2. When Shi Zhaomu's telegram was sent from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Presidential Palace's Commander's Hall. It was noon, and Zhao Beizheng was planning to go to lunch after work, but since it was Foreign Minister Tang Shaoyi who personally sent this telegram, President Zhao Da could only postpone the lunch time.

However, from the humble point of view, the Russian side lacks confidence, and although it makes false noises and threatens, it is only a bluff, and it is unable to exert pressure on us militarily or diplomatically. ”

Seeing the last few words of Shi Zhaoji on the telegram, Zhao Bei smiled faintly, put the telegram transcript on the desk, raised his head to look at Tang Shaoyi, and asked.

"Chief Tang, in your opinion, is Shi Zhaoji's analysis correct?"

Tang Shaoyi thought for a while and said, "The analysis at the beginning is good, but the final analysis seems to be too optimistic.

The Russians have always been rough and tough, this nation rarely takes the initiative to compromise with other nations, look at the history of Russia, almost never surrender without a fight, whether it is the Ottoman Empire's Sudan, or the French Empire's Napoleonic Emperor, can not force the Russians to submit, and in the Russo-Japanese War that year, the British were defeated, but Russia would rather continue the war than pay war reparations to Japan, which shows that Russia is not so easy to frighten, without a little strength, the Russians will not feel threatened.

Therefore, I believe that the so-called "surrender without a fight" does not seem to apply to Russia, even if the current Russian Soviet Government is weak, but after all, it is still Russian, the regime has changed, but the race has not changed, and the arrogance in the heart has not changed, then the central government of our country must be prepared for military deterrence, while using the tsarist government to exert diplomatic pressure on Soviet Russia, and on the other hand, using military means to force Soviet Russia to recognize the reality, so that it will accept our proposal and return the territory occupied by our country. ”

"Yes, you're right. Shi Zhaoji is indeed overly optimistic, and I know very well what the character of the Russians is. A nation that can persist in a policy of expansion for hundreds of years in the bitter cold regions of Siberia is naturally very terrifying, and together with those people at the bottom who are also hard-working, the power of Russia will be devastating once awakened. ”

Zhao Bei nodded, basically agreeing with Tang Shaoyi's opinion, judging from historical facts, this time the negotiations with Russia may not be as easy as the last negotiations with Russia, after all, this time Zhao Bei is determined to take advantage of the territory.

"Then, in the president's opinion, when will the military operation begin? Is it a sortie in the Far East, or in the direction of Central Asia? If the central government is determined to use troops, how can the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cooperate? There must always be a high-sounding reason for war. ”

Although Tang Shaoyi does not approve of war, after all, it is a matter of national interests and national interests, if he can weaken the enemy country through war, and by the way, he can also gain more territory for his own country, then he, a pacifist, can also support a foreign war to a limited extent, provided that this does not affect the development of the national economy, after all, the economy is the most fundamental.

"On this issue, the General Staff is still negotiating, and a formal opinion will be issued soon. However, in my opinion, this attack must avoid the Russian Far East and focus instead on Central Asia. Zhao Bei said.

"That's for the best. If they attack the Russian Far East, the Japanese will only be afraid that they will be fishing in troubled waters again, but if the focus is on Central Asia, then the Japanese will be beyond the reach of the whip and will have no choice but to stare dryly, but this will also have drawbacks, and Japan will not get direct benefits, so the Japanese Government may not support our position in the international community. ”

Tang Shaoyi nodded, and reminded that indeed, on the issue of military intervention in Russia, in addition to taking into account the attitude of Britain, the United States and other European and American countries, we must also take into account the attitude of Asian neighbors, and among them, Japan's attitude is the most important, although Japan is willing to fully cooperate with China in the Nanyang region, but it is cooperation in a win-win situation, but if China sends troops to Central Asia, Japan does not seem to have the motivation to cooperate closely with China.

"By the way, after the outbreak of the Soviet Revolution in Russia, what has happened in Japan in recent days?" Zhao Bei asked.

Tang Shaoyi pondered for a moment and said: "The day after the Petrograd Revolution, the Japanese ambassador to China came to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to meet me and ask the central authorities about their views on the Russian Revolution, but the president had not yet given clear instructions at that time, so I did not give a positive answer. "Perhaps the Japanese government thinks that this revolution will not succeed."

Zhao Bei analyzed it, and now no one knows the direction of history better than him, but considering the "butterfly effect" that has become more and more influential, he is now somewhat apprehensive, if the Russian Revolution fails because of his intervention, then he has no idea how the European pattern and even the world pattern will unfold in the future.

Zhao Bei talked with Tang Shaoyi in the office for half an hour, and then the two had lunch together in the presidential apartment, after lunch, Tang Shaoyi rushed back to the ministry to work, but Zhao Bei took a lunch break for an hour as usual, and then rushed back to the commander's hall. Continue to work.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, Tang Shaoyi came to the Commander-in-Chief Hall again, and he was accompanied by US Ambassador to China Stade and a plenipotentiary sent by British Ambassador to China Zhu Erdian. As for Zhurdian himself, he has now rushed to Baikal to meet with the regent of the tsarist government of the Russian Empire.

The reason why these diplomatic envoys rushed to the commander's hall to visit Zhao Bei was still for the situation in Russia, and unlike the last "February Revolution", the Russian Soviet Revolution this time made the governments of Britain, the United States, France, Italy and other countries very snort, because on the second day of the revolution, the Russian Soviet Government promulgated a decree, according to the analysis of the content of this decree, once the Soviets control the situation in Russia, then the new Russian government is very likely to immediately withdraw from the war against Germany and sign a treaty with Germany." no indemnity, no cession of land".

Although both the British and American governments believed that it was impossible for Germany not to demand war reparations from Russia, the governments of the two countries also believed that Russia's withdrawal from the war against Germany would increase the military pressure on the battlefield on the battlefield and Germany would be held out for a longer period of time

It is precisely for this reason that since the news of the Soviet Revolution in Petrograd was confirmed, the envoys of Britain, the United States and other countries in China visited Zhao Bei for the first time to find out his views and positions on the Russian Revolution. After all, this "mad president" also has the intention of revising the old international order, which is to some extent the same as the demands of the Russian Soviet revolutionaries, and the two sides do not necessarily have a common language.

On the other hand, considering Zhao Bei's support for the tsarist government, which seems to show his vigilance against the Russian Soviet government, it is indeed quite intriguing how he views this Russian revolution.

However, Zhao Bei's reply to foreign diplomats at that time was ambiguous, neither saying that he fully supported the revolution of the Russian people to "demand bread and coal", but also that he recognized the "rationality and justice" of the Russian revolution

In the face of Zhao Bei's trickery, diplomats from various countries were puzzled, so today they decided to once again nominate the US ambassador and British diplomats to come to the presidential palace to meet with the Chinese president, who has become more and more deeply involved in international conflicts and disputes, and to ask him again whether China will take further support for the tsarist government.

On the other hand, the tsar-in-exile of the Russian Empire, which had been thrown like a piece of waste paper into the steppes of Outer Mongolia a few months earlier, has once again become a favorite in the eyes of Europe, after learning of the Baikal restoration declaration. Immediately sent their diplomats to the port of Baikal to make contact with the tsarist government, and in view of the urgency of time, the envoys of various countries to China were the best diplomatic envoys, and they brought to the tsar and the regents not only sincere condolences, but also all kinds of promises and advice, since the Russian republican Provisional Government had lost popular support and was occupied by the revolutionaries, then, Perhaps the tsarist government, which claimed to establish a constitutional monarchy, now seemed to be the best banner to unite the anti-Bolshevik forces in Russia, and it would be useful for all countries to take advantage of it.

On the surface, this is a gesture made by the US government to the tsarist government's shooting of people in the streets during the "February Death", but in fact, the main reason why the US ambassador did not rush to Baikal to spy on the truth is because of the suggestion of the British and French governments, and the two governments agreed that if the ambassadors of all countries rushed to Baikal port, the main reason for the trick was because of the suggestion of the British and French governments, and the two governments agreed that if the ambassadors of all countries rushed to Baikal port, Then the Entente did not have enough weight in Beijing, so the British and French governments both suggested that the American ambassador stay in Beijing and be directly responsible for negotiating with President Zhao.

Of course, Zhao Bei warmly welcomed the visit of the American ambassador and British diplomats, but at the same time, he still did not make his position clear, because he knew very well what the position of each country was, and at this juncture, he also hoped to knock on the bamboo shoulders of various countries and get some benefits, you must know that many cities and transportation arteries in the Russian Far East have fallen into the hands of revolutionaries, and Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Blagoveshchensk, Chita and other cities have not become a paradise for anarchists. It was already in the hands of the Soviet government, and now the eastern end of the Trans-Siberian Railway was practically inaccessible to trains, and if the Entente intended to provide military assistance to the Tsarist Government of the Russian Empire, perhaps the best option would be to use China to provide material support to the Tsarist Government through the Sino-Russian Railway, which was obviously inseparable from China's cooperation.

Now it's not that Zhao Bei has a request for the Entente, but the Entente has a request for Zhao Bei, so that the initiative is in the hands of Zhao Bei, he doesn't care about the arms and ammunition of the Entente, but wants to use the initiative to exchange some economic benefits from the Entente, especially industrial technology, since Germany fell into the war, the channel for European industrial technology to enter China has been cut off, although Zhao Bei is still searching for talents in the world, and has indeed made some breakthroughs in industrial technology, but overallThe industrial efficiency is still not high, and there are still technical bottlenecks in some industries, and foreign technical support is also needed, such as marine motor technology and large-caliber artillery manufacturing technology.

Therefore, taking advantage of the opportunity of the American ambassador to the commander-in-chief, Zhao Bei euphemistically put forward a suggestion, that is, China can provide more military assistance to the tsarist government, but in exchange, the Entente group should transfer some naval technology to China, this is a deal, regardless of the position on Russia, as for the current military support for the tsarist government, and the tacit acquiescence of the tsarist army across the border, it is just a preventive measure to avoid the spread of the Russian revolution to the Outer Mongolia region, This does not mean that President Zhao Da is hostile to the Russian Revolution.

The Americans and the British are still confused, but they have learned the basic fact that the "mad president" is planning to fish in troubled waters again.

The exchange of industrial technology for military aid channels seems to be a bit excessive, and diplomats have no right to agree or veto on the spot, but can only ask for instructions at home.

The next day, the British government, through the embassy in China, informed the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs that it was willing to hold diplomatic consultations on the proposal to exchange technology for military aid, and at the same time, the French government also expressed the same sincerity in the consultations.

On the other hand, the Central Government of China formally decided to accept the proposal of the British and French governments to negotiate the provision of material assistance to the Tsarist Russian government by the two governments, and at the same time suggested that the two governments should order supplies directly from China, so as to save time.

In this way, when the banner of the monarchy was flying high in Baikal, a feast of industry and commerce had quietly begun in China, with arms, ammunition, clothing, vehicles, tents, medicines, and building materials.