In 1931, the economic crisis began to enter its third year. By this time, it was no longer just an economic crisis, but a true Great Depression. Across the entire globe, 50% tariffs became the norm. Only China continued to uphold a 5% import and export tariff, and of course, China also continued to uphold its policy of trade balance. Sir Humphrey, the British Ambassador to China, was recalled to London as an "Old China Hand."

This was not a punishment, but a normal rotation. The British side had another purpose in recalling Sir Humphrey: they hoped to study how to expand British sales quotas in China to drive the British domestic economy. Sir Humphrey could be considered to have returned with honor; life as a minister in China was quite good. The People's Party was difficult to deal with, but they were sensible people. Adopting an attitude of "business is business," Sir Humphrey had smooth sailing in Sino-British trade. For example, in the Malayan land lease project that Sir Humphrey vigorously promoted, the People's Party transported tens of millions of tons of oil palm seeds from Malaya every year. With an export tax of one pound per ton of oil palm seeds, that meant tens of millions of pounds in revenue, and Britain also gained a stable supply of palm oil. The land in Malaya was fully developed, and from any comprehensive benefit perspective, the British Empire received enormous tangible benefits.

This was just one of Sir Humphrey's achievements. The coconut and oil trade in Southeast Asia also expanded Britain's revenue. A man who increased the Empire's income by hundreds of millions of pounds annually naturally deserved to be treated as a meritorious official. Now, Britain needed this meritorious official to make even greater contributions to the country.

Britain hadn't changed much; this was Sir Humphrey's most intuitive feeling about London. China's changes were too fast. The capital, Zhengzhou, had turned from a city centered around a train station into a modern metropolis in just a few years. Buildings, factories, and railways were under frantic construction. It wasn't just Zhengzhou; the entire country of China was undergoing tremendous changes every day. These changes took Sir Humphrey from being dazzled to being accustomed, so much so that after returning to Britain, he found himself unaccustomed to his homeland. At the very least, he was completely unaccustomed to the hard-to-swallow food in Britain.

The British Cabinet's meeting on Sino-British trade was formally convened only after Sir Humphrey's return. Sir Humphrey gave a report to a special committee of the Cabinet, introducing and assessing China's consumption power. The amazing construction achievements shocked everyone on the special committee. However, having stayed in China for so long, Sir Humphrey did not believe this proved China had consumption power; he believed this precisely showed China lacked it.

"China's wealth has been used for fixed asset investment, or long-term heavy industry investment. Civilian consumption power has been compressed to a pitiful level. Since Britain has not been able to control these Chinese state-owned assets, it is impossible to get a share of the pie from them. To further open the Chinese market, Britain needs to make more efforts," Sir Humphrey concluded.

Upon hearing this, thoughts of the Opium War popped into the minds of the special committee members. Of course, this thought was quickly dismissed. China was building railways and roads on a large scale, including the construction of roads and railways in Yunnan, which bordered Burma. If war broke out between China and Britain, before Britain could gain a comprehensive advantage, they would have to consider the possibility of the Chinese army charging into Burma. Burma was right next to India. The thought of China's 5.5 million-strong army made the mood of the British upper class turn sour.

Originally, Britain wanted to export 20 million tons of crude oil to China in 1930. After the economic crisis, the British economy suffered considerable damage, and trade between China and Britain barely maintained the 1929 level. Seeing that Sino-British trade in 1930 might interrupt the continuous growth that had lasted for more than twenty years and enter a downward trajectory, the British government was naturally extremely anxious.

There were favorable conditions, too. The economic crisis forced Britain to abandon the gold standard. Although the "inconvertible gold standard" sounded like it was in the same vein as the gold standard, in reality, it had become a fiat currency system. Since the banknotes of both China and Britain had turned into paper, the biggest trade barrier that once stood between the two countries was now removed. Of course, solving one problem led to the appearance of the next. If the British allowed the Chinese Renminbi to become a formal world currency and allowed China to run a trade deficit, and the British ended up holding a pile of Renminbi, how could they invest it to appreciate its value?

One of the purposes of recalling Sir Humphrey from China was to ask this question: would China accept British investment in China? Not petty play, but true large-scale investment.

To the Chinese, the big British capitalists were "old friends of China." To the British upper class, the British big capitalists also believed that the Chinese government was an "old friend of Britain." Since friends had encountered problems, how should they help each other out?

The British civil service system was also a bureaucratic system, and Sir Humphrey didn't dare to bring out all the preparations he had made in China. He looked infinitely glorious now, but behind his back, who knew how many people were envious, jealous, and hateful. Sir Humphrey naturally understood the principle of mutual flattery. Some things were not that they couldn't be done, or couldn't be done publicly, but rather it depended on who was brought along to do them. Interest groups were very realistic things; joining the right interest group meant rising to the next level. If you found the wrong people, then you could just wait to be given a hard time until you died.

The Cabinet special committee was just an organization for show. The daytime talks were just an appetizer; the private banquet in the evening was the main course. The number of people invited to the banquet with Sir Humphrey was limited to just five: a Cabinet minister, three tycoons, and Sir Humphrey himself, all graduates of Cambridge University. After discussing the Oxford-Cambridge boat race, the meal was almost over. The conversation then reached the critical part.

Sir Humphrey first received news from the Cabinet minister that there was an idea in the Cabinet to promote Sir Humphrey to work in the Treasury, but there were also those who opposed it. The minister did not continue further.

Sir Humphrey glanced at the oil tycoon at the table and then continued, "I have had some discussions with the People's Party regarding oil trade. They want to establish oil processing bases in Cambodia and Hainan Island, and they need cooperation and investment."

This topic hit the mark for the two oil tycoons. They stared at Sir Humphrey, waiting for him to continue. The Cabinet minister also looked at Sir Humphrey intently.

"China wants to utilize Dutch oil nearby, process it in Cambodia, sell part of it to the Southeast Asian region, and use part of it in China." Sir Humphrey began to slowly reveal his hand.

"Is it a joint venture, or some other method?" the Cabinet minister asked.

"The Chinese attitude on this is still quite hesitant. The Chinese side discussed that they want to open a stock exchange domestically." Sir Humphrey revealed more cards.

"I heard that the Chinese side already has a transport fleet of 700,000 tons?" the shipbuilding tycoon present asked.

"The latest news is that it has exceeded 1.6 million tons. It is said that more ships will be launched in 1930. China has put a lot of effort into the shipbuilding industry." Sir Humphrey answered slowly while drinking black tea.

"But Britain has not received any orders from China," the shipbuilding tycoon asked.

Sir Humphrey answered seriously, "In the news I heard, the Chinese side once wanted to import some shipbuilding technology from Britain, but did not get Britain's consent."

The shipbuilding tycoon did not refuse to acknowledge this news. He continued to ask, "Then where did China import the technology from? Italy?"

After these words were spoken, several people present couldn't help but smile. Italy's industrial strength was far inferior to Britain's. After Britain refused China's request, China could only go to Italy to seek technology.

"But we must consider the possibility of military conflict between China and Britain." The oil tycoon did not relax his vigilance at all. China's actions towards Japan clearly showed that China was not a pacifist at all.

Sir Humphrey fell silent. Britain absolutely did not want a war with China right now. As an old-school colonialist, Britain could also feel the increasing pressure China was putting on Britain. The British were all too familiar with this kind of pressure; France and Germany had once given Britain basically the same feeling. If it weren't for the fact that the British Empire was in comprehensive contraction now, Britain would probably have completely fallen out with China, or at least tried every means to contain China.

"War?" The Cabinet minister replied with a slightly contemptuous tone. After all, Britain had experienced the blood and fire of the European war. It was obvious that this Cabinet minister did not believe Britain would lose to China in a war. It was just that bordering a major land power was the most annoying thing for a maritime nation. China's population was about the same as the sum of all countries under the British Empire, but this involved a problem: the British Empire's industry was mainly concentrated in the North Atlantic region, while China's was completely concentrated in one region. The only region comparable to China in population was India, and Britain knew very well that India's industrial strength could not compare with China's at all. Not to mention that the relationship between the British Empire and its various colonies differed vastly. Even so, the British upper class still did not believe that Britain would fail in a war.

The shipbuilding tycoon pulled the topic back to the earlier content. "Sir Humphrey, can you talk about China establishing a joint venture? What kind of shareholding and dividend methods will China adopt?"

In April 1931, Sir Humphrey returned to China as an official of the British Treasury. His goal was to discuss with China the establishment of an oil refining company. Oil refining is a very interesting industry. Even into the second decade of the 21st century, among the oil-rich Middle Eastern regions, only Iran was a country capable of producing the fuel it needed.

In theory, getting oil and subjecting it to temperature control allows for the fractional distillation of gasoline and diesel. This requires very low equipment standards. Back in the day, many places in the Northwest with private small oil wells did this. This method had low efficiency, high waste, and severe pollution. Both economic and social benefits were very poor.

Oil quality has a huge impact on refined products, and crude oil suitable for refining is very expensive. The People's Party took the petrochemical route. Before obtaining gun steel, the People's Party began to research oil cracking technology on a large scale, greatly increasing the output of gasoline and diesel. After obtaining heat-resistant and high-pressure gun steel technology, the People's Party went all out to promote higher temperature and high-pressure oil cracking technology.

Cracked oil contains more olefins and aromatics; products like ethylene are important indicators. Similarly, hydrogenation reactions on high-octane alkenes can refine high-octane fuel. This is the fuel most needed by the air force.

This kind of petrochemical industry was also a technology- and capital-intensive industry in 1930. In the whole world, only China and the United States had this kind of industry on a large scale. China's fractionating towers went from 20 meters to 40 meters, 50 meters, and now the highest had reached 80 meters. And they were continuing to get taller. Fortunately, in this world at this time, this technology was "top-tier tech." The People's Party had finally recouped all costs, including the laboratories.

Chen Ke studied polymer materials, and these were all basic courses. The textbooks had long written out various parameters and catalysts clearly. With these parameters and design ideas, and with no one daring to question Chen Ke's views, China's chemical industry, despite a difficult start, was able to persist in running with small steps, and it was a non-stop run for more than a decade.

The British could also guess that China had a major breakthrough in technology, but they were unclear about exactly what stage China had progressed to, and even less clear about the extent to which China could utilize crude oil. The British believed China's utilization of crude oil was probably below 30%, but they didn't know that China's utilization rate exceeded 80%.

Negotiation is about testing the bottom line. China's negotiators were all strictly trained, Oscar-level actors. Not only would they absolutely not reveal their inner thoughts through emotional leakage, but when needed, they could also make their voices tremble, foreheads sweat, and pupils dilate at any time. If the negotiating opponent observed carefully, they would also find that one or both of the Chinese negotiator's hands, or one or both feet, were trembling slightly.

The advantage of the Chinese language allowing for interpretation based on context also manifested itself. As long as they could memorize a few terms, they could imitate experts. The British probably believed that China's oil utilization rate was 25%, so based on this calculation, the two sides signed an agreement that was quite fair on a 25% basis, with the British taking quite a bit of advantage.

The investment method followed a model where Britain provided crude oil, and the Chinese side was responsible for construction and production. For the first five years, depending on the quality of the crude oil, China would pay a certain amount of Renminbi to purchase it. Britain would take 30% of the gasoline and diesel, and at the same time could use Renminbi to purchase the remaining gasoline and diesel.

This was of great benefit to the British. They could cut off China's crude oil supply at any time. At the same time, this Renminbi could be used to buy Chinese oil products, or to buy goods Britain wanted in the Chinese market.

After entering the Second Industrial Revolution, gasoline and diesel were like the emperor's daughter—never worrying about finding a suitor. Even in a situation like the Great Depression, as long as the price was low enough, there would still be a sufficient market. Handing over the investment and production of oil refining to China, the British not only got rid of the huge infrastructure investment and the massive production costs, but also got rid of the workers' resistance. For the British, who possessed vast colonies and countless resources, this was a good thing with a hundred benefits and no harm.

Furthermore, if Britain didn't cooperate with China, the United States was also eyeing the Chinese market like a tiger. The British believed the Chinese domestic market was limited; if Britain grabbed such a big piece of the cake, the Americans wouldn't be able to eat that piece. In the end, under Sir Humphrey's mediation, the British side successfully raised the oil trade between Britain and China to the level of 22 million tons per year. Nearly 10 million tons of this was high-sulfur crude oil that couldn't be sold for a good price at all.

British economics academia believed that with production comes surplus, surplus brings economic crisis, and economic crisis brings workers' movements. Transferring these troubles and hardships to a poor country like China, and using some leftovers that Britain looked down upon to send China away, would be enough to stabilize China.

Getting rid of the big trouble brought by production, Britain established its top-tier food chain status globally through the "global economic division of labor." As long as they held overwhelming naval superiority, Britain could guarantee stability in the Far East.

Chen Ke was very familiar with this way of thinking of the British. He had also learned in history textbooks that the British completely lived off the colonial economy before World War II. But the British were British after all; they were a Great Power for hundreds of years, and their intelligence was not to be doubted. So from the beginning, Chen Ke still felt a bit afraid to believe it. When it was finally determined that the British really thought this way, Chen Ke had to sigh inwardly: the capitalist system really remembers the eating but not the beating.