1890 King of Southeast Asia

Tian Rui looked at Liu Yiming, took a deep breath and calmed down.

"Your Majesty, the British purchase this time is mainly paid by loans and bonds. In addition to the previous ones, the British government already owes us 190 million pounds."

"If the British want to attack the Ottoman Empire as Minister Jiang said, should we join the war?"

"This is very important for our next economic plan."

Tian Rui actually wanted to ask whether we should suspend lending to the British.

After Liu Yiming decided to give preferential policies to the Allies or Britain and France, Britain stopped paying with hard currency, and only those who really needed hard currency would pay with hard currency.

Those who can pay with pounds are all paid with pounds.

The problem is that as the war progresses, there are not many British people with pounds.

Some people say that paper money can be printed, but the British are not stupid, they still need to use finance to support the war.

If it is printed, it doesn't matter if it prints 100 million, but what about printing 1 billion? What about 10 billion? That will have a great impact on their financial system.

If these pounds were in the hands of China, China could destroy the British financial system by selling them off at any time during the war and before the British recovered after the war.

Or demand to exchange pounds, which would either cause British banks to default and lose credit, or lose hard currency, and Britain does not have so much hard currency.

Just like Americans will freeze other people's accounts and even assassinate people, but they will not say that the US dollars in your hands cannot be used, but just make you unable to spend money.

The British did not have enough pounds and had to spend everywhere, so they started to borrow money, and China also gave a certain credit line of 1 billion yuan, equivalent to 200 million pounds.

This amount is not low, nor is it high. If the UK is willing to take out collateral, it can be higher, but the UK is obviously not at this point yet. At present, it only uses China as a Huabei with interest.

Normally, this is harmless to China. As long as the UK still exists, the debt is there. If it really can't pay it back, British Malaya, Singapore, British Southeast Asia and even Australia can pay off the debt.

However, the problem is that the UK seems to want to fight the Ottomans and has not discussed it with China.

You know, the southern Ottoman Empire, the entire Arab region and Mesopotamia are all Chinese lands.

And attacking the Ottomans, attacking from south to north, cooperating with Tsarist Russia in the north, and attacking from both sides is the best tactic.

Of course, it is also possible to land from the sea, but this is obviously not what Tian Rui considered. He only considered whether Britain would want to pass through the land of the Chinese.

Huaxia has not officially joined the war yet. It is impossible to join the war before the conditions are negotiated. In other words, if the British pass through Arabia, there will be big problems.

Even the pro-German faction will immediately gain the upper hand.

Tian Rui doesn't care about war or not. He cares about those loans, and suggests that Liu Yiming stop providing supplies and loans to the British and stop losses in time.

"No, no, no, the time is not right. I don't plan to join the war next year." Liu Yiming shook his head directly.

"However, if the talks go well, I should send a group of officers over. It is not impossible to declare war, but I will not send a large number of troops directly."

"Formally joining the war should be after the year after next, that is, after 1917."

Liu Yiming shook his head decisively. At this time, Britain and France still have enough strength, especially Britain, which has not been injured. He is too much to replace the British to fill the trenches?

Although China will stand on the side of the Allies, it is only for the benefit. The later it joins, the lower the voice will be. It's low, anyway, the Westerners will not listen.

"Are you worried that the British will pass through our territory?" Liu Yiming saw that the three were silent and looked at the map, and then asked.

The three nodded quickly like chickens eating rice.

Liu Yiming knew that this battle was commanded by a politician who did not understand military affairs and was promoted under the pressure of the Russians. It was a wrong battle.

The idea was very beautiful. Attacking Istanbul, while forcing the Ottomans to withdraw from the war, opening up the Turkish Straits and continuing to transfuse blood to Tsarist Russia was strategically perfect.

However, the tactics were absolutely wrong. The British's arrogance made the battle a failure, and the British did not pay enough attention to this battlefield.

500,000 people, is it a lot? It seems to be a lot.

But they are facing an empire, and now it is World War I. Even if the Ottomans are rubbish, they can defend for a long time in normal offensive and defensive battles if they occupy a defensive position.

The British have to deal with the battlefield on the Western Front. A large number of troops are filling trenches, and the main force of the navy is guarding against the Germans. What are they sent to Egypt?

What are the British troops in Egypt? The corps composed of Australians and New Zealanders is the most elite, but who are these people?

Australia and New Zealand, as British colonies and dominions, have always been a group that no one dares to provoke. In addition to the betrayal of the North American colonies, the British also suppressed their military development.

Therefore, many of the soldiers pulled from these places are mud legs who have just come out of the farmland and have not received any military training.

Indians are better, but the British never train Indians in large-scale combat, only small-scale combat, and their coordination ability is worrying.

Not to mention other colonial troops, they are a bunch of rubbish.

As for the British Army, it is also mainly composed of reservists. Although its combat effectiveness is the strongest, it still accepts the tactics of line-up shooting and group charge.

(If you think it's outrageous, search for videos of the early chaos in the Central Plains. The troops of those warlords are almost like this.)

The navy has eleven battleships and one battlecruiser. Although they are mainly old battleships, the Ottoman Empire cannot resist them.

The problem is that the British target is the Gallipoli Peninsula, and the navy is attacking the Dardanelles. The artillery on both sides will teach the British a lesson.

If the British Army has the combat effectiveness of the German Army and can be patient, it can land from the south and nibble away bit by bit.

In a year or two, with casualties of more than 100,000 or 200,000, it can probably be nibbled away, and then it can go all the way north to Istanbul. The Ottoman Empire will most likely withdraw from the war, provided that the British do not make mistakes.

Unfortunately, in terms of tactical execution, the British have no such opportunity at all. The British government and Tsarist Russia will continue to put pressure on and urge the progress of the war.

So, the best choice for the British is to attack from south to north, gradually attract the Ottoman Empire defenders, and then fight a few annihilation battles.

Just a few wins will make the Ottoman Empire run out of soldiers and eventually withdraw from the war. However, this requires passing through Arabia, the territory of the Chinese.

"It is normal for you to have these concerns, but don't worry too much about the British. At the critical moment, the British dare not touch our nerves." Liu Yiming smiled.

The British dare not even open a second battlefield, how can they provoke the Chinese? Aren't they afraid that the Chinese will fall to the other side?

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"Your Majesty, since we know that the British are going to attack the Ottomans, should we do something?" Jiang Wang glanced at the two and reminded them softly.

This is telling Liu Yiming that empty words are not enough, so it is better to make some preparations and comfort everyone.

"Yes, prepare. Contact the Ottomans and ask them if they want arms. Delay the front line of arms for the British and squeeze in some to prepare some for the Ottomans."

"Tell the Ottomans to trade with gold. Remember, this is not an official transaction, but smuggling. It must be kept strictly confidential."

"After the transaction, find a death row prisoner as a scapegoat."

Liu Yiming nodded.

"In addition, let the Arab Production and Construction Corps strengthen its vigilance on the grounds of protecting production, and the Arab and Mesopotamian garrisons will be on secondary combat readiness, making a big fuss."

"Send a few warships to Haifa Port, led by a destroyer. The size is just right. By the way, organize an artillery show."

"Note that all military actions should not cross the line. Whether the Ottomans or the British ask, they should say it is an exercise."

Liu Yiming said to Tian Rui and Du Dewei. This was to appease them. After all, military deployment is carried out by the navy and the army.

"As for the loan to the British..." Liu Yiming touched his chin.

In fact, this trick was also learned from the Americans. In the later period, Britain and France could not produce enough hard currency and US dollars to purchase materials, so the United States provided loans to Britain and France.

The United States rushed to join the war, and the battlefield situation was unclear, and it was afraid that billions of debts would go down the drain.

"Continue to provide loans, but let the British provide collateral for the part above one billion."

"By the way, pay attention to guidance. The British are too eager to save face. Don't mention collateral directly. Just say that if there is no collateral, the government will not agree to the loan plan."

"Just say that the government has questioned the amount of the British loan, and even opposed joining the Allies. In the future, when purchasing materials, at least one-quarter of the money must be paid in cash, and the rest will be deducted by loans."

Liu Yiming thought about it and said it roughly.

One year after the war, one-quarter was equivalent to the price before the war, although due to the rise in raw materials, this price was close to the cost price of many products.

Some people oppose loans, but this is not a long-term loan. It can be imagined that the British will quickly repay the loan after the war in order to get rid of China's "control".

After all, the interest is not a small amount. If the average interest rate is 6%, a loan of 100 million yuan will have to pay 6 million yuan in interest per year.

When the interest rate is high to a certain extent, Britain, which is in urgent need of strategic contraction and recuperation, will surely be willing to use some overseas interests to offset the loan, right?

And Germany. After the war, Britain took away a lot of equipment from Germany. There was no big problem with these equipment. It was just that they could not be used because of the specifications. It was hard to say what a bargain price would be for a batch of equipment?

Moreover, when China recruited talents in Europe, especially Germany and Austria, Britain could not resist it blatantly.

Although Britain was still a tiger after the war, it had lost its teeth and claws. It was just a facade, and it used its huge colonies to support its frame.

The reason why Liu Yiming put forward the conditions was, first, to appease his own people, and second, to show a "demand" to the British so that they could make loans with more peace of mind.

As long as Britain dared to mortgage India, Liu Yiming would dare to accept it, even if it was pants.