The screen blows on its back. Fresh emptiness and invigorating spirits※

Stand on the hill. Looking at the vast sea, Gu Weijun temporarily threw away those official worries and devoted himself to the beautiful scenery in front of him.

Manila is a tropical seaport, although the climate is hot. But the scenery somewhat makes up for the bad mood brought about by the hot temperature, and in addition to performing official duties. Walking around the beach with a few retinues can indeed be a temporary relief from troubles.

Since it is a temporary way to get rid of troubles, then the troubles are only a temporary departure after all, when the scenery becomes normal. Eventually, this trouble will come back to my heart.

This time, Gu Weijun led a delegation to participate in the Manila peace talks, and Gu Weijun shouldered a heavy burden, and the interests of the country and the future of the country were all tied to one, and the weight of this ideological burden can be imagined.

However, the Manila peace talks were conducted very hard, although Japan suffered a series of military defeats. However, relying on the fact that they were associate members of the Entente and had the support of the Entente countries, the performance at the negotiating table made people very speechless, as if Japan was the victor in this war, and whenever it came to the interests that Japan valued, the Japanese negotiators always took an uncompromising posture.

Gu Weijun understood that this was the negotiating tactic of the Japanese mission. The word "drag" is used to cover the deployment of troops on the Korean Peninsula and on the island of Taiwan.

Gu Weijun somewhat despised this kind of rogue behavior, but the negotiation had to continue, and the skills and pressure had to continue to be balanced.

At the Manila peace talks, China and Japan have had many official contacts so far. The only problem that really solved was the South Manchurian problem. The Japanese government has agreed "in principle" to give up its privileges in the South Manchurian region, but the Japanese government still refuses to return all the management of the South Manchurian Railway to China, and still insists on continuing to have a military port as a leased land in the southern part of the Liaoning Banzhou. As for the Taiwan issue, which is of great concern to the Chinese side, the Japanese Government instructed the Japanese negotiators. This issue cannot be talked about "in any case", so. Japanese negotiators have been taking an evasive stance on the Taiwan issue, whenever the Chinese peace negotiators raise the topic. Japanese negotiators often refused to continue the conversation on the pretext that "the government has not authorized the issue."

Where is this negotiation between countries? By blindly avoiding the main topic, does the Japanese government really have the confidence to continue the war?

It can't be delayed like this any longer, and when Gu Weijun was looking at the sea view on the hill, he had already made up his mind that if tomorrow's talks still failed to make a breakthrough, then he would lead a delegation to leave Manila. and informed the central government that the war against Japan could be continued.

"Head Gu! Captain Gu! ”

Just when Gu Weijun was looking at the sea and was distracted. Behind him came the shouts of an attaché, and when he looked back, he saw an attaché running from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain, seemingly holding a copy of a telegram in his hand.

"Head Gu! Captain Gu! This is a telegram that the center has just taken, instructing us that if tomorrow's talks still fail to reach progress on the Taiwan issue, then we can interrupt the talks and return to China, at which time, the center will resume the war against Japan. ”

The attaché said as he handed the telegram transcript to Gu Weijun.

Gu Weijun took the transcript of the telegram and glanced at it. Indeed, the telegram was a clear-code telegram just taken by the center, telling Gu Weijun that if the Japanese government still adopts delaying tactics and refuses to give satisfactory answers on important issues of concern to China, then the squadron will immediately resume its offensive; in fact, just yesterday, the president has ordered all squadrons in the Yalu River Theater to enter a state of first-class combat readiness and be ready to attack, cross the Yalu River, and advance to the depths of the Korean Peninsula.

It seems that the center and Gu Weijun thought of going together. This has made the last bit of burden on Gu Weijun's mind disappear, and if the representatives of the Japanese peace talks are really so unreasonable, perhaps it is indeed time for them to see the determination of the Chinese. There are many things that can't be solved by lip service alone. In the end, it will depend on the fist, and now, China's fist is much harder than Japan's.

"Let's go, let's go back to the consulate.

Gu Weijun made up his mind, quickly walked down the hill, boarded the four-wheeled carriage of the consulate, and returned to the consulate with these attachés.

Back at the consulate, Gu Weijun had planned to have a good talk with the Chinese consul in Manila to determine tomorrow's negotiation tactics, but the consul was invited to the governor's palace by the Philippine governor a few minutes before Gu Weijun returned to the consulate, and Gu Weijun could only wait.

This waited until the evening, and Mr. Consul returned to the consulate quite excitedly, bringing Gu Weijun good news.

Just now, in the Philippine Governor's Palace. The Governor-General told the Consul that the Japanese peace talks representative had conveyed the Japanese side's opinion to Mr. Governor an hour earlier, and according to this opinion. The Japanese government has officially authorized them to engage with the Chinese side on the issue of the island of Taiwan and will no longer shy away from this topic.

This is indeed exciting news. However, it was a little late, since the center had decided to adopt military means, then Gu Weijun naturally raised his demands, and it was not enough to include the Taiwan island issue in the talks. It is also necessary to bring up again the issue of war reparations, which the Japanese negotiators have been evading.

The consul quickly conveyed Gu Weijun's request to the Philippine governor, and the Japanese mission quickly got the news, but there was no indication.

No matter what position the Japanese side takes. None of them can change Gu Weijun's decision, and if tomorrow's talks fail to make a breakthrough, Gu Weijun will leave Manila immediately and return to Hong Kong first.

However, the interruption of peace talks is only to exert pressure on the Japanese mission, not to give up the efforts of peace talks, Gu Weijun knows very well that what China needs more now is not war, but peace, without peace, there will be no national exhibition, then there is no rise of a country and national rejuvenation.

Therefore, before actually taking action, Gu Weijun felt that it was still necessary to consult with the president on this issue, so he immediately used the telegraph machine of the consulate to "take a second telegram to the central government, and explained to the center that he was not involved After the first telegram was taken, another news came, and this news came from the British Straits Settlements.

At noon today, the Anglo-Indian army took control of Singapore again, and immediately announced that the so-called "screening law" would be applied to all the Korean bridge people stranded in the British Haijiao colony, and those with anti-British sentiment would be eliminated from them, and once the anti-British elements were confirmed, the British colonial authorities would send them all back to the Korean Peninsula and hand them over to the Japanese government.

This news has not yet been widely disseminated, but Gu Weijun can also imagine this, once the news spreads, what kind of impact it will have, at least those North Korean expatriates in the Nanyang region will be in panic all day, and the situation will not be further chaotic at that time. It would only be up to the British colonial authorities to see if they had enough troops to enforce military control.

Of course, Gu Weijun didn't have time to worry about the affairs of the British Straits Settlements, he just needed to do his job well, and the focus of this work was how to exert pressure on the Japanese peace talks. Force the other side to come up with a negotiation bottom line as soon as possible.

In view of the fact that the Japanese representatives of the peace talks have always refused to make the bottom line of the negotiations clear, Gu Weijun decided to first show part of China's bottom line of the talks, and change the passive to the active, so as to save the peace talks that were on the verge of collapse.

Early the next morning, Gu Weijun led the Chinese delegation to the peace talks.

The venue for the talks was still held in the conference room of the US Navy base in Manila, and like the meeting a few days ago, it was a closed-door meeting, with no third-party representatives attending except for representatives from China and Japan, not even Americans.

Unlike yesterday's performance, the Japanese negotiators happily took the initiative to put forward the bottom line of the Japanese government's peace talks, so that Gu Weijun did not need to make China's bottom line of the talks clear.

The Japanese government's bottom line for peace talks is very vague. The expression is vague, but at least it can give Gu Weijun an idea of the position of the Japanese government.

According to the account of the Japanese representative, Gu Weijun basically confirmed that the bottom line of the Japanese side has two core contents: first, the investment of Japanese enterprises and businessmen in China should be protected; Second. Korea is a "zone of special interests" for Japan, and in any case, Japan will not allow Korean independence. Gu Weijun carefully analyzed it, and he believed that the conditions of the bottom line of the two peace talks did not conflict with the conditions of the Chinese side, and the negotiations with Japan this time. As long as Japan is willing to return the sovereignty of Taiwan Island and the land borrowed by Lu Dazu, then the interests of Japanese enterprises and businessmen can be protected, but the privileges must be abolished. As for the issue of Korean independence, the central point is also very clear: as long as a "demilitarized zone" can be established on the Korean side of the Yalu River, then the issue of Korean independence can be "shelved"

Japan's hardline stance has finally softened. This made Gu Weijun feel refreshed, he knew. It's time to strike while the iron is hot. exceed

At such a time, it is more necessary to grasp the balance well, and it is not appropriate to be in a hurry and slow down, and this is a great test of the psychological quality and negotiation skills of diplomats.

The Japanese negotiators apparently had the same idea, but compared to the calmness of the Chinese representatives. The Japanese negotiators were somewhat anxious. He urged the Chinese side to accept Japan's conditions as soon as possible and conclude the talks.

If the negotiations are completed now and a peace agreement is reached, it will be good news for both China and Japan, but Gu Weijun suddenly hesitated, and he instinctively realized that the reason why the Japanese government is so anxious to show the bottom line of the Japanese side of the negotiations is probably not to seize the initiative, but for another reason.

It is precisely for this reason that Gu Weijun temporarily decided to continue the talks for another day, and he decided to take this opportunity to inquire with those well-informed people to see what made the Japanese government so anxious.

It wasn't until late that night that Gu Weijun finally got the inside story from the center, and this inside story came from a German spy lurking in France.

It was a decision of the British government that caused Japan to change its position.

Now the war in Europe is in full swing, due to the fact that the German Far Eastern Detachment is based on the Pacific islands. Constant sorties, raiding British sea routes. Accordingly, the British Government has made an official note to the Government of Japan. It was hoped that the Japanese Government would invoke the obligation of the Anglo-Japanese alliance to declare war on Germany, and that it would immediately send the Combined Fleet south to the Pacific Islands to seize the German colonies and occupy the logistics bases of the German Far East Fleet, and that once those islands were captured, the British Government would recognize Japan's occupation of those Pacific islands.

Japan's national policy has always been oriented in two basic directions. One is the "Northern Expansion" faction, which advocates expansion to the East Asian continent, and the other is the "Southern Expansion" faction, which advocates expansion to Southeast Asia. In the past, because China was weakened, the "northward expansion faction" within the Japanese government was able to grasp the right to formulate Japan's national policy, but now, with Japan's crushing defeat in the Sino-Japanese War, the "southward expansion faction" within the Japanese government has once again had the opportunity to rise, and because the war in Europe has broken out, the European powers have no time to look eastward, and the Southeast Asian region has become empty. The British Government's initiative to support Japan's southward expansion to occupy the German Pacific islands and colonies undoubtedly increased the bargaining chips for the Japanese "southward expansionists" to control the government's decision-making.

Knowing this, we can also understand the current strategic choice of the Japanese Government, and it is obvious that the Japanese Government has decided to completely abandon the idea of the "northward expansionist." In order to avoid a two-front war, the current Japanese government must reach a peace agreement with China as soon as possible, and then concentrate its naval forces on sweeping Germany's colonies in the Pacific Ocean in an effort to establish a "springboard for the Japanese Empire's southward expansion" in the Pacific Ocean

Now that he understands the wishful thinking of the Japanese government, Gu Weijun immediately made clear his next negotiation policy, that is, a "drag" trick, no matter what, to maximize China's interests, and now, he is not in a hurry to reach a peace agreement.

Japan has already dragged it out, and now it is China's turn to drag it.