"In the letter written by Pu Guanshui, it is as if a socialist revolution is about to break out in Germany." After reading Pu Guanshui's letter, Tang Shaoyi said in a rather skeptical tone. Tang Shaoyi and Gu Weijun both took the civil service examination and were hired by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after passing the examination. This time, the two went to Paris as members of the People's Party's diplomatic team.

"Germany is now about the same as our late Qing Dynasty, the emperor has fallen, and the new order has not yet been built." Zhang Yu replied.

Seeing that Zhang Yu answered very easily, Tang Shaoyi stopped answering. After all, China was held down and beaten by foreigners for 60 years, starting in 1840, and it was not until the emergence of the People's Party that this situation was reversed. Tang Shaoyi knew that Zhang Yu and these People's Party members adhered to the People's Party's philosophy of struggle, and they could accept bloodshed and sacrifice anytime and anywhere, and it was even more common for them to endure hardships and hardships. This kind of fearless attitude allows Zhang Yu to look down on foreigners, and Tang Shaoyi, who almost instinctively avoids fighting, knows that he can't do this.

After becoming an "official" of the People's Party this time, Tang Shaoyi found that the People's Party was very different from the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and even from the Chinese tradition. Government officials are just employees, they are employees of the BJP, or rather employees of "people's power". Although Tang Shaoyi did not believe that the latter could really be realized. For Tang Shaoyi, the world is best hierarchical, the higher the status, the less they should suffer so many crimes, and the hard work should be rewarded more. The longer she spent in the People's Party, the more Tang Shaoyi doubted whether her choice to "be an official" in the People's Party was correct.

"We want to intervene in the revolution in Europe?" Gu Weijun asked. As a young man, he has not worked in the People's Party for too long, and Gu Weijun has quite a few signs of evolving towards imperialist diplomacy. It is undoubtedly the norm in this world for a powerful state to interfere with anything it can in its own strength.

Seeing that what was said was getting more and more outrageous, Shang Yuan, as the head of the delegation, began to control the direction of the topic, "The purpose of our coming to the Paris Peace Conference is not to participate in the division of the world, but to see the situation." Let's settle our own business first. The Entente are now making a move against Russia, and it is not too unusual for them to do something to us in China. If we don't know, we'll have to wait for someone to knock on the door when we go back. ”

Hearing that foreign devils might attack China again, Tang Shaoyi and Gu Weijun's faces became a little nervous, but the comrades of the People's Party couldn't help but smile with a variety of emotions, or simply didn't react to it.

"Not to mention whether there will be a revolution in Europe and a revolution in Japan?" Shang Yuan changed the subject.

"Why don't you ask them tomorrow?" Zhang Yu said jokingly. Shang Yuan also snorted slightly when he heard this, these days, every time Britain, the United States, France, Italy, China, and Japan, the six major powers of the Paris Peace Conference, discussed issues, the representatives of the People's Party raised their heads and could see the rigid faces of Saionji Gongwang, Makino Nobuaki, and other Japanese representatives.

"What is there to talk about with these old guys?" Even as one of the older members of the People's Party, he is far from being ordinary young compared to the old guys in foreign countries.

"And what are you going to say to us, big brother?" Zhang Yu asked.

Shang Yuan said: "Participating in this peace conference until now, I finally understand what national strength means. Whatever the superficial truth, it is an interpretation of the strength that a country already has and has been proven. Potential is not on the table. That's how cruel materialism is. ”

Originally, the young comrades still had the mind to joke, but after listening to Shang Yuan's words, everyone's expressions became serious.

"This time it was not a comrade Pu Guanshui who suffered a setback in Germany, but we asked France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and other countries for proposals for technical cooperation, but they all encountered big problems, and these countries did not take our request seriously at all." Shang Yuan summed up his recent work, "We don't have the industrial strength to get our hands on, so no one takes us seriously." Prior to this trip, President Chen had been emphasizing that we do have potential, but we lack the strength. We ourselves cannot confuse strength with potential, and the world will not share such an opinion. ”

"So we're doing all the work this time?" Wu Xiangyu asked.

There is no need to stress this question in particular, because many of the comrades of the delegation have been to the United States and Europe for the first time, and have seen with their own eyes the strength of these industrial countries, especially the power of the ruling class of these countries, and they have already seen the gap between the republic and the world's leading powers. Domestically, the People's Party is vomiting blood for a large amount of infrastructure construction, and it is also proud of the earth-shaking changes in the country. I am even more excited about the bright future of the republic on the blueprint. In the United States and Europe, however, the delegation saw a large number of cities, factories, cobwebbed railways, and roads. Bringing the whole of China to the level of the United States and Europe is by no means a simple task that can be completed in one or two years, and it will take more than 10 or even 20 years of hard work.

"Premier Shang is right, we really can't pursue more this time. It is enough to be able to reclaim what belongs to China, and the search for a greater goal ends here. What we are doing now is the layout for the future. ”

It is the tradition of the People's Party to unify thinking and adjust the direction of work in a timely manner. Even so, the BJP's work was only one day ahead of the situation.

On February 17, 1919, the Japanese delegates, without even waiting for the peace conference to fully establish the disposition of defeat in the war, impatiently proposed that China fulfill its "international obligations" and recognize international treaties.

By "international treaties," Japan refers to treaties signed between Japan and the Manchus. Japan believes that the Government of the Republic has a reason to comply with international treaties.

Looking at Nobuaki Makino's old face when he spoke, Zhang Yu suddenly felt that war was sometimes much simpler than peace. What is not available on the battlefield, the Japanese want to get from the negotiating table.

It is impossible for Japan to get the Chinese interests recaptured by the People's Party from the battlefield, and Zhang Yu wants to ask frankly, "If we don't give it to you, what is Japan going to do?" ”

In terms of future strategic planning, China must strike at Japan militarily and drive Japan out of Korea. After the loss of North Korea, Japan and China were separated by only a Tsushima Strait, which BJP planes could fly through in less than an hour. Even though he knew that it was absolutely impossible for the Japanese side to openly declare war at the Paris Peace Conference, Zhang Yu couldn't help but almost say that the Republic welcomed Japan's declaration of war.

It was absolutely impossible for Japan to raise this issue alone, as soon as the representative of Japan finished speaking. The British side immediately argued that the republic was obliged to fulfill international treaties. Britain refers to the money that Yuan Shikai borrowed from Britain and other countries.

"We also believe that it is necessary for China to meet its international obligations." French Prime Minister Clemenceau, who is 78 years old, is full of gray hair, but he is still as fierce as a beast, and he is really worthy of his nickname of "Tiger Prime Minister".

Chen Ke used all his tactics to take advantage of it at every stage, especially in the First World War, and now the Entente countries are in a post-war financial crisis, terrible losses of human and material resources, astronomical bonds, and money is needed to solve these problems.

China has demonstrated its war power to defend its interests, and Britain, France, and Japan know that it is impossible to take food from the mouths of the tiger. When they can make things difficult for China, they will never let go of any opportunity.

The seemingly enthusiastic performance of the previous few days has disappeared, and the inflection between the allies who were once "in the same trench" has suddenly become fierce. France has even publicly stated that the agreement with the People's Party on Indochina will not be considered until China has assumed "corresponding international obligations".

Even though they were fully mentally prepared in their hearts, the young comrades of the People's Party were still full of anger. The change of face is so fast, this is the essence of imperialism. This is imperialist diplomacy.