10 February 2764 (1923), 10 Downing Street, London.

"145,680,000 tons!?dear Humphrey, are you sure you're not mistaken?" asked Andrew Bernal Rao, Prime Minister of the British Empire, in a tone of disbelief.

Sir Humphrey Appleby, Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister, said seriously: "Yes, according to their own published figures, their raw steel production reached 118.7 million tons in 1921, making them the first country in the world to produce more than 100 million tons of steel. Their results from last year have not yet been officially announced, and this is data that our intelligence officers got from their internal sources. This kind of irregular periodical, called "Internal Reference", is a confidential reading material that only officials at or above the county or bureau level are qualified to see, so it should be very accurate......"

"Oh God, these Chinese must be crazy, what do they want so much steel for?" Prime Minister Lao rubbed his eyebrows, feeling that his brain hurt.

"Mr. Prime Minister, the Americans also produced 58 million tons of raw steel last year. Note that this is only their homegrown steel production, and if you add Guyana and the three West African states, it will not be less than 60 million tons...... "Humphrey is not enough, yes, and continues to undermine the prime minister's fragile confidence.

"Needless to say, the next one must be the damn Germans, right? I remember that they produced more than 20 million tons of steel last year......"

"Uh, yes. 21.23 million tons to be exact, which is the data just obtained......"

"And we, the dignified British Empire, produced only 4.5 million tons of steel last year, less than half of the pre-war period, which is really an unbelievable fact!" Prime Minister Lao lamented in his heart, what kind of mess has been made by labor and management. Steel production is an important indicator of national strength in this year, and countries with more steel production are not necessarily powerful countries (such as Luxembourg), but the steel output of strong countries must be more.

Humphrey spread his hands: "Prime Minister, you should understand that our industrial base in the south has basically been destroyed by the Germans, and many factories in the north have been destroyed, and we are still recovering. In fact, it was already very good to reach 4.5 million tons last year, at least it is still the fourth in the world. The French and Italians are even more unlucky, with France producing only 2.1 million tonnes of steel last year, which is not as good as Japan's 2.2 million tonnes, and Italy having a pitiful 400,000 tonnes......"

"It's been almost three years since the armistice, why is the recovery so slow?" asked Prime Minister Law.

"Because we don't have money, Prime Minister, now we need to invest a lot of money in order to suppress the separatist forces in Africa and India. There is also a navy to be restored, and London to be rebuilt...... There are too many things that need to cost money, so the priority of steel mills is at the bottom of the comparison, after all, we can buy foreign ...... directly for steel"

"Didn't you just say that you don't have any money? Why do you have money to import steel now?" said Prime Minister Lao wondered if the permanent secretary was insane.

"Well, Mr. Prime Minister, we just bought it from Chinese, they don't have to collect money, and they can offset the payment with materials and people......"

"How do you use people to offset the payment?" asked Prime Minister Lao a little strangely. He only sat on the prime minister's throne last month, and his ass is not yet hot, and he is not clear about some of the previous deals. In addition, this dude is Canadian, and the only British prime minister born outside of England to date.

"Yes, they need a lot of labor, especially women, and they need a lot of women to balance their male to female ratio. You know, it's a pagan country, and their men can theoretically have as many wives as they want. A young man can get back three to four tons of raw steel, and a woman who satisfies them can get more than five tons, but unfortunately they don't like black women very much. And we have people in Africa and India, and replacing some of them in unstable areas will not only bring profits to the empire, but also reduce local troubles......" Humphrey said with a unchanged face.

"Oh my God! When did our British Empire fall to the slave trade to make money, it was a step backwards in history! Yes, it was a step backwards in history! If I remember correctly, we introduced the Act to abolish the slave trade in the last century. Prime Minister Law's jaw almost dropped in surprise, and then he said very solemnly: "I think this immoral trade must be stopped immediately, and we cannot be as shameless as Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands......"

As for the fact that "the country with the most bang for the slave trade in history is the United Kingdom", he selectively ignored it. Before the nineteenth century, the slave trade generated a great deal of wealth for Britain, laying a cornerstone for the modern capitalist system. Many cities in Britain, such as Bristol, London, and Liverpool, prospered through the slave trade.

"No, Mr. Prime Minister, you are mistaken. First of all, we are not a slave trader, the British Empire has long stopped doing this, we are working as a labor broker, and we only charge labor agency fees. Secondly, the royal family is also involved in this matter, they have a 10% stake, and there are many noble lords who also have a stake in it, such as Jodingham, Marlborough, ......" Humphrey whispered.

The British royal family has always done what they make money, and in history they have been involved in the slave trade, opium, piracy and many other lucrative "sunshine industries". You ask them why they are so shameless? Well, what do you want to do with money when you have money? For the sake of real money, you don't want to be faced, or do you think that their status as the "richest man on earth" is obtained by farming?

"Oh, since it's a labor agency approved by the royal family, let's go ahead......" As soon as he heard the names of those backstagers, Prime Minister Law wisely did not mention it. Any minister who dares to cut off the financial path of the royal family and these top magnates has never had a good end, and the prime minister is no exception.

However, he was still very unhappy and said: "This is ironic, the British Empire actually wants to import steel from a group of yellow monkeys, I remember twenty years ago, no, even more than ten years ago, they were going to import steel from us!"

"At that time, the empire had the largest navy in the world, but now it doesn't. Mr. Prime Minister, we must recognize the reality...... Humphrey said helplessly.

"Well, let's see, what else we're missing. This damn war!"

"We still lack a lot of things, oil, food, meat, textiles...... In short, there is nothing but coal and fish......"

"Oh, that's unreasonable...... Prime Minister Lao pulled his hair hard, and felt the urge to cry. He felt that he had been cheated by His Majesty the King, and he originally thought that this was already a mess, but he didn't expect this mess to be worse than he thought. The more he thought about it, the more he regretted it, he knew that it was so bad, he shouldn't have taken this position, what kind of prime minister is Rausch, he is clearly the man who is behind the pot.

He now finally understands why the former prime minister, Lloyd and George, simply resigned and left.

After the end of the war, Britain, which was left with a lot of labor and wounds, was only half a life, although it still wore the hat of "the empire on which the sun never sets", but in fact it has become the "empire of the sunset". The homeland was shattered, the capital London was in ruins, and most of the factories that had been destroyed in the war, especially in the German-occupied south, were either demolished by the Germans or blown up and burned. This led to a sharp decline in production and an increase in unemployment in post-war Britain. Coupled with the large number of refugees caused by the war, the class contradictions in the country were sharpened, and the strike movement was on the rise.

This is not the most unlucky, what is even more terrible is that Ireland became independent under the joint operation of other powers. Ireland's independence has sparked a flurry of reactions, with Canada, Australia, and New Zealand also demanding more autonomy, believing that they had shed blood and sweat for Britain in World War I, and that this should not be treated worse than Ireland. Well, the three sons are okay, but Africa and India are not so good, and with the support of the Arabs, Yemen and Egypt in the Middle East are all in turmoil, and now the British colonies in Africa, India and the Middle East are on fire almost everywhere.

Due to a series of military, domestic and diplomatic defeats, Lloyd George tried many times to reverse the situation, but to no avail, and finally had to step down in disgrace. Now it's time for the prime minister to carry the pot.

Prime Minister Law gritted his teeth and said: "We are in such a difficult situation now, this is all to blame on the damned Germans! Wilhelm II, a madman, if he hadn't started the war, we wouldn't have been so bad!" As for the fact that Britain declared war first, he selectively ignored it.

Humphrey pulled out a document and said, "Well, Mr. Prime Minister, there's one more thing. The German royal family sent us an invitation to the enthronement ceremony of Crown Prince Wilhelm......"

"Crown Prince Wilhelm's enthronement? Wilhelm II's insane death? Prime Minister Lao was overjoyed.

"I'm sorry, not yet. Humphrey paused and said, "But it's about the same......"

"Hahahaha, that's not bad either!"

........................................................................

Hankyung, presidential palace.

"Oh, this should be called Wilhelm III, right?" Wendesi smiled and looked at the invitation card in his hand, which had just been sent by the German ambassador to China.

"Well, if he's not going to change his name, it's William III. Foreign Minister Cavour said.

"What is going on with Wilhelm II?"

"According to our intelligence, he is terrible now. He was seriously wounded in Kiel, and although he was rescued, he was too badly injured to deal with state affairs. Since last year, it has been the crown prince regent. Now it seems that it should not be possible to return to normal in a short period of time, or it will not abdicate with Wei Er's desire for power. ”

Wen Deji thought for a while and said, "Okay, I'm also going to visit Europe, so let's do it together by the way." By the way, I went to visit His Majesty Wilhelm II, an old friend of the Chinese people, hahahaha......"

"Okay, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs will make arrangements according to this standard......"

"By the way, how about this Crown Prince William?" asked Wen Deji suddenly.

"It's hard to say what kind of ability it is now, after all, Germany is no longer a dualist empire, the emperor's power is greatly reduced, and his interference in the government is not as strong as before. However, his ambitions are no less than his father's, and he is planning a Greater Germanic Confederation. ”

"Oh, the plan that included Austria and Poland, the Czech Republic, and several of his brothers. Hehehe, it's a good idea to bring these countries together, but it's not easy. ”

"Yes," said Cavour with a smile: "First of all, several of his brothers were not interested in this, especially his second brother, King Etel I of Poland, who quarreled last time in front of Wilhelm II. ”

Wendesi smiled: "It's normal, this is the ass decides the head, although Ettel I is a German, he is now the king of Poland, of course, the interests of Poland must be the priority, and besides, the power of his king is not great." ”

Everyone knows what kind of urine the Poles are. Although they are still grateful to Germany for letting them become independent, for example, they are willing to be cannon fodder for Erdezi, which is an expression of this sentiment. But that must be on the basis of guaranteeing Poland as an independent country, and now that Wei San actually wants to go back and let his family become a member of the "Great Germanic Commonwealth" again, then the Poles will never do it. Etel I was not a fool, and of course he would not agree with his brother's brainy plan.

"But such a person is in our best interest, and it would be better if Wei San's ambition was greater than his father's. I'm really worried that he's a pacifist, and now I think I can rest assured......" Buntokuji smiled harmlessly.

"That's right, Mr. Wen. France proposes that in Sino-French transnational marriages, if a French woman marries into our country, a dowry tax will be charged......" Cavour said with a strange expression.

"These bastards Gallic chickens, are they crazy about money?" Wen Desi was so shocked that he almost squirted out a sip of tea, and then said angrily: "That's free love! Free love! Haven't they always prided themselves on being romantic?

Several of the major countries in Europe are not in good shape at the moment, Britain and France are all in bad hands, the capital and the elite are being beaten to smithereens, the industrial capacity is almost halved, a lot of domestic reconstruction work, and the suppression of colonial uprisings and other things make them miserable. Britain still has a few sons to support the field, but France can't, they don't have a son like Canada, Australia and New Zealand, they don't even have a helper, and now they are in a hurry.

The French were even worse at home, with 316 deaths in World War I. 70,000, plus the Spanish flu hanging, is almost 3.7 million, and many of these people are young and strong, and they really died a generation. This means that France lacks a large number of labor, and it also means that a large number of French girls cannot find their husbands......

Although the French colonies have a large population, they are basically black corn, and it is okay to ask those black corn to be cannon fodder, or to do some rough benzene work, but if you want them to do some technical work, then forget it. At this time, several European countries lost a lot of human resources, so they set their sights on China and hired a large number of laborers from China, especially farmers to work in France.

There is no problem for a populous country like China to spare hundreds of thousands of people to engage in the export of labor services. These people who go out are basically young and strong, and France is now very short of strong men, so well, the next thing happened naturally......