In October 1920, an officer surnamed Pahlavi visited China as a national representative of Persia, and this surname really stimulated Chen Ke's imagination. It's not just a matter of surnames, this Pahlavi is a rather important figure in the military. Therefore, Chen Ke attaches great importance to this person.

And Mr. Pahlavi is very concerned about how the BJP has escaped foreign invasion and is now trying to reclaim the country's sovereignty. In Chen Ke's face-to-face meeting, Pahlavi specifically talked about this matter many times. Chen Ke also did not propagate communist ideas, but only talked about the perspective of the people's revolution. He also discussed with Pahlavi the "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence" mentioned by the People's Party when it established diplomatic relations with Iran.

It is clear that Pahlavi is interested in this issue. He and Chen Ke had a lot of discussions about the future of China-Iran relations, the scope of cooperation between the two sides, and the in-depth development projects that can be carried out. This time, Pahlavi was in charge of the last project on oil cooperation that Persia negotiated with China. In it, China proposes to exchange oil for industrial construction, especially railway construction and agricultural technology construction. Pahlavi was extremely excited about this.

After the talks, the People's Party arranged for Pahlavi to visit the railway in Wuhan and then to visit the agricultural construction in Hubei and Anhui. In the end, the two sides reached an oil trade agreement. Persia agreed to China's entry into Iran in terms of oil extraction. However, the agreement did not mention anything about the construction of railways and agriculture.

Shang Yuan was quite curious about Chen Ke's approach, Persia was only a barely important country from a geographical point of view. The only difference is that Persia has always maintained its independence and is now on the verge of becoming a foreign colony. There is some truth in asking about how to achieve the liberation of the country. When it comes to railways and agricultural cooperation, this misses the point.

"Don't underestimate the Persians." Chen Ke said to Shang Yuan. Speaking of Iran, Chen Keyou and Shang Yuan talked about marching into Central Asia, and the local people looked no different from the Chinese. In addition to the language barrier, the costumes are different, and the two sides don't see any problems at all when they mix together.

"The cavalry units of the Revolutionary Army of Workers and Peasants have reached the predetermined borders and have eliminated the local military resistance. The problem is that it will take a long time before the railroad is built. Fortunately, the troops of the Russian Communist Party have reached the area bordering us. Shang Yuan said.

After saying this, Shang Yuan looked at the map and found that the area where the People's Party had gone was not far from Persia, and he asked in surprise: "Chairman Chen, are you going to build a railway to Persia?" ”

"I don't have any plans for that yet. If we build this railway now, it will be too revealing of our intentions. Chen Ke replied.

Not long after the Persians left, the British minister actually came again. The new British minister was Sir Humphrey, who raised the question of the repayment of the people's debts.

No matter how small the fly is, it is still meat, and Britain supports Yuan Shikai and the People's Party to fight the civil war. It can be regarded as spending a lot of money, and the British have taken the lead in giving Yuan Shikai's government many "big loans for the aftermath", which is also money. The British, who are in debt, certainly don't want the money to go down the drain. It would be nice to have some back. The British side even openly claimed that if China did not pay back the money, Britain would directly deduct the money from Sino-British trade.

Negotiations representing national interests are, of course,-for-tat, and Sir Humphrey has naturally excelled in this regard. But after all, it is an old friend of China, and a tough attitude does not mean a bad attitude. Sir Humphrey was chatting and laughing with his old friends of the People's Party during the recess.

"Minister Zhang, do you have any plans to invest in Middle East oil?" Sir Humphrey asked.

"Is this an act of the state? Or is it a private investment? Zhang Yu asked. Oil is already a priority development project for the People's Party, and the only one in the northwest where the People's Party has stationed a large number of troops is the Yumen oil project. For the news provided by Sir Humphrey, Zhang Yu was naturally quite interested.

"I have a friend who has been granted some exploration rights in Kuwait and is in dire need of financial support. I can get in touch in the middle if I can. Sir Humphrey was very enthusiastic about it. Sir Humphrey would never dare to be so "arrogant" if he were an ambassador in another country, but the style of the People's Party is really different, at least with the American Minister and Consul in front of him, Sir Humphrey thinks that he would be too stupid not to study like this. Above all, the BJP's style has led them to maintain the convention of never publicizing commercial negotiations with ministers of various countries.

The two sides first determined the location of Kuwait on the map, Zhang Yu looked at the map carefully, touched his chin with his hand and said: The key is how to protect our interests. Oil is a good thing, of course, but it takes such a long sea journey from Kuwait to China. Your country can block these transactions wherever you want and add trouble to us. At this point, we really can't make sure of that. ”

"That's why I suggest that your country cooperate with my friends, and that if a British company intervenes, maritime traffic can still be guaranteed to a considerable extent." Sir Humphrey was enthusiastic about it.

"We'll think about it." Zhang Yu looked at the map and said with a frown.

After the break, the two sides continued to negotiate verbally.

The People's Party adheres to the principle of "not paying off bad debts" and believes that the debts owed by Beiyang need to be carefully divided. For example, the debts that are used to fight the BJP are absolutely impossible to admit and cannot be repaid. And there is no possibility of repayment of the discount on borrowing, as well as other expenses. Only money paid directly in silver, as well as outstanding principal, can be repaid.

After much deliberation and discussion, the People's Party finally gave Sir Humphrey a list of repayments. Actual repayment is limited to the principal amount that has not been recovered in the UK. The portion of the principal that was used for military expenses was also deducted.