Chapter 512: Forty Thousand (II)

China needs peace now. Zhao Bei didn't want to go to war with Japan, but he was not willing to back down in the face of Japan's military intimidation policy, he needed to make a gesture, both for the people and for Germany, so until the last moment, Zhao Bei would never let the Japanese government get what they wanted.

Knowing this, we can understand what Zhao Bei said to the British Minister Zhu Erdian, which was not only for Zhu Erdian, but also for the German minister.

"Mr. Zhu Erdian, I know that Britain and Japan are allies, and I also know that Japan owes a lot of foreign debts to the British government and the consortium, and that Britain has huge interests in Japan, and I know that the British government has always been very reputable in supporting its allies, but as the leader of a large Asian country with 40,000 people, I can tell you very responsibly. Today's China is no longer the China of the past, at home, our people are working hard for the country's industrial development, we are using our sweat and hard work to catch up with the world's advanced countries, under the struggle of these 40,000 people, who dares to defy our strength, then, who will teach our strength! Abroad, China has many sympathizers, and if Britain supports Japan's war against China, then China will never fight alone, we will seek all the forces of international justice that we can rely on, and we will never reject the international military alliance system! Even if the allies are far away in Europe. ”

Speaking of this, Zhao Bei turned his head to look at the foreign guests on the sofa.

The American minister, Stade, opened his mouth and seemed a little surprised, but he quickly closed his mouth and began to mumble quietly to the assistant and interpreter beside him.

The French minister, Masley, was holding his black 'colored' top hat and looking at it with a blank expression, as if he had not heard what Mr. President had just said, and the interpreter beside him had the same expression.

As for the German minister, Rex had a proud expression, as if he was telling Mr. President: "Do you want to form an alliance?" Come to me, the German Empire welcomes the Republic of China to the Allied family, I eat 'meat', you drink soup, and join hands to overthrow the Entente. Rewrite the old world order. ”

The expression of the British minister was even more strange, and Mr. Jurdian seemed to be transformed into a statue, and it took a long time for him to regain a trace of composure.

"Mr. President, '40,000,000 people' is a very astonishing statistical figure, but the problem is that in the face of modern machine guns and artillery, any statistical population figure is meaningless, and war tests a country's comprehensive national strength, and I hope that Mr. President can soberly realize this."

Zhu Erdian tried his best to control his emotions, although he was indeed very annoyed in his heart, but he also understood that Zhao Bei's words just now were not a simple bluff, if Zhao Bei said this two years ago, then Zhu Erdian could think that he was bluffing, but now, after more than two years of industrial construction and economic development, China is no longer the China of the past, although this country is still weak and is still a "public colony" of the great powers. But it is an undeniable fact that the country's comprehensive national strength can indeed support a regional 'sexual' armed conflict, especially the huge population base, which is beyond the reach of any country, which is both a burden, but also a wealth, depending on how the ruler uses it.

"40,000,000 nationals" seems to have become the mantra of this Mr. President, and whenever he talks about China's advantages with foreign guests, this Mr. President never forgets to mention this "40,000 people." Now, Beijing's foreign "diplomatic circles" have begun to circulate the new nickname of this Mr. President, that is, "40,000."

"40,000,000", this is the traditional Chinese counting method, in fact, it is a country with a population of 400 million, 400 million, according to the current military mobilization system in Europe, once it enters the state of national mobilization, then at least 20 million troops can be mobilized, this is only in the early stage of the war, if we really want to carry out a comprehensive and modern war, even if we mobilize an army of 50 million people, it is definitely not a strange thing, because this is related to the life and death of a nation and a country.

Of course, this is the ideal state under the modern military mobilization system, and as far as the actual situation in China is concerned, China's ability to mobilize an army of five million men at the beginning of the war is already the limit, and more than half of these troops will not be able to go to the battlefield because the country is too poor. It can not support so many troops, which can be seen from the current main military tasks of the "** Guard", the current ** Guard, except for a few troops, most of the troops are reclaiming wasteland in various places, in Zhu Erdian's view, they cannot be regarded as an army, at best they are armed militia groups, and the central government cannot afford to maintain these troops, so they can only rely on farming to support themselves, relying on this method to organize these surplus labor, so as not to aggravate the local banditry.

But even so, Zhu Erdian did not dare to underestimate the war potential of this country, judging from the anti-Japanese demonstrations and rallies that have broken out across the country in recent days, the national and nationalist consciousness of this country has been awakened, this country is already a modern nation-state, although the concept of family is still very powerful, but it is undeniable that more and more Chinese civilians, especially intellectual youth, have begun to arm their minds with "Chinese interests", and once the ideas are armed, then, Under the guidance of this thought, any miracle can be created. The Great de France**, the American War of Independence, the Spanish War of Independence, the South American War of Independence...... The rise of these modern nation-states and the wars that accompanied them are directly related to this national and national consciousness.

Zhu Erdian saw this, and obviously, the Germans also saw this, if the previous German emperor only regarded the United Front and the commander-in-chief Zhao as an actor to divert the attention of Britain, then now, in the eyes of the German emperor and the German government, this Far Eastern actor has become a very eye-catching role, so the German government has further strengthened the co-optation of this "Far East actor", and is very eager to form a military alliance with China to use against Russia. It is said that in order to arm the Chinese army, the German government has 'delivered' more of the latest machines to China's arsenals and trained more skilled workers and technical experts for them.

Germany's attempt must be thwarted! This is the unmistakable policy of British government, and as a small chess piece on the British strategic chessboard, Zhu Erdian must serve this strategic situation and fulfill his responsibilities to safeguard British interests.

In the past two years, the German government has been trying to form an alliance with China, while the British government has been doing everything possible to sabotage the actions of the Germans, while the Chinese are cautious about this "international friendship" that harbors evil intentions, so although the relationship between China and Germany has become increasingly close, the two countries have never concluded an alliance treaty.

But now it seems that this "40,000,000" Mr. President intends to challenge Britain's bottom line, and in order to 'force' the Japanese government to make concessions in the 'representations' and maintain his image as a "patriot", he even blatantly put forward the threat of an alliance with a certain European power, which obviously will not be Britain, but only Germany, and as for the United States, it seems that it can also be excluded, because American factories are not yet inseparable from the market of the Entente.

"My people have awakened, my motherland has awakened, and I hope that Mr. Minister will see this clearly. The Chinese love peace, but if peace is threatened, then the Chinese will never reject war. Throughout the history of human development, the rise of every great power has been achieved through war without exception, if China is now led by the Beiyang Group, maybe they are afraid of war with Japan, but now China is led by me. Under my leadership, I can guarantee that I will lead the people to victory in a war against Japan, a brilliant victory! ”

In the face of the British minister's threats and ridicule, Zhao Bei unceremoniously counterattacked, and he also believed that there was no need to bother with words now, perhaps it would be more convincing to show these foreigners the morale of the Chinese.

"Ministers, you have come here today to find out the position of the Chinese center in the Northeast Asian crisis, and I have just made my position clear to you in words, so let us now take a look at the position of the Chinese people."

Zhao Bei said that he would do it, and ordered the guards to prepare vehicles, take the ministers of various countries out of the commander's hall, and rush to the control area in front of the presidential palace, so that they could sit in the car and witness the scene of the president receiving those enthusiastic patriotic young people.

Surrounded by cabinet members and the captain of the guard, Mr. President boarded a cannonball truck that had been dragged to the "gate" of the presidential palace and gave an impassioned speech to the young people gathered around.

"Compatriots, citizens! Today is a memorable day, because just today, the Chinese youth's own patriotic organization, the 'Iron and Blood Youth League', was officially announced! On such a day, who can suppress the 'agitation' in their hearts? This day is not only for the youth, but also for all the people, because from now on, China is no longer the 'boss China' of the past! Mr. Liang Qichao said well, 'If the youth is strong, China will be strong'! The current China is the China of the youth, the China of the youth! And all of you present are the witnesses of the rise of young China and young China! …… Please remember this day, and remember your oath: May Fourth, May Fourth, the blood and tears of freedom are sprinkled all over the continent of Yadong; The male 'rooster' is white in the world, and the thieves and thieves are palpitating in unison, and patriotism needs to be concentric! ……”

Looking at the Mr. President standing on the cannonball cart, the British Minister Zhu Erdian sighed helplessly, he understood that from this moment on, China has found a new path, and has also found a suitable leader, and perhaps it will not be long before the face of the world will be changed beyond recognition by the awakening of these "40,000 citizens".

With the support of "40,000,000 people", what would this mad president not dare to do?

Perhaps, it is indeed time to re-examine Britain's relationship with Japan, and the British government must calculate China as a variable in Anglo-Japanese relations, and recalculate how much Britain can pay for Japan's policy of expansion in the Far East. And once this price is paid, will Britain be able to maintain its hegemony in the Far East?

There are many questions and reflections that Zhu Erdian can't answer, and these can only be left to the British government, and I only hope that the British government will not become short-sighted because of the tension in Europe, after all, Britain has no way back.