the Entente as an ally of Germany."

Fisher smiled faintly, his mind reminding him of the words he had said to his old friend after his dinner when he returned to England from China last year.

"Your Excellency, when I returned to England last year, His Majesty of China mentioned to me that he was very worried about the existence of a large number of pro-German factions in the country, precisely because of China's position after Germany became involved in the war against Britain

He will do it. ”

"What do you think—"

Herbert? Henry? Prime Minister Asquith hesitated, as if thinking about something.

"In fact, the Chinese emperor was pro-British?"

This sentence is equivalent to not saying that he will not be pro-British,

Between Germany and Britain, the Chinese imperial family may be more inclined to Britain, and it is by no means that the Chinese emperor is a British nobleman, and the fundamental reason is that the Chinese emperor clearly knows the British

and the determination of the UK in the face of challenges.

"At least he didn't want war with Britain"

Fisher recognized

Said.

"If we try to force China to surrender these two German colonies, then he will certainly not be able to give an account to the pro-German faction at home, and at that time, even if he is like him, he will have to choose to hold peace talks with Germany, and in fact, the Chinese Congress will still agree to declare war on Germany."

Fisher, when he said this, turned his gaze to the foreign secretary, and the news was received from him.

"Yes, neither the House of Lords nor the House of Commons passed a proposal to declare war, and according to the provisions of the Chinese Constitution, the right to declare war is certainly vested in the emperor, but after the declaration of war, it still needs to be confirmed by both houses, and it is not ruled out that Germany will try to make China switch sides through diplomatic efforts in the future."

"It seems that the current situation is actually not optimistic for us."

Herbert? Henry? Prime Minister Asquith said thoughtfully.

"Yes, if China falls to the Germans, then at least until the defeat of the German navy, we cannot send even a cruiser to the Far East, and we must even be mentally prepared that the Chinese will occupy India."

When Fisher boldly stated this view, the whole person seemed very sure.

"They can even force Russia out of the war"

"Suppose we were at war with the Germans."

Churchill added, in fact, he looked down on those Chinese in his heart,

Now we have to face up to the impact of those Chinese on Britain who turned to Germany, which will be devastating, and unless the United States enters the war, Britain will not only lose its Asian colonies, but even Australia and New Zealand, which will be a nightmare anyway.

"What about the United States? What is Wilson's attitude now? ”

Prime Minister Asquith turned his gaze to the Foreign Secretary.

"The Americans will not declare war on Germany, at least not now"

No one in London could doubt that the United States would ally with Germany and declare war on Great Britain, and the British had no need to doubt this.

"Now the Chinese

occupied German New Guinea"

Prime Minister Asquith said alarmedly.

"This will certainly worsen public opinion in the United States, which is a country that is easily swayed by public opinion."

"Yes, Mr. Prime Minister, so, we should further increase our spending on American public opinion, so that public opinion can ensure that the United States is always on our side and eventually enters the war."

Churchill said confidently.

"Please go on."

Prime Minister Asquith nodded.

"Public opinion, there is no country like the United States, public opinion will occupy such an important position, in the United States public opinion can easily influence the politics of this country, I think we should increase the original 100,000 pounds a month to the American public opinion to 200,000 pounds a month, maybe this is a huge expenditure, but it is far from what we can get"

In this office, Churchill could talk without hesitation about the "advertising fee" in the United States, which is a secret in Britain, and in fact in the past few years, the British government has been paying the "advertising fee" of the American public opinion in order to make the American public opinion more favorable to Britain.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that?"

Prime Minister Asquith has not objected to spending more on advertising.

"We just need to make sure that one thing is that American public opinion does not fall to the United States and slide towards Germany, and as for how American public opinion rejects the Chinese and resists their expansion in the Pacific, as far as it seems now, in fact, this is in the interests of Britain." ,

At this time, Churchill was not at all a naval secretary, almost like a prime minister, thinking about the interests of Britain in all aspects, and in fact, for Churchill, nothing in the world could be compared with the interests of Britain.

"Is it possible for these two things to happen at the same time?"

Fisher's brow furrowed slightly, and he was somewhat skeptical of the possibility of Churchill's proposal. He may have had a good personal relationship with the Chinese royal family, but he was also an Englishman, and he had British interests in mind first and foremost.

"Now, when Britain doesn't

To stop China's expansion, we have to rely on the United States

Preventing China's expansion is an opportunity for Britain when the tensions between the United States and China over the Pacific intensify. ”

After a while, Churchill continued:

"Now, maybe the British one

There is no way to control the two countries, but neither China nor the United States is capable of defeating each other in the Pacific, so no matter how public opinion deteriorates in both countries, both governments will exercise restraint, which will probably last until the end ......of the war and after the war is over."

Before Churchill could finish speaking, a sudden thought swept through Prime Minister Asquith's mind.

"What you mean is that China and the United States will have a new arms race because of the Pacific."

"It's inevitable"

Churchill recognized

said, and immediately said what he thought.

"When China and the United States are caught in an arms race at sea, then both the United States and China must consider the question of which side of their competition Britain is."

"Whichever side Britain is on, that side will be the real winner in the Pacific"

Prime Minister Asquith smiled and touched his chin.

"It's really in the UK's interests and in the future."

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lloyd's? George took the initiative to say at this time.

"If China and the United States engage in a naval arms race, then neither China nor the United States will have to do everything in their power to enlist the support of the United Kingdom, and only then will they be able to emerge victors."

"So, all we need to do now is ......"

Churchill paused, smiled before continuing.

"Acquiescing in the Chinese occupation of German New Guinea, and telling the Chinese through appropriate channels that we can accept their occupation of German New Guinea,

In return......"

"What?"

"The Chinese must make certain concessions in German East Africa."

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