Yanjing, the capital of the empire, Dongjiaomin Lane, inside the British Legation. The British Minister to China, Sir Jurdian, stood on the balcony on the second floor, looking at the endless traffic on the street outside, but the expression on his face was very ugly.

"This damned country, where the soldiers of the British Empire are bleeding and dying on the battlefield, is taking advantage of the opportunity to make a war windfall. This kind of behavior is really bad. Now, they have sunk the merchant ships of the British Empire, and even forced the British Empire to compromise with them, which is really too deceitful. One day, the British Empire will make them pay back a thousand times over. Sir Jurdian said secretly, because he was so angry that the expression on his face looked a little hideous.

"Your Excellency, we have made contact with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Your Excellency Tang Shaoyi will meet you this afternoon." The secretary walked in and said to Sir Jurdian.

"Well, I see, you can go and arrange it." Sir Jurdians nodded. The domestic order was to stabilize China as much as possible, if he could draw China into the camp of the Entente, it would be a great achievement, and if it was not good, he should also stabilize the Chinese empire and let them continue to maintain neutrality. Therefore, although he was very angry in his heart, he still had to find a way to ask the Chinese foreign minister to stabilize China.

"Your Excellency, we have received information that yesterday morning the Chinese Foreign Minister was meeting with the German Ambassador to China." The secretary continued.

Sir Zhu Erdian could not help frowning, and the fact that the Chinese Foreign Minister actually met with the Germans was undoubtedly bad news. The Entente tried in every possible way to stabilize China, but the Germans would inevitably do everything possible to draw China into the camp of the Allies.

"Damn the Germans, no matter what intrigues they use, it will definitely be the British Empire that will win in the end." Sir Jurdian said secretly.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Sir Zhu Erdian's car appeared on time at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Empire. Under the guidance of the staff, he went directly to the office of Tang Shaoyi, the Imperial Foreign Secretary. Now that the Chinese Empire is already a powerful country, it is natural that there will be no more foreign ministers nodding in front of ministers of other countries. This also made Sir Zhu Erdian feel a little regretful, the good old days are gone!

"Good afternoon. Your Excellency, Sir General. Tang Shaoyi's smile on his face couldn't be seen at all, they just broke up a few days ago.

"Good afternoon, Your Excellency the Foreign Secretary." Sir Zhu Erdian smiled even more, as if it was another person who had cursed the Chinese Empire at the legation in the morning. Of course, for these diplomats, it is a basic ability to see people and talk about people, and to see ghosts.

"Your Excellency, I didn't know that Your Excellency was here this time. Is there something you want to talk about? Tang Shaoyi asked. Of course, in fact, he naturally knew the intention of Sir Zhu Erdian.

"Your Excellency the Foreign Secretary, we hope that the Chinese Empire will give us an explanation for the sinking of four British merchant ships by the Chinese Navy in succession." Sir Jurdian said. He was very angry in his heart, if it had been ten years ago, if someone dared to sink a British merchant ship, Britain would definitely retaliate with war. It's a pity. Now Britain can only choose to retreat.

"Your Excellency, Minister. This is a misunderstanding. At that time, the Imperial Navy was cruising and mistook your country's merchant ships for pirate ships, which is why such a tragedy happened. We regret this. Tang Shaoyi didn't even blink an eye, and directly made up a lie.

"Pirate ship? It was clearly a merchant ship of the British Empire, with the flag of the British Empire on it. How could it be a pirate ship? Hearing Tang Shaoyi's reversal of black and white, Sir Zhu Erdian couldn't help but be angry.

"In the Indian Ocean, pirate ships often pretend to be British merchant ships and then rob them. Or could it be that those pirates were originally played by British merchant ships? Tang Shaoyi asked.

"How is that possible? The British Empire was a civilized country. How is it possible for a gentleman of our country to engage in such a dirty and obscene profession as piracy? Sir Jurdian hurriedly retorted.

Tang Shaoyi sneered, is Britain a civilized country? Perhaps, in recent years, there has been a civilized country. However, in the history of Britain, in order to compete with the Spaniards for supremacy at sea, most of the merchant ships would choose to make temporary cameos as pirates. On the route, they swarmed up to attack the merchant ships going to Spain, which directly caused Spain to lose a lot of money online shopping, and finally a big war broke out between the two countries, and it was precisely because of that war that Britain defeated the Kingdom of Spain in one fell swoop, which established the position of maritime hegemon.

"So, what happened to the sinking of our merchant ship by the British Navy?" Tang Shaoyi said.

Suddenly, Sir Zhu Erdian was speechless, and after a long time, he held back a sentence: "This is a misunderstanding." ”

"Huh, misunderstanding?" Tang Shaoyi sneered.

Sir Jurdian was very angry in his heart, but now at this time, he could only suppress the anger in his heart. Until Germany is defeated, Britain cannot afford to tear its face with a power like China again. Otherwise, the consequences will be very serious.

"Your Excellency the Foreign Secretary, the British Navy has sunk a Chinese merchant ship because of a misunderstanding. However, the Chinese Navy also sank four of our merchant ships. What is the reason for this, for the sake of friendly relations between the two countries, the British Empire no longer wants to delve into it. We hope that China will stop holding on to it. What do you think? Sir Jurden said.

Tang Shaoyi was stunned, he understood what Sir Zhu Erdian meant, that is, China lost one merchant ship, and Britain lost four merchant ships. It's clear to everyone what is going on. But now everyone acts as if nothing happened.

"Are the British going to compromise? When did the British become so talkative? Tang Shaoyi couldn't believe it.

"Your Excellency, this is entirely for the sake of the friendly relations between our two countries. The British Empire has shown its sincerity in resolving the conflict, and we hope that the Chinese Empire will do the same. Sir Jurdian's face was sincere.

"Hmph, aren't these British guys afraid that the Empire will join the Allies in the war, so they give in? Otherwise, how could these arrogant Anglo-Saxons bow their heads so easily? Tang Shaoyi easily guessed the reason for the softening of the British side's attitude.

"Then, Sir Excellency, there are dozens of merchant ships in the Chinese Empire that have been seized by the British. Now, is it possible to release those merchant ships? Tang Shaoyi asked.

"Your Excellency the Foreign Secretary, there is certainly no problem in releasing those merchant ships." Sir Jurdian, patting his chest, assured.

"In that case, that's for the best. We hope that such misunderstandings will never happen again, so as not to affect the relations between our two countries. Tang Shaoyi said solemnly.

"Of course, of course." Sir Jurdian nodded again and again, and he was relieved that he had reached an agreement with the Chinese side on the settlement of the conflict.

"Your Excellency the Foreign Secretary, the Great War in Europe has been scrapped for more than a year, almost two years. This war has become a catastrophe for mankind, and countless innocent lives have died in the war. As one of the world's major powers, the Chinese Empire should also make its own contribution to world peace. The British Empire hoped that the Chinese Empire would join the Entente and declare war on the evil Allied powers. Let the world return to peace as soon as possible. Sir Jurden said.

Despite the many contradictions between Britain and China, they saw a rising China as the main threat to the British Empire's colonies in Asia. But now in order to defeat the Germans, it was worth using all their strength.

"Join the war? No, Sir Sir. The position of the Chinese Empire was to remain neutral in this war. Our country is not yet strong, and the people are not yet rich. Our government's responsibility is to lead people to a better life. If you join the war, it will seriously affect the speed of the empire's development. Tang Shaoyi shook his head again and again.

"Your Excellency, as a world power, the Chinese Empire should have its own responsibilities. As long as the Chinese Empire agreed to join the Entente in the war, we can promise that the German colonies in the Pacific that the Chinese Empire had acquired before the war would be completely legitimate. In addition, when a peace treaty was signed against the Central Powers, the Chinese Empire was also able to receive corresponding war reparations. Sir Jurden said.

It's just that Tang Shaoyi still shook his head again and again, compared to the conditions proposed by the Germans, the conditions proposed by the British were too low. This, of course, was mainly due to the fact that the Germans did not have any overseas colonies. The few overseas colonies that were there had already been carved up by the Entente powers. Therefore, the British can only use these insignificant interests to lure the Chinese.

Of course, the current war situation, although the two sides are still in a stalemate. However, with the help of blood transfusions from vast overseas colonies, the Entente had gradually shaken off their disadvantages and began to gradually gain an advantage. If the Chinese Empire were to join the Entente in the war, their chances of victory would once again increase.

"Your Excellency, the Chinese Empire is a peace-loving country, and we want nothing more than to develop our country without interference. I don't want to get involved in a war. Therefore, in this war, we will be strictly neutral. Tang Shaoyi said.

Seeing that Tang Shaoyi's attitude was very resolute, Sir Zhu Erdian had to express regret. After all, if the current Entente wants to defeat the Central Powers, a strong army is very necessary. And China is undoubtedly a good candidate. It's just a pity that the Chinese are not willing to serve as cannon fodder for the British. (To be continued.) )

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