Li Sanjie's words made all the negotiators of the Qing court bow their heads and remain silent, this is not that they are really speechless, but this topic is not something they can discuss at all, but it can't stop Li Sanjie from speaking, some people also thought about getting up and leaving, but they didn't dare to bear the charge of breaking down the negotiations, after all, before the negotiations, East China Politics * It can be said that this negotiation is a life-saving straw for the Qing court, which must be firmly grasped, so it can only say nothing

Seeing that none of the negotiators in the Qing court spoke, Li Sanjie continued: " Let's talk about the second article, how the Qing court won the country, and what kind of actions there were back then, it is a long time ago, and now I don't care, but since the Opium War, for more than 60 years, the Qing court has been repeatedly defeated in foreign wars, ceded land and paid compensation, lost power and humiliated the country; and internally, it does not want to make great efforts to govern the country, self-improvement and innovation, but instead blocks the virtuous road, rejects the new and keeps the old, and occasionally changes the moves, it is only perfunctory, so it has already lost the hearts of the people, and what face continues to retain the national name, we agree to let the Qing court royal family keep the name, it is already extraordinarily lenient, but the royal family must hand over power, and promise not to interfere in politics from now on, but try to do something beneficial for the peopleto make up for previous mistakes. ”

In fact, retaining the name of the imperial family is the most controversial one of the negotiation conditions formulated by the East China government, and many elders believe that the royal family of the Qing court has no need to keep it at all, and simply cancel it, at most it is enough to leave Guangxu's life, and the retention of the royal family is easy for the old conservative forces to see hope and make waves again. However, after careful consideration, the Executive Yuan held that if the imperial family was abolished, it would basically be tantamount to making the Qing court surrender unconditionally, and the Qing court would certainly not accept such conditions. Although the East China government did not have much hope for this negotiation, if it could be reached, it would be better after all, and at least it would be able to reduce the losses caused by the war. And it is also necessary to take into account that in this era, the imperial power still has a huge influence among the people.

However, the goal of the East China government is to overthrow the Qing court and establish a republic, and this bottom line is also incomprehensible, so the only thing that can be accepted is to retain the name of the imperial family; after all, the name of the Qing court has been canceled, and the royal family is forbidden to participate in politics again, just to retain the name of the imperial family, at most it is to offer the royal family as a mascot, which in essence has not broken through the bottom line of the East China government. As for the fear that the old conservative forces will stir up trouble, as long as the East China government controls it effectively, it will not have a big impact.

At this time, Li Sanjie said: "The population of the Manchus is less than one percent of the Han nationality, just because it is the own family of the Qing royal family, so for more than 200 years, it has been enjoying all kinds of privileges, and as a result, the national currency has been wasted, and a large number of waste people have been raised, which is not a fair thing, since the name of the Qing court has been canceled, then the privileges of the Manchus should naturally be abolished, and they should be equal to the rights of other ethnic groups, and they will live by their own strength in the future." As for the last two items, we were originally the old people of the previous dynasty, since returning to China, what we have done is obvious to all, resisting aggression externally, safeguarding national interests, territorial integrity, and internally, we are making great efforts to make the country prosperous, buying property and prospering, enriching the country and strengthening the army, and now under our rule, the treasury is abundant, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and there is little support, and the old have something to rely on, so we will preside over the overall situation, and the new policy will be implemented throughout the country, which is still expected by the public, and only when we are in charge can China become completely rich and strong, if this negotiation can be successful, we will be in charge of the national affairs, and we can expect to achieve small success in 10 years, and in 20 years, it is expected that China will become truly rich and strong。 ”

After Li Sanjie's tirade ended, Qu Hongzhen, Lu Chuanlin, and Prince Alcohol Zaifeng looked at each other a few times, although what Li Sanjie said just now was a big rebellion from the perspective of the Qing court, and it was enough to raid the family and destroy the door, but if you think about it carefully, it is not completely unreasonable, since the Opium War, the Qing court really can't find a few things that can be handled, on the contrary, there are really a lot of things that lose power and humiliate the country, and it is a lot to grab it casually, and in contrast, East China Politics* Since the landing, the government has indeed performed a hundred times stronger than the Qing court in foreign wars, and its internal governance is said to be good, so if it is really argued, the Qing court really can't find a few reliable reasons to refute it, and it is impossible for the East China government to eat the Qing court's theory of the three outlines and five constants, so what else is there to argue about is just to bring humiliation on itself.

At this time, Qu Hongzhen closed the folder of the negotiation conditions of the East China Government, and said: "Okay, I know your intentions, but this matter is very important, and it is not something that a few of us can decide, only to play to the imperial court, and the imperial court will decide." ”

Li Sanjie also nodded and said, "Of course you can, but the Qing court's resolution can't be without a deadline, I don't know how many days it will take to wait for the Qing court to make a decision!"

Zaifeng said: "It will take at least a month." ”

Li Sanjie said: "A month is too long, this is not a big deal, send a telegram back to report it, and discuss it, it is nothing more than agreeing or not agreeing, is it so difficult to decide!"

Lu Chuanlin said: "In this way, with the limit of 10 days, the trouble is big, not only to send a telegram back, but we are afraid that we will have to send someone back to report the negotiation matters to the court in person, which is not something that can be decided in a short time." ”

Li Sanjie said: "Even so, it won't take 10 days, there is a railway from Tianjin to Beijing, and it can be reached in 6 or 7 hours, and I think 5 days is enough." ”

Qu Hongzhen smiled bitterly and said, "5 days is too little, not to mention that the court and China are afraid that they will have to discuss a few times." Even if it is a grace period of a few more days, it will not affect the overall situation!"

Li Sanjie thought for a while and said, "Okay, we can only give you 7 days at most, no more." ”

Qu Hongzhen and the others looked at each other again, and then said, "Okay, then 7 days." ”

Li Sanjie said: "Okay." He looked at his watch and said, "It's 11:15 p.m. now, even if it's 12 o'clock, seven days later, at 12 noon, we will negotiate again, but if the Qing court has not made a decision at that time, we will treat it as if the Qing court has rejected our conditions." ”

The negotiations were temporarily concluded after only half a day, and Li Sanjie did not glance at the negotiation conditions proposed by the Qing court from beginning to end. The negotiators of the Qing court were not in the mood to eat at the Lishunde Hotel, but hurried back to Tianjin New Town, after all, it was only 7 days, and from now on, this time was not enough. After returning to Tianjin New Town, they first sent back to Beijing the negotiation conditions put forward by the East China Government, and then several negotiators decided after consultations that Lu Chuanlin, Zaifeng, Yu Lang, and Xu Shichang would rush back to Beijing by train in the afternoon, and enter the court the next day to present the negotiation situation in person.

After the negotiation of the day ended, Li Sanjie also sent the situation of the negotiation back to Qingdao as soon as possible.

In the afternoon of the same day, the Qingdao Executive Yuan also discussed the situation of the Tianjin talks.

Wang Yunpeng said: "After only half a day of talks, they were suspended, and this negotiation was too fast." ”

Qin Zheng said with a smile: "This is also normal, there is nothing to talk about this time, that is, we put forward conditions, and the Qing court only says to accept or not to accept, and there is no need to bargain, isn't it enough to just talk for half a day!"

Xu Jichao said: "Do you think the Qing court will accept our conditions!"

Qin Zheng said: "I think it is unlikely that the Qing court will accept it, a Cixi will not be able to accept it, and it will be more uncomfortable for her to give up power than killing her; the second one is impossible to accept that it is the Manchu magnates and abolish the Manchu privileges, which is tantamount to cutting off their way of life. ”

Wang Yunpeng said: "Didn't we agree to keep the title of the royal family?"

Xia Bohai said: "That's useless, retaining the title of the royal family, the main benefit is Guangxu, and there is no benefit to Cixi or the Manchu magnates, so I agree with Lao Qin's opinion, the Qing court may not accept our conditions, and in the end it will be solved by war." ”

Xiao Jianjun said: "Isn't that better!" It's not that I like war, but I always think that if we settle the matter peacefully with the Qing court, there will be too many hidden dangers, and the Qing court's magnates will never be willing to lose their power, although they dare not oppose us on the surface, but in the secret they will definitely cause sabotage, because it is easy to be used by foreign countries, leaving endless troubles; therefore, only by fighting a war, cleaning up the Qing court's magnates, at least half of them, smashing all the old bottles and jars, overturning everything and re-establishing a new order, only in this way can we completely solve the troubles. ”

Xia Bohai shook his head and said: "That's not necessarily, there are peaceful solutions and peaceful solutions, as long as we keep the bottom line, it is better not to fight, or not to fight, after all, once the war starts, it will always hurt some innocent civilians and cause a certain amount of chaos, which is too great a loss." As for the elites of the Qing court, they will not be willing to make a little trouble, but in the final analysis, as long as we do a good job and can make the country rich and strong, and the people's lives rich, then they will not be able to make much waves. ”

Qin Zheng said: "In short, whether it is a peaceful solution or a war settlement, we just need to make corresponding preparations, and whether it is peace or fighting, it will be clear after seven days." ”

Xiao Jianjun said: "You can rest assured that the preparations for the army are basically in place, as long as the Executive Yuan orders it, you can start a war today." I am afraid that in the end, the negotiations will be successful and settled peacefully, and these preparations of the army will be in vain. ”

Xia Bohai said with a smile: "Of course, the army's preparations will not be wasted, if the negotiations fail, then it is a direct war, and the army will enter Beijing; and if the negotiations are successful, the army will also enter Beijing and take over Beijing's defense, so no matter what the result is, the army will enter the city, so the preparations now will not be wasted." Moreover, it has now been determined that there are only seven days, and whether the Chun court accepts it or not, there will be a definite result, so the work of the army will be prepared according to these seven days, and at 2 o'clock in the afternoon of the seventh day, the various armies will either launch an attack or march into Beijing. ”