1890 King of Southeast Asia

"Ambassador Cyril, I heard that you are very anxious to see me. Is there anything particularly important?" Lin Anmin forced himself to look at Cyril who came to visit late at night.

"Your Excellency, it is a bit abrupt to visit you late at night. I hope you can forgive me." Cyril has been in China for so many years and has learned a lot of Chinese culture.

But it is a bit inappropriate to use it here.

"Mr. Ambassador, please speak directly. What happened? Did the United States declare war on the Allies?" Lin Anmin guessed maliciously.

Of course, this is completely unfounded and random speculation, and it has no meaning.

"Oh! No, the Americans probably won't interfere in European affairs. They are holding on to that damn isolationism and are unwilling to move in America."

"I want to ask, when can the observation group get back on the road? You know, they have been there for a week."

"London is urging the officers who will accompany the observation group. We have recently formed dozens of divisions and are short of officers."

Although Lin Anmin just mentioned it without giving any evidence, and the Germans are doing stupid things in the United States, Cyril still didn't relax.

It's about national interests, even life and death. Cyril can't guarantee whether this is a play performed by the Americans and Germans to let the British relax their vigilance.

After all, the United States has been coveting the British Empire market for a long time, but the British just won't let the Americans in.

The British Empire here is not a Great Britain Island, but all the colonies and protectorates under the flag of the British Empire, more than 30 million square kilometers of land.

Together with France and Russia, almost half of the world's market is closed to the Americans.

If the United States chooses to take risks, Cyril will not be surprised at all.

"Mr. Ambassador, you know that in addition to naval officers, there are also army officers in the officer corps. They cannot adapt to life on the ship, and many of them are sick."

"According to the news sent by Arabia, about a quarter of the army officers are receiving treatment."

"If the army officers cannot arrive in the UK with the navy, the Ministry of Defense will not agree. It's very troublesome."

Lin Anmin shrugged apologetically, as if to say that I can't do anything.

In fact, Cyril hoped that Lin Anmin would quote quickly, but Lin Anmin refused. With such a good opportunity, what if the quote is too low? What if it is too high?

So, Lin Anmin asked Cyril to make a price again, and said that as long as the price is right, those sick officers will be cured soon-probably when the telegram from Borneo is sent to Arabia.

"Sir Cyril, the Chinese are not greedy, and the price is definitely worth it!"

"To show our sincerity, I can reveal a piece of news to the UK."

Lin Anmin thought about it, and the Japanese side had already loosened up. Although the specific cooperation method was not clear, Japan obviously valued subcontracting orders more.

The Ministry of Commerce has already counted the industry orders that have not been completed in time and the progress of new factory construction is relatively lagging, and is preparing to subcontract them to the Japanese.

"During the South-Japan War, Japan was defeated and signed an agreement that its navy would be taken over by the Chinese Empire Navy. At present, the Chinese Empire Navy has sent tugboats to tow the warships back."

"In addition to several large warships, there are dozens of small warships. These warships were originally planned to be dismantled directly because the Chinese Empire had no use for them."

"But the Navy General Staff believes that dismantling ships will not only cost a lot of money, but also take up a lot of manpower, and ultimately gain nothing."

"So, the Navy decided to repair these warships, restore their combat effectiveness, and form the Chinese Empire Expeditionary Fleet."

"This matter is still confidential. If we hadn't known each other for so many years, plus our traditional friendship with the British Empire, I would never tell you."

Lin Anmin took a sip of the tea, and then changed to boiled water. Drinking tea can refresh you. You dare not drink too much in the middle of the night. You still have to negotiate with Hioki tomorrow.

"This is..." Cyril stood up in shock. Just as he was about to speak, Lin Anmin's wife brought in the tea and interrupted his rhythm.

"Just put it here." Lin Anmin went up to take the tea, then glanced at the teacup on the coffee table.

"I remember the chef learned to make English black tea, let him make a cup for Sir Cyril to taste, use the best black tea."

"Put three times the amount of tea leaves."

The last sentence was whispered by Lin Anmin to his wife.

"Got it, you guys chat first." The smile on his wife's face froze for a moment, and then smiled brighter.

"Sit down first, Sir, the black tea will be served in a while." Lin Anmin put the tea on the table.

"Minister, you just mentioned the expedition fleet, is it true?" Cyril forced himself to sit down, but the soft sofa that was usually very comfortable to sit on seemed to be covered with barbs at this time, and he couldn't sit still.

"Of course it's true. Didn't I say that? The navy has sent tugboats to Sasebo to tow the warship. If Japan has not carried out any sabotage, the repair work should be completed within three months."

"And in order to restore its combat effectiveness as soon as possible, we have hired some former Japanese naval soldiers. We have almost discussed this with the Japanese."

"Maybe four months later, at the end of this year, you will see the expeditionary fleet form combat effectiveness and go to Europe."

Lin Anmin said without hesitation.

Yes, these are all confidential. Even if they are not particularly important secrets, they should not be told to foreigners, especially diplomats such as ambassadors.

But who asked Lin Anmin to negotiate the price? If you want to bargain, you must always have bargaining capital. Vegetable sellers will try their best to keep the vegetables fresh.

"This is really... Thank you, ma'am." Cyril jumped up again in surprise, and then Lin Anmin's wife brought tea, English black tea, interrupting his spell again.

"Hmm~?" Cyril took a sip and frowned, feeling something was wrong.

"How is it? My chef went to learn it specifically to entertain British friends. Unfortunately, after learning it, my British friends didn't come to visit much." Lin Anmin shrugged.

"Not bad, a little less sugar, but it's just right with tea snacks." Hearing this, Cyril took another sip and ate a piece of tea snack.

"I know what you want to ask, and I can give you a definite answer here. Yes, we decided to help Britain, not for anything else, just to maintain an orderly world." Lin Anmin smiled and watched Cyril drinking tea.

"Really? But..." Cyril looked at Lin Anmin in surprise.

"Yes, but you know, this is just our decision, but there are many different opinions within the government and at the national level."

"Let's not talk about anything else. For example, many traditional cities in China, because of the war in the past, the residents there don't have a very good impression of Britain. On the contrary, they are more friendly to the Germans because the Germans have never robbed us."

"On land, the pro-German faction is powerful. We must consider public opinion, so our actions will not be fast. At least until next year, there will be substantial changes."

Lin Anmin smiled and took a sip of boiled water, then glanced at the tea in Cyril's hand.

"Your Excellency, I think that the past should be left in the past. There is no need for us to dwell on past problems. There is an old saying in your country that people should look forward."

Cyril solemnly put down his teacup and looked at Lin Anmin when he heard this.

If China was still the China in history, Cyril would not care so much, anyway, it would not play any role.

As for those Chinese workers? First of all, those Chinese workers mainly went to France, not Britain.

Secondly, Britain and France have some vast colonies, and there are too many laborers. It is precisely because of the beginning of World War I that France has almost become a black France.

But China is very powerful now. At least in terms of military, countries such as Britain, France, Germany and Russia pay more attention to China than the United States, but it is just reliance or hostility.

Because at this time, although the United States has the highest industrial output value and the largest industrial system in the world, its military strength is extremely weak.

Not only is the combat effectiveness of the army weak, but the entire system supporting it, including the military production system, is also extremely weak, which does not match the national strength of the United States at all.

Don't disbelieve it. Apart from other things, the military production capacity of Americans is actually not as good as that of China, and is even at the same level as that of Japan.

The Americans improved their military industry system after World War I. The US Army suffered a great loss, and then began to gradually improve the military industry system. Even so, after the Versailles system, this improvement stopped all of a sudden and was not restarted until World War II.

And what about China? 80% of the heavy industrial production capacity of the Huaxia Empire is concentrated in the two islands of Java and Borneo. Except for the petrochemical industry, most of them are military factories or evolved from military factories.

For example, the technology sources of several automobile factories are basically several engine manufacturers or several power laboratories.

Engine manufacturers, such as the First Engine Factory, originally made marine diesel engines, equipped for torpedo boats, and the First Automobile Factory originally made armored vehicles.

The South China Empire has four large tractor factories, which can produce thousands of medium and large tractors a year. When the factory was opened, it was actually for the purpose of making tanks, but the demand for tanks was not large, so tractors were the main business.

Cyril couldn't detect the core secrets, but these factories had participated in military production and research and development, and were directly controlled by the Chinese Empire government, with strong manufacturing capabilities, which Cyril knew.

After all, only Britain and France knew how much war materials they had purchased from China in the past year and a half.

"Look forward?"

Lin Anmin's face suddenly darkened,

"You mean, let us forget the past? Sir Cyril, if you think so, then we have nothing to talk about."

Lin Anmin slammed the quilt on the coffee table.

"Please don't get me wrong, I don't mean that..." Cyril said in his heart, "Not good!", and said quickly...