Cyprus left a sunny impression on General Li Weiren of the Liberation Army. During the few days of the inspection in Cyprus, the weather was unbelievably sunny. The blue sky and white clouds were so bright that Li Weiren even had the illusion that the sky here was different from other places.
Since the Taiping Rebellion, the Liberation Army liked the situation of the enemy defending the city walls. The ancient city of Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, was well preserved, and the surveyors sent by the Liberation Army had already planned the ancient city into a museum and scenic area. Living inside the city walls would make the Liberation Army feel uneasy. Li Weiren, who was good at modern fortresses, felt it especially strongly.
The general came to Cyprus to see something new and to make some practical suggestions on the Cyprus port defense system. In the end, Li Weiren was attracted by the new city of Nicosia on the sand table. The Military Governor Of Vaize requested that there should be at least two large green parks in every city. The method in China was quite perfunctory. They just marked out the land and planted some trees in it. Some cities even circled the swamps and boasted that they even had natural lakes.
Those forest parks did make people feel good, but that was all. That was until General Li Weiren went to Gotham City. After seeing the Central Park with his own eyes, he understood that the green parks in the city could be built like this. It was obvious that the designer had a deep impression of New York's Central Park. The situation in the drawing was almost the same.
Outside the Central Park was a wide parking lot, and outside the parking lot was a wide ten-lane road. Residential area, financial area, commercial area, cultural area, and various government and social institutions. It was a simple combination of the mature urban design of China and Central Park in the United States.
This 9,000 square kilometer island also had many mountains, which made the round-island railway very uneconomical. Other than Nicosia in the center, the whole of Cyprus was combined by the round-island road and the roads that connected the various areas.
"Beautiful!" Li Weiren made a comment. Of course, it was not just the urban design that was beautiful. The island left a division of the army base and a port design that was large enough to accommodate the navy. Gold and silver from Europe would be stored here, as well as a large amount of banknotes and bills. It was not suitable to rely on normal bank security.
On the fifth day of Li Weiren's arrival in Cyprus, a fleet from North America arrived in Cyprus with a division of troops. On the same day, the transport fleet from Port Sudan passed through the Suez Canal and transported a large amount of food and supplies to the port.
"Uncle. Wei Kun was personally leading the team. When he saw Li Weiren, he immediately greeted him warmly.
Li Weiren was Li Yifang's distant cousin and could be considered Wei Kun's real uncle. Seeing such a promising nephew, Li Weiren was also very happy. "I heard that you're doing well in East Africa. Keep it up."
"Uncle, if you want me to continue to work hard, you have to give me something concrete. These superficial things are useless to me. "Wei Kun also laughed.
"Oh? What do you mean by that? "Li Weiren felt that his nephew had really grown up. He couldn't help but pay attention to what he said.
Wei Kun replied without hesitation, "If you're going to the UK, let the British decide quickly. Or, they could quickly widen the Suez Canal to allow larger ships to pass through. Otherwise, don't occupy the latrine and let us dig a new canal. "
Li Weiren frowned. After thinking for a moment, he asked Wei Kun, "Why do you think I'm going to the UK?"
Wei Kun laughed. "We've all deployed our troops here. It's only a short distance from the Suez Canal. You're very likely to go to the UK, or the British will have to contact us. Either way, I hope you can help put in a few words. These British see that the situation is not good, so they play dead. No matter what we tell them, they pretend not to hear it. If it weren't for the fact that we're too weak to fight them, I really want to fight the Egyptians and create some trouble to advance the negotiations. "
Li Weiren didn't know what to say when his nephew showed a face that he would not hesitate to start a war to solve the problem. If the Suez Canal could accommodate battleships of more than 20,000 tons, the Liberation Army's navy could freely travel between the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. They would no longer have to go around the Cape of Good Hope. Thinking of this strategic possibility, Li Weiren asked, "Does East Africa have the ability to dig a new canal?"
"Of course!" With the opportunity to recommend his idea, Wei Kun immediately became enthusiastic. He asked his secretary to take out the map and gestured at it. It was on the east side of the Suez Canal that the British had dug. Wei Kun thought that a brand new canal could be dug there. It would not pass through the other lakes and would directly enter the deeper estuary of the Red Sea. "In the future, we can continue to dredge it according to the size of the ships that are navigable. Uncle, Sudan can export four million tons of alfalfa in the future. Just this export requires a more reliable canal, and a canal that is in our hands … "
Looking at his nephew's energetic expression, Li Weiren knew that if he didn't interrupt, Wei Kun would give a long speech. When Li Weiren was young, he had such a time and had such an impulse. Li Weiren didn't hate Wei Kun now, but he didn't like to waste energy on such things. Li Weiren didn't need to do these details. He just needed to decide whether to do it or not. Once he decided to do it, it would be Wei Kun's turn to risk his life to do it. So Li Weiren waved his hand and interrupted Wei Kun's words. He said, "I will think about it."
"I will always push. If there is a chance for Uncle to speak on my side, please support me, "Wei Kun replied.
Li Weiren sighed in his heart. The children nowadays were really different from when Li Weiren was young. When Li Weiren was young, it was not the turn of the young to speak on many things. It was good if it was useless, but it was normal to be scolded by the older people after saying it. It was the older people who decided everything.
Wei Kun quickly put down the problem of the Suez Canal. A division of troops had less than 20,000 people, and this time, Wei Kun had brought 30,000 people. Most of them were black brothers, and a small number were Japanese. The Chinese who were really in charge of the team were technical personnel, and the number was very small. At this time, the Turkish people in Cyprus had moved away, and most of the Greek people had moved away under persuasion and temptation. There were less than 20,000 people left, and most of them were old men and women who refused to leave their homes. The troops sent the old men and women to live in the ancient city of Nicosia, and the young people were scattered and integrated into the entire labor force. The children were sent to school to start learning Chinese.
"The food in Cyprus is transported from East Africa, and the local people mainly do non-staple food." Wei Kun took out his plan. The small Cyprus was divided into soil and water conservation areas, grape planting areas, olive and fruit planting areas, and pasture planting areas. As a soldier, this kind of simple and crude planning was easy for Levis to understand, and it felt very familiar. So Levis also asked a question, "Who are you going to sell all these things that you grow?"
This question did not stump Wei Kun. Instead, it made Wei Kun smile proudly, "Turkey, Europe, they are all our markets. And Cyprus can't only have such a small population, I think with the arrival of financial institutions. It's not surprising that there are millions of people on this island. Uncle, you know best how much consumption a million people will consume. "
As expected of the Commander-in-Chief's son! Li Weiren secretly praised in his heart. Qi Rui's military ability had already made Li Weiren very convinced. And Wei Kun's boldness in construction was really like Vézé's style. When the Military Governor Vaize planned a design that looked so grand that it was ridiculous, no one dared to openly oppose it. After those designs became reality, it was as if the population that appeared out of thin air filled those cities and factories.
Those huge cities did indeed encounter huge problems in the operation, but in order to solve the problems, society really improved. And no matter how much they complained about the cities, Li Weiren saw more and more people pouring into the cities. It made the already very prosperous cities even more prosperous. So Li Weiren decided to support Wei Kun in his heart.
There was no need for a General to oversee the actual work. Li Weiren left Cyprus and went to London, England. One of his tasks was to negotiate with England on the security issues of North America, hoping to solve England's concerns about the Min dynasty.
Bypassing the equally sunny Spanish Peninsula, the humid weather of the North Sea surprised Li Weiren, who landed on the British Isles for the first time. He also heard that England had a lot of rain, but what surprised Li Weiren was the gloomy weather of England. Whether it was Asia, North America, or the Mediterranean that he had just experienced, the weather tended to be sunny. But the weather of England gave Li Weiren a gloomy feeling.
The forest, the gloomy sky, the sparse raindrops, and the city buildings all seemed dim and even gray. The bright and beautiful colors seemed to naturally darken and turn gray in England.
"No wonder the British like to travel to Italy." Li Weiren remembered the popular trend of British travel in his knowledge about England. Compared to the United Kingdom, the sunny Italy was really colorful and full of flowers.
In a dark hall, under the dim yellow light bulb, the meeting was held. Li Weiren was not afraid that the British would look down on the Liberation Army. He said straightforwardly, "The Min dynasty does not want to maintain too large a force in North America, nor does it want to fight on both the north and the south at the same time. In this case, it is very necessary for our two countries to negotiate. "
"Does the Liberation Army think it can win two wars at the same time?" The British side was very keen to catch the key point.
"We can win, but the price is very high. It's so high that we don't want to try. And I don't think your country and my country have any desire to seize each other's past. If England does, please make it clear now, "Li Weiren said with a smile.
"Haha!" The British representative on the other side sneered at such a silly question. Who would have nothing better to do and openly express their ambition for China's territory? This was not a pretense, but really no one wanted to end up like the United States.
With a basis for discussion, the two sides discussed the border issue in North America. The British representative felt that the Chinese side was sincere, so they asked a seemingly meaningless question. "Your Excellency, how is the Min dynasty going to maintain peace on the border?"
Li Weiren looked at the British and felt a little uneasy. Although he did not want to say this, Li Weiren had no other choice. This was an order from the organization. First, he took a steady breath to ease his emotions. Li Weiren said, "We are going to build a Great Wall on the Sino-British border. Especially in New England. "
"Really?" The British representative blurted out a question. Li Weiren saw all the British representatives' eyes widen. To Li Weiren's surprise, he did not see uneasiness or doubt in the eyes of the British representative. There was a certain degree of joy on the faces of the British, as well as genuine expectation.
This time, Li Weiren was stunned. He wondered if the British in front of him were out of their minds. China's Great Wall represented one thing. There was a huge difference between the inside and outside of the Great Wall. Although China's actual frontier had long surpassed the Great Wall, and the Liberation Army did not have any dependence on the wall. However, the Great Wall had a deep meaning in culture. It was a rejection of hostile forces and a denial of foreign races.
Perhaps the British also viewed the Great Wall in this way? Li Weiren had to make some explanations. Otherwise, it would be too difficult for him to adapt to the British. Perhaps when the British saw the Great Wall, they also felt that the Great Wall meant the distance between them and China.
But Li Weiren was not a roundworm in the stomach of the British. He did not know that when the British learned that China had a plan to build a Great Wall on the border, their first reaction was really interest. Building a long wall was a method that ancient strategists could think of. In history, China built the defense system of the Great Wall to deal with the Mongolian Plateau. In the United Kingdom, the Romans also built a "Great Wall."
The British were also the world's strongest military power. After being a troublemaker in Europe for so many years, the British knew very well that for a modern military country, a tall Great Wall on the ground represented more of a kind of sincerity in defense. That thing could at most cause a little trouble for the attacking side. If the countries on both sides of the Great Wall were sincere about peace, the Great Wall could make both sides clear about the border.
"If the Great Wall is completed, what are you going to do?" The British representative asked with interest.
"We will deploy border guards on the Great Wall, and we hope that the United Kingdom can also deploy the corresponding personnel. Ensuring that the border does not misjudge the situation is the key to avoiding war. " Although Li Weiren was surprised, it did not reduce his sense of shame for building the Great Wall. The significance of that thing's existence was more than practical. And the British seemed to understand this.
On the issue of the Great Wall, the British did not raise any objections. When they learned that the Great Wall was still some distance away from the border, which meant that the border survey had its own model, the British did not object.
Seeing the British's relaxed expression, Li Weiren was not happy. Of course, he also suspected that the British were not normal, so he continued, "When I came from Cyprus, the people in the East African Administrative Region told me that they have always hoped that your country could dredge the Suez Canal, or build a new canal from the East African Administrative Region. What do you think? "
This time, the British's expression immediately became very serious. The British chief negotiator spoke slowly, almost enunciating each word, "We oppose unilateral changes to the status quo of the Suez Canal!"
It seemed that the British were still quite normal! Li Weiren laughed in his heart. However, judging from the British's behavior at this time, and from the fact that the Military Governor Of Vaize did not have a policy with the British, Li Weiren felt that Wei Kun's plan was probably going to fail. Anyone could understand that the action of changing a strategic waterway would inevitably lead to fierce conflict. Purely for the sake of an East Africa Region, the Min dynasty would not invest such a big price.
"Is China just going to let the United States wreak havoc in the Caribbean?" The British representative also raised his own question. It could be seen that they had been preparing for this question for a long time. Because the British recited the names of the countries that the Americans had invaded one by one. After that, the British representative asked again, "Is China just going to let the United States wreak havoc in the Caribbean?"
"Our army has experienced four years of war and has begun to enter a state of war weariness. Let our army defend against the attacks of the Americans. They can do it. Let our army chase the American army all over the Caribbean. Our army can no longer accept it, "Li Weiren replied.
"How can your army be weary of war?" The British representative showed a completely disapproving expression.
Li Weiren shook his head. "Our country has a population of 800 million. Half of them are men, which is 400 million. Among the 400 million people, the population between 18 and 22 years old is about one-tenth. That's 40 million. We mobilized 10 million active and reserve troops in the North American War. That's 25%. Does your country think that 25% of young people are willing to go to war? "
This number made the British face very ugly. In theory, this number was not exaggerated. However, there were 40 million young people in China who were most suitable for war. The population of the United Kingdom was 40 million. From the perspective of the United Kingdom, it was difficult to see this as poverty.
The negotiations and discussions went on for a week. The two sides had a frank exchange of views on the points of conflict between the two countries and the points of joint intervention. After this exchange, both sides felt more secure. The British side, in particular, got a very interesting answer. The British asked the China representative what China was going to do next since they had obtained the dominance of the Pacific.
The answer of the China representative, Li Weiren, was very interesting. "You think we have obtained the dominance of the Pacific. In our opinion, we have only obtained the world's main grain-producing area. If there is anything that can be regarded as a great achievement, it is that the food supply problem that has troubled China for thousands of years has been solved in our generation. Since it is unlikely that our Min dynasty will lack food in the future, it is enough to learn from the United Kingdom and not have territorial claims on other countries. "
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