"Britain hopes to recover Lower Burma and discuss the status of the Assam region and Upper Burma with us," He Rui informed the committee members at the Politburo meeting regarding the intelligence he had received.

Upon hearing this, the Politburo members all frowned. Fortunately, the representative of the Military Commission within the Politburo was He Rui himself, so there was no angry outburst demanding the rejection of the British request. Instead, Wu Youping, his brow unknitting, asked, "Does this news come from Minister Morrison?"

He Rui had no intention of backing down on the use of foreign employees, so he replied, "It does China no harm to leave certain channels open."

The commissioners wanted to say something, but ultimately remained silent. The primary criteria for appointing and removing foreign employees were their professional competence and adherence to government regulations, and Morrison was fully qualified in these respects. As for whether a minister should be part of the national core, that was not really an issue.

If one was not a Politburo member, one was not part of the core national leadership. Morrison was not a Civilization Party member, so the information he had access to was even more limited. The work of a minister itself contained few secrets that could not be divulged, and the Minister of Commerce had even fewer things that required strict confidentiality. The biggest reason Morrison had been able to sit securely in his position until now was that he understood his boundaries very well.

As for Morrison bringing a message on behalf of the British government, if the Chinese government were to be deceived, it would only be because the Chinese government itself lacked the ability to distinguish truth from falsehood. One could not simply blame the British for being too cunning. Thus, the committee members focused their attention on the conditions proposed by the British.

Zhao Tianlin asked, "Chairman, will Britain accept our occupation of Upper Burma and Assam?"

"We get the substance, Britain gets the face. I think it's acceptable," He Rui replied.

Wu Youping felt that the substance was most important, but given the current outbreak of nationalist sentiment domestically, he asked, "Chairman, I feel that domestic public opinion may not necessarily accept this."

"The working people will certainly accept it, because the working people need a stable and peaceful international environment and a stable domestic environment. Such an environment is conducive to the lives of the working people. As for the minority who play to the gallery, there is no need to pay them any mind. No matter what we do, they will find fault. They rely on this to gain a sense of existence. The petty bourgeoisie, who are prone to excitement, are deeply insecure inside. But the passion of the petty bourgeoisie is like a cock: it gets hard at the slightest stimulation, but goes limp at the first sign of frustration. As long as we maintain strategic determination, are not interfered with, and manage the domestic economy well, their emotions will have very little impact on society as a whole."

After speaking, He Rui looked at the comrades who revealed expressions of surprise at hearing that rather alternative comparison, and asked lightly, "Comrades, what other strata do you think will show fierce opposition to the British demands?"

The committee members thought for a moment, and someone asked, "What about the comrades in the armed forces?"

He Rui immediately replied, "The comrades traversing the line of death on the battlefield understand the preciousness of peace better than anyone."

Since He Rui believed that there was no force within China that would fiercely oppose peace, the Politburo members also agreed with He Rui's decision. However, this matter could not be communicated through Morrison; the Politburo sent a telegram to the diplomatic team negotiating in Hanoi. When Foreign Minister Yan Huiqing saw the Politburo's resolution, although he was somewhat surprised, he accepted it gladly.

Of course, if Yan Huiqing were to steadfastly refuse, he would be replaced as the head of the delegation. Foreign ministers of great powers often had to suffer such grievances; they were different from the foreign ministers of small or medium-sized countries.

Because small countries had limited interests, their foreign ministers could often rely on personal charisma and judgment to make surprising decisions at certain moments. Once a decision proved correct, they could leave a colorful mark on the history of their small nation.

Foreign ministers of medium-sized countries, because they had sufficient resources—although the interests of the medium-sized country itself were limited—could use national resources to build personal networks, becoming very important political figures within their nations.

The foreign ministers of great powers were all extremely excellent talents within their nations, with abundant resources and wide connections, but they had to execute the policies and strategies of the great power's central government. The interests of a great power were complex, and many interests could even be mutually opposing. When executing the central government's decisions, they had to try to balance various domestic interests. Moreover, since great powers were extremely sensitive to foreign influence, the foreign ministers of great powers could not become part of the core political leadership. Thus, only they themselves knew the state of mind of a great power's foreign minister.

Yan Huiqing did not think that much about it. He had long understood that the pinnacle of his life was to be Foreign Minister. The highlight of his life would be the completion of the Sino-British Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations. After receiving the Politburo's resolution, Yan Huiqing actually felt relieved. Moreover, the content provided by the Politburo was actually quite good. Simply trying to sound out Britain's diplomatic bottom line would take a lot of time. Now that the Politburo had provided a bottom line for the negotiations, things became much simpler.

For the next few days, the negotiations continued. Prime Minister Baldwin received the report sent by the Foreign Secretary, and after browsing through it quickly, he pondered in silence. The report showed that after Lampson had informed He Rui of the British bottom line, the Chinese negotiation team naturally moved closer to this bottom line during the talks.

Previously, the Foreign Secretary had discussed the British negotiation bottom line with Baldwin. The Foreign Secretary had stated at the time that if Britain could not secure this bottom line, the Baldwin government would face fierce opposition, and the Conservative Party's election prospects would suffer a major setback.

Seeing Prime Minister Baldwin's contemplative appearance, the Foreign Secretary felt a certain inexplicable unease. Giving an inch and taking a mile was exactly like this. The reason the Foreign Secretary dared to use the Morrison channel was that he believed He Rui was a mature politician and diplomat. Even as an enemy... no, precisely because China was currently Britain's enemy, a mature politician and diplomat like China's leader He Rui was trustworthy.

If He Rui could make an accurate judgment and understand the difficulties of the British government, He Rui only needed to cooperate a little with the British government, and peace could descend sooner. So far, the Foreign Secretary's efforts had been effective; He Rui was indeed trustworthy. Now, as long as Prime Minister Baldwin gave it a push, the matter could be passed.

Thinking of this, the Foreign Secretary asked, "Prime Minister, can you sign it?"

Baldwin remained silent, and this silence made the unease in the Foreign Secretary's heart grow even stronger. The unease transformed into a clear thought that popped up: *Is Prime Minister Baldwin preparing to make more demands?*

Silence, silence, continued silence. The increasingly anxious Foreign Secretary finally heard Baldwin speak, "The threat of the Assam region to India is too great."

For a moment, the Foreign Secretary was thoroughly disappointed in Baldwin. If Baldwin had stated from the beginning that he would not give up the Assam region, then the Foreign Secretary would not have used the Morrison channel to pass information to He Rui. Prime Minister Baldwin was right; the Assam region posed a huge threat to India. Anyone with a bit of knowledge of military science who had seriously looked at a map would know this.

Not only did the British know it, but the Chinese knew it too. If they didn't know, how could the Republic's National Defense Force have stationed heavy troops in the Assam region?

Moreover, the Assam region was not only a threat to India; once China actually controlled the Assam region, the so-called McMahon Line would also become completely invalid. The Assam region bordered Nepal, and the South Tibet region was to the north of the Assam region. If China actually controlled the Assam region, it would firmly hold the road to South Tibet in its hands. In a sense, China might even give up Upper Burma, but it would not give up the Assam region.

Now He Rui had already shown goodwill by giving up Lower Burma, the outlet to the Indian Ocean. If Britain were to argue about the ownership of the Assam region again, it would be tantamount to completely destroying the fragile mutual trust that had now been achieved.

For a moment, the Foreign Secretary felt that perhaps he should consider resigning. Since he was destined to bear infamy anyway, why suffer continued betrayal?