In the sonorous sound of the four machines, the heavy anchor fell to the surface of the sea, and the waves were meters high, and then sank to the bottom of the sea and fell into the silt.

Standing on the bridge, Lu calmly watched the anchor chain slide into the sea, until the cobalt chain finally tightened, his gaze was retracted, and he smiled at Shi Zhaoji, who was standing beside him.

"Consul Shi, am I right? In the end, the exchanges between countries still have to rely on their fists to speak, and the soldiers who surrender without a fight are also the good ones

Shi Zhaoji also smiled and said, "Commander Lu, don't sell it, tell me directly, is the Admiralty supporting you?" Or is it simply that the Commander's Hall is supporting him?

Lu Ping shook his head and said: "Consul Shi, don't ask, I have nothing to say, anyway, our warship has been shut down at the port dock in Batavia, and this confrontation can be regarded as a victory for our China." ”

Shi Zhaoji sighed: "Dangerous move, dangerous move." Now that Europe is at war, the Dutch have nothing to rely on, and if this had been left behind, they would have fought on the spot

"That's why we dare to come here. It is better to fight a war in Europe for a few years, and the longer it is fought on the European side, the weaker the European power will be on the Asian side. ”

Lu Ping nodded, then raised his binoculars and looked at the dock, and saw a four-wheeled carriage with a national flag parked on the edge of the dock, so he asked Shi Zhaoji.

"Consul Shi, is that your carriage?".

"Exactly. If you hadn't dragged me on your warship, I might have taken that carriage back to the consulate, and if you made such a fuss, the Dutch governor would definitely have made an appointment to meet me, but I am not at the consulate now, I am afraid that Mr. Governor General is a little anxious, so I should hurry back to the consulate, first, to arrange for overseas Chinese to board the ship for a visit, and second, to explain to Mr. Governor General the "misunderstanding" just now, so as not to affect the diplomatic relations between the two countries

Shi Zhaoji said to go, and when he walked on the gangplank, Lu Ping followed, stood on the side of the boat and shouted a few times.

"Consul Shi, don't forget, there is a banquet on the warship tonight, and you must come and attend

"Got it! When the time comes, I will invite some local Chinese businessmen to come over and let them sit on our own Chinese warship, but unfortunately this warship is not made by our Chinese

Shi Zhaoji waved at Lu Ping, then stepped off the gangplank and walked towards the four-wheeled carriage waiting by the dock.

Several consulate staff stood by the carriage, and when they saw Shi Zhaoji rushing over with his assistants, they greeted him, and one of them handed Shi Juji the invitation of the Dutch governor of the East Indies colony.

"Sir, this is an invitation from the Dutch governor just now, inviting you to the banquet tomorrow, and the commander of the fleet to come with you. Just now the Dutch Governor wanted to meet you, but we told him that you were on a warship, so the Governor did not send any more people to urge you

Shi Zhiji took the invitation, looked at it, then nodded, and asked, "How was the situation in the city just now?" Is the atmosphere tense? ”

"A little nervous. Just now, when the Dutch governor ordered the salute to be fired, the residents of the city thought that a naval battle had broken out, some timid people ran to the mountains, and some scoundrels tried to take the opportunity to rob the Chinese merchants, but fortunately, the Chinese merchants had already prepared and did not suffer losses

As they spoke, they boarded the carriage, and Schwanki handed over the invitation of the Dutch governor to his assistant for safekeeping, and then looked at the time.

"Let's not go back to the consulate first, let's go to the governor's palace first. The carriage soon left the dock and headed for the Dutch East Indies Colony's Governor's Palace, where the market was rather depressed and there were not many pedestrians on the street, which made Shi Zhaoji feel a little nervous.

"It's strength that determines everything."

Shi Zhaoji sighed, recalling his quiet appearance when he was sent to Batavia by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was somewhat emotional.

Shi Zhiji's ancestral home is Hangzhou, Xijiang, at the age of nine he entered the Tongwen Museum to learn foreign languages, at the age of sixteen he went to the United States with Yang Ru, the Qing court's minister to the United States, and served as the minister in the United States. Due to the chaotic political situation at home, Japan seized the opportunity to raise the issue of negotiations with the three eastern provinces, and Yuan Shikai then ordered Shi Zhaoji to take charge of this matter and negotiate with Japan.

After the death of Yuan Shikai, the United Front finally entered the center and held the supreme power, and after that, the necessary personnel adjustments were also carried out. When he went to the Russian Legation as a counselor, it was not until Tang Shaoyi took over as the Minister in Russia that Shi Zhaoji was recommended to the center, so President Zhao Bei sent an order, and Shi Zhaoji came from Russia to the scorching East Indies as a consul in Batavia.

In the order, President Zhao Da also specially instructed Shi Zhaoji to go back to Beijing before going south to Batavia. Mr. President gave clear instructions to Shi Yangfen. Once gone only Davia. It is necessary to immediately begin to collect all the information about the islands near the Java Gomudian, military, political, social, folklore, resources, all the information must be carefully organized. and transfer information to the hub as soon as possible.

Since then. Shi Juji understood that the president's ambitions were not limited to the East Asian continent, and that as a "madman from the Far East" the president seemed to be a "pan-Asianist" who was deeply dissatisfied with the long domination of Asia by European colonizers. At all times, they pondered how to expel the greedy European colonizers.

If in the past Shi Zhaoji thought that the president was a little too arrogant, now Shi Zhaoji's thinking has changed. In his opinion, the president is not arrogant, this is a rainy day, perhaps the president has long foreseen that the European powers will inevitably break out into armed conflict because of the distribution of colonies, so it began a few years ago. The president laid everything out and waited for a war to break out in Europe.

Now, war has broken out in Europe. Germany, Great Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, the Russian Empire, all of which had been drawn into the wars in Europe, had no time to look eastward, and now, for "Pan-Asianism." It is indeed a great opportunity to realize the dream of expelling the forces of the European Yuan, and perhaps, the "mad president" is ready. It's time to take over everything.

But is that really the case? At least Shi Zhaoji is not very sure now, after all, China's power is not enough to swallow the East Indies, although it is true that the European powers have been distracted by the war, but as a rising industrial power. The United States is still calmly watching, and with a Japan that still has considerable naval strength, the pattern of the Far East cannot be changed by saying that it can be changed. In terms of strategic vision, there are really few people who can compare to him now.

The Navy's adventure in Batavia may have been a tentative move by the Hub, which wanted to see if the Dutch were a foreign power, and then decide on the first move.

The fact that the Dutch governor in the East Indies colony had now agreed to allow the Chinese navy's raid ships to enter the port of Batavia for "repairs" suggests that, at least for the time being, the Dutch government's position is weak, perhaps for fear of further escalation. This eventually led to war, so the Dutch chose to back down, but there were limits to that concession. The Governor-General allowed the Chinese Navy ships to anchor in the harbor for a maximum of five days before they had to leave, and the old British Navy cruiser, which had been tracked from the Indian Ocean, was anchored near the Chinese warships to "supervise." The actions of Chinese warships.

Shi Zhaoji fully agrees with the action of the center, he has seen the world in foreign countries, and knows very well that the Western powers have a strong appetite for the "law of the jungle." Fa Gang's admiration, although China is not a strong country at present, but at least try to have its own position on the international stage, whether it can succeed in the tiger's mouth is not important, the important thing is that through this move, China has sent a signal to the international community, that is, China is no longer a weak meat to be slaughtered, and China must also achieve "an international status commensurate with national strength."

Compared to Britain and France, the Netherlands is only a small country. The former "sea coachman." It has long been in decline, and the reason why it has been able to maintain the East Indies colony to the present. Not because of the strong military power of the Netherlands, but simply because of the strategic balance of power in Europe, and now this strategic balance of power has been shaken with the outbreak of war in Europe, choosing such an opportunity to provoke the Netherlands, Shi Zhaoji believes that the center has grasped this issue quite well.

But after all, this is a reversal of the "old international order." of provocations. There are still some risks to be taken, and in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Shi Zhaoji must now go through the motions and "explain" to the Dutch governor of the East Indies colony, which is one of the meanings of his consul's existence.

Soon, the carriage arrived at the Doge's Palace. Shi Juji met with the Governor Symbiosis in accordance with diplomatic etiquette, just after the "misunderstanding" of being born outside the port of Batavia. An explanation was given to Mr. Governor. He also expressed his gratitude to Mr. Governor for allowing the fleet to anchor in the port for repairs, and Mr. Governor was "very satisfied" with Mr. Consul's polite manners, and repeatedly mentioned the "friendship" between China and the Netherlands during the talks. Then it was over, and Shi Zhaoji returned to the Chinese consulate in Batavia in a horse-drawn carriage, and at this time, a telegram from the presidential palace in Beijing happened to be photographed at the consulate.

"The Consulate is hereby instructed to hold talks with the Dutch Governor of the East Indies with a view to reaching a consensus on the following two aspects:

First, in view of the war in the British Straits Settlements and the urgent need for protection of the Chinese bridge people, since there is still no formal peace agreement between China and Japan, it is impossible to immediately dispatch enough warships to carry out the evacuation mission. Accordingly, my Government considers it necessary to relocate the overseas Chinese from the Straits Settlements to the Chinese enclave in Sumatra, which is under Dutch jurisdiction and therefore requires the cooperation of the Governor-General.

Secondly, with regard to the armed conflict in Borneo, my Government intends to intervene in mediation, but due to the recent indifference of the British Government to the "Far East Peace Commission, the reconstruction work", it seems that at present it is impossible to carry out international joint mediation, and if the Dutch Government deems it necessary, my Government can unilaterally contact the Korean nationals who have started an armed rebellion in order to stabilize the situation in Borneo as soon as possible

Looking at the telegram, Shi Zhaoji was very surprised, he just appeared, and the center thought far more far-reaching than him.