On July 28, 1915, Foreign Minister Gu Weijun received a notice from the British, French, and Japanese ambassadors of the Entente countries to China jointly summoning him.

It was just yesterday that an explosive piece of news finally reached Beijing. After the People's Party annihilated the defenders of Jinan, it had already swung its army north to conquer Dezhou. You don't even need professional military knowledge, you can already see it just by looking at the map. 200 miles from Dezhou to the north-east is Cangzhou, and from Cangzhou to 200 miles in this direction is Tianjin. Starting from Tianjin, march 200 miles to the north-west and reach the city of Beijing.

Although he studied law, Gu Weijun did not know how to count. His father-in-law, Tang Shaoyi, brought him more accurate news, the People's Party sent troops on July 22, arrived in Jinan on the 24th, and conquered Dezhou on the 25th. Jinan to Dezhou is also 200 miles, according to the daily march of 100 miles, if the road is not intercepted by the Beiyang Army, the People's Party can fight from Dezhou to Beijing in only 6 days. And Tang Shaoyi did not give Gu Weijun false information, this time the Beiyang Army was dispatched in a big way, and the total number of troops remaining in Beijing and Tianjin was only 300,000. According to the information obtained by Beiyang, the People's Party has as many as 300,000 troops in Shandong.

On July 27, the British minister had already summoned Gu Weijun once. Gu Weijun did not go to see the British minister on the grounds that there was something. This time, the ministers of Britain, France and Japan jointly summoned Gu Weijun, and Gu Weijun really couldn't find a reason to refuse to meet. Even if he knew that he couldn't see it, the final decision was still in the hands of Yuan Shikai, not Gu Weijun. Gu Weijun picked up the briefcase with a heavy heart and went to the presidential palace to see Yuan Shikai.

After Yuan Shikai came to power, he set up his office in Zhongnanhai. At the same time, the exterior wall of Baoyue Building was demolished and renamed Xinhua Gate. Since then, Xinhua Gate has replaced Xiyuan Gate as the main gate of Zhongnanhai. Since then, Zhongnanhai has been used as the office of the president and prime minister of the Beiyang government, as well as the "marshal's mansion" of Zhang Zuolin.

When he arrived at the Renju Hall where the president worked, Gu Weijun saw a group of guards and doctors in white coats waiting in the living room. This frightened Gu Weijun, he happened to see Jiang Baili, and hurriedly went up to pull Jiang Baili, who was full of anxiety, and asked, "What's wrong?" ”

Jiang Baili saw that it was Gu Weijun, and said in a low voice: "The president has fainted." ”

"What?" At this time, Gu Weijun was frightened. The core of Beiyang is Yuan Shikai, in the current situation, if Yuan Shikai cannot take charge of the situation, in the face of the fierce offensive of the People's Party, Beiyang will immediately mess up.

At this moment, I heard Yuan Shikai's angry voice faintly coming from inside, "What kind of family are you running for?!" I'm fine! As the words fell, the crowd surged slightly, and then moved out of the way. But seeing Yuan Shikai striding out of it, Yuan Shikai was still quite self-contained, but he scolded all the way out at the moment.

As a diplomat, it is the most basic thing to look at words and looks. Gu Weijun saw that Yuan Shikai's face was pale, although his waist was still straight, his movements were slightly exaggerated, and he looked extremely imposing. But Yuan Shikai's hands trembled slightly involuntarily, and there were beads of sweat on his fat face.

Gu Weijun knew that Yuan Shikai did this, even if he had to do it. With so many doctors, the news will definitely not be kept. If Yuan Shikai disappears for a while, I don't know how far this rumor will spread.

With respect for Yuan Shikai from the bottom of his heart, Gu Weijun hurriedly greeted him, "President, I have something to report!" ”

Yuan Shikai glanced at Gu Weijun coldly, and first snorted before saying, "Come in and talk!" ”

Gu Weijun hurriedly stepped forward to hold Yuan Shikai's arm, Yuan Shikai first subconsciously wanted to push Gu Weijun away directly, but just as soon as he made a move, he changed his way, he gently pushed Gu Weijun's arm away, and then put his hand on Gu Weijun's shoulder, "Shaochuan, the recent errand has been done well." As he spoke, he walked inside with Gu Weijun.

The guards of the presidential palace were very clever, and seeing Yuan Shikai like this, they hurriedly drove away the doctor and the people who came to see the excitement.

Gu Weijun felt that Yuan Shikai's hand on his shoulder was very hard, and Yuan Shikai secretly used Gu Weijun as a crutch. He didn't dare to pretend to be any hard, and tried his best to talk about some things in Britain, France and Japan as usual, while slowly moving forward with Yuan Shikai's footsteps. As soon as he entered the door of Renjutang's office, Gu Weijun hurriedly grabbed Yuan Shikai's arm and sent Yuan Shikai back to the president's seat.

For such a clever performance, Yuan Shikai did not pretend to be tough anymore. The temperature inside Renju Hall was actually quite cool, but the sweat on Yuan Shikai's forehead was already dripping down. Gu Weijun hurriedly took out his handkerchief and handed it to Yuan Shikai to wipe his sweat. Yuan Shikai rested for a moment before he took a breath.

"Shaochuan, what are you here to talk about this time?" Yuan Shikai asked. Just now, he completely pretended to be fine, but in fact, he didn't care too much about what he said to Gu Weijun.

Gu Weijun knew that this was not the time to pretend to be anxious, if he couldn't get Yuan Shikai's approval, he couldn't do anything by himself. And if Yuan Shikai's condition deteriorates, there will be no chance for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to be directly ordered at that time. He hurriedly told Yuan Shikai in detail about the British, French, and Japanese ministers.

Yuan Shikai paused for a moment before asking: "So, Britain, France and Japan went directly to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?" ”

Gu Weijun was taken aback by this information, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not a great department in the Beiyang government. Gu Weijun thought that Britain, France and Japan had asked for a meeting with such a strong attitude, but in fact, they had already sent some official documents to Yuan Shikai, at least some information. Unexpectedly, this time Britain, France and Japan completely followed the process, only asking to summon Gu Weijun, but did not have any contact with Yuan Shikai. That's a lot of implication. Generally speaking, this indicates the extreme disappointment of Britain, France and Japan with Yuan Shikai. This is not a question of order, it is a naked statement diplomatically.

"President, why don't I see them." Gu Weijun hurriedly said.

"What is Shaochuan afraid of?" Yuan Shikai sneered, "I can trust you. So since they want to see you, go to them. Let's see what these bastards are trying to say. ”

"If they ask about the current situation, how should I answer?" Gu Weijun asked.

"In the current situation, you ask them what they know at the moment. We fought in Shandong, and the situation of the war was changing rapidly. What they know may not be right. Yuan Shikai said.

"Yes!" Gu Weijun already understood what Yuan Shikai meant.

"You go now, let those eight lambs think nonsense!" Yuan Shikai asked Gu Weijun to leave quickly.

"Yes!" Gu Weijun wanted to say a few words to let Yuan Shikai take care of his body, but he also knew that saying this would definitely cause Yuan Shikai's misunderstanding, and after thinking for a while, Gu Weijun said: "The president's body has recovered, and I will reply immediately if I have something." ”

Yuan Shikai knew that Gu Weijun was saying that he would never spread the word that Yuan Shikai was sick outside, so he nodded with satisfaction, "Go ahead!" ”

Leaving the presidential palace with a heavy heart, Gu Weijun now asked people to send letters to the ministers of Britain, France and Japan, inviting them to come to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Sitting next to his desk, Gu Weijun rubbed his eyebrows. This position of acting foreign minister made Gu Weijun feel great pain. Weak countries have no diplomacy, especially now in a turbulent situation. Gu Weijun thought that the war would be fought for a while, but he didn't expect the situation of the war to change so quickly. Not long after the Shandong offensive began, it fell into a situation of total defeat.

The envoys of England, France, and Japan came very quickly, and they were obviously together, because the envoys of the three countries came back with the messenger to the British minister.

As soon as they met, the ministers of the three countries shook hands with Gu Weijun with a stern expression. The first to speak was actually the Japanese minister, "Mr. Gu, we have heard that there have been tremendous changes in the situation of your war in Shandong, and we, as a country supporting you, have not received your notice, which cannot but make us feel regretful. ”

First, he asked the ministers of the three countries to sit down, and Gu Weijun replied in a good time: "Our army is fighting against the People's Party. We don't know what will happen to the war, maybe now the news of the victory is coming to Beijing? ”

The Japanese minister was not fooled by these words at all, he sneered, "Gu Jun is very calm." But what I want to know is that you didn't capture Qingdao, and you didn't hold Jinan. How is your army going to fight back now? ”

"This is a military secret, I really have nothing to say!" Although Gu Weijun was terrified in his heart, he replied lightly.

"Gu Jun, we all support Beiyang, and we have paid for the two "Aftermath Loans". If you are completely unable to insure yourself, it is necessary to worry that there is no possibility of recovering these two loans. I don't know how Gu Jun is going to convince us? ”

Gu Weijun was silent, this question was not too much. According to the common international concept of "not repaying bad debts," if the People's Party eliminated Beiyang, it could completely choose not to repay these loans. Of course, this is based on the fact that the BJP has the courage to meet the foreigners. In Gu Weijun's view, the People's Party has not lacked such courage at all so far. Then there are very real reasons for the anxieties of Britain, France and Japan.

"If you don't support our Beiyang, what do you think the People's Party will think of the "Aftermath Big Loan"?" Gu Weijun asked. This is a diplomatic inevitable sycophancy, but Gu Weijun couldn't help but feel a deep sense of frustration in his heart. Gu Weijun is also a young man who is looking forward to building a strong China, and now it is indeed a reasonable tactical choice to force Britain, France and Japan to stand on the side of Beiyang on the grounds that the People's Party will never repay its bad debts. But as a Chinese, this cannot but deeply hurt Gu Weijun's conscience. Even if you are not willing to commit acts of betrayal, there are times when circumstances force people not to do things that are completely against their will.

"Gu Jun, if that's the case, we can only make our own choice!" Of course, the Japanese minister is not a vegetarian, he does not accept Gu Weijun's coercion at all, but takes a tough attitude.

In the dialogue between the Japanese minister and Gu Weijun, the British and French ministers did not say a word, but quietly listened to the interpreter translate the conversation between the two.

"I wonder what you mean?" Gu Weijun asked.

"If you can't guarantee our interests, we will have to rely on ourselves to protect our own interests!" What the Japanese minister said was extremely clear.

Gu Weijun looked at the envoys of the three countries in front of him, this time Britain and France made it clear that Japan would stand up and speak, and they were waiting in the back. Gu Weijun was not relieved that Japan had almost openly stated that it would send troops. If it were some other Beiyang officers, they might have been ecstatic. But Gu Weijun didn't, he couldn't accept foreign troops once again as conquerors on Chinese soil, whether these people were fighting Beiyang or the People's Party. This is Gu Weijun's bottom line.