9oo32983 Chapter 463 Four two fights on the jack

Blowing from the north, the chill is thicker, and the fallen leaves in the street are more ashamed of yesterday.

Tang Shaoyi put the black top hat back on his head, led several assistants out of the British Legation in China, and boarded the four-wheeled carriage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China under the watchful eyes of Mr. Zhu Erdian, the British Minister to China.

After the car door was closed, Tang Shaoyi looked out of the car window, raised his left hand and waved, and Zhu Erdian, who was standing on the steps of the legation, also waved his hand expressionlessly, and then, the official carriage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs started slowly, and it rolled over the Payou Road and drove towards the west end of Dongjiaomin Lane, neither fast nor slow, which is also the emphasis on diplomatic etiquette.

Tang Shaoyi lowered the curtains, leaned back, the smile on his face gradually disappeared, glanced at an assistant sitting opposite, and then pointed to the briefcase next to the assistant

"Show me that diplomatic memorandum again."

The assistant hurriedly took out the diplomatic memorandum in the briefcase and presented it with both hands, Tang Shaoyi took the memorandum, and another assistant handed over a pair of tortoiseshell-framed glasses. Then he lifted the curtain on the window. to ensure that there is plenty of light in the carriage.

No one spoke in the carriage, Tang Shaoyi read the diplomatic memorandum carefully, and several assistants looked out the window. Looking at the bare street trees, each turned his mind.

After a short time, the carriage arrived at the exit of Dongjiaomin Lane, and the soldiers of the 6th Squad of the US Navy guarding there did not look at it, so they let the carriage leave the embassy area, and after leaving the embassy area, the carriage began to add, and soon turned onto East Chang'an Street, and the cavalry of the Ministry of Internal Affairs accompanying the escort also walked in front of the carriage

。

There was still a distance from East Chang'an Avenue to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and when the carriage arrived at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tang Shaoyi also used this time to carefully read the diplomatic memorandum.

"The conditions put forward by the British government are not too harsh, perhaps the situation in Europe is too delicate. It was no longer possible for the British government to devote full attention to the Far East. ”

Putting away her glasses, Tang Shaoyi sighed, put her glasses on the memo, and handed them to an assistant along with the memo, and without commanding, the assistant put the two things into a briefcase.

"Chief, shall we go back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs first, or shall we go to meet the President first?"

The assistant said, pushed the car door, and jumped out of the car.

"Let's go and meet the president first, the president was talking about the British government's position yesterday."

Tang Shaoyi got out of the car and glanced at the street, this is the official area of the government, private vehicles are prohibited from passing, and the street is deserted.

When the Minister of Foreign Affairs met with the President of the Republic of China, he did not mean that he would go immediately, but he had to call the Presidential Palace Chamberlain first.

But a phone call came. Tang Shaoyi changed his mind, because the chamberlain of the presidential palace told him that now Mr. President is not in the presidential palace, just an hour ago, Mr. President took the senior staff officers of the 6th Military Department and the Navy Department to the Nanyuan 6th Navy Joint Staff Office, and if you want to meet the president, it is best to go directly to Nanyuan.

Tang Shaoyi pondered for a while, and decided to wait for the president to come back, and then go to the presidential palace to meet him, that would be more formal, after all, this diplomacy is no trivial matter, and this matter should not be discussed by too many people, there is always a distance between the ideas of soldiers and diplomats, Nanyuan is basically a soldier, and Chief Tang can't find any common language, an officer from Beiyang is quite polite, if you meet an officer from the Republican Army, a few words do not meet the other party's mind, then this "national thief soft bones" Words like that are about to pop out of the mouths of the officers, Tang Shaoyi's ears are not very clean these days, so he doesn't want to be bored.

"Let's take a look at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On the president's side, when he returns to the presidential palace, we'll see you again

Tang Shaoyi rushed back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with his assistants, intending to convene his staff to discuss the details of the negotiations with the British minister, but after returning to the office, he learned that a guest had arrived, so he met with this guest first.

The guest was an acquaintance. It is Mr. Wu Tingfang, now he is the Minister General of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of China, but he rushed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today not for judicial affairs, but for foreign affairs, and his son Wu Chaoshu rushed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with him; a few days ago, Wu Chaoshu had been appointed by the president as China's minister to Chile and Peru, and was about to take a boat to Chile to take up his post. He ordered Wu Chaoshu to resign to Tang Shaoyi, and at the same time wanted Wu Chaoshu to listen to the advice of his boss.

Wu Chaoshu is only 22 years old this year, when his father Wu Tingfang was appointed as the Qing court's minister to the United States, Wu Chaoshu went to the United States with his father to study. Wu Chaoshu is only eighteen years old, so calculated, he has been in the political arena for four years, and this political experience is not completely blank, but in Tang Shaoyi's opinion, this nephew is still a little tender, Wu Tingfang also thinks so, but since the president deliberately cultivates, then, the two are indeed not good to oppose together, in any case, this is also an opportunity to exercise, which is good for Wu Chaoshu's political exhibition.

In fact, Tang Shaoyi has nothing to advise, Chile and Peru are both small countries in South America, and they basically do not play any important role in the international political arena, although these two small countries are known as "small regional powers" but in such a situation. Whether it is commercial trade or military alliances, these two small South American countries are insignificant to China, but because there are many Chinese workers in the two countries, they have formally established minister-level diplomatic relations with the two countries, but now the central financial difficulties can only be simplified because of the ugliness, and the ministers stationed in the two countries can only be wronged by one person.

For this rising star in the diplomatic community promoted by the president, Tang Shaoyi said some scenes, which made the hearts of the Wu father and son warm, and they were a little sorry for their son for losing the opportunity to study in the UK. But now, Wu Tingfang doesn't care much about studying abroad at public expense.

The two sides chatted briefly about foreign affairs, and then the conversation turned to the recent domestic situation.

Wu Tingfang took out a newly published newspaper and handed it to Tang Shaoyi, who was sitting on the side; said: "Shaochuan, this is the "Shuncheon Times" published on the Internet, see what the Japanese say about the one you signed with the Russian minister a few days ago." "Kugui railway cooperation plan". They pointed at your nose and scolded you, so they sent you a "traitor." The hat too. ”

"Traitor? Even if Tang's approach is inappropriate, it won't be the turn of the Japanese to wear this hat to me, right? ”

Tang Shaoyi smiled bitterly, took the newspaper, and looked at it, but his expression did not change in the slightest, and he did not mean to be angry at all, which made Wu Chaoshu, who was sitting with him, a little surprised.

"Uncle Tang Shi's cultivation is really good. If it had been me, I would have taken the case. Wu Chaoshu said.

Tang Shaoyi put down the newspaper and said, "It's not that I'm not good at cultivation, but I'm numb, and I'm numb from being scolded." ”

"A weak country has no diplomacy. Chaoshu, you have to remember this sentence, Nagan, our country is very weak, to be a diplomat is to be prepared to be scolded, a thin-skinned person can't be a diplomat, and a person who can't act can't be a diplomat. Your Uncle Tang Shi is being scolded for others, it is the center that really makes the decision, and it is you Uncle Tang Shi who signs the agreement, and others dare not scold the center blatantly, so you have to be wronged Uncle Tang Shi. ”

Wu Tingfang also smiled bitterly, shaking his head again and again, looking helpless.

Tang Shaoyi also shook his head and said: "Brother Wenjue, what you said is not entirely right, I also agree with this decision of the center, and now the situation in the three eastern provinces is too delicate," Eight Banners outside the Guan. Although they have been explicitly decorated by various countries, they are still jumping up and down in southern Liaoning under the protection of the Japanese. Now, if we want to eliminate the bait of a great upheaval, it is not enough to rely on the support of Germany and the United States, we must also rely on more external forces, given that Russia still has considerable strength in the north of the three eastern provinces. It is understandable, then, that the center will give some benefits to Russia. ”

However, since the Russo-Japanese War, Little Russia has signed an entente, and it is said that there is a secret treaty attached to it. In such a situation, I am afraid that this plan to drive the tiger and devour the wolf will not work. I wonder if Mr. President understands this? Wu Tingfang said.

The president also understands this, but he also told me that he thinks that Russia and Japan are inseparable, and as long as Russia still occupies the northern part of the three eastern provinces, then Japan and Russia will not be able to truly trust, and the key is still one, balance, besides, the disastrous defeat of the Russo-Japanese War almost devastated Russia, and the Russians are unforgettable about the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army. How can you not be wary of Japan? As far as I know. Japan has always coveted Siberia, but now it is only because of its lack of strength that it has restrained its greed, and this must be clear to Russian politicians, who will never watch Japan swallow the three eastern provinces. ”

It's just that in this way, it was wronged that Shaochuan was infamous for "betraying the country". The press didn't scold you much the other day. Now as soon as the Japanese "Suncheon Times" starts scolding, I think the newspapers run by the Chinese people will also scold. ”

Seeing Wu Tingfang shaking his head and sighing, Tang Shaoyi smiled faintly, pointed to the Chinese-language newspaper of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in China, and said: "Brother Wenjue, don't look at the Japanese jumping up and down, but now among the Chinese people, they really scold me as a "national thief." Except for a few southern newspapers, most of them took a fair position, saying that I was not a national thief if I "offended the merits and demerits". As for the Japanese, they were angry and wanted to find one. It's just the object of leaking, and the president can't afford to provoke them, so they have to provoke me. ”

Wu Tingfang nodded and said, "That's the same thing. Thanks to a compromise reached between the center and the Japanese government a few days ago, the "Xinzhou Incident." The matter was successfully resolved, and the Japanese minister in China formally apologized to the Chinese government and people for this matter, and we Chinese have been doing so many years. When did we see a foreign minister apologizing to us? Now the Chinese people think that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has done a good job in this negotiation, how to evaluate Shaochuan, this person has a scale in his heart. "The "less" Xinzhou incident is a high degree of hard work, and even I admire it. ”

Tang Shaoyi shook his head again and said, "Brother Wenjue praised it. In fact, "the reason for the smooth negotiation of the Xinzhou incident did not lie with me, nor with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but with the Presidential Office." There are no outsiders here, and I will tell you the truth, this time the Japanese were caught by the president with pigtails, and the president showed the pigtails to the British government, and the British were not happy, so they exerted diplomatic pressure on the Japanese government. He urged him to conclude the negotiations as soon as possible, and as a result, the Japanese minister officially made a statement on the "Xinzhou Incident." I apologize to my Government and our people. ”

"The president is personally presiding over the matter?" Wu Tingfang was a little surprised.

"It's not complicated to say, it's just an exchange of interests. The president assured that if the Japanese government sends someone to our government to report the "Koshu incident." If he formally apologizes for the incident, then he will not expose the truth of the Japanese government's policy of "the Guangdong incident, otherwise, the president will reveal the truth of this matter to the world, so that the people of the country will know that it is the Japanese government that is obstructing the central unification of the country, the president will incite national and nationalist feelings, and then formally sever all diplomatic relations with Japan; if Japan wants to go to war, the president will never be timid, and the president will lead our people to fight the Japanese invaders to the end! ”

Tang Shaoyi briefly introduced the relationship between the "Guangdong Incident" and the Japanese envoy to China apologizing to China for the "Xinzhou Incident." He was very impressed by Zhao Bei's "exchange of interests," and the negotiations on the "Xinzhou Incident" had been deadlocked for half a year, and no one had the luxury of expecting the Japanese Government to apologize to China on this matter, but now, Zhao Bei has done it. This alone convinced Tang Shaoyi.

"What?"

"What a good way to do it!"

Wu Tingfang and Wu Chaoshu then understood the real reason for the smooth settlement of the negotiation issue of the "Xinzhou Incident", but their reactions to this were very different, and the older one was surprised by the arrogance of Mr. President. The younger one was full of admiration.

"Isn't the president afraid of angering the Japanese government?" Wu Tingfang glanced at Wu Chaoshu.

"I don't know. However, one thing is clear, that is, the president's exchange of interests is not to provoke the Japanese government, but to cover up diplomatic negotiations with Russia, first let the people see that our Ministry of Foreign Affairs can serve the national sovereignty and national interests, and then through the railway cooperation plan with Russia1 to tell the people that the country is still very weak, and sometimes, it has to fight for a respite by seeking grievances. Calling me a "national thief" of China,

"No wonder" the Xinzhou incident, the negotiations ended before the announcement of the Sino-Russian Kudian railway plan by the center, and it turned out to be so intentional. Our Mr. President is so far-sighted and well-planned, Wu really admires it. Wu Tingfang sighed.

"As soon as the Kugui railway plan was announced, the center not only got rid of the state of being enemies on both sides, but also moved closer to Russia. In the future, if the situation in the three eastern provinces changes, and Russia is unable to draw forces from Europe, then China and Russia may not be able to join hands to maintain the situation in the three eastern provinces. This is a means of fighting for thousands of pounds, without a little knowledge and courage, this is also not daring. ”

Tang Shaoyi was also emotional, and glanced at a painting hanging on the wall. That was Li Hongzhang's ink treasure, which Li Hongzhang gave him when he was working in Li Hongzhang's curtain, and it was just a few words of life written on it.

"Zhao Zhenhua's means and courage are far from ordinary people, and his vision is also accurate. If such a figure appeared a few decades ago, why did our China fall to this step? ”

These words were stuffy in Tang Shaoyi's heart, and in the end they were hidden in the bottom of her heart and not said, after all, history has no ifs. And the times create heroes, and if heroes appear decades earlier, they may be mediocre.