As for the United States, the Chinese government has taken a large-scale action to attract investment. At this time www.biquge.info US President Taft was very ambitious and wanted to expand US influence abroad in a planned way. He encouraged American bankers and entrepreneurs to invest abroad, and the government provided loans to entrepreneurs who built railroads and started businesses abroad.

And China is moving towards a stable political situation, a vast market, and a large number of cheap labor, which is very attractive. Coupled with the Chinese government's stated intention to rely on the United States to build its navy, the U.S. government believes that an increasingly powerful Chinese government with good intentions toward the United States would not only help the United States expand its commercial interests in China, but perhaps also defend itself against the Japanese threat.

After the establishment of the provisional government of the Republic of China, US media circles have shown an enthusiastic posture and have repeatedly called for early recognition of the "sister republics" on the other side of the Pacific, and congressmen have also jointly put forward a bill urging the government to recognize the Republic of China.

However, given its isolation on the issue of recognition, the United States Government has indicated that it will agree to coordinate action with States "without delay". Similarly, Germany is in such a situation.

Subsequently, the Provisional Government's diplomatic strategy of "taking over the United States on the left and Germany on the right" was very successful, and it also showed sufficient sincerity, and won the strong support of the industrial and commercial people of the two countries, so that the two governments were more and more inclined to get rid of the so-called coordinated actions of the great powers and win the greatest favor of the government of the Republic of China with international recognition.

As the situation in China becomes clearer, the Baath Party's ruling is assured. Both the United States and Germany have expressed their intention to recognize the Republic of China separately despite the opposition of other powers. The U.S. Chargé d'Affaires in China Methodist report ****** said: "Our first recognition of the Republic of China will greatly enhance the goodwill we already have, and it can be used to prevent other countries from making unfair conditions of recognition." We recognize that the sooner the new administration is, the better it will be for China and U.S. interests in China. ”

The German minister, on the other hand, reported to the country: "The recognition of the republic will undoubtedly strengthen the position of the new government in the minds of the people and will also increase the prestige of the upcoming parliament." It helps to quell possible riots and long-standing fears of unrest. ”

This attitude of the United States and Germany aroused the dissatisfaction of the other powers. British Foreign Secretary Gray dismissed the actions of the United States and Germany as "a violation of diplomatic etiquette"; Japanese Foreign Minister Nobuaki Makino accused the United States and Germany of violating the principle of unanimity among the great powers and harming Japan's interests. Russia also expressed dissatisfaction with this.

Based on the concern that the United States and Germany were prepared to recognize the Republic of China alone, Britain and Japan, after secret discussions, put forward a second proposal on the recognition of the new Chinese government, advocating that China could continue to maintain stability and fulfill its international obligations in accordance with previous treaties and customs. As far as possible, countries should declare formal recognition of the new Chinese government at the same time.

In order not to harm its interests in China, Britain no longer insisted that the Chinese Government must issue a formal declaration guaranteeing the fulfillment of its international obligations as a condition for recognition, and advocated that after the National Assembly elects a full president, the president-elect should issue a statement stating that the Chinese Government will strictly respect all its treaty obligations and that foreigners will enjoy all privileges and immunities in China in accordance with established practice.

Therefore, just after Soong Jiaoren passed the vote of the National Assembly and became the official president of the Republic of China, the United States and Germany quickly submitted their instruments of recognition. and issued a note recognizing the Republic of China. Immediately afterward, Austria-Hungary, Mexico, and Brazil also recognized the Republic of China.

The ice was broken, and the attempts of Britain, Japan, and Russia were not only shattered, but also delayed on this issue, and the wanton coercion was revealed by the newspapers, causing the dissatisfaction of a considerable number of Chinese. A few months earlier, Prince Su Shanqi had exposed Japan's plans for the Manchurian-Mongolian independence movement. Although the Japanese government strenuously denied it at the time. And protected Kawashima and others and left them behind. But it has left a shadow in the minds of the people, and now Japan's image has become even worse.

The first to be hit by this was Japan's Shojin Bank. Deposits continued to decline, especially in Shanghai, Tianjin and Beijing. As soon as the business opens, depositors line up to withdraw their money and transfer it to other banks.

Non-governmental newspapers have also begun to add fuel to the fire, calling on Chinese citizens to support the government and the country with concrete actions. Never keep money in foreign banks that do not recognize the Republic of China. As a result, the trend of withdrawals has gradually expanded from local to full.

The British minister, Zhu Erdian, was silent, and the angry Japanese minister Enjiro Yamaza was telling him about the withdrawal boom.

"This was planned for a long time, in the first six months. It turned out that the former Qing Manchu and Mongolian princes in Beijing had already withdrawn more than 30 million taels of silver from the Zhengjin Bank in batches, and now they were running on small and medium-sized retail investors, which was a provocation to the Japanese Empire. After Yamaza Enjiro finished speaking, he looked at Zhu Erdian and suggested: "I think that Britain and Japan should jointly make representations to the new Chinese government to stop the further spread and development of the current situation. ”

A new government had been established and the political situation was relatively stable, and at this time the great powers in China had turned to a struggle for economic power, while Japan was in a difficult situation both internally and externally. Domestically, the military department has long forced the government to expand its military and build ships and expand externally. As a result, huge expenditures, heavy taxes, high debts, depreciation, shortage of funds, and long-term dependence on foreign capital imports. It has to pay 90 million yen in interest on its foreign debt every year, and the government has a lot of trouble raising interest payments. On the one hand, Japan wanted to compete with Britain for economic control of the Yangtze River valley, and on the other hand, because it could not afford to invest, it had to advocate a new form of Anglo-Japanese alliance called "British money, Japanese mind."

Although the British government had an alliance treaty with Japan, there were also contradictions. The British Government believes that it is inappropriate to interfere from outside in the question of China's political system. He opposed Japan's armed intervention in China and its attempt to split China, and was quite dissatisfied with the Manchurian and Mongolian independence movements planned by Japan. He believes that "any separatist activities in Manchuria will be disadvantageous from the point of view of preserving Chinese territory." "Minister Zhu Erdian in China has said that he will never agree to the separation of Northeast China from China, so as not to cause a chain reaction, and has asked Japan to adopt a cooperative attitude.

Your unauthorised actions in Manchuria, which have provoked the Chinese government, are undoubtedly a demonstration and punishment. However, now it is even necessary to implicate other powers such as Britain and France. And also to pull in the British government, continue to benefit you.

Zhu Erdian sneered in his heart, but he pretended to be regretful on his face, and said, "Mr. Yaza." IMHO, you don't seem to have any actual evidence to blame the Chinese government for the withdrawal swag. As for public opinion and people's likes and dislikes, the Chinese government can completely excuse itself and follow the principles of the democratic constitution. They can't intervene. ”

"This trend is likely to spread, and if it is not stopped, I am afraid that your country's banks will also be affected." Enjiro Yamaza blinked and said.

"It's just a possibility." Zhu Erdian didn't seem worried, he waved his hand very casually, and said: "I think the issue of the recognition of the new government seems to be re-discussed, how about we meet again at this time tomorrow?" I would like to start by contacting other ministers. ”

Enjiro Yamaza though a little confused. But he still understood Zhu Erdian's eviction order, so he had to get up and leave.

Juordian sent Madojiro Yamaza away, returned to his desk, took out a gilded invitation and a letter from the drawer, examined it, and suddenly smiled meaningfully.

The secretary of state of the new government is really interesting, and while planning to attack Japan, he has extended an olive branch to the British government. The invitation was to invite Zhu Erdian and his wife to visit the exhibition of treasures of the former Qing royal family. The name is even more peculiar, it actually wants to choose the new government's gift to congratulate King George V on his coronation next year.

Britain has not yet recognized the new government. The secretary of state, however, seems to have a clear idea of why he is so confident, what kind of secret agreement has been reached between them and the fact that virtue has recognized the new government one after another. Zhu Erdian tapped lightly on the table, lost in thought.

……………

According to the preferential treatment clause of the Qing Dynasty, the clean-up of public and private property in the Forbidden City came to an end. Some of the private property was returned to the Qing Dynasty, and the other part of the private property was transferred to investment and funds, which were managed by the government. Of course, in the distribution of private property, Chen Wenqiang also did a lot of tricks. Leather goods, silk and other daily necessities were distributed to the Qing Dynasty as much as possible, and jewelry, gold and silver were distributed to the government as much as possible.

The current exhibition is at the disposal of the government, which is a prelude to a public auction. Because these jewels, gold and silver are all set by experts to set the reserve price, otherwise it cannot be measured concretely, and it cannot be fairly distributed with the Qing family.

But this is a small trick of Chen Wenqiang, for items, the reserve price is just a reference, and it is often deliberately depressed. It is normal for the actual value of an item to be higher than the reserve price due to factors such as workmanship, use, background, etc. Royal supplies, even more so. Then, in a public auction, the difference between the actual value and the reserve price becomes the government's profit, and the amount of profit depends on whether anyone bids.

Preparations for the auction began more than three months ago, and the items participating in the auction were printed with captions and distributed in pamphlets to various places, even overseas. The exhibition period and the auction period are each half a month, leaving plenty of time for wealthy businessmen to come to Beijing.

Today's exhibitions are invitation-only and not available to the general public. All of them are quite economically powerful, or people with status like Zhu Erdian and Chen Wenqiang.

Royal supplies, naturally, are exquisitely made and splendid. Zhu Erdian's wife and some dignitaries and daughters were immediately attracted by these little things, and the women stayed and forgot to return, and watched and commented one by one.

"Women, always love these little things that shine." Chen Wenqiang spread his hands a little helplessly, and said to Zhu Erdian: "Mr. Minister, are you going to choose one or two pieces for ****** at the auction?"

Zhu Erdian spread his hands and said with a wry smile: "These things are too expensive, I'm afraid I can't afford them." ”

"It seems that it is a mistake to invite Mr. Minister to come today." Chen Wen emphatically said: "If the minister's wife is optimistic, I'm afraid the minister's wife will not sleep well at night." And His Majesty the King of your country is a man, and these little things are not very suitable. ”

"It seems so." Zhu Erdian nodded in agreement and looked at Chen Wenqiang with a smile.

"Then we might as well go to the VIP lounge for a while, have a drink, and discuss the coronation gift of your majesty by the way." Chen Wenqiang naturally invited.

"It's a great idea." Zhu Erdian happily accepted Chen Wenqiang's proposal.

Chen Wenqiang said that there was no VIP in the VIP lounge, and there were two guards guarding the door, Zhu Erdian smiled slightly, and said secretly: Sure enough, the drunkard does not mean to drink!

The two sat down, drank tea, and chatted about some inconsequential nonsense, and Chen Wenqiang took the initiative to bring the topic into the right track.

"It is a pity that the last meeting with Mr. Minister was very pleasant, but it is a pity that the traditional friendship between China and Britain is about to take a new step has now come to an abrupt end."

"With regard to international recognition, which is not a problem in the first place, and the content of the proposal is not excessive, why does the new government insist on not agreeing to it?" Zhu Erdian shook his head slightly, expressing puzzlement.

"Image is also a stability issue." Chen Wenqiang explained: "The government has just been formed, and it cannot be delegated authority. I can clearly tell Mr. Minister that the government is very concerned about the frequent contact between members of the Japanese Black Dragon Society and our alliance. ”

"The Japanese Black Dragon Society and the Alliance Society have always had a harmonious relationship, and your government seems to be overly concerned, right?" Zhu Erdian didn't think it was a serious matter, and replied somewhat casually.

"However, there are some aspects of the talks that cause concern." Chen Wenqiang clapped his hands, the door opened, and a secretary walked in and handed Chen Wenqiang the briefcase.

"Mr. Minister, please believe in the accuracy of our information, this is by no means fabricated." Chen Wenqiang opened the briefcase, took out a few documents and handed them to Zhu Erdian.

Zhu Erdian took it, looked through it carefully, and couldn't help frowning.

This is a document in which the Industrial Bank of Japan is preparing to secretly borrow 1 million taels from the commercial Jiangxi Railway Company to acquire shares of the Nanxun (Nanchang-Jiujiang) Railway, and the Dongya Industrial Company is also preparing to enter into a 5 million yen loan contract with the Jiangxi Nanxun Railway Company, stipulating that if the railway company wants to hire foreign engineers, it must first be recommended by the Dongya Industrial Company. Outside the documents are records of the talks, whose names have been erased, but the approximate identities can be guessed, and they are estimated to be China A and Japan B.

China A fears that the move will provoke opposition from the UK and will not pass it in the government. Japan B showed great interest in the Yangtze River Railway, and said that it would hold secret talks with the British side, suggesting that the two sides cooperate to extend the terminus of the Wuhu-Nanchang Railway to Changsha, and also said that he was negotiating with the Chinese government to extend the Nanxun Railway to Pingxiang. In the event of a British capital partnership, Japan will participate in a small part, with the majority of the funding provided by the United Kingdom. He also said that if Japanese capital is allowed to enter the Yangtze River basin, Japan will agree to British investment in the South Manchurian region...... (To be continued.) )