Chapter 25: Confrontation at the Negotiating Table

What people fear most is that there is no hope, and although the 3 million labor dispatch plan cannot solve all the unemployment problems in Europe, it can bring hope to everyone.

In line with the principle of maximizing impact, the recruitment of workers is limited to one person per household, unless they are skilled workers, and it is skewed towards economically disadvantaged families as much as possible.

In a sense, this large-scale recruitment not only alleviates the employment pressure of various countries, but also is a large-scale poverty alleviation campaign.

Don't look at the salary standard set by the Vienna government, which is only 5% of the average income of the European people in 1893, but for the people at the bottom, this is already a high income.

In this era of huge disparity between the rich and the poor, the annual income of the big aristocrats and big capitalists is equivalent to the annual income of tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of ordinary people, and more than half of the people at the bottom have less than 20% of the average income, and the word "average" has long lost its meaning.

If it weren't for the fact that the place of work is overseas, and the basic conditions in all aspects cannot keep up, such a job would have been snatched up long ago.

From this point of view, Franz is the champion of poverty alleviation of the year. may also be the champion of poverty alleviation in this century, after all, this level of poverty alleviation project is unprecedented, and it is estimated that there will be no more people in the next few years.

Sign the labor contract, pay three months' salary in advance, there is no need to worry about being deceived, this is a joint recruitment with various governments, and the follow-up labor dispatch will be tracked together.

Of course, no one knows exactly how far it can be traced. Anyway, when it comes to publicity, try to pick the good ones.

The harsh climate, poisonous insects and beasts infested these practical problems have been ignored by governments consciously or unconsciously. Perhaps for the rulers, it is only right to send these potentially dangerous elements away.

The effect of throwing money is naturally leveraged, and for every advance salary issued, a family is temporarily freed from the hunger crisis. The deteriorating situation on the European continent has finally taken a turn for the better.

……

In Nanyang, the high-profile Philippine war mediation conference has kicked off in Sulawesi.

Not surprisingly, in addition to Japan and Spain, Britain and the European Union countries also participated in the mediation.

It is very obvious that with the mediation meeting of 1vs17, the situation is very unfavorable for the Japanese. It would be an absolute tragedy to play a war of words in diplomacy.

The Japanese government is not without its efforts, and in fact, before going to the negotiating table, Ito Hirobumi had already visited the ministers of many countries and invited them to participate in the mediation meeting.

It is not extravagant to ask for everyone's full support, even if it is just to send a representative to join in the fun and make a personal show, it is also a kind of support for the Japanese government.

Unfortunately, even though the Japanese army performed well in the Philippine campaign, Spain was still stronger in the eyes of the outside world.

It would be too embarrassing to ask people to help out at the risk of offending Spain. Except for the British government, which still sided with the Japanese government for the sake of face, the Japanese were never able to win a second ally.

The sequelae of being alone soon became apparent. The negotiations had only just begun, and the aggressor's hat was buttoned up, and they were not allowed to refute it at all.

……

The Russian delegate Tambulandos rightly stated: "The aggressor must be punished severely, and any indulgence is a blasphemy against the civilized world."

In order to seek justice for the innocent victims who have died, I propose the establishment of an ad hoc tribunal to try the culprits responsible for the war.

……”

Judging from the remarks of Tambulandos, those who do not know will definitely think that it was the Japanese army that invaded Russia that made him so angry.

This is no longer the attitude of neutral mediation, but more like a revenge conference. Does Thambrandos have a grudge against the Japanese?

The answer is: no!

Although the Tsarist government was unhappy with the Japanese because of the assassination of Crown Prince Nicholas, the crown prince was still alive and well after all, which was enough to become a national hatred.

Not only is there no hatred, but there is no big conflict of interest. The tsarist government did not strategically move eastward, and the Japanese government did not go north, and even if there was a small dispute over Sakhalin, it ended with concessions from the Japanese government.

However, this did not prevent Tambulundos from looking for the bad luck of the Japanese, in addition to selling well to the crown prince at home, the more important thing was that the Spaniards gave money.

In order to seize the initiative at the mediation conference, the Spanish delegates threw money all the way, and it was indispensable for the delegates of various countries attending the conference to have a "local specialty" in their hands.

In fact, it was not only the Spanish delegates who gave the gifts. The Japanese delegation also did not lose money, and Ito Hirobumi even visited them one by one in person.

There is no way, this is the bad habit of the times. Diplomacy in the 19th century has always been accompanied by a rampant flow of materialism, which is called public relations.

Giving money doesn't necessarily make things happen, but not giving money will definitely do bad things. On the premise that the interests of the country are not involved, the operability of diplomats is great, and it is usually the case that whoever gives more is inclined to whomever he wants.

Unfortunately, this time it will not work, the European Union meeting has already made a decision to support Spain, as a diplomatic representative of one of the member states, Tambendos must support, this is a matter of political principle.

Against this backdrop, the Japanese delegation's efforts could only lead to a show of mercy and soften its support for Spain.

Originally, for the sake of the "big yellow croaker" sent by the Japanese, Tan Bulundos didn't want to do such a desperate job, but a telegram from a big man in China made him give up all his illusions and become a staunch anti-Japanese faction.

There was more than one such telegram, which was received by almost all the delegates of various countries. No matter how strong the Japanese government's public relations in Nanyang is, it cannot stand the Spaniards from starting from Europe.

The end result is that more than a dozen countries in the continental union are pulling the strings. Nominally mediation, but in reality they are all in favor of Spain.

The Spanish representative agreed: "Sir is right, the aggressor must be severely punished, otherwise justice will not be heard, and the world will be in chaos."

According to the information we have gathered, the Japanese government has a secret agreement with the French, and the invasion of the Philippines in the south is only the first step, and they also plan to cooperate with the French army to participate in the European war. ”

Just getting the Japanese to withdraw from the Philippine Islands was obviously hard to dispel the hatred of the Spaniards. It's a pity that their own strength is limited and they are unable to counterattack the Japanese mainland.

In order to make the end of the Japanese even worse, Federico decisively chose to pull the anti-French alliance into the water. As long as the fact that Japan colluded with France is confirmed, then the Philippine campaign was not only fought for Spain to defend its colonies, but also for the anti-French alliance.

The nature changes, and the final outcome will naturally be different. Even for the sake of face, the anti-French alliance will make it impossible for the Japanese to eat and walk around. Even Britain, which had originally supported the Japanese, would be forced to abandon this little brother under pressure from the anti-French alliance.

In the face of the accusations of the Spanish representatives, Ito Hirobumi naturally could not admit it, otherwise it would not be a question of when to withdraw from the Philippine Islands, but the question of whether the Japanese Empire could still do it.

"This is a complete slander, we have nothing to do with the French, there is no so-called collusion at all.

Anyone with a little military knowledge knows that Japan is tens of thousands of miles away from Europe, and with the performance of our navy's warships, even if it is going to Europe, it must be replenished many times along the way.

If the Imperial Navy did not even have the ability to enter the Indian Ocean without everyone's permission, how could it be possible to collude with France?

The Imperial Navy went to the South Seas only to fight pirates, but when we were refueling coal on Luzon, we were attacked by the defenders of your country, and we were forced to launch a counterattack.

We are the victims of this war, and the so-called aggression is not valid at all. All this is the responsibility of which idiot officer of the defenders of Luzon, otherwise there would not have been this war at all. ”

In order to reduce responsibility, Ito Hirobumi decisively chose to tell nonsense with his eyes open. Regardless of whether anyone believes it or not, he will not admit all the accusations of the Spaniards anyway.

"In the face of hard facts, there is no point in quibbling. The French have already acknowledged the existence of the secret treaty, and I have even brought a copy of the contract with me. ”

After speaking, the Spanish representative Federico took out a copy of the contract, handed it to the Shinra representative in front of him, and also glared at Ito Hirobumi provocatively.

There was not only a secret treaty between France and Japan, but also a secret treaty between Britain and Japan, and if it were not for the acquiescence of Britain and France, the Japanese government would not dare to go south.

It's just that now France has declined, and Britain is still coaxing, and the Spanish government does not want to offend the British, so it directly ignores the fact that Britain and Japan are secret.

The most fearful thing happened, and Ito Hirobumi, whose heart was beating faster, scolded stubbornly: "A treaty fabricated out of thin air wants to convict us, and your country is inevitably too domineering."

We have never made a secret contract with the French, and you want us to admit it when you come out with a fake contract? ”

If you don't get nervous, you can't do it, the Franco-Japanese secret treaty really exists. It's just that the content of the treaty is a little different from what the representative of Spain said.

Before the launch of the southward strategy, the Japanese government had considered the consequences of France's defeat, so when concluding the treaty, it was mostly ambiguous.

In addition, the Paris government did not attach importance to Japan, and did not take their military power seriously at all, and the final treaty concluded was a joint plan to encircle and suppress pirates.

It seems that there is no problem in encircling and suppressing pirates, but the problem is that at that time, the HRE Navy did not do much business in Malacca for the purpose of blockading France.

As a winner, there is no need to be blamed, so this black history must be erased. Regarding the Japanese Navy's desire to encircle and suppress "pirates", the HRE Empire will definitely not say anything on the surface, and no one knows whether it will retaliate secretly.

Anyway, Ito Hirobumi was nervous. In the eyes of the Japanese government, HRE's unsparing support for Spain was out of retaliation for Japan's possible collusion with France.

Just because it is "possible", the Franco-Japanese secret treaty is also strictly secret, and under normal circumstances, the HRE will not know the specific contents. But international politics often doesn't need evidence, and one might be enough for the Vienna government to put little shoes on them.

If this "possibility" is confirmed, then Japan's future hardships will be over. Explanations make no sense, regardless of the purpose of the Japanese government, whether they do it or not, they will be retaliated against.

The hegemon needs to be powerful, and as the first Japan to be sent to the door after the war, it must be a "chicken" used to set an example to the monkeys.

Based on this judgment, Ito Hirobumi is now dead and cannot recognize the secret contract between France and Japan, even if he comes up with a contract.

Perhaps realizing that the younger brother was in trouble, the British representative Klaus said with a smile: "Everything has happened to you, there is no point in continuing to linger in the past, we must look forward."

War is brutal and takes many precious lives every day that lasts. Anyone who longs for peace does not want war, enough blood has been shed.

We are sitting together today in order to reconcile the contradictions and put an end to this meaningless war. As for other issues, let's wait until the war is over! ”

It's not that Klaus is not doing his best, it's that the war initiated by the Japanese government can't stand scrutiny at all. The excuses for war that are sufficient, and the undeclared war are all things that the Japanese government cannot clean.

If you deal with a weak country, you can play a scoundrel or make a mistake; But now that the European Union has stepped in, the best thing to do is to follow the rules of the game.

The London government is already busy bringing down the European Union, and it is really not appropriate to come out and pull hatred at this moment, after all, there are only two necessary conditions for the existence of an alliance: common interests and common enemies.

The first step in dismantling the continental alliance is to make the European countries feel threatened, and only when the common enemy disappears will they be comfortable with bold infighting.

In order to achieve this, the London government has decided to carry out strategic retrenchment overseas to avoid conflict with European countries as much as possible.

Against this backdrop, one can imagine the support that the British were able to provide to the Japanese government. Perhaps the London government now wants the war in the Philippines to end immediately, so that the continental alliance can rest sooner.

There are many idle people, and the same applies to politics. If an alliance has nothing to do for many years, everyone will find that this alliance is dispensable.

"Soldier against soldier, general against general".

Since the British came out, as the boss of the European Continental Alliance, Shinra naturally had to help the younger brother take over the pressure exerted by John Bull, otherwise how could he convince the public.

As the representative of the HRE, Governor Chandler smiled: "It is naturally best to end this war as soon as possible, after all, everyone loves peace, and no one wants to fight and kill all the time."

However, in order to warn future generations, there is still a punishment for the aggressor. I don't think it's better to return to the pre-war territory and end the war.

A joint delegation was then formed by the countries to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the causes and consequences of the war. We will have zero tolerance for those who provoke war. ”

The two big hooligans talked about peace together, and there was no estrangement in the slightest, and if they didn't know it, they might really think that Anglo-Austrian relations were very good.

It's a pity that everyone present is in the know, and everyone has long been surprised by the game between Britain and Shinra.

The only person who was nervous was probably Hirofumi Ito. There is no way, and the understatement of restoring the pre-war territory seems to be very fair, but in fact it is the last bargaining chip in the hands of the Japanese government. Without the Philippine Islands, what would the Japanese government bargain with Spain?

The joint investigation team was purely disgusting, and the total number of representatives of the twenty countries sitting here, excluding the two belligerents, was exactly 1:17. With such a disparity in proportion, it is self-evident who the results of the investigation will be inclined to.

We absolutely believe that there is zero tolerance for the main culprit of provoking the war. Just look at France, after the anti-French alliance won the war, they sacrificed the French consortium to heaven.

There is really no wrongdoing, but there are a few things that have slipped through the net. Needless to say, Mike Mahon, who was directly responsible for the displacement of people in Belgium and the Rhineland, is not responsible for the dead.

The problem is that the top brass of the Bonaparte dynasty, who started this war, have actually been let go lightly. Even if you can't catch someone, it's a bit too much to bother to issue a wanted warrant.

Just complain in your heart, and there's no need to say it. The rules of the game are like this, Napoleon IV surrendered in time after the war, and the previous accounts were written off.

The same applies to the Japanese government, except that they were not defeated, and the Spaniards did not have the ability to go to Honshu Island to get people.