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Part One Russo-Japanese War Chapter 329 Financial Battle

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    No matter how tough the British government's stance is, it is actually not willing to go to war with China at all, especially when it is convinced that China really wants to fight a decisive war with Britain in Asia.

    After the Central Ministry of National Defense issued a stern warning to the United Kingdom regarding the upcoming entry of the main force of the British navy into the Indian Ocean, while being warned, the United Kingdom also became more aware that China is willing to negotiate with the United Kingdom on behalf of the Asian League to resolve the current problem.

    For Prime Minister Winston Churchill, this is very good news. Unlike when he first formed the wartime cabinet, China has basically ended the Sino-Japanese and Sino-Soviet wars, and large-scale army, air force and navy are moving towards the South Asian continent.  The transfer can crush the British troops stationed in South Asia into pieces at any time.

    On the other hand, France and the United States have refused to express their support for Britain, and China and Germany are about to reach a formal agreement to divide the Soviet occupation zone. Under such circumstances, it is extremely unwise to start a war with China, which is at its peak militarily.  s Choice.

    No matter how stubborn and tenacious Prime Minister Winston Churchill wanted to maintain the past glory and dignity of the British Empire, the facts were cruel after all.

    After the warning from the Chinese Ministry of Defense, the British Navy was forced to withdraw the navy that had arrived in Somalia, docked the fleet on the south side of the Suez Canal in Egypt, and did not cross the Indian Ocean again.

    British Foreign Secretary Sir Halifax rushed to Beijing to hold the second round of Sino-British talks with Central Cabinet Foreign Minister Guo Taiqi to conduct new negotiations on South Asia issues. Behind the scenes, Prime Minister Gu Weijun proposed four basic principles for China and the Asian Cooperation Alliance.  Conditions - First, the United Kingdom should immediately recognize the autonomy of Pakistan, Assam, Bangladesh, and Malaya, give up its suzerainty over Oman, Qatar and other Arab regions, and recognize the complete sovereignty of this region; second, the United Kingdom should  It promised to gradually withdraw its troops stationed in Southeast Asia and allow Singapore and surrounding Chinese areas to hold referendums to vote on their political status; third, the UK promised to resolve the autonomy issues of all Asian colonies within a certain time limit and stop colonial hegemony in Asia; fourth, the Sino-British  The new round of bilateral territorial negotiations will lay the foundation for further promoting the independent autonomy of various regions in Southwest Asia.

    In the view of China and the ASEAN Council, the four basic conditions proposed by China are not excessive. However, in the actual negotiations, they were vetoed by the United Kingdom almost from the beginning.  Britain is neither arrogant nor irrational. It is just that it cannot accept such large-scale concession conditions. In the words of Lord Halifax, if it must accept such conditions, Britain would rather go to war.

    After a month-long negotiation, the two sides were still unable to reach an agreement because the gap was too large.

    At this time, the focus of global attention is focused on China and Britain and the talks in Beijing. It seems that everyone is clear that if China and Britain cannot reach an agreement at the last moment, China and Britain will start a real world war.

    Special envoys from the United States and France arrived in Beijing one after another to participate in the talks, hoping to mediate the two countries to reach an agreement. In general, the major powers still hope that the United Kingdom will retreat. First of all, the United Kingdom does not have any reason. After all, there are dozens of Asian countries in the Asian Alliance that have unanimously demanded that the United Kingdom withdraw.  Outside of Asia, it is impossible for so many countries to make major concessions to Britain, not to mention that Britain is not as powerful as it was in the past.

    The meeting was scheduled to be held at the Zhongnanhai State Guesthouse in Beijing. The atmosphere during the entire meeting was tense and the conflicts between the two sides were very intense. The Iranian ambassador rebuked and cursed the British Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax several times in front of many international diplomats.  Ask Britain to get out of Asia.

    By mid-May 1941, both sides could basically confirm that the negotiations had ultimately failed. On the four basic conditions proposed by China, Britain could only accept part of Article 3 and Article 1, even in Article 3.  , the Asian League proposed a maximum period of ten years, while the United Kingdom requested that the issue of British colonial autonomy in Asia be gradually resolved within thirty years.

    That night, the four countries China, Britain, the United States and France held a penultimate round of final negotiations. In order to reach an agreement, the United Kingdom made some new concessions at the last moment and agreed to allow Pakistan, Assam, Bangladesh, and Malaya to  autonomy, agreed to withdraw from Oman, and promised to withdraw its navy from the Persian Gulf. Even so, China still cannot accept this condition.

    The negotiations did not end until about 11 o'clock in the evening. After the end, Foreign Minister Guo Taiqi immediately went to the Central Cabinet to report. At about 1 o'clock in the morning, the Prime Minister of the Central Cabinet and Foreign Minister Guo Taiqi made a special trip to the Central Palace to meet with Emperor Hua.

    Song Biao didn't sleep that night, he had been waiting for news.

    The Central Military Headquarters has made preparations. As long as he approves the military headquarters' combat plan, the Tenth Army and the Eighth Army will move south to attack Pakistan and India, while the Central Asian Army will move south from Iraq and Saudi Arabia to liberate the Arabian Peninsula.  the emirates on.

    In Southeast Asia, the Imperial Navy will prioritize destroying??The British Channel Fleet in Singapore dispatched the main aircraft carrier formation to the Persian Gulf before the main force of the British navy arrived in the Persian Gulf to eliminate the main force of the British navy.

    During the Sino-British talks, both sides continued to strengthen their military and air force presence in South Asia. However, in this synchronized military expansion, the British were far less aggressive than the Empire. Many armies transferred from the north by the Empire have successively arrived in Afghanistan and  Iran.

    The Central Military Department has been planning for a long time. As soon as the central government announces the breakdown of negotiations and the final authorization from the Asian Alliance Council, the Imperial Defense Forces will start an undeclared war and annihilate the British army in the name of the Asian Alliance South Asian Coalition Forces.

    In the solemn office hall, after listening to Foreign Minister Guo Taiqi¡¯s report, Song Biao kept silently thinking about the final answer. He finished smoking a whole Yuxi cigar without speaking out.

    After extinguishing the last remaining half of the cigar, Song Biao made the final decision. Prime Minister Gu Weijun, who had a strong voice, ordered: "Stop the talks and push for a new resolution in the Asian Union Council to ask the United Kingdom to unconditionally recognize Pakistan."  , Oman **, granting autonomy to Assam, Bangladesh, Malaya and other Asian colonial countries, promising to completely eliminate all British colonial privileges in Asia within ten years, and at the same time requiring all members of the Asian League to fight for freedom and freedom in Asia  * Mobilize for war and not hesitate to go to war with Britain. Once the Asian League goes to war with the Commonwealth, the Asian League needs to immediately impose comprehensive sanctions on Britain and seal up all British assets in the Asian League member states to compensate Asian countries for what they suffered during British colonial rule.  harm and losses, prohibiting the circulation of pounds, and interrupting trade in accordance with the resolutions of the ASEAN Council. If the UK cannot give a positive response to the ASEAN Council's request and a third round of positive talks, the ASEAN Security Coalition Forces will formally  One month after the resolution was passed, troops were sent to liberate Asian countries and regions.¡±

    Emperor Song Biao was very firm in his remarks, leaving no room for maneuver.

    He admitted that the negotiation conditions set by the ASEAN Council for the UK were too high, but the UK's attitude was indeed too arrogant. After all, this was not a bilateral negotiation between China and the UK, but that the ASEAN Council represented the majority of the entire Asia.  The country's representations towards Britain.

    Not to mention that Britain¡¯s current strength and international status are not as good as before. Even in its heyday, the British Empire should not be so arrogant.

    ¡°He can only say that the UK is not sincere in solving the problem at all. In this case, it is better to fight early than to fight late. If the British hope to delay this long negotiation, then they have really made the wrong calculation.

    Prime Minister Gu Weijun could only accept the emperor's arrangement.

    This means that the ASEAN Council is willing to hold a third round of political negotiations and extend the negotiation cycle for about another month. However, it also significantly raises new conditions. If the ASEAN and the UK still fail to reach an agreement in mid-June,  , then war is really about to begin. Along with the war, there will be severe economic sanctions imposed by the Asian League on the British Empire.

    Prime Minister Gu Weijun nodded silently and accepted the emperor's proposal.

    Emperor Song Biao continued to think for a while and added: "The resolution stipulates that once the sanctions banning the circulation of pounds in Asia are passed, the sanctions will be effective for thirty years."

    Gu Weijun felt something was wrong and asked: "Your Majesty, is this sanction period too long?"

    Emperor Song Biao replied: "It is indeed too long, but otherwise it will not be able to truly threaten Britain. We must let Britain understand a simple truth. If a war breaks out, as long as Britain does not defeat us, we will completely  The continued sanctions against the UK will make the UK pay the heaviest price."

    Gu Weijun could only agree again and nodded in agreement.

    Emperor Song Biao also gave another instruction: "After the second resolution against Britain is passed by the Asian League Council, arrange for Sir Halifax to meet in person. I am willing to talk to him in person."

    "yes!"

    Prime Minister Gu Weijun continued to agree. In fact, he knew very well that this battlefield was ultimately inevitable. He knew very well that the emperor did not support launching this war now, but the emperor also had more concerns.

    Not only the emperor, but also the entire empire and the member states of the Asian League cannot allow Britain to reach an agreement with a minimal concession.

    This means that you clearly don¡¯t want to start a war, but in the end you have to start a war.

    In the early morning of that day, Emperor Song Biao had not slept. After that, he urgently summoned Chen Jin and all the main leaders of the Central Bank and the Central Reserve Bureau to the general office to discuss various economic problems that might arise once the Asian League passes the agreement.  Fully discussed.

    It is certain that once the Asian League begins to impose sanctions on the UK, especially after confiscating British assets in Asia and banning the circulation of pounds, the British economy will suffer a devastating blow, and the pound will fall directly from its throne. Countries around the world will  All British pound foreign exchange reserves will be reduced to waste paper.

      It will be a very terrible thing in the entire international financial market.

    In addition to military war, financial war is also a special weapon that the empire can use. Now, the empire has decided to use this weapon, and Emperor Song Biao decided to promote this agreement in the Asian League precisely because of this plan.

    ¡­¡­

    The next day, China and Britain temporarily suspended the Beijing talks and urgently decided to convene a new round of foreign ministerial-level meeting of the Asian Association Council in Guangzhou.

    On that night, Chen Jin, the Minister of Finance of the Imperial Central Cabinet, secretly summoned the Governor of the Central Bank Zhang Jiaqiao, the President of the Far East Consortium Chen Guangfu, the President of the Jiangnan Consortium Yu Qiaqing, the Director-General of the Central Reserve Administration Zhang Huici, as well as CITIC, China Reserve, China Control, and  Four presidents of the four major government trust companies of China Investment Corporation and six expert advisors in the fields of finance and economics from the Central Economic Commission, a total of 15 people, secretly held a special meeting in the Summer Palace to launch an unprecedented scale of attack on the United Kingdom.  Financial wars are discussed.

    This meeting is very important. It should be the first time in human history that a government launches a financial war against the government. It may also be the only time that public declassified government documents can be verified.

    At this time, the Chinese Empire accounted for a huge proportion of 40.3% of the world's total economic output, while the United States' proportion was 22.4%. The sum of China and the United States accounted for 62.7% of the world's total GDP, while the once magnificent British Empire accounted for only 22.4% of the total world GDP.  7 ratio.

    In the international market, due to Britain's traditional international status and the vastness of its colonies, as well as the long-term status quo policies of China and the United States over the past two decades, the pound still occupies 30% of the world's circulating currencies. This is not only the British dare to challenge China  The foundation for saying no to the Asian League is also its most fragile weakness.

    It is this abnormal situation that determines that the pound is the most vulnerable link among the three major international currencies, the Chinese yuan, the US dollar, and the British pound, and it is also the most vulnerable international currency to be defeated.

    Zhang Jiaqiao, the governor of the Central Bank, proposed a very reasonable plan, which is to borrow and sell pounds on a large scale with other financial institutions and run on the British gold reserves. Once the pound is banned from circulation in Asia, the British gold reserves will collapse in an instant.

    In the end, the pound will inevitably depreciate significantly. With this depreciation, the price of goods in the UK will skyrocket several times. If the UK announces the suspension of gold exchange to maintain its gold reserves, because the pound will soon be unable to circulate in Asia, there will be a lot of money.  Waste paper, the pound sterling and British bonds in the international market will depreciate on a larger scale. This series of changes is enough to drag the UK into the abyss of hell.

    At the same time, everyone also realized that the entire world economy was also being dragged into the abyss of hell.

    This is likely to be a new economic crisis no less severe than the Great Depression.

    Emperor Song Biao and the central government Prime Minister Gu Weijun also realized that launching a financial war against Britain would inevitably lead to a world financial crisis and a wider economic depression, and the emperor and prime minister needed the Ministry of Finance and the four major government trust companies to make a reasonable inference  , to confirm the extent to which the empire and Asia will be implicated, and under what circumstances Asia will be less affected, or even benefit more in the long run.

    After three days of secret discussion at the meeting, the 15 giants and experts who participated in the secret meeting in the Summer Palace basically reached a unanimous conclusion, and Finance Minister Chen Jin reported this conclusion to Prime Minister Gu Weijun and His Majesty Hua Huang.

    The meeting ultimately concluded that the impact on Asia and the Central Economic Zone will be relatively small, while Europe will be hardest hit, followed by the United States and Central and South America, followed by France.

    France's economy is relatively closed. The trade volume between its entire French and colonial economies and Britain and the United States is relatively low. The franc itself is the fourth international currency. International trade between the franc economic zone and the Chinese franc economic zone  It is also the most widespread.

    Other European countries, the Commonwealth, and British colonies as a whole still use the pound as their main foreign exchange reserves. These countries and the United States form a relatively stable Atlantic trade structure. Once the pound collapse, Europe and the European colonial countries will be affected.  It will be very shocking. With the chaos and sharp depreciation of the international currency, international trade will be almost interrupted, and the United States will be greatly implicated.

    Subsequently, the economic crisis will spread to China and Central and South America.

    In the entire world trade system, China is the world's largest import and export trading country. Three-fifths of the world's international trade occurs between China, Europe and China and the United States. As the economies of Europe and the United States suffer heavy losses, China will inevitably suffer  However, China is different from Europe and the United States. China's situation is relatively similar to France. China's largest import and export market and investment market are the ASEAN, and the ASEAN member states also mainly conduct international trade with China.

    As the crisis spreads, as long as China can continue to expand international trade andInvestment, China will still be the first to get rid of the international economic crisis, but the impact of the first wave of international financial crisis on China will be relatively low, even beneficial.

    Zhang Huici, Director-General of the Central Reserve Administration, raised another question, that is, silver may experience sharp rises and falls many times in this cycle. At the beginning of the pound crisis, silver, as the only precious metal reserve that countries can purchase, has a price  It will rise very high. With the outbreak of the economic crisis and the devaluation of currencies of various countries, the price of silver will rise higher and higher. However, after the crisis spreads to a certain extent and the currencies of various countries depreciate to the bottom, silver will once again set off a new round.  The sharp decline caused another hit to the global economy.

    Of course, all these are just estimates by experts and financial oligarchs, and it is difficult to say what the actual situation will look like.

    Gu Weijun hates the international financial crisis more than anyone else, which will cause his approval rating to drop sharply. If the world suffers a heavy blow, and he can barely survive it, it will not be a big problem. After all, this is his last term.  term of office.

    As for whether the central government and the empire can buck the trend and develop in this crisis, it depends on the ability of Finance Minister Chen Jin, the central bank and the four major trust companies. At this point, Chen Jin is not afraid.

    ¡­¡­

    After a period of secret deliberations, when Foreign Minister Guo Taiqi chaired a new round of the Asian League Council¡¯s foreign ministerial meeting in Guangzhou, the empire had already made a decision and was officially preparing to launch a financial war of unprecedented scale against Britain.

    On June 4, 1941, the Guangzhou Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the Asian League Council passed a new resolution by unanimous vote with 17 votes in favor and 2 abstentions, requiring the United Kingdom to accept three new conditions within one month, that is, unconditional  Recognize the independence of Pakistan and Oman; the autonomy of Assam, Bangladesh, Malaya and other Asian colonial countries; and completely abolish all British colonial privileges in Asia within ten years.

    The new resolution is more stringent than China's previous four conditions. As a condition, the Asian League agreed to hold a third round of talks and extended the talks until July 10. The Asian League also retained the imposition of comprehensive sanctions and all other measures on the UK.  military power.

    This means that if the UK cannot reach a final agreement with the Asian League Council on the Asian colonial issue before July 10, the Asian League will impose comprehensive economic sanctions on the UK, as well as the possibility of solving this series of problems through war.

    Once the resolution was passed, the whole world was once again in an uproar.

    Britain, France, the United States and other countries are not particularly worried about the Asian League declaring war on the UK, because once the Asian League imposes comprehensive sanctions on the UK, the pound will completely lose its circulation value as a world currency. After the Asian League interrupts trade with the UK and Commonwealth countries, British ships  It will be impossible to sail through the territorial waters of ASEAN countries, all of which will completely lead to the collapse of the world economy.

    This was a comprehensive panic. The world silver price rose by 47% in two days, while global commodity prices declined sharply. Because of the factors of the Sino-Japanese, Sino-Soviet and Soviet-German wars, the world silver price itself has been at a high level.  At this time, the price has exceeded the highest value in the past thirty years, reaching a historical high of 1:15.4 with gold.

    At this price, the Empire began to gradually accelerate the selling of silver reserves and strengthen its gold and silver reserves. Prior to this, the Empire had short-sold pounds and British bonds in large quantities through the four major trust companies, and controlled other holding financial companies in the London financial market.  Short sell stocks by a wide margin.

    People don¡¯t realize that this is the first formal financial war in human history.

    Through the four major trust companies controlled by the Empire, the Empire and the Asian Alliance are dealing a heavy blow to the pound and the financial industry that the UK relies on to maintain its international status. This situation caught the UK by surprise. In just four days, the UK¡¯s gold  Reserves plummeted from 2,752 tons to less than 700 tons.

    In order to maintain the pound's international currency status, Churchill's cabinet urgently passed a parliamentary bill, suspended gold exchange, and asked the United States and France for help. However, when the United States and France held close discussions on this matter in their respective Congresses, the price of British bonds in the international market  The rapid collapse and massive selling of bonds have turned British government bonds into a pile of waste paper.

    At this time, Britain has no choice. Its only way is to ask China for help.  (To be continued. Please search Piaotian Literature, the novels will be better and updated faster!)
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