Yan Huiqing asked the head of the British delegation across the table, "According to the negotiation terms we received yesterday, the British side insists that the Assam region must remain under British control."

Since Yan Huiqing was so direct, the British representative did not hide anything, "That is correct."

Yan Huiqing’s face showed no expression, "Then Lower Burma belongs to China."

The head of the British delegation was stunned for a moment, but his expression quickly returned to calm, "Why have you changed your view?"

"Pick one of the two," Yan Huiqing replied crisply. Although he looked calm, Yan Huiqing was actually quite unhappy. According to the Chinese delegation's analysis, the British side's sudden change of heart was likely because they saw the sufficient sincerity offered by the Chinese delegation, and thus had other ideas.

The members of the Chinese delegation were very disdainful of this practice and couldn't help but fiercely criticize European culture. According to Chinese culture, a gentleman's promise is worth a thousand gold. Since the other party's basic requirements had already been accepted by China, the British side should not have gone back on their word. Not to mention that this requirement was initiated by the British, which was a matter of credibility.

Finally, it was Li Shiguang, the 'hardliner', whose words temporarily calmed everyone's displeasure, "The British have lost too much this time, so it's inevitable they will overthink things. Our goal is to reach a peace agreement; anger won't solve the problem at hand."

Everyone was in a fit of pique, but Li Shiguang's words brought them back to reality. Although the Chinese delegation felt that what China was taking back rightfully belonged to it, the reality was that China had given up these regions due to the incompetence of the Manchu Qing dynasty. Moreover, the Manchu Qing had signed treaties with the British. These treaties were not even imposed on the Manchu Qing by Britain through war, but were peacefully chosen and abandoned by the Manchu Qing themselves.

The depressed comrades cursed the long-defunct Manchu Qing dynasty again before sitting down to discuss. Once calm, the analysis of the problem became rational. Now that China was seizing benefits through war, China could undoubtedly be a bit more magnanimous.

If the British could go back on their word, China naturally could too. So the result of the discussion was that between Assam and Lower Burma, which were in China's hands, the British had to choose one.

Yan Huiqing looked at the expressions of the British delegation members across the table with almost an appreciative mood. It was obvious that these British guys really didn't expect the Chinese delegation to make such a request; their faces were full of surprise. Yan Huiqing would no longer sympathize with the British side's feelings; negotiations between Great Powers were entirely based on strength. China had already fully demonstrated its goodwill. How to control this goodwill so that it did not exceed the proper bounds was also part of diplomatic work.

Finally, the British side requested to end today's meeting, and Yan Huiqing agreed. Upon returning to the residence, he wrote a report on what happened today and sent it to the capital.

After reading the report, He Rui was not unhappy, but just felt that he might have been a bit too hasty, letting the British side feel his anxiety. After a little reflection, He Rui had to admit it. In terms of savings, Britain was indeed much thicker than China.

China had 480 million people, and everyone was treated as a human being. The daily consumption of war was the blood and sweat of the people. Ending the war one day earlier meant using the money for national construction one day earlier.

Britain controlled vast colonies, and the people in the colonies were not considered human in the eyes of the British. Even in the British mainland, the millions of lower-class people might not be considered human in the eyes of those in power. So the number of people Britain really needed to protect was not large. In terms of who was a person and whose interests needed to be protected, the British government was actually much more flexible and relaxed than China.

Since the British government was so relaxed, He Rui could only increase the intensity on the British government. Having made such a decision, He Rui couldn't help but yawn and picked up his pen to write the last document of the day. After writing, He Rui was really sleepy, and this matter also needed discussion, so He Rui didn't edit it, and got up to go to the small room next to the office to sleep.

Waking up the next day, He Rui ate breakfast while looking at what he had written yesterday. As the hot meal went down his stomach, his body warmed up, and his brain became sharp. This was the feeling after more glycogen entered the brain through the blood vessels, providing a large amount of energy for the brain. Overeating, or 'stuffing oneself', makes the body feel happy and gives the brain more energy. So He Rui in the original timeline was relatively 'plump'. Even though He Rui paid great attention to fitness, he couldn't consume those fats.

He Rui in this timeline had a good physique and appearance. Being attracted to beauty is a human instinct. From a political perspective, appearance itself is also a weapon. It's just that to maintain the good shape of this 'weapon', a lot of price was indeed paid.

After thinking it through, He Rui crossed out a lot of content on the paper. Finally, only two sentences remained. He copied these two sentences and handed them to the secretary, and He Rui waited for his efforts to bear fruit.

On November 11, 1926, the *National Daily* published a very short news item: 'The Chinese government is purchasing shipbuilding technology from the Soviet government and has begun discussions with the Soviet government on comprehensive cooperation in the shipbuilding field.'

The status of the *National Daily* was equivalent to the *Xinhua Daily* of He Rui's original timeline. Not only did the British government attach great importance to this, but the governments of all Great Powers paying attention to China also attached great importance to it. Intelligence analysts from various countries saw this short news item and immediately listed it as the headline of their reports.

On November 14, just as the Sino-British negotiations were deadlocked, the Soviet government also published a news item in *Pravda*. This news item corresponded exactly with the news in China's *National Daily*: 'In order to build a stronger Red Navy, the Soviet government is considering cooperation with the Chinese government in warship construction. The field of cooperation includes various military vessels including battleships.'

He Rui received the news immediately and praised Comrade Stalin's strategic vision very much. Understanding the subtle implication—that is how smart people operate. Applying pressure does not require the Chinese delegation to yell at the British delegation; applying pressure often only requires tapping the enemy's numbness point.

Sure enough, on November 15, the Polish ambassador to the UK went to the British Foreign Office to ask what exactly was happening in the Sino-British negotiations. From November 16 to 18, Bulgaria, Italy, Turkey, and Greece successively expressed their 'concern' to the British Foreign Office about the Sino-British negotiations.

The British Foreign Secretary knew exactly what had happened; it was just a little trick played jointly by China and the Soviet Union. This little trick was so effective that the British Foreign Secretary even felt a little bit of pleasure in his heart.

There were always some people in the British upper echelons who thought they understood diplomacy better than the Foreign Secretary, which made the British Foreign Secretary very unhappy. Of course, the British Foreign Secretary in 1926 did not know that in 2022 Britain would produce a female Foreign Secretary named Truss; if he knew, he would probably understand what the phrase "I can do it too" meant.

However, the British government in 1926 was an elite government, and the plan proposed by the Foreign Secretary was the result of the painstaking deduction of the elites in the Foreign Office. If it could win a trace of benefit for Britain, the British Foreign Office would definitely calculate that trace of benefit.

Now it was good; the He Rui government had begun to apply pressure. The British Foreign Secretary could be sure that there was basically no possibility of He Rui cooperating with the Soviet Union to build warships, but any Soviet shipbuilding plan would affect the balance of power in the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. Even if the Soviet Union just released the wind, it would cause anxiety in the countries in the Baltic and Black Sea regions.

The strength of these countries was inferior to Britain, but it did not mean that these countries had no diplomatic talents. Everyone could easily figure out what was going on with the Sino-Soviet joint shipbuilding. If other countries didn't understand, He Rui would continue to release news to let these countries understand that it was the obstacles set by Britain in the peace talks that made China think the peace talks might not continue.

The British Foreign Secretary was not prepared to wipe the ass of the indecisive Prime Minister Baldwin at this time; let Prime Minister Baldwin worry about this matter for a while. If this stimulus could make Prime Minister Baldwin understand what a mature politician and diplomat was, Britain could break free from the current quagmire of war sooner.

Prime Minister Baldwin's reaction this time was faster than the Foreign Secretary expected. In the meeting convened by the Cabinet, Prime Minister Baldwin asked the Cabinet to choose one between Lower Burma and Assam. After a fierce discussion, the British Cabinet members finally reluctantly chose Lower Burma. After the British Cabinet had a resolution, the Sino-British negotiations proceeded smoothly again.

After a series of negotiations, the Chinese and British delegations finally reached a plan on December 16.

China and Britain would implement a comprehensive ceasefire at 24:00 on December 18.

Before January 31, 1927, China and Britain would establish diplomatic relations, issue a joint communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Britain, and three joint communiqués between China and Britain.

After the communiqué was released, the Chinese army would withdraw from Lower Burma and return Lower Burma to Britain.

The Assam region would act as a buffer zone between China and Britain and be jointly managed by China and Britain. The Assam region would be under Sino-British joint management, led by China, with Britain sending an observation group, to establish a local autonomous government. The diplomacy of the Assam region would be managed by Britain on its behalf.

China would establish the Governor-General's Office of Upper Burma. In the Upper Burma colony, apart from the police force, China would only retain an army of no more than 20,000 men. Before the number of Chinese troops stationed in the Upper Burma region was reduced to 20,000, Britain would send an observation group to the Upper Burma region to verify the number of Chinese troops stationed in the Upper Burma region.

Afterwards, China and Britain would draw on the Sino-Soviet Border Treaty to discuss the border demilitarized zone.

In this negotiation result, the Chinese government fully considered the face of the British government. The British Foreign Office also believed that this was the best peace agreement that could be obtained now. After the British Cabinet approved this agreement, the British Foreign Secretary summoned the Japanese ambassador to the UK and informed Britain's ally Japan of the peace agreement between Britain and China.

The expression of the Japanese ambassador to the UK was not surprised, but the Japanese ambassador to the UK still expressed strong protest. After politely listening to the entire content of the protest by the Japanese ambassador to the UK, the British Foreign Secretary said calmly, "If the Japanese government does not agree to this peace agreement, we, Britain, will sign a peace agreement with China alone."

For a moment, the British Foreign Secretary's office was so quiet that even a needle dropping on the ground could be heard. The blood color in the face of the Japanese ambassador to the UK gradually faded. The British capital had the title of 'Foggy City'; the Japanese ambassador to the UK had worked here for a few years, and his skin had also become fair. As the blood color faded, the Japanese ambassador's face became pale, just like his desperate state of mind at this time.