After listening to Xiang Xiaoqiang's words, Zhu Yourong looked at him with blurred eyes, a look of relief on her face. After a while, she sighed:
"It's true... I'm so happy that you can see it this way... I'm also so happy that we can have a common language on this kind of thing. You know, not only our Ming Dynasty, but also many Westerners can't view Germany correctly... They
I only saw countries like the UK, the United States, and France falling into deep crises, and at the same time I saw Germany reverse course.
The miraculous rise of the trend, it is judged that the British and American models have declined, and the German model will definitely become a new trend in history... In fact, there are only a few truths in this world. Once understood, many complex problems can be seen through at a glance...
, so you also support our initiative to join the 'non-intervention agreement'?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang was startled, pondered for a moment, frowned and said slowly:
"This... is actually not necessarily the case. Although we want to follow the path of Britain and the United States in the long run, at the moment, it is not necessary to actively participate in the 'Non-Intervention Committee'. The UK may not want us to participate either."
Zhu Yourong raised his head from his arms and asked:
"Why?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang squinted his eyes and said while thinking:
"This Spanish Civil War has fascists on one side and Bolsheviks on the other... It can be said that the two ends are extremes, with Britain and France in the middle. Who do you think the middle countries, Britain and France, want to win?"
Zhu Yourong heard some omens from his words, blinked his eyelashes twice, and thought about it.
"England and France hope..." She suddenly said half a sentence, but she was unsure and muttered, "England and France hope... hope..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at her confused look and smiled again:
"Okay, Britain and France are hard to guess, so let's not guess for now. Your Majesty, just say we are the Ming Dynasty. As the Ming Dynasty, who do we want to win?"
After saying this, Zhu Yourong became even more confused.
She lowered her head and murmured to herself, then raised her head and looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang. She wanted to say something, but she never came out.
Xiang Xiaoqiang said:
"Do you feel like no one wants to win? Do you hope there is a third option?"
Zhu Yourong smiled and nodded:
"Well, that's how it feels. I can't choose."
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:
"Britain and France feel the same way. One side is far left and the other is far right. This is a choice between a tiger and a wolf. There is simply no choice. This should be the main original intention of their 'non-interference agreement', to bring Spain
Leave it to the tigers and wolves to let nature take its course without intervening. Moreover, they have a lot of problems at home now and don't have much energy to intervene in foreign countries.
"But... there is a saying called 'pull a fight', that is, two people are fighting, and a few others try to stop them, but only one person is pulled, so that person gets beaten a lot more, and it seems that the people who started the fight have good intentions.
...Now that Britain and France are taking the lead in promoting 'non-intervention', it is a bit 'biased'...Although they don't like tigers and wolves, there is always one side that they dislike less."
Zhu Yourong looked at him, half-squinting his eyes, his eyes flashing, and after a while, he softly said "oh":
"I understand, what you mean is..."
"The current situation is very clear. Franco's army controls 80% of the original Spanish army, and Italy and Germany semi-openly support it and provide it with blood transfusions through Portugal. Although the Republican government army only controls 20% of the original army,
The others are all improvised ragtag groups, but they hold the national gold reserves in the capital and can continuously purchase war supplies from the international community... In this case, the two sides are evenly matched, and even the government forces have the upper hand.
"At this time, if the international sources of weapons are strangled and the major powers are not allowed to import war materials to both sides of the Spanish war, then the only ones who will suffer are the Republican government forces. Because although the embargoed weapons are from the 'war parties', But Germany and Italy will definitely not be affected by the 'non-interference agreement' and will still give blood to Franco. On the contrary, the government forces really can no longer buy weapons... Isn't this a bias?"
"Yes, yes, that's right. I think your analysis is good and makes sense..." Zhu Yourong praised, "But... how did you figure it out? Why can't Mr. Shen Ge and the others figure it out?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang sweated, feeling proud but also a little ashamed. This was another benefit he had from looking at problems decades later. The situation in Spain is changing rapidly, and there are countless possibilities every day, enough to make the best in the world Politicians have made countless miscalculations. It will not be possible to draw a more complete conclusion until the end of the Spanish War three years later. By then, looking back at the present, many things will suddenly become apparent and there will be "hindsight." The feeling. And Xiang Xiaoqiang relied on the information advantage of later generations, and now he has become "pre-emptive".
Zhu Yourong continued:
"You mean... the introduction of the 'Non-Intervention Agreement' not only reflects that Britain and France are having a hard time making a choice, but also that Britain and France are relatively more accepting of Franco when they are having a hard time making a choice?"
"Yes, that should be the case. At least in their current view, the Bolsheviks are more dangerous than fascists and Nazis. This is also the traditional understanding of the international community. After all, fascists and Nazis have only been around for a short time, and those established countries have not yet responded to them. Habitual fear has formed. Another point is that the facts have spoken. Twenty years after the Bolsheviks came to power in Russia, what was the fate of the Soviet peasants, the fate of the intellectuals, the fate of the officers, and the fate of the cadres? How many people starved to death and how many people were executed every year? , how many people were imprisoned and how many were exiled, the international community has seen it. Although there is no precise number, at least the nature has been clearly understood: the number of people who starved to death, executed and exiled in the Soviet Union in the past twenty years was much higher than that of Tsarist Russia. The total number of people in a hundred years is more. And much more.
"But on the fascist and Nazi side, the situation was much better. Especially in Germany. A few years after the Bolsheviks came to power, the Russian economy collapsed and people were starving all over the country. A few years after the Nazis came to power, the people were immediately fed and clothed, and unemployment was greatly reduced. The Soviets If you want to escape from the country, you have to risk your life, but German people are free to travel abroad, and foreigners are also free to enter Germany. Compared with the Soviet Union, Germany is simply a paradise on earth. Although Italy has not done anything as dazzling as Germany, but Compared to the Soviet Union, it was definitely paradise.
"What the West now criticizes about the Nazis and Fascists is nothing more than their authoritarian rule. Ruling the country by a single man is in great conflict with Western values. But so far, these two countries have not transformed the entire country like the Soviet Union. became a large concentration camp, and there was no large-scale humanitarian disaster. These comparisons are well known to Britain, France and other countries... Now Spain is facing these two fate choices. If Spain falls into the hands of fascism, what will happen to this land? We don’t know what will happen to this land if Spain falls into the hands of the Bolsheviks. You can imagine this... Probably the international community also feels that for the sake of the Spanish people, if they are destined to endure decades of dictatorship As for governance, it would be relatively easier in Franco's hands."
Zhu Yourong was startled and said softly:
"Decades?"
"Ahem, maybe a few decades."
When Xiang Xiaoqiang said this, he was also thinking whether the Spanish Civil War in history had a relatively good outcome. After all, Franco was very rational after he came to power and did not let Spain get involved in World War II.
In an international environment surrounded by neighbors, Spain was left alone. The Spanish enjoyed decades of peace in an environment without any turmoil. This should be considered a relatively good result.
Xiang Xiaoqiang continued:
"Perhaps the calculation of Britain, France and other countries is that after such a deviation, Franco will soon be at an advantage, the government army that lacks weapons supplies will soon be unsustainable, and the Spanish war will also end in a short time, and recovery will
Peace and order. This should be the best result...but it shouldn't be that good. The Spanish Civil War will continue, and if I'm right, it will become more intense and cruel."
"Why?"
"The Soviet Union. Germany and Italy will support Franco, and the Soviet Union will also support the government troops. If the Soviet Union provides blood transfusions for the government troops, the Spanish Civil War will definitely continue for a long time. Both sides will bet on Spain until one side feels that it is not worthwhile.
, until you stop and withdraw."
Zhu Yourong frowned and said:
"Sure, it won't happen. The Soviet Union also signed a non-interference agreement. It won't tear it up."
Xiang Xiaoqiang was startled, then smiled and said:
"Maybe... But we just have to wait and see. If Germany and Italy continue to give Franco blood transfusions, let's see if the Soviet Union will jump out and tear up the agreement... Anyway, what I want to say is, precisely because the Soviet Union is likely to jump out
come out to provide blood transfusions to the Spanish government forces, re-establish a balance with the German and Italian forces, and allow the Spanish Civil War to continue for a long time, so an Asian country outside the 'non-intervention agreement' is needed.
, and stand on the side of Germany and Italy on the ground. Only in this way can we break the balance again and end the Spanish Civil War as soon as possible. And we happened to have signed a series of cooperation agreements with Germany, so it is reasonable to stand with Germany at this time. What's more, we
The supplies were not shipped directly to Spain, but to Germany. As for whether Germany keeps them for its own use or gives them away, that is not our responsibility.
"We don't have to take the initiative to ask to join the non-interference agreement in order to please Britain. Because Britain may need us to stay outside this agreement. At the same time, we can also greatly win the favor of Germany. Because at this moment, we have no
They went to join in the fun of the 'non-intervention agreement', but stood firmly with them to support the Buddha.
Lange... Of course, we can get rid of this kind of support soon. Because we will fight against the Qing Dynasty in a month. This is a very good reason. Because of the war, the share stipulated in the Mingde Agreement was exceeded.
For regular supplies, we will stop investing in Spain. Neither Britain nor Germany can say anything about this."
…
That night, Xiang Xiaoqiang left the palace under Zhu Yourong's almost adoring gaze. Zhu Yourong had some concerns before, whether Xiang Xiaoqiang was involved in national affairs too much. He is a soldier after all. But now, Zhu Yourong is glad that he invited Xiang Xiaoqiang.
Come. She secretly made up her mind to consult Xiang Xiaoqiang more if she had such problems in the future. She found that "Teacher Xiang" was sometimes smarter than the chief minister.