Expedition to Europe

In early August, after four months of bargaining, the Five-Nation Naval Convention was finally signed.

Through this convention, Britain and the United States once again maintained their status as traditional powers. They will have a total naval battleship tonnage of 500,000 tons. After Lanfang gave up the alliance with France, he got a total of 300,000 tons of tonnage as he wished. France and Italy each have 170,000 tons.

In terms of aircraft carriers, the total tonnage of Britain and the United States is 150,000 tons, the total tonnage of Lanfang is 130,000 tons, and France and Italy each have 80,000 tons.

The only area where there was no consensus was on submarines.

The British hated submarines so much that the French knew they were unable to compete with the British on surface ships, so they focused on submarines. On the issue of the total number of submarines owned by each country, a fierce conflict broke out between Britain and France. The British insisted that the French, who already had an army of 800,000, could no longer have a large submarine force, while the French insisted on building a large number of submarines in order to Counter the threat to the British naval fleet.

When the negotiations were at their most intense, the British representatives and the French representatives almost came to the point of dueling.

At this time, the French tasted the bitter fruit of losing Lanfang as an ally. The Lanfang people turned a blind eye to the dispute between Britain and France and did not express any opinions.

On the last day of the conference, Lanfang announced that the aircraft carriers "Taishan" and "Huangshan" that served during the World War would be dismantled, and he proposed a construction plan for six aircraft carriers. All six aircraft carriers will start construction at Lanfang's shipyard. , the eager Marseille shipyard did not get the order.

For the Marseille shipyard, there is more than one bad news. After France announced that it would abandon its alliance with Lanfang, Lanfang terminated the order for the second "Legion-class" battleship that was originally scheduled to start laying the keel in October. This made already The Marseille shipyard, which had vacated its docks and was waiting for an infusion of funds, was dumbfounded.

After the World War, the French government began to dismantle the army. The Marseille Shipyard could not get any orders from the French Admiralty and relied on orders from Lanfang to survive. Lanfang's "termination" directly put the Marseille Shipyard into trouble.

It’s no wonder that Lanfang is not responsible. It was the French who tore up the agreement first, so don’t blame Lanfang people for being unethical.

It is not just the Marseille Shipyard that is in trouble. In France, Lanfang has directly invested in many projects, most of which are privately funded projects by Qin Zhiyuan. Some of these projects have been in progress for a year or two and will soon be completed. Completed. Some projects have just been approved and have not yet entered the construction stage.

After France tore up the alliance agreement with Lanfang, Lanfang responded very quickly. Almost overnight, all Lanfang's investments in France were suspended, and Lanfang stopped the supply of funds. These projects cannot be resumed unless It's about finding a new "successor".

The Paris Consortium took over some of the projects, but many more projects were ignored at all. Those projects were basically basic construction projects, and the investment return cycle took decades. The businessmen of the consortium did not have the patience.

Terminating the contract will of course bring losses to Qin Zhiyuan, but only in terms of money, and the losses to the French will be even greater. These projects employed French workers. Almost overnight, hundreds of thousands more unemployed workers were added to France, and the total number of people affected by this was nearly one million.

At this moment, many French people understood what Lanfang had brought to them.

The aid promised by the Americans has not yet arrived, but people from Lanfang have begun to leave. The French economy, which is still struggling in the economic downturn, has once again worsened.

The unemployed French workers had nothing to say about the behavior of the Lanfang people. As the "Daily News" reported, when the capitalists of the Paris consortium saw the input-output ratio of those infrastructure projects, those capitalists said His words are profound: "Only a madman would make such an investment. This is not an investment at all, it is burning money!"

Before, Qin Zhiyuan was what the businessmen called a "madman", but after that, no one would do such a "foolish thing" again.

Workers suffering from hunger can only burn their anger towards the French government and the already notorious traitor. The calls for Millerand to step down are getting louder and louder, and the voices calling for re-establishing an alliance with Lanfang are endless. .

However, this was of no use. Scott James, the French ambassador to Lanfang, asked to see Qin Zhiyuan several times a day, and even set up a tent at the entrance of Lanfang Palace, but the reply was always a cold "His Majesty the King is not available."

Alexander Millerand finally felt the pressure. He summoned Ambassador Lanfang to France several times, but the results were equally disappointing. The former ambassador was transferred due to work mistakes, and the new ambassador had not yet arrived in France. He waited until the new ambassador arrived in France. , the ambassador will visit Mr. President as soon as possible.

The first time?

I'm afraid the Presidential Palace has already changed its owner by then.

Just when French society began to be in chaos, in mid-September, American aid finally came belatedly. In order to appease the desperate workers, the Americans pinched their noses and took over the infrastructure construction that had stalled, providing France with The loan was also paid on schedule.

Alexandre Millerand finally breathed a sigh of relief and openly announced in the newspaper that "France has entered a new era."

We have indeed entered a new era, but the effect of this new era remains to be verified by time.

During this period, Qin Zhiyuan was under considerable pressure, a large part of which came from Sandy and Foch.

Sandy and Foch are both French living in Lanfang. Although they are relatives of Qin Zhiyuan, they still stand on the side of France in major issues. They do not approve of Lanfang's behavior.

But these two people are people Qin Zhiyuan cannot afford to offend anyway, so Qin Zhiyuan is not as strong as usual when facing Sandy and Foch.

"I have also carefully considered this issue. I can choose some gentle means, or let ordinary French people retain their good impression of Lanfang, but for the future of France and Lanfang, I have to do this." Qin Zhiyuan is always patient when facing Sandy and Foch.

"Future? What you do is destroy the good impression of Lanfang in the hearts of ordinary French people. Once this impression is destroyed, what future can Lanfang and France have?" Sandy is a scientist and is not proficient in political issues.

Foch did not speak. Compared with Sandy, Foch has more understanding of such countermeasures. Foch is still waiting for Qin Zhiyuan's explanation.

"First of all, you must understand that Lan Fang does not want to establish a safe and harmless image. Lan Fang's purpose is not to offend others if others do not offend me, but to offend others if others offend me, or to repay evil with justice and repay kindness with kindness. The current situation is that if Lan Fang does not do something, then those ordinary people who are in trouble now will not realize the value of Lan Fang to France at all. They cannot understand what kind of sacrifices Lan Fang has made to maintain relations with France. Maybe they understand, but they take this kind of dedication and sacrifice for granted. This is absolutely unacceptable to me and the people of Lan Fang." Facing his mother-in-law, Qin Zhiyuan had to explain patiently.

The original text is in the six # 9 @book/bar!

"If--when France faces war again, what position will Lan Fang choose?" Foch is more concerned about the war. As for the life and death of ordinary people, to be honest, Foch doesn't care much.

It is said that a general's success is the result of the sacrifice of thousands of soldiers. Foch was a marshal. In the battles that Foch had commanded, more than a hundred thousand soldiers died. Therefore, Foch could accept the hardships of the people for a period of time. The issue Foch considered was the relationship at the national level.

"If there is a chance for Lan Fang and France to repair their relationship in the future, then I can promise that Lan Fang will not hesitate when France faces war, but if the relationship cannot be repaired, then I can only put national interests first. Of course, that does not mean that Lan Fang will not lend a hand to France, but France needs to pay a greater price." Qin Zhiyuan did not lie, and it was not easy to fool Foch with lies.

Foch is indeed old, but Foch's heart is still not confused.

"What about Germany? If France and Germany go to war again, which side will you stand on?" Foch chased closely, and the question went straight to the core.

For Foch's generation of soldiers, the Germans are eternal enemies. All French military facilities were established against Germany, and Qin Zhiyuan's personal relationship with William III made Foch have to express his concerns about the future.

"Stand on the side that is most favorable to Lan Fang. Believe me, it is unlikely that Germany and France will go to war again. I will not sit back and watch the tragedy repeat itself. William is not a madman. As long as the French leaders remain sober, the war will not break out between France and Germany." Qin Zhiyuan also has enough patience in the face of his father-in-law - uh, another father-in-law.

Qin Zhiyuan does not deny that there will be a war, but Qin Zhiyuan will not let himself be caught in a dilemma.

"You have signed an alliance with the Germans?" Foch was very vigilant.

"No, I won't do that. It will be a huge harm to you. Although I have a good relationship with William, it is obvious that our relationship is better." At the critical moment, Qin Zhiyuan can still do his job properly.

"Then what about those workers? What about those workers? They have to support their families, and there are children who are crying for food and elderly people to support. Don't they deserve pity?" Sandy has not yet turned around.

"They are indeed pitiful, but they have brought it upon themselves. You should know that a month ago, when France announced the termination of the alliance with Lan Fang, they were cheering and ready to accept the help of the Americans wholeheartedly. In their opinion, Lan Fang's friendship was not worth clinging to. Since they took the initiative to abandon Lan Fang's friendship, they should be prepared to accept the consequences. Lan Fang people are not philanthropists, and Lan Fang does not want to be loved by everyone. They would rather be feared by everyone!" Qin Zhiyuan was firm in his attitude and would never compromise.