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At the Presidential Palace, Duan Qirui, chief of the Chinese Imperial Army, Feng Guozhang, and Wang Shizhen, general of the Chinese Empire, as well as newly promoted lieutenant generals Jiang Baili and Cai Yi, as well as Navy Chief Liu Buyun, Admiral Deng Shichang, and Vice Admiral Sa Zhenbing attended the high-level meeting convened by Song Xiaofei.

In history textbooks, Liang Shiyi is the image of the villain. Yuan Shikai was proclaimed emperor, he was the culprit of the imperial system, he was wanted, and later he was "pro-Japanese and traitorous", borrowing Japanese money to build railways and betraying national power, which made him "nailed to the pillar of shame in history" and had no way to turn over. But Song Xiaofei doesn't think so, Song Xiaofei likes to use famous people in history, because in his opinion, how many people who can leave a name in that chaotic era are wine bags and rice bags? He went to personally contact these old people who were obscured by the class view of history, and they showed their true faces one by one, and Song Xiaofei knew how harmful the fog of ideology was! This Liang Shiyi is not simple, Hanlin was born, or a rare financial talent in the empire, he founded the Bank of Communications, the first Department of Transportation, and made great achievements in finance, after Li Jingfang resigned, Song Xiaofei once let him serve as the secretary general of the presidential office. Foreign Minister Wu Tingfang is 66 years old, gray hair, at most another full term, diplomatic personnel familiar with the world is urgently in short supply, Song Xiaofei let Liang Shiyi, who is about 40 years old, become the deputy director of foreign affairs, ready to take over Wu Tingfang's class. This time it was also hand-picked by Song Xiaofei to attend this important meeting.

Song Xiaofei asked the generals and officials present to show Kaiser Wilhelm II's telegram and said: "Everyone speaks freely. Do we want to ally with Germany again? Taking Bengal in a short period of time will definitely completely anger the British, and Zhu Erdian also stated to us the bottom line of the British government. It is said that once the squadron touches India, Britain will immediately turn its face. ”

The First World War in history broke out in Europe, and it was not a war of one country, nor was it a war that one country could stop. Germany's enemies were France, Russia, and Great Britain, and Germany's style of play was to defeat France in a blitzkrieg first, and then turn around and fight Russia; The result is a two-sided war. In the end, he was defeated. But in 1908, because of the arrival of Song Xiaofei, the Tsarist Russian Empire at this time had collapsed. Not an opponent of the Germans, and, as soon as China joins the camp of the Allies, a second theater of war is opened in Asia. Entente powers such as Britain and France would not necessarily win. Song Xiaofei couldn't be sure at this time. In the end, whether to form an alliance with the Germans, because of the butterfly effect, it is very likely that one wrong step will fall into the dark and bottomless abyss. Therefore, he hopes to synthesize the wisdom of Duan Qirui, Liu Buyun and others to make a prudent decision.

Foreign Minister Wu Tingfang was the first to stand up and express his opinion, he stroked his gray beard, and spoke in a loud voice: "Austria is close to declaring war on Serbia at this time. Although the Russian Empire is now in ruins, it seems that Britain and France are behind it. Tsar Nicholas II stated that Russia was now ready to provide assistance in any war between Serbia and Austria. And Austria also had allies, and the most important was Germany. Germany hoped that Britain, France, and Russia would not intervene in the war between Austria and Serbia. As soon as Britain, France, and Russia refused, Germany declared war on Russia, France, and Great Britain. So now if we were to form an alliance with Germany, we would face the Entente powers such as Britain, France, and Russia. I suggest that China continue to maintain a policy of neutrality. ”

Song Xiaofei nodded and said, "I believe that the vast majority of countries in Europe will soon join this war." On one side were the Central Powers, which mainly included Germany and Austria-Hungary and Italy; On the other side were the Entente powers, including France, Great Britain and Russia. Some other countries in Europe either joined the Central Powers, such as Bulgaria, or joined the Entente, such as Romania, Portugal. The military strength of the two camps is equal, and it is difficult to judge who will die. ”

After speaking, Song Xiaofei asked Duan Qirui, "Zhiquan, do you think Germany is sure of winning?" ”

Duan Qirui has also been paying attention to the situation in Europe recently, especially the movements of the German army, and he replied: "Germany and Austria hope to win the war as soon as possible. I read that the New York Times reported that the German generals had drawn up a plan to ensure victory, to carry out a surprise attack on France with the overwhelming majority of German forces, to deal with France in a very short time, and then to turn around and sweep through Russia, so that Germany would not be attacked on both sides at the same time. It is estimated that the German Army can participate in the war of about 2 million, and it is said that it has now stationed troops on the Belgian border. The two million German Army, the president also knows their strength, and they must be overwhelming, so I think Germany has a seven-point chance of winning. ”

Other army generals present, such as Feng Guozhang and Cai Yi, also agreed with Duan Qirui's view, because after all, many things in China's new army are learned from Germany. The Germans were a fighting race in history, they fought against the Romans, the French, the Swedes, and the Slavs, and they were invincible. The German individual soldiers were highly qualified, resolute in carrying out orders, well-equipped, well-trained, and more importantly, the command ability of the German Army Staff was recognized by the whole world.

At this time, Navy Chief Liu Buyun stood up and expressed his disagreement, saying: "In addition to considering the army, we also have to consider the strength of the navy. If the Allies and the Entente took immediate steps to reduce trade between Germany and other countries in the event of a war between the Allies and the Allies, the British Navy would certainly hunt down supply ships bound for German ports, and if this action extended to blockade any ships attempting to export food to Germany, Germany would face the threat of starvation. Because according to the strength of the German navy, German surface ships could not break the British blockade. ”

Admiral Deng Shichang, who is in charge of China's submarine forces, knows the power of submarines and disagrees with Liu Buyun's statement, saying: "Chief Liu seems to have neglected another German naval weapon: submarines." Germany could use submarines to sink any ship that sailed off the coast of England. ”

Song Xiaofei said: "The German submarine is very powerful. But such threats would include countries that seek to continue trade with the Entente, especially the United States. We had to think that as soon as the United States joined the Entente. Then the odds of victory for the Entente would have increased considerably. After speaking, Song Xiaofei turned around and asked Liang Shiyi, deputy director of foreign affairs: "Chief Liang, you recently visited the United States. What is the position of the United States on the war in Europe? ”

Liang Shiyi said: "The United States has a special geographical location, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Because of historical and geographical factors, there has always been a kind of isolationist sentiment in the United States that focuses on homeland security. Isolationism dominates public opinion, believing that the United States should not intervene outside the American continent, in European disputes, and in future European wars. And in 1907 there was a serious economic crisis in the United States. Businesses closed down, thousands of workers lost their jobs and lived on the streets. This has created a general sense of fear among Americans, who are generally focused on the country, who are concerned only with economic recovery and about jobs. And for matters outside the United States. In particular, there is basically no interest in European problems. Americans believe that the United States is geographically superior and blessed with a distance from the Old Continent, and that what happens in Europe has nothing to do with US relations, let alone care about it. And those big American conglomerates, which have close ties with German monopoly capital, are now importing all kinds of military supplies, equipment, and weapons into Germany to support the German army's arms expansion and warfare. Thus making a lot of excess profits. Therefore, the current position of the United States is very clear neutrality! According to a recent report by the New York Times. The current President of the United States, Theodore. Roosevelt said: 'This is a war of inaction for us, and the war between them has nothing to do with us.' I think the vast majority of Americans support the president's policies, and they don't want to get involved in the war. The official policy of the United States is neutrality, and the United States wants to trade with both warring sides. ”

Song Xiaofei listened, nodded, the attitude of the United States is no different from history, he suddenly remembered that the United States should soon re-elect the president, so he asked: "Theodore. President Roosevelt's term is coming soon, right? ”

Liang Shiyi replied: "Yes, 1909 is the election year for the president of the United States. One of the important reasons why President Roosevelt was reluctant to get involved in the war. Republican William. Congressman Taft is ready to run for president, and Republicans want to seek re-election. ”

Song Xiaofei nodded and said: "But I don't think the United States will always remain neutral, the German Emperor Wilhelm II is too open-mouthed, I read the recent "New York Times", he actually said to the Mexican ambassador to Germany that if Mexico declares war on the United States, Germany will assist Mexico to return the southwestern United States to Mexico." ”

The United States was founded with only 13 states, and through the Mexican-American War that broke out in 1846, the United States seized 2.3 million square kilometers of Mexico's land, and became a great power in the transatlantic and Pacific oceans. Mexico has lost most of its country, and its vitality has been devastated. Since then, the United States has gained dominance in the Americas. The war ended with the fall of Mexico's capital, which surrendered to the United States in 1847, and the two sides met on February 2, 1848 in Guadalupe, a small town near Mexico City, the capital of Mexico. Hidalgo signed a peace treaty. Under the treaty, the United States received all of California, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Wyoming. In compensation, the United States paid Mexico $15 million and waived $3.25 million in debt owed by Mexico. This treaty was a complete humiliation of the victor against the loser, and it was one of the largest treaties in recent history in which the defeated country ceded territory to the victorious country. Mexico lost half of its territory, and since then, it has developed a nationalist outlook that it has lacked since its founding in 1821, and has always retained a hatred for the United States and a desire to regain large swaths of the lost territory.

Song Xiaofei knew this history, and Kaiser Wilhelm II expressed support for Mexico's war against the United States, which he believed was "tantamount to Germany declaring war on the United States."

Liang Shiyi added: "More importantly, President, I also learned that the United States had provided Britain and France with huge war loans, and if Britain and France were defeated, the repayment of the loans would be a problem. ”

Song Xiaofei only knew that the United States sold arms to the Allies and the Entente, but he did not expect that the United States had also lent usury to Britain and France, so that the United States' participation in the war would bring it considerable war reparations, and it would benefit a lot from both its colonial and international status. Therefore, it is only a matter of time before the United States will inevitably enter the war. In this way, the strength of the Entente has grown a lot. But now that history has changed, Russia has collapsed, and if Germany can win, the world will also change dramatically.

After some discussion, Song Xiaofei and Duan Qirui decided to reject Kaiser Wilhelm II's suggestion, and China would continue to maintain neutrality for the time being, and the military factories would produce at full capacity, actively preparing for war on the one hand, and exporting to Europe on the other. However, Song Xiaofei deliberately showed Kaiser Wilhelm II's telegram to the British ambassador to China, Zhu Erdian, urging China and Britain to sign a peace treaty as soon as possible to resolve the sovereignty issue of the region.

When Zhu Erdian saw that Kaiser Wilhelm II actually invited China to jointly send troops to occupy India, and then the two countries divided India, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat and muttered to himself: "The Germans are really crazy!" He hastened to send a telegram back to London asking for instructions. Henry. Asquith instructed Jurdian to sign a peace treaty with China as soon as possible.

So, on August 21, 1908, China and Britain signed the "Beijing Treaty", which stipulated: the large ** area will always be China's territory, and Britain will pay an indemnity of 3 million pounds to redeem the captured British troops and warships. China's territory has once again expanded, and its international status has been further enhanced, and the whole country is celebrating. (To be continued......) u