"Your Excellency, long time no see. The last time I sat face to face with you was several years ago, right?" The British Foreign Minister said to China's Foreign Minister, Li Xin. The two sat in the conference room of the British Embassy in Germany. There were only people from both countries. Compared to the noisy meetings of more than a dozen countries a few days ago, this meeting was much quieter and calmer.
Li Xin nodded. "It has indeed been a long time. But I believe that as the hostility between China and Britain is gradually resolved, there will be more and more meetings like this. "
The British Foreign Minister pondered the meaning behind Li Xin's words, and then said in a displeased tone, "Is this why Your Excellency is asking about the relationship between Britain and Europe?"
Li Xin replied with a straight face, "As a diplomat, it is also part of my duty to collect information about the relationship between countries. I believe that Britain must have done something similar, asking about the views of European countries on China. I don't think you will make a fuss about this kind of thing, right? "
The British Foreign Minister indeed did not make a fuss about this matter. As the two most powerful countries in the world, Britain had already regarded China as its biggest strategic opponent. Since they had this awareness, Britain would not think that China was trying to encircle Britain.
"I invited Your Excellency here to talk about cooperation in Africa," the British Foreign Minister said straightforwardly.
It was originally China's habit to talk about cooperation when they met. Even if the war was going to start the next day, China would still talk about cooperation. Even if the war had already started, China would never shout, "I will kill you all!" Instead, they would politely say that after the war, they would still continue to cooperate.
This time, the British simply copied China's diplomatic language, which sounded more classy.
"Can you reveal Britain's wishes in Africa?" Li Xin raised his own question.
The British Foreign Minister briefly introduced Britain's thoughts. They hoped that China could support Portugal, which Britain supported. European countries had been involved in Africa for hundreds of years. A few hundred years ago, Europeans mainly captured black people in Africa and sold them as slaves in the Americas. With the decline of the slave trade, many of Europe's coastal strongholds in Africa were gradually abandoned. The statesmen of Europe at the beginning of the age repeatedly stated their opposition to the acquisition of colonies. Bismarck, for example, declared that he was "not a colonialist," and compared the German colonies to the soft sable coat draped over the waistcoat of a Polish nobleman who wore no shirt underneath.
China had intervened in Africa just when the idea of colonizing Africa was in the ascendant. King Leopold II of Belgium had acted earlier than China. The bitter standoff between the Belgian Expeditionary Force and the French Expeditionary Force on the lower Congo. In the midst of the Franco-Belgian conflict, the Portuguese protested Stanley's occupation of the estuary of the Congo River. The Portuguese government claimed that it had had rights to the land since the fifteenth century.
Britain saw that the Congo River basin was profitable, and took advantage of the alliance between Britain and Portugal to conclude a treaty with Portugal. Britain recognized Portugal's sovereignty over the Congo River, and Portugal guaranteed that Britain could enjoy the same commercial and shipping rights in the area. The French Government protested against the signing of the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty, and Germany, which was in conflict with England, immediately and openly supported the French protest note. The United States also preferred that this rich area be controlled by the weaker Belgium.
The reason why the German Chancellor Bismarck was able to convene a world conference in Berlin was because France, Germany, and the United States had basically the same attitude on the Congo issue. Britain had no choice but to renounce the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty and propose that an international conference should be convened to finally resolve the Congo issue.
Now the Congo issue had become a question of how to divide Africa, and the ferment and expansion of the matter was completely beyond the British expectations. When the British Foreign Minister learned that the Chinese Foreign Minister was inquiring about other countries' attitudes toward Britain, he felt that the Chinese had ulterior motives, and wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to fan the flames behind the other countries' backs. But the British were the British, and after centuries of rich international relations, the British Foreign Minister came to a very unusual point of view. There was no benefit in China supporting other countries and the British at this time. If China and the British joined hands, they could actually achieve the greatest benefit from this conference.
The reason was simple. China encouraged other countries to make trouble with Britain, and China would only be able to benefit from dividing Africa with other countries. If China and the British stood together, the benefits would be great. In this corner of Africa, China and the British Fleet could crush any country if they joined hands. China didn't even need to personally go into battle to threaten any country, as long as China could publicly express its support for Britain's attitude and position, and publicly support the Congo River plan proposed by the British. France, Germany, and the United States, who were eyeing covetously, had to carefully weigh the current situation. As long as Britain shed all pretense of cordiality and sent out its fleet, these countries would have to kneel.
Based on this analysis of interests, the British Foreign Minister believed that they could negotiate with China. Based on the relationship between Britain and European countries, with centuries of history of bullying, it was obviously impossible for Britain to form a European coalition against China. Even if the European countries agreed, they would only stab Britain in the back when it suffered a setback. Compared with the European countries, the conflict between Britain and China was the smallest. More importantly, China had shown enough rationality and restraint in the previous war.
After stating his request, the British Foreign Minister looked at Li Xin and waited for Li Xin's answer with a little nervousness in his heart.
Li Xin was excited. Vézé once used his great prestige to forcibly promote peace with Britain, and this approach seemed to be starting to pay off. Li Xin once asked Vézé what was the most favorable diplomatic situation for China. Vézé's answer was: "Cooperate with the British, and the two sides don't go to war. It's best to join forces with the British to divide the United States. Then wait for Europe to have a big civil war. The unjust Britain is full of evil, and it will decline in the war. At that time, China can smoothly take over the position of the world's hegemon. "
In recent contacts with European countries, Li Xin could basically confirm one thing. It was very unlikely that Europe would take the initiative to form a European coalition against China, and it was even less likely that the European coalition would be led by the British. Of course, if the leader of the European coalition was not the British, the most likely leader of the coalition was to bite the British.
Thinking of this, Li Xin calmed down and said slowly: "In 1855, I went to Guangzhou with His Majesty Vézé's parents. I still remember that not long after I arrived in Guangzhou, I left Guangzhou with my mother and went to Foshan. At that time, it was said everywhere that the British were going to attack. We were afraid for a long time, and then we knew that our Liberation Army had won the war in Foshan, and we didn't have to be afraid of the British coming to Foshan. It was a few years before I returned to Guangzhou. At that time, we had to worry about the British coming to Guangzhou from Hong Kong. It can be said that I grew up under the threat of the British in my youth... "
Listening to China Foreign Minister Li Xin calmly talk about his memories of Britain, the British Foreign Minister did not know whether he should be happy or uneasy at this time. From a purely British standpoint, China was by far Britain's toughest opponent. Britain sold such a large piece of North American land to China, but that was also because those colonies had been completely bankrupt economically. Moreover, China was willing to pay a huge amount of gold. Even so, Britain still felt a little heartache after the sale.
Now listening to the words of the China Foreign Minister, the British Foreign Minister could feel the great sense of fear that Britain had created for China. This was indeed something that could greatly satisfy the self-esteem of the British Foreign Minister, but now that China had such great power, would China try to return this sense of fear to Britain?
Li Xin was still explaining China's attitude slowly. "We, China, are not opposed to maintaining peace with Britain, but I would like to ask you, sir, why should we believe that Britain will work hard to maintain this kind of peace? In fact, many people in China believe that Britain will use the huge funds that China gives to Britain to build a larger fleet in an attempt to destroy our fleet and dominate the Indian Ocean again. At that time, not only will we lose our estuary in the Indian Ocean, but our territory in Africa will also be lost. It's a clean deal. "
The British Foreign Minister waited for Li Xin to finish before he calmly replied, "If this is the mainstream attitude of your country, then why is your country still willing to pay this gold?"
Li Xin did not directly answer this question. The British Foreign Minister asked a good question. If China was not willing to give Britain the money to buy peace, the peace agreement could not be reached at all.
"Sir, do you know the situation of the Suez Canal?" The British Foreign Minister then asked.
"Do you mean the navigation standard of the Suez Canal of five meters deep?" Li Xin replied.
The British Foreign Minister felt relieved. It was sometimes very comfortable to communicate with the enemy, especially with a smart enemy. The smarter the enemy was, the more they could grasp the key points of the key issues. Since China had already considered the navigation depth of the Suez Canal, other issues must have been considered. He frankly talked about the choice that Britain faced.
After several naval battles between Britain and China, especially after the battle between the two sides' new warships of tens of thousands of tons, Britain encountered a dilemma. The Suez Canal was too shallow to allow warships of larger tonnage to navigate. After China's warships of tens of thousands of tons rushed into the Indian Ocean, they could shell the coast of India at any time and block the route between India and the British mainland. India, a large market of hundreds of millions of people, was too important to China, to the extent that it could not leave for even a day. Before Britain could defeat the Chinese Navy, Britain was in a dilemma of being choked by China.
With the wisdom of the British, they could figure out why China wanted to make Madagascar a province of China, which was to block Britain's passage to the Indian Ocean from the Cape of Good Hope. Britain now had two choices left. One was to fight with China for Madagascar, and the other was to deepen and widen the Suez Canal. No matter which option it was, it was highly unfeasible. Britain did not have enough naval strength to fight with China for Madagascar. Expanding the navigation capacity of the Suez Canal, in addition to spending a lot of money and a few years of time, there was another danger. At this time, China strengthened its own fleet. After the British widened and deepened the canal, they would drive the British out of the Suez Canal Zone in one fell swoop, and the Chinese Navy would then enter the Mediterranean Sea to fight.
Since China did not take this opportunity to seize India, but was satisfied with the current situation, it also meant that China was willing to make peace with Britain. History had long made the British understand the truth that real war was always carried out. In times of peace, you should do what you should do in times of peace, and in times of war, you would naturally have choices during times of war.
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