Fortunately, Xu Jichao didn't let him wait for long, and said: "The place where they fought was in the northeast of China. Russia and Japan are at war, but the battlefield is not in Russia or Japan, but it is chosen on the territory of China, so can it still be said that this battlefield has nothing to do with East China? It is indispensable to safeguard its own territory and interests, and if Britain and Germany are at war on the territory of France, can France say that this war has nothing to do with France?"

The old councillor was stunned for a moment, and was speechless for a while, so he had to bow his head and sit down. And the parliamentarians not only whispered for a while, when the old parliamentarians asked questions just now, most of the parliamentarians felt that the question was very good, and it was estimated that Xu Jichao would not be able to answer, because most of the parliamentarians had not seriously studied the war in the Far East at all, and they didn't even know where this war happened. There are also some members of the parliament who slander Russia and Japan, and if you want to fight, you can fight, why are you fighting on China's territory, and we are embarrassed.

At this time, another middle-aged congressman asked: "The place where Russia and Japan are at war is in the northeast region of China, so it is understandable that East China ** participated in the war, but Russia and Japan started the war in February 1904, but East China ** intervened in the war in May 1905, that is to say, East China ** only entered the war more than one year after the start of the war, and this can be regarded as an action to defend its own territory? If it was France, it would definitely participate in the war at the first time, and it would never wait until more than one year later to enter the war. ”

After he finished speaking, many congressmen praised him one after another, saying that this question had been raised very well, and that East China had not taken the protection of national interests as its own character? Why didn't it join the war as soon as possible? Xu Jichao would have to wait until one year later to join the war, and Xu Jichao would certainly not be able to answer, and the middle-aged congressman's expression was also quite proud, as if he had stumped Xu Jichao.

Xu Jichao also smiled and said, "Is this Mr. Councilor from a military background?"

The middle-aged congressman shook his head and said, "I have not served in the army. ”

Xu Jichao said: "It's no wonder that there is an ancient military book in China, called [Sun Tzu's Art of War], and the first sentence of the opening chapter is 'soldiers, the major affairs of the country, the place of death and life, and the way of survival, must not be ignored.'" War is a major event related to the life and death of the country, not child's play, and the overall national strength of Japan and Russia is above the top of East China, and it is not a little bit or careless, participating in the war requires the assembly of troops, requisition of civilian service, training, and stockpiling of materials, which all take time to complete, and at the same time to choose the right time to participate in the war, waiting for Japan and Russia to be consumed by the war, when the defense is lax, in order to achieve the goal of winning the war, which is not something that can be done by sitting in the office and talking loudly. ”

It turns out that although Xu Jichao is not a soldier, he is one of the decision-makers of East China after all, and he has participated in the decision-making and process management of all the wars that East China has participated in since its establishment, so he is no stranger to military wars.

The middle-aged congressman was also speechless, so he had to sit down dejectedly. And the parliamentarians who had just praised him were suddenly in no spirits

At this time, the speaker also frowned, and he was also a little anxious, he asked two questions in a row, not only did he not ask Xu Jichao, but he was refuted by Xu Jichao and had nothing to say, this plot is not right, so he said: "If there is anything else to ask, I hope you will think about the questions you want to ask clearly." This means that you have to think carefully before you ask, and don't get bored.

After a while, another congressman finally spoke: "We can understand that East China has entered the war to protect its own interests, but in East China, it has driven the Russian and Japanese armies out of the mainland, but it has not stopped, and in turn invaded the territory of Japan and Russia, which is probably not what a peace-loving country should do." ”

Xu Jichao said: "First of all, I want to correct your statement, we did not invade the territory of Russia, that is just to recover the land that was illegally occupied by Russia in the past; of course, we did invade the Japanese mainland, but that was to force Japan to admit defeat and armistice, although the Japanese army was driven out of China's territory by us, but at that time Japan did not admit defeat and end the war, but stationed troops on the border, ready to make a comeback at any time, we want to relieve the trouble, force Japan to admit defeat and armistice, and can only choose to attack the Japanese mainland. Moreover, after Japan admits defeat and signs the armistice treaty, we immediately withdrew our troops from the Japanese mainland and did not occupy an inch of Japan's land. ”

However, this congressman was different from the first two congressmen, obviously did his homework, and immediately said: "East China ** is indeed withdrawing troops from the Japanese mainland, but it is inappropriate to say that the invasion and occupation of Russian territory is a reconquest of lost territory, and the "Aihui Treaty", "Tianjin Treaty", "Beijing Treaty" and other treaties signed by China and Russia have confirmed that these places are all Russian territories, so East China's ** behavior is aggression, not a reconquest of lost territory. In other words, East China is a country that does not pay attention to international credit. ”

Xu Jichao said lightly: "The Treaty of Aihui, the Treaty of Tianjin, and the Treaty of Beijing were all signed by the Qing Dynasty and Russia, and they have nothing to do with us. Moreover, it was signed under the coercion of Russia, which is a typical unequal treaty, which we have never recognized, and we are not the successors of the Qing Dynasty, so we have no obligation to respect these treaties. ”

The parliamentarian said: "Sir, I think what you just said is completely quibbling, as we all know, treaties are the basis of trust between countries, and if this foundation of trust is lost, then the basis of trust relations between countries is there, and whether it is Qing ** or East China**, what is represented is China, how can there be a treaty signed by Qing State, and East China ** will not recognize Daoli." ”

Xu Jichao said: "After the end of the war, we also signed the [Shenyang Entente] with Russia, and Russia has recognized the ownership of these territories. ”

The congressman immediately said: "No, the [Shenyang Entente] was signed after the Treaty of Aihui, the Treaty of Tianjin, and the Treaty of Beijing.

In the modern legal system, there is the principle that the latter law does not follow the previous law, which means that the newly enacted law cannot be used to punish the illegal acts before the enactment of the new law, but this is two yards with international treaties, and in international treaties, examples of the latter covenant overthrowing the former covenant abound, otherwise the international order will not be immutable.

Xu Jichao said: "Mr. this parliamentarian, according to your statement, the later signed treaty cannot negate the content of the previously signed treaty, then the Qing State ** signed the [Treaty of Nebuchu] with Russia in 1689, in which it is clearly stipulated that all the territory we have recovered now is China's territory, and Russia still occupies a large amount of China's land, so our recovery of territory is completely grounded." Regarding the content of the [Treaty of Nebuchu], if you are interested, you can go to the Russian Embassy to ask, or ask our Consulate in East China in France for relevant information. ”

The parliamentarian was stunned, obviously he didn't expect this to happen, and he was speechless for a while, because Xu Jichao blocked both ends, if the principle of the first treaty cannot be denied according to the later agreement, but there is the [Nebuchu Treaty] in front and the [Shenyang Treaty] in the back, it makes sense.

However, he did his homework on this question, and immediately changed the topic, saying: "Then what is the reason for East China's ** to ask for Kalimantan Island? Kalimantan Island has always been an overseas territory of Britain and the Netherlands, not the old land of East China." What is the difference between asking for Kalimantan Island in East China and banditry!"

And Xu Jichao was indeed a little angry, he didn't expect this guy to be unwilling after being scolded back by himself, and he actually had the issue of Borneo to mess around, but before making a speech, he was also fully prepared, so he still said calmly:" Mr. Parliamentarian, your statement is wrong, Borneo has not always been a colony of Britain and the Netherlands, Britain and the Netherlands invaded Borneo as a colony, it was in the late 19th century, before that, there were several local indigenous countries established in Borneo, the last one was in 1776, the Chinese established the Republic of Lanfang on Borneo, and now more than 90% of the residents of Borneo are Chinese, or have Chinese ancestry, so since ancient times Borneo can be regarded as China's overseas territory, Britain and the Netherlands have no sovereignty claim to Borneo, and East China** Asking Britain and the Netherlands to cede Borneo is based on history and reality. Information about Borneo can also be obtained from the Consulate General of East China in France. ”

Although Borneo is the territory ceded to East China after the defeat of Britain and the Netherlands, generally speaking, as long as East China is no longer defeated by other countries, it is basically impossible to lose Borneo, but East China does not despise the legal basis for East China to rule Borneo, after all, the strategic location of Borneo is extremely important, and the economic development value is great. On the one hand, we are proposing the development of Borneo, and on the other hand, we are actively collecting information about Borneo, which is the qualification of the Republic of Lanfang, which is the most favorable historical proof of Borneo since ancient times.