Not to mention how unhappy other governments are because of their compromise with the Nationalist government. At least for those who are waiting for the good news, it is worth celebrating.

After all, with the signing of the agreement, it will be difficult for the world in the future, at least for a short time, to have a war as tragic as the First World War. This is indeed a cause for celebration for the people of all countries who are tired of war...

Of course, the most lively celebrations are still on the Chinese side, except for Beijing, including Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan and Anqing, and other important cities, almost all of which have held very grand celebrations, and everywhere is a scene of lights.

Naturally, such a lively scene also needs to take precautions, especially the rectification of order is the top priority. For this reason, local governments in various localities have allocated a large number of manpower and material resources to maintain order. Thankfully, there were no incidents during the celebration, which was a relief to the organizers―――――― who apparently did not expect so many people to come to the celebration, even though they organized the celebration.

As long as they think of the consequences of an accident, these people can't help but sweat a layer of fine sweat on their heads...

Although the Six-Power Naval Treaty has ended, the Washington Conference has not, at least at this stage, only halfway through. The next topic was the Defense Treaty with the Soviet Union, a meeting on how countries should respond to the Soviet Russian threat.

With the convening of the "Defense Treaty with the Soviet Union," delegations from various countries also stepped into the meeting hall one after another.

Despite the dominance of this meeting. In fact, it is the United Kingdom, the United States, China, France, Japan and Italy. But as mentioned earlier, this "Washington Conference" is actually a follow-up to the previous "Versailles Peace Conference". The purpose of the conference was primarily to fix the loopholes that had arisen in the Peace of Versailles, and to ease the war after it had ended. There is no doubt about the fierce contradictions between the victorious powers, led by Britain――――――, the United States, China, France, and other countries, although during the First World War, Britain, France, and other countries were indeed close comrades-in-arms. But with the end of the war, this relationship has changed.

The contradictions, which had been concealed by the existence of the Allies, were reopened and exposed to the world with the end of the war.

Without some measures, it is difficult to say what will happen in the coming years. Will there be a new world war. In fact, not to mention a new world war, even if it is a large-scale local war for these countries that have won the war with great difficulty. It could already cause their already overburdened finances to collapse completely.

Therefore, in order to avoid the outbreak of war, it became particularly important to alleviate this contradiction, which became increasingly strict after the end of the war.

Nature. Since it is related to the post-war world order. Then it is not just the governments of Britain, the United States, China, and France that will participate in this meeting. A number of other countries, including the Netherlands and Portugal, were also invited to participate in the meeting.

Merely...

Their presence, in a way, can only be regarded as a posturing, as if it were a vase for decoration.

After all, whether in terms of strength or international influence, countries such as the Netherlands and Portugal have no way to compare with the regimes of the six countries. Even countries such as the Netherlands and Portugal themselves may not believe how much influence they can exert...

But on the other hand...

Looking at the representatives of the Portuguese government. Li Liang's eyes looked a little strict.

"Portugal..."

Pursing his lips, Li Liang seemed to be thinking about something in his heart.

Portugal. Once one of the maritime powers, there was a time when the Portuguese had footprints all over the world, including China, of course.

Of course, at that time, China obviously didn't know what Portugal was, and they just called the Portuguese 'Franco's.

Portugal is one of the countries on the Iberian Peninsula and has a fairly long history. Portugal is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south, and Spain to the north and east. Cabo da Roca, west of the capital Lisbon, is the westernmost point of continental Europe.

Since the 16th century, Portugal has played an active role in the Age of Discovery, becoming an important maritime power. In its heyday, Portugal even signed the Treaty of Tordesillas with Spain, intending to divide the world into two halves with Spain. At the same time, Portugal was also the country with the longest colonial history among the surviving European countries of Yan Shao's time, from the capture of Port Ceuta in North Africa in 1415 to the handover of Macao in 1999 (and the independence of East Timor in 2002, according to one calculation).

This once-vast colonial empire, which once included parts of the world's 53 countries, also made its official language, Portuguese, the mother tongue of 240 million people and the sixth largest language in the world. But beginning in the 19th century, Portugal declined rapidly with the independence of its largest colony, Brazil. The Portuguese Revolution overthrew the Portuguese royal family on October 5, 1910, and the establishment of an unstable democratic regime―――――― as it has been said in the past, that the Brazilians happened to encounter this incident when they sailed back home the battleships they had purchased in Europe.

It was this incident that made Brazilians understand what kind of behemoth they were controlling. So when the two battleships returned home, there was a mutiny among the sailors. While demanding better treatment from the Brazilian government at the time, naval artillery was also used to shell government institutions and barracks in the capital, Rio de Janeiro.

In the end, it was the Brazilian government that accepted the sailors' terms and put an end to the incident.

In addition to the mainland of continental Europe, the islands of Azov and Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean are also Portuguese territories. In some cases, the Azores have played a crucial role.

For example, after Columbus discovered the American continent, it became an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. The Azores have a unique geographical advantage and are also a stopover and stop for European adventurers on their way to the New World―――――― where they can replenish their fresh water and other supplies.

Of course, after the new era. Thanks to the development of seafaring technology, the position of the Azores seems to have become less important. After all, in the past, people had to stop temporarily in the Azores due to the backwardness of navigation technology, but with the development of navigation technology, docking in the Azores will slow down the voyage...

For new ships equipped with steam turbines, all they need to do. It's as simple as crossing the Atlantic directly from Europe to the American continent.

Therefore, there was a time when this archipelago was once extremely prosperous during the Age of Discovery. I was almost forgotten.

However, with the advent of a new form of transport, the Azores had a very brief period of glory―――――― becoming a refueling depot for those planes that crossed the Atlantic in the early twentieth century.

――――――――――――――――――――――――

With the independence of most of the colonies located in the world, especially Brazil. Once with Spain. Portugal, which dominated almost the entire world, has now degenerated into a very ordinary country, just like Spain today.

If you point to the uninformed about Portugal and Spain, which were once close to dominating the world, no one would want to believe that.

In fact, the reason why both Portugal and Spain were able to survive as neutrals in the war was probably because they had lost all their colonies, and they had nothing to covet...

But the Europeans did not. Not on behalf of the national government nor ...

At least in the hands of the Portuguese, there is something that is coveted by the Nationalist government...

Macau...

Honestly. In fact, Yan Shao was not very angry about the occupation of Macao by the Portuguese, really, not very angry.

At least there is no anger at the fact that Hong Kong was snatched by the British, because in Yan Shao's memory, Macau was deceived by the Portuguese. Since it was defrauded, then it can only be said that the Ming Dynasty was relatively stupid, so humiliating that it was not robbed.

But later Yan Shao learned that during the Ming Dynasty, Macau had always been China's territory. The Portuguese just rented the land there, and they had to pay rent every year, and at the same time, there was also a Chinese government in Macau, and the Portuguese had committed a crime, and they still needed to be punished according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty―――――― of course, the rent was not very much, at most it was only more than 500 taels.

However, for China at that time, all they cared about was the submission of foreign countries, and as for the money or not, it seemed that they really didn't care very much.

In fact, this situation was maintained until the Qing Dynasty. Even in the Qing Dynasty, Macau was still part of China's territory, there was still a yamen there, and the Portuguese still had to show a gesture of submission.

Will Portugal become a colony, or after the Opium Wars.

With the outbreak of the Opium War, China's foreign power has been fully revealed, so in 1887 the Portuguese and the Qing government signed a treaty, since then Macao officially became a Portuguese colony, but the colonization time is not very long, compared with places like Hong Kong only 40 years, that is to say, by 1928, the Portuguese need to return Macau...

This is also one reason why Li Liang will target the Portuguese...

――――――――――――――――――――――――

"Relying on the bloody struggle of the officers and men of the National Defense Forces and the wise leadership of the president, the only territories that our country is still living in exile are the domestic concessions of various countries, as well as Hong Kong and Macao."

"The issue of the concession is more troublesome, I am afraid that it will take a long time to talk, and the issue of Hong Kong, the attitude of the British in this matter is also more stubborn, I am afraid it is not easy to make them make concessions, or we need to try it slowly, but Macao is different, according to the treaty we signed with the Portuguese, in another 8 years the Portuguese must return Macao to our country, in addition to Portugal's national strength is weak, but our country is a strong country. So if we take the initiative to ask the Portuguese government to return Macau to our country, there is a good chance that the Portuguese will nod their heads and agree..."

Sit in your own seat. Gu Weijun said to Li Liang.

Before this trip, Yan Shao had already talked to Gu Weijun and asked them to take advantage of the opportunity of this meeting. Make some contacts with the Portuguese and create 'favourable conditions' for the recovery of Portugal.

And according to some judgments of Gu Weijun and others, it is not a particularly difficult thing to recover Portugal.

On the one hand, as I said before, the time is almost up, and there are basically only eight years left. On the other hand, Portugal, although it was once a strong country, can now only be called a weak country.

For the sake of a colony with only eight years to live, Portugal had little reason not to agree to the demands of the Communist. Of course, the government could not have demanded the return of Macau to the Portuguese so directly and forcefully―――――― although the military hardliners wanted to do so.

In the process. The social government will adopt some more tactful methods.

After all, the current national government is already sharp, and there is no need to do too many things that are easy to cause others to dislike, and now the national government needs to shape. is a relatively good image. When necessary, it is completely possible to give the Portuguese government some benefits, so that the Portuguese can return Macao willingly...

Merely...

After calculating for a while, Gu Weijun added in his heart with some worry. "The premise is in the process of contact with the Portuguese. There are no surprises. ”

Naturally that. Li Liang definitely couldn't hear Gu Weijun's heart, and after listening to Gu Weijun's judgment, Li Liang nodded and said.

"In that case, when this meeting is over, we will invite the Portuguese representatives to our embassy, and let's have a good talk, as long as the Portuguese are willing to return Macao, then even if it is okay to give them some benefits..."

"Understood..."It wasn't Gu Weijun or Bu Zigao who spoke. Rather, the ambassador to Washington, who has been standing next to him. "When the meeting is over, I'll arrange it right away..."

"Yes." I heard my subordinates say that. Li Liang nodded with satisfaction, and then refocused his attention on the stage.

――――――――――――――――――――――――

As if noticing the gaze of Li Liang, Gu Weijun and others, the representative of the Portuguese government looked towards the seat of the Chinese delegation.

At the same time, next to the representative of the Portuguese government, a young man who looked to be in his 30s and looked like a gentleman spoke softly beside the representative of the Portuguese government.

"It seems that there is not much difference from what the intelligence says, this time the Chinese plan to take the opportunity of the meeting to take back Macao from your country..."

"This..."Glancing at the young man beside him, the Portuguese representative couldn't help but smile bitterly. In fact, I think that since there are only less than eight years left before the date of return of Macao, it is nothing even if it is returned to the Chinese, not to mention that Your Excellency also said that the Chinese do not intend to forcibly retake Macao from us, but intend to give appropriate compensation for these eight years..."

The Portuguese representative was really smiling bitterly, because he couldn't understand why he had suffered such a thing.

As a matter of fact, the Portuguese government has long been aware of the fact that the Kuomintang government wants to take back Macao. Leaving aside the fact that in the past period of time, the national government has had some contact with the Portuguese government, and vaguely, the national government has also revealed the relevant meaning.

In fact, even if the Nationalist government did not make such a move, the Portuguese were not stupid, of course, they knew that a strong China would never allow its territory to remain in the hands of other countries as a colony, and would definitely try to get it back...

At present, in addition to the concessions of various countries in China, only Britain and Portugal are the only countries that have Chinese territory as colonies.

There is no doubt that between the United Kingdom and Portugal, Portugal is definitely the softest persimmon, so it is natural for the precursors to start with the Portuguese.

However, the Portuguese did not react strongly to the move of the national government. On the one hand, it is because there are only eight years left before Macao is returned to China, and there is not a lot of time, even if it is returned to China, it is nothing, not to mention that as mentioned earlier, China also intends to give some compensation.

Moreover, Macao's status is not as strong as it used to be.

In trade with China, ships usually go to ports like Hong Kong or Shanghai, or Tianjin and Dalian, and how many ships go to Macau?

Without the slightest distinctiveness, Macau's importance has naturally declined a lot.

So if the Chinese government is going to give some compensation in exchange for Macau, the Portuguese really don't mind.

But who would have thought that while the Portuguese were sitting at home, waiting for the Chinese to come to the door to make this request, another group of uninvited guests came to the door...

These people are the British...

"Do you want to get Macau back?" the young man couldn't help but sneer as he looked at the Chinese delegation in the distance. How could it be so easy for you to achieve your goals..."

As if sensing something, Gu Weijun and Bu Zigao looked towards the seats of the Portuguese delegation. It's just that after observing intently for a while, the two of them didn't notice anything.

Just when both of them felt a little inexplicable and at the same time a little wrong, the meeting began...

―――――――――――――――――――――――――― (To be continued......)