Daoguo wants to ask which department is the busiest in the central ministry 8 now, and the Gong Ribao is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and now the situation in the Far East is very turbulent, on the one hand, the revolution and civil war in the Russian Empire are uncontrollable. And spread to the Far East, on the other hand. The situation in the South Seas has also become tense because of the Sumatra incident and the emergence of the crisis in New Guinea. Regardless of the situation, China is closely related, and the key means to solve these problems should obviously be diplomatic means, so the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now the busiest department among the central government departments, and the staff must rush to the ministry in the morning to work, and must also work overtime in the evening to complete those heavy government affairs.

As the brain of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tang Shaoyi is now the busiest official in the ministries, and he even insists that he is busier than the president, at least. The president goes to work at nine o'clock in the morning, and he must arrive at the ministry before eight o'clock to arrange the assignment of work among the various departments.

Now, Tang Shaoyi was sitting in his office, discussing with a foreign secretary about receiving foreign guests in the afternoon, and seeing that noon was not far away, he also asked the secretary to order some meals for him on the street, and lunch was still eaten in the ministry. The secretary finally left the office, Tang Shaoyi stood up from behind the desk, looked at the wall clock on the wall, it was already half past eleven o'clock at noon, and he could get off work in another half an hour.

Some of these documents were commonplace diplomatic topics, but Tang Shaoyi basically skipped them, and only those few documents on the situation in the South Seas focused his attention.

The "Java incident" caused by the shelling of civilian ships by Dutch warships. In fact, the foreign guest that Tang Shaoyi is going to meet with in the afternoon is the Dutch ambassador to China, and he is ready to negotiate with the Dutch side again on this issue, although he has not yet received an order from the president to make a formal protest, but Tang Shaoyi believes that as long as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can adopt a flexible stance, it will not be a very difficult thing to resolve the crisis peacefully. Give Commander Lu Ping of the Nanyang Detachment an order with a "clear meaning" to let the fleet maintain the necessary restraint and subdue the people, after all, the Sumatra Chinese autonomy movement has basically achieved its goal, and it seems that there is no need to further escalate the situation, and it is best to calm down the Nanyang as soon as possible before the British government intervenes

Force.

The president did not make a clear statement at the time, but in the end he promised Tang Shaoyi that he could "restrain him." Let's take a look at the actions of the South Sea detachment. He also told Tang Shaoyi that diplomatic contacts with the Dutch side must adhere to a tough stance, never compromise, and never back down. It is necessary to make the Dutch government understand that the central government of China is serious about safeguarding the interests of the people and the dignity of the country, and that it is also ready for war.

Tang Shaoyi knows very well that the Netherlands is no longer what it was in the past. As a prematurely decrepit colonial empire, the Netherlands was able to maintain its current colonial interests. It is not the strong national strength that depends, but the strategic balance of power in the Far East of the great powers, but now, with the stalemate of the war in Europe, the strategic balance of power in the Far East has long been broken, and the Malayan crisis two years ago is proof that even the British Empire, which is known as "the sun never sets", is unable to control the colonies in the Far East.

First Japan's Meiji Restoration, and then China's "Chengshen Revolution", the two countries of Asia showed the entire East Asian nation how to get rid of the colonial control of the foreign powers, one chose top-down reform, the other chose bottom-up revolution, although the path is different, but the purpose is highly consistent, that is, to ensure the country's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.

At present, the whole East Asian region is full of nationalists with China and Japan as their teachers, the Indochina region under French occupation, the Philippines under American occupation, the Straits Settlements under British occupation, and the East Indies under Dutch occupation. The national consciousness of these colonies, which was being fermented under the dual influence of the Meiji Restoration and the Sushin Revolution, was still weak at present, but if these consciousnesses were given the opportunity, they would inevitably release tremendous energy that would revolutionize the Far East and even the whole world. Order in Asia.

Since the end of the Malayan crisis, the Dutch East Indies have been in turmoil, although there has been no large-scale uprising, but the entire East Indies is on the eve of a change of heart, the Sumatra incident is just a sudden explosion in the dark night, the Dutch colonial authorities are completely in a state of passive defense, it has to face China's aggressive situation, once it is not handled well, it will lose more than just a Sumatra.

It is precisely on the basis of this overall consideration that Tang Shaoyi believes that it is not difficult to peacefully resolve the "Java incident" through diplomatic means, and that it is not impossible for the Dutch government to compromise and retreat, and the key is how to grasp a certain degree, and the so-called "too much" must leave some face for the Dutch government in the course of the exchange, and the Dutch government must not feel that it has lost face in the international community, and if the Dutch government is forced to be in a hurry, it may not be in a hurry to jump over the wall.

No matter how weak the Netherlands is now, it was also a naval power in the end, and it has competed with Britain for hegemony on the ocean for many years, and has a good naval force, although in the Far East, the Dutch naval force is not strong, but if the Dutch fleet fights to the death, the Chinese navy may have to face a fierce naval battle.

"After all, the Netherlands is a soft persimmon after all. Looking at the president's intentions, he was quite eager to try and wanted to show his determination through the Dutch War, but unfortunately, the British Far East Fleet was afraid that it would not see the Dutch fleet suffer, but it did not know what the British government was doing now. ”

Thinking of this, Tang Shaoyi put the stack of documents in his hand on the table, walked back to the window, and stretched out his hand to push it open. Seeing that several cars were driving down the cement road, they stopped in front of the office building, and several officers wearing admiral uniforms walked down the car, and Tang Shaoyi recognized the person at a glance, it was the chief of the navy, Tang Xiangming.

Seeing Tang Xiangming suddenly rushed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tang Shaoyi was a little surprised, hurriedly closed the curtains, and then sat back at the desk, picked up the phone on the desk, shook the Admiralty, and asked a few words, but the other party was unclear So, Tang Shaoyi understood that Tang Xiangming may have rushed directly to his Ministry of Foreign Affairs from Tianjin.

I don't know what Tang Xiangming means. Tang Shaoyi had no choice but to respond to the changes, sat down behind the table, and took out a few telegrams from the folder. After studying absentmindedly for a few minutes, Tang Xiangming followed a secretary into Tang Shaoyi's office.

"Zhuxin, what wind blew you to this Ministry of Foreign Affairs? You're a rare guest of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ”

Tang Shaoyi got up, took a few steps forward, did enough courtesy, and tested the other party's intentions.

Tang Xiangming smiled bitterly: "It's not a secret. I have come here now to ask General Director Tang for advice, because this matter has a bearing on the construction of the navy and also on China's exhibition, and we cannot handle it without caution. ”

"But for the Dutch shelling" Java. No. the thing? Tang Shaoyi guessed.

"That's exactly what it's for."

Tang Xiangming nodded, sat on the sand with Tang Shaoyi, served tea with the secretary, and then withdrew from the office, leaving Tang Shaoyi and Tang Xiangming in the office.

"Regarding the "Java incident", the center has already made a decision, and the navy only needs to cooperate. Could it be that you have some latest news that the center doesn't have? ”

Tang Shaoyi asked a few tentatively, Tang Xiangming went to Europe to study in the navy, met some foreign naval personnel, and was able to get some news that could not be obtained through ordinary channels, so Tang Shaoyi asked this question.

Tang Xiangming pondered for a while, and said: "Actually, I want to ask Chief Tang, what do you think about this matter?" In your opinion, is it better to solve it through diplomatic channels, or through a show of force? ”

Tang Shaoyi couldn't help but smile and said, "Cast new." Aren't you confused? As Minister for Foreign Affairs, I am naturally opposed to the use of force as the first option, and in my view, a diplomatic settlement of disputes is always the best thing at all times. Only when diplomatic avenues are inadequate. to consider the use of force to solve the problem. ”

"What's going on. What's going on. That's what you said to the president? Tang Xiangming asked again.

Seeing Tang Xiangming's spitting and spitting, Tang Shaoyi suddenly woke up to the fact that he was tempting, but not testing the opinions of Tang Shaoyi and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but testing the president's opinions.

"Zhuxin, you've been in the Admiralty for a long time, and this yamen style has risen up. Don't you just want to know what it means to be president? Just ask me directly, why bother beating around the bush? ”

Tang Shaoyi smiled and patted Tang Xiangming's shoulder. got up from the sand, walked to the desk, and then turned around and looked at Tang Xiangming, who was a little embarrassed.

"Zhuxin, you are a soldier, not a politician. I know that in the Admiralty, there are still some bureaucratic schools left over from the Beiyang era, but you are a person who has returned from studying abroad. And Brother Ling is also a political commissar next to the president, you should understand that the president does not like his subordinates to be opportunistic, in the president's view, the military should be pure, if the military is stained with politicians, then it is not a soldier, it is a politician in military uniform. The president hates this kind of politician in military uniform the most. Tang Shaoyi first taught Tang Xiangming as an elder, and then returned to business.

"Zhuxin, I'll be honest with you, the president has a bit of a fight with the Dutch. However, I temporarily persuaded him that if the Dutch government could accept the solution proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there would be no naval battle between the Chinese and Dutch armies on the Sumatra side.

"Oh? So, at the moment the center is restrained? What if the Dutch government does not accept our proposal? Is war inevitable? The Admiralty cannot sit idly by, and once the Sino-Dutch war breaks out, I am willing to ask the Central to go into battle and command the fleet to go south for reinforcements. ”

Tang Xiangming also stood up from the sand, and Xiao Tang Shaoyi lit up.

"You also want to lead the fleet south? Now that the surface fleet of the Navy is still in China, there are only a few small warships left, do you want to lead those small warships south? ”

Tang Shaoyi was a little surprised, but after thinking about it, he already understood Tang Xiangming's sincerity, and the other party might want to use this to increase his prestige.

"Don't forget, there are still two battleships on the Arthur dockyard, and now that the repair work is almost complete, if the center is determined to start a war with the Netherlands, I will urge the dockyard again. The warships will be able to enter service in five days at most, and I will command two battleships to go south to the South Seas, how can I say that I can also scare the British Far East Fleet? Now Lupin's side has no problem dealing with the Dutch fleet, but if the British Far East Fleet intervenes. The strength of the South Sea Detachment is not enough. ”

Tang Xiangming told his plan, which made Tang Shaoyi frown.

Tang Shaoyi is most worried about the young Zhuang faction officer like Tang Xiangming, who is eager to grab merit. These people were eager to win honor and power through war, and they were also fanatical believers in "Pan-Asianism".

To tell the truth, Tang Shaoyi was very disgusted by this kind of force-only young Zhuang faction officer, if it weren't for Tang Hualong's friendship with him. Perhaps he had already shouted at the admiral in front of him, who regarded war as child's play.

In the end, it's young and vigorous, and maybe others will instigate it.

"Chief Tang, it just so happens that I am going to the presidential palace after meeting with the Dutch ambassador in the afternoon. Why don't you come with me, and we'll talk to the president about the current situation in Nanyang and see what the president has in mind. ”

Tang Shaoyi nodded, he also wanted to know whether the president had made up his mind whether to fight or make peace, it depended on how the president treated the commander-in-chief's determination to fight. If you want to know what happens, please log in Yes. More chapters. Support the author, support genuine reading!