At this time, the form of international diplomacy is also developing in favor of China. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

The British said that in order to cope with a possible crisis in the Far East, they would also send a battleship to Weihai.

The Americans even lodged a solemn protest against Germany's interference in normal commercial exchanges, which was detrimental to the interests of the United States and violated a series of treaties on China signed between the great powers.

The Germans, on the basis of the treaty signed with Britain on the division of the scope of railway construction and the treaty on the division of the scope of interests in China, said that Shandong was the sphere of Germany's major interests, and Britain and the United States should abide by Germany's interests in Shandong.

The Americans said they had no intention of infringing on German interests and hoped that Germany would not interfere in normal commerce.

The British said that they respected Germany's priority to build a railway in Shandong, but believed that the Yanji Railway was a railway built by the Chinese themselves, had nothing to do with Britain, the United States and Western countries, and was a normal commercial exchange, and hoped that the Germans would not break the code of conduct of the great powers in China.

De jure Germany is completely at a loss, but they are too concerned about the interests of Shandong, Qingdao is the core of interests, is their fulcrum in the East, before the Chinese expanded Yantai Port they really could not find a reason, so in this railway construction issue, directly broke out.

However, unexpectedly, in the face of interference from other countries, the Germans finally had no choice but to declare to the outside world that what they opposed was not normal commercial exchanges, but opposed to the interference of foreign powers in Germany's special interests in Shandong, and did not accept any country, any force, or any form of intervention in Shandong's affairs.

At the same time, it was announced that the Germans were not opposed to the Chinese building railways on their own in Shandong.

Yang Chao immediately grasped this statement of the Germans.

On this basis, he negotiated with the Germans, and pulled the newspaper media to invite everyone to interview, saying that there would never be any foreigners on the construction site of the Yanji Railway.

The media, which had long been ignited by this crisis, flocked to the construction site of the Yanji Railway, and sure enough, they found that it was all the Chinese themselves who were working on it, and this matter spread to the West, making the German interference seem very rude and disgraced, and the Kaiser scolded the foreign minister and asked him to solve the matter as soon as possible.

The Germans said that they had no objection to China recognizing the railways on their own, but they put forward a new demand, in order to prevent other countries from coveting Shandong's interests and to ensure Germany's special rights and interests in Shandong, they hoped that the Chinese government would make a guarantee, first, that it would not use the technical strength of any other country, and second, that all the equipment and materials must be supplied by Germany, and that as long as these two things could be achieved, the German government would give up interfering in the Yanji Railway.

Yang Chao agreed very happily, because this article is stipulated, and the Germans made this request by quoting the third content of the treaty:

"According to the law of the whole province of Shandong, if there is any agreement to solicit help from foreign countries for the conduct of various affairs in Shandong, or to use foreigners, or foreign capital, or foreign materials, China shall first ask the German businessman whether he is willing to undertake the project and sell the materials. If the German businessmen are unwilling to undertake the project and sell the materials, China can do it at its own right to show fairness. ”

This clause stipulates that when Shandong Province handles various affairs, if it needs to use foreigners, it must give priority to Germany, give priority to German banks for loans, give priority to German railroad tracks for road construction, and give priority to German manufacturing for equipment, which is the so-called privilege, that is, the so-called division of spheres of influence, and in the form of a treaty, Shandong is a privileged area for Germany.

Therefore, Yang Chao has no standing to refuse unless the unequal treaty is overturned. So a draft agreement was signed with the Germans very quickly, and both sides promised that China would build the Yanji Railway on its own, and that it would use all German equipment and materials, but the agreement that had been reached was still in force.

At the same time, he told the United States that after the first batch of materials, he would abandon the follow-up procurement plan. If the Americans intend to pursue this action, the Chinese side is willing to bear the responsibility for the terms of the contract. That is, the issue of liquidated damages.

Surprisingly, the Americans did not file a claim for compensation for this. In fact, Yang Chao intends to invoke the force majeure clause when the Americans officially propose it. As a result, the Americans expressed their understanding of China's situation, sympathized with it, and announced to the outside world that they would not demand compensation from China. This move by the United States stands in stark contrast to Germany's outrageous behavior and has been highly praised by the international community.

After Yang Chao reached an agreement with the Germans, Zaifeng and the imperial court breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time, Yang Chao made a big splash, not only showing his face in China, but even letting people in many countries in the world see his name, especially in China, there have been good people who have compared Yang Chao to a great diplomat, and likened him to the most suitable candidate to succeed Li Hongzhang, and he is almost pulling out the title of the second generation of Bismarck of the East.

But more famous than Yang Chao is the Yanji Railway, which has not yet laid an inch of rails, and the newspapers have reported on this railway, and the foreign newspapers have praised the Chinese's courage in building the railway independently, but they have doubted the technical ability of the Chinese, and the Chinese newspapers have promoted national sentiment and encouraged the engineers of the Yanji Railway, asking them to make a good example to show the foreigners.

No one thought that the Yanji Railway had become the focus of attention at home and abroad before the track was laid.

"I've said that a long time ago. It's a road to struggle. Isn't it the same now, the whole world is watching. You should work harder, don't let foreigners look down on my China. ”

There is no need for Yang Chao to agitate, Zhan Tianyou and others are already enthusiastic at this time, especially Zhan Tianyou is said to have not slept well for nearly a month, and he has to ask questions all day long from the first line of construction to the railway design, and his two eyes seem to be red as bloodshot.

"Brother Zhan, you have to ensure your health. Now listen to me, you go back and rest immediately. From now on, until tomorrow morning, no matter what happens, don't bother Brother Zhan. Even if Brother Zhan asks you, don't pay attention to him. ”

After Yang Chao heard the news, he immediately had a tough conversation with Zhan Tianyou and asked other engineers for guarantees.

At this time, Zhan Tianyou had already built a capable team, with 30 young children studying in the United States more than 20 years ago forming the management team, and a large number of newly recruited students in the middle level.

At this time, these students only had enthusiasm and did not have many practical skills, so they could only study with engineers during the day, and work overtime at night to review the knowledge of railway construction, and Zhan Tianyou and others took turns to teach them.

"My lord, the Germans have accelerated the progress of the Jiaoji Railway. I inquired that they had changed the route, cut the bend and straightened it, and said that they would repair it to Jinan before we did. ”

Li Sidi has been keeping a close eye on the Germans' every move during this time, and it is still a piece of cake for the Li family, who have a deep background and connections in Shandong, to inquire about this news.

The Germans built the Jiaoji Railway, which was more than 400 kilometers in total, but it took five years to build it.

When the Jinpu Road, which is more than 1,000 kilometers long, was built, it took more than three years to build it.

The reason why the Germans are so slow is that they are too greedy and eat all the benefits in one bite, from the trains, to the rivets on the railway, all of them are made in Germany and transported thousands of miles from Germany. In addition, soon after the construction, it encountered the anti-railway movement in Gaomi County, and the conflict with the local people caused their railway to be suspended for more than a year.

But most importantly, when the Germans built the railway, they deliberately detoured the road, because according to the treaty, they had the right to exploit minerals within thirty miles on both sides of the railway, and the purpose of the German bypass was to encircle the minerals.

But now they have abandoned this plan, put the construction speed in the first place, and have made a plan that it must be repaired to Jinan this year.

Yang Chao was a little worried that the Germans would use the supply of materials to get stuck in the neck of the Yanji Railway, so he followed the Germans closely to negotiate the details of the supply contract.

It was strongly proposed that once the construction of the Yanji Railway was delayed due to the supply problem of the Germans, the Germans would bear full responsibility and compensate the Chinese side for its losses, while the Chinese side had the right to purchase materials from other countries to replace them.

After repeated consultations, it was not until the arrival of the first batch of rails by the Americans and the command of Zhan Tianyou that the Germans agreed to the conditions.

Then the Germans put forward a new demand, the Yanji Railway must use German vehicles, this requirement is even more outrageous, the Germans themselves do not dare to take it to the international community, but only ask Yang Chao to guarantee privately, and hope to sign a supply contract.

After thinking about it, Yang Chao understood that doing things in Shandong really couldn't avoid the Germans, at least before World War I, so he also put forward a request. He said he would prioritize the purchase of vehicles on Chinese soil. At the same time, any country is welcome to set up factories in China to manufacture vehicles, including Germany.

Yang Chao intends to use this as a guide to attract investment from Western industrial countries in China.

Krupp took the bait and said they would increase their investment in Qingdao and expand the Sifang vehicle plant.

The Sifang locomotive was built by the Germans to serve the Jiaoji Railway, but it was only an assembly plant before, and all the parts were shipped from Germany.

Soon Yang Chao signed a supply contract with Sifang Rolling Stock Factory to purchase 100 German locomotives, but Yang Chao proposed that more than half of the components of the vehicles, including internal combustion engines or boilers, must be produced in China, otherwise the contract would be automatically invalidated.

The construction site of the Yanji Railway is full of energy, and there are now more than 20,000 workers, and something happened that touched Yang Chao very much, the nearby workers said that as long as they take care of the food, they can do without wages.

In the case of no wages, naturally some people are unwilling to do it, but at the same time as some people leave, there are people who keep coming, and along the way, villagers pick up their own heads, shovels and other simple tools, and rush to the construction site, and the number of workers snowballs.

"Brothers, come on!"

"Brothers, build the railway!"

"Brothers, protect the right of way!"

"Brothers, build a hometown!"

Yang Chao sent his own soldiers, constantly shouting on the construction site, and let them command the workers as the leader, so as to train their command ability, and also gave them some slogans, although some of the workers did not understand the meaning of these slogans, but tens of thousands of people knew in their hearts that they were doing a very great thing, in the competition with foreigners, the kind of national feelings hidden in the deepest part of the heart, or irrepressibly burst out, full of enthusiasm!

"We have to change our construction plan for this year. Build a hundred kilometers this year, and tomorrow together with Yantai and Weixian! ”

In the engineering department, Zhan Tianyou is also mobilizing with the engineers, the feelings shown by the people have stimulated the patriotic feelings in their hearts, and they are all high-spirited, not only Zhan Tianyou is working overtime, but everyone is working overtime without complaints, and the railway construction drawings have been planned, and the piling and wiring work has been ahead of the construction workers.

The emotions that erupted from everyone moved Yang Chao.

He constantly preached: "The power of the masses of the people is infinite! ”