Tokyo, Foreign Minister's Office.

At this time, the Japanese Foreign Minister, the future Japanese Prime Minister, the founder of the Hirota Three Principles and the Japanese military system, and the only civilian war criminal who was sentenced to capital punishment after the war, Hirota Hiroki, snatched the telegram in the secretary's hand at this time, and read it with trembling hands.

"Yaga!"

Hirota Hiroki frantically tore the telegram to shreds, and said angrily: "Fool, fool! The high-achieving students sent by the empire to study abroad at official expense are actually such idiots, how did they pass the study abroad exam in the first place! ”

Just half a month ago, Hirota Hiroki met with the pro-Japanese elements of the Nanjing government and immediately began diplomatic consultations with China.

The Nanjing government put forward the contents of "peacefully settling Sino-Japanese relations, exchanges on an equal footing, banning the anti-Japanese movement, and Japan's cancellation of its recognition of the puppet state of Manchukuo," but Hirota Hiroki refused to accept it, and put forward the famous "Hirota Three Principles," namely: First, China should completely ban the anti-Japanese movement, get rid of its dependence on Europe and the United States, and change it to goodwill and cooperation with Japan; Second, China formally recognizes the independence of Manchukuo and supports economic and cultural exchanges between Manchukuo and the surrounding regions controlled by the Chinese side. Third, in order to deal with the threat from communist forces in Outer Mongolia and other places, China should cooperate with the Japanese side at Japan's request to set up facilities in the border areas with Outer Mongolia.

Now is the critical period for the two sides to start negotiations, and there is such a big moth, and Hirota Hongyi is about to be mad.

"Knock knock!"

There was a knock on the door.

Hirota Hiroki tried to temper his excitement and said, "Come in." ”

"Your Excellency, the Chinese representative abruptly suspended the negotiations and cancelled tomorrow's meeting." A Foreign Ministry official reported.

Hirota Hongyi waved his hand with a headache: "Dry them for a few days first, don't worry, you go down." ”

"Haiyi, retire!" The Foreign Ministry official bowed and stepped back.

Historically, although the Nanjing government did not accept the "Three Principles of Guangtian," it agreed to some of its conditions, such as banning the anti-Japanese movement, actively promoting goodwill with Japan, jointly defending against Russia and communism, and strengthening economic and cultural exchanges with the puppet state of Manchukuo.

It can be said that the Nanjing government has de facto accepted half of the contents of the "Three Principles of Guangtian" and only rejected such major issues of right and wrong as "recognizing the puppet state of Manchukuo" and "breaking away from the dependence of Europe and the United States." In particular, the article "strengthening economic and cultural exchanges with the puppet Manchukuo" has actually recognized the existence of the puppet Manchukuo in disguise.

Now the Nanjing government has abruptly suspended the talks, not because of righteous indignation, but because it wants to take advantage of the assassination of Zhou Hexuan to gain more benefits in the negotiations.

Of course, Hirota Hongyi was very aware of this, so he was not in a hurry and decided to do a cold treatment first. Of course, out of "apology" to the Chinese people, the Japanese side will definitely make some unprincipled concessions in the next negotiations - for example, when the Nanjing government and the puppet Manchukuo conduct economic exchanges, the "tariff" aspect can get more preferential treatment.

The shots that Zhou Hexuan received were worth at least tens of millions of yuan.

……

Zhabei Railway Station, Shanghai.

This is the most crowded place in the entire Shanghai area, with countless travelers coming and going every day.

"Extra, extra!"

"Zhou Hexuan was assassinated by the Japanese in London, was shot five times, and his life was in danger!"

As the newsboy kept shouting, the noisy train station seemed to fall silent in an instant, and people turned their heads in surprise.

"Come here, give me one!"

"Sir, expedited special issue, four copper plates."

"Don't talk nonsense, give me the newspaper, the train is about to leave!"

A young man poked his upper body out of the car window, and as soon as he retrieved the newspaper, the passenger next to him urged: "Hurry up, read quickly!" ”

The young man spread out the newspaper and read:

According to the British Reuters news agency, at about 6 o'clock yesterday evening (10 o'clock in the morning of London time), Mr. Zhou Hexuan, an internationally renowned scholar, was assassinated by three Japanese while giving a patriotic speech in Trafalgar Square in London, England. Mr. Chow was shot five times and his life was in critical condition, and 10 Londoners were killed at the scene, including one of the gunmen. ”

It is reported that since the end of September, Zhou Hexuan has given more than 10 lecture tours in Britain to control the atrocities of the Japanese army invading China, and is widely loved by the British people. On the day of Mr. Zhou's assassination, more than 20,000 citizens of London spontaneously came to listen to the speech, and the audience applauded thunderously, and people shouted 'Long live world peace'......"

At about 10 o'clock in the morning, three Japanese youths suddenly threw bombs at Mr. Zhou, and two of the bombs fell into the crowd and exploded, killing nine London citizens on the spot and injuring countless others. Immediately the gunshots rang out, and Mr. Zhou fell to the ground with five shots, one of which hit the abdomen, and blood was sprinkled all over the podium......"

It was the headline on the front page of the urgent special issue, and the young man was in tears when he read it, choking in his throat and unable to speak.

The entire carriage was silent, stunned by the news of Zhou Hexuan's assassination.

Who is Zhou Hexuan?

Internationally renowned university scholars, the pride of Chinese!

For ordinary people, they don't know what academic status is, and they can't understand Zhou Hexuan's "The Goddess". They only knew that Zhou Hexuan was a patriot, compiled a magazine to call on the whole people to resist Japan, and also donated food and money to save countless victims.

Such a good person and a big hero was actually shot by the Japanese devils, and now his life and death are uncertain, it is unimaginable!

The young man who read the newspaper continued with a crying voice: "There are related articles later, I will read it to you......"

"In September, Mr. Zhou Hexuan and his wife Ms. Zhang Leyi arrived in London, and the Mayor of London, Avery Avery of London, the private secretary of the British Secretary of Culture, Bowen, and the Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom, Guo Taiqi, personally greeted him at the pier.

After coming to England, Mr. Zhou forgot to sleep and eat and campaigned for peace. In just 38 days, Mr. Zhou gave 9 academic lectures, gave 18 public lectures, and attended 15 social receptions. ”

Mr. Zhou's lectures and speeches were all related to the Japanese Holocaust in China, and were highly valued by the British academic community and the public. As a result, the British people have donated 26,000 pounds to China, and the British people are sympathetic to China's suffering. It is reported that Mr. Zhou has persuaded the British government to help China solve the silver crisis......"

"Mr. Zhou's patriotic measures were obviously hated by the Japanese, so he was killed!"

There were several more reports at the back of the special issue, but the young man who read the newspaper didn't want to read them anymore, and he choked up: "Friends, compatriots! The five shots that Mr. Zhou received were not for himself, but for you, for me, and for all Chinese. We can no longer sit idly by, we must unite to defeat Japanese imperialism and the hateful Japanese aggressors! Long live the Chinese nation! Long live Mr. Chow! ”

"Be quiet, the government is not allowed to shout anti-Japanese!" Immediately a passenger reminded.

"Whisper," said another passenger angrily, "Mr. Zhou has been shot five times, and now I don't know if he is dead or alive." Lao Tzu is just going to shout, come and arrest me. If there are eggs, they all shout with me, long live the Chinese nation! Long live Mr. Chow! ”

"Long live the Chinese nation!"

"Long live Mr. Zhou!"

More and more passengers chanted, and some trembled until the train started.

In the waiting halls and platforms of the stations, as well as throughout Shanghai, in the big cities of Nanjing, Tianjin, and Beiping, where the news spread rapidly, more people were discussing the matter, but all the newspapers that were out of stock were sold out.

On the third day of the incident, the news gradually spread to Wuhan, Changsha, Guangzhou, Kaifeng, Chongqing and other places, and the educational, academic, industrial and commercial circles, and women's circles ...... A great discussion began on this issue, and the Japanese government was severely accused of the barbaric assassination acts.

Celebrities from all walks of life have sent condolences to Zhou Hexuan's wives who stayed in Tianjin, and actively inquired about Zhou Hexuan's health condition.

On the fifth day, Peking University students suddenly launched a street march and surrounded the Japanese Consulate in Beiping. Immediately, students in Shanghai and Tianjin also took action, and Japanese shops in the concession were smashed to the ground.

The Japanese government lodged a solemn protest against the Nanjing Nationalist Government, demanding that the Nanjing side must restrain the students' rude behavior.

While pacifying the students and banning all demonstrations, the Nationalist Government in Nanjing sent a diplomatic note to the Japanese government, demanding that the Japanese side must hand over the remaining two assassins and ordering the Japanese government to give a reasonable explanation.

This matter is no longer only an issue between China and Japan, but also the boiling public opinion in the British government has driven the British government crazy. With 16 London citizens dead (data from the fourth day) and dozens more wounded, where does this leave the face of the British Empire?

The captured Yamashita Kinnosuke obviously has a will to die. Subjected to torture and interrogation by the British police, he insisted that the assassination was his own personal act and had nothing to do with the Japanese government, and then shouted "Long live the Japanese Empire" and "Loyal to the Emperor." As for the news of the other two assassins, Yamashita Kannosuke bit it to death, which provoked even more frenzied torture by the British police to extract confessions.

On the second day, Yamashita Kaninosuke couldn't bear the beating, and actually chose to bite his tongue and commit suicide. Although he was quickly rescued, the tip of his tongue had been bitten off, and he could not speak again in the short term.

Police were dispatched all over London, and all Asians living in Britain were implicated, including Chinese. As long as they look like Japanese, they are arrested and interrogated by the police every minute, and Asians in London during this time are unable to work and study normally.

As public outrage grew, the British government issued a diplomatic reprimand to Japan and suspended its 1936 plan to study abroad in Japan.

The French government first followed up, and then the United States, the Soviet Union, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and other countries expressed great concern and ordered Japan not to carry out political assassination activities overseas.

The assassination of an internationally renowned scholar and the injury of dozens or hundreds of innocent citizens is already an international political incident and a taboo in all normal countries.

In the civilized world, there is no such thing as playing.

Japanese Foreign Minister Hirota Hiroki has a bitter saying, and he can't wait to run to the London Police Station and break the body of that fool called Kinnosuke Yamashita into pieces.