Fifteen kilometers from Paris, the majestic Palace of Versailles is a pearl of French art and a shining jewel of world culture and art.

Gu Weijun, one of the five members of the delegation of the Republic of China, stood quietly in this gorgeous palace with a face like water, but there was no element of joy in his heart, but was filled with strong anger.

The delegation of the Republic of China government made this trip to Paris because Shandong had been occupied by Germany in the past, and this time Germany was defeated, and the Republic of China government, as the victorious country, should recover the rights and interests of Shandong.

At the time of the peace talks on the East Asian side, China was ready to raise the issue of recovering Shandong's rights to the Peace Conference, but before it could do so, Japan took the lead in proposing at the peace conference that Germany's rights and interests in Shandong should be directly inherited by Japan.

The conference informed the Chinese delegates to make presentations at the afternoon meeting, and when the delegation received the notice, it was already noon, and there was not much time to prepare.

Is Shandong about to be ceded to the Japanese?

Disgrace!

When he saw the pocket watch in his hand, he had mixed feelings, this pocket watch had just been picked up in the bathroom, and he remembered that it was the pocket watch of the Japanese diplomatic ambassador Makino, which may have been left behind in the toilet.

The Japanese speech won the applause of many people at the meeting, not because Makino spoke well, but because Japan ranks fifth in strength as a country in the world, and is now the largest power except for Britain, France, the United States, and Italy, which are the main victorious countries, and its own strength has won the respect of many people.

It was too late, and after Makino finished speaking, Gu Weijun, the diplomatic representative of China, spoke, Gu Weijun's eyes lowered, and he walked up to the podium slowly and quietly, looking around, still with indifferent eyes.

In the large and beautiful palace, there were hundreds of people, but only the leaders of Britain, France, and the United States could make decisions, and among these leaders, the hope of the delegation of the Republic of China government was pinned on US President Wilson, because Wilson had previously delivered the famous "Speech on the Triumph of Righteousness over Might", saying that the disposition of the colonies should be judged by absolute justice, and that all countries, big or small, enjoy the same rights.

From the point of view of a weak country and a small country, Wilson is indeed a good person to make such remarks, and both the defeated Germany and the poor and weak government of the Republic of China hope that Wilson can preside over justice in this peace negotiation.

Before leaving for the Paris Peace Conference, Gu Weijun made a special trip to visit US President Wilson, who promised to be willing to support and help China, which gave Gu Weijun more confidence and expectations for the upcoming peace conference.

Gu Weijun glanced at Wilson and found that Wilson was whispering to French Prime Minister Clemenceau next to him, and he didn't look at himself at all. Gu Weijun no longer looked at him, but looked at everyone in the conference, and said in a straight voice:

"Allow me to show you one thing before I make a formal statement."

Gu Weijun took out the pocket watch he had picked up in the bathroom before.

Japanese Ambassador Makino stood up: "Mine, this is my pocket watch ......"

Gu Weijun sneered: "Before entering the venue, Mr. Makino gave me this gold watch in order to curry favor with me and compete for the privileges of Shandong. ”

Makino looked left and right for a moment, and loudly denied: "I protest, this is theft, the Chinese representative stole my pocket watch, this is an open theft!" Shameless! Extreme shamelessness! ”

Gu Weijun said in a frustrated manner: "Baron Makino is angry, he is really angry, let's even if I stole his gold watch, then I would like to ask Baron Makino, you Japan, in front of the whole world stole the entire Shandong Province, the 36 million people of Shandong Province should not be angry, and the 40,000 Chinese should not be angry!" I would like to ask if this act of Japan is considered theft, and whether it is shameless. ”

"Extreme shamelessness!" Gu Weijun shouted again, and his voice resounded in the palace, deafening.

French Prime Minister Clemenceau asked, "Who is this man?" ”

Wilson whispered: "Gu Weijun, Minister to the United States, son-in-law of Tang Shaoyi, Premier of the Republic of China." ”

Clemenceau nodded slightly with appreciation: "Zhuge Liang-like characters ......"

With Gu Weijun's wonderful speech, the whole palace quieted down, and Gu Weijun continued: "Shandong is the cradle of Chinese culture, and the Chinese sages Confucius and Mencius were born in this land. ”

His speech made all Westerners in the venue empathize and received fierce applause.

Gu Weijun turned to face the main leaders of the Entente: "Your Excellency, distinguished delegates, I am very happy to represent China in this peace conference, I feel a great responsibility, because I am speaking here on behalf of China, which accounts for a quarter of the world's population, just now Mr. Makino said that China is a victorious country that has not sent a single soldier, this is ignoring the minimum facts, everyone look at the photos in my hand, during the war, China sent 140,000 laborers to Europe, they are all over the battlefield, They, like all the soldiers of the victorious countries, are bleeding and dying. I want you to see another photo of the cemetery of Chinese workers who died on the battlefield in France, there are more than a dozen such cemeteries in France, most of them are from Shandong Province in China, and what are they for, just to win this war! For the peace and tranquility of your homeland!

Therefore, the Chinese delegation is convinced that when discussing the issue of China's Shandong Province, the meeting will take into account China's basic legitimate rights and interests, that is, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

That's the end of my words, thank you, thank you! ”

After sorting out the draft materials on the podium, Gu Weijun calmly stepped off the podium, the eyes of hundreds of people followed his body, with a strong respect in their eyes, and even the Japanese diplomatic ambassador Makino sat down in a chair in frustration.

U.S. President Wilson, French Prime Minister Clemenceau, and British Prime Minister Lloyd George all walked up to Gu Weijun, shook his hand, and praised him as an excellent Chinese diplomat and an insightful Chinese.

Immediately, more people surrounded him and extended friendly hands to him, and Gu Weijun, and even China, were respected by all countries in the world for the first time at the Paris Peace Conference.

For the first time, a Chinese representative made a successful speech on the sovereignty of his country in an international forum!

After the one-day meeting, Gu Weijun first went to the hospital to visit Lu Zhengxiang, the head of the delegation, who was ill and hospitalized, while the remaining three of the five members of the delegation left Paris for various reasons and went abroad, and some of the delegates packed up and returned to China, and the delegates believed that foreigners looked down on the Chinese, and it was inevitable to accept the humiliating treaty, and it was not only useless to stay, but on the contrary, these delegates were going to sign a shameful treaty of sale, and their reputation was humiliated, and they naturally refused, so it was good to simply leave France.

China has two seats, one for Gu Weijun and the other awkwardly empty.

At this critical time, when the Republic of China delegation was supposed to be maneuvering diplomatically, Gu Weijun was the only one active in the peace conference and took on the responsibility of making the final effort for China alone.

Gu Weijun is worthy of the title of "the first diplomat of the Republic of China".