In October 1920, a military officer named Pahlavi visited China as a national representative of Persia. This surname really stimulated Chen Ke's imagination greatly. Not only the surname issue, but this Pahlavi was a quite important figure in the military. Therefore, Chen Ke attached considerable importance to this person.

And this Mr. Pahlavi attached great importance to how the People's Party got rid of foreign invasion and was currently striving to recover national sovereignty. In the face-to-face meeting with Chen Ke, Pahlavi specifically talked about this matter many times. Chen Ke did not propagate communist ideology either, but just talked about the perspective of people's revolution. And he discussed with Pahlavi the "Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence" mentioned when the People's Party established diplomatic relations with Iran (Persia).

Obviously, Pahlavi was very interested in this issue. He had many discussions with Chen Ke on the future Sino-Iranian relations, the scope of cooperation between the two sides, and in-depth development projects that could be carried out. Pahlavi was originally responsible for negotiating with China on the oil cooperation project discussed last time between Persia and China. Among them, China proposed that it could exchange industrial aid for oil, especially conducting oil transactions in the form of railway aid and agricultural technology aid. Pahlavi was extremely excited about this.

After the meeting, the People's Party arranged for Pahlavi to visit the railways in Wuhan, and then go to visit agricultural construction in Hubei and Anhui. Finally, the two sides reached an oil trade agreement. Persia agreed to allow China to enter Iran in terms of oil exploitation. However, the agreement did not mention a word about railway construction and agricultural construction.

Shang Yuan was quite curious about Chen Ke's approach. Geographically speaking, Persia was at most a barely important country. The only difference was that Persia had always maintained independence and was now in a state of almost becoming a foreign colony. Asking about how to obtain national liberation made some sense. Mentioning railway and agricultural cooperation seemed to miss the point.

"Don't underestimate the Persians." Chen Ke said to Shang Yuan. Mentioning Iran, Chen Ke talked with Shang Yuan about the issue of marching in Central Asia. The local people looked no different from Chinese people. Except for the language barrier and different clothing, if the two sides mixed together, no problem could be seen at all.

"The cavalry troops of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army have arrived at the scheduled border and eliminated local military resistance. The problem is that railway construction will take a long time. Fortunately, the troops of the Russian Communist Party have reached the area bordering us." Shang Yuan said.

After saying this, Shang Yuan looked at the map and found that the area reached by the People's Party was not far from Persia. He asked in surprise: "Chairman Chen, do you plan to build a railway to Persia?"

"There is no such plan for the time being. If we build this railway now, it would expose our intentions too much." Chen Ke replied.

Not long after the Persians left, the British Minister actually came again. The new British Minister was Sir Humphrey, and what he raised was actually the issue of the People's Party repaying debts.

No matter how small a fly is, it is still meat. Britain supported Yuan Shikai to fight a civil war with the People's Party. It could be considered spending a lot of money, and the British led the way in giving the Yuan Shikai government several "Reorganization Loans," which was also money. The British, who owed a buttload of debt, certainly didn't want this money to go down the drain for nothing. It would be best if they could get some back. The British side even publicly claimed that if China did not repay the money, Britain would directly deduct this money from Sino-British trade.

Negotiations representing national interests naturally had to be tit-for-tat, and Sir Humphrey naturally performed well in this regard. But after all, he was an old friend of China; a tough attitude did not mean a bad attitude. Sir Humphrey chatted and laughed with old friends of the People's Party during the recess.

"Minister Zhang, do you have any plans to invest in Middle East oil?" Sir Humphrey asked.

"Is this a state act? Or a private investment?" Zhang Yu asked. Oil was already a priority development project on the list of the People's Party. The only place in the northwest where the People's Party stationed a large number of troops was the Yumen oil project. Zhang Yu was naturally quite interested in the news provided by Sir Humphrey.

"I have a friend who got part of the exploration rights in Kuwait and urgently needs financial support now. If possible, I can liaise in between." Sir Humphrey was very enthusiastic about this. If he were an ambassador in another country, Sir Humphrey would absolutely not dare to be so "arrogant." However, the style of the People's Party was indeed unique. At least with the precedent of the American Minister and Consul, Sir Humphrey thought it would be too stupid not to learn from it. Most importantly, the style of the People's Party allowed them to maintain a convention, that is, they would absolutely not publicize commercial negotiations with ministers of various countries.

The two sides first confirmed the location of Kuwait on the map. Zhang Yu looked at the map carefully, touched his chin with his hand and said: "The key lies in how to guarantee our interests. Oil is of course a good thing, but from Kuwait to China, we have to go through such a long sea journey. Your country can block these transactions anywhere and cause us trouble. In the current situation, we really have no way to ensure this."

"That's why I suggested that your country cooperate with my friend. Once a British company is involved, maritime transport can still be guaranteed to a considerable extent." Sir Humphrey was quite enthusiastic about this.

"We will consider it." Zhang Yu looked at the map and said with a frown.

After the break ended, the two sides continued the heated negotiation.

Upholding the principle of "odious debts are not repaid," the People's Party believed that this batch of debts owed by Beiyang needed to be carefully classified. For example, debts used to attack the People's Party could absolutely not be recognized, nor could they be repaid. Moreover, discounts on loans and other fees had no possibility of repayment at all. Only the money paid directly in silver and the unpaid principal could be repaid.

After repeated calculations and discussions, the People's Party finally gave Sir Humphrey a repayment list. The actual repayment was limited to the principal that Britain had not recovered. The part of the principal used for military expenses was also deducted.