Chapter 111 Hope

10 Downing Street, next to Whitehall in Westminster, Westminster, London, is a George-style building. This is the official residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It is the country and colony of up to 35 million square kilometers in the world. This is the heart of Britain's global interests.

Work together at this time? Prime Minister George is gently tapping the desk in front of him with his fingers. He looked extremely tired and annoyed, and continued to talk about the sudden termination with Mr. Gray, the foreign minister.

"I don't understand,"

Look at Gray, work together? Prime Minister George said,

"If we make concessions on the Hong Kong issue, then it means our full withdrawal from East Asian forces, which is undoubtedly a disaster for Britain's global interests!"

"Indeed, if we hand over Hong Kong to the Chinese, we must face the reality of losing the right to speak in East Asia, but..."

With a pause, Gray looked at the Prime Minister and said.

"Now, Foreign Minister Kikujiro Ishii has just arrived in London!"

What is it? Prime Minister George raised his head.

"You mean..."

Grey smiled faintly, but the smile seemed a little helpless.

"In China's problem, we have to face an extremely realistic problem, that is, with the strength of China, we must face the fact that we must make some decisions we don't want to make."

"What do you think--"

What is it? Prime Minister George hesitated for a moment.

"Do we return Hong Kong to the Chinese now? Of course, with the gradual strengthening of China, this is the reality we must face. Either we take the initiative to return it to the Chinese, or in the future, the Chinese will snatch it from Britain, that is to say, as long as Hong Kong is still in our hands. We must take into account the potential war factors caused by it.

Labor? George pinched his finger, and then looked at Gray and asked.

"Can war be avoided? It's not in Britain's interest to hand it over!"

"And now, for Britain, the most fundamental interest is to ensure Britain's fundamentals and prevent Britain from being dragged down by this protracted war. Otherwise, everything is empty talk. If Britain is dragged down by this war, then we may not lose more than just Hong Kong."

"Well, so, you prefer to return Hong Kong to the Chinese, don't you?"

"If there are other options..."

With a long sigh, Gray continued.

"I'd rather not make such a choice!"

"It seems that we really have no other choice."

Labor? Prime Minister George said thoughtfully.

"It seems that we should really meet with Ishii. If we lose Hong Kong, then we must consider and do everything else to restore the real order in East Asia, instead of the order in East Asia dominated by China as it is now. I think... The failure on the East Asian issue is probably the United Kingdom. One of the biggest diplomatic mistakes after entering the 20th century!"

Labor? There was a wry smile on George's lips. If we could see the future, Britain might not have made one mistake after another after entering the twentieth century, and in the end, these mistakes directly led to the decline of Britain.

"I have the courage to challenge China's East Asian power?"

"Sir, don't forget that I am a group of ambitious monkeys. They have never given up and challenged China. No, compared with challenging China, I am more inclined to the present and strive for real national reading."

"What do you mean?"

"Now, we can reach some consensus with Japan. Of course, it's just some consensus. Of course, Britain does not have the ability to maintain this consensus now, and Japan also understands that we only need to..."

"Do you want to solve all these problems after the war?"

Labor? Prime Minister George raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Yes, the fundamental reason why the Chinese can do it at will now is that the power of Britain and France has been completely dragged into Europe, so they are facing an extremely empty Asia, but the Chinese are very clear..."

Gray's body leaned forward slightly.

"They clearly know that with China's current strength, it is impossible to challenge the international order that has lasted for a century, and it is because of such wisdom that they will not hesitate to betray Germany and stand on the side of Britain, instead of challenging the international order led by the United Kingdom."

"Please go on."

"Therefore, we should leave some problems, especially those related to the fundamental interests of Britain, to be solved after the war. At that time, China must consider whether they have the ability to challenge Britain alone. I believe that at that time, they will make wise choices, such as making appropriate decisions on Japanese issues. Dang's concession..."

"Oh?"

shrugged shoulders, labor together? George said disapprovingly.

"It seems that doing this will not solve a problem, that is, the problem of Hong Kong, and it does not solve the problem that we need to hand over Hong Kong to China. Moreover, Gray, you must understand that for the Chinese, if they don't eat Hong Kong in their mouths, they will never send him to Europe. It is even more impossible for our army to provide loans to Britain or buy British war bonds.

Compared with the post-war, labor? What George values more is that in front of him, the interests of Britain in front of him are crucial. Even Britain has reached the juncture. He used to be full of hope for the United States, but now, the hope for the United States has long turned into despair, and for China, the ambition of the Chinese people is extremely difficult to satisfy.

"However, if we promise them, they can ask for Hong Kong today, and we can ask for Singapore tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, it may be India. God knows what we need to use to satisfy them in the future..."

"Their ambition is the same as that of me. Compared with myself, what they value more is the historical glory of the country, sir."

Gray neither agrees nor expresses disgust with the Prime Minister's views.

"In their opinion, Hong Kong is directly related to their national dignity, so they have persisted on this issue until now!"

Gray, who understands the inside story of the Sino-British Hong Kong negotiations, naturally knows what Hong Kong means to China, just like Gibraltar to Spain.

After a moment of silence, Gray continued:

"But now, the Chinese are preparing to exert their abilities in this war, so I think Britain can also make appropriate concessions!"

At this time, a sudden idea swept through the labor? Prime Minister George's mind, "We can negotiate with the Chinese to set a repayment period, such as ten or twenty years."

"Your Excellency, you mean..."

Gray immediately understood what the Prime Minister meant,

"I think the Chinese need his national dignity, and the British Empire also needs to defend its dignity!"

Labor? George smiled and touched his chin.

"But in ten or twenty years, maybe... who can see the future? However, I don't mind giving hope to the Chinese, just like the Chinese are giving hope to the Russians now!"

This is a special train on the Jinpu Railway. This special train, which is all-in-a-box blue, consists of 11 carriages. In the past few days, it has been driving all the way to the south from Manzhouli Station in China.

As soon as the train left the Lunan Mountains, it immediately entered the Subei Plain. Compared with the mountainous areas of Lunan, the plains of northern Jiangsu are more attractive. Because the color of the carriages is integrated with white snow, iron bridges and plains, this train has become the most distinctive landscape in this area.

After the train passed Xuzhou, it entered the plain area. At this time, it was the middle of winter, but on the plain under the winter snow, it was the season when new green began to sprout. The green of the spotted wheat seedlings was very conspicuous in the snow. In this piece of green and white snow, the blue special train forms a beautiful scenery.

Along the way, this special train only stops at the necessary stations to add coal and water. In addition, it is all the way. After entering Bengbu Station, the train slowly stopped. After stopping on a platform, the staff on the platform immediately began to get busy. The closed coal conveyor belt immediately transmitted the coal to the carriage, and the water pipe began to add fresh water to the head of the locomotive. On the platform, several railway company employees saw this train. When I was in the car, I was stunned - the carriage was suddenly carrying the royal dragon badge.

Everything after that became extremely natural. Except for the working platform staff, other people stood in line on the platform one after another, watching the royal train pay attention. Although they did not hear that there was someone from the royal family, they still had to abide by the basic etiquette.

In the carriage, a girl about ten years old blinked her jewel-like eyes and looked at the railway station, but the railway station in front of her made her extremely disappointed. On a journey of tens of thousands of kilometers, the girl saw one railway station after another, and in her opinion, it seemed that on the way, she I saw that there was no railway station like the railway station along the Siberian Railway. Those railway stations were more beautiful, and the girls who were a little disappointed finally turned their eyes to the carriage.

She jumped down from the soft seat of the sofa, stepped on the thick carpet of Xinjiang, leaned on the side of the noble concubine's chair, next to her mother who was looking at the book, and then she sat on the carpet casually and looked at her mother with some disappointment. It seemed that the "Fairy Tale Kingdom" was not very attractive.

"What? Nasha, do you feel a little disappointed?"

The strangeness of her daughter was in Lisa's eyes, and there was a little smile on her beautiful and refined face.

"It doesn't seem to be as beautiful as I thought!"

Why is it not as beautiful as imagined? Simply, it is a great disappointment. Nasha thought in her heart that if the scenery along the railway alone is concerned, she will be shrouded in disappointment since she entered China. Compared with here, the Siberian railway is more like a fairy tale kingdom.

At this time, there was a wave of flags and whistles on the platform. The train twitched reluctantly and slowly drove out of the station. In the carriage, Nasha looked at the pictorial in her hand disappointedly, which was a Chinese pictorial.

"Beautiful, it's just what you see!"

Unlike her daughter, when Lisa said this, she took a deep breath. This is the Chinese air, which is different from the dry and cold air in Russian winter. Even in the cold winter, the air here is full of sweetness. Everything here is always so infatuated.

Although the scenery here is more or less disappointing to Nasha, she is still full of expectations, because she learned from the map that she will soon arrive in Nanjing, the capital of China, where she can see the emperor's uncle... She is already a 30-year-old woman!

In the morning, when Lisa faced the mirror, she was nervous and her hand trembled. She hoped to give him a beautiful and good impression:

"When can I arrive at Xiaguan Railway Station?"

She asked like this about a hundred times. As she got closer and closer to Nanjing, she became more and more nervous.

"It's about 12:30, aunt."

Shi Liyun replied softly that she married to Russia with her wife as a maid, which was also the first time she returned to Nanjing and China.

At this time, the train was heading towards Xiaguan Railway Station through the glass window of the carriage. Through the glass window of the carriage, it can be clearly seen on the river in the distance. There is a busy construction site. A bridge is under intense construction, lying by the window and wiping away the white fog left on the window from time to time. Nasha was a little surprised to look at the complicated In the busy construction scene, she has never seen such a huge construction site, or even such a towering bridge.

"Your Highness, this is the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge! The second bridge on the Yangtze River is also the longest bridge in the world!"

The waiter beside her helped Princess Nasha explain her questions.

"This is really spectacular!"

Nasha said softly and wiped the fog off the window at the same time.

"After arriving in Nanjing, maybe we can go there to have a look!"

"Of course, Your Highness, you can go anywhere as long as you want!"

Finally, the railway ferry was close to the port of Shangxiaguan Wharf. After completing the railway connection, the train entered Xiaguan Railway Station. At this time, the Xiaguan Railway Station was already full of people who came to greet him, and standing in front of the crowd was a little boy who was only about eleven or twelve years old. The little boy was wearing Dressed in an army uniform, although he was not tall, no one could ignore the little boy at this time. Next to the little boy stood a young Western woman in palace clothes. Her blonde hair was very conspicuous in the sun. These two were the crown princes and empresses of the Chinese Empire. At this time, they stood on the platform and looked at the one. On the slowly coming train, Ji Li's face was full of smiles, while Chen Yixuan's expression was very calm. Although she was young, she always pretended to be as solemn as her father, and on the other side of him stood his sister. Compared with him, her face was full of expectation, as if she was looking forward to seeing her relatives as soon as possible.

When the train stopped, the first thing that came into Nasha's eyes was the queen in palace costume, and then she saw a boy. Was it him?

Nasha will ask secretly in her heart, her mother told him a lot about the crown prince on the way, right? In fact, she can also feel that compared with the crown prince and the princess, her mother is more familiar with the princess, not the crown prince, but at this time, looking at this serious crown prince, she muttered in her heart.

"Pret it up!"

Finally, the train stopped. When the door opened, Lisa got off the train. At this time, the queen had already greeted her. Although she didn't see your majesty, she thought that he could not be here. Lisa was relieved in her heart, and of course, she was more relaxed.

"Lisa, my sister!"

At this time, Ji Li did not have the so-called "mother world" dignified at all. Almost as soon as Lisa got out of the car, she greeted her and hugged her.

"Queen..."

The two hugged each other for a moment, but Ji Li bent down and looked at the angelic Nasha standing behind Lisa, and said with a smile.

"This must be Nasha, honey, you are so beautiful!"

"Yes, madam."

Nasha answered with a standard European court ceremony.

"My nephew has met Aunt Lisa!"

Chen Yixuan, who looked a little strange, did not look particularly intimate. She just saluted according to the rules. As for the little girl next to him, he didn't even look at her. Although she gave him an amazing feeling, in his opinion, she was just a little girl with a runny nose. .

Looking at this "nephew", although Lisa wanted to get close, she didn't know how to get close. She just looked at his dark and fearless eyes, which were still black and thick hair, which was inherited from his father's hair. Although she was young, this expression was no different from his father. It was really a small My lord.

"Aunt Lisa."

After the first gift, Chen Xiyun's eyes were more or less with some tears in her eyes, and she may have some impression of this aunt.

"Xiyun..."

Holding Xi Yun, who had not been seen for many years, the tears in Lisa's eyes suddenly flowed down.

"Okay, don't cry, sister, let's go home!"

In the face of the queen's advice, Lisa nodded and suddenly felt a throat blocked. When they left the station by car, they looked at the strange buildings on both sides of the street. When Lisa was surprised by the changes in Nanjing, Nasha became interested in these eastern-style buildings. She looked at everything around her curiously, and looking at the little girl's curious face, Chen Yixuan seemed to deliberately Stimulating her, she said softly.

"Little girl who has never seen the world!"

"You...yes..."

Nasha, who originally wanted to refute, said gently in Chinese with a Shanghai accent:

"I'm a country girl who has never seen the world, but you, my distinguished Crown Prince, I don't know where you have been except Nanjing?"

Her words only made Chen Yixuan dumb. He was about to refute, but he listened to an unprising word.

"It turns out that the crown prince is just a canary in a cage..."

Saying something disapproving, Nasha looked out of the window again to appreciate those strange eastern buildings. She didn't see Chen Yixuan's anger in her, and even had to laugh secretly in her heart. Wouldn't this little adult be angry?

(to be continued)