Open an aircraft carrier to fight against Japan

As soon as the messenger left, Shen Wanqing said to Lin Yuan: "You've been tired all morning, and now it's only over an hour until [-]:[-] pm, and you still have lunch, so postpone the meeting time later. some."

Lin Yuan chuckled and said, "It's okay, I can't be tired of this matter at all!"

Shen Wanqing asked: "Is there anything I need to do?"

Lin Yuan said: "I really want to know what the Russians will say to the Germans, can you find a way to get it for me?"

Shen Wanqing hesitated for a moment, and said, "The Russians and the Germans are having talks in the embassy, ​​so I can't help it."

Lin Yuan said: "Since this is the case, it doesn't matter, we will figure out a solution later." After Lin Yuan and Shen Wanqing finished speaking, they had lunch together again, and soon the French envoy came.

The French envoy also knew what Lin Yuan wanted to say to him, but he still pretended to be stupid when he saw Lin Yuan. He asked, "May I ask why Mr. Lin Yuan came to me?"

Lin Yuan said: "You have also seen today's negotiation, what do you think of us?"

The French minister said with a smile: "I am here to participate in this meeting on behalf of the French people. My purpose of participating in the meeting is very simple, that is, to promote the reconciliation between your country and the Russian Empire. Everything I do is for the sake of the people." Happiness and world peace, as long as it is beneficial to the people and world peace, our French Republic will support it."

Lin Yuan thought helplessly: "What I'm most afraid of is talking about these useless scenes. It seems that I won't be serious, and he won't talk to me properly." So Lin Yuan said: "Actually, my purpose is very simple. , I hope your country can support our country!"

The French envoy frowned and said, "This is not very good. Since we are a mediator, we should uphold a neutral position..."

Lin Yuan smiled slightly and said: "If your country can support our country, our country will definitely benefit you from the French Republic."

The French envoy smiled and said, "Oh? Then I have to listen carefully. What benefits will you give our country?"

Lin Yuan said: "When I was in France, I once signed a secret agreement with President Faure of your country, which was about oil trade. If you can support us in the negotiations, when I sell oil, I will definitely pay a large price." Lowered prices."

This condition of Lin Yuan did impress the French minister, but the French minister had no idea, because the oil trade in this era has not yet developed on a large scale, and most of the oil used by each country is produced in his own country, so the French minister I don't know what the price of oil should be.

Lin Yuan saw the French envoy's confusion, so he said, "What's your current oil price?"

The French envoy shook his head repeatedly and said, "I don't know about that."

Lin Yuan said: "Well, please send your assistant back to investigate, and then I will give you a suitable price, which is definitely lower than the price of the oil you buy in China."

The French envoy asked in disbelief: "Will the price of oil transported across the ocean from China be lower than that produced by us French?"

There is also a reason why Lin Yuan dared to make such a guarantee. On the one hand, the oil production technology in this era is underdeveloped, so the production cost is relatively high. On the other hand, it is also because of the huge amount of oil transported by sea. For containers, the maximum volume is only about 20 tons, while for oil transportation, the maximum volume can reach tens of millions of tons!

This is because oil ships can use pipelines to transport oil to land near the coast, so that there is no need to stop at the port wharf, and the ship does not have to be limited by the water depth of the wharf. It can be made extremely large, so the unit mass The cost of oil transportation is also much lower.

Lin Yuan did not elaborate on these matters with the French envoy, but said confidently: "Mr. envoy, please trust us, we will definitely have a solution."

The French envoy nodded and said, "Okay then, I need to go back and ask our country's high-level officials for instructions." After speaking, the French envoy stood up and left.

Lin Yuan got up to see him off, and said to him, "Okay, please give me an answer in the evening."

The French envoy agreed and walked out. Lin Yuan sent him away, and came to listen to Shen Wanqing's report on the situation of the Russian embassy. The Russian embassy was still making appointments with the envoys of various countries, but there was no movement in the telegram back home. Lin Yuan guessed that Gilles must be very confident in his ability, so he didn't report the situation to the country.

While Gilles was meeting with the ministers of various countries, Lin Yuan was not idle. He also wanted to meet with the ministers of various countries. The first thing he contacted was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is also the world’s most powerful country in this era. They also mean a lot Crucial, so Lin Yuan called Cecil, hoping that he could arrange an appointment.

Lin Yuan called Prime Minister Cecil's office, and an ordinary official answered the phone. The official said politely, "Mr. Lin Yuan, I'm really sorry, our prime minister has already made arrangements for this afternoon."

Lin Yuan hurriedly asked, "What about tomorrow?"

The official said: "It won't work tomorrow, Mr. Prime Minister has made arrangements."

Lin Yuan put down the phone helplessly. At this moment, Shen Wanqing said, "The Russian embassy called the British Prime Minister's office."

Lin Yuan said: "Listen to me quickly." Shen Wanqing handed the earphone to Lin Yuan, Lin Yuan took it over and put it on his ear, only to hear the voice on the phone was still the official who just answered the phone, Lin Yuan Listening to the familiar voice said: "Okay, no problem, Prime Minister Cecil is free at three o'clock this afternoon, let Mr. Giles come at this time."

Lin Yuan sighed indignantly, and said, "Didn't Cecil say he wasn't free? How could he be free when he saw Giles?"

At this moment, the people who were sent to call the ministers of various countries also came back, and said one after another: "The ministers of various countries said that they are not free today and tomorrow!"

Lin Yuan nodded helplessly, and asked Shen Wanqing: "Did the Russians call the ministers of these countries?"

Shen Wanqing flipped through the call log and said, "Not yet!"

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "I bet you that when the Russians call them later, they will definitely say they are free and arrange a meeting."

Shen Wanqing smiled and said: "I don't believe it, the Russians have such a great charm that they can make everyone see them but not you?" He picked up the phone earphone, and after listening to it for a while, he said to Lin Yuan, "It's the Italian Minister's call."

Listening to the conversation inside, Shen Wanqing quickly put down the earphones, and said, "You guessed right, the Italian minister said he is free, and the two sides have arranged to meet at six o'clock in the evening."

After a while, the phones of the United States, Austria-Hungary and other countries rang one after another. As Lin Yuan expected, the envoys of these countries agreed to meet and negotiate with the Russians.

Shen Wanqing asked: "What's going on? Why do they all avoid you and go to meet the Russians?"