Not to mention Zhang Shi, even the foreign correspondents of China News Service can see the clues, but only Yang Rui can clearly 'judge' at the moment as to how these clues will develop, what changes and consequences will they eventually produce, and what China should do to make the most profits. For Yang Rui, this is actually history, although he does not believe in the so-called theory of historical inertia, but the development of historical events always has its corresponding background and conditions, if the background conditions do not change, events will always move forward crookedly along the due trajectory. Of course, there is also a consideration of the butterfly effect in his thinking, but this is not something he can 'judge' and guess.

The sudden transformation of Russia into the Soviet Union was a major event in which Western civilization was divided into two, and it was also a major earthquake in the world political pattern that changed the entire 20th century. What China can grasp is that in addition to taking the opportunity to recover its territory and turn the double-headed eagle into a single-headed eagle, it is also necessary to completely push the Soviet Union into Europe in World War II, and finally form a three-legged pattern after the war in which the Soviet Union controls Europe, China controls Asia, and the United States controls the Americas.

There must always be someone to sacrifice the furnace to martyrdom, and it is very sad that this role will be played by Germans, which is an inevitable fate in terms of the seesaw of the two countries; Judging from the Kaiser's two troubles and tricking the Tsar into turning his attention to Asia, this is a kind of retribution.

It's just that the idea is very beautiful, but the variables are huge, and there are many infeasible things, such as, how to be sweet with the hairy bear after cutting off one of its arms? How can you be sweet and sweet with the hairy bear without provoking a group of Marxist warriors? Both of these are issues that need to be solved right now.

"Then ......, what do the people of the Cloth Party say now?" Think of the tricky issues at hand. Yang Rui looked at Zhang Shi.

"They have made no demands other than the previous demand for the development of party members among the captured Russian troops. But this time Zinoevich sent Ulyanov's handwritten letter. They also had a premonition that there would be a revolution in Russia, so they needed military arms. And then want to fight back to Petersburg from Siberia. Zhang Shidao.

"Absolutely not!" Yang Rui waved his hand and refused, he must not let the people of the world know that the Russian Revolution was funded by China, and that it was better for the Germans to do the most unjust act in the eyes of those superior people. "Tell them that there are already hundreds of British, French, and Hoch-Bi priests in the camps of the captured Russian army, and it is impossible for them to preach Marxism on a large scale among them; And it is even more undesirable to fight from Siberia to Petersburg, with the experience of the Chinese revolution, the first to occupy the capital and provincial capital is king, so the best thing for the Bolsheviks is to fight directly from Petersburg in order to gain the advantage of fighting on the inner front. Isn't Major Nikolai of the German Military Intelligence in connection with you. Why not introduce them to him? ”

"Sir, isn't this matter to be kept absolutely secret?" Zhang Shi knows what will happen after the subversion, Marxism and European and American capitalism are diametrically opposed things, and if China really wants to make Russia red, the consequences are unpredictable.

"No, you don't have to talk to Major Nikolai about this matter formally, you just have to tactfully reveal to him what you know, and he will understand what to do about it." Yang Rui said. "In any case, these captured Russian troops will leave China for the European theater. They could be promised to plant men without a trace, but in small numbers, as for handing over the captured soldiers to them, and then fighting west from Siberia. This is not going to work. ”

"That's true." Xie Jintai also spoke. "If we really want to do this, it will become the target of public criticism, and the shipping side will not want to make money; And this regime every day of its existence. We are about to be scolded by Europe and the United States for a day, and the Germans want the Russian revolution more urgently than we do. Let's throw this hot potato to them. ”

"That's what it means." Yang Rui nodded, "It's easy to say if you want money or guns." Strategic weapons such as airplanes and artillery can also be given, but it is impossible to fully openly show support for the Russian Revolution at present, in fact, this does not help them much in the revolution, and money and guns are not enough for them to be courageous? ”

"I see." Zhang Shi replied, silently remembering this time in his heart; And Yang Rui began to ask him the question he was most concerned about because of Xie Zhangtai's shipping sentence: "The United States has declared war, are they going to start large-scale shipbuilding?" ”

"Yes." Zhang Shidao. "The momentum of the sinking of merchant ships by German submarines is amazing, and even if we move all merchant ships into the Atlantic, we will still not be able to make up for the loss of British merchant ships. It is estimated that there are only ...... American merchant ships" Zhang Shi seemed to be thinking about some numbers, and only said in a half-loud voice: "Before the United States declared war, I had already found someone to inform the German and Austrian merchant ship owners, and most of their 600,000-ton merchant ships had been destroyed, so I don't know how much the damage was and how much the United States could repair." If the 600,000-ton merchant ships are not counted, then the tonnage of the US merchant ships does not exceed 2 million tons. ”

"Why so little?" Yang Rui remembered that it seemed that before the war, the United States had 1.8 million tons of merchant ships, and in the past two years, hundreds of thousands of tons of merchant ships had been built, but why was it less than 2 million?

"Sir, American ships have their own government support, and Britain and France give high freight rates, so they are shipping their goods directly to England or the Mediterranean. Unlike us, we only ship to safer places like Spain. "Zhang Shidao." Before President Wilson announced that the Navy would escort merchant ships, there were only a few American ships that dared to go to Britain, but after the announcement of the escort, more and more were borne, so many were sunk. Now the British are convincing the Japanese ships to also go directly to Britain to unload, and the Japanese are still thinking about it. ”

The British merchant ships suffered heavy losses, and nearly 10 million tons of merchant ships had been sunk before the war, and the remaining 3 million tons of merchant ships, plus 3 million tons of inland river ships, old ships, and sailing ships collected from China and various colonies, could barely support the sea transportation, but with the high sinking number of German submarines of 600,000 tons per month, this support could not last long.

"Chong'an, it's up to you." Yang Rui looked at Xie Jintai with a smile, and the negotiations to withdraw those messy rights and interests were at this time.

"Actually, the key to this matter lies with the United States." Xie Jintai knew what Yang Rui wanted, and he had been preparing for today, just. The United States, which was supposed to support it, is now in a state of flux, making it impossible for him to implement his plan.

"The Americans threw aside. Customs, British and French concessions. You can always get these back first, right? Yang Rui said, "What has become of the Japanese concession." They should have heard of it, too. ”

After the Japanese concession was returned to China, it was still self-governing by the taxpayers within the concession, but the difference between the ranks of the Japanese and the Chinese was gone, and in order to take care of little Japan, the seats in the autonomous assembly were deliberately taken care of by the Japanese, and the purpose was to leave a good impression on Europe and the United States, but what would happen after all the concessions returned, that is another story.

"But now Britain and France are only willing to do a one-size-fits-all business, as long as we declare war on Germany, as long as we guarantee the safety of the lives and legal property of overseas Chinese. They would agree to anything, they have been ninjas, even if they are in dire need of Chinese laborers. "And although he didn't say it, British Minister Mamuller hinted at the difference in British policy toward China before and after the First Sino-Japanese War......

"Hmm." Yang Rui thought about Ma Mueller's hint and said: "I understand, he wants to say that Britain is pressing the treasure on the Manchus before the First Sino-Japanese War, hoping that he can stop Russia from going south into the sea, and he doesn't want the Manchus to be angry." After the First Sino-Japanese Loss, they could only support Japan. ”

That's pretty much what it means. At the private meeting at the beginning of the month, he also talked about the great uprising in Central Asia a few months ago, believing that Central Asia will be a source of instability in China's Western Regions Province in the future, which will be very detrimental to regional peace. Xie Jintai said with a smile. The British have a set of rhetoric for everything they do, and they dress themselves up glamorously, for this point. We have to learn. ”

"That means not only the Outer Northeast, but also the Outer Northwest and even Central Asia, and Britain also supports our occupation and annexation?" Yang Rui also smiled. He was in a rare good mood, and the Cuban cigar that had never been touched since the fairy phoenix was gone was finally lit this time. He happily threw one to Xie Zhangtai, Zhang Shi was going to give it, but he didn't want it, yes, there were only two big guys in the study who were swallowing clouds and spitting fog.

"Of course they want us to occupy Central Asia, so that we can help them hold off Russia and protect India, and it is too late to rejoice. Actually, I read the report of the Intelligence Bureau and Lord Yang of the Western Regions, that place, that is, ,...... Ahem..., ahem, ahem...," Xie Jintai was not used to smoking cigars, he was choked heavily, tears came out, and after half a ring, he returned to normal, then put the cigar aside, and said, "This cigar is very unaccustomed to smoking!" He continued, "There are really no Han people in that place, and politics and religion are one, even if it is Russia, it has to be a quasi-khanate to maintain a certain amount of power, and we have to intervene so rashly and encircle that place, the cost is very great, not to mention the war, it will cost countless silver to immigrate." I've thought about this a few times, is it really worth it? ”

"It's worth it." Yang Rui affirmed, he looked at Zhang Shi and Xie Jintai again, and felt that both of them were trusting, so he said, "What I say now you can't spread to the outside world!" As far as I know, the world's oil and gas is concentrated in the land circle from Central Asia to the Mediterranean, which is the center of the world's energy resources. We need to have a railway to Europe. First, after a hundred years of railway technology development, it can replace part of the sea transportation and go directly to Europe; In addition, the most important thing is to control the energy channel and origin. Chong'an, you also have an official car, if our country has a car in the future, the amount of oil needed every year is extremely amazing. ”

"Isn't there enough oil in the country?" Xie Zhangtai said, he had heard Yang Rui say that China was not short of oil.

"Fifty years is estimated to be enough, but in fifty years, or even forty years, it will not be enough. Besides, the oil there is better than ours, and the cost of digging up is also low. As long as it's not a war, our oil wells are still sealed. Yang Rui also put down the cigar, he took a sip of tea and said, "If there is a railway, you can naturally repair oil pipelines and natural gas pipelines, although this is more expensive than water transportation, but if you can lay out in advance, no matter whether you can seize the oil fields or not, the oil and gas produced in those inland areas can only be sold to us in the end."

Besides, when each country was founded, its military strength, fighting spirit, and ambition were the most prosperous, and the international environment will become more and more civilized with the end of the European war, so the border we have laid in recent years will be the largest border in China, and it will not be so easy to grab places in the future. ”

"Is it the national consciousness that Wilson advocated?" Xie Jintai immediately thought of Wilson's initiative, as soon as this initiative came out, the weak-sighted nation was regarded as the standard, which is also fortunate that the United States itself is a country of immigrants, there is no group living only mixed, and the only Indian is almost killed, which can be regarded as grasping the weakness of other countries.

"That's pretty much it." Yang Rui said. Although Britain and France had many colonies, they would not pay attention to Wilson after the war. Not necessarily. No matter how the Central Asian side deals with it, it will first prepare to take it. In the future, if you want to be self-governing, you will be self-governing, and if you want to be independent, you will ......be independent. Taking a deep puff of his cigar, Yang Rui thought about it and then said: "It's better to let them be independent, those khanates are likely to cause a lot of commotion if they take them down." ”

The General Staff made two sets of plans based on the information provided by the Intelligence Bureau and Yang Zengxin: one was to implement the autonomy of the Khanate, which was basically no different from Russia's governance of Central Asia; The other was to promote the independent establishment of these khanates, and the statehood plan was also made in two ways: one was to use the Khiva and Bukhara khans as a template to establish a theocratic form of government; The second is to use China as a template. Establish a secular form of government.

The advantage of the independent state-building plan is that it isolates the Muslims and makes the Western Regions safer, which Yang Rui likes; But once the separation and the railway was cut off, the railway to Persia had to pass through the Bukhara Khanate and the Turkmen Khanate, and once there was a change between the two countries, the line of communication would be cut off immediately. The remedy that everyone talked about was no longer Yang Zengxin's suggestion of occupying the long strip of land leading from the Afghan border to Persia, but to abandon it and take it, starting from Lake Balkhash. All the way west to the Aral Sea, and then to the south of the Caspian Sea latitude to the Aral Sea as their own.

As a result, the country was bordered by the Khiva Khanate and the Turkmen Khanate to the south and the Soviet Union to the north. Not related to the two countries of Bukhara and Afghanistan, the railway to Persia will normally follow the one that originally passed through the Bukhara Khanate. If the relationship is not harmonious, you can take a detour out of the Western Regions to the west, until the Aral Sea, and then turn south through Turkmenistan to reach Persia.

This is the worst-case scenario. The good thing is that Turkmenistan is the equivalent of northeastern China to Persia, the land of the rulers. The area was finally abandoned by the Russians, and now China, the guardian of the Muslims, is holding back the Russians' southward march on the northern line of Lake Balkhash-Aral Sea-Caspian Sea. Nine times out of ten, Persia would take it for themselves, and if so, the Middle Persia would be bordering on the Caspian coast.

However, the plan has put China on the cusp: after leaving the existing border in the Western Regions from Khorgos, the road to the Caspian Sea through the Balkhash Lake region is 2,000 kilometers long; And wide, at the narrowest point in the northern part of the Aral Sea, less than a hundred kilometers from north to south. Just such a long and thin passage that the Soviet Tank Army ran through in an hour. In this regard, the General Staff strongly demanded that the 'down' be taken, that is, to cross the Pamir Plateau, along the border with Afghanistan, across the Bukhara Khanate and enter Turkmenistan, but the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Industry still believed that it was impossible to build railways and pipelines on the Pamirs, and that the 'downward' strategy was not feasible, and the only way to do this was to take the 'upper' policy.

Yang Rui's point of view is also to choose' China's land belongs to Kazakhstan, and there is no dispute with the Khanate, and this is a steppe, the land is vast and sparsely populated, and after driving out the Russians who have immigrated to this area, the Han people can immigrate to this area; second, these places were originally to be occupied, and the problem now is only because the khanate in the south is independent, and the depth in the north of the Aral Sea is lacking, and the area east or west of the Aral Sea will not be so embarrassed; third, as long as China promotes peace with war now and signs a border agreement with the Soviet Union, the less likely it is to lose it in the future, and Central Asia was originally a part abandoned after the disintegration of the Soviet UnionAs long as there are enough immigrants in these decades, this enclave can still be swallowed.

The plan of the General Staff has not been decided, and now Xie Jintai and Zhang Shi heard that Yang Rui chose to let Khiva, Bukhara, and Turkmen become independent after a long consideration, the two looked at each other, and Xie Jintai asked: "Is this the best policy?" ”

"Of course, it's the best option." Yang Rui said, "The next strategy is basically to pass through the Muslims, Afghanistan and Bukhara are not easy to serve, and there are also the Pamirs, where there is no railway." ”

"What about Turkmenistan?" Xie Zhangtai asked again. "Give it back to Persia or make it independent?"

"It's better to give it back to Persia, anyway, we don't occupy an inch of their land, and it's okay to be independent, but we will mediate the dispute between him and Persia to keep the road open." Yang Rui said.

"Then this matter is ...... Persian side" because of the Shanghai Expo the year before last, China and Poland have established diplomatic relations, under China's deliberate favor, at this time the same Persia thinks that China is its friend like Germany, and their students have been sent to Shanghai and Beijing, it seems that they want to learn advanced experience.

"You can talk to the Persians privately during the parade." Yang Rui affirmed. "However, I think they don't dare to do anything under the influence of Russia, let's first see the reaction of their domestic factions."

"I see. The two khanates of Nashiva and Bukhara were also to be contacted. "It's just that what about the Turkish Governorate, will we occupy it, or will it be handed over to the Khiva Khanate?" ”

"The lands belonging to the Turkish Viceroyalty can be given to Khiva or Bukhara, and we only occupy the Russian steppe Governorate." Yang Rui said. "But the first is not to agree to them so lightly, and the second is to sign a joint offensive and defensive agreement with them, and once Russia attacks, these two countries will fight together with us."

"It seems that they are more worried about Central Asia than the Russians!" Yang Rui's choice basically did not move the territory of the Khanate, and occupied the grassland area, so Xie Zhangtai sighed.

"I don't want to have another mess." Yang Rui nodded, "I have always believed that only the places where the Han people are the majority are my real territory in China, except for Mongolia and Tibet, of course. The Lifan Yuan you set up last year is very good, and all ethnic groups other than the Han people are under the management of the Lifan Yuan, what kind of feudal raids, annual classes, tributes, and banquets are given to Fengdu, it is ......"

As soon as Yang Rui said it, Xie Zhangtai smiled bitterly, the former Ming Dynasty had always been inseparable, but in the former Qing Dynasty, the Li Fan Yuan was in charge of the marriage between Manchu and Mongolia, and now China has also established the Li Fan Yuan, which is equivalent to marrying Zhu Kuanji's daughter or niece to Mongolia. From a practical point of view, this should and is necessary, otherwise the old princes and nobles of Mongolia will not be at ease; In terms of temperament, this is unacceptable, which is also the reason why some people have proposed the establishment of the Lifan Yuan since the founding of the country, but it was not allowed by Yang Rui.

"Okay, let's talk about the marriage later, it doesn't have to be according to the old rules." Yang Rui said, without blame. After he said that, he asked Zhang Shidao: "Isn't there a big riot in Central Asia, and according to the line of thought I just said, is there anything that can be used?" ”

"This can only be done by using the Khanates of Khiva and Bukhara, and then there are the Turkmen tribes, and as for the Turkish Al-Shabaab, we must suppress it." Zhang Shi recalled the situation in Central Asia, and his mind was a little heavy. There is a big difference in the appearance and behavior of the Han Chinese and the various ethnic groups in Central Asia, and the intelligence work there is not easy to do. Although the Baath Army entered Central Asia as liberators and did not occupy an inch of land in the Turkish Viceroyalty, the situation in Central Asia was extremely complicated, with various forces entangled and fighting, especially German and Turkish spies frequently appearing in Central Asia and even the Western Regions, and the Turkish Al-Shabaab fantasizing about the establishment of a Greater Turkey, which was absolutely not tolerated by China.

"Sir, if possible, I hope to have the help of the British." Zhang Shi thought about it and said.

"Britain?" Yang Rui was a little different, but Xie Jintai nodded, and he said: "The British have been resisting Russia in Xinjiang, and if Russia has a revolution and withdraws from the war, then he will definitely fully support our occupation of Central Asia." Britain has been operating in the Western Regions and Central Asia for many years, and it is best to get their help, but before Russia withdraws from the war, if we invade Central Asia, Britain, France, the United States and other countries will definitely oppose it. ”

"Chong'an means waiting for Russia to withdraw from the war before attacking?" Yang Rui asked.

"Yes, that's the only way. Don't forget, our merchant ships are all in the Atlantic, and once we invade Central Asia, the merchant ships are in danger of being confiscated by Britain and the United States, and the Japanese may not be able to stop them with all their might. Xie Zhangtai said.

"But if you really have to wait until then, it will be too late." Yang Rui thought about the October Revolution and felt that things were really difficult to do.

"Mr. Chong'an, what if we only get back the lost territory?" Zhang Shi said, "And then support the independence of the khanates, causing the appearance of civil strife, then Britain and the United States and other countries may not tear their faces with us, right?" ”

"Take back the lost land...... support the ...... of the khanate" Xie Jintai silently recited these two words, and said for a long time, "It is not a big problem to take back the lost land; How did the Khanate support? Is it possible to convince the khanates that we will go to war against Russia, and to convince Britain and the United States that we did not do it? ”

"There's always a way." Zhang Shi said with a smile, the Intelligence Bureau is already very good at infiltration and subversion.

"Then you, when are you going to do it?" Xie Jintai asked again, a little uneasy.

Glancing at Yang Rui, Zhang Shi was still smiling, and he said, "At the same time as the military parade, it will be in February of the next year." (To be continued......)