On December 23, 1914, Yuan Shikai held a ceremony at the Temple of Heaven.

On December 28, the Covenant Council passed the "Amendment to the Great Presidential Election Law," stipulating that the presidential term of office should be changed to 10 years and that he could be re-elected, and that his successor would be recommended by the incumbent president.

"It's coming." When he learned the news, Wang Hengyue said inexplicably.

"Yuan Zhengaxe officially sent a note to the British and the British, stating that the war zone would be cancelled, and that the British and British troops should be withdrawn, and that the troops would still not be withdrawn. After that, he submitted the 'Twenty-one Articles' to Yuan Shikai. ”

"Yuan Shikai is not easy." Wang Hengyue said inexplicably: "Internal and external troubles, he has to do his best to safeguard China's rights, and it is not easy for anyone to sit in that position." ”

As he spoke, he stood up: "Let's go, take two positions, change into casual clothes, and go outside to breathe." ”

Leshan has developed quite a scale. Wang Hengyue always encouraged businessmen to do business, especially after Wang Hengyue's fame grew, more and more businessmen came to Leshan.

Wang Hengyue was wearing civilian clothes, and he didn't recognize that this was the famous southern Sichuan town guard, so it was okay and there was a lot less trouble.

found a restaurant and sat down casually, and asked for a few simple drinks and dishes, Wang Hengyue didn't speak, just looked around in the restaurant.

There are quite a lot of guests, and most of the people are talking about the "21 articles" proposed recently.

In fact, 1914 should have been a good year for Yuan Shikai's political axe, the outbreak of the world war, the European powers were busy with the war, production stopped, and military supplies increased, giving China's national capital the opportunity to develop greatly. The institutional impetus since the New Deal at the end of the Qing Dynasty finally exerted its strength at this time, promoting the development of capital and leading to the improvement of the country's economic situation. Politically, after Yuan Shikai swept away the Kuomintang, after more than a year of rectification, although in the eyes of political opponents, the political reading color has become much stronger, the parliament is suspended, Ming Cook is missing, Yuan Shikai's power is almost the emperor. However, the political situation has stabilized, and the modernization and reform that has been carried over from the New Deal is proceeding steadily, and the reform of the judicial and civil service systems is gradually becoming regular, or at least the regulations have been finalized. The whole situation, in the words of many politicians, is that "the country is predetermined". The only shadow is that Ben took advantage of the fire to rob and occupy the Qingdao and Jiaoji railways.

In 1915, this shadow expanded rapidly and became a black cloud full of sky, and Minister Zhiyi, who returned to China to report on his work, went straight to Yuan Shikai and proposed 21 articles. Strictly speaking, it is to sign a new treaty with China on Sino-Chinese relations. There are five and twenty-one articles in this treaty, so it is called twenty-one.

The contents of this document can be summarized as follows: First, China wants to recognize the rights and interests of Qingdao and Shandong, which have been seized by China. Second, China wants to recognize that it has privileges in South Manchuria and Eastern Mongolia, and that it is free to immigrate to these areas, and that if China has any foreign-related measures in this area, it must consult with it in advance; The above-mentioned areas are required to engage this consultant. Third, Han Yeping Company is said to be co-organized, but it is controlled by the capital. Fourth, all of China's coastal harbors and islands are not allowed to be ceded or leased to other countries [meaning other than the original one]. The most powerful is the last paragraph, the so-called No. 5, which requires the central government of China to hire the consultant, the local police to hire the adviser, and the central government to co-organize. The Chinese [***] team wants to purchase the ordnance of the Chinese people, and the Chinese team will jointly set up a military factory to purchase the raw materials. China has granted the right to build several railway lines in the Yangtze River basin. Recognize the privileges of Yueben in Fujian, and any foreign-related measures must be discussed with Yueben, and so on.

The first Chinese to see the 21st Article was Yuan Shikai. Such an ultimatum-like demand to swallow China in one gulp, in terms of the original version, only to recall their envoy back to China, and then the returning minister to meet the Chinese head of state, Zhiyi Jin, directly handed the document to Yuan Shikai, and did not even bother to send a special envoy. This kind of violation of diplomatic conventions, like the tone of Article 21, reflects the extreme contempt and arrogance of the present towards China. After getting the documents, Yuan Shikai, who hadn't slept all night, looked at them over and over again, and reviewed them one by one. The matter was very serious, and early the next morning, I found Sun Baoqi, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cao Rulin, Vice Minister, and Liang Shiyi, Secretary General of the Presidential Office, to discuss together.

Yuan Shikai, who had not slept all night, did not seem to be confused at all, he understood that these 21 articles were meant to take advantage of the fact that the European powers were busy with the war and had no time to look eastward to swallow China in one gulp. Obviously, in the face of such a naked threat, Yuan Shikai had no good way to deal with it, but just arranged for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to deal with Zhou Zhou, and specially explained that No. 5 could never agree, and it was best not to even talk about it.

Looking at the records of the negotiations at that time, the entire 21 articles of the negotiation process, as far as the Chinese side is concerned, all the strategies are one word, "delay", to delay and wait for changes in every detail!

China's chief representative, Lu Zhengxiang, entangled with Yue himself with a pleasant face, trying to distance the topic and complicate the issue.

Another trick of the Chinese is to spread the news in a way that God does not know, let Britain and the United States know, and use the power of Britain and the United States to resist their own "monopoly." This belongs to the traditional old method of "using razing to control raze." At the very beginning of the negotiations, he "very seriously" demanded that China's political authorities keep the negotiations on the 21 articles strictly confidential, threatening that if the news leaked, the consequences would be very serious.

In order to prevent the leakage of information, the representative even insisted very strongly that the Chinese side should only be attended by the chief and vice minister of foreign affairs, and at most one secretary should be brought, because the chief foreign minister at that time was Sun Baoqi and the vice minister was Cao Rulin. Gu Weijun believes that this means excluding people with British and American backgrounds on the Chinese side and not being able to participate in the negotiations.

However, Yuan Shikai was not a fuel-efficient lamp, and before the negotiations began, he replaced the foreign minister with Lu Zhengxiang, who had a European and American background, and Lu Zhengxiang would hold a small meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after each meeting, and Gu Weijun, who was then a counselor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was able to keep abreast of the dynamics of the negotiations.

The Chinese, who could not keep the secret, this time used their "faults" as a weapon and played them to the extreme. Although he repeatedly exerted pressure and seriously warned the Chinese not to leak the news, the news still spread all over the world as soon as possible. According to a telegram from Shi Zhaoji, the Chinese minister to Britain, he said that he proposed the 21 Articles on 18 January 1915, and by 13 February at the latest, the British "Times" had already published an editorial on the 21 Articles.

The various efforts made by Yuan Shikai are unknown to ordinary people.

In particular, the "21 Articles" deliberately leaked by Yuan Shikai have instead become "evidence" for some people to use them to attack Yuan Shikai!

Even Leshan is no exception.

The restaurant was full of comments on the "Twenty-one Articles" and attacks on Yuan Shikai and his political axe. Speaking of anger, some people couldn't help but slap the table and scold.

Fortunately, it's in Leshan, and if you change to another place, you may have been arrested as a chaotic party!

"One twenty-one, I'm going to destroy most of Yuan Shikai." Wang Hengyue said in a low voice.

At this moment, a burst of laughter suddenly sounded at the next table, which was incompatible with the atmosphere in the restaurant.

There were four people at that table, dressed like Chinese, sitting there was originally quite quiet, just drinking and talking in a low voice, but this mouth was all exposed:

Say myself!

There are already a lot of people in Sichuan, and Wang Hengyue's Yamamoto Sukeyuki and Suzuki Masahiro are from Chengdu, but now it is an extraordinary period.

The secret business of the 21st article made the relationship become tense in vain.

The political axe is being negotiated, but the people's hatred for the people has reached a new level.

"What's that called?" Wang Hengyue frowned and asked.

Wang Qinglu understood some Chinese language, and when he heard it, his expression changed slightly: "They are saying that this political axe has sent 30,000 troops into China!" ”

Wang Hengyue nodded. This is said to be a threat to China's political axe with force, in an attempt to force Yuan Shikai to sign the 21st Article.

"What are the Orientals talking about?" Someone at the other table asked.

Wang Hengyue's eyes rolled, and he whispered: "I am saying that I have sent 30,000 people into China, as long as my country's political axe does not sign the 21st article, I will immediately attack Yanjing!" ”

"Fart!" The man was also hot-tempered, and suddenly slapped the table and stood up: "A dog turtle son, you can fight if you want, are we really afraid of you?" ”

None of the people in the restaurant knew what was going on.

The man said angrily: "I want to attack the Chinese, they have sent tens of thousands of troops, and they are about to attack Yanjing!" ”

"Boom", the restaurant suddenly exploded!

"What's the matter? What's up? ”

Some of them sat far away and didn't understand, so they hurriedly asked.

"I said that I sent more than 100,000 troops, and I have already hit Yanjing!"

"Ah, there is such a thing?"

"No, that's what I just said! Those few people are celebrating there, what kind of thing is this, actually spreading wild in our place! ”

"The dog said, did you really deceive me and no one in China?"

Where did those few people know what was happening, and when they saw the Chinese standing up one after another, they didn't care at all, they were still laughing loudly, and one even danced.

"The dog said, beat, kill this turtle son!"

I don't know who yelled, the already angry emotions were completely out of control!

"Beat, kill these dogs!"

It's boiling, and the mood in the restaurant is finally boiling!

A bench flew from nowhere, knocking down a man himself.

said that he was stunned, and reacted and scolded: "Eight Kayalu! ”

It's okay not to scold, a scolding, these four words can still be understood by the Chinese in the restaurant.

The volcano has erupted in this restaurant!

(To be continued)