Kohata Youji naturally understands what Chang Zhenbang means, the empire's interests in Manchuria and Qingdao will never give up, the reason why the Dagukou incident can be successful is also the good cooperation of the Feng department, and its performance is not in vain The empire worked hard to support him, in his eyes Manchuria is like a subsidiary department of the empire, it will not be too difficult to sign and seal, but Chang Zhenbang is so calm and relaxed, so that he has a little miscalculation, in his eyes of Chinese politicians, either want to be obedient to his grandson, grandpa gives candy, or argue with reason, Not an inch of land, this kind of person will eventually be pressured by the empire to succumb or replaced, in the information he collected about Chang Zhenbang, perhaps because of studying in Dongying, this person has an inextricable good impression of the empire, and has repeatedly shown an open attitude in anti-Japanese demonstrations, but because of Wuchuan Sakurako's sakura, there was a conflict with the eldest son of the Wuchuan family, so that Chang Zhenbang was resisted by Wuchuan Xingying when he chose to cooperate with the empire, which made the British occupy the top and enjoy the interests in southeast China. With the support of the British, Chang Zhenbang's attitude towards the Qingdao issue was either arrogant and domineering to invoke British and French forces to intervene, or he bargained forcefully to squeeze his own interests to the maximum.

Just when he was about to further test the youngest ruler in China with his words, his assistant hurriedly got up and went out and hurried in, muttering a few words in his ear, a panicked look appeared on his originally calm face for the first time, and fine sweat flowed inadvertently, but he just stared at Chang Zhenbang deadly, as if he wanted to see through everything about this person, but unfortunately he didn't have much time left, he almost gritted his teeth and said to Duan Qirui: " Since the ruling government of the Republic of China and our Great Dongying Empire have reached an agreement on all aspects of the two sides, so that the dispute at Dagukou has been satisfactorily resolved, I don't know when we can sign a contract and completely end this matter. ”

Duan Qirui knew the truth he said, seeing that he was so happy this time, a boulder that had been hanging in his heart for half a month suddenly fell to the ground, maybe he could sleep well today, thinking of the materials that the cabinet members had prepared these days and the measures to deal with Kohata Youji, how many nights all night to read by candlelight. How many nights had he taken those foreign affairs personnel to his bedroom for a discussion, and the sunrise he had seen before the age of fifty had not been seen in the past few days, and now he had finally fulfilled his wish, and he was really relieved.

"Wait!"

Kohata Youji and Duan Qirui were shocked when they heard this, and couldn't help but look at Chang Zhenbang, Chang Zhenbang said lightly: "Zhenbang has something I want to ask His Excellency the Minister!" I also hope that Your Excellency will be able to inform you of one or two. Kohata Yukichi said: "As long as it is not related to the interests of the empire, Chang Daren just asks." ”

Chang Zhenbang said: "After all, the Qingdao issue and the Manchurian-Mongolian unsolved case have not yet been resolved, why is Your Excellency the Minister so eager to sign the contract?" ”

Kohata Youji's heart was cold, secretly thinking that this person was really difficult to deal with, only to see him smile and say to Duan Qirui: "Lord Ruling Lord, I remember that you asked for an appointment and proposed to sign the contract today, why does Lord Chang Zhenbang think that it is a contemptible person in a hurry?" Could it be that you didn't say hello to Chang Daren? Or does it mean that the ruling lord has to get the consent of Lord Chang Zhenbang to do things? ”

Duan Qirui was a little embarrassed at this time, this Dongying person's ability to adapt to the situation was also very good, not only put all the responsibility on Duan Qirui, but also took the opportunity to use the agitation method with the snake and stick, forcing Duan Qirui to consolidate his determination to sign the contract, otherwise he would fall into fear of Chang Zhenbang's words, and also provoked the relationship between the two from small and medium-sized enterprises.

Chang Zhenbang said: "Your Excellency the Minister is wrong in what he said, the ruling lord is the head of the Central Committee and the lord of a country!" Zhenbang is just a local official, all authority comes from the central government, if the ruling lord can remove Zhenbang from his official position, Zhenbang is just a weak scholar? However, the ruling lord is like a stream, and Zhenbang, as a local official, should advise when he sees an unreasonable place, which is the responsibility of his subordinates. Or does Your Excellency not know much about China and Ying? In that case, can I beg the ruling lord to question the sincerity of Toei's signing? ”

Duan Qirui said cooperatively: "What's wrong with this? Zhenbang you are the country's southeast economic envoy, in charge of the richest place in the country, Qingdao is your place, your opinion is very important to the ruling government, as the head of a country, how can you ignore it? Spread out other people's jokes are still secondary, damage the interests of the country, that is a sinner through the ages, Taizong said, the king is the boat, the people are the water, the water can carry the boat and can overturn the boat, and those who are in power must not quit! ”

Chang Zhenbang said: "The ruling adults are broad-minded, and their subordinates are inexplicably grateful, and they will definitely give advice to the people, so that the adults will not have any place to lose their political virtues." ”

Watching these two people sing and harmonize, Xiao Ha Youji was very angry in his heart, he finally knew why Chang Zhenbang was so calm and relaxed, he must have known something, and he could even say that the incident was planned by him, otherwise he would never have said that the Qingdao issue would definitely be discussed and released on the second day of the settlement of the Manmeng unsolved case, if it was someone else, he would have pulled out his saber in anger and rushed up, but he Xiao Hata Youji is a reasonable person, and naturally knows that under the strong crushing of the Dongying Empire, No matter how China shirks, it can't refuse the Empire's request, but there may be a little ripple in the middle, this is human nature, if you don't even understand this, he doesn't have to be a diplomat, just go to the military headquarters next door to get an errand.

Chang Zhenbang saw that Kohata Youji's face was slightly cloudy, and pretended to be very concerned and asked, "Your Excellency, your face is a little pale, are you unwell?" Are you overworked? Why don't you go back and get some rest? ”

Kohata Yukichi smiled bitterly: "It's hard to do things for the empire!" The signing of this ruling agreement is related to the well-being of all the people of your and my country, and it is better to be tired than to be tired by one person than to come to war, what do the two adults think? ”

At this time, his assistant Xiao Zhou interjected: "Minister Minister, you are a bodhisattva, Lord Chang, you don't know, in order to stop the wanton behavior of those people in the military department, we Minister Envoy don't know how much blame and pressure we have endured, for the sake of the friendship between the two peoples, you have no certainty of victory in this war, and we Dongying people will also pay the lives of countless young people, which is not in the interests of our two countries......

"Shut up! In front of the two adults, this is not the place where you, a foreign assistant, can speak. Kohata Youji said, then stood up and bowed to Chang Zhenbang and Duan Qirui to apologize, and said: "The subordinates spoke without authorization, breaking diplomatic etiquette, and I hope the two adults will forgive me, since the two adults are unwilling to sign the solution to the Dagukou incident, the contemptible people can't force it, and I am grateful for the care of the ruling adults for a long time!" After saying that, he was about to leave, but the assistant was taken aback, stepped forward and took his hand and said, "My lord, you said that the war is not suitable for our two countries, so why should the East Asians be embarrassed by the East Asians." If you give up the contract, the military department will be disgraced by means of war after not receiving an effective reply! ”

Kohata Yukichi sighed and said, "There is an old Chinese saying that is good, do your best, obey the destiny of heaven!" I, Yukichi Kohata, as a diplomatic minister, have already made due efforts for Zhongying, and since I can't get the approval of the two adults, I can only let those staff officers of the military department solve this matter. After speaking, Kohata Yukichi shook his hand and tore away Xiao Zhou's assistant, stretched out his hand to open the door, and was about to leave.

Chang Zhenbang let out a long sigh and said, "Your Excellency the Minister stays." ”

Kohata Yukichi stepped out of the door, then turned his head and asked, "Master Chang, do you have anything else to advise?" ”

Chang Zhenbang said: "Washington meeting, is it okay if China doesn't support it?" ”

"With China's support, the Imperial Diplomatic Corps can gain a greater say in the association and make more contributions to the common prosperity of Greater East Asia," said Kohata. But without China's support, the empire's goals can still be achieved, but it is just a lack of icing on the cake, which is not necessarily a bad thing for the empire, what does Chang think? ”

Chang Zhenbang nodded, the Washington meeting was not short, some Chinese on the Qingdao issue caused a lot of constraints to the Dongying people, these people's efforts are worthy of the country and have won the respect and appreciation of European and American diplomats, but diplomacy is a political game, no matter how good the words are, no matter how powerful the people are, the country does not have the strength to say that nothing does not count, Dongying will get almost everything he wants at the meeting, with China's strength can not resist at all, since Kohata Youkichi said it, he is not good at struggling with this problem, just said: "President Yuan Da signed the 25 articles and eventually fell into disrepute, and I, Chang Zhenbang and Duan Zhengzheng, together do not have the ability and prestige of President Yuan Da, so signing this agreement is extremely dangerous for us, so I hope that some parts of this reconciliation can exist in the form of a secret agreement." You have fallen into the benefits, we have won face, and we have also blocked the mouths of the European and American powers, so it is good for you and me and for each other's countries, isn't it? ”

Kohata Yukichi smiled and said, "Why not? As long as the government has a practical travel treaty, it is not necessary for all citizens to know about it. There is no objection to Lord Chang's proposal, in this case, can Duan Zhizhi sign a contract? ”

Duan Qirui glanced at Chang Zhenbang and saw that he didn't say anything, so he had to nod his head.

Xiao Ha Youji smiled slightly, turned around and came in, double assistant adjutant Teng Wen made an appointment, both sides signed, Dongying side is Xiao Hata Youji, China side Duan Qirui before signing, glanced at Chang Zhenbang, and said: "Li Hongzhang once said to Qing Wangye, the most difficult thing in the world to write is your own name, you are still young, your career is immeasurable, this traitorous infamy, let me be it." I will tell you this sentence today, I hope you can one day have a snow national shame! ”

Kohata Youji smiled secretly in his heart: "If that Li Hongzhang is here, this negotiation will definitely not be so easy and smooth, from this point of view, you Duan Qirui is still far behind, not only can you Duan Qirui not be good, but the whole of China is much inferior to the Manchu Empress Dowager, what is the virtue of the Republic of China today?" And what kind of talent, no matter how beautiful you say, the people who do things are really not as good as the generation, and what hope does China have for a showdown with the empire? This East Asia is the East Asia of the Empire! ”

Chang Zhenbang was silent, and suddenly when Duan Qirui was about to put down the pen, he grabbed the pen and wrote the three words Chang Zhenbang on his head, Kohata Youji and others were greatly surprised, Duan Qirui was taken aback at first, and then smiled with relief.

At this time, a horse came from outside the door and whispered a few words in Chang Zhenbang's ear, Chang Zhenbang nodded, turned to Duan Qirui and said: "Govern, there is an urgent military affairs in Baoding, and my subordinates sincerely ask to retire for the time being!" ”

"Go ahead!" Duan Qirui said: "The matter here has been resolved, you don't have to worry about it." ”

After Chang Zhenbang saluted, he turned around and left,

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