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Text Chapter 670 Saudi Independence (2)

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    The draft of the League of Nations written by Yang Qiu himself?

    The whispers in the banquet hall gradually grew louder, and Ibn Saud narrowed his eyes with a smile. At this time, no matter how ignorant he is, he knows how important China is to Europe and the United States.  It can be seen from the recent money-spreading trip that it is not how strong China is, nor how elite its military is, but that Europe and the United States need this big market to save themselves during the economic crisis. Even the United States, which is known as the strongest economy, chooses to cooperate.  This shows how influential this draft is.

    If it were not for the presence of the British and French representatives, representatives of the Pahlavi family of Persia and the Faisal family of Iraq would have rushed to the Chinese delegation to seek support for the establishment of the country.  Fortunately, they were not stupid. The dark look on the commander of the British Mediterranean Fleet stopped them in their tracks. Everyone knew that the British were the ones who really called the shots in this area.  Of course, if China can withstand this wave of pressure, then there will be the possibility of further cooperation.

    Roger John, of course, knew what these guys were thinking, and knew that China was determined to develop into the Persian Gulf this time. Otherwise, why would the Minister of Defense still ask the Minister of Defense to submit this League of Nations draft when the Minister of Foreign Affairs was clearly on the side?  Does China really want to challenge the authority of the British Empire and station its troops in the Persian Gulf?  !  His face darkened even more when he thought of this. If the country had not agreed to the establishment of Saudi Arabia, he would have ordered the fleet to come over.

    ¡°In fact, it wasn¡¯t just him, other people also saw the strangeness.  When Song Ziqing handed the draft text to Ibn Saud, everyone whispered to each other. If this draft was not an act, the Persian Gulf would really stage a drama of Mars hitting the earth.

    Just when everyone was looking at Roger John to know how he would handle it, Ma Kui also quietly nudged Gu Weijun beside him.  He came this time to implement the China-Arab oil agreement.  According to the original secret agreement, this grand agreement will officially come into effect from the founding of Saudi Arabia. However, seeing the other party's expression, I was still worried: "Minister Gu, do you think the British will kill him?"

    "Manager Ma, just call me Shaochuan."

    Although Ma Kui has retired, he has a special status. Moreover, Gulf Oil Company is one of the three domestic oil giants. The Sumatra oil field alone brings back millions of tons of crude oil to the country every year. This kind of enterprise is needed in any country.  The government fully supports and protects them, so Gu Weijun said a few polite words.  Looking at the lifeless face on the other side, he said: "It's not enough to kill someone. The president spends so much time just for today. Besides, the British are always shrewd in doing things and will not risk a great-power war if they have to, but  Conflict is always inevitable, it just depends on how it ends."

    Although Gu Weijun knew Yang Qiu's entire plan and knew that Britain was unlikely to go to war with China, after all, it was far away from the country, and with a strong navy, the probability of regional conflict was high.  So in the end it still depends on who can bear this breath first.  Ma Kui is also worried, as domestic industrial construction speeds up.  Yang Qiu has decided to make the automobile industry a key national support industry from this year, so the scale of oil consumption will only grow.  Gulf Oil Company is the only domestic company that operates overseas oil. The capacity expansion of Saudi Arabia's Ghawar oil field has begun, so it will be difficult to guarantee domestic crude oil supply if there is a conflict at this time.  But after all, he was born in the army, and he was not the kind of person who wanted to be rubbed around. Especially as the National Defense Forces became more and more ambitious, they were eager to take the opportunity to challenge British hegemony.

    There was one thing that he couldn't figure out, so he said: "Shaochuan, what do you think the president thinks? Why choose to make the secret appointment public after the ceremony tomorrow?"

    Gu Weijun came here this time to prepare to use the founding ceremony of Saudi Arabia to reveal the original secret agreement. In fact, this matter was not decided by Yang Qiu alone, but the result of everyone's discussion, so he explained: "Although the secret agreement can guarantee that no one will know about it for a period of time,  , but the fleet from the United States will be arriving in a few days. If the paper cannot contain the fire, it will still be leaked. Instead, people will slander us for developing military power in Arabia. So it is better to publicly announce it. Just in case.  If there are changes, they can be resolved quickly to avoid future troubles.¡±

    Ma Kui nodded, looked at Song Ziqing, who was surrounded by representatives from several countries, and chuckled: "Minister Song is in the limelight this time. I guess the British guy has given himself face by not doing anything illegal."

    "Haha. It is rare for Ziqing to come out to participate in foreign affairs activities, but this time he has regained all his popularity." Amid Gu Weijun's laughter, Roger John also walked towards Song Ziqing with a dark face: "Roger John, British Empire Mediterranean Fleet  Commander. Nice to meet you, Your Excellency Minister."

    "I'm also very happy to meet you, General." Song Ziqing smiled and secretly looked at Roger John.  He is about fifty years old, with a slim build and sharp eyes. He raises his chin slightly when speaking. Like all senior Royal Navy officers he has seen, his arrogance and good military qualities accumulated over a century are perfectly reflected in him.

    Roger John had no intention of going around in circles with the short Defense Minister in front of him, who was known as Yang Qiu¡¯s shadow.He asked bluntly: "Mr. Minister, why are you doing this? The Persian Gulf and the Arab region are the traditional trade areas of the British Empire. Isn't your country afraid of hurting the relationship between our two countries by doing this?"

    "This guy is so direct. He actually knows how to change the colony into a trade area" Song Ziqing muttered secretly in his heart, but from a soldier's point of view, he admired the admiral. He raised his head and looked at him and said:  "General, we have no intention of offending the majesty of the British Empire. It is our country's consistent policy to support the independent establishment of Saudi Arabia. As for the reason, I don't think there is any need to say more, right?"

    Roger John frowned.

    It is a well-known secret that China needs oil. For this reason, Gulf Oil Company is expanding the production capacity of the Ghawar Oilfield. However, as a senior officer of the Royal Navy of the British Empire, he will not be easily fooled. He said seriously: "Your Excellency, I don't know.  What are your plans, but I need to remind you that our British Empire never wants anyone to interfere in political activities in the Arab region, let alone see a war in the Suez Canal area!"

    The Suez Canal is the maritime lifeline that Britain must control. All countries in the world know this. Song Ziqing also knows this. Unless there are major changes in the world situation, this canal is not something that China can get involved in, so he said with certainty: "The general can  Rest assured, the Suez Canal is an international waterway and British jurisdiction is the best option. Only the Royal Navy can protect this world lifeline."

    A tall hat was thrown over, and Roger John's expression softened slightly.  Just as he was about to continue speaking, he suddenly saw Stimson walking towards Ibn Saud. To his surprise, he expressed congratulations on the founding of Saudi Arabia on behalf of the US government, and said that he would immediately start negotiations with the Saudi government to establish diplomatic relations and establish an embassy.

    First it¡¯s China, then it¡¯s the United States!  The two countries expressed support for the establishment of Saudi Arabia and promised to establish diplomatic relations immediately, which made Roger John a little uneasy.  The envious expressions of the representatives from the Arab region made his heart sink even more!  Because he knows that with the public recognition of China and the United States, it is only a matter of time before the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia joins the League of Nations and gains world recognition. Will this cause the Arab world to completely turn towards China and the United States?  What¡¯s even more unclear is why China and the United States supported Saudi Arabia together, and what secret agreement did the three countries reach?

    Roger John turned his head and looked at the smiling Song Ziqing fiercely. If it were not at the banquet, he would definitely order the arrest of the entire Chinese delegation to ask questions.  But not now. Even if he wanted to safeguard the interests of the British Empire, he knew that he must not take action at this moment, or even raise objections.  Because the independence movement in the Arab world is already very active, as the first truly independent country, Arabs pay great attention to Saudi Arabia.  Whether it is Iraq and Egypt under the British mandate, semi-independent Persia, or fully independent Turkey, they have all sent representatives to attend today's dinner. If they stand up at this moment, if there is no direct evidence that China will covet Saudi Arabia, it will definitely  sparking backlash across the Arab world.

    With this foreshadowing, the founding ceremony of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia went very smoothly the next morning.  Hundreds of thousands of Saudi nationals gathered in Riyadh, turning the entire city into a sea of ??joy. It was as if the scene at yesterday's dinner had been accepted by Britain, and there was no sense of any unease at all.

    But no one expected that things would change suddenly in the afternoon!

    After discussion, Ibn Saud and Gu Weijun announced to representatives from various countries and the media that afternoon that they would jointly establish the Arab China Petroleum Company. The Saudi government would lease two-thirds of the country's land and tens of millions of square kilometers of offshore waters to the company in exchange for  A loan of 4 billion yuan will be used to build the country and improve people's living standards.

    This is a number that makes the whole world dumbfounded!  Even Stimson, who knew a little bit about it, didn't expect that the content of the agreement would be so shocking.  Directly lease two-thirds of the land, and also mortgage all the oil exploration, mining, processing, transportation and sales rights on the land in exchange.  .  .  .  .  .  In-kind and cash loans.

    4 billion yuan!

    In an era when a top battleship cost only 40 million yuan, 4 billion is simply an astronomical figure!

    If it is not surprising that China is charging sky-high prices due to the lack of domestic oil, then the additional conditions behind the agreement are simply a nail in the eyes of the British Empire!

    The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia gave up the independent operation rights of two-thirds of the land for 66 years and the management and operation rights of three seaports. It also authorized the Arab China Petroleum Company and the Gulf Oil Company, which independently controls the Ghawar Oil Field, to establish independent administrative systems and radio stations.  , airports, ports, educational and health facilities and even the rights of security forces!  What does this equal?  It is tantamount to directly handing over the newly independent Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to China for management.  If this agreement is followed, in the next 66 years, except for the sovereignty and independence of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, China will have the final say on everything else.

    You are just kidding, how can this kind of agreement be made effective!"These damn pigs, they want to challenge the authority of the empire!" Roger John threw away his gloves as soon as he heard the news after returning to the British Legation in Riyadh.

    **********

    ps: Announcement.

    Updates will be slow in the past three days. First of all, because Hippo's wife is on a business trip, and Little Hippo's grandma has gone back to the countryside to visit graves and doesn't want to come back. Hippo needs one person to take care of the little Hippo.  Secondly, Hippo Company is undergoing an annual financial review. Last year's accounts need to be reviewed by Hippo within a few days.  .  .  .  .  .  So please forgive me.

    Hippo does not have the habit of saving manuscripts. As long as there are multiple codes, it will be published more often. Don¡¯t worry.
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