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The fact that the Entente was about to launch the Battle of the Somme in the Somme region to break through the German defenses and push the German army back to the Franco-German border was currently known only to Britain, France, Russia and China.

The reason why China was informed was that, on the one hand, China had become a member of the Entente, and on the other hand, the combat capability of the expeditionary force at Verdun had impressed Britain, France and other countries.

After two years of fierce war, Britain, France and other countries did not dare to underestimate the Germans, and in order to win the battle, they could only find ways to strengthen their own strength. At this time, the outstanding Chinese expeditionary force in Verdun came into their eyes, especially considering that China has a population of more than 400 million and is also carrying out a large-scale expansion of the army at home, even if China's status in the Entente cannot be compared with the three major powers of Britain, France and Russia, at least it is much higher than Japan―――――― after Japan repeatedly refused to send troops to Europe, and only thought about exporting goods to the Entente countries and those German colonies in the Pacific, Britain and France and other countries are no longer willing to talk about Japan...

There is such a saying in this world, there is a reward for paying.

Although Britain and Russia may not like China, and even France itself is full of controversy, some people in the Paris government even believe that there is no need to maintain such a friendly relationship with China. But don't forget that Britain, France and Russia are themselves full of contradictions, such as Britain and France, which have been old enemies for many years, and there have been many contradictions between Britain and Russia, and it is for this reason that Britain and Japan will form an alliance.

But in the face of Germany, they were united, and they did pay many sacrifices for the organization called the 'Entente'.

Don't they have their own eyes in private? Of course not, it's just that they prefer to destroy the Allies first...

Now China has made great sacrifices for the Entente, no matter what they think in private. On the surface, it must respond accordingly to ensure that China is willing to continue to make sacrifices for the Allies and increase its investment in the European theater...

Usually this response is two-fold, one is a question of status and the other is a question of interests.

The status is mainly China's position in the Entente. Regardless of what the rest of the Entente thought of the yellow-skinned Far Eastern ally, China was now a veritable fifth-power country, second only to Britain, France, Russia, and Italy, and ahead of Japan and others―――――― especially after China increased its expeditionary force.

At present, the number of China's expeditionary forces in Europe has reached two armies and six divisions, including two Division A and four Division B. The total number of troops is already more than 100,000, and if we include the additional personnel specially used to supplement the expeditionary force, the number of the expeditionary force in Europe is even more than 150,000.

And in China, the Third and Fourth Armies have been formed and are in the final stages of training, if you count this part. The size of the expeditionary force will reach more than 200,000 to 300,000...

Naturally, there is some dissatisfaction with the ranking of the fifth largest country, both in Europe and in China itself. Those European countries such as Serbia or Romania have definitely invested more in Europe than China, and Serbia has even paid the price of 450,000 dead in the entire war, and Romania has also paid the price of 336,000 killed.

With so many people killed in battle alone, one can imagine how much these two countries have contributed in Europe.

But a lot of times, it takes more. It doesn't mean that there is strength.

Just like China in later generations, there are millions of troops, but in fact, if it has no combat effectiveness, it has no combat effectiveness. What's more, in addition to the troops paid, you must also have strength.

After entering 1916, according to the latest statistics of the Kuomintang, China's crude steel production had reached more than 4 million tons, which was higher than that of France and Russia, and second only to the three major industrial countries of Britain, the United States and Germany, not to mention the scum of Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Italy and Japan.

Of course. This does not mean that China's industry is really higher than that of France and Russia, but because of the war, the steel production of France and Russia has been greatly affected. France, for example, had reached a level of nearly five million tons in 1913, but it was only because of the war that it fell sharply. Russia was similarly close to five million tons in 1913. And closer than France ...

What's more, both France and Russia have more comprehensive industries than China, and both countries have the ability to build large-displacement military ships of the class of battleships, while the current China has only just laid the keel of its first 10,000-ton cruiser.

Although China has been able to produce 24omm heavy artillery, it only has such a capability, and it is better not to think about large-scale manufacturing or anything for the time being, on the contrary, France and Russia already have a certain manufacturing capacity...

Etcetera...

Either way, China's industrial power is much stronger than the scum of Italy and Japan, and much stronger than the likes of Seville and Romania.

Therefore, such a status is not only related to the investment in the war, but also related to the strength of the participating countries themselves.

Of course, this also leads many Chinese people in China to be dissatisfied with their ranking below Italy. Italy did pay a lot for this war, and after the end of the war in history, Italy's death toll reached 650,000, second only to Britain, France, and Russia, not counting the number of more than 950,000 disabled.

What is ironic is that Italy suffered even more casualties in this war than in World War II, which shows that the Italians were indeed very peace-loving in World War II...

However, although Italy's performance in World War I was much more competitive than in World War II, it rarely won on the Italian battlefield, and only shipbuilding was stronger than China in terms of industry, so it is no wonder that many Chinese people in China are dissatisfied with China's position under Italy in the Entente camp―――――― compared with those real achievements, sometimes Chinese people actually care more about such false things...

But that's fine, because that's the case in a lot of countries...

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Of course, the so-called status is not only such a thing, not to mention that this kind of thing cannot be said explicitly. After all, this is not the period of World War II, where there were four powers to fight against the Nazis. But now...

It's just a dog-eat-dog war between the great powers...

In addition, the ranking in this war is also a bit difficult to define, after all, Seville and Romania also have a lot of contributions, and Italy is the main force on the Italian battlefield, so some things are still tacitly better. There's no need to say it directly.

Therefore, the so-called status is actually to raise the diplomatic level, to raise the original diplomatic level of ministers to the level of ambassadors, and the original legation will also be transformed into an embassy.

Yan Shao didn't care much about this kind of thing, because in his opinion, the benefits that could still be obtained were more realistic, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn't seem to see it that way. So the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been busy with this all this time. And the happiest people, in addition to those in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are probably Zhu Erdian and Lei? Copa them.

After all, their position was originally more suitable for retirement, who would have thought that such a good thing would happen when they were about to retire, even if they had chosen Yan Shao's Lei at the beginning? Copa did not expect that there would be a day when France would need China's help to win――――――

Just happy at the bottom of my heart, Ray? Diplomats stationed in China, such as Kopa and Zhu Erdian, also have slight doubts in their hearts, especially Zhu Erdian. They are all watching the changes in China. At a time when Britain and France and other countries suffered heavy losses due to the war, China was thriving, and even took advantage of the opportunity of this war to rise...

France is better off, after all, France is only a French Indochina in the Far East, but Britain is different, even if there is no Hong Kong problem, Britain needs to worry about whether China will threaten its interests in Thailand, Burma, India, etc...

And Russia...

In the past, Russia has always eyed China's territory. But now, even the Russian minister had to admit it. If Russia could not immediately regain its strength after the war, I am afraid that Russia would need to consider the threat from China, so he even made a special report back, and proposed to suspend the expansion of the Trans-Siberian Railway and the connection between the Central Asian Railway and the Dilan Railway, and even thought that Russia should intervene to stop the construction of the Dilan Railway―――――― but it was obvious that the princes and nobles of Tsarist Russia did not care about this report, and even ridiculed it.

For proud, no, arrogant Russians. They had no fear of the Chinese threat at all, and even saw the expanding Trans-Siberian Railway and the Central Asian Railway, which was being connected to the Dilan Railway, as the best way to invade China...

The greedy polar bears have not taken China into account from beginning to end, they only see China as a piece of fat. Even though they have already been hit hard, they still think that China will be at their mercy...

This attitude of the Russians is naturally ridiculous in the eyes of Yan Shao, but it seems to them to be a matter of course in their own eyes...

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Like I said before. Yan Shao didn't care much about that kind of virtual thing from beginning to end.

Diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level? It may sound useful, but can you help Yan Shao equip a few more regiments of tanks?

Although the fiscal revenue of the government is much higher than in the past, even reaching the point of 1 billion yuan, there are still more places to spend money. Not to mention, even if the Entente bears most of the cost of the expeditionary force, and even supports 20 million pounds, there is still a part of it that China itself needs to compensate.

And those soldiers who were killed and disabled on the battlefield, the follow-up pensions and so on must be completed, right?

Although Britain and France have promised to help China order a batch of 6.8mm and 8mm ammunition in the United States, they cannot be delivered in a short period of time, and China still needs to solve it itself.

There are also other government investments in the country, especially in education and railways...

Education is okay, and some local celebrities are usually more willing to invest some money in this area, but the railway...

In Yan Shao's view, transportation such as railways must be state-owned, just like finance and energy. Finance is too embarrassed to say anything more because he has made a bad start on his own, but fortunately, the financial field is more open in later generations, so Yan Shao can always find some excuses to comfort himself.

But railways and energy can't be opened to the people...

Former. China's population is too large, and the railways are already very busy, especially during the Spring Festival―――――― how lively the Spring Festival transportation in China will be in later generations, as long as it is Chinese, it is very clear that if the railways are opened to the people. If there is a problem with each other's coordination, I am afraid that there will be a big mess.

What's more, if you are privately owned, you need to keep up with your 'interests'.

During the state-run period, it didn't matter if it was operated with money, but when it was privately run, it couldn't do it anymore...

And such a difficult railway as the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. High investment, low return, and even take a long time to get a return, it is simply impossible for you to count on private capital to build such a railway, and there may not be similar sections in China, but there are many sections with high difficulty and high investment. For all these reasons, it is more reassuring to be state-owned.

As for energy...

Yan Shao doesn't want a few energy giants in China to appear in the future, and if nothing happens, he will drag the country to war, or subvert some governments or something―――――― not to mention that there is no such thing, you must know that before World War II, almost all the governments in Mexico that were destroyed by coups were overthrown by those oil companies and the US government. The reason is that Mexicans want to nationalize their oil.

What should you do if energy, that is, oil resources, is open to the private sector, and something like this is really going to happen? Is it to find an excuse to send troops to take out the other government? Or is it just a subversion? What if this country is your ally? Will you do this and cause disgust among the other side's citizens?

Capitalists may not need to think about these issues, but Yan Shao needs...

Although Yan Shao can also explain it clearly, if something really happens, he will solve it by himself, but sometimes when things come to an end, I'm afraid it's not as simple as you think...

So forget about the bank, because Yan Shao borrowed too much money, it's hard for you to make an IOU and it's over?! But in the energy field, Yan Shao is reluctant to make mistakes again. So Yan Shao has been gritting his teeth in this regard...

Otherwise, Yan Shao would set up an oil company and go to Iraq, Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia and other places to get some oil, and life would be relatively easy...

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As China's position in the Entente increased, so did the benefits that followed.

This is normal, although there is not necessarily a return on what you give. But if the other party needs you, then the reward will usually be more generous...

It's that simple...

At present, the strength of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Europe is more than 100,000 troops of the two armies, and the strength of the two armies that are about to leave for Europe has even reached more than 200,000. And this is not counting the follow-up troops, and China has promised to send at least 300,000 troops to Europe, and if Britain and France are willing to give enough support and benefits, this number can even be increased to 500,000 or more...

As a result, in some interest-related negotiations, Britain, France, and other countries made many concessions in order to gain China's support.

For example, tariffs ...

Britain, France, and other countries have pledged to make concessions on tariffs, return China's autonomy over tariffs ahead of schedule, and are willing to help China persuade Japan and some other countries.

If it cannot be convincing, then Britain, France and other countries are willing to make unilateral commitments...

In addition, on the issue of Weihaiwei, Britain has finally bowed its head.

According to the original agreement, Britain was supposed to return Weihaiwei to China if China had already recovered Lushun. Of course, to interpret this agreement from another angle, it is also possible for Britain to return Weihaiwei in 1922, that is, the time when Russia was legally handed over to Lushun.

This is also why when Yan Shao asked Britain to return Weihaiwei, Britain has always been struggling.

But this time the British finally bowed their heads, which also made many people breathe a sigh of relief.

In addition, China's share of the reparations after the defeat of the Allies will also be increased.

As for China, because the mainland was not damaged by the war, although its own losses were large, it was nothing compared with Britain and France, so the share has always been relatively small.

But Yan Shao's real relationship is not this, but the problem of the colony...

In with Ray? In a meeting between Kopa and Zhu Erdian, Yan Shao had formally proposed that some changes should be made to the treaty, and that China should be rewarded more as its contribution to the European war increases.

For example, in the colonies, Britain and France promised to hand over Iraq and Kuwait to China, and Kuwait was transferred, because Kuwait was a British protectorate in the past.

But this time, Yan Shao formally proposed that he hoped that the Entente could hand over the coastal part from Kuwait to Oman to China at the same time. This section includes Bahrain, Qatar and even Abu Dhabi and Dubai...

Historically, the Turks had never occupied this area, so it did not belong to the Ottoman Empire, but to the British...

Abdul? Aziz led a group of men from Kuwait, where his family had taken refuge, to retake Riyadh from the rival Rashid family. Between 1913 and 1926, Abdul? Aziz successively conquered two parts of the territory of Najd and Hejaz. On January 8, 1926, Abdul? Aziz became king in the territory under his rule. The Treaty of Jeddah, signed on May 2o, 1927, made Saudi Arabia formally independent from British rule. On September 22, 1932, Saudi Arabia officially declared its unity. The oil that uncovered Saudi Arabia on March 3, 1938, changed the country's fortunes forever.

Saudi Arabia is one of the most famous oil-producing countries in history, even one of the most influential countries in the Middle East, and also has the largest oil reserves in the world.

Yan Shao didn't know where Saudi Arabia's oil was, but he felt that if Saudi Arabia really had oil, then this area along the Persian Gulf coast was the most likely.

If you can get here, you can lay the foundation for China's status in the next 100 years. For this reason, Yan Shao even did not hesitate to sacrifice more lives...