Although the restoration lasted only 12 days, it was an extremely important turning point in the history of the Republic of China. This restoration directly led to the comeback of Duan Qirui and the rise of the two major warlords of the Zhi and Feng factions, and completely overturned the two major legal systems (Sun Yat-sen and Yuan Shikai) since the Republic of China. After the restoration, the interests of the Beiyang Group were more differentiated, and after the restoration, the confrontation between Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang made the dispute between the "Presidential Office" and the "State Council" since the founding of the Republic of China finally turned into force. With Zhang Xun's restoration as the boundary, the disputes between the "cabinet system" and the "presidential system" since the founding of the Republic of China, the institutional disputes between the Beiyang clique and the boiling parties (revolutionaries), and the disputes over political opinions have evolved into naked power games and military contests.

What is beneficial to Zhang Hanqing is that under his series of actions, the political situation in the Northeast has fallen to Zhang Zuolin faster than in the official history. The current Zhang Zuolin, as the representative of the entire Northeast, is a faction that stands independent of other political groups, and is about to come out.

Because of Zhang Xun's restoration, he called for the protection of the law, Guangdong Governor Zhu Qinglan invited Sun Yat-sen to Guangdong, Cheng Biguang established the navy independently, and took Sun, Tang Shaoyi, Wang Zhaoming, Wu Tingfang and others south to Guangzhou. By the time he arrived in Guangzhou, Duan Qirui was "rebuilding the republic" and refusing to restore the 1913 parliament that had been abolished by Zhang Xun. As a result, the Congress, which had a large number of Kuomintang members, was completely suspended. Therefore, Sun Yat-sen called on the members of the National Assembly to go to Guangzhou together, convene an extraordinary meeting of the National Assembly, launch the Protector Movement (also known as the Three Revolutions), organize the Protector Government and take office as the Generalissimo, and swear to the Northern Expedition.

Duan Qirui wants to unify by force, and it costs a lot of money to conquer the south militarily, where does the money come from? There is only one way to borrow. At that time, due to the fierce war in Europe, Britain and France could not afford to borrow, so Japan took the opportunity to enter. At this time, Duan Qirui also wanted to use Japan's support to achieve his dream of conquering the south and reunification, so he reused Cao Rulin and asked him to be the chief financial officer. Because Cao was a well-known pro-Japanese faction, Duan Qirui's later attack on the country and betrayal of the country was forged during this period.

At this time, the fear and hostility of the Chinese people towards Japan were juxtaposed, as can be seen from the reaction to the 21st Article. Premier Duan knows that his prestige is still a bit far from that of the original President Yuan---- at least in the hands of President Yuan, the Beiyang faction has not yet been broken down into Zhi, Feng, Anhui, etc. If President Yuan Da did not dare to do anything, if he openly borrowed money from Japan and agreed to some conditions that could not be seen on the table, he would directly confirm the accusation of betraying the country.

Since the guise of righteousness is needed, it is a good pretext to regain the righteousness that joined World War I in the first place.

A few years ago, in July 1914, the international situation changed dramatically and the First World War broke out. To go to war or not to go to war? If so, which side will you participate in? These issues are a major test for China.

China initially chose to stay out of the way.

Judging from the international and domestic situation at that time, it was a natural choice for China to remain neutral and in line with China's national conditions. First, the war is not directly related to China. Whether it is Germany or Austria, Britain and France, there is no humanity or justice, they are all bandits who invaded China, there is no need for China to serve the great powers, and there is no direct benefit for China to participate in the war. Second, China's strength is weak, and it does not have the strength to join either side in the fight, nor does it have the strength to stop any side's wanton behavior in China. The third is the fear of war with the Western powers. In modern times, in the wars against the invasion of foreign powers, China has repeatedly lost battles, suffered setbacks, and lost power and humiliated the country again and again, causing the Chinese to have a latent sense of fear of the Western powers and avoid them.

However, whether to participate in war or neutrality, competence is required. Since China does not have the strength to participate in the war, how about defending its own interests through neutrality? In an era of the jungle, China's desire to stay out of the situation is wishful thinking.

Although both sides of the European war had a small number of troops in China, because China was far away from the European theater and would not have a major impact on the outcome of the war, China's restriction of the theater of operations was approved by both warring sides. It stands to reason that since both sides of the European war have this will, it seems that the war in the Far East can be eliminated. However, China's hopes of limiting the theater of operations were opposed by Japan. At this time, the great powers were embroiled in the war in Europe and had no time to look eastward, and Japan hoped that the flames of war would burn into Asia as soon as possible and seize the opportunity to expand its aggression against China.

Under the pretext of declaring war on Germany, the Japanese cabinet approved the decision to enter the war. The day after China's declaration of neutrality, the Japanese fleet appeared in a majestic manner off the coast of Jiaozhou Bay, a German-leased land, ready to take advantage of the fire. On September 2 of that year, the Japanese army landed at Longkou, on the north shore of the Shandong Peninsula, far from Jiaozhou Bay. This is the second time that Japan has chosen to fight wars with other countries on Chinese territory after the Russo-Japanese War.

In order to prevent the great powers from fighting each other in China, the Beijing government has long promulgated Article 24 of the "Regulations of the Republic of China on Extraterritorial Neutrality": "All belligerents shall not occupy or engage in belligerent acts within the territorial waters of China; No part of China's land or sea should be relied upon as a base to attack the enemy. The troops, ordnance and baggage of the belligerents shall not pass through the territory or territorial waters of China. If they violate the provisions of the preceding paragraph, they shall be disarmed by Chinese officials. "If any belligerent country violates China's neutrality regulations, China shall not be regarded as provoking any act if it is prevented by various means." "Obviously, the Chinese government's rules are fully in line with the principles of international law regarding the rights of neutral states, and China's sovereignty should be protected if all parties act in a manner that respects the principles of international law.

But in the jungle age of the jungle, these words are like children's play, and no adult will take them seriously. In order to limit the spread of war in China, the weak Chinese government once again relented and was forced to demarcate areas of engagement on its own territory in order to limit the scope of Japanese activities. On 3 September, the Beijing government sent a note to the ministers of various countries, declaring Longkou, Laizhou, and the areas near Jiaozhou Bay as "war zones."

However, Japan has turned a deaf ear to this. The landing Japanese army first marched west along the railway, occupied Jinan, took control of the Jiaoji railway, and finally captured Qingdao on November 7. In the face of China's protests, Japan went so far as to warn the Chinese government: "Any resistance from the Chinese side will be regarded as an enemy aiding Japan, and China must bear responsibility for all the serious consequences arising therefrom." At this point, all the efforts of the Chinese government came to naught, and the desire to avoid the flames of war came to naught, and it fell into a situation of "being in the middle but not being able to stand."

In fact, everyone expected this result. The Chinese government judged that the showdown between Britain, France, and Russia against Germany, Austria, and Italy would have the greatest impact on China's interests and would be full of variables. At that time, Japan's coveting of Shandong was already obvious.

According to the British "Times" correspondent in Beijing, Yuan Shikai had predicted that Japan might take the opportunity of the war to seize Jiaozhou Bay and the Jiaoji Railway. In order to avoid this outcome, Yuan Shikai once proposed to the British minister to China, Zhu Erdian, that he hoped to enter the war, and was willing to provide 50,000 troops to besiege Qingdao with the Entente, so as to recover Jiaozhou Bay and the Jiaoji Railway. However, Zhu Erdian believed that cooperation with China was redundant and rejected China's request to enter the war.

Of course, the cunning Japan has a clear view of China's intentions and is even more resolute in its opposition to this plan. Japanese Foreign Minister Takaaki Kato issued a warning to Chinese Minister to Japan Lu Zongyu: The region is limited, and China has no reason to prepare for war. Takaaki Kato also deceived Lu Zongyu (then minister to Japan) and said: "For the sake of forever maintaining peace in East Asia, we have no ambition to occupy the land, and we sincerely express our friendship with China. I hope that the Chinese government will trust the Japanese government with sincerity and be fortunate to consult with sincerity in case of trouble. Under the influence of Britain and the coercion of Japan, coupled with the outbreak of the National Defense Movement in Yunnan, Yuan Shikai was anxious to settle down, so he no longer considered the issue of joining the war.

In this way, Japan not only fought a war, but also occupied Qingdao, controlled Jiaodong Bay, and monopolized its interests in Shandong. And the idea of China's first entry into the war was stillborn.

As the war in Europe continued, the main members of the Entente countries such as Britain, France, and Russia realized that the war could not end in the short term after great attrition, and they faced many difficulties in winning the war. Therefore, in order to rally more countries against Germany, and to expel German interests in China, the Entente were eager to get China to participate in the war against Germany.

In fact, as early as November 7, 1915, British Minister Zhu Erdian and Russian Minister Kupenschi proposed to the Chinese side that they hoped that China would provide arms exports to the Entente countries on the condition that they would lend money to China and help China expand its arsenal. This is a rare opportunity for China in a thousand years---- without attracting investment, people can contribute money and technology, and they can not only train people, but also increase export earnings!

After receiving the news, Japan panicked and used almost all means and forces to prevent China from entering the war. The Japanese minister to China, Hichi-yi, was immediately instructed to go to the Chinese Foreign Ministry for questioning. The government in Beijing flinched and did not dare to give a truthful and positive answer, but even replied to Japan that "after investigation, this matter is not true, and Britain and Russia have not made any proposals." Later, although it was admitted that the Russian side had indeed hoped that the Chinese side would provide it with arms, it refused because it hindered neutrality.

In the face of Japan's inquiry, in order to avoid losing Japan's support at a critical moment, Britain also said that it had not negotiated with China to enter the war. Subsequently, Japan declared to the governments of Britain, Russia, and France that Japan was in a special position in China and that the three Western countries must obtain Japan's consent before they could take action on the China issue. In the end, the Entente not only refused to allow China to enter the war directly, but also allowed Japan to dominate the Entente's Far East policy.

China's second attempt to enter the war also ended in failure.

In early 1917, Germany announced that "ships of both belligerents and neutral nations will be attacked by German submarines", which is known as the Unrestricted Submarine War. Germany's policy of expanding the war harmed US interests abroad. On February 3, 1917, the United States announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany and informed China of the situation, hoping to take concerted action. This move by the United States has once again put the topic of China's participation in the war on the table.