De Xuanlin and Fukushima Yasuma glanced at each other, and both of them also knew that this group of overseas Chinese was obviously different from the Qing government, their attitude was very tough, and they couldn't fool them just by working hard to get rid of them, but the two didn't have much hope for this negotiation before they traveled, after all, this group of overseas Chinese captured Dagukou and Tianjin, and of course they would not give up easily.

However, although the negotiations could not be completed, De Xuanlin's heart was not depressed, because the concession side asked him to come out to negotiate with this group of overseas Chinese, and he had already done it, and he was worthy of the consuls of the concessions, and he couldn't blame himself if he didn't negotiate. And now his identity is the director of the Tianjin Customs and Excise Department of the Qing State, since this group of overseas Chinese is coming to return to China, he should not embarrass himself, so even if the concession is captured by them, he will be fine, as for the other people in the concession, it is none of his business.

So De Xuanlin said: "Okay, we will convey your intentions to the concession authorities, and as for how to choose, it is up to them to decide." ”

Qin Yuhai said: "Yes, but now there is only more than half an hour left until eight o'clock, so I hope that the concession authorities can put the safety of the residents in the concession first and seize the time to make the right choice." ”

At this moment, Fukushima Yasumasa, who had not spoken, said, "Camp Commander Qin, can I ask you a few questions?"

Qin Yuhai was also a little surprised, but he still nodded and said, "Excuse me." ”

Fukushima Yasumasa said: "I want to ask if you are really overseas Chinese?"

Qin Yuhai smiled: "Why do you ask like this, does Mr. Fukushima doubt our origin?"

Fukushima Yasumasaki: "Of course not, but just a little curious, as far as I know, although there are many Chinese living overseas, there doesn't seem to be a country founded by Chinese. ”

Qin Yuhai laughed and said: "How many places overseas, Mr. Fukushima dares to say that he knows it." ”

Fukushima Yasumasa nodded and said, "You're right, I'm too rude, but can you tell me where you live and why you came back to China." ”

Qin Yuhai said: "I'm sorry, Mr. Fukushima, I am a soldier, not a diplomat, I can't answer any of the questions you asked, you can ask our diplomats or press spokesmen when you have the opportunity in the future, I believe they can give you a satisfactory answer." ”

Fukushima Yasumasa said: "Okay, I believe we will have a chance to deal with each other in the future." ”

At this time, Zhang Liyong said: "Mr. De Xuanlin, Mr. Fukushima, if the concession authorities refuse to surrender, we will definitely attack the concession, but we do not want the residents of the concession to be involved in the war, so we hope that the concession authorities will do the following: first, do not set up positions in residential areas, and soldiers do not enter residential areas to hide, use residential areas to resist, second, it is better to be able to gather ordinary residents and resettle them, and hang red and white flags at the gates, so that we can guarantee that we will not attack such buildings, and second, as long as ordinary residents do not rebel against our rule in the concession, our commitment will remain valid。 It is also hoped that the concession authorities will put the interests of the residents first and minimize the harm caused to the residents during the war as much as possible. ”

De Xuanlin and Fukushima Yasumasa glanced at each other, and the two were also a little confused, what was the idea of this group of overseas Chinese, on the one hand, they made a strong statement that they wanted to occupy the concession, and on the other hand, they repeatedly expressed their unwillingness to see civilian casualties. In fact, the two didn't understand that the crossing group actually didn't want to destroy the Tianjin Concession, because they still had to use it.

With such doubts, the two returned to the concession in confusion and reported the entire process of negotiation to the consuls.

After listening to what the two of them said, the consuls were also silent for a while, and they did not understand the style of this group of overseas Chinese, but one thing is certain, that is, this group of overseas Chinese is determined to occupy the concession, and there is absolutely no room for negotiation, so now there is only the choice of the concession, whether to surrender or resist.

However, it was less than 20 minutes before 8 o'clock in the morning, and there was not much time left for the concession, and after a while, the British consul in Tianjin, Jin Zhang, said: "You two think that if we choose to surrender, will this group of overseas Chinese really be able to honor their promise to ensure the personal safety and private property of the residents in the concession?" ”

The consuls also nodded again and again, in fact, Jin Zhang's real concern was not the residents in the concession, but himself, and of course, the safety and property of these consuls.

De Xuanlin thought for a while, shook his head, and said: "Mr. Consul, I can't be sure about this, although they seem to be the same race as the Qing people, their style of behavior is obviously different from that of the Qing State, so we can't measure and judge their actions by the way the Qing State behaves, and I can't be sure what the result will be if the concession chooses to surrender." ”

When the consuls heard this, they all looked at each other immediately, but this really can't be blamed on De Xuanlin, after all, after only talking for dozens of minutes, it is really a little embarrassing to judge the other party's attitude. Of course, some people guessed De Xuanlin's psychology, anyway, he was an official of the Qing State and had nothing to do with the concession, so the survival of the concession would not affect him.

At this time, Fukushima Yasumasa said: "Consuls, I will tell you my opinion. ”

When the consuls heard this, they suddenly had some hope and looked at Fukushima Yasumasa.

And Fukushima Yasumasa looked at the clock, there were about fifteen minutes left before eight o'clock, and said: "I think that if the concession surrenders, this group of overseas Chinese should not be like the Boxers, who will harm civilians and your lives at will." Because of their behavior and attitude, they can at least be called civilized people, and you can ask Director De Xuanlin about this. ”

De Xuanlin also nodded and said, "That's true, they do seem to be more civilized than the Qing Kingdom. ”

The consuls suddenly showed a relieved expression, civilized people are of course easier to deal with civilized people, but at this time, Fukushima Yasumasa said again: "But it is difficult to say your property. ”

The French consul Duslan immediately asked: "What's wrong with the property, didn't they say that they would protect private property?"

Fukushima Yasumasa said: "What they are talking about is only the protection of private property, but it is up to them to decide how to define private property, such as how to calculate the public facilities in the concession? Whether real estate and real estate are considered private property? What about the property of the Ministry of Industry and Bureau of the concession of various countries? The real estate, as well as the property of the Ministry of Industry and Bureau of the Concessions of various countries, are counted as public property and confiscated, and they have made it very clear that the property plundered by various countries from the Qing State is not protected, so there is a lot of room for maneuver, you can think about it, if you calculate it in this way, how much of your own property can be counted in the so-called protection of private property?"

Tianjin is an important port city in northern China, and the concessions of various countries have been operated by the British and French concessions for decades, and the construction of the concessions, the scale of municipal administration, and the development of commerce, so the concessions of various countries have accumulated a lot of wealth, and have created a lot of taxes for their own countries, if the wealth of the concessions is lost, then the political future of the consuls will be greatly affected.

Of course, not all consuls are concerned about their political future, because many consuls are actually businessmen, who only want to make a fortune in China, and do not want to make much progress in their political careers. But to recover the plundered wealth of China, it is everyone's share.

Later, the Eight-Nation Coalition invaded China, defeated the Boxers, and occupied Tianjin, and the consuls and merchants of various countries took the opportunity to drill camps for themselves, earn wealth, and embezzle various assets of the Chunting, such as the equipment of the Tianjin Machinery Bureau was looted, as well as the Tianjin Telegraph Bureau, Kailuan Minerals Bureau and other physical industries, were also occupied by the consuls or merchants of various countries.

In addition, there is the purchase of items from the soldiers of the Eight-Nation Alliance, because the soldiers can steal things everywhere, but they may not know the value of the things they have grabbed, and would rather exchange the things they have grabbed for real money. For example, the British consul Jin Zhang is an antique collector, and in the past two months, he has acquired more than 30 pieces of Chinese cultural relics, from porcelain to calligraphy and painting, everything, including a few treasures. If he wants to spit it out now, he will naturally not be reconciled.

In fact, Fukushima Yasumasa did not want the concession to surrender in his heart, but wanted the concession to fight with this group of overseas Chinese, to see how strong the combat effectiveness of this group of overseas Chinese was. Since Japan's Tianjin Concession had not been established for a long time, and it had not carried out any operations on the concession, it could be said that Japan had no interests in Tianjin, and even if the concession was disrupted, the loss to Japan would not be great.

And Fukushima Yasumasa knew very well what the consuls thought, one was to save their own lives, and the other was to protect their property, as for the safety of the concession, it could only be placed in the third place, and the residents in the concession could only rank fourth. However, there was still a certain amount of resistance in the concession, so these consuls valued their property more, and it would be more uncomfortable to touch their property than to kill them.

In addition, the disruption of the concession is not necessarily a bad thing for Japan, because it is easy to fish when the waters are muddy. Although Fukushima Yasumasa thinks that he does underestimate the strength of this group of overseas Chinese, on the whole, Fukushima Yasumasa still believes that the Eight-Nation Coalition has the advantage, there are still more than 20,000 people in Beijing, and the German fleet is constantly approaching, whether it is the navy or the army, it is far superior to this group of overseas Chinese, so Fukushima Yasumasa believes that despite the current momentum of this group of overseas Chinese, it is not long-lived, and the day the German fleet arrives in China is the day of the demise of this group of overseas Chinese.

And when the Eight-Nation Coalition recaptures the concession, Japan may be able to grab a good piece of land from it, after all, the number of Japanese troops is the largest.

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