Asking for a price and paying back the money on the ground has always been the only way to negotiate. It's just that the negotiation date is a bit tight now, and the tone of the conversation is a bit like an ultimatum ... Because according to various sources, the Japanese army is ready to go in the country. As a special envoy of Soviet Russia, Yulin had enough sources to confirm the matter.

He had already agreed to Zhang Hanqing's request in his heart, but he still had to fight for something else: "Mr. Young Marshal, you should understand that there are many citizens of our Russian nation on the coast of Hanqi, and our government cannot but worry about their safety. So when discussing this, I was worried about their future situation..."

Zhang Hanqing said in a mocking tone: "Worried? Mr. Yulin, you are too worried. ”

He remembered the tragedy of Hailan Pao and Jiangdong Sixty-four Tun that happened not long ago, the blood-soaked river, the helpless screams and killings in the face of the executioner, he was the same age. The exterminating and murderous policies of the Russian invaders against the defenceless common people led to a drastic decline in the number of Chinese in the already populous Far East, in order to allow the new Russian settlers to outnumber the indigenous people and to take the lead in the event of political change.

There is a theory in demography that once the proportion of foreign immigrants in a certain area exceeds 10%, it will directly change the ecology and distribution of discourse power in that area. The latest example is the recent enormous impact of the Islamic immigrants on Europe, especially in France.

But the Russians are not content with this "minority existence", and in order for them to settle in the Far East, they need an absolute number of people. However, due to the constraints of productivity at that time, the climate in Siberia was not suitable for large-scale migration, and the Russian nation did not want to live here thousands of miles away.

One consequence of this is that, while Russia controls millions of square kilometers of new territory, it faces a situation in which "alien" populations dominate. In the unlikely event that anything happens, it is not surprising that these territories will be regained.

Therefore, on the one hand, it adopted preferential measures, and after 1861, Russia migrated to the Far East on a large scale, and encouraged the people to take root in the still inhospitable Far East by providing conditions such as travel expenses, settling-in allowances, food, agricultural machinery, and tax exemptions.

On the other hand, it is to use methods such as expulsion and killing to get the indigenous people out of the territory, or simply to clear the air by genocide, preferring to be uninhabited for thousands of miles to ensure the "purity" of the land. The tragedy of Hailan Pao and other tragedies is the embodiment of this theory.

As a result, the ethnic structure changed dramatically (the population in 1863 was 2.86 million), and in 1881 ethnic Russians began to predominate, reaching 57.9%. By 1916, the proportion had risen to 82.31% (population 9.62 million in 1914)!

As a result, this group of less than 10 million people controls an area close to the size of China's territory. Although the development of its Far East lagged far behind that of its neighbor China in the northeast due to labor shortages, it preferred to recruit workers from North Korea rather than involve nearby China in the development of its Far East.

Now Lao Maozi wants to negotiate terms with Zhang Hanqing on the pretext of protecting the inhabitants of "his" land, which is similar to the Japanese method of "protecting" their citizens and "finding" their missing soldiers, thus penetrating into the heart of China.

This is more indicative of the role of migrants.

Zhang Hanqing then said to Youlin in an enthusiastic tone: "China has a civilization of 5,000 years, and the Chinese living on this land have assimilated countless ethnic groups who also live on this land with their own civilization, and finally formed the Chinese nation. Our national character is inclusive, restrained, and not aggressive. In the course of history, which is thousands of years ahead of the world, the Chinese nation has never had such an evil example as genocide against foreign races to achieve the idea and practice of occupying this land. Mr. Yulin must not compare this with the sins committed by other peoples, especially Tsarist Russia, on Chinese soil.

If the people who have been living on Chinese territory for various reasons, like the Korean people in the Yanbian region of Jilin Province, China, are willing to accept the administration of the Chinese government and are able to live together with the people of other ethnic groups in China, we will use the greatest goodwill to ensure that they enjoy the same rights and obligations as other peoples, and regard them as members of the people.

If they do not want to stay in China, we will allow them to leave freely and allow their property to be sold without hindrance. If you don't want to join China and still want to live there, there is another way, and that is to implement a green card system and give them permanent residency.

I don't know if these methods can dispel Mr. Yulin's doubts? If Mr. Yulin has any other ideas, as long as we recognize the territory and return it to China, we can talk about it. ”

As if inadvertently, Zhang Hanqing revealed to him, or rather informed him of a result: "What needs to be known to Mr. Youlin is that in order to protect the security of our Jilin border, the Jilin border guards have been assembled in the area of Fangchuan under my order, first, to prevent the possible landing of the Japanese army, and secondly, to receive the Chinese expatriates in the Far East who have been evacuated from Temple Street." Many of these expatriates live in the Far East and are well acquainted with Russian customs, and my plan is to temporarily resettle them in the Rare Regions, where they will be able to live in harmony with the local Russians. ”

Youlin was angry: This is the first cut and then the prelude, it has already been decided, what else is there to talk about this? He said helplessly: "I will report your proposal to our government, and in order to convince them, I need the young marshal to make concessions on the rights and interests of the Middle East Road." We can recognize that the sovereignty of the Middle East Road is Chinese, but with half of the jurisdiction, or the extension of the lease. After all, for the construction of this railway, Russia spent huge sums of money. Your country's use of force to reclaim the Middle Road and drive out the road escorts has caused great embarrassment to our country. ”

The Middle East Road is already Zhang Hanqing's thing, and it is also an important support for him to develop the economy of Northeast China. What you get now will be your own. He was well aware of the trend of history, it would take four years to drive out the interventionist forces in the Far East, and then there would be a great famine, and it would take five years for Soviet Russia to catch its breath. Moreover, the tone of Soviet Russia toward China was "peace," and although it was forced to do so by the needs of the international and domestic situation, it was one thing that it failed to form an absolute superiority over China. I don't believe that with him, there has been no qualitative leap in the Northeast during these five years! At that time, where are you afraid of it?

He spread his hands and said very shamefully: "Mr. Youlin, I don't mind if you claim half of the sovereignty, jurisdiction or lease of the Middle East Road, as long as you dare!" A few days ago, Japan's Lieutenant General Hoshino also tried to obtain the right to expropriate the Middle East Road under the pretext of attacking you, but I rejected it on the grounds that the railway belonged to our country. I believe that Japan, the United States, and other intervening countries are more than happy to have an excuse to get their hands on this railway, so have you thought about the consequences of this? ”

Yulin knew that even if the new government of Soviet Russia regained control of the Middle East Road from China, it would not be able to continue to hold it, but would instead provide shells for the intervention of the United States and Japan, and the result would still not be maintained. But he was very reluctant to let him give up this cash cow. With this mentality of doing and cherishing, he proposed to Zhang Hanqing whether it was possible to carry out joint management between China and Russia and retain Russian shares on the basis of China's complete sovereignty.

This demand is actually reasonable, because after all, the North Manchurian Railway and the Harbin-Long Line were built under the control of Russia. This line has contributed to the prosperity of the Russian Far East and the convenience of transportation, and it is normal for them to be reluctant, after all, the fat in their mouths has to be given to others, and everyone will be painful.

But Zhang Hanqing will not be merciful, now is the best time for China to get benefits from Russia, and it will not wait. I can't remember exactly when it was, but it should be at this time of this year (the historical record is July 25, 1918), in order to open a gap in the Far East, Soviet Russia issued its first declaration to China, "willing to transfer the Eastern Railway and all the minerals, forests, gold and other industries leased ... All of them were returned unconditionally to China without any claims. ”

The opponent's hole cards are known.

What a great opportunity! As long as the Chinese government at that time could take advantage of the situation and not spend a penny, it would be able to securely secure this most important communication line in Northeast Asia, and what would happen later! Unfortunately, the Chinese government did not obtain the contents of this declaration until March 1920. Although Soviet Russia, which had greatly reduced the crisis, reiterated that it would "renounce all the territories it had previously seized and the Russian concessions in China, and return to China forever and without compensation everything that the Tsarist Government and the Russian bourgeoisie had seized from China," it demanded that the Chinese side "sign a treaty on the use of the Eastern Railway for Soviet Russia." It can be seen that it has withdrawn its commitment to "return without compensation" on the issue of the Middle East Road.

The opportunity is only in a moment!

Don't look at the fact that Soviet Russia now seems to have acquiesced to the occupation of the Feng system, it's just that it lacks confidence! When the strength is relieved, with the character of the old Mao Zi who will repay him, it is inevitable that he will not meet each other with swords and soldiers, and there will be another incident. Isn't the Middle East Road incident in history caused by the collapse of his body in talks with the Soviets? It seems that China has suffered a big loss, and the Middle East Road has returned to the state it was in when it was occupied by Russia.

Therefore, there must be a conclusion at this time, it is reasonable to make each step a step, and it is not possible to not have some blood. He took a step back and said: "The China Eastern Railway is under the management of the Chinese government, and this is a sovereignty issue that is not negotiable!" However, in consideration of the specific situation, and for the sake of the overall interests of Sino-Russian friendship, we agree that the Chinese government will be fully responsible for the debts incurred by the governments and foreign businessmen of various countries on the Middle East Road. ”