In the past few days, Zhao Bei has been in a very good mood. In addition, in the past few days, official business has also been busy. Therefore, in the past few days, he has always slept until dawn every day, and he has become somewhat lazy.

Zhao Bei still got up from bed at half past seven today, and after having breakfast with his wife, it was almost eight o'clock, and as usual, Qin Sihu, the captain of the guard, took people to wait outside the courtyard early. Waiting left and right, I didn't see the president's figure, and when I was a little strange, I saw Foreign Minister Tang Shaoyi running over with a sweat on his head.

"What about the president? What about the president? ”

Tang Shaoyi asked Qin Sihu eagerly, and looked into the courtyard with his neck crossed.

"The president is probably still eating. Chief Tang. You are so anxious to come here, could it be that some country is protesting again? ”

Qin Sihu asked curiously, and he didn't blame him for asking, the Minister of Foreign Affairs rarely appeared in front of the small courtyard where the president lived, unless there was some major diplomatic incident, Tang Shaoyi had come here a few times before, all of which were when foreign ministers protested.

"Diplomatic protests? That's not it. However, the diplomatic envoy of the Japanese government has already arrived at the presidential palace. Go to the State Guesthouse right away. Now that the president has not appeared, I am afraid that the Japanese envoy will have to wait. ”

Tang Shaoyi said with a wry smile that he knew very well the president's views on Japan, and if President Zhao Da had no respect for Britain, then he could simply be said to be hostile to Japan, so when he accompanied the Japanese government's diplomatic envoy Gonbei Yamamoto to the presidential palace today and did not see the president's figure, he felt a little bad. Sure enough, while the Japanese envoy was looking around in the state guesthouse, the president was still enjoying his breakfast in the small courtyard.

As far as foreign affairs are concerned, the most important thing to pay attention to is this etiquette, and now that the president has made it clear that he wants to snub the Japanese government's diplomatic envoy, Tang Shaoyi has no choice but to personally come over to take a look and ask questions so that the president can put an end to this small move as soon as possible and try to free him, the foreign minister, from embarrassment; after all, as a neighbor of China, Japan's role is still very important. You can't completely ignore this oriental neighbor. What's more, there was also the British minister who came here, even if you don't look at the face of the Japanese envoy, you should also look at the face of the British minister.

Tang Shaoyi wanted to walk into the small courtyard, but Qin Sihu didn't let him in, and when the two were soaking mushrooms, they heard the president's shouts from the courtyard.

"Four Tigers, call Chief Tang over, just give me a staff officer."

Qin Sihu let Tang Shaoyi in, but he also sent a guard to follow in.

When he entered the wing, Tang Shaoyi realized that the president had finished eating and was playing chess with his wife. The meaning of calling him "staff officer" is actually to instruct Mr. President in his chess skills.

Tang Shaoyi also has a little experience in Go, but now is not the time to play chess, so he didn't bother to instruct, only more than ten moves, black chess has a full advantage, but the president uses white chess.

"It's better not to ask you to give it to the staff officer. Forget it, don't go down, don't go down, it's time to get down to business. ”

Zhao Bei sighed and threw the chess pieces, but Tang Shaoyi, who was standing on the side, sighed and followed the president out of the wing.

Qin Sihu had already commanded the guards to arrange the convoy. Zhao Bei arbitrarily chose a car and got in. pulled Tang Shaoyi in, and after the car door was closed, Zhao Bei did not immediately order to drive.

"Chief Tang, let me ask you a question. In your opinion, under the current situation, is it still necessary for China and Japan to restore diplomatic relations? ”

Zhao Bei's question was not only abrupt, but also quite unlevel, which made Tang Shaoyi choke.

"President Junjian. Japan is a neighbor of our country, and the so-called strip of water is separated by a strip of water. The reason for the severance of diplomatic relations. It is because of the war, and now that the war has ended, it is natural that diplomatic relations should be restored, and small households should still pay attention to interacting with their neighbors and visiting their homes, not to mention the disaster of big countries? In my opinion. Now it is not only necessary to immediately restore diplomatic relations with Japan. And it is necessary to further repair the relations between the two countries and jointly respond to the challenges from the West. ”

Tang Shaoyi analyzed it carefully, but his answer did not satisfy Zhao Bei.

"I'm not asking you about the international situation. I'm asking you, in terms of your personal feelings, is it time to restore diplomatic relations with Japan? Zhao Bei asked again.

"Is the president worried about the mood of the people?"

Tang Shaoyi suddenly realized, indeed, as a superior person, some aspects of the feeling is indeed different from the people, not to mention the president, even Tang Shaoyi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, may not be able to accurately grasp the national mentality now. "That's the truth. I don't know what others think, at least most of Qin Sihu and his guards are against the restoration of diplomatic relations with Japan, and my brother-in-law is also against the restoration of relations with Japan. As the person who formulates the central policy. I can't help but take into account the national sentiment. ”

Zhao Bei said it seriously, in fact, he was very conflicted, he was not sure whether his hesitation was worried about the mood of the people, or his personal emotional reaction, as a historical traveler, his view of Japan was very negative, even if he did want to take advantage of Japan. But after all, there is some hesitation, after all, the changes in history are too great, Zhao Bei can not fully grasp the future of history, and the restoration of diplomatic relations with Japan and the repair of relations between the two countries means that China and Japan will live in peace for a period of time in the future, and even show "friendship", but emotionally speaking, Zhao Bei does have reason to hesitate and hesitate.

"IMHO. on this issue. The president was a little too cautious. In fact, the sentiment of the people is not the key, but the national interest. Now not only the United States is urging to say; Britain is also trying its best to promote the resumption of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, and Japan wants to restore normal trade with China as soon as possible. Besides, it is just the restoration of diplomatic relations, neither betraying the country nor fawning over Japan, where did the president get so many concerns? Did the president think about it. If we delay in resuming normal state-to-state relations with Japan, we will only deal a heavy blow to Japan's constitutional forces that support the peace policy, and on the contrary, it will encourage the radical forces in Japan to seize power. ”

Tang Shaoyi is indeed very strange, in his opinion, this is not like Zhao Bei's style, although Zhao Bei has always attached importance to this "public opinion", but as an insider, Tang Shaoyi knows very well how those "public opinions" are created, so he does not think that what Zhao Bei is really worried about now is the opposition of the people, but on the other hand, what Zhao Bei is worried about is not something that Tang Shaoyi can guess.

"Then I have made up my mind."

Zhao Bei nodded. So he told the driver to drive. I went straight to the State Guesthouse, ready to meet with the Japanese government's diplomatic envoy.

When I arrived at the State Guesthouse, it was already a quarter past eight. And when Zhao Bei saw Yamamoto Gonbei. It was already 8:20.

Along with Gonbei Yamamoto was the British Minister to China, Zhu Erdian, who, like the Japanese envoy, was neglected by the President, but there was no angry expression on the British Minister's face, perhaps because he had asked for it, but more likely because he also understood Mr. President's views on Japan. "Mr. Yamamoto, I heard that you are a veteran of the Japanese Navy, in the Sino-Japanese War that year. You are also one of the participants, and I heard that you formulated the strategy of the Japanese Navy.

Seeing the face of Yamamoto Gonbei, Zhao Bei politely said a few words according to the etiquette of the first day, and then changed the conversation. It was related to the festivals between China and Japan in history, which made Yamamoto Gonbei a little embarrassed.

"Mr. President, I deeply regret the unpleasant events between China and Japan in the past. As one of the parties involved, I can't objectively evaluate the First Sino-Japanese War, but one thing is clear, if it was not the Beiyang bureaucrats who commanded the squadron at that time, but Mr. President and your loyal subordinates, then the outcome of the war would probably be different. ”

Yamamoto Gonbei was also clever, and even perfunctory and patted on the back, so he gently lifted the topic.

"That's it. If at that time, I will command. Not only will the outcome of the war be different, but the world will probably not be what it is today. ”

Zhao Bei also accepted the other party's compliment unceremoniously. In fact, in his opinion, if he had traveled so many years earlier, maybe the current world pattern would indeed be very different, of course. As for whether he could find the opportunity to rise in the political arena twenty years ago, it was not in his consideration, Zhao Bei was not best at officialdom communication. It's about winning in chaos, and the more chaotic the situation becomes. The more he can seize the opportunity to rise.

Naturally, Gonbei Yamamoto and Zhu Erdian would not know what Zhao Bei was thinking about now, but they could also hear the voices of the other party from each other's words. Yamamoto Gonbei was a little stunned, Zhu Erdian frowned, and the two were indeed a little surprised by the arrogance of the young president.

Fortunately, the two sides did not meet to study the possibility of the world pattern exhibition, so the next topic focused on the issue of the resumption of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, in fact, Zhu Erdian came to this matter, China does not resume diplomatic relations with Japan for a day, the British government can not rest assured, after all, Europe has been chaotic, if Asia continues to be so chaotic, the British government's Far East policy will also be completely chaotic, that will seriously damage British interests, in fact, in order to win over China. The British government has decided to upgrade diplomatic relations with China from the rank of minister to the level of ambassador, although this has not yet been disclosed to the Chinese side.

Originally, Zhu Erdian and Yamamoto Gonbei were a little worried that the issue of the resumption of diplomatic relations was very thorny, but what surprised them was that the president, who obviously had strong anti-Japanese sentiments, did not create any more obstacles to the resumption of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, and throughout the talks. He rarely spoke, and in fact it was China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs that consulted with the Japanese side, and the president acted like an observer.

Since no one has created obstacles, the talks on the resumption of diplomatic relations between China and Japan have gone very smoothly. In just an hour, the talks were over. Gonbei Yamamoto was very happy. Before leaving, I warmly invite Mr. President to visit Japan at a convenient time.

"Thank you Mr. Yamamoto for your invitation, and the heads of state of China and Japan, both of whom are of Asian ethnicity, should indeed strengthen their exchanges. As neighbors separated by a strip of water, if the two countries can put aside their prejudices and cooperate with each other, it will not only be beneficial to the two countries, but will also be of great significance to international peace. ”

Although Zhao Bei's words were very subtle. However, to Yamamoto Gonbei's ears, there seemed to be a hidden meaning in it, and this meaning had already been revealed to him last night by Wang Yitang, chairman of the "Sino-Japanese Friendship Promotion Association."

Could it be that this "mad president" is also a pan-Asian? Could it be that he was also in favor of a joint attack by China and Japan on the colonies of the European powers in Southeast Asia? Or is Wang Yitang, who is a senior adviser to the Presidential Office, just a tentative signal released by the "mad president"?

Whether this was true or false, Yamamoto did not dare to ignore it, and he felt the need to report the situation to the top of the Japanese government.