Chen Qiang came to the Embassy in Washington and found Hu Shi. At this time, the Special Envoy Song sent by Chongqing was still staying in the United States and did not go back. After all, he came to ask the United States for help, and the aid of a penny was not received. Special Envoy Song was embarrassed to return to China, so he decided to continue to stay in the United States and see if there was no turning point.

It is precisely because of the existence of the Special Envoy Song that Hu Shi, as the ambassador to the United States, became the second-in-command. All decisions of the Embassy in the United States must be followed by this Special Envoy Song.

Chen Qiang found Hu Shi and inquired about donating planes to China.

"Sir, I heard that many overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia donated planes to China?" Chen Qiang asked.

Hu Shi nodded: "Since the War of Resistance Against Japan, overseas Chinese have donated more than a thousand aircraft to support the War of Resistance Against Japan."

"Then how should this plane be donated? Should I give it money directly, or bought the plane to transport it? Or is there someone who is specifically responsible for this matter?" Chen Qiang continued.

Hu Shi did not answer, but asked back: "What? Why are you asking about this?"

"I also want to donate planes to China." Chen Qiang said.

"The aircraft is not hemostatic gauze, that thing is precious." Hu Shi paused and continued: "Chen Qiang, I know you want to support the domestic war of resistance, but you must do what you can."

"I have made some money recently." Chen Qiang had no choice but to confess: "The hula hoop that many people are playing now is what I made."

"I often see people shaking a plastic circle. It turns out that you made it. I can't tell you, you can still do business!" Hu Shi didn't ask how much Chen Qiang made. If he knew that Chen Qiang was already a millionaire, he would definitely be shocked.

Hu Shi continued to explain: "The overseas Chinese in Nanyang donated planes mainly because they had nothing else to donate. There is no industry in the Nanyang place. Those overseas Chinese donated planes directly are much more troublesome than donating other things. Of course, there are also many overseas Chinese in Nanyang who spend money to buy food, medicine, or other materials to donate to the country. However, in that case, the procurement and transportation process are more complicated than donating planes. We are in the United States, and we are different from those overseas Chinese in Nanyang. We can buy anything in the United States, so overseas Chinese in the United States are mainly donating materials."

After Hu Shi finished speaking, he sighed helplessly: "In this situation, no matter what you donate, it is useless to transport it to Chongqing at all. The French closed the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway, and the British also closed the Yunnan-Burma Highway. I heard that the Japanese army had entered Vietnam, and the domestic and foreign transportation channels had been completely cut off. Even if there were too many supplies, we could not transport them in."

"Didn't you think of a way in Chongqing?" Chen Qiang asked.

"Of course I have found a way. France can't even save Vietnam. The Yunnan-Vietnam Railway must not be able to rely on it. Now I just hope that the British can reopen the Yunnan-Burma Highway. I heard that the British are not optimistic at the moment, and maybe they can't hold on for long. I heard that the British troops in the Shanghai Public Concession have evacuated. It is estimated that it won't take long. All the concessions in Shanghai will fall into the hands of the Japanese, and maybe Japan will attack Hong Kong."

Hu Shi said this, pointing to the location of the next room, and then said: "Enter Song received telegrams from Chongqing every day, and sometimes two letters a day, urging him to get assistance from the Americans as soon as possible. Chongqing also hopes that Americans can put pressure on the UK and reopen the Yunnan-Burma Highway."

"If the Americans were willing to help, it might be possible that the Yunnan-Burma Highway would be able to reopen." Chen Qiang said, looking at Hu Shi's bad face, and then asked, "Are the Americans unwilling to help?"

"It's not that the Americans refuse to help, it's that we can't see Roosevelt at all!" Hu Shi said helplessly.

"Is Special Envoy Song unable to see him, or can't you?" Chen Qiang asked immediately.

"I can't see you!" Hu Shi's expression became more and more helpless. He continued: "We have repeatedly asked to see Roosevelt, but they are blocked from the door. The White House said that President Roosevelt is busy running for re-election, so the focus of his next work will be on the United States."

"This is just an excuse, right? Running for president will not delay him from handling international affairs." Chen Qiang said with a smile.

"Yes, I know this is an excuse," Hu Shi lowered his voice again and said, "I used my relationship and secretly asked someone to inquire. It is said that after Zaoyi's defeat in the battle, Chongqing did not conduct a counterattack, which disappointed Roosevelt. He is now worried that Chongqing will not be able to defend and may surrender to Japan, so he also wavered whether to continue to aid China. The reason why Roosevelt was unwilling to see us was mainly because of the relationship between Special Envoy Song and Chongqing. Roosevelt couldn't trust Chongqing, so he naturally couldn't trust Special Envoy Song."

Chen Qiang nodded suddenly. After entering the second half of 1940, the Chongqing man was not very enthusiastic about anti-Japanese war. On the contrary, he was very keen on "organizing party affairs". This was also a sequelae caused by the treason of Chongqing No. 2 figure. Chongqing is about to enter the rhythm of "first to settle the country before fighting foreign wars."

This also made Roosevelt distrust Chongqing. I lent you money to you to attack the Japanese. Since you are so unprovoked in beating the Japanese, why should you continue to lend you money!

The Special Envoy Song was the brother-in-law of Chongqing. Roosevelt believed that he was not the Chongqing brother-in-law, so he simply came and avoided him.

Thinking of this, Chen Qiang couldn't help but sigh, and even said in his heart: "I'm really trying to die. Can't I fight against Japan steadily? I have to do so many tricks, even Roosevelt can't believe you."

Hu Shi, opposite, continued: "The most important thing now is to let the British reopen the Yunnan-Burma Highway and open the international supply line. There are still many guns and medicines I purchased last time and they have not been transported back. Overseas Chinese in the United States have also donated a batch of supplies, and now they are all in the warehouse. If the Yunnan-Burma Highway is not open, these things can only stay in the warehouse and become moldy."

"Sir, if you can see Roosevelt, you can convince Roosevelt to find the British to put pressure on the Burma Highway again?" Chen Qiang asked.

Hu Shi nodded calmly: "This should not be difficult, and the tung oil and tin mines in Yunnan have to be transported out and handed over to the Americans! I think Americans also hope that the Yunnan-Burma Highway can be reopened."

Chen Qiang hesitated for a few seconds, finally made up his mind, and he said, "Sir, I'll find a way to meet Roosevelt!"

...

Roosevelt did not lie, at this time he was really busy with the US presidential election at the end of the year.

In 1940, Roosevelt was going to fight for his third re-election. If successful, he would be the president who won third re-election in American history.

But Roosevelt's re-election journey was not smooth, and his support was far less than in 1936.

Many Americans do not want Roosevelt to be re-elected, not because Roosevelt did not do well enough, but because there has never been a president re-elected for three terms in American history. Once Roosevelt breaks this convention, Americans will worry that Roosevelt will be greedy for power and even turn the president into a "lifelong system". For Americans, they would rather accept choosing a bad president every four years than want a "lifelong system" good president.

The Republican nominee Wendel Wilkie is also more powerful than Herbert Hoover in 1932 and Alf Langton in 1936. According to the latest poll, Roosevelt's approval rating is only 4% ahead of Wendel Wilkie. In the US presidential election, within 5% is considered an error range. In other words, this 4% lead cannot be considered a lead at all. It is very likely that it is the error in the poll. On the day of the election, it is still unknown who will win.

In the 1940 US presidential election in history, of course, Roosevelt won, but this was also Roosevelt's most difficult victory, and it was also the least defeat of the Republican Party to Roosevelt. In the months before the election, both sides were indeed in a very anxious state.

In the end, Roosevelt won 55% of the vote, while Wendel Wilkie won 45% of the vote. However, since the United States adopted the electoral system, Wendel Wilkie's 45% of the vote only won 10 states, and in general, Roosevelt won a big victory.

Roosevelt is not a time traveler. He doesn't know that he can still be re-elected in the end. At this time, he is struggling with the 4% poll leading.

A Roosevelt's campaign assistant came over.

"Mr. President, we have received a $10,000 campaign fund." The campaign assistant said.

"Ten thousand US dollars? Which rich man is so big?" Roosevelt asked with a serious face.

After all, this was only in 1940. Even those well-known figures in the Democratic Party would sponsor one or two hundred dollars as Roosevelt's campaign funds. Those who could pay 10,000 dollars at one time were all big capitalists. In terms of purchasing power at that time, this 10,000 dollars was definitely worth one million dollars in later generations. If they were placed in the future presidential election, those who could sponsor one million dollars in campaign funds would definitely become the president's guests.

I heard the election assistant answer: "The one who sponsors the campaign funding of this 10,000 US dollars is your old friend, that Chinese athlete Chen Qiang."

"So it's him!" Roosevelt frowned involuntarily when he heard Chen Qiang's name.

Roosevelt pondered for a moment and said, "Chen Qiang is a Chinese. This money may be funded by the Chinese government. This does not comply with the regulations on political donations. This money cannot be taken."

"Mr. President, we asked Chen Qiang about the source of funds. We can confirm that this fund is normal operating income, not provided by the Chinese government." The campaign assistant paused and continued: "The hula hoop that is very popular recently was created by this hula hoop. It is estimated that he can make at least one million US dollars through this hula hoop."

"It turns out that those hula hoops were sold by him. Since they are normal business income, they will not violate the law of political donations. Unexpectedly, the young Chinese man back then was already a millionaire." Roosevelt sighed and then asked, "Will Chen Qiang donate 10,000 US dollars to me for no reason? What are his requirements?"

"He hopes that Mr. President can take time to meet Mr. Hu Shi, Chinese Ambassador to the United States," the campaign aide replied.

"I know what the Chinese are going to do. They simply hope that the United States will continue to provide them with aid," Roosevelt said.

"Mr. President, do you want to meet that Chinese ambassador?" the campaign aide asked again.

But Roosevelt hesitated. From a relationship, Roosevelt didn't want to see him. At this time, he was gradually losing trust in Chongqing. The will to resist was not as strong as Roosevelt imagined. This was not the case that the country should be destroyed. Roosevelt was really worried that one day he would see the news that Chongqing surrendered to Japan. After all, even a world-class power like France has surrendered to Germany. A weak country like China cannot guarantee that it will not surrender to Japan.

But Roosevelt really couldn't bear to pay the 10,000 US dollars of campaign funds. If it were 1936, Roosevelt might not care about the 10,000 US dollars of campaign funds, but now it is 1940, Republican candidate Wendell Wilkie presses step by step, and Roosevelt is only 4%. At this time, Roosevelt really needed a lot of campaign funds to promote.

But if you collect money from others, you have to help them do things. At least you will meet Hu Shi, which is inevitable.

At this moment, a knock on the door sounded and a White House aide in charge of intelligence came in.

"Mr. President, just a few hours ago, Germany, Italy and Japan signed a military alliance treaty in Berlin, and our intelligence personnel have obtained the general contents of the treaty."

The staff member said, handing a document to Roosevelt.

After Roosevelt opened the document, he looked at it roughly and frowned, because the treaty mentioned that Germany, Italy and Japan recognized each other's "new order" and the word "new order" made Roosevelt feel like he was stuck in his throat.

At the end of the document, there is also an analysis given by the American think tank. The analysis of the think tank believes that Germany will never satisfy the implementation of their "new order" in Europe, and Japan will not only focus on East Asia. What Germany, Italy and Japan seek may be a "new order" for the whole world.

"I knew for a long time that the United States could not be out of trouble. Even if we don't provoke others, they will push the so-called "new order" to the United States." Roosevelt sighed lightly and continued: "Reply to Chen Qiang, I can take five minutes to meet their ambassador to the United States!"

...

Ten thousand US dollars for five minutes to meet Roosevelt. This is the most expensive ticket Chen Qiang has bought in his life!

Even if it is in the future, it doesn’t have to spend so much money when meeting the US president. Under normal circumstances, donating 300,000 US dollars to attend a White House banquet is enough. If you donate 500,000 US dollars, you will definitely have the opportunity to chat with the US president. The 10,000 US dollars in 1940 is much more valuable than the 500,000 US dollars in the future.

However, when Chen Qiang thought of the situation where the Yunnan-Burma Highway was cut off and the country was currently blocked, if this spending 10,000 US dollars could reopen, then this 10,000 US dollars would definitely be worth the money. After all, so many supplies cannot be transported into China and can only be stored in the warehouse. The loss and depreciation alone will be lost more than 10,000 US dollars.

However, only Chen Qiang can use this method of political donation. If it were someone from the embassy, ​​this trick could not be used. Because the political donation in the United States is strictly stipulated by law, the limit on political donations for private donations is very small, and political donations from other governments are absolutely not allowed.

Hu Shi's luck was really good. Because Germany, Italy and Japan signed an alliance treaty and proposed the so-called "new order", Roosevelt had to readjust his diplomatic strategy. It was inevitable that he would increase aid to China and increase the embargo on Japan.

The United States put pressure on Britain, hoping that Britain could reopen the Burma Highway. The treaty of the German-Royal and Japanese alliance also made Britain realize that Japan and Germany were wearing pairs of pants. Britain's colonies in Asia will sooner or later be attacked by Japan, and it is meaningless to simply compromise.

So on October 8, British Prime Minister Churchill announced that the Yunnan-Burma Highway would be reopened and China's only external channel would be opened again.

At the end of October, another good news came, and the Chinese army successfully recaptured Nanning.

Then at this time, Special Envoy Song finally met Roosevelt, and then used China's tungsten ore as collateral to obtain a loan of 25 million US dollars from the United States and signed a "Tungsten Sand Borrowing Contract".

The results of this series were something that Chen Qiang did not expect in advance. He spent 10,000 US dollars just to match Hu Shi so that Hu Shi could meet Roosevelt and let the Yunnan-Burma Highway open again.

However, I didn't expect that the Chinese diplomats were really powerful. They climbed up the rope and actually got a loan of 25 million US dollars from the Americans.

By doing this, Chen Qiang’s 10,000 US dollars in tickets not only exchanged for the reopening of the Yunnan-Burma Highway, but also borrowed 25 million US dollars from the United States, which really made a lot of money!
Chapter completed!