On September 27, 1914, the Japanese minister asked to meet with Tang Shaoyi, the foreign minister of Beiyang, and during the meeting, the Japanese minister made a request that shocked Tang Shaoyi, "With the consent of President Yuan Shikai, the Japanese Empire will send troops to attack Qingdao, where the People's Party is entrenched." Due to the need to invest more troops in Qingdao, the Japanese Empire asked the Beiyang government to temporarily lease Yantai to Japan as a logistics base. to help the Japanese army better attack Qingdao. ”

Tang Shaoyi was the foreign minister anyway, so he didn't immediately scold. First, Tang Shaoyi is not good at swearing, and even swear words are rarely spoken. Second, the Japanese side proposed that "with the consent of President Yuan Shikai, the Japanese Empire will send troops to attack Qingdao, where the People's Party is entrenched", which means that Yuan Shikai secretly reached an agreement with the Japanese.

On the day the Japanese army attacked Qingdao, the People's Party sent a telegram to the whole country, "In order to defend China's sacred land, the People's Party waged a fierce battle against the invading Japanese invaders in Qingdao." ”

This is the second time that the Chinese army has waged war with foreign troops in this place of Qingdao. At first, the national public opinion did not evaluate this very passionately. The People's Party is now the public enemy of the entire Chinese ruling class, and China is bound to lose every war against foreign countries, and these 36 defeats have been defeated, and it is not too much for the People's Party to add another defeat. If the political attitude of the BJP is adopted, if they win, their prestige will increase greatly, and the end of the old rulers will come. Naturally, they could not say that they supported Japan, and the officials of the Beiyang government still hoped that Japan and the People's Party would die together in Qingdao, and then Beiyang would pick up the fruits of this victory.

In this state of mind, Tang Shaoyi himself did not think that Yuan Shikai would reach any secret agreement with the Japanese. If Yuan Shikai didn't know anything about Japan's invasion of Qingdao, it would be too underestimating Tang Shaoyi's IQ. But Tang Shaoyi also absolutely did not believe that Yuan Shikai would sign any secret agreement with Japan on paper. At present, the Japanese minister used this agreement to speak to Tang Shaoyi in person so confidently, which really frightened Tang Shaoyi.

finally sent away the Japanese minister, and Tang Shaoyi immediately went to see Yuan Shikai. As Tang Shaoyi thought, after Yuan Shikai heard the request made by the Japanese minister, he trembled with anger, and said in a loud voice: "Wolf ambition!" Wolf ambition! But it didn't go any further.

Tang Shaoyi was already able to guess eight or nine at this time, he sighed secretly in his heart, but he couldn't say anything more. Yuan Shikai did not necessarily ask Tang Shaoyi to give advice, and after his emotions calmed down a little, Yuan Shikai ordered Tang Shaoyi not to make any diplomatic concessions in any case, and absolutely not to agree to Japan's occupation of Yantai. After Tang Shaoyi accepted this order, he saw that Yuan Shikai had no other explanation, so he hurriedly said goodbye on the grounds that he would go to do this matter immediately. On the way back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tang Shaoyi smiled bitterly in his heart, this is not only the ambition of the Japanese wolf, Yuan Shikai is the real lure of the wolf.

Based on Yuan Shikai's performance, Tang Shaoyi was able to determine that Yuan Shikai must have known about Japan's military action to attack Qingdao, and even nodded his head in acquiescence. Looking at it now, what Japan is trying to do is not just a Qingdao at all, and they have long coveted Shandong. Taking advantage of this attack on Qingdao, Japan took advantage of the situation to make more demands. Japan said very well, "temporarily lease Yantai," and Tang Shaoyi believes that if Japan succeeds in joining the "lease of Yantai," it will definitely not be temporary. They will find ways to turn the lease into a permanent one. Yuan Shikai is absolutely impossible to admit it at the moment, so what will happen after that? Will Japan invade Yantai?

It was impossible to determine the future development of the situation, so Tang Jiyao arrived at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and brought his Chenglong fast son-in-law Gu Weijun to discuss the matter. Gu Weijun had already gotten the news, and as soon as Tang Jiyao asked him, Gu Weijun immediately said: "Father-in-law, the key to this matter is still the British." If the British had not nod, Japan would not have made a request to Beiyang to attack Qingdao. ”

These words directly grasped the crux of the problem, and Tang Jiyao felt that his eyes lit up. As a diplomat, Tang Jiyao was quite self-contained, he did not immediately interrupt Gu Weijun's speech, but let Gu Weijun continue.

"There must be diplomatic masters in the BJP." Gu Weijun took the conversation a little further, "At present, among the various forces in East Asia, France and Japan, led by the United Kingdom, and the United States, which have always wanted to meddle in China. The BJP knew that it was no longer possible to have the full support of the British, and they simply tried their best to hold the United States in the position of maintaining the Britain. The Americans are utilitarian and practical, and if the People's Party cannot protect itself, they will not fight for the sake of the People's Party. Therefore, in my opinion, the People's Party's recent actions are certainly the goal of seizing territory, and it is also an important task to prove itself to the United States. Now that war has broken out in Europe, Britain, France, and Russia are all in Europe, and they have no time to pay attention to Chinese affairs. However, the United States did not enter the war and still had the spare strength to collude with the BJP. So in the current situation, the BJP has not lost foreign aid at all. This must be the advice of the BJP's diplomat. Gu Weijun analyzed the situation with his father-in-law, Tang Shaoyi.

Tang Shaoyi nodded again and again, and after Gu Weijun's analysis, all the problems were seen more clearly.

Gu Weijun continued, "The United States has always advocated China's open door and has long wanted to intervene in the Far East. The BJP expelled foreign forces, and the Americans had nothing to lose. Even that loss can be easily compensated for by the expansion of trade. However, Britain suffered heavy losses, and in order to balance the situation in Asia, Britain agreed to send troops to Japan. And what are the benefits for Japan of just playing Qingdao? The People's Party has only two outlets to the sea, Qingdao and Lianyungang, and the real industrial centers and grain producing areas are all inland, and with Japan's national strength, it is powerless to break into the territory of the People's Party. Moreover, Japan's interests are in the northeast, and they have always coveted Shandong. But these places are in the hands of our Beiyang. Even if Japan conquered Qingdao and Lianyungang, the war would have ruined. Even if everything was intact, the complete emptying of these two places by Japan would not make up for the cost of sending troops to them. Therefore, Japan must gain benefits in China. ”

Of course, Tang Shaoyi would not ask stupid things such as "then why don't you talk about interests after the war?" Beiyang made it clear this time that he wanted Japan to take advantage of the fire, even if Japan occupied Qingdao, there would be no loss to Beiyang.

"If you want to resolve this dispute diplomatically, should you ask Britain to mediate?" Tang Shaoyi asked.

Gu Weijun was silent, Tang Shaoyi knew at a glance that Gu Weijun had something that was difficult to say, or it was inconvenient to say, so he encouraged: "Shaochuan, you don't have to worry about it at this time. If you have any ideas, but it doesn't hurt to say it. ”

"Father-in-law," Gu Weijun still hesitated, "If such a military matter cannot be obtained on the battlefield, it cannot be discussed at the negotiation table." I think that if you want to mediate with the British, you can't go directly to the British. Be sure to publicly and formally reject Japan's request. Not only that, but if Japan sends troops to attack the land where our Beiyang belongs, we must fight them. If we could not prove that our Beiyang was capable of fighting Japan, the British would have had an alliance with Japan and would never have started a war with Japan in order to regain the lost land for Beiyang. Even if the British forced Japan to withdraw its troops, Japan would definitely want us to pay for it in Beiyang. We want to get our land back, so why pay for it? And in doing so, how can the British and the Japanese look down on us? After the People's Party defeated the Germans, it was able to occupy Qingdao. The British have sent troops to retake Qingdao for us. Had it not been for the People's Party's open desire to expel the British, the British would not have agreed to Japan's attack on Tsingtao. Not to mention that the Americans will support the BJP even if they lose some of their interests in China. This living example is in front, why don't we learn from Beiyang? Why do you want to learn the Manchu Qing Dynasty? ”

Tang Shaoyi was silent, he now fully understood why Gu Weijun had concerns. The matter of foreign war is not something that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can decide. Moreover, Beiyang is now vigorously opposing the People's Party, and all actions are wrong. If it weren't for the fact that the People's Party doesn't eat, Beiyang would be eager to say that eating is fragrant. At present, if Tang Shaoyi asks Beiyang to learn the foreign strategy of the People's Party, even if the officials in Beiyang admit in their hearts that what Tang Shaoyi said is reasonable, there will definitely be people who will come out to criticize Tang Shaoyi. Not to mention that many people in Beiyang don't want to fight with foreigners at all.

After being silent for a while, Tang Shaoyi replied helplessly: "If there is a chance, I will tell the president about it." ”

Gu Weijun did not force his father-in-law, and Gu Weijun was already very clear about some of the practices within Beiyang. These political events determine Beiyang's long-term strategy in the future. In fact, there is no need for anyone to directly oppose it, Gu Weijun can imagine what the opponents will say. "What will I do in the future if I am at odds with Japan now?" "Since Britain and Japan have an alliance, the British will not stand on the side of Beiyang."

These words seem reasonable, and these fears are not entirely groundless. However, the People's Party has never cared about these issues, but on the contrary, because the People's Party has proved by its own strength that it is not afraid of Japan and Britain at all, Britain and Japan did not directly take action until the People's Party directly turned its face.

Gu Weijun couldn't help but sigh slightly, compared with the current People's Party in Beiyang, many people are not optimistic about the People's Party. However, eight years ago, when the People's Party was still a small force in Fengtai County, Anhui Province, the Beiyang Group was already a huge military and political group that almost led the imperial court. At that time, the vast majority of people in the world had never heard of the name of the People's Party. At that time, who would have thought that a few young rogues would be able to break through the current situation? If nothing else, with courage, perseverance, and unwavering steadfastness, Beiyang is completely incomparable with those in the People's Party.

Gu Weijun was still a 26-year-old young man in 1914, far from the old age where he could only sigh helplessly. And Gu Weijun couldn't help but sigh just now, but when he thought of this, he sighed softly again.

The next day, Japan did not continue to press. Unlike the last time when the People's Party attacked Qingdao, this time the People's Party was tightly sealed off the war zone, and the Beiyang spies could not enter the war zone smoothly at all. There were no further details other than knowing that the Japanese offensive was making no progress.

Tang Shaoyi soon saw Yuan Shikai again, and he was about to put forward Gu Weijun's point of view to Yuan Shikai, but he heard Yuan Shikai say: "The Japanese side has changed its request, and they want to use Rizhao as a temporary transit point. The British were more supportive of the Japanese in this matter. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a good talk with Japan this time, and it must not let their hegemon Rizhao not leave. ”

These days, Tang Shaoyi has become more and more fond of looking at maps. Yantai is near Weihai and is not at all compatible with the attack on Qingdao. But Rizhao is completely different, Rizhao is in the south of Qingdao and north of Lianyungang. In addition to the port, Rizhao's location could not only cut off the People's Party base from Qingdao, but also threaten Linyi, which was already under the control of the People's Party. At least on the map, if Linyi can be captured, the Japanese army can go straight to Zaozhuang, one of the steel bases of the People's Party. Zaozhuang has a direct railway to Xuzhou, and the Japanese army can even coerce Xuzhou. Xuzhou is the most important industrial center and food center in the eastern part of the People's Party.

The British may not have agreed to the Japanese occupation of Yantai, but they were able to accept the temporary use of Rizhao by Japan. With the current strategic situation, Rizhao is indeed a greater threat to the People's Party. It can also give full play to the power of the Japanese Navy.

Seeing that Tang Shaoyi was silent, Yuan Shikai asked, "Shaochuan, what do you think?" ”

Tang Shaoyi pondered for a while, and finally made up his mind. He told his son-in-law Gu Weijun's statement to Yuan Shikai and Pan. Yuan Shikai's brows furrowed when he heard this. Especially when he heard Tang Shaoyi say that except for Qingdao at the moment, he must not make the slightest concession to Japan, and if Japan wants to use strength, Beiyang will not hesitate to start a war with Japan and cannot show weakness to Japan, Yuan Shikai's brows furrowed even tighter.

This is already a strategy related to political warfare, and it is also a way of thinking that greatly changes the established strategy of Beiyang. Yuan Shikai couldn't accept it easily. "Shaochuan, in the current situation, we must not fall out with Britain and Japan."

Tang Shaoyi knew that Yuan Shikai would definitely say this, and when he heard that it was true, he stopped talking. But Tang Shaoyi didn't expect that Yuan Shikai suddenly asked, "Shaochuan, who told you this idea?" ”

At this time, Tang Shaoyi became alert, he didn't know what Yuan Shikai meant by this? Is it prepared to be detrimental to the person who came up with the idea? Or do you think Tang Shaoyi's suggestion is very problematic?

"President, this is just some of my own thoughts, and there are inconsiderate things." Tang Shaoyi hurriedly prevaricated.

Yuan Shikai didn't mean to ask to the end, he asked Tang Shaoyi to continue to do things, and let Tang Shaoyi go.

Not long after leaving, Tang Shaoyi was just about to get into the car, but he heard someone calling him behind him. turned his head and saw that it was Wang Shizhen, who had just been listening. Wang Shizhen said: "Tang Gong, I want to talk to you about something, can we take a ride together?" ”

Tang Shaoyi naturally didn't dare to refuse, and got into Tang Shaoyi's carriage with Wang Shizhen full of doubts, Wang Shizhen said: "Tang Gong, what you said just now must not show weakness to Japan, I strongly agree with it." However, it is not feasible to start a war with Japan just on the spur of the moment. Tang Gong has never been a radical person, and when he put forward such ideas at the moment, he still has some things that have not been said more clearly. Please also ask Tang Gong to speak in more detail. ”

These ideas were not originally thought up by Tang Shaoyi, and when Wang Shizhen asked him like this, Tang Shaoyi couldn't answer them at that time.

What a character Wang Shizhen is, seeing Tang Shaoyi's expression, he guessed the approximate situation. He smiled and said, "Tang Gong, it seems that the president is not wrong. Sure enough, someone put forward these ideas to Tang Gong. was a hero at the time who could put forward this idea, but I don't know if Tang Gong can recommend it? ”

Tang Shaoyi knew that although Wang Shizhen was Yuan Shikai's confidant, he was not a sinister villain. doesn't like to engage in conspiracy and trickery, since Wang Shizhen proposed to meet the person who proposed this idea, I don't think it was deliberately behind the scenes. He thought for a moment, and finally replied, "Since the prince has this idea, then you might as well take a ride with me." ”

When the two arrived outside the diplomatic department, Tang Shaoyi ordered someone to call Gu Weijun, and the three of them took a car together and started to go to Xiangshan in Beijing like an autumn tour.

Gu Weijun never imagined that his father-in-law, Tang Shaoyi, would actually introduce himself to Wang Shizhen, the dragon of Beiyang, who had a very high reputation among the generals of Beiyang. He is the main battle, and can even determine Yuan Shikai's opinion to a large extent. If Wang Shizhen can be convinced, it is very likely to be enough to convince Yuan Shikai.

Wang Shizhen quickly asked Gu Weijun's opinion. Gu Weijun said bluntly: "Prince, the current situation in China is actually that Britain and the People's Party are going to war, but the war in Europe is urgent, and the British are unable to deal with it. So whether to support Beiyang or support Japan. It's the key of the moment. ”

Gu Weijun is a young man after all, and he still dares to speak out. Wang Shizhen listened to Gu Weijun's straightforwardness, and also nodded slightly.

"It is impossible for the BJP to be cunning and cunning, and since they dare to expel the British in the Yangtze River valley and claim to reclaim all the sovereignty of China, it is impossible for them to fail to see the present situation. Therefore, the People's Party fought with us in Beiyang in northern Henan a few months ago, and the land seizure was certainly one of the goals, but the other goal was to make the British think that we could not fight, and we could not defeat the People's Party. To make Britain lose confidence in our Beiyang. We failed in Beiyang, so the British will release the Japanese. ”

Wang Shizhen's expression was solemn, coupled with the fact that he had always been in a high position and commanding soldiers and horses, an invisible coercion and pressure made Gu Weijun a little speechless. And Gu Weijun didn't know if Wang Shizhen could figure out the joints, so he was very cooperative and silent for a while.

After a while, Wang Shizhen spoke, and he only said three words, "Go on." ”

"The Japanese were favored by Britain only because the Japanese could fight, first defeating the Manchus in the First Sino-Japanese War and then defeating Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. At present, if we stay out of the situation, if Japan loses to the People's Party, they will suffer great economic losses, and they will certainly take back some of the benefits from our Beiyang. If they win the People's Party, Britain will be even more conniving with Japan. Therefore, in the current situation, we might as well go toe-to-toe with Japan. If Japan loses to the People's Party, we can win Japan. If Britain wants to deal with the People's Party, it can only rely on us in Beiyang. Even if we lost to Japan, Japan lost to the People's Party. In order to mediate the contradictions, Britain could not blindly favor Japan. ”

Speaking of this, Gu Weijun was a little excited, "Prince, the People's Party is trying its best to challenge Britain and Japan, and they are not afraid. We in Beiyang are timid at the moment, and the ending will definitely not be good. The British are the most fickle, and if Japan is defeated, the British feel that we are incapable of Beiyang, and they will be caught in the war in Europe. Even if the BJP provoked Britain so much, Britain did not send troops from Europe to fight the BJP. If the situation is not good, and then the People's Party relaxes its conditions a little, and the British dare to recognize the power of the People's Party for fear of pinching their noses. At that time, the whole Beiyang wanted to rely on British support, and the British abandoned Beiyang, and at that time they didn't even need the People's Party to do it. We, Beiyang, are afraid that it will fall apart. Prince, this matter must not be left unguarded. ”

Wang Shizhen's face was already gloomy like water, he was silent for a while, and suddenly asked Gu Weijun, "Shaochuan, if I ask you to state this matter to the president, are you ready?" ”

Gu Weijun's eyes lit up, "The younger generation can present to the president at any time." ”

"Good!" Wang Shizhen replied with satisfaction.

Seeing such an answer, Tang Shaoyi next to him couldn't help but show an uneasy and worried look.