Sir Zhu Erdian couldn't help but secretly cry out in his heart, the Chinese emperor has begun to pay attention to the Xiangjiang issue, which undoubtedly means that the patience of the Chinese is about to run out. If this happens, then China will probably have to take tougher measures. This is not good news for the UK. It can be said that Sir Juerdian already thought in his heart that it was almost impossible for the British Empire to keep Hong Kong.

In addition, Sir Zhu Erdian did not think that the British Empire would go to war with the Chinese Empire for the sake of a Xiangjiang. Although Xiangjiang is important, if it drags Britain into the war, it will be too much to lose. After all, the current British Empire is no longer what it was at the beginning. The Chinese Empire was not the decadent and backward Manchu Qing Dynasty, but one of the four great powers in the world.

"Your Excellency the Foreign Secretary, isn't our country discussing how to transfer the Heung Kong to your country? However, Xiangjiang has been ruled by us for nearly 80 years, and the locals and immigrants from various countries have become accustomed to the rule of the British Empire, such as our laws and culture. If it is hastily handed over to the Chinese Empire, I am afraid that there will be chaos. Therefore, the British Empire is also a piece of good intentions. Sir Jurdian said with a smile. Now that the Chinese Empire has shown impatience, he can only try his best to delay time.

"Your Excellency, Xiangjiang has been the territory of the Chinese Empire since ancient times. What's more, there was an agreement between our two countries at the beginning. What your country is doing now is completely trying to tear up the original agreement! Tang Shaoyi said aggressively.

Sir Jurdian could not help but stagnate, unable to find a reason to refute it. In the First World War, Britain faced an extremely difficult situation, and in order to drag the Chinese Empire into the war, it had to offer very favorable conditions to draw the Chinese Empire into the camp of the Entente. One of them. It was to return the Xiangjiang River to China after the end of the war. However, now that the war is over, the British Empire wants to repay its debts, and has been dragging its feet and refusing to talk about the handover of Xiangjiang to China. In the beginning, the Chinese side also took the trouble to negotiate with the UK, hoping that the UK would fulfill its promises. But. It had been a year and a half since the end of the war, but Britain had still not been able to hand over Xiangjiang to China. This has undoubtedly made China a little dissatisfied.

This time, the British made small moves in the Kingdom of Iran in an attempt to make trouble for the Chinese Empire, which angered the Chinese Empire even more. After settling the Kingdom of Iran, the Chinese Empire immediately wanted to take advantage of the situation to solve the Xiangjiang problem. After all, if it drags on any longer, I'm afraid that there will be many dreams at night, and a lot of incidents will arise out of thin air.

"Your Excellency the Foreign Secretary. The British Empire is a nation that keeps its promises, and the promises we made at the beginning will naturally be kept. However, for the prosperity and development of Xiangjiang, we must be cautious. Sir Jurden said.

If it is against another small country, even if it does not keep its promises, no one can do anything to the British Empire. However, the Chinese Empire is different! It is also one of the four major powers in the world. It is obviously impossible for Britain to blatantly break its promises. Otherwise, the Chinese Empire will definitely not be relentless.

"Xiangjiang is our territory. After returning to the empire, the empire will naturally do its best to ensure the prosperity of Xiangjiang. The empire is developing rapidly, and after Xiangjiang returns to the empire, he can also enjoy the dividends brought by the rapid development of the empire. Therefore, your worries that the prosperity and development of Hong Kong will be affected are completely unfounded. Tang Shaoyi retorted. He knows. Sir Zhu Erdian was clearly looking for nothing to do, and wanted to find an excuse to delay time, and if they could delay until the Chinese Empire forgot about this issue, then they would undoubtedly win.

It's a pity that Sir Zhu Erdian seems to have underestimated the determination of the Chinese Empire this time. After His Majesty the Emperor of the Empire gave the order to recover Xiangjiang. There is undoubtedly no room for turning around on this issue. Without recovering Xiangjiang, the empire will never give up.

Sir Zhu Erdian still wanted to find a reason, but Tang Shaoyi interrupted him.

"Sir Sir, I don't think you need to go to great lengths to find reasons to refute the Empire. I'll tell you the truth, this time the Empire is determined to regain Xiangjiang. If you obstruct it any longer, it will only affect the relationship between our two countries, and even make the whole situation out of control. Therefore, I would like to ask your country to understand that peace is not easy to come by, fulfill the original agreement, and hand over Heung Jiang to us. Tang Shaoyi's attitude suddenly hardened. Obviously, he didn't want to be entangled with Sir Jurdian.

Sir Zhu Erdian couldn't help but be slightly stunned, and then he understood what Tang Shaoyi meant. However, the name of the British Empire cannot be lost! So he said: "Your Excellency, do you mean that the Chinese Empire is going to war against the British Empire?" ”

"No, Your Excellency, we do not want to go to war with the British Empire. We are only here to safeguard the legitimate interests of the Empire. To this end, the Empire will not hesitate to use any means, including force. Tang Shaoyi further elaborated.

Sir Jurdian nodded, if he didn't understand, then he was a fool.

"Your Excellency, Foreign Minister, I will report the attitude of the Chinese Empire to the country. I also sincerely hope that the Hong Kong issue will not become an obstacle between our two countries. The British Empire really wanted to maintain good relations with the Chinese Empire. Sir Jurden said.

Tang Shaoyi nodded: "Your Excellency, the Chinese Empire has always been a peace-loving country, please rest assured of this. As long as your country no longer thinks about paying its debts, we will not use force. ”

The corners of Sir Zhu Erdian's mouth couldn't help twitching, is the Chinese Empire a peace-loving country? If it was during the reign of the Manchus, then maybe yes. However, the current Chinese Empire has nothing to do with peace-loving! Although the rise of the Chinese Empire has not been long, it has already launched many foreign wars. Even now, millions of Chinese* troops are still fighting against Soviet Russia on the battlefield of Soviet Russia! It can be said that the rise of the Chinese Empire was, in fact, a process of foreign warfare.

In addition, Tang Shaoyi actually dared to mock the British Empire in person for wanting to repay the debt, which also made Sir Zhu Erdian very angry. In short, the British Empire is also the world hegemon, controlling the world's largest colonies. Although the Chinese Empire is powerful, it is only a newly rising power. If you want to challenge Britain's supremacy, it will undoubtedly take a long time.

Afterwards, Sir Jurdian took his leave and left, but when he left, his face was not very good. Tang Shaoyi didn't care about this. Even if the British are unhappy, what does it matter? It is impossible for the empire to betray the legitimate interests of the empire just because these British people are unhappy, right? This has never happened since the rise of the Empire.

"Damn the yellow-skinned monkeys, they shouldn't have been given a chance in the first place. Otherwise, the British Empire would not have fallen into the current field. If anyone can replace the British Empire as the world hegemon, it will inevitably be the Chinese Empire. Sir Jurdian said secretly. As a diplomat who had lived in China for many years, he was well aware of the speed and potential of the Chinese Empire. More than a decade ago, people didn't think of Wu Haoxuan and his father and son as the same thing, thinking that they were just one of many local warlords in China. But who knows, in just a few years, they swept across the whole of China, not only unified China, but also won all foreign wars, and quickly grew into a world power. It is too late for Britain to contain China. If the British Empire had done its best to suppress Wu Haoxuan and his son when they had just risen, perhaps there would not have been the now powerful Chinese Empire. Today, China not only has a developed industry, but also has the largest population in the world and an extremely vast market. As a result, it may not be long before the country will develop into a powerful country on a par with the United States of America. And an old colonial power like Britain will soon be left behind. And this will inevitably make Britain's position as the world hegemon be greatly challenged.

Although, the main countries that are now qualified to challenge Britain's hegemony are the United States and China, among which the United States has the largest industrial output and the strongest strength. However, Sir Zhu Erdian subconsciously believed that the Chinese Empire posed a greater threat to Britain.

Upon his return to the Embassy, Sir Zhu Erdian immediately sent a telegram to China, in which he emphasized that the Chinese Empire had lost patience. If you want to continue to delay, I am afraid that it is no longer realistic. Therefore, whether the British Empire will return Xiangjiang to China or choose more forceful means must be prepared in advance. Otherwise, the longer the time drags on, the more detrimental it will be to the British Empire.

The British Foreign Office took the telegram back from Sir Jurdham very seriously, and Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour even made a special report to Prime Minister David Lloyd George on the matter.

However, the British Empire does attach great importance to Xiangjiang now, and if it loses it, then they will have no foothold in the Far East and can only retreat to Singapore. Singapore's strategic location, while important, was almost surrounded by the Chinese Empire. In the event of a war with the Chinese Empire, Singapore is expected to be difficult to hold. If Xiangjiang had restrained the Chinese Empire first, it would be completely different.

Therefore, now the British have regretted that they should not have agreed to return Xiangjiang to the Chinese Empire so easily. (To be continued.) )

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