1089908 Far East Maniac Chapter 41 to raze and raze

Now Germany and the United States are showing increasingly strong "pro-Chinese" tendencies, which are strongly selfish and deceitful. However, it is undeniable that the British minister, Zhu Erdian, was obviously very worried about the actions of the German and American ministers to undermine the principle of "unanimity of the great powers on China."

If some time ago Germany and the United States only paid lip service to the destruction of the "principle of unanimity of the great powers on China", now they are doing so. It is clear that the two governments intend to take a substantive step forward on this issue, and the main reason for this change is this. The change in the presidential candidate of the Republic of China, the former Yuan Shikai and Xu Shichang were both pro-British, they did not dare to risk provoking the British government too close to Germany and the United States, and the United States was just an international nouveau riche, and Beiyang's proximity to the United States would not cause British hostility, but Germany was different, Germany was Britain's strategic rival, although Beiyang was very interested in Germany's military strength, but in terms of diplomatic action, the Beiyang Group was basically only Britain's leader.

But now, Yuan Shikai is dead, Xu Shichang is in the wilderness, Beiyang is basically disintegrated, with Zhao Bei taking over as the president of the Republic of China, the political system of this Far Eastern country seems to be about to undergo a revolution, and judging from Zhao Bei's performance in the previous days, the sleeve obviously ignores the power of the British. Whether or not this neglect was intentional on his part. But after all, he is now the president of the Republic of China, and he has a view of the entire policy, including foreign policy. Zhao Bei plays a decisive role, and what is even more tricky is that it is the United Front that now controls the Senate and the House of Representatives, and Zhao Bei also serves as the supreme leader of the United Front as the president of the Republic of China, which is more convenient for his actions, whether it is domestic policy or international policy, now, it is basically Zhao Bei who has the final say.

Understanding this situation, we can also understand the British minister's worries, because no one can guarantee that this "Far Eastern madman" will not really seek an alliance with Germany, and once China forms an alliance with Germany, the British government will have to change its current international strategy, and even have to completely abandon most interests in the Far East. The U.S. government also seems to have strong ambitions for expansionist toward China, and although isolationism is rife in the United States, the United States only needs to support China and Germany on the Far East. Well, even if the British government wants to change its Far East strategy, it must think twice.

If it is necessary to evaluate the current diplomatic situation in the Far East, British Minister Juerdian can only think of one word in his mind: tricky.

To use an old Chinese adage, the current situation in the Far East is to affect the whole body. As long as there is one variable, the political landscape of the entire Far East will inevitably change significantly, and even have a profound impact on the situation in Europe.

And this is precisely the main reason why the British government has to be cautious in dealing with the China issue now, and the British Foreign Secretary Sir Grey has made it clear that he has made his position clear on the order given to diplomats in China. As long as the Republic of China does not enter into an alliance in the military sense with Germany, the British government will exercise maximum "restraint" to avoid plunging the situation in the Far East into an "irreparable catastrophe." "Of course. On the other hand, as a necessary precaution. Britain has also strengthened its naval forces in Singapore and Hong Kong, and can participate in the "special controls" imposed by the great powers on China if necessary.

"Special controls." In fact, as early as the year of the "Gengzi Fist Rebellion", many people in Britain were clamoring for the partition of China and turning China into Britain's "other jewel in the crown", but the international situation at that time was very unfavorable to Britain, on the one hand, Britain was mired in the quagmire of the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa. On the other hand, Tsarist Russia was in the heyday of national strength, and it was close to China, and took advantage of the chaos at that time to monopolize the northeast region of China, at this time, the partition of China could only cheapen Russia and those countries that were dissatisfied with Britain, so the British government at that time resolutely opposed the partition of China, and it was under the planning of the British, through the zombie-like Manchu Dynasty, China was "co-managed" by the great powers, and subsequently, it was under the British policy, A Russo-Japanese War broke out for northeast China, and the overly powerful Russia was weakened by Britain through the hand of Japan, and at the same time, Japan was also weakened, and its rise slowed down, and Russia and Japan not only became victims of the British government's strategy of killing people with the sword, but they were also firmly tied to their own chariots by the British.

As the number one power in the world, Britain does have a group of excellent politicians and strategists, and it is on the basis of these people's strategies and policies that Britain has become strong step by step, but now, in response to the drastic changes in the situation in the Far East. British strategists and politicians are feeling a little powerless, is this the reason for Britain's decline, or is it because the opponents are too strong? Zhu Erdian could not answer this question, and his main focus now was on how to destroy the "friendship" between China, the United States and Germany. things.

"Does Germany intend to refund part of the Gengzi reparations? The news was so surprising. I always thought that in that year's "Gengzi Boxing Rebellion, on." Germany was hurt the most, and if I remember correctly, His Majesty the Kaiser of Germany made a famous speech at a military port when the Germans set out on an expedition to China from their homeland. ”

Zhu Erdian thought about it and decided to provoke it first. After all, what he said was true, and the German minister obviously could not deny it, and Germany was no worse than Japan in its ambitions for China, but it was only in recent years that it had to change its military occupation to economic occupation due to the situation in Europe. "Mr. Zhu Erdian, the past is not important, what matters is the present and the future, I believe. Mr. President, I agree. ”

The German minister Rex was reminded in time by Tu Ze, so he unceremoniously interrupted Zhu Erdian's words, which was a very rude move in diplomacy, but the German minister didn't care, what he cared about was not to affect the good mood of the president.

The two ministers are looking back on the past and looking forward to the future. Zhao Bei also stood aside, listening to Cai Tinggan translating their conversation, he quickly understood what the British minister wanted to say, and he was very unimpressed with the actions of the British.

At that time, the Qing court used the Boxer Fist to fight against the foreigners, and the German minister to China, Klinder, was killed by the soldiers of the Tiger God Battalion of the Qing army, which made the whole country in Germany feel terrible, and when the German team set out from the mainland to prepare for an expedition to China to retaliate, the German emperor made a famous speech, in which he spoke. China's image is very unbearable, this matter is not big, it is not small, but if it is openly discussed in a diplomatic forum, it is a diplomatic incident, no wonder the German minister would interrupt the British minister in disregard of diplomatic etiquette.

But in Zhao Bei's view, the British minister's approach is very clumsy, because no matter what happened in the past, Zhao Bei will not pay attention to it, he values the interests of the present more, just like the German minister said, the important thing is not to go in the past, but now and in the future, no matter what Britain does. Now China must obtain the help of a strong country, Britain can't count on it, and only Germany and the United States can choose, and among them, Germany is the most "enthusiastic" Zhao Bei certainly doesn't care about what Germany has done in the past.

A brilliant politician and strategist must learn to selectively forget, and even Japan and Russia can shake hands and make peace, so why can't China and Germany cooperate?

"Opinion on Mr. Minister of Germany. Personally, I fully agree that, yes, the important thing in relations between countries is not the past, but the present and the future. There is a Chinese poem that says, "A thousand sails pass by the side of a sunken boat, and ten thousand trees spring in front of a sick tree" should look forward, not backward. ”

Zhao Bei came out at the right time to play a round, and then asked the two ministers to say the next word. I'm afraid this tea party will turn into a struggle party, although "razing and razing" is his goal, but the appearance of eating should not be too ugly, after all, Britain's national strength is there, and Japan's Far East watchdog is not good. Although Zhao Bei wanted to cooperate with Germany, he also did not want to completely break out with Britain, after all, the First World War was still five years away from breaking out, and now was indeed not a good time for the "Far East madman" to go crazy.

"Mr. President is right, you should look ahead. For governments, the most important thing is to participate in the Far East trade tent, and politics is actually at the service of trade. ”

The American Minister Steder was also a smart man, and his words eased the atmosphere of the scene, but it was only temporarily eased, and soon, Steder found that the British Minister was also prepared

come

"Now that Mr. American Minister has mentioned commerce and trade, it has occurred to me that since Mr. Hurd, the chief tax officer, has returned to England to recuperate. The post of General Taxation has been represented by Mr. Pei Shiyi, and now Mr. Hurd is about to resign from the post of General Taxation Division, which is in charge of customs affairs. The stakes are high, and this position cannot be vacant for long. Therefore, I suggested to President Yuan Shikai that Mr. Pei Shikai should formally take over the post of General Taxation Department, but the situation in your country was chaotic some time ago. The matter has been delayed, and now, now that the situation has stabilized, I think the question of the selection of the chief tax department should be resolved. ”

Zhu Erdian changed the topic according to Si Dade's meaning, but he said this to Zhao Bei. It was also used in Chinese, and Si Dai next to him couldn't understand it, so he hurriedly asked the translator next to him, and when Tu Ze finished translating this passage, Si Dade's eyes rolled, wondering what the British wanted to do

The loss of customs power in modern China can be traced back to the early years, when the British, French, and American consuls forced the local officials in Shanghai to hand over the administrative affairs of taxation of the Jiang Customs to the tax commission set up by the consuls of the three countries, which can be regarded as the first step of "customs internationalization", after which the customs power of the Qing court gradually fell into the hands of the foreign powers. After the "Xinchou Treaty", the customs became an "international yamen", in this yamen, although there are many Chinese employees, but the real leader is the foreign employees in the yamen, commonly known as "foreigners", the number of these foreigners is distributed according to the size of the influence of various countries in China, among which the number of foreigners of Britain, the United States, France, and Germany is the largest, and after the First Sino-Japanese War, the number of Japanese foreigners has gradually increased, and several of them have also served as assistants, belonging to senior foreigners.

The top administrative officer of the customs is the General Department of Taxation, but this position is not the turn of China

Customs is in charge of import and export affairs, which is very important for the development of trade between countries and China, so the competition for the post of "General Taxation Department" is also very fierce, but this position has basically been held by the British, especially after the First Sino-Japanese War, the British led the Qing court through international borrowing to reach an agreement, according to this loan contract, the post of General Taxation Department will always be held by the British, so far. Britain fully grasped the customs power in China, and together with other countries, dominated the country's import and export trade.

In this situation, it is strange that China's own industry can develop!