Master Yuan, start!

"That's terrible, don't worry, I will immediately allocate food for loading.

There is too little food in Europe and Africa is too far away. I will have people collect food from India and provide 50 tons of rice as an initial aid, and expedite its delivery to the Yantai area."

The Marquis of Salisbury waved his pen, winked at the Foreign Secretary Chamberlain next to him, and decided to transfer grain eastward.

When Yuan Xiangcheng heard this, his face was naturally filled with joy.

However, he couldn't help but complain in his heart.

As far as he knew, the northern region of India was suffering from the same drought as the country. Although 50 tons of grain was not a lot, if it was made into porridge, it would be enough for 10 people to eat and drink for a day.

This is not free aid from the British at all. They are clearly borrowing flowers from India to offer to China, the Buddha!

It can only be said that Britain has a tradition of exploiting India. In the original time and space, after World War II, it was possible to cause a famine in India, a country with only four to five harvests a year. Apart from Britain, it may not be possible for anyone else to cause such a big mess.

However, don’t miss out on free food.

Yuan Xiangcheng put down his teacup and said, "Mr. Prime Minister, on behalf of the Chinese people, I thank Her Majesty the Queen and all the subjects of the British Empire for their selfless assistance!"

The Marquis of Salisbury nodded and accepted Yuan Xiangcheng's thanks calmly.

After the greetings, let’s get down to business.

"Yuan, what do you think of the war in South Africa?"

"Well..." Yuan Xiangcheng pondered for a moment and said carefully, "I believe that the British Empire will definitely achieve ultimate victory, but the process will be a little tortuous."

"Twists and turns?" The Marquis of Salisbury pondered the word for a moment, then asked, "Yuan, could you be more specific?"

"France and Germany are not only neighbors of the UK on the European continent, but also in Africa.

If the war in South Africa drags on for too long, the British Empire's other colonies in Africa will be affected, especially France, which has just lost a large colony.

Yuan Xiangcheng revealed all the words he had prepared in advance, intending to create a "French threat theory"

The Marquis of Salisbury smiled and said, "Yuan, if that's the case, then isn't France afraid of losing its own West African colonies?

Recruitment??80?73^bao4

You are too pessimistic. Although the South African War encountered some setbacks, as you said, the British Empire will eventually win.

The price is nothing more than sending more troops.

"Send more troops?!"

Yuan Xiangcheng interrupted Prime Minister Lord Salisbury before he finished speaking, causing him to frown.

"Mr. Prime Minister, with all due respect, the British Empire is indeed a world hegemon, but how long can it last?"

Having said that, Yuan Xiangcheng stood up, stepped on the soft grass, and spoke to the Prime Minister who held the highest power in Britain:

"Mr. Prime Minister, I wonder if you have read a few books called the Rise of Great Powers series, which tells the historical story of how European countries grew from small countries to world empires.

Many years ago, after writing about Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, I put the subsequent writing plan on hold.

"The Rise of Great Powers?" The Marquis of Salisbury thought for a moment and said, "I've seen it before. When it was introduced to the UK a few years ago, it caused a hot selling trend.

It is said that the author is a person who is very familiar with European countries. "

The series of books on the rise of great powers written by Yuan Shikai was originally only in Chinese. After he became the governor of the three northeastern provinces, he gradually began to recruit people to translate these books into four languages: English, French, German and Russian.

Therefore, this book is also well-known in the Western world.

"Mr. Prime Minister, to be honest, the author of the rise of a great power, the East Asian nationalist, is none other than me!"

"You?" The Marquis of Salisbury raised his eyebrows, a little surprised: "Are you the author of that book?"

Yuan Xiangcheng nodded, and did not continue to dwell on this issue, and continued:

"Mr. Prime Minister, you have watched the series on the rise of great powers and you should know one thing: powerful countries generally do not last long.

In the 15th century, Portugal pioneered the Age of Exploration and became a maritime hegemon;

Spain followed suit and did even better, so their empire, on which the sun never sets, lasted for more than 16 years in the 100th century;

Find Shu.

The 20th century was approaching, and the next challenger was already eager to try.

Mr. Prime Minister, aren't you worried that if you push too hard in South Africa, the next world empire will take advantage of Britain's decline and rise?"

"Rise to the occasion?" The Marquis of Salisbury shook his head and said decisively, "The British Empire's navy is larger than that of all the European powers combined. What strength do they have?"

"Strength? Mr. Prime Minister, I would like to remind you that the French army was also invincible in the world.

But France's Napoleonic European Empire lasted less than 20 years before it fell apart."

"Yuan, what do you mean?"

The Marquis of Salisbury stared at Yuan Xiangcheng in front of him with sharp eyes.

"Mr. Prime Minister, thank you and the British people for your donation to the people affected by the disaster in China. I will send another 10000 workers to South Africa.

However, we Chinese really want to make progress and share the pressure with Britain! "

The British wanted to use gold to maintain their world hegemony.

But unfortunately, this attempt could not continue in the original time and space.

The First World War shattered the British Empire's path to hegemony, and the Second World War completely turned the British Empire into a historical term.

We have gold but not enough power to protect our homeland.

But in this time and space, the situation is completely different.

China has risen.

Yuan Shikai could have said to the Americans, "The Pacific Ocean is big enough to accommodate both China and the United States."

We can also say to the British, "It is our duty to safeguard the glory of the British Empire!"

What the British have is a powerful navy, industrial capacity that ranks among the top three in the world, and the ability to control key sea and land transportation routes around the world.

The British Empire's base is on the British island, on the European continent, in the Mediterranean and India, in Egypt and South Africa.

The remaining scraps are not only of low value, but also pose the risk of dispersing military forces.

All they lack are allies.

A friendly country that does not covet Britain’s core interests and can form an alliance with Britain.

Chapter 510 More Comprehensive Cooperation X

"Want to make progress and share the burden with Britain?"

Hearing Yuan Xiangcheng's words, Prime Minister Marquis of Salisbury shrugged his shoulders, and his palm covered with age spots rubbed the carved silver spoon. Suddenly, a low laugh rolled out of his throat, and the Prime Minister's dress with gold thread rims trembled: Qi

"Yuan, the Sino-British Alliance signed in your country last year..." His tail tone stretched out in the morning light, and his gray-blue eyes suddenly burst into a sharp edge: "Isn't that what was done?

How else do you want to make progress?"

The Sino-British Alliance was a treaty signed between Yuan Shikai and Britain to deal with the Vietnam issue, which divided the military and political obligations of both parties in the Indochina region.

However, the scope of this Sino-British alliance was limited to the east of the Strait of Malacca, and the scope was confined to narrow military cooperation.

Signed together with the Sino-British Alliance was the Sino-British Trade Improvement Agreement, which stipulated cooperation between China and Britain in three areas: changing tariffs, adding bonded areas, and jointly building railways.

These two documents, one hidden and one obvious, were both approved by the Marquis of Salisbury, so he remembered them clearly.

Prime Minister Salisbury cast a scrutinizing gaze from behind the crystal lens and muttered to himself.

Aren’t the twelve bonded areas added after the improvement of the trade agreement enough to irrigate your ancient farmland?

In his view, the British Empire has already condescended to cooperate with China, so what else do they want?

However, when he looked at Yuan Xiangcheng again, he found that the other party's eyes were still firm, and even had an aggressive edge.

Obviously, Yuan Xiangcheng felt that reaching an agreement only on trade was far from enough!

Yuan Xiangcheng suddenly stood up, and the hem of his republican uniform fluttered in the morning breeze.

His right hand drew a sharp arc in the air. "Prime Minister!" His voice was like a bell, shaking the crystal chandelier. "While Manchester's cotton spinning machines roared day and night, Chinese farmers were still using the curved plow passed down from the Han Dynasty to cultivate the land. But precisely because of this!"

He suddenly lowered his voice, arching his back like a lurking cheetah: "Your country's finances rise and fall like the tide of the Thames, following the factory chimneys, and our land tax" Yuan Xiangcheng picked up a handful of Assam tea leaves with his fingers and said slowly: "It's like the tea leaves sinking to the bottom of the cup, inconspicuous but solid.

Your country and my country are very different!"

Yuan Xiangcheng picked up the black tea, took a sip, and then said again: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I think you should know that due to the competition between the industrial products of the United States and Germany, the British Empire is currently experiencing a gradual decline in both export volume and industrial output value.

However, in order to safeguard the global interests of the British Empire, tariffs cannot be raised. If this continues for a long time, the revenue-generating capacity of British domestic factories will sooner or later disappear.

If we do not find ways to open up more markets and generate more revenue, this military crisis triggered by the South African War is likely to evolve into a political crisis or even an economic crisis.

8And you” put down the tea, Yuan Xiangcheng raised his head and stared at the British Prime Minister, the Marquis of Salisbury, implicitly warning: “Is it possible to win the next parliamentary election?

Ukraine: As far as I know, the Liberals are gearing up in the back benches of Parliament, ready to launch an attack at any time.

The election of members of the six Houses of Commons takes place every five years, and the last one was in 5, so it’s about the same time, Prime Minister.”

"Yuan, what exactly do you Chinese want?" The Marquis of Salisbury thought for a long time and finally asked this question.

"What China needs is a closer and broader alliance with the British Empire!" Yuan Shikai said firmly.

"Closer, wider?" The Marquis of Salisbury's eyes were uncertain.

“Yes, Mr. Prime Minister, the scope of the alliance should not be limited to East Asia, but also include Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

2. The areas of cooperation can also be expanded to finance, people's livelihood, railways, urban construction and so on."

Having said that, Yuan Shikai no longer intended to hide anything. He asked Tang Shaoyi behind him to take out the prepared purchase list and hand it to Chamberlain, the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

The list is very detailed, covering more than 2000 types of goods, including machinery and equipment in various fields, such as mining crushers, train locomotives, shipbuilding engines, large power generation units for power generation, and complete sets of equipment for metallurgy, chemical industry and other industries.

The contents of this list cover almost every aspect of modern light industry, heavy industry and agriculture in the 19th century.

According to the procurement process, the plan was to start purchasing at the end of 1899 and start transportation in 1900, a total of 5 years, and the purchase would be carried out in batches. The total value of the first batch of orders alone was as high as 2000 million pounds, and in the next 4 years, it would be nearly 500 million pounds each year.

All in all, this is a purchase order of more than 4000 million pounds, which is equivalent to 2 million taels of silver!

Even for the wealthy British Empire, this was definitely a big contract.

You have to know that the total global trade volume in 1898 was only about 20 billion pounds, and a single order of 4000 million pounds was absolutely extremely rare.

"Yuan, what are you doing?" Prime Minister Lord Salisbury took the English translation of the purchase list and looked at it carefully.

“4000 million pounds, Yuan, what an astonishing figure!