August 15, 1897 (the 18th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar) is a Sunday in the Western calendar. The Russian army sent a regiment of soldiers to be in charge of the guard on Baiyu Mountain in the port of Liaodong (Lushun), while the local men, women and children living in Arthur arrived early with their families, and a slight sobbing could be heard in the crowd.

At nine o'clock, the acting governor of the Russian Kwantung Prefecture, Witt, led the Russian military and political officials in the Kwantung Prefecture, as well as the Russian minister to the Qing Dynasty, Pablov, the British minister to the Qing Dynasty, Sir Dounar, the French minister to the Qing Dynasty, Lu Ban, the German minister to the Qing Dynasty, Hai Jing, the German minister to the Qing Dynasty, Tian Xiali, the acting minister of the United States to the Qing Dynasty, the RB special envoy Ito Hirobumi, the Qing Liangjiang Governor and the special minister of the Qing Dynasty, Li Hongzhang, and other foreign envoys and Qing officials who participated in the activities, walked slowly to the top of Baiyu Mountain.

At this time, the top of the white jade mountain has already been arranged by Witt in accordance with the traditional Chinese way, in front of the Wanzhong Temple built last year, the white spirit flag was scraped, and the pillars on both sides of the temple were written in Chinese characters, in addition to the temple in front of the temple also assigned a special person to distribute white cloth strips to the guests, Witt took the cloth strips handed over, tied the strips of cloth to his head with a very heavy heart, with Witt today's white suit.

Li Hongzhang walked in the middle of the line, and was surprised and shocked to see the young Russian in front of him who knew so much about Chinese traditional customs, and then looked at his old rival Ito Hirobumi, who was talking to Sir Dou Nale, and couldn't help but squint his eyes and think.

"Your Excellency, the affection of Lu and other countries for the Far East is so obvious, do you want to see it?" Hirofumi Ito whispered to Sir Dou Nale beside him.

Dou Nale looked at the young man in front of him, then looked at the surrounding layout and said: "Mr. Ito should know that we need the help of the Russians in European affairs to contain those damned Germans, although the cabinet is very dissatisfied with Russia's frequent behavior in the Far East, but European problems must be taken into account. ”

"Your Excellency, compared to the huge Lu countries, the nascent RB does not have the strength to challenge your country in the Far East, and our country very much hopes to become your country's helper in the Far East and jointly safeguard the rights and interests of the Far East, especially the Qing Kingdom." Hirobumi Ito replied.

Dou Nale did not reply, but smiled slightly, took the white cloth and tied it to the top of his head in the same way as Werther, and then followed the crowd into the "Wanzhong Temple". "Wanzhong Temple", in fact, is the cemetery in front of the palace to enjoy the hall, a total of three, is last year Qing State Zhili alternate Taoist Gu Yuanxun accepted Lushun after the construction, enjoy the hall in the middle of the hall plaque wrapped with iron plate skin, book "Wanzhong Tomb" three words.

Walking through the hall of enjoyment into the eye is a huge tomb bag, together with the Qing people who participated in the memorial look at the tomb are all sad, and the Qing officials present are the most sad and angry Li Hongzhang, the Qing war completely swept away his hope of a rich country and a strong army, and then the negotiations are even more disgraced his old face. Li Hongzhang looked at the huge grave bag, and couldn't help but burst into tears, he was sorry for the 30,000 siblings who died tragically in Lushun! At this moment, Ito Hirobumi's face was quite embarrassed, and everyone around him looked at him with unkindness, anger, or sarcasm, because everyone knew that the more than 30,000 dead souls buried under the huge tomb were all killed by the RB soldiers.

Witt ordered people to erect simple sheds in the open space in front of the hall and the tomb, which was to prevent this group of pampered old men from being damaged by the sun, and also to prevent the sudden rain from making these fellows gonorrhea. Witt walked to a tombstone made of large marble, bent down and put the flowers in his hand in front of the tombstone, and then stood aside, and the military and political officials of Kwantung Prefecture who followed Witt also stepped forward one by one, and then Li Hongzhang, the governor of Liangjiang and the minister of the Qing Dynasty, led the Qing officials to pay tribute, and in the end, the ministers of various countries in the Qing Dynasty stepped forward, and with the last Ito Hirobumi finishing the memorial, Witt walked in front of everyone and said slowly:

“…… Five years ago, the Qing and RB broke out into war, which became an indelible mark on the Far East, and although the Qing were eventually defeated, the war brought heavy disasters to both countries and even the countries of the Far East...... More than 30,000 Qing civilians in Arthur City suffered and became the souls of the war.

In today's world, all countries seek peace, and people look forward to stability. We are gathered here today for peace, to offer sacrifices to the souls of the dead, and finally to send a good word to Arthur for the well-being and peace of the people! Amen! ”

This sacrificial text can be said to be a bit nondescript, but everyone present did not have the heart to comment too much. For the Qing people, it can be said that it is a shame for foreigners to pay tribute to their dead compatriots on their own land; For the RB people, this memorial was more like the Russians declaring their power and contempt for the RB; For diplomats from other countries, what they value more is the diplomatic dynamics in the Far East that are revealed in this memorial.

Dou Nale said to the German minister beside him, Hai Jing: "Mr. Baron, what do you think of Russia's thoughts in the Far East? ”

Haijing, whose full name is Friedrich Gustav von Haijing, was born in Riga, East Prussia, graduated from the famous Heidelberg University, and was successively stationed in St. Petersburg and Philadelphia, and became the German Consul General in Calcutta in 1889, the German Consul General in Cairo in 1894, and the German Minister to China in 1896. Last year, Haijing had just taken office, and Prince Gong said: "You come to find a good one, and there is a dispute next to the name, which is not a good image." The left green of the silence is the sound, and the addition is the shape, which is said to be Jing, but what? "Haijing Dayue has since changed its name. Yi Yanjin was self-righteous and despised and teased Haijing. Foreigners regard transliterated characters as insignificant, but they are just a waste of words.

"I think peace in the Far East is very important to us, and a quiet and stable Far East will add a lot to our trade." Haijing replied calmly.

"Our government in the United States has always pursued an 'open door' policy, and I think it is also positive in the Far East. ”

"Do you really think that a child's banter will become Russia's foreign policy in the Far East?" The French minister, Luban, said, "Don't forget that it was this little boy who came and Russia got the concession of SH and the entire Kwantung region. It can be seen that Lu Ban hated what Werther did in SH.

Dou Nale smiled slightly after listening to Lu Ban's words, Britain and France can be said to be a pair of love and killing, as long as the common interests of the two countries are not infringed, the British are very fond of seeing the French deflated, so he asked the Russian Minister Pablov forward: "Mr. Minister, do the words of Governor Witte represent your country's foreign policy in the Far East?" ”

Babulov already knew about Werther's overall plan in the Far East, and Babulov also knew that Russia's current power in the Far East was too weak, and it was not yet the time to offend the British powers, especially when he learned from special channels that Britain intended to form an alliance with RB in the Far East, which was tantamount to a chain on Russia in Northeast Asia, so Babulov still agreed with Werther's so-called "peaceful development in the Far East" strategy, as for what Petersburg thought, it was not for a Pablov to worry about. Then he said: "Governor Witte, His Majesty the Tsar has been entrusted with full responsibility for the affairs of the Far East, so his words are naturally representable. ”

Dou Nale was thoughtful after hearing this, and Hai Jing, Tian Xiali, Lu Ban and others also knew that it was time to adjust their strategy in the Far East, as for the RB people, Ito Hirobumi because of the comparison of the position he was standing on, although he saw the conversation between the ministers of Britain, France, the United States, Germany and Russia, but he didn't know what to say, so he could only be in a hurry. Hai Jing, Tian Xiali, Lu Ban and others are all veterans of the diplomatic field, and seeing Dou Nale's reaction, they naturally don't care about what the RB people think.