The news of the victory in the Battle of Qingdao reached Tianjin at noon on the same day, and the provisional government of Tianjin New Area also announced the news to the people of Tianjin at the first time. For the ordinary people of Tianjin, the victory in the Battle of Qingdao was naturally another major encouragement, and once again proved that overseas Chinese are indeed more powerful than foreigners, and naturally they are more attentive.

When the consuls of various countries in Tianjin heard the news, they were shocked again: What exactly did this group of overseas Chinese intend to do? They refused to negotiate with other countries and took the initiative to send troops to seize the colonies of Britain and Germany.

Of course, the consul reactions of various countries were not exactly the same, and the British and German consuls were naturally extremely angry, because the traversers launched the Shandong Campaign, which captured the colonies of Britain and Germany, causing major direct losses to both countries. Britain is a little better, after all, Britain has many overseas colonies, and Weihaiwei is not a key point in the British overseas colonies, and in comparison, Germany's losses are much greater, Germany's overseas colonies are not many, and the few pieces grabbed are not a good place, and Qingdao is Germany's only colony in the Far East, and the German government has invested a lot of manpower and material resources in Qingdao, which is all in vain.

However, although the consuls of the two countries were annoyed, they were helpless, after all, the situation is stronger than people, after the Shandong Campaign, no one dares to underestimate the determination of the traverser, there is not enough military force to back up, all diplomatic means are in vain. The consuls of the two countries could only send electricity to China, saying that China's problems could only be solved by force, and suggested that China should invest more and greater military force in China, otherwise it would be impossible to curb the expansion of overseas Chinese.

The consuls of Russia and Japan were not so angry, but they were shocked, after all, Russia and Japan did not have any interests in Shandong, and naturally there were no losses, but after the overseas Chinese seized Weihaiwei and Qingdao, they further expanded their influence to the Shandong region, which is not good news for the two countries, because the Shandong Peninsula holds the Yellow Sea, and the relationship with Japan, Korea, which belonged to the Japanese sphere of influence, and Lushun, which was occupied by Russia, were across the sea, and the overseas Chinese had already shown great maritime power, and since they were able to attack Shandong across the sea from Tianjin, who could say that they would not attack Japan, Korea, and Arthur across the sea. Therefore, the consuls of Russia and Japan frequently sent telegrams to the country, intensified their vigilance, and discussed how to win the greatest interests for themselves in this complicated situation.

On the one hand, the crosser captured Weihaiwei and Qingdao by force and expanded its influence to Shandong, which of course aroused the vigilance of the two countries, and at the same time, the two countries were also worried that the commercial order that had just been signed with the traveler would be affected. Because it is not only the commercial interests that will be damaged, but also the scope of interests of the two countries to expand themselves in the Tianjin area.

However, in addition to being shocked and worried, the French also had an extra layer of schadenfreude, because the Germans were the biggest victims of this incident, and France and Germany were hostile countries, so as long as they saw the Germans deflated, the French would be happy, and the French consul in Tianjin, Du Shilan, even considered whether to further strengthen relations with overseas Chinese and join hands to contain Germany. After all, Germany has not many interests in the Far East, and overseas Chinese have no influence on Europe, and strengthening relations with overseas Chinese does not have much substantial help to France, on the contrary, it is easy to be opposed by other countries, so it is not appropriate to improve relations with overseas Chinese too much, and at present, only commercial interests are considered.

Of course, after the establishment of commercial relations, the relations between France and the United States and the crossers have improved somewhat, after all, the interests of the two countries in Tianjin are not large, and the two sides still have to cooperate to make money. Therefore, after learning the news that the crossers had won the battle of Qingdao, the consuls of the two countries came to the government administration building of the Tianjin New Area early the next morning and asked to meet with the crossers.

In fact, the traverser also hopes to improve relations with France and the United States, so as to further disintegrate the Eight-Nation Alliance, after all, it is impossible for the traverser to remain hostile to the Eight-Nation Allied Forces for a long time, and after the goal of the traverser stationed in Shandong and establishing a base area has been achieved, they naturally hope to stop the hostile situation with the Eight-Nation Allied Forces and shift their energy to their own development.

The person in charge of receiving the consuls of the two countries is Li Sanjie, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and now the administrative system of the crossers has been initially improved, and all kinds of affairs are handled by corresponding departments, and there is no need for a few leaders to do everything personally. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a department specifically responsible for handling foreign affairs, so it is naturally the responsibility of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to meet with the consuls of France and the United States.

Li Sanjie welcomed the two consuls into his office, and after the two sides sat down, the French consul Du Shilan spoke first: "Your Excellency, we want to know what is your next plan after you occupy Weihaiwei and Qingdao?"

After listening to Du Shilan's question, Li Sanjie first despised this Frenchman in his heart, so if a diplomat asks such an idiotic question, how can we tell you our next plan? However, playing Tai Chi pushing hands is exactly the best trick of Chinese diplomats in the old time and space, and although Li Sanjie's rank is not high, after all, he is doing things in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

So Li Sanjie said: "We have always been peace-loving, anti-war, we have always hoped to use a peaceful way to solve the current war in China, but this time it was the countries that first rejected the peace talks, we were forced to choose the means of war, but we still take a restrained attitude towards the use of military force, and there is no model of expanding the war, so we hope that all countries can walk in the same direction with us, still return to the negotiating table, in the form of consultation and negotiation, to resolve the war, and establish peace." “

Du Shilan repeated Li Sanjie's words three times in his heart, and only then did he figure out what Li Sanjie meant, and overseas Chinese wanted to negotiate with other countries. In fact, Du Shilan is also a smart person, and he immediately understood the intention of the overseas Chinese, who hoped to formally consolidate the interests currently obtained by military means through negotiations and force countries to accept the status quo.

The two consuls glanced at each other, and it is also common for overseas Chinese to do this in Europe, because in Europe for hundreds of years, they have finished talking and talking. Now that overseas Chinese are expressing their intention to negotiate with other countries, they naturally hope that their two countries will lead the way and convey this intention to other countries, so as to eventually promote peace talks.

Of course, this will be of great benefit to France and the United States; first, the two countries also hope to end the war as soon as possible so that they can do business with peace of mind; second, it can also strengthen the voice of the two countries in the eight-nation alliance and enhance the international status of the two countries.

Du Shilan immediately said: "Of course, of course, we also hope that China's fighting can be resolved peacefully, and we will also reply to China, asking China to call on other countries to start peace talks with you as soon as possible." ”

Li Sanjie nodded and said, "I hope that the two consul gentlemen can work hard to promote the resumption of peace talks." ”

Du Shilan said: "We came this time, there is another question, a few days ago, the businessmen of our two countries and your side set up several commercial contracts, and now the country has begun to implement them, I don't know what changes have occurred on your side after the war, whether you can continue to fulfill the contract." ”

Li Sanjie smiled and said: "Of course not, before the war began, we had promised your merchants that we would continue to perform the contract, so please rest assured that the merchants of your country must fulfill the contract in accordance with it." ”

When the two consuls heard this, they were also relieved, and after receiving this reply, they went back and gave an explanation.

Li Sanjie said: "Also, after the two consuls go back, they can convey to the businessmen of your country that we have more important commercial projects in Weihaiwei and Qingdao in the next step, although the project of the club has not yet been determined, but please prepare for it, we still have greater and more opportunities for cooperation."

The two consuls glanced at each other, and they couldn't suppress the joy in their eyes. This was because both countries wanted to expand their commercial interests in China, and before that, the Shandong region was controlled by Britain and Germany, mainly Germany, and after the German country forcibly leased Qingdao, it regarded Shandong as its own forbidden territory, and would never allow other powers to intervene. France and the United States naturally could not intervene, but now that overseas Chinese have occupied Weihaiwei and Qingdao, the opportunity for the two countries has come, and the introduction of foreign capital by overseas Chinese is obviously much more open than that of Germany.

Of course, there are quite a lot of restrictions on commercial trade under the control of overseas Chinese, and it is certainly not as free as establishing colonies by oneself or in areas controlled by the Qing court, and it is necessary to honestly respect the laws and rules formulated by overseas Chinese, but it is much better to intervene with restrictions than not to intervene at all. Since it was the overseas Chinese who drove out Britain and Germany, there are no foreign forces in Shandong now, and it has become a blank space completely, so by intervening in Shandong at this time, we can seize the opportunity. As far as France and the United States are concerned, there is naturally great interest.

The two sides talked for a while, and the two consuls were also satisfied, got up to say goodbye to Li Sanjie, and each returned to his own embassy, and then immediately sent a telegram to his own country, informing the country of the results of today's talks with Li Sanjie, and suggesting that China immediately launch diplomatic action, reopen negotiations with overseas Chinese, strive for a peaceful settlement of China's war, recognize the rights and interests of overseas Chinese in Shandong, and then take the opportunity to develop in Shandong.

After Li Sanjie saw off the two consuls, he immediately went to the office of the executive committee and reported to the four permanent executive committee members who stayed behind the results of the talks with the French and American consuls.