At 9 a.m. on June 22, a horse-drawn carriage stopped in front of the steps of the office building of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the East China Government, and the British Consul in Qingdao, White Scholes, got out of the carriage and, accompanied by two subordinates, climbed the steps to the gate.

One of the servants showed their reservation credentials to the building's doorman, and the building's service staff immediately led them to the second floor of the building, where they were placed in a lounge in a meeting room.

At present, the nine administrative committees of the East China Government have their own independent office buildings, all of which adopt a unified architectural structure and are distributed around the periphery of the original comprehensive administrative building, while each committee retains only one set of offices and several liaison staff members in the administrative building, so the office conditions and premises of each committee are now much wider than before.

White Scholes succeeded Huo Bilan in 1905 as British consul in Qingdao. Originally, with the development and growth of the East China government, Britain attached more importance to the East China government, so it naturally had to choose a very important choice for the diplomatic personnel stationed in Qingdao. Scholes was an experienced diplomat, known for his knowledge of the situation in Asia, he worked at the British Embassy in Japan for six years, including three years as a counsellor, proficient in Japanese, was transferred to Beijing in 1904, worked in the British Legation in Qing for a year, mainly familiar with the situation in China, because of the situation of the East China government, and also studied Chinese, and then went to Qingdao to take up his post, which also shows the importance that Britain attaches to this position.

Although Scholes has only been in office for more than half a year, he has been to the office building of the Foreign Affairs Committee many times, and he is very familiar with the process and environment.

After a short time, an attendant came in and said, "Your Excellency, you can go in." I saw that the door to the interview room was opened, and a young female staff member stood in the doorway, bowing slightly.

Scholes got up, straightened his clothes, and walked through the door. I saw Li Sanjie standing in the middle of the meeting room to greet his arrival. And Scholes didn't dare to slack off, took two quick steps, came to Li Sanjie, shook hands with Li Sanjie, and greeted each other a few words, and then sat down as guests and hosts.

Li Sanjie first said: "Mr. Consul made an appointment with me today, I don't know what to negotiate with me?"

Scholes said: "Mr. Commissioner, on behalf of the British government, I hope to negotiate with your government to resolve the war in the Liaodong region of China!"

Li Sanjie laughed and said: "What? Does the British Government want to mediate again?" Before the People's Army first entered the war, Britain and France had announced that they would mediate the war, in fact, they wanted to prevent the East China Government from participating in the war, but the East China Government did not pay attention to it at all, and the British and French did not mention mediation again.

Of course, Scholes could hear the sarcasm in Li Sanjie's words, but as an excellent diplomat, he naturally wanted to be pampered and not surprised, and said: "No, this time my government does not mean mediation, but hopes that all parties involved in the war will immediately stop military operations and immediately hold peace negotiations to resolve the dispute between you." To be honest, the time has come to end this war, which has lasted for one and a half years, and has seriously aggravated the situation in the Far East and caused huge losses to the economic interests of our country. I don't know what the attitude of the East China government is. ”

Li Sanjie said: "If we can start negotiations on an armistice, of course we welcome it, as we all know that our East China government actually does not want to participate in the war, and is forced to participate in the war solely for the sake of safeguarding China's territorial integrity." ”

Scholes smiled: "Good, it looks like we've reached a consensus. However, I think your government must have some conditions for armistice negotiations, I don't know which conditions. ”

Li Sanjie nodded and said: "Of course, our conditions are actually very simple: first, we must maintain China's territorial integrity, Russia must fulfill the contents of the "Treaty on the Settlement of the Three Eastern Provinces" and unconditionally withdraw from China's territory, and Japan must not cross the Yalu River without authorization and enter China's territory; second, Russia and Russia must take full responsibility for this war and compensate for the losses related to the war. As long as these two demands are met, we are ready to negotiate. ”

Scholes frowned and said, "The claim for territory is your government's consistent proposition, and we will estimate it first, but as for the compensation claim, your government seems to have never mentioned it before." ”

Li Sanjie nodded and said, "Yes, that was when we didn't participate in the war, and now that my army has participated in the war and paid heavy losses in personnel and materials, shouldn't these losses be compensated as they should be?"

Scholes said: "But Japan and Russia also suffered great losses in this war. ”

Li Sanjie said: "How can Japan and Russia compare with us, we are participating in the war to protect the territorial integrity of the country, it is a war of self-defense, and Japan and Russia are both aggressors, our losses are naturally compensated by the aggressors, and the losses of the aggressors are, of course, that they think they are unlucky." ”

Scholes was silent for a while before he said: "Mr. Commissioner, please forgive me for saying that I think the conditions you put forward are not reasonable, let's talk about compensation first, we think it is impossible for Japan and Russia to accept this condition." I have a suggestion, I heard that you captured a large number of prisoners on the battlefield, so it is better to change the compensation to the ransom of the prisoners, I remember that you did this six years ago, if you are worried that the ransom is not enough, you might as well increase the price of the ransom. ”

Li Sanjie shook his head again and again and said, "Compensation is compensation, ransom is ransom, and it can't be mixed up." And Mr. Consul should understand that it is international for the victorious side to demand reparations from the losing side, and the side that started the war should also take into account the consequences of defeat, right?"

Scholes said: "I admit that your government's army did have a very good performance in the Liaodong War, and your government did achieve military superiority, but Japan and Russia only temporarily lost on the battlefield, and it is far from the time of complete defeat, and both Japan and Russia still have strong enough national strength, if your government must take compensation as a condition for negotiation, then I think this war may not end, if the war continues, your government may not be able to maintain its advantage." ”

Li Sanjie said: "Mr. Consul, we love peace and hope for peace, but we will never seek peace, and if Japan and Russia reject our terms of peace, we will not be afraid of war." You said that Japan and Russia would not accept our terms until they were completely defeated, so we will fight them until they are completely defeated, until they accept our conditions. ”

Scholes nodded, and said, "Okay! It seems that we have a big disagreement on the issue of compensation, so I suggest that we leave it aside for the time being, and put it on hold, and instead discuss your government's territorial claims, okay?" ”

Li Sanjie smiled and said, "Okay! I also agree to put it aside for now, what does Mr. Consul have to say about our territorial claims?" ”

Scholes added: "Although the claim to territory is the consistent position of your government, we believe that there are also unreasonable aspects of this demand. Because the Qing government is the only legitimate government in China that is recognized by all countries, and your government is still under the jurisdiction of the Qing government in terms of legal relations, of course, the situation of your government is somewhat special, and we think that it is more appropriate to use the concept of Dominion to explain the relationship between your government and the Qing government. However, even if it is a Dominion, your government is subordinate to the Qing government, and de jure has no claim to the territory of Liaodong, and it should be the Qing government that has this power, so we suggest that if negotiations with Japan and Russia are held in the future, the Qing government should be the party involved. ”

Li Sanjie listened, sneered, and said, "We can't accept this request." First of all, it is wrong to use the concept of Dominion to explain the nature of our East China government, because we are an independent political body, and the political system and administrative system are completely different from those of the Qing government, so we have no subordinate relationship with the Qing government. ”

Scholes said: "But Liaodong is de jure the territory of the Qing government, do you recognize this fact?" ”

Li Sanjie said: "The issue of the ownership of the territory of Liaodong is a matter between our government and the Qing government, and it has nothing to do with other countries, and there is no need for other countries to interfere. If we think that we are not the legitimate government and have no legitimate claims to the territory of Liaodong, then we can not negotiate with us, although we can negotiate with the Qing government, but we will not participate in such negotiations, and we will not recognize the results of the negotiations. That's our attitude. ”

Scholes nodded and said, "Okay, I will truthfully convey your government's attitude to our government, and my government will also understand the attitude of Japan and Russia, and will consult with your government again, hoping that we can promote the restoration of peace in the Far East." ”

Li Sanjie also said: "Our attitude is the same, we love peace, and we also hope for peace, but we will never seek peace, I hope that the British government can communicate more with the Japanese and Russian governments, so that they can understand the current situation and not make wrong choices." ”

Speaking of which, the meeting was basically over, Scholes also got up to say goodbye and left, and when he returned to the consulate, he immediately sent the details of his meeting with Li Sanjie back to the UK.

This meeting also symbolized the shift of the struggle from the battlefield to the negotiating table, and officially opened a new round of diplomatic struggle between the parties involved in the Liaodong War.