The living room of the majestic Presidential Palace is naturally not shabby. The blazing flames in the fireplace in the elegantly decorated Western-style living room raise the temperature in the room as warm as spring.
The U.S. Ambassador Johnson was holding a cup of coffee and savoring it slowly. His calm and elegant posture was in sharp contrast with Sir Carl beside him. Ambassador Johnson took a sip of coffee and a look of emotion appeared on his face.
With a satisfied look on his face, he put down the cup and turned to Sir Carl and said: "Sir Carl, this is great Blue Mountain coffee, don't you plan to try it?"
Sir Carl forced a smile, picked up the cup, took a sip and said casually, "Well, it's really good."
Ambassador Johnson looked at the anxious Sir Carl and smiled and consoled him: "Sir Carl, you don't have to worry, President Su will be here, don't worry."
As soon as Ambassador Johnson finished speaking, there was a sound of footsteps at the door, and soon Su Tong in military uniform appeared in front of the two of them.
As soon as Su Tong appeared, he warmly gave Ambassador Johnson a big bear hug and then smiled and said: "Mr. Johnson, didn't you go to Shanghai for vacation? Why did you come to my house as a guest early in the morning when you were free?"
Jason shrugged his shoulders and said in a relaxed American tone: "I can't help it. I heard that there was a small misunderstanding between China and Britain some time ago. I also want to come over and mediate as a friend.
I hope China and Britain can eliminate the misunderstanding."
"Oh, really?" Su Tong let go of Ambassador Johnson, turned to Sir Carl and said calmly: "Hello Sir Carl." The coldness of his tone was in sharp contrast to the enthusiasm he had with Jason just now.
Sir Carl silently greeted Su Tong and sat down. Today, his attitude was completely gone from the arrogance of the previous days.
After both sides sat down, Ambassador Johnson first said: "Your Excellency, President Roosevelt was shocked when we heard the news that your country had occupied Hong Kong. He believed that the hostility between China and Britain was very detrimental to the stability of Asia. If you
If you don't object, our US government will be happy to make necessary mediation on this matter."
Su Tong smiled and said: "Of course, I am happy to see the mediation of the US government, but first I want to make it clear that this matter was initiated by the British government, and our country is only for self-defense."
"Self-defense," Sir Carl said angrily, "Is it necessary for your country to occupy Hong Kong for self-defense? You occupied Hong Kong without any reason. This is naked aggression."
"Invasion" Su Tong asked in astonishment: "Sir Carl, this word seems to be more appropriate to use for your country. And I don't agree with your wording. This is not called occupation, but the recovery of Hong Kong."
It was originally our Chinese territory."
"But your Manchu government has lent its concession to our British Empire. This is clearly stated in the Treaty of Nanjing, the Treaty of Yanjing, and the special treaty for the expansion of Hong Kong's boundary. You were the first to violate the agreement."
Looking at Sir Carl's angry expression, Su Tong's face began to darken, "Really? I never think there is any fairness in agreements that were forced to sign at gunpoint. Moreover, these treaties were made by the Manchu dynasty that was overthrown by us.
Signed. Originally, we did not want to embarrass your country, but your country has repeatedly interfered in our internal affairs, and even did not hesitate to send a fleet to Hong Kong to deter our country with force. In order to protect our territory and people
To avoid being ravaged by war, we had no choice but to recover Hong Kong in advance. And we also treated your soldiers and officers mercifully in accordance with the Geneva Convention."
Well, Su Tong is not lying about this. Although he is very disgusted with the arrogance and arrogance of the British, there is one thing he still appreciates about the British. That is, no matter what the reason and purpose, the British team is very good.
There is less abuse of prisoners, which is much better than those Japanese beasts. Therefore, after the British troops in Hong Kong surrendered, Su Tong did not make things difficult for the British prisoners and locked them all in the prisoner of war camp set up in Shenzhen, Guangdong.
Here, Jason saw that the atmosphere between the two sides was a little stiff, so he quickly opened his mouth to smooth things over and laughed: "Haha, President Su, your kindness in treating those captured British soldiers is certainly worthy of our praise and admiration. But I think
The most important thing now is to let those British soldiers go home as soon as possible. God is my witness, their families miss their relatives so much. What do you say, President Su?"
Su Tong nodded, "Of course, I am also happy to let those British soldiers go home, but we will not be bad people. If we want to let those British prisoners go home, the necessary ransom must be paid. What do you think?"
As soon as Su Tong's voice fell, Sir Carl frowned and said, "Ransom."
"Of course," Su Tong said matter-of-factly: "My mother always taught me when I was a child that you have to pay the price if you do something wrong, right?"
Sir Carl's face turned slightly red, knowing that the other party would never spit out Hong Kong after it had taken it back, so he had no choice but to do the next best thing and said: "Your Excellency, since you have taken back Hong Kong,
You should let Governor Luo Fuguo and those innocent soldiers go."
"Of course." Su Tong smiled and said, "I have already said that as long as you pay enough ransom, it will be fine."
"You" Sir Carl said loudly: "I have already said that you have taken back Hong Kong. Isn't this enough?"
"No, no, that's another thing." Su Tong shook his head, "Hong Kong is our own territory. Do we have to pay for taking back our own things? In fact, our demands are not high. The British government is fully capable.
To pay for this, it only takes ten thousand pounds per British soldier."
"What, ten thousand pounds?" Sir Carl was so angry that he almost fainted. He was so angry that he couldn't speak. One soldier had ten thousand pounds, so more than twelve thousand British soldiers would be one hundred million.
More than 20 million pounds. You must know that the cost of a state-of-the-art fighter jet at that time was less than 50,000 pounds. Su Tong was asking for 2,400 aircraft.
"Your Excellency, are your conditions too harsh?" Ambassador Johnson frowned. He also thought that China had really opened its mouth this time. If the British government really paid the ransom, what would happen to the British government?
People's faces are about to be thrown into the Atlantic Ocean, and the current British government is waiting to step down.
Su Tong spread his hands and said helplessly, "I have no choice. In order to deal with the threat from the British government, I have to hoard a large number of troops in the area near Kashmir. The cost of these troops every day is an astronomical figure.
The president who is a political ax for China must always consider the interests of our country, otherwise I will not be able to explain to the people."
Ambassador Johnson frowned even more. In fact, the main reason for his coming this time was to persuade Su Tong to withdraw the troops hoarded in Kashmir. Otherwise, once Su Tong decided to attack Kashmir, the 300,000 troops would be
It will instantly annex eastern India like a flood. If the Chinese army takes advantage of the situation and drives the British away from India, with China's huge population base, it will not be difficult for China to digest India within twenty years. By then, China
It will become the country with the largest territory in the world, which will have a major impact on the world structure, which is what the US government does not want to see.
"Mr. President, with all due respect, your approach of hoarding troops in Kashmir is really not a wise choice. There is just a glacier and plateau. Placing troops there is just a waste of energy." Ambassador Johnson said cautiously.
Said: "Besides, the United States and the United Kingdom will not sit back and let this happen."
Johnson's words have already implicitly stated that the United States is very dissatisfied with China's military presence on the Indian border.
Su Tong also accepted it and said: "Well, originally we stationed troops in Kashmir just as a precaution. We can also agree to withdraw the troops, but the British government must pay for the captured British soldiers."
Jason added: "I think you can discuss the ransom issue with Sir Carl, but I personally think the price you set is too high. This price is difficult for the British government to accept."
Su Tongzhuang thought for a while, "Since the British government is unwilling to pay the ransom, I have a compromise method. It depends on whether the British government is willing."
"Oh, President, please speak," Ambassador Johnson asked quickly.
"As long as the British government is willing to return to our country the cultural relics that were taken away from the Old Summer Palace in 1860 and are displayed in the British Museum, then I can order the release of all British prisoners of war, and in this case I will
It’s easy to explain to my people.”
"What is absolutely unacceptable?" Carl on the side suddenly jumped up, "Those are the properties of the British Empire, we will never hand them over to anyone."
"No, that was stolen from our country by you shameless bandits." Su Tong slapped the table and stood up, his eyes flashed with a cold light for an instant, "Just as the famous French writer Hugo described and criticized
Like this: One day, two robbers broke into the summer palace. One robbed and the other set fire to it. They returned to Europe happily. The two robbers, one named France and the other named England, "shared" together.
After conquering the oriental treasure house of the Old Summer Palace, I thought I had achieved a great victory."
"If the British government values the cultural relics stolen from our country more important than the lives of your soldiers, then just pretend I didn't say this. I think our newly constructed railway lines and Siberian mines are still