Talking about the presidential palace in the middle of the night, tattoos are nothing new to Zhan Tianyou. It was almost one o'clock in the morning and followed the adjutant into the presidential palace, which is indeed a bit surprising.

What surprised him even more was still to come, after the adjutant led him and his assistant into the presidential palace, he drove the car directly to the garden of the presidential palace, parked the car outside a small courtyard, and then asked Zhan Tianyou and his assistants to get out of the car and lead them into the small courtyard.

"Mr. Zhan, it's too late, the president is already resting, if you want to see the president, see you tomorrow. This is the bedroom that the president has asked us to prepare for Mr. Zhan, and you can rest in this bedroom, and as for your assistants, rest in those rooms, and when it is dawn tomorrow, I will come over again, and if you need anything, call the switchboard directly, and they will arrange it.

Adjutant Petal didn't say much, and after telling Mao, he left the hospital with Xiong Bingkun and drove a car to work

"Zhan Gong, let's stay in the presidential palace?"

Several assistants were quite excited, stretched out their hands and touched around the house, but they were not sleepy at all, Zhan Tianyou was even worried that they might lose sleep all night, after all, this is the president's mansion, not a hotel, and not their home.

"What's all the fuss? Let's treat this place as a hotel, those of us who build railways, are used to sleeping in the open air, and where do we go, don't we sleep with our heads bored? Okay, let's go back to our own rooms and rest, and I'll see the president tomorrow morning, and don't yawn and delay my work when the time comes. ”

Zhan Tianyou urged again and again to drive the assistants out of his bedroom, but everyone was curious, so they didn't fall asleep immediately, but walked to the vicinity of the small courtyard and looked at Pian Xuan curiously, and after they seemed to have a secret whistle nearby, they restrained their curiosity, honestly went back to the house, and slept separately.

In fact, Zhan Tianyi is also very excited, spending the night in the presidential palace, this is indeed a bit like a dream, after all, this is the central place, maybe, the president's residence is nearby, not to mention those assistants and apprentices, it is he, a well-informed world-famous engineering expert, is now tossing and turning, and it is difficult to sleep.

In addition, Zhan Tianwei was still thinking about the future railway construction regulations, and as a result, he didn't fall asleep until the sky was dark, and when he got up at nine o'clock, yawning was inevitable.

By the time he finished eating the breakfast sent by the adjutant, it was already half past nine, and when he heard that the president was already in office, Zhan Tianyou didn't think much about it, and hurriedly asked the adjutant to shake the phone to the commander-in-chief hall and asked to meet the president.

The adjutant did not delay, pressed down the phone, and led Zhan Tianyou and his assistants and apprentices into a car, and drove directly to the commander's hall.

There were no guests in the reception room. After Zhan Tianyi and the others arrived, a few minutes later, another distinguished guest came, none other than the US Minister to China Stade, as well as several of his assistants and interpreters.

Seeing Zhan Tianyou, Stade was very enthusiastic, holding his hand and being polite, thinking about it, without Zhan Tianyou, the "Grand Cross Railway Construction Plan" would not have been carried out so smoothly, although because of the domestic political background, Stade did not enter the top level of the US government as he wished, but it must be admitted that at least in the mind of Mr. Secretary of State, Stade is now the brightest star among all American diplomats.

The two sides were polite for a moment, and then they each sat down, Si Stade talked eloquently, and there was a bit of smugness between his words, while Zhan Tianyi listened to the other party's boasting expressionlessly, no one knew what he was thinking, after all, that. The "Grand Cross Railway" is still a trilateral cooperation between China, the United States, and Germany, and if this railway network is not completely turned into a Chinese world, Zhan Tianyou will not be relieved for a day, every inch of rail is a national right, and every sleeper is pinned on the Chinese's dream of becoming a strong country.

Perhaps it was noticing that Zhan Tianyou did not seem to be planning to talk about the "Grand Cross Railway". Therefore, Stade very skillfully changed the topic and began to direct Zhan Tianyou's interest to the international situation.

"Mr. Zhan, I wonder what you think of the current situation in Europe?" Stade asked.

Zhan Tian was stunned for a moment, he has been paying attention to the construction of railways in recent years, where is he in the mood to care about any international affairs, even if he cares about politics, he mainly focuses on domestic politics, such as the presidential election, so when Stade asked, he stopped him.

"What else can you see? However, the Allies and the Entente are not dealing with each other, you are wary of me, I am wary of you, no one trusts anyone, no one takes international justice in their eyes, I think, sooner or later there will be a big war in Europe. ”

Zhan Tianjie pondered for a moment, and analyzed the current international situation with his feelings, and this feeling actually came from the last conversation with Mr. President, in fact, in Zhan Tianjie's view, Mr. President seems to have always insisted that Europe is going to war, and this war is very large, and it is by no means comparable to the Franco-Prussian War.

"I must admit that Mr. Zhan is also very discerning in international politics, and I personally have the same view, if the relations between Germany and Britain remain deadlocked, a war between Europe and the United Kingdom seems inevitable, and it is precisely for this reason that I have come to visit Mr. President, and it is for this reason that your country has a very close relationship with Germany, and as far as I know, the German minister has been running to the presidential palace for some time, and he is vigorously advocating the Sino-German alliance, but in the eyes of the US government, as far as the current situation is concerned. China's best diplomatic option seems to be neutral and, like the United States, is absolutely a visit to Mr. President. It is precisely by conveying this proposal of our Government to the President that he will sit back and provide a reliable reference for Mr. President to make the right decision. ”

Stade's words made Zhan Tianjie frown, he was very disgusted by this kind of blatant interference in China's foreign policy, no matter what the other party did, this is very impolite, although China and the United States have good relations now, but this kind of thing involving national interests, the United States has no reason to point fingers.

But it's the same as in the past. After all, the current China is very different from the Manchu era, the national strength has increased, and it is no longer a dispensable role, in the international political balance. China's role is becoming more and more noticeable, which is why the US government is so anxious to let Steder rush over and look at the knots in Sino-German relations

"Mr. Minister, I personally believe that whether or not to form an alliance with Germany is the power of the National Assembly, and it seems that it has nothing to do with the president. Besides. Now that the general election is approaching, it seems that the president and Congress are not in the mood to pay attention to this issue of alliance right now. Zhan Tianyou said a few words lightly.

Stade shook his head, but he didn't refute anything, he understood that talking about politics with an engineering professional like Zhan Tianjie was playing the harp, and maybe he shouldn't have talked about it with the other party just now. Political topics. As the US minister to China, Stade knows very well that in this country now, Congress is just a decoration, and the political system of this country is similar to that of those countries in South America, which are all strongman politics, military dictatorship, and dictatorship. As the head of the country, the president does not rely on the support of voters, but on the support of the army, and the so-called "general election" is just a fig leaf, so Si Dade is not worried at all that Zhao Bei will take the initiative to give up the power in his hands.

On the other hand, Si Dai De does not care at all whether Zhao Bei is a military dictator or dictator, as long as the other party can maintain cooperative relations with the United States, then, even if Zhao Bei wants to be the emperor, Si Dai De will also fully support it, the premise is that Zhao Bei has enough strength, of course. At present, it seems that Zhao Bei obviously does not want to be the emperor. He seems to be more fond of "president for life." In the secret telegram, the US Secretary of State clearly told the minister to China that if Zhao Bei really intends to be president for life, then the US government will not do anything "contrary to US interests", in other words, the US government does not mind Zhao Bei being a military dictator, provided that he continues to maintain good relations with the United States, not as "extremely cold" as Sino-British relations.

This time I came to the presidential palace. Stade had two tasks: first, to express the US government's views on Sino-German relations; Second. After all, it is only speculation that Zhao Bei will become president for life, and they do not know what this Far Eastern strongman really thinks.

However, before meeting the president, Stade must wait for the arrival of the foreign minister here according to standard diplomatic procedures, without the foreign minister accompanied, it is impossible to reveal the US government's views on Sino-German relations to the cabinet, although the cabinet is also an ornament, but after all, it also has some influence, and the president cannot completely get rid of the cabinet and do his own thing, that is, in ancient times, the emperor of this country also needed a group of ministers to assist in handling national affairs.

But the chief Wu who had long passed the retirement age was quite bored when he arrived at Si Dai for a long time, so he pulled Zhan Tiansheng to chat, not wanting the other party to be a political layman, it was simply a chicken and a duck, and the depression in Mr. Minister's heart can be imagined.

Fortunately, the political layman did not stay here for long, and a few minutes later, an adjutant of the chamber arrived, led Zhan Tianyou and his helper out of the reception room, and went to meet with Mr. President, as for Stade. Since the foreign minister had not yet arrived, he could only stare at the ceiling of the reception room with his coffee.

"Sir, I don't quite understand why Mr. Secretary of State is so anxious to make clear the position of the United States to the Chinese side, does Mr. Secretary of State think that the situation in Europe is really closely related to China

An assistant asked Stade curiously, but Stade's answer confused him even more.

"As far as I know, in a dozen days it will be the "Day of Mourning" of the Serbs, and you know, the "Day of Mourning" of the Serbs, how did it come about? ”

"It is said that historically. At the end of the 14th century, the Ottoman army defeated the Serbian army, and since then, Serbia has fallen under the rule of the Ottoman Empire for 500 years, which is a day of national shame for the Serbs, so after independence, they set the June Flying Day as the "Day of Mourning" every year

Stade nodded. I am very satisfied with the assistant's answer.

"You know, this year's Serbian Day of Mourning, that day. What will His Royal Highness the Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary do? He will conduct a military parade on that day, and the parade will be held in the commercial city of Sarajevo in Bosnia, which is a show of force and a challenge to the Entente bloc, which will not only stimulate the nationalists in Serbia and Bosnia, but also stimulate the tense nerves of the whole of Europe, no one knows what will happen in Europe, but one thing is clear, in such a fragile peace situation, Germany must not involve China. The Chinese should also not meddle in the affairs of the Europeans themselves, they do not have this. strength