Expedition to Europe

In early May, with the exposure of the bottom line of the British negotiations, the ownership of Siam finally became clear.

As Qin Zhiyuan expected, the British were not sure of defeating Lan Fanghe and the French, so after failing to blackmail, they had no choice but to accept reality.

The British did not give up the ten provinces in northern Siam. In order to strengthen their strength, the British transferred the armored division from Libya and prepared to crush all resistance with tanks.

I have to say that the British are sometimes silly and cute.

The northern part of Siam is a mountainous area, and it is a big question to ask how much role the armored forces can play.

Starting from May, the meeting entered the naval quota part, and the Americans finally stepped onto the podium and began to show their strength.

"The United States' attitude is very firm. If we insist on a naval quota of 300,000 tons, then the Americans will have 600,000 tons. The British position is a bit ambiguous. The French and Italians have no idea. No matter how much they are given, they can't reach the full quota." When reporting the progress to Qin Zhiyuan, Lu Zhengxiang was full of worry.

At this stage, Huang Bohan retired, and Lu Zhengxiang and Navy Minister Antonio made their debut. Lu Zhengxiang was not optimistic about the progress of the meeting, because with the participation of the Americans, the British were a little fearless. Although the meeting was held on Lan Fang's territory, Lan Fang did not have a home advantage.

"The British are unreliable. We still have to talk directly with the Americans. What is their Secretary of State called?" Qin Zhiyuan did not put his hope on the British, even if there was an agreement signed by Qin Zhiyuan and Lloyd George.

If both parties recognize the agreement, it will have a certain binding force. As long as one party wants to overturn it, it will be a piece of waste paper. Don't talk about the country's credibility. The country's greatest credibility is the ability of the army. Everything else is nonsense.

"Charles, Charles Evans Hughes." Lu Zhengxiang also understood that what Qin Zhiyuan said made sense, but he was still a little unwilling, so he looked a little annoyed.

Charles Evans Hughes, who took office as Secretary of State with President Harding, served as governor and Chief Justice before becoming Secretary of State. He was very famous in the United States. Five years ago, Charles lost to the last President of the United States, Wilson, by 23 votes in the US presidential election.

"What kind of person is Charles? Is it possible to communicate with Charles directly?" Qin Zhiyuan wanted to get rid of the British. As long as the problems of the United States were solved, all problems would not be problems.

"Fair, honest, efficient, and almost harsh in his adherence to the rules. If you find a topic that interests him, there is still the possibility of further communication. In general, he is much better than Andrew, the sickly one." Lu Zhengxiang praised Charles.

Because of the dilemma of falling into trouble, Lloyd George was forced to resign as Prime Minister, and Andrew Bernard Law became the new British Prime Minister. Andrew is the first prime minister born outside the UK. After taking office, Andrew formed a purely Conservative government, which made Andrew criticized at the beginning of his term. In the election in March, although the Conservative Party won the general election, the Labour Party won 142 seats in Parliament, and the gap between the two sides was not large.

Similar to the former US President Wilson, Andrew's health is not good, which is probably an important reason why Andrew won the election. Like Lloyd George, he is also a transitional candidate.

"Then arrange it. I will entertain Charles at the palace tomorrow night." Qin Zhiyuan is going to do it himself.

Although Harding won the presidential election, Harding did not gain widespread trust, so it was Charles who came to the meeting this time.

After the World War, a group of pre-war interest groups were weakened, and the war gave rise to new interest groups. Now the world is at a time when emerging forces and traditional forces are in a stalemate. If we stand on a global scale, the United States and Lan Fang are both emerging forces, while Britain and France represent traditional forces. If we look at specific countries, the United States, Britain and France have similar problems, but Lan Fang does not.

Lan Fang had no tradition at all, so there was no traditional power.

"Okay, I'll arrange it." Lu Zhengxiang recorded this in his notebook, just like Qin Zhiyuan's secretary.

Charles did not refuse Qin Zhiyuan's invitation. Before coming to Lan Fang to attend the meeting, Charles had some understanding of Lan Fang. Charles knew very well that if he wanted to discuss something at this meeting, he must have Qin Zhiyuan's approval.

Charles had been waiting for Qin Zhiyuan's invitation.

In the evening, when the lights were on, Charles came to the palace in his Ford.

The Americans were indeed factious. Lan Fang was far away from the United States, but the Americans took the trouble to transport Charles' car by boat. Not only that, during Lan Fang's participation in the meeting, all of Charles' expenses were borne by the Americans themselves, and the Lan Fang government did not pay a penny, which made Lu Zhengxiang have a good impression of Charles.

The quality of self-discipline needs to be compared, especially when Mussolini was there, which showed the preciousness of Charles' self-discipline. The night Mussolini arrived in Lan Fang, he went to Pandora and gambled for half the night. Not only did he lose $300,000 in funding, he also owed Pandora $150,000. The key point was that Mussolini actually refused to pay the debt and turned around and accused Pandora of cheating. This is really despicable.

Accompanying Qin Zhiyuan to greet Charles was Misha. Julie had an appointment with Helen from the Ministry of Health for a physical examination today. She has not returned yet. It is estimated that she has found a few girlfriends to go shopping on Lanling Island.

Charles did not bring his wife, so after saying hello, Misha left, leaving Qin Zhiyuan and Charles with plenty of private space.

As usual, they took a group photo before entering the banquet restaurant.

It was called a banquet, but it was just a daily meal. Qin Zhiyuan's English was very good, so there was no need for a translator, let alone maids and guards. Qin Zhiyuan and Charles had dinner together in a "self-service" way.

The dining table is a good place for communication. Words spoken in such places are generally not counted. It is very suitable as a communication occasion and can be used to test each other's bottom line.

Just like Lloyd George's reaction when he heard Lan Fang's request, Charles did not care about Lan Fang's request: "Lan Fang does not need a 300,000-ton battleship at all. That's too much, especially since your battleships are all cutting-edge battleships, which will cause strong anxiety in other countries."

In fact, Charles has achieved certain results in terms of the quality of this battleship.

On the first day of the meeting, Charles announced that the United States would dismantle 30 warships and asked Britain and Lan Fang to follow suit. The media commented on this, and even the Daily News had to admit that Charles sank more warships in 35 minutes than all the capital ships sunk by all the admirals in the world in the past few centuries.

The British agreed to Charles' request, but Lan Fang refused.

Britain and the United States are both old capitalist countries. Their domestic warships have a certain age. When the service life reaches the limit, the warships will be retired. Lan Fang is an emerging country. The longest age of domestic warships is only five or six years. It is too early to say that they will be retired.

The original text is in Liu # 9 @Book/Bar!

Charles did not force this. This was just an attitude, an attitude that showed the determination of the United States. Although he did not obtain Lan Fang's consent, it was obvious that this behavior achieved its goal and won praise for the United States.

"Actually, this is not a problem. You know, even if all the warships in the shipyard are in service, Lan Fang's naval tonnage will not reach 300,000 tons, so your worries are unnecessary." Regardless of whether to develop battleships or not, Qin Zhiyuan will argue for his reasons.

"It's not unnecessary. If it's just in the shipyard, it doesn't matter, but the bigger hidden danger is in the budget. No one knows how many you want to build. The unknown is the greatest fear of mankind." Charles eats slowly and speaks in an orderly manner, giving people the feeling that he is indeed steady.

"If I say that this is all, you will definitely not believe it-" Qin Zhiyuan is not in a hurry. His meeting with Charles is just a preliminary communication. The negotiations are protracted. Even the Olympics can take eight months, and this negotiation is expected to last for several months.

"Of course I believe that you are an honest person. There is no need to lie on this issue. If you insist, no one can influence you. But there is one thing you should pay attention to. There are six battleships under construction in the American shipyard." Charles is indeed honest, but what he said is not pleasing.

Lan Fang is currently building three battleships, plus one from France. Charles now says that the United States is building six more battleships, so the meaning is very clear. For every battleship Lan Fang builds, the Americans will build two. In terms of quantity, the Americans must ensure absolute advantage.

"It doesn't matter. You can build as many as you want. That's your internal affairs. Lan Fang won't interfere. Lan Fang has a plan for building warships. The number we build will not refer to how many others have, but how many we need." Qin Zhiyuan pushed back neither softly nor hard, not because he was afraid of starting an arms race with the Americans.

The financial system of democratic countries is very magical. At the end of each fiscal year, various government agencies will formulate a budget for the next fiscal year and then take it to Congress for a vote. If Congress passes, the US government can get the money. If Congress fails, the US government will not get a penny.

Lan Fang is a government with a democratic system. Although the government budget must be voted by the parliament, the Lan Fang army is self-contained. Qin Zhiyuan bears most of the military expenses, which the parliament cannot control. Moreover, Qin Zhiyuan has the right to add more at any time, which makes Americans far behind.

"I understand that your wealth is indeed enviable, so the US government does not intend to compete with you in this regard. Why don't we use the money to make money?" Charles was indeed frank.

Charles admitted that even the US government did not have the freedom of Lan Fang in the use of funds, so Charles did not want to talk more about this issue.

"What do you mean?" Qin Zhiyuan has always been interested in making money.

"Germany, I have a plan to revive Germany. I wonder if Your Majesty is interested?" Charles was calm.

"Of course, I am very interested." Qin Zhiyuan suddenly felt that Charles was very cute.