In fact, after the British government learned that the vanguard fleet of the East China government had arrived in Java, both the government and the opposition could not help but be shocked; although Java was a colony of the Netherlands, it had been integrated into the Asian order dominated by the United Kingdom, and also respected the Asian international political and economic system formulated by the British.

Public opinion in Britain was also in an uproar, demanding that the government must take a tough attitude against the actions of the East China Government, and some newspapers and media even declared that they would teach overseas Chinese a profound lesson; to wage the Third Sino-British War, to burn down the Old Summer Palace again, and to avenge the revenge of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

In order to attract attention, the media naturally swore endlessly, but after all, the British government is still a rational government, very clear about the current situation, the Boer War, which lasted nearly two years, has just ended, and Britain has only achieved a Pyrrhusian (note) victory, this war has greatly consumed the national strength of the British Empire, so now Britain has no strength to launch a large-scale war in the Far East, not to mention that the combat ability of overseas Chinese on both land and sea should not be underestimated, this point has been confirmed in the battle of the Eight-Nation Alliance, far from being comparable to those Boer (peasants) in Africa, and it is of course easy to start a warBut how the war ends is the most difficult, and politicians can't help but think about it before the war begins.

Moreover, Britain's biggest strategic goal now is to curb Russia's expansion in the Far East, and in the case of insufficient its own strength, it can only rely on the strength of other countries; although Britain chose Japan, it did not underestimate the power of the East China government, and in Britain's chess game, it was hoped that the East China government would play the role of a powerful help to Japan, and if it fell out with the East China government because of the Java incident, and even pushed the East China government to the side of Russia, then it would be quite unfavorable to Britain's Far East policy.

In addition, the East China government is to send warships to Java in the name of protecting overseas Chinese, and this does occupy a certain moral high point; although in Britain, it is possible to manipulate the media, but in the Far East, it is in China, and the actions of the East China government will certainly receive considerable support, including the Qing court, and it must also be supported in name; if Britain dares to interfere in Java, I am afraid that it will arouse anti-British sentiment in the entire Chinese society, so the decision must not be made without prudence.

Of course, if the East China government really just wants to protect its own overseas Chinese and immediately withdraw its troops back to Qingdao after the anti-Chinese incident is over, the British government can certainly accept this result, and can even put pressure on the Dutch Batavian authorities to force the Batavian authorities to control the situation and stop the anti-Chinese incident. However, I am afraid that the East China government will make the fake come true, using the pretext of protecting overseas Chinese, and the ultimate goal is to occupy Java and extend their influence into the Nanyang region. After all, Britain has not played less in such things, so the British government will not easily believe the East China government's statement.

Then the top priority now is to find out the true intentions of the East China Government as soon as possible through diplomatic means, and of course the military side cannot but be prepared, the truth is within the range of artillery, and this is the principle that is universally applicable, because military pressure is also an important diplomatic means.

Therefore, the British Government immediately ordered Jin Zhang, the consul stationed in Qingdao, to immediately negotiate with the East China Government and try his best to find out the real purpose of the East China Government, and it was best to get the East China Government to make the necessary guarantees; and ordered the British Far East Fleet in Singapore to send warships to Java to contain the East China Government's fleet.

After receiving the order from the British government, Jin Zhang, of course, did not dare to slack off, and immediately rushed to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the East China Government to ask to see Li Sanjie.

After the two met, Jin Zhang first said: "Mr. Commissioner, the British government is very worried about your behavior of sending a fleet to interfere in Java, because Java is a territory belonging to the Netherlands, and your actions are violating the code of conduct in international relations, which will be a very bad practice, which will seriously undermine the order and stability and navigation safety in Southeast Asia, and will seriously damage the interests of Britain in this region." I therefore make solemn representations to you on behalf of the British Government. ”

Li Sanjie said: " Mr. Consul, we sent warships to Java with no intention of undermining the order and stability of Southeast Asia, as well as the safety of navigation, entirely because there was a serious anti-Chinese incident in Java, which caused serious personal safety and property losses to the Chinese in Java, and we have made representations to the Dutch colonial government on many occasions, hoping that they can take measures to stabilize the situation in Java and quell the local anti-Chinese behavior, but the Dutch colonial government has done nothing and allowed the anti-Chinese action to expand, and we have reason to suspect that the Dutch colonial government is no longer capable of controlling the situation in Java, so in order to protect the interests of the Chinese in Java, we can only send a fleet to JavaThis is what every country does, and I hope that the British government can understand that if our actions have harmed the interests of Britain, then the consequences of all this should be the responsibility of the Dutch colonial government, not our original intention. ”

Jin Zhang nodded and said, "Okay, we can understand your behavior, but we also hope that after your fleet arrives in Java, it will be able to maintain a restrained attitude and not expand the situation." ”

Li Sanjie smiled and said: "Mr. Consul, we are all politicians, and at this time, there is no need to beat around the bush, don't you think what you just asked us to restrain is very ridiculous? The main reason for the current situation is that the Dutch colonial government, the Chinese in Java are suffering the fate of being killed and robbed, why did you not ask the Dutch colonial government to exercise restraint, or why did you not choose restraint when Britain launched the Opium War?"

Jin Zhang also smiled bitterly and said: "Okay, Mr. Commissioner, the British government is willing to mediate the conflict between you and the Dutch colonial government and restore stability in Java, but we want to know what your ultimate goal is? ”

Li Sanjie said: "Mr. Consul, we welcome the mediation of the British Government, and we also know what the British Government is worried about? Don't worry! We will not take this opportunity to invade and occupy Java, but we must ensure the safety of the Chinese in Java, otherwise we will leave Java on the front foot, and if there is another anti-Chinese incident in Java on the back foot, then the Chinese in Java will still be harmed." ”

Jin Zhang said: "Then what kind of protection do you need?"

Li Sanjie said: "First of all, Java must immediately stop the anti-Chinese behavior, and the natives who do not stop the anti-Chinese must be severely cracked down; second, it is necessary to compensate the economic losses of the Chinese victims in the anti-Chinese incident, and severely punish the masterminds who committed major evil acts in this anti-Chinese incident; third, it is necessary to adopt effective measures and ensure in writing that there is no anti-Chinese incident in Java. ”

Jin Zhang frowned, in his opinion, among the three conditions, the Dutch colonial government may only be able to accept the first article, and in the second article, compensate the Chinese for their losses, which is certainly not a small number, which means that the Dutch colonial government will have to pay a lot of financial losses, and severely punish the mastermind and the people who commit major evil deeds will make the prestige of the Dutch colonial government in Java ruined, and it will not be easy to provoke conflicts between the locals and the Chinese in the future.

Of course, this is the problem of the Dutch, there is no loss to the British, and if the British government puts pressure on the Netherlands, it can still force the Netherlands to fully accept, if such conditions can be exchanged for the withdrawal of troops from Java by the East China government, the British government can still accept it, the loss of the Dutch is the business of the Dutch, Britain is only for its own interests, there is no obligation to stand up for the Netherlands, and what really makes Jin Zhang feel very worried is the third article, because this article is too flexible, who knows what the final result can be negotiated, in case the Chinese ask the Dutch colonial government to accept the East China government's garrison in Java？

But Jin Zhang couldn't say anything against it, because the East China government pushed out the Javanese Chinese as a shield, after all, the Javanese Chinese were the victims of this incident, although Jin Zhang also knew that the Javanese Chinese were just puppets pushed out by the East China government, and were completely controlled by the East China government. Of course, the British government could also ask for supervisors to participate in the negotiations, after all, they were mediators, and the East China government had no reason to refuse, but this would need to be raised by the Dutch colonial government.

So Jin Zhang said: "Okay, your government's opinion, our British government will convey it to the Dutch government, but before the Dutch government makes a reply, we still hope that your government can exercise restraint and not exacerbate the conflict and escalate the situation." ”

Li Sanjie shook his head and said: "Mr. Consul, I can't give you this guarantee, because not to intensify the contradictions, not to escalate the situation, should not be a requirement for unilateral restraint, as long as the anti-Chinese activities in Java are not over, as long as the Chinese in Java are still being harmed, it is impossible for us to maintain a restrained attitude, so to ease the contradictions and control the situation, we still need the Dutch government to make more efforts and move in the same direction with us." ”

When Jin Zhang heard this, he had no choice but to smile bitterly again, of course, he had already understood the tough attitude of overseas Chinese, so he said: "Okay, we will also convey these opinions to the Dutch government." However, in this anti-Chinese incident, our British businessmen have also suffered a lot of losses, and now the situation on Java Island is in danger of getting out of control, so our British Government will also send warships to Java Island to protect British businessmen and overseas Chinese, and inform the East China Government in advance, hoping that after our British warships arrive in Java, they will not cause you misunderstandings, friction incidents, or even misfire. ”

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Note: Pyrrhus was the king of Epirus in ancient Greece, who led his troops to Italy to fight Rome and defeated the Roman army at a heavy price.