When the German mission arrived in Qingdao, it was also given a grand welcome by East China, with red carpet paving, police cars opening the road, and a guard of honor receiving a brief reading, etc., showing that East China attaches great importance to the visit of the German mission.

Immediately after the welcoming ceremony, the two sides started a formal meeting, and the etiquette of Bi Jing was all false, and the focus was on the demands of both sides. The first aspect in East China is represented by Wang Yunpeng, President of the Executive Yuan.

After the two sides met, Prince Heinrich first said: "President Wang, on behalf of Germany, I formally propose to East China the intention of concluding a strategic alliance. We believe that the conclusion of a strategic alliance is of great interest to both of us. Because before the Far East War, France and Russia, Britain and Japan have formed an alliance, and not long ago, France and Britain, Britain and Russia have also signed friendship agreements, plus Japan, although the four countries have not formally formed an alliance, but this trend is very obvious, whether in the Far East or in Europe, we Germany, East China will cause a huge strategic threat, so we can only join hands to effectively deal with this threat, and the alliance is our best choice. In this way, we Germany in Europe and East China in the Far East will form mutual support, and we can completely contain Britain, France, Japan and Russia. ”

Wang Yunpeng said: "Your Excellency, we have already conducted a serious study of this German proposal, and we first agree with Germany's judgment on the current international situation, Britain, France, Japan, and Russia have indeed united to a certain extent for their own reasons, and are developing in the direction of an alliance, and it is not surprising if the four countries sign an alliance treaty in a few years. ”

Prince Heinrich nodded and said, "Yes, I personally even think that this is an inevitability. ”

Wang Yunpeng said: "Any alliance will have an opponent, and the alliance of the four countries is even a future alliance, then the opponent should be Germany and our East China **, I think there is no doubt about this." Moreover, the strength of these four countries cannot be underestimated, and their influence is even more extensive in the Eurasian continent, which can indeed pose a huge threat to both of us. ”

Prince Heinrich smiled: "Yes, this is a very correct judgment. So how did East China decide on our alliance proposal? ”

Wang Yunpeng said: "Your Excellency, after research, we believe that the conditions for the conclusion of a military alliance between the two sides are not yet ripe. ”

Prince Heinrich frowned and said, "Mr. Dean, can you explain in detail why you think the conditions are not ripe for a military alliance?"

Wang Yunpeng said: "First of all, Britain, France, Russia and Japan have not yet concluded a formal military alliance, and now only between France and Russia, Britain and Japan have signed a military alliance treaty, and the military alliance between Britain and Japan must be attacked by two countries at the same time before it can take effect, so for the time being, the relationship between Britain, France, Russia and Japan is still very loose, although it poses a major threat to us and Germany, but this threat is not imminent. ”

Prince Heinrich said: "But Mr. Dean also admitted just now that East China has also made a judgment that Britain, France, Japan and Russia are developing in the direction of an alliance. ”

Wang Yunpeng said with a smile: "This is just a development trend, but there is still a long way to go before a real alliance, and there are still great variables, if we conclude a military alliance with Germany now, it will further stimulate Britain, France, Japan and Russia, and speed up their formation of an alliance." ”

Prince Heinrich was silent for a while, and said, "Well, I will report this reason to the country." ”

Wang Yunpeng said: "Oh, this is just the first reason why we think that the time is not yet ripe for an alliance. ”

Prince Heinrich was slightly stunned and said, "Then is there a second reason?"

Wang Yunpeng said: "Of course, the second reason is that the distance between our two countries is too far, and frankly speaking, even if an alliance is concluded, it is more of a formal alliance, and it is difficult to form an effective interaction." ”

Prince Heinrich said: "The distance between Germany and East China** should be about the same as the distance between Britain and Japan, even if Britain can form an alliance with Japan, then why can't Germany and East China form an alliance?"

Wang Yunpeng said: "First of all, the main target of the Anglo-Japanese alliance is Russia, in fact, Britain will provide money and weapons, and Japan will deal with Russia, while Britain will only contain France, and the alliance between us and Germany is aimed at Britain, France, Japan and Russia, and the situation is much more complicated than that of the Anglo-Japanese alliance; secondly, Britain itself has a large number of colonies in the Far East, so the alliance between them can form a good mutual alliance. What is even more important is that in the event of a war, we will not be able to send troops to fight in Europe, and Germany will not send troops to the Far East to fight in the war. ”

Prince Heinrich said: "This point in East China ** is not thinking too much, although Germany and East China ** are far away, but it is not difficult to interact, once there is a war, East China ** does not need to send troops to Europe to participate in the war, only need to attack Russia or the colonies of Britain and France in the Far East; ”

Wang Yunpeng said: "No, no, no, no, I think His Excellency the Prince has misunderstood, what we mean is that although we in East China and Germany are indeed facing a common threat now, the interests of starting a war because of this may not be the same." For example, in this war in the Far East, in fact, there is no conflict of interest with Germany, and if we conclude a military alliance between the two sides, Germany will have to attack Britain, France, and Russia in Europe, which is tantamount to dragging Germany into the war; vice versa, if Germany and France in Europe, A war in Russia would not necessarily be in our interests, mainly because Germany's interests were mainly in Europe, while ours were in the Far East, and frankly there was not much overlap between our interests, so if we concluded a military alliance, it would only form a mutual tie, which would not be beneficial to either of us. ”

Prince Heinrich thought about it seriously and admitted that what Wang Yunpeng said was indeed reasonable, and the main purpose of Germany's hope to form an alliance with East China was to use East China to contain Russia, so as to avoid falling into the strategic dilemma of being attacked by the enemy. However, the interests and obligations after the alliance are shared by both sides, although Germany can use the alliance to avoid strategic difficulties, but it must bear the risk of obligations to East China, just like this Far East War, and Germany really has no stake, if the two sides conclude an alliance this time, Germany must fulfill the obligations of the alliance, in Europe against Russia, and even Britain and France launched a military attack.

After a while, Prince Heinrich said: "Then the attitude of East China ** is to reject Germany's request for an alliance?"

Wang Yunpeng said: "I can't say that, in fact, although Britain, France, Japan and Russia have not really formed an alliance, they do pose a threat to us and Germany, so it is necessary for East China and Germany to unite, but it is not the best time to conclude an alliance now." ”

Prince Heinrich said: "Then East China ** means that we will sign a friendship agreement first?"

Wang Yunpeng smiled: "We have a better way than a friendly agreement, that is, partnership!"

Only then did Prince Heinrich understand that it seemed that the partnership proposed by Huadong ** in the petition was not casually said, but after careful consideration, so he said: "Mr. Dean, can you explain what is a partnership?"

Wang Yunpeng said: "Partnership is a new type of state-to-state diplomatic relations formulated by us in East China, which is endowed with mutual respect, seeking common ground while reserving differences, and win-win cooperation. Of course, partnership is just a general term, which can be subdivided into cooperative partnership, comprehensive partnership, strategic partnership, etc., in general, it is to strengthen communication and exchanges, inform each other before major decisions, and fully consider and take care of each other's national interests, and coordinate and cooperate with each other on major international and regional issues. Mutually supportive, as far as possible, the same position, but the two countries that have concluded the partnership are not binding, do not clearly define the obligations of the two countries, provide considerable flexibility in the management of bilateral relations, and are free to act according to the needs of the countries themselves. ”

After listening to this, Prince Heinrich also nodded, and basically understood the partnership proposed by East China, which simply means that the two countries do not sign any binding treaties, but try their best to maintain cooperation on major international issues, and cooperate with each other, but when taking collective actions, they will act in accordance with their own national interests. The advantage of this is that it is not bound by the treaty and will not be dragged into the war, and the disadvantage is that when it is not in one's own interests, the other party can be kicked away at any time.

At this time, Wang Yunpeng said: "We believe that at present, it is more appropriate for us to establish a partnership, and if the time is ripe and the conditions are met, it will not be too late to conclude an alliance." ”

Prince Heinrich thought about it again, nodded, and said, "Okay, I will also report this opinion to China truthfully." ”

So after the day's talks, Prince Heinrich immediately gave the entire content of the day's talks a detailed description of the partnership, and also specially handed it over to East China ** for review, so that they could see whether Germany's understanding of the partnership was correct and whether the translation was appropriate.

After receiving a telegram from Prince Heinrich, Wilhelm II also hurriedly summoned his ministers to discuss whether Germany should accept the partnership proposed by East China. After discussion, the ministers found it acceptable. Because the conclusion of a military alliance is not a matter of 1 or 2 visits can be completed, but after many consultations and negotiations, not to mention that before that, although the relationship between East China and Germany is good, there is still a considerable distance from the conclusion of a military alliance, so it is acceptable to form a partnership first, after all, this is closer than the general relationship between countries, and it can also further strengthen the relationship between the two sides. In this way, we will wait until the relationship between the two sides has developed further before considering the conclusion of a military alliance.