"China, the United States and Germany Triple Alliance"? Is this a dream?

It is indeed dreaming, and there is more than one person who is dreaming of this dream, there are people in China, the United States, and Germany who are dreaming about it, and the most active dreamer is the German Emperor Wilhelm II.

In the dream of the German emperor, not only China, the United States, and Germany should unite, but even Tsarist Russia should join this alliance in order to jointly fight Japan in the Far East, and if Russia agrees to join this alliance, then Germany and the United States will fully support Russia, and if the "Second Russo-Japanese War" breaks out, then Germany and the United States will acquiesce in Russia's "freedom of action" in Northeast China, Xinjiang, Mongolia, and North Korea, and Germany will also grab more economic benefits from China, and as for the United States, it can continue to maintain the "open door" principle, the three powers can share this "Chinese cake" with satisfaction.

Obviously, China has nothing to gain from this alliance, and the only thing to gain is a treaty that guarantees China's "integrity".

Although this dream is somewhat illusory, there are attempts to turn it into reality, and between 1907 and 1908, US President Theodors Ford met with the German ambassador to the United States, Sternberg, on several occasions to consult on the issue of the American-German alliance.

But the problem is that if an alliance with Germany is formed, it means that the United States will be alienated from Britain and France, and it will also mean that American goods will be driven out of the markets of the two countries and their overseas colonies, which is not what American entrepreneurs want to see, nor is it what American voters want to see, so the dream of the German emperor is a dream after all.

The confrontation between the Entente and the Allies was in America's favor, and as long as it was on the outside, American goods could be sold between the two hostile blocs without fear of being sidelined.

Therefore, it is better for the United States to remain neutral and continue to strengthen its "friendship" with China.

However, it is not enough to have China's friendship, after all, the fate of this country is not in its own hands, and if the European powers refuse to share their interests in China with the United States, then not only will the principle of "open door" not be observed, but even the interests in China that the United States has already obtained will not be guaranteed, as evidenced by the successive failures of the "Three Eastern Provinces Bank Plan" and the "New French Railway Plan" planned by Stade and Tang Shaoyi.

The United States wanted to wage an economic war with Japan in the three eastern provinces, but the United States was isolated because Britain sided with Japan.

Since the outbreak of the revolution. The Entente bloc, with Britain as the territory, showed an increasingly strong tendency to monopolize China. on this. American diplomats saw it clearly. They also know it. If the United States could not join the Entente bloc and assume military obligations to Germany. The Entente will not happily share this "Chinese cake" with them. Because this cake is used to reward Japan and Russia.

But which country to ally with is a matter of Congress. Diplomats can't do anything. And join the Entente group. It means a break with the Allied bloc. It also means that American goods will lose the market of the allies. This is not what American entrepreneurs and voters want to see.

So. The United States must be neutral.

But. American businessmen do not want to lose their trade privileges in China because of neutrality. They want diplomats in China to be "more proactive." And not complain to the Secretary of State that there are no international allies.

Stade decided to take advantage of the opportunity of the North-South peace talks to seize the initiative in China. Establish a good relationship with the new government in the future. See if you can take a roundabout route. Grab the right to build roads and loans directly from the new government. Shut up the chattering bunch of financiers and entrepreneurs in the country.

But Tang Shaoyi just quietly listened to Stad's opinion. I didn't express any opinion of my own. But there was a tingling in my heart. China's territorial interests have to be "protected" by foreign countries. This is a real disgrace for diplomats. However, the current situation of the country cannot but rely on foreign countries. "Conquering raze with razing" has always been the "secret" of imperial court diplomacy. Repeated use. But alas, yes. Foreigners are not stupid either. Back then, Li Hongzhang insisted on turning this game of razing into "luring wolves into the house". Invited Tsarist Russia to the Northeast. If it weren't for a Russo-Japanese war. The Northeast may no longer be part of China's territory. The lessons ahead are not far away. Tang Shaoyi didn't dare to repeat the mistakes of the past.

At that time, Russia dominated the northeast and refused to open its commercial interests to the foreign powers, causing strong dissatisfaction in Britain and the United States, and under the instigation of the two countries, with the support of Jewish financial groups, Japan carried the banner of "maintaining the open door of East Asia" and fought with Russia for a year, and finally snatched half of the fat in the northeast back, but in the end it was not returned to the Chinese, but fell into the mouths of the Japanese themselves, Britain and the United States stole chickens and rice, drove away the tigers but attracted evil wolves, Japan and Russia were all the way, After taking South Manchuria, it also failed to meet the demands of American businessmen for a piece of the pie, not only reneging on its promise to take the South Manchurian Railway as its own, but also trying to close the door of commerce, which was even more excessive than Russia's land, for which Japan and the United States almost broke up, and the reason why US President Roosevelt sent the "Great White Fleet" around the world was to exert pressure on the Japanese government and force it to make concessions.

Seeing the tense relations between Japan and the United States, the German emperor was very happy, and ordered the minister stationed in China to step up his activities and began to plan the Sino-American and German Triple Alliance.

It was against this background that the Qing court's plan to "unite with the United States to resist Japan" came out, and the Qing court, like the German emperor, was dreaming of the same thing.

However, no matter how beautiful the dream is, it is still a dream, and US politicians are unwilling to act as a shield for China, and considering that the strength of the US Navy in the Far East is weaker than that of Japan, especially the weak defense of the Philippines, which is very easy to be taken advantage of by Japan, in order to prevent provoking Japan, the United States can only adopt a defensive strategy on the issue of northeast China. Tang Shaoyi made a trip to the United States in vain, and not only did the China-US-Germany Triple Alliance become a shadow, but even the "Bank Plan for the Three Eastern Provinces" was put on hold, and it can be said that nothing was gained.

As an experienced diplomat, Tang Shaoyi will certainly not stop there, and is about to continue to win over American business people to support the Northeast Industrial Revitalization Plan, when the Anqing Uprising broke out, and the Republican Army swept Jiangxi and Huguang under the leadership of Zhao Bei, but in just one month, the whole South China was in turmoil, and the Qing court urgently ordered Tang Shaoyi to return to China to report on his work, but when he walked to the road, Tang Shaoyi learned that the real reason for his recall was ―――――― Yuan Shikai fell.

Tang Shaoyi was picked up by Yuan Shikai, and has always been regarded as Yuan Shikai's private party.

In this way, he was recalled to the country, because the Qing court was worried that he would open the way for Yuan Shikai and sought refuge. Tang Shaoyi's several attachés persuaded him not to return to China and throw himself into the net, but Tang Shaoyi laughed it off, and rushed back to the country in the shortest possible time, returning to serve as the governor of Fengtian, but just a few days after seeing the matter, when he was waiting for the imperial court to send to pull out the flowers, Cao's third town of Beiyang mutiny in Changchun, and telegraphed to support Yuan Shikai's "regent", so, in just a few days, this situation was pulled back by Yuan Shikai, Tang Shaoyi was not only not implicated, but was entrusted by Yuan Shikai with a heavy responsibility, acting as a representative of the northern peace, and went to Shanghai to negotiate with the revolutionary forces in the south. Stabilize the situation as soon as possible, and serve Yuan Shikai as a stable country.

Although Tang Shaoyi himself was not enthusiastic about Junxian, since Yuan Shikai trusted him so much, he had no choice but to repay his kindness and do his best.

Stade talked eloquently, Tang Shaoyi smiled silently, but his heart was full of mixed feelings, it is good to be able to rely on the United States to regain the rights and interests of Northeast China, but how can Japan be easy to speak? For the sake of the northeast, Japan has suffered more than 100,000 casualties, owes the United States and Britain a lot of debts, and finally pulled a piece of fat out of Russia's mouth, how can it be easily conceded? Even if the United States oppresses Japan to give in, what can it do? The northeast is still the territory of foreigners, and if the Chinese want to intervene, they also have to look at other people's faces.

Moreover, the Americans are very ambitious, the railways and commerce in the northeast are only secondary, they also want the monopoly of the Han railway, and now that the revolutionary army in the south is flourishing and Hubei is recovered, it is not up to the imperial court to have the final say, and the Americans are so anxious that they jump up and down, so they try their best to make a match, so that the powerful factions of the north and the south can sit down at the negotiating table and unify the decree as soon as possible, so that American businessmen can get their hands on it and seize commercial interests.

It can be said that the United States is second only to Britain in its "zealousness" for the North-South peace talks.

Stade himself is the personal representative of the American railway king Harriman, and he can serve as the consul general of Mukden, it is the recommendation of the railway king, Tang Shaoyi is very clear about Harriman's purpose, the ambitious railway king is bent on forming a huge Eurasian railway kingdom, China is an important part, the United States economy has been weak in the past two years, a large amount of money is seeking investment outlets, and China's underground railway is a good investment direction.

"Mr. Tang, why don't you speak? What do you think of my analysis? Stade interrupted Tang Shaoyi's thoughts.

Tang Shaoyi smiled apologetically and said: "I think everything still depends on this peace conference, if the north and the south cannot bridge the differences, no matter how good the analysis is, it will be on paper." ”

Now Yuan Shikai wants to expand the Beiyang Army, but there is a shortage of money, and the proposal of the British minister's international banking group is very much in line with Yuan Shikai's appetite, and the two sides have negotiated and reached a preliminary intention to borrow. On the one hand, the national system has not yet been established, and the Beiyang government has not been officially recognized by the southern revolutionaries, so this international loan may not be able to be borrowed, and on the other hand, he is worried that he will be controlled by others and the loan conditions are too harsh, which may cause anger among the Chinese people, and the gains outweigh the losses.

At this time, the American consortium also wanted to intervene, which gave Tang Shaoyi a revelation, perhaps, in the matter of international loans, we can use the method of "razing to raze", at least one more choice.

But Tang Shaoyi couldn't call the shots in this matter, and this was not his main motive for this trip south, so in the end he decided not to express his position lightly.

"You mean the republican position of the South?" ”

Tang Shaoyi nodded and said, "Exactly." Most of the revolutionary parties in the South were republican, and they did not want a constitutional monarchy. ”

"It's very simple, if they insist, then the republican form of government is good, what is there to embarrass about? Don't forget, a revolutionary military leader in the south firmly supports Mr. Yuan as president, and being president is always more powerful than being cabinet minister. ”

"On this issue, it's complicated. Mr. Stade, don't forget, this is China, and in China, some things are not as simple as they seem. Moreover, there are different types of republican forms of government, is it better to have a presidential system or a cabinet system? This is also a disagreement. Tang Shaoyi shook his head, but did not explain further.

Following Yuan Shikai for many years, Tang Shaoyi can see clearly when he asks himself, there is no "republican" concept in that person's mind, although he is still the "regent" of the Qing Dynasty, but what he is thinking in his heart, Tang Shaoyi can also guess a few points, no matter how good the president is, but he is not as good as the emperor, plus a group of subordinates who want to be a subordinate of the dragon heroes, no one knows what calculation Yuan Shikai has in his heart, if the results of the negotiations between the representatives of the north and the south cannot satisfy him, then it will depend on which side has the bigger fistThere are more troops. Tang Shaoyi asked Yuan Shikai for advice before setting off, but Yuan Shikai's ambiguous words made him very helpless, the older the official, the more he had to make an unfathomable appearance, giving his subordinates a sense of majesty and mystery, which was also Tang Shaoyi's most hated bad habit of officialdom, but Yuan Shikai was not exempt from vulgarity.

Si Dyde was not very satisfied with Tang Shaoyi's answer, but he didn't get to the bottom of it, and was thinking about how to lead the topic to the railway, when he heard a commotion downstairs, and then, the stairs "banged", and a young constitutionalist representative rushed up to the tea room on the second floor, waved the newspaper in his hand to the people who were talking, and shouted: "New news, new news!" The Southern delegation has added two more negotiating plenipotentiaries! The Republican Army in Hubei recommended Tang Hualong, a constitutional celebrity in Hubei, and the Revolutionary Coalition Army in Hunan recommended Jiao Dafeng. The southern delegation has just sent a message saying that today's meeting has been suspended for the time being, and that it is still necessary to discuss when it will resume. ”

The fact that three "plenipotentiaries" appeared in one delegation, and that the southern delegation, which had already planned to meet them, turned back halfway through, only proved one thing: the southern revolutionary camp was not monolithic, and Wu Tingfang's recommendation obviously did not solicit the opinions of the revolutionaries in Hubei and Hunan.

Tang Shaoyi glanced at Si Dai De, who was stunned, and said with a wry smile: "Mr. Si Dade, am I right? This peace talk is by no means an easy thing to do, and before the meeting has even begun, someone has already given us a whammy. ”

Stade shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "Dismount? Perhaps, but apparently not for us, but for Mr. Ng Dinh Phuong, perhaps, the commander-in-chief of the IRA wanted to further demonstrate his power to the public. However, there is a saying in your country, 'good things are grinding', and perhaps this is a good start. Mr. Tang, since the meeting can't be held, why don't we go and taste the French dinner, I heard that Zhang Yuan's French dinner is good. ”

Tang Shaoyi smiled and said: "There is a saying in this port, 'Zhangyuan's tea, Sima Road', it is good to come to Zhangyuan for tea, but when it comes to eating French food, you have to go to Sima Road, where Western food is authentic." ”