Chen Qiang made up his mind to add fuel to the fire and let Mr. Song and Mr. Kong, the two big rats, fight each other, get bloody. So before going to the banquet, Chen Qiang went to inquire about Mr. Song's purpose for this visit to the United States.

Mr. Song came to participate in the US-UK negotiations as a representative of Chongqing. This negotiation was code-named "Trident", so it is also called the "Trident Conference". The protagonists of the conference were the United States and Britain, and other allies also sent representatives to come.

The Trident Conference was originally a secret meeting, but how could such a thing get secret! The visit of British Prime Minister Churchill was a big deal, and there were also special envoys from Free France, the Soviet Union and China. Such a large group of people came to Washington, such as the French envoy and Mr. Song, who also frequently visited US lawmakers. They wanted to tell the whole United States that if this Trident Conference could be kept confidential, there would be a ghost!

So the negotiations here have just begun, and all the political and business people in Washington have known about this "secret" negotiation.

In the spring of 1943, the United States and Britain had differences on the strategic direction of the war. The Trident membership was to resolve the differences between the United States and Britain.

British Prime Minister Churchill hopes that the United States can launch an attack on Italy as soon as possible, so that the pressure on the Eastern Front can be dispersed, so that the Soviet Union can have a chance to breathe, and at the same time, it also shows goodwill to Turkey, hoping that Türkiye can join the Allied forces.

Although Türkiye was not a military power at that time, its geographical location was very important. If Türkiye could join the Allied forces, it would be of great help to the European war.

The grudges between Turkey and Italy have been around for a long time, not counting the old accounts of hundreds of years ago. Just talking about the modern Italian-Turkish war has caused the once powerful Ottoman Empire to fall into a large area of ​​territory. Therefore, attacking Italy will make the Turks feel very happy.

However, Roosevelt had a different idea. He hoped to launch an attack on Myanmar, reopen the Yunnan-Burma Highway, and at the same time weakened the Japanese army's power in Southeast Asia, so it would be best to drive the Japanese army out of Southeast Asia.

Churchill did not agree with Roosevelt's idea. He believed that the focus of the war should be on Europe. As for the Asian battlefield, the Allied forces should land in Europe at this stage rather than launching large-scale military operations in Asia.

From the perspective of Britain, we naturally hope to defeat Germany as soon as possible. As for the distant Asian battlefield, it is not important. Anyway, the Japanese army cannot defeat the British mainland. The British only need to ensure that India is not occupied by the Japanese army. Therefore, Churchill established the ruler to attack Italy and solve the troubles in Europe first.

From the perspective of the United States, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, occupied the Aleutian Islands, captured the Philippines, and sunk many American warships in the Pacific Ocean. The Japanese were facing the United States along the way, and of course the United States should give priority to the Japanese so that Roosevelt could give an explanation to the American people.

Moreover, Roosevelt did not want the European war to end so quickly. For the United States, whether it was the Soviet Union, Germany, or even Britain, they were potential competitors of the United States. Roosevelt would not allow Europe to continue to fight internally. When European countries are squeezed out by the war, the United States will naturally become the leader of the world!

Attacking Myanmar and opening the Yunnan-Burma Highway was also beneficial to the United States. Among the industrial countries at that time, the United States was the only local one that had not received any impact. At this time, the United States would produce a large amount of industrial products every day. Once the Yunnan-Burma Highway was opened, the American industrial products would enter China, thus bringing development to the United States' industry. Some of the loan agreements signed by China and the United States had not been fulfilled, and Chongqing still owed a large number of tungsten ore, tin ore and other metal mines in Washington, which had to be transported out by the Yunnan-Burma Highway.

In the United States, opinions are not unified. US Pacific Commander Nimitz believes that Japan is an island country and can defeat Japan through naval battles, so there is no need to launch a ground attack on Myanmar; while the US Army led by Marshall agrees to land in Myanmar and launch a land attack on the Japanese army directly.

The positions of both sides also represent their respective interests. The Navy wishes to fight naval battles with the Japanese army, and it is best to use warships to surround the entire Japan. In this way, the US navy will inevitably have dumplings and will achieve great development. Of course, the army also wants to fight land wars with the Japanese. It doesn’t matter if the number of soldiers dies. You can recruit them again. The more people you recruit, the more powerful the army will expand.

Chongqing definitely hopes to open up the Yunnan-Burma Highway as soon as possible. At this time, Chongqing is ready to send troops to Myanmar, just waiting for the Allied forces to attack the Myanmar coast and prevent the Japanese army from increasing their troops to support, while the Chinese army directly sent troops to northern Myanmar.

The positions of all parties are different, so there are naturally differences. Each country considers it for its own interests, so it is still unknown whether this negotiation can reach a consensus.

Chen Qiang also knew some politicians from Washington. From these politicians, he learned the content of the negotiations and the positions of all parties.

At this time, Chen Qiang couldn't help but scold Mr. Song and Master Kong for being shameless in his heart.

When in a nightclub, Chen Qiang listened to Master Kong's narration and thought it was a foregone conclusion that it would be possible to reopen the Yunnan-Burma Highway, so he waited until the time came and started to implement it. So Mr. Song and Master Kong couldn't wait to monopolize the Sino-US trade and make profits from it.

However, the fact is that the matter of opening the Yunnan-Burma Highway is still under negotiation, and the eight characters are not yet out! If Churchill did not let go, it would be difficult for the Chinese army to defeat the Japanese army in Myanmar. Didn’t the first expeditionary force end in failure?

Britain still deployed a large number of military forces in India, especially the British navy stationed in India, which is capable of blocking the Bay of Bengal. Once the Bay of Bengal is blocked, the Japanese army in Myanmar will lose their maritime recruitment, which is very beneficial to the attack of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.

Moreover, after the first defeat of the expeditionary force, a group of people fled to India. This group of people was originally China's best soldiers. If they could obtain sufficient equipment, they would have strong combat power. Now these Chinese troops are all in India, and India is a British colony. If Britain refuses to cooperate, this group of Chinese troops in India will not get any supplies, and counterattacking Myanmar is even more fantasy.

Therefore, the key point of attacking Myanmar and opening up the Yunnan-Burma Highway was mainly the British willing to cooperate. Otherwise, the Chinese Expeditionary Force would likely face another defeat.

Churchill refuses to agree now, opening up the Yunnan-Burma Highway is just a matter of paper talk!

At this time, Mr. Song, as a representative sent by Chongqing, should work hard to convince Churchill, let him help the expeditionary army to regain Myanmar and reopen the Yunnan-Burma Highway. This is what Mr. Song should do the most.

But Mr. Song has already started to make plans. After the reopening of the Yunnan-Burma Highway, it has monopolized Sino-US trade to make profits! There is no matter what the eight characters are, Mr. Song has already started to think about how to make money. If you want to make money by monopolizing Sino-US trade, you have to reopen the Yunnan-Burma Highway first?

Perhaps for Mr. Song, the reopening of the Yunnan-Burma Highway is not important. What is important is whether it can bring him political and economic benefits. In this regard, Mr. Confucius, like Mr. Song, placed personal interests above national interests, and even sacrificed the interests of the country to obtain personal interests.

This Trident Conference was related to the direction of the war. Whether it was Roosevelt, Churchill, or the representatives of France and the Soviet Union, they were all desperately fighting for the interests of the country. However, Mr. Song took this opportunity and desperately fighting for the interests of himself!

...

In the blink of an eye, the banquet day came.

In addition to invited Chen Qiang, Master Kong also brought three Americans. These three Americans are all well-known entrepreneurs. This time, Master Kong was invited to the platform to help.

Mr. Song was welcoming the guests in the banquet hall. Master Kong walked into the banquet hall and took the initiative to greet him.

"TV, long time no see!" Master Kong said proudly.

Master Kong did not call him "uncle", but called Mr. Song the English abbreviation "tv". Mr. Song naturally hated him very much, but those who could achieve Mr. Song's position had already developed the ability to not show their emotions. Even if he was disgusted, he still had a smile on his face and did not show any negative emotions.

Master Kong then introduced the three Americans and Chen Qiang.

Chen Qiang and Mr. Song had known each other for a long time. When Mr. Song was still the Minister of Finance in Nanjing, Chen Qiang met with Mr. Song. Later, when Mr. Song was the Special Envoy to the United States, Chen Qiang also met several times with Mr. Song.

Mr. Song had many guests who wanted to greet him, but he ignored Master Kong and asked Master Kong to play with him. In Mr. Song's impression, Master Kong was a second-generation ancestor who had no ability except to make trouble and causing trouble. He might even make trouble when he was drunk. Mr. Song was also worried about this and specifically ordered people to stare at Master Kong.

However, what Mr. Song did not expect was that Master Kong was very adapted to this kind of diplomatic occasion. He wandered among the guests and talked with the guests attending the banquet, and it was like fish in water.

Master Kong’s specialty is indeed food, drink and have fun. However, over the years of experience in food, drink and have also given Master Kong an extraordinary social ability.

Unlike other Chinese who studied in the United States, Master Kong lived a life of drunkenness and dreams during his time in the United States. As for his studies, he had long been thrown aside. Drinking is always easier to make local friends. Therefore, Master Kong is also more able to integrate into American culture and life than other students studying in the United States, and his communication with Americans is also more harmonious.

In this regard, Mr. Song is not as good as Mr. Kong. Although Mr. Song is also a master's degree from Harvard University and a doctorate from Columbia University, Mr. Song is studying hard in the United States. He cannot go to nightclubs all day like Mr. Kong. Mr. Song's degree of integration into American life is far less than that of Mr. Kong.

What's more, Master Kong has no official identity, and Mr. Song has an official identity. People with official identities should first think about it when speaking, because every word they say will be interpreted as an official point of view. If they say something wrong, they will not be able to clear up even if they say it represents personal opinions. People without official identities should naturally speak more casually. When we make friends, we will choose people who speak naturally and casually, rather than people who speak at the official verbal moment. When we meet someone who speaks with you, we will feel restrained when talking. If we talk to a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we will feel tired. Therefore, in social occasions, Master Kong must be more popular than Mr. Song first.

...

Mr. Song completed the welcome work and began to shuttle between the guests with a wine glass.

A moment later, Mr. Song came to Chen Qiang near. After the two greeted each other, Mr. Song asked, "Chen Qiang, why are you mingling with him? Although you are of the same age, he is useless except for eating, drinking and having fun. You should usually avoid being damaged by him!"

Chen Qiang knew that the "he" mentioned by Mr. Song refers to Master Kong.

Chen Qiang smiled slightly and said, "Actually, I know Mr. Kong, by chance. Mr. Kong did a business in the United States and happened to find me to work with him. I thought it was profitable, so I made some investments and became familiar with Mr. Kong after a while."

"Just what business he can do! It's not easy for you to make money, be careful to lose all of it!" Mr. Song curled his lips disdainfully.

"Minister Song must not know that Mr. Kong is really a business genius. I invested some money in Mr. Kong, and now it has a return rate of about 80%!" Chen Qiang said.

"What? Can you really make money?" Mr. Song frowned.

Mr. Song also heard that Master Kong had done some business in the United States, but Mr. Song always had a prejudice against Master Kong and only believed that Master Kong's business was a second-generation ancestor who was making trouble, so he did not take it in his heart.

Now that Chen Qiang said, Mr. Song was surprised that Mr. Kong's business was arrogant and domineering since childhood and could only cause trouble, he could make money even if he did business!

Chen Qiang continued: "Actually, Mr. Kong has really made a lot of money in the past six months. According to my estimate, even if you don't have ten million US dollars, you have to have six or seven million US dollars!"

"So much?" Mr. Song took a breath of air conditioning, and the next second, a deep sense of crisis arose from Mr. Song's heart.

Mr. Song never expected that Master Kong could make so much money in the United States. The money deposited by the entire Song family in foreign banks was only this amount. The money he earned by Master Kong for more than half a year was actually comparable to the assets of the Song family overseas!

As the top comprador in China, Mr. Song is very clear about the principle of "money making money". For people like them, the richer they are, the easier it is to make money. The assets of six million US dollars can already cause a huge storm in the Sino-US trade market! With the financial resources of Mr. Kong, if he wants to interfere in Sino-US trade, it will be difficult for Mr. Song to monopolize Sino-US trade!

More importantly, there is the Kong family behind Mr. Kong and the Mrs. Jiang. If they all support Mr. Kong, the Sino-US trade in the future may really become the world of the Kong family, and the Song family can only eat the leftovers leftovers leftovers leftovers leftovers leftovers leftovers leftovers leftovers leftovers leftovers leftovers leftovers for the Song family. What's more, Mr. Kong has always been incompatible with Mr. Song. If Sino-US trade becomes the world of the Kong family, perhaps that Mr. Kong would not even leave the leftovers for the Song family.

The so-called cutting off people's wealth is like killing parents. Mr. Song has decided to monopolize Sino-US trade and make money. How could he tolerate Master Kong to interfere with it?

Before, Mr. Song didn't know the financial resources of Master Kong, and did not take Master Kong to heart. Now, he knew from Chen Qiang that Master Kong had made a lot of money, which immediately made Mr. Song feel a huge threat! Or in other words, Mr. Song has regarded Master Kong as the biggest stumbling block in the Song family's future!

Chen Qiang, opposite, always smiled. Although Mr. Song still showed his emotions, his intuition told Chen Qiang that his plan to add fuel to the fire had been successful.

Of course, Master Kong did not make so much money, but Chen Qiang deliberately said that Master Kong had made six or seven million US dollars, with the purpose of making Mr. Song feel that Master Kong would pose a huge threat to the Song family.

The Kong and Song families were originally in-laws, but because of the word "money", the two families became enemies. They only rely on Mrs. Jiang's support to maintain superficial harmony.

Now that Chen Qiang wants to provoke the relationship between Mr. Song and Master Kong, he only needs to use the word "money". Chen Qiang only needs to tell Mr. Song indirectly that your nephew is very rich now and has the ability to steal money from you. In this way, Mr. Song will naturally deal with Master Kong. And Master Kong, Chen Qiang doesn't have to worry about Master Kong. If Master Kong doesn't mess with him, he will come to cause trouble for you. If Mr. Song deliberately targets Master Kong, the result can be imagined.

Chen Qiang was not worried that Mr. Song would go to Master Kong to verify the real number. With Master Kong's arrogant and arrogant personality, not to mention six or seven million US dollars, even if he made 100 million, Master Kong dared to admit it.

—————
Chapter completed!