Soon, Yuan Shikai set up the Domestic Public Debt Bureau and sent Liang Shiyi as the president. and handle the "Republic of China public bonds within three years".

Zhang Shouling, Vice Minister of Finance, Ye Gongqiu, Vice Minister of Communications, Sa Fu Nan, President of Bank of China, Anglian, General Taxation Department, Bao Luo, Deputy Taxation Department, Celil, Manager of Sino-French Bank, and Jing En, Manager of Baoshang Bank, are directors of the National Public Debt Bureau.

During the European War, the Great Powers not only did not give up their vested interests in China, but also competed with each other for their interests in China. Far from staying out of the European war, Yuan Shikai**'s policy of neutrality made China's situation more difficult.

Is it because it is a neutral party, and the two sides do not rely on either side, so no one can be bullied without scruples?

Germany had few allies in the East, and fought in isolation in China, while dealing with Britain, Russia, France, and Japan. In order to form a faction, the Sino-German Association was first organized in Beijing, and the contacts were made to the government and the opposition on the Chinese side. Later, a secret group called the Consolidation Mission was organized, whose purpose was to contact Chinese and Koreans and exclude Japan and Russia.

The head of the consolidation regiment is the German Muliha, the headquarters of the regiment is located in Mukden, and the area of activity is in northern and southern Manchuria, Inner and outer Mongolia. The goal of the operation was to destroy the Russo-Japanese grain platforms, barracks and armories. Because of the heavy purchases, the number of members of the consolidation regiment soon grew to as many as six or seven hundred.

The British Minister Zhu Erdian, the French Minister Kang Yi, and the Russian Minister Kupensky China did not stop paying the German Gengzi indemnity, so that Germany could use the money to carry out activities in China that were unfavorable to the Entente and to organize a consolidation mission, and expressed great dissatisfaction. Because the Germans in Qingdao hired Chinese workers to build fortifications, these countries also responded to Yuan Shikai. The government lodged a strong protest. Yuan Shikai's authorities also had a problem, because the employment of Chinese workers by the German army in Qingdao was based on the 1898 Sino-German Lend-Lease Treaty of Jiaozhou Bay.

Japan has coveted Germany's interests in China for a long time, and of course will not let go of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. On August 15, the Japanese government. Under the pretext of undertaking the obligations of the Anglo-Japanese alliance, the government put forward an ultimatum to Germany, demanding that German warships in the waters of China and Japan be completely disarmed and that Jiaozhou Bay be unconditionally handed over to Japan by 15 September so that it could be returned to China "in the future."

The ultimatum made it clear that if there was no satisfactory answer to the above two points by noon on 23 August, Japan would take the necessary "measures."

On 15 August, the German chargé d'affaires in China, Marsen, publicly announced: "Germany can consider returning Qingdao to China, but Japan should also return Taiwan to China." ”

On 16 August, Japan's chargé d'affaires in China, Kohata, unreasonably warned China not to accept Tsingtao from the Germans, otherwise Japan would consider China to be sabotaging neutrality on its own.

On 23 August, Japan** formally declared war on Germany because of the lack of a satisfactory reply from Germany.

On the same day, the German chargé d'affaires Mar Shen again asked Yuan Shikai to administer the government. The government said that Germany is willing to return the leased land in Jiaozhou Bay to China unconditionally.

But being frightened by the Japanese warning Yuan Shikaizheng. At this time, the government did not dare to accept it, and telegraphed the United States ** to accept it on its behalf, and then forwarded it to China.

Without waiting for a reply from the United States, Japan had already taken military action against Jiaozhou Bay.

Yuan's good friend Zhu Erdian persuaded Yuan to join the Entente.

Yuan put forward three conditions: (1) the Entente countries should advance funds to rectify China's arsenals, and invite British and French experts to help China manufacture arms and improve the quality to meet the needs of the Allied countries;

(2) The Entente Parties shall not sign treaties related to China without the consent of China;

(3) The Shanghai Concession shall not harbor Chinese political prisoners.

Yuan's conditions for entering the war, the first two were to win over Britain and deal with Japan; The latter was to deal with the anti-Yuan activities of the Kuomintang. At this time, Britain needed Japan more than China, so Yuan's three-point request was agreed in principle, but the consent of Russia, France, and Japan was sought. Russia and France agreed, but Japan resolutely opposed it, and went on to demand that all issues concerning China must first be consulted with Japan.

I don't know when Japan has decided that only it has the right to speak in China's affairs.

Japan's wishful thinking is to use the European war to exclude the influence of other countries in China and realize its ambition to dominate the Far East.

It is concerned only about the United States, because the United States has not been involved in the whirlpool of major wars, and at the same time, it is relatively upright on the China issue.

Japanese Prime Minister Okuma once called the United States to make a tentative effort, emphasizing that Japan has no ambition to invade the territory of the country. However, not long after this telegram was sent, it launched a large-scale invasion of China in the name of declaring war on Germany.

On September 2, 1914, more than 20,000 Japanese army and navy joined forces with a small number of British troops to form the so-called Anglo-Japanese coalition army, which suddenly landed in the vicinity of Longkou and Laizhou in Shandong.

If Japan wanted to attack the German army, it could only target the German garrison area in Jiaozhou Bay, but the Japanese army first invaded and occupied the Laizhou Peninsula.

Because the Japanese army undermined China's neutrality, Yuan Shikai** encountered a thorny problem, that is, the demarcation of the war zone. After many twists and turns, Yuan **, citing the precedent of the war between Japan and Russia in Liaodong, sent a note to the envoys of various countries on 3 September, declaring that he did not assume the responsibility of complete neutrality.

The original text is as follows:

"In this war in Europe, all the belligerents are their own friends, so we are determined to declare neutrality and do our best to comply with it. According to the reports of Shandong officials, the German army marched in the area around Jiaozhou Bay and fought in various shapes, and the Japanese-British combined forces also carried out military operations in Longkou and the vicinity of Jiaozhou Bay and Laizhou.

"It is a special circumstance that this unexpected act of the country cohabiting with Germany, Japan, and Great Britain in the territory of China, which unfortunately has been carried out in China, and is similar to the fact that Japan and Russia were at war in Liaodong in 1904, but with reference to precedent, it is necessary to state that in the vicinity of Longkou, Laizhou, and Jiaozhou Bay, the minimum places that must be used by the belligerents are not fully neutral.

In addition, the rules and regulations that have been promulgated are still fully implemented in all localities. In the places referred to above, all territories, administrative powers, and the lives and property of officials and citizens shall be respected by the belligerents. ”

In accordance with this statement, Yuan Zheng. The government recognized the area east of Weixian Station as a war zone between Japan and Germany, and the area west of Weixian Station as a neutral zone. September 21 Yuan Shikai Zheng. The government also announced that the Jiaoji route would be under Chinese custody.

The German Chargé d'Affaires in China for Yuan Zheng. On September 3, September 4, and September 24, respectively, the government of Yuan Shikai issued three successive statements to Yuan Shikai. The government lodged a serious protest.

The German side believes that the military action taken by the Japanese-British coalition forces in the Laizhou area is a complete destruction of China's neutrality, and that China's use of the method of demarcating the theater of operations during the Russo-Japanese War is not in line with international significance. Because China's announcement came after the Japanese-British forces had landed on the Shandong Peninsula, the result was only convenient for the Japanese-British forces.

They proposed to reserve two rights: (i) Germany reserved the right to claim it at the appropriate time; (2) Compensation for damages.

Yuan ** replied to the protest of the German chargé d'affaires on the grounds that the German army had already built fortifications in Qingdao and wanted to use Qingdao as a military base, so it led to an attack by Japan and Britain; China's announcement of a theater of operations is a very suitable approach to the situation.

On September 6, 500 Japanese horses marched to Laizhou and camped in the west of the city. Three days later, the Japanese army officially and illegally took over and administered Laizhou, but the residents of Laizhou did not have time to flee, and the people of the four villages fled when they heard the news.

Then the Japanese army occupied Pingdu County, and the Japanese army demanded from the county governor for 1,000 cattle, 2,000 chickens, 1,000 pigs, 500,000 catties of rice and fodder, and 1,500 carts. The prefectural governor was unable to fight the Japanese army and had no choice but to flee, but he was caught by the Japanese army and imprisoned like a prisoner.

At the same time, the Japanese army occupied Jimo and Jiao counties, issued military tickets on their own, and occupied the county yamen and telegraph office.

Forcibly occupying private houses, making the owners of the houses sleep in the open air, and making women accompany the Japanese soldiers in the houses.

When it rains, they will light a fire in the hall to roast wet clothes, and remove doors, windows, tables and chairs to start a fire.

The Japanese had turned Chinese towns into occupied areas, post and telegraph workers openly checked mail, and men were ordered to carry water and firewood.

The Japanese army headquarters went so far as to openly put up a notice in the villages of Pingdu County, saying: "If one person in the village commits the crime of obstructing the Japanese army, all the people of the village will be beheaded." "Many innocent villagers were killed on suspicion of obstructing the Japanese army.

On September 25, the Japanese army occupied Weixian and overtook Yuan Shikai. The government demarcates the Japanese government. The area of engagement agreed by the government.

YUAN Zheng. On 26 July, Vice Minister Cao Rulin lodged an oral protest and then submitted an official note.

This note is weak and ridiculous: "Jiaoao is in the east, Weixian is in the west, it is not a necessary road for the march, it has been stated before, Weixian is not in the war zone, and you have agreed, and the military and civilians in the place have also been repeatedly advised, so don't be surprised, now your army suddenly has this move, so that I lose my trust in the army and the people, I don't know what the intention is?" ”

On the 29th, the Japanese minister to China, Nippon Zhiyi, visited the Minister General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sun and replied to China's protest, to the effect that according to the instructions of his country, Jiaoji Road was operated by the Germans, and that it had been transporting military rations for the German army before and after the war.

This reply avoided the issue of the war zone in the previous commitment, and instead set up a posture and intended to occupy the Jiaoji Railway on the grounds that it was run by Germans.

At 11 o'clock on the night of October 6, 30 Japanese soldiers and 3 officers arrived in Jinan by car and immediately occupied the railway station.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a further protest and sent it to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in reply by ordinary letter.

The main points are: (1) The Shandong Railway is a German company in the nature of public property under the supervision of Germany under the supervision of the German government in accordance with the Lend-Lease Treaty of Jiaozhou Bay, and its physical extension is integrated with the leased land. (2) The railroad itself is absolutely indivisible in operation, and its character must not be changed by virtue of the fact that the railroad operated by Germany is located west of Weixian in the neutral zone. The purpose of the war was not only to attack Jiaozhou Bay, but also to eradicate the German base in the East. (3) The delimitation of the area of belligerence and the issue of the Shandong Railway should not be mixed up as one. It is clear that the Japanese side has great ambitions, at least to annex the Shandong Peninsula.

The German base was Qingdao, and after the Japanese attacked, they threatened to capture Qingdao within six hours.

The German defenders of Qingdao were only 6,000 men, and Kaiser Wilhelm ordered them to defend Qingdao to the last man.

Germany's Jiaozhou governor Waldeck also openly declared that if the Japanese army came to attack Qingdao, it would be met with strong resistance, and it would cost at least 40,000 men to capture Qingdao.

Since the abdication of the Qing Emperor, a large number of Qing royal families, princes, ministers and widows have moved to Qingdao as apartments, and now they have to say goodbye to Qingdao with tears. Widows such as Zhou Fu, Lu Haihuan, and Lao Naixuan also left Qingdao, and only Prince Gong Puwei, the leader of the Zongshe Party, remained.

When the Japanese captured Qingdao on 7 November, more than 2,300 German troops were captured.

On November 14, the Governor of Jiaozhou, Waldeck, was deported to Honganji Temple in Tokyo, Japan, to be imprisoned, which coincided with the 17th anniversary of the German occupation of Qingdao.