"I, Edward VIII, King of England, Emperor of India, King of Australia, King of New Zealand, King of Canada, King of Kenya, King of Nigeria, King of Burma, King of Malaya, King of Singapore, and the kings of 32 other countries, today take the throne
Leave it to my brother, George.
"May God be with him and his people.
"December 10, 1936."
…
On the evening of the 10th, in the small suite of the Purple Mountain Fortress, Zhu Yourong, Xiang Xiaoqiang, Zheng Gongyin, Mrs. Li, and Wei Zijin were standing by the radio, quietly listening to a "world event" broadcast by the Jinling Broadcasting Company.
Since London and Nanjing are half a world apart, even shortwave cannot be transmitted in one go and needs to be rebroadcast several times.
It is now afternoon in the UK. King Edward VIII has just announced his abdication a few hours ago.
Several people have heard with their own ears the first BBC broadcast of the original voice of King Edward VIII, which was translated by the Ming Dynasty announcer just now.
Listening to this abdication edict, several people had mixed feelings. Especially Xiang Xiaoqiang, although he was mentally prepared, he was still shocked by the long list of titles of the King of England.
There is such a long list of country names at the front, and that’s not all. At the end, “and 32 other countries” are added... God, what kind of concept is this!... The legendary "Empire on which the Sun Never Sets", this
That’s it.
There is a saying that the largest country in the world is not Russia, China or the United States, but the British Empire (Commonwealth). Because in this era, the British overseas colonies and dominions combined cover an area far larger than that of the earth.
on any country. Just one Canada and one
Australia together is much larger than Russia. Although these two autonomous territories are actually independent, they are still within the British Empire in theory (they still have to be loyal to the British King, and they have to send troops to whomever the British fights.
). Not to mention the actual territories of India, Myanmar, and Kenya.
When Xiang Xiaoqiang was negotiating in the morning, he still felt that it was not cost-effective to simply pursue the "area" of territory. But now that he heard about Britain's "inheritance", he was very stimulated. He began to feel that the bigger the territory, the better.
No matter what, having a larger territory is definitely a good thing.
…
The male announcer was solemnly reading another speech in English:
"...a fewww.piaotian.comg and emperor, and nowww.piaotian.com succeeded by my brother, the duke of york..."
This paragraph is a little longer. But just like before, except for Zhu Yourong and Wei Zijin, few others can't understand it. Xiang Xiaoqiang also had to pretend to understand, peeking at Zhu Yourong's expression, and trying his best to
had a similar reaction to hers.
Zhu Yourong sat on the sofa, holding his chin with his right hand and resting his elbow on the armrest. After listening quietly, he felt lost, opened his red lips lightly, and sighed:
"Oh...sigh..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang also felt "sad" and sighed softly:
"Oh...sigh..."
Zheng Gongyin felt itchy and couldn't bear it. She touched Xiang Xiaoqiang quietly and whispered:
"Hey, what did you say?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang said nothing, still feeling "sad", shook his head slightly, raised his chin and looked towards Zhu Yourong to signal, and raised his index finger:
"Shh..."
Zheng Gongyin glanced at Zhu Yourong and nodded quickly:
"oh oh……"
Next, the announcer on the radio read again in Chinese, equally solemnly and slowly:
"A few hours ago I performed my last duty as King and Emperor, and now, being succeeded by my brother, the Duke of York, my first words must be to declare my allegiance to him.
"Everyone knows the reasons that prompted me to give up the throne. But I hope you understand that in my mind I have not forgotten the country or the empire that I have worked hard to serve as Prince and King of Wales for 25 years. But you must believe
I, when I tell you, I have realized that without the support and help of the woman I love, I will not be able to shoulder the heavy responsibility of being a king...
"This decision is not that difficult for me because I am sure that my brother, because of his excellent qualities, will be able to take my place without doing any harm to the Empire. He has been blessed beyond compare and is loved by so many people.
-A happy family with his wife and children...
"Now, we all have a new king. I wish him and you, his people, happiness and prosperity with all my heart. God bless you all! God bless the king!"
…
Only now did Xiang Xiaoqiang really understand, and he truly felt "sad". Alas, this Edward VIII, who abdicated after less than a year as king, was the famous Duke of Windsor who "didn't love the country but the beauty"
.In order to marry the woman he loves
Marriage, willing to give up the throne. However, for a person who puts love first, this sacrifice is obviously worth it. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor lived in harmony for decades until the Duke's death in the 1970s, which became a good story in the history of love.
.
Now, the United Kingdom has a new king on the throne, namely George VI. This George VI will later be the father of Queen Elizabeth II and the grandfather of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
And Queen Elizabeth in later generations, that old lady who reigned for a long time, is still just a teenage girl!
When Xiang Xiaoqiang thought of this, he couldn't help but feel a feeling that "the past is thousands of years old." This feeling can only be experienced by people like me who have traveled through time.
Zhu Yourong sighed and said:
"Edward is a very interesting man with a cheerful personality...but sometimes he is a bit impatient...I got to know him very well when I was in England. At that time, his father, King George Sr., was still alive, and his mother, Mary...
They often invite me to drink tea, ride horses, dance... They are a very nice family. Alas... Zijin."
"His Majesty."
Zhu Yourong sighed:
"Draft a telegram for me to congratulate King George VI on his accession to the throne, and reiterate the friendly relations between the Ming Dynasty and Great Britain... Then draft a private telegram for me and send it to Edward and Wallis as personal friends.
Identity bless them.”
"Yes. It's just the first telegram... Your Majesty, the British Parliament has not approved King Edward's abdication document, and now legally George is not the king... Should we wait until the British Parliament officially approves it tomorrow before sending it?"
Zhu Yourong hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said:
"No, just tonight. Ming Dynasty and Britain have always had a good traditional relationship. We don't want to fall behind other countries. We should be one of the first countries to send congratulatory messages."
…
One day later, on the evening of the 11th, Beijing Railway Station.
The long platform was sealed off. A secret and low-key farewell ceremony was being held.
Soviet envoy Molotov put on his top hat and got into the luxury train without looking at the few officials from the Northern Qing Dynasty who were seeing him off on the platform.
With the sound of the flute, the special train started slowly, leaving Beijing and heading northeast. It will pass through Fengtian and Jilin, change trains at the Russian-Qing border, and go to Vladivostok. In Vladivostok, Molotov will board the Soviet special train and pass through Siberia.
The railway crosses the entire Russia and returns to Moscow.
During these days in Beijing, Molotov's secret activities did not make any substantial progress. Emperor Guangwu's war had already been fought like that, and he still did not want the Soviet ground "volunteer" troops to go south to join the war.
To the south of the Soviet Union was the Northern Qing Dynasty, not the Southern Ming Dynasty. This was very important to the Soviet Union. However, this alone was not enough to induce Stalin to be willing to get involved. Stalin planned to take this opportunity to ask the Northern Qing Dynasty for the three places that Russia had always coveted.
——Xinjiang, Outer Mongolia, and if possible, it would be best to extort part of Heilongjiang Province.
Heilongjiang, the richest area, Stalin planned to directly merge into the "Russian Republic".
Next is Xinjiang, which Stalin planned to split into two. He even thought of a name: the fertile northern Xinjiang where Kazakhs and Han people are concentrated is called the "East Kazakhstan Republic", while the Uygur-Uyghur ethnic group is concentrated in the northern Xinjiang.
The barren southern Xinjiang is called "Uyghur-Uyghur"
"Republic of Kazakhstan". Both places will join the "big family" of the "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics" as union republics, and their status will be the same as that of Kazakhstan.
Ukraine, Belarus and other union republics.
As for the most barren Outer Mongolia, Stalin planned to first make it nominally independent from the Soviet Union and serve as a buffer state on the eastern border of the Soviet Union and Qing Dynasty. Afterwards, the future of Outer Mongolia would be decided based on the situation in the east./
Although these three areas are vast, the political power is obviously more important to the Qing court than these. Stalin's original plan was to send a "volunteer army" composed of two or three elite tank corps into Qingjing, and set up a military base north of the Yellow River.
The Ming army was stationed in the Ming Dynasty to preserve the Northern Qing regime. But now, Guangwu was obviously seriously worried about the Soviet Union and was willing to retreat to Manchuria rather than allow the Soviet army to come in.
Perhaps after the "implicate order" was issued, the recent Qing army has resisted more tenaciously, which gave Guangwu hope and the confidence to defend the Yellow River?
…
Now Moscow Power Generation suddenly recalled Molotov. Molotov got into the train with his body and mind depressed and frightened. Comrade Stalin was extremely dissatisfied with this diplomatic failure. Although Molotov knew that as Stalin for many years
Comrades and comrades-in-arms, as his die-hard confidants, should not be directly involved in this matter.
He lost his head, but Molotov was already worried that he might lose Stalin's favor. And in the current Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party, once he loses the trust of Comrade Stalin, he will be arrested, tortured, and forced to commit suicide.
If he admits to being a rebel, he will be executed, and his wife and children will be sent to a labor camp... it is only a matter of time.
On the way from Beijing to Vladivostok, Molotov was extremely depressed and kept thinking about how to make amends and save himself after returning. However, a day and a half later, his mood immediately turned 180 degrees.
At eight o'clock in the morning on the 13th, the special train arrived at the Soviet-Qing border. Molotov got off the Beiqing train and took a car into Vladivostok station. At this time, he suddenly received a secret telegram from Moscow, Stalin himself.
At ten o'clock in the morning, Molotov's special train started as usual, boarded the Trans-Siberian Railway, and headed for Moscow. At the same time, Molotov secretly got on a freighter that had been prepared and sailed out of Vladivostok.
Port, sail into the Sea of Japan, and head south.