Chapter 678 677 [Britain Advocates Peace]

Zhou Hexuan had a very pleasant time on this trip to the UK——

Day 1: At noon, have dinner with the Mayor of London, the Private Secretary to the British Minister of Culture, the Chinese Ambassador to the UK and other officials. In the afternoon, visit the Chinese Embassy in the UK and communicate with the embassy staff. In the evening, attend the reception dinner hosted by the Chinese Embassy in the UK.

The next day: In the morning, go to London’s Chinatown to communicate with overseas Chinese. At noon, attend the reception banquet for overseas Chinese. In the afternoon, meet with international student representatives and give a speech. In the evening, have dinner with the international students.

Day 3: In the morning, accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Culture, we visited the British Library. In the afternoon, visit the headquarters of The Times, accept interviews with the newspaper and give a speech. In the evening, attend a dinner and watch a stage play.

It wasn't until the fourth day that Zhou Hexuan finally met his "partner".

A country villa in the western suburbs of London was a property that Zhou Hexuan bought for the purpose of registering a patent. It has now become his residence during his stay in London.

In the early morning, Zhang Leyi opened the door and came in, rushed to the bed and shouted: "Brother Xuan, get up and have breakfast!"

"Let me sleep a little longer, I'm exhausted." Zhou Hexuan said drowsily.

Zhang Leyi sat on the edge of the bed and said funnyly: "Are you tired of playing, watching movies, giving speeches, and eating all day long?"

Zhou Hexuan yawned and sat up, stretched and said: "The most tiring thing in the world is to deal with a group of strangers all day long. You have to pay attention to your words and deeds all the time, and you have to put on a smile and pretend to be very happy."

"Okay, okay, I see you are aggrieved," Zhang Leyi said with a smile, "There are no activities scheduled for this morning. You can rest after breakfast."

Zhou Hexuan got up lazily and washed up. Just after breakfast, Yu Peichen said: "Mr. Zhou, there is a gentleman outside asking to see him. He said that he has already made an appointment."

"Let him go to the study room." Zhou Hexuan said angrily.

A young man came. He was quite tall, almost 1.9 meters tall. He introduced himself: "Hello, Mr. Zhou, my name is Howard Sassoon."

"Hello," Zhou Hexuan shook hands with him, "Excuse me, what is your relationship with Mr. Victor Sassoon in Shanghai?"

"He is my uncle," Howard Sassoon explained carefully. "My father is Philip Sassoon, the British head of the Sassoon family. I am here to meet you this time, representing the British finance department, military and British investment interest groups in China.”

"Military?" Zhou Hexuan was a little surprised.

Howard Sassoon nodded: "Yes, my father currently serves as the British Deputy Minister of Air Force."

After Zhou Hexuan inquired in detail, he found out that Howard's father was very special. The old guy was the private secretary of Field Marshal Haig during World War I, and later became the private secretary of Prime Minister Lloyd George. From 1924 to the present, he served as the British Under-Secretary of the Air Force twice.

Howard's mother, Irene Caroline, is the daughter of the Rothschild family. Howard's aunt, married to the Marquis of Chomley, a very influential old nobleman.

Zhou Hexuan asked again: "Mr. Siegfried Sassoon, the famous poet, is your..."

"Uncle." Howard smiled.

Damn it!

The power of these big British families is simply intricate. Through marriage, they have penetrated into various fields such as the British aristocracy, military, politics, business, culture, and social circles.

"Tell me, what will happen next?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

Howard smiled and said: "Anti-war speech. It is the kind of real anti-war speech that opposes all wars, not just imperialism and fascism. Mr. Zhou, when you give your speech, it is best to ignore fascism."

"Why?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

Howard showed a sarcastic and disdainful smile: "Because the British are afraid of war and fear of provoking fascist countries and triggering a war."

Zhou Hexuan said happily: "This is an escape."

"Yes, escape," Howard lit a cigarette. "Some time ago, the British League of Nations Association conducted a poll. Do you know what the result was? 99% of the voters agreed that Britain should continue to advocate peace in the League of Nations. 99 90% of voters favored the abolition of the British Air Force, and 90% of voters favored a ban on the production and sale of arms.”

Zhou Hexuan was dumbfounded. It was understandable that the British pursued peaceful disarmament, but why did they support the abolition of their own air force?

Now that the whole world is undergoing air force construction, the British actually want to abolish their own country's air force!

Zhou Hexuan said with a slightly sarcastic smile: "Britain is really a country that pursues peace. I admire it very much."

In Britain in the 1930s, "pacifism" was politically correct. In a 1936 poll, 90% of British people even said that if war came, they would refuse to participate in the war.

In order to cater to the so-called public opinion, British politicians have completely lost their minds and turned into pacifists one by one. Their governance philosophy is: as long as there is no war, all interests can be sacrificed, including Britain's own interests - such as acquiescing to Irish independence.

Howard said: "So, Mr. Zhou must avoid mentioning fascism. Fascism is a very sensitive topic in the UK now. You only need to accuse Japan of its shameless aggression against China and Japan's numerous war crimes in China. Then, the rest It is up to us to resolve the matter, especially the Ministry of Finance and the military, who are firmly on our side."

"Wait a minute," Zhou Hexuan asked doubtfully, "The current British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Chamberlain, seems to be the most determined 'appeaser'. Isn't he afraid of provoking Japan and provoking a war?"

"He's a politician first," Howard laughed.

"Understood." Zhou Hexuan also smiled.

As the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Chamberlain's biggest responsibility is to lead Britain out of the economic crisis, and he needs the support of large financial groups. The British investment interest groups in China are very powerful, and the Sassoon family is just one of them. These people will force Chamberlain to take action.

Not only that, in order to expand the pound system and enhance the international status of the pound, Chamberlain is also eager to bring China into the pound group.

Zhou Hexuan's biggest enemy at this time was the British Foreign Secretary Samuel. This guy will do anything for "peace". In order to avoid angering Japan, he firmly opposes Britain helping China solve the silver crisis on its own.

For politicians, the butt always determines the head.

At this point, Chamberlain was particularly obvious. In the late 1920s, Chamberlain served as Foreign Secretary and advocated sending troops to China to help the Beiyang government because the Northern Expedition forces wanted to abolish unequal treaties and concessions; in the mid-1930s, Chamberlain served as Finance Minister and supported China in solving the silver problem, even at the expense of angering Japan; In the late 1930s, Chamberlain became the British Prime Minister and immediately transformed into a pacifist, opposing all wars in the world.

As a result, Chamberlain received very contradictory evaluations. The military scolded him for cutting defense spending, while the Labor Party called him a "war monger."

"This is the information we collected. I hope it can give you some help." Howard took out a document bag.

Zhou Hexuan took it apart and looked at it, and immediately said happily: "Thank you, these are very useful."

The document bag was filled with evidence of Japan's invasion of China, including many photos of the Japanese army massacring and abusing Chinese civilians. I don't know where they got it.

After these materials are released, the British will definitely fully support China in terms of public opinion based on their current attitude towards war. You know, just because he opposed the war, Gandhi became a hero in Britain in the 1930s, and all he did was to try to undermine Britain.