1081908 Far Eastern madman

When he and Si Dai arrived at the Liuguo Hotel, they saw that the front of the hotel was crowded with reporters, and a negotiator of the United Front was standing in front of the hotel to answer reporters' questions. However, it is always a scene, and there is "no comment" on the details of the negotiations

The reporters couldn't ask a famous question, so they had to divert their attention, and when they found a carriage carrying Tang Shaoyi to the front of the hotel, they rushed up again and surrounded Tang Shaoyi.

"May I ask General Tang, has the United Front submitted the terms of the peace talks to the central government for this North-South peace talks?"

"What is the difference between the conditions of the peace talks this time and the minimum conditions of the previous time?" ”

"The German minister has expressed a pessimistic stance on the prospects of the North-South peace talks, what does Mr. Tang think?"

"British Minister Mr. Zhu Erdian told British reporters on the other day that if the North-South peace talks fail to make progress, the British Government will not rule out the use of force to intervene to maintain peace between the North and the South. What is the central government's attitude towards this? ”

The reporters asked rhetorically, but Tang Shaoyi just smiled and waited for everyone to calm down. He said a few words lightly.

"With regard to the North-South peace talks, the center is very sincere, and the United Front side is also sincere, and now that the frontline troops of the two sides have disengaged and there has actually been a ceasefire, the contemptible people are optimistic about the prospects of the peace talks. As for the specific conditions and contents of the peace talks, the talks have not yet been formally held. It is indeed inappropriate to talk about it, but you can rest assured that the positions of the two sides are very close in this peace talks. The rest depends on our eloquence and strength in the negotiations. ”

After speaking, Tang Shaoyi led Si Dai to the Six Nations Hotel, and finally got rid of those reporters, they met Song Jiaoren in the lobby of the hotel, and the other party was leading several attachés to the door of the hotel, looking at the posture, it seemed that he was planning to leave the hotel.

Tang Shaoyi hurriedly stepped forward, and after inquiring, she learned that Song Jiaoren was going to the British Legation, and then accompanied by the British Minister, to visit Yuan Shikai on the sickbed.

Yuan Shikai now lives in the back garden of the Presidential Palace. If they want to visit Yuan Shikai, they must first enter the presidential palace, which is very intriguing, because no one dares to guarantee that after visiting Yuan Shikai, the British minister will not lead everyone to sit in President Xu Shichang's reception room on a whim.

In a sovereign and independent country, this kind of diplomatic borrowing will not happen, but now, as the foreign minister of this weak country, Tang Shaoyi is helpless about it, after all. The leader was the British minister, the "spiritual head" of the diplomatic mission of the Great Powers in Dongjiaomin Lane

"I'll go with you. This is Mr. Stade, the new U.S. Minister to China, but he has come to meet with Mr. Soong not as a diplomat, but as a commercial representative of the American Railroad. ”

Tang Shaoyi sighed in her heart and introduced Si Dai next to her to Li Jiaoren.

"I've met Mr. Steder before."

Song Jiaoren smiled and exchanged a few words with Stade. Last time, for the sake of the Guangdong-Han "Han Railway. This Si Dai De had held negotiations with the senior management of the Alliance, but it was Mr. Sun who presided over the League at that time, and the protagonist of the Si Dai De negotiations was not Song Jiaoren.

"It's great to see that Mr. Song and General Zhao have become the same catty. Members of political groups, now. Some of the obstacles that stand in our way have been almost torn down, and I think that now may be an opportunity for the great development of commerce and trade between China and the United States, does Mr. Song agree with me? Stade asked.

"Yes. In my opinion, as long as the North-South peace talks make significant progress, the situation in China can be calmed down in a short period of time. China will make satisfactory progress in commerce and trade with other countries in the world, and China and the United States will further strengthen the friendship between the two countries. ”

For the hidden meaning of Stade's words. Soong knew very well that while he was opposed to a military alliance with any of the great powers, he would be happy to see China's trade with foreign countries grow, especially if closer commercial ties with countries like the United States were more in China's interest. Because the United States is now also refusing to form an alliance with the great powers, and more importantly, the United States also has a diplomatic dispute with Japan, which is conducive to China to use its strength to defeat the country.

Although they were surprised that Steder had taken over the post of US minister to China, the British minister Mr. Zhu Erdian still warmly invited the American minister to go to the back garden of the presidential palace to visit President Yuan Da who was recuperating.

Perhaps aware of Tang Shaoyi's presence, Zhu Erdian, in order to avoid embarrassment, offered to enter the garden through the back door of the presidential palace, and no one else objected to this.

When they arrived at the small garden where Yuan Shikai lived, they happened to meet Xu Shichang, the acting president of the Republic of China, who was walking out of there, and a group of high-ranking officials of the Beiyang government.

Although he also understands in his heart that the current Beiyang family is actually Yuan Shikai on the sickbed, Xu Shichang is still very dissatisfied with Zhu Erdian's move, he feels that Zhu Erdian brought Song Jiaoren to "visit" for another purpose, what is the purpose. Xu Shichang really doesn't bother to worry about it now. The hearts of the Beiyang people..."Chi is a little unprovoked, if it weren't for the many years of friendship with Yuan Shikai, Xu Shichang would have picked it up a long time ago, this big president's position looks good, but when you really sit on it, you will find that you are sitting on the crater, on the one hand, the internal political enemies are challenged, and on the other hand, the great powers are flying. Neither side is easy to fool, if you don't get it right, you will be ruined like Yuan Shikai, and you may even die.

Xu Shichang really is not in the mood to discuss the terms of peace talks with the representatives of the United Front here. He only chatted with Song Jiaoren and the others for a few unrelated words, and just as he was about to lead the attaché away, the American Minister Stade suddenly noticed several machine-gun bunkers arranged in the open space of the garden.

"Is it necessary to set up a machine gun here?" Stade asked curiously.

Xu Shichang glanced at an attaché beside him, who answered the American minister's question.

"These machine guns are used against planes in the sky."

"Airplanes? You mean the planes received by the United Front? Isn't there a ceasefire now? Will the United Front send planes to bomb the presidential palace? It looks like you've learned how to deal with planes. ”

Although he is not a soldier, Stade has heard a little about the United Front's use of aircraft.

Without waiting for the presidential office staff to answer, the British Minister Zhu Erdian, who was standing on the side, took over the conversation.

"Mr. Stade, you have clearly underestimated the level of arrogance of the United Front. In fact. Just yesterday after they occupied the city of Baoding, which had been abandoned by the central government, they sent a plane to Beijing. A low-altitude flight was carried out, and although the bomb was not dropped, it caused a great deal of panic. It was after that that that these machine-gun bunkers were erected. In my opinion, the United Front made a move. Strictly speaking, there is a suspicion of sabotaging the peace talks, and it is necessary to remind the United Front side. ”

After speaking, Zhu Erdian took a cigar from the attaché's hand, and then looked at Song Jiaoren, who was standing opposite.

Song Jiaoren just looked at the sky, and then said, "Today's weather is not suitable for flying"

Hearing this, Stade smiled. He also looked at the gray sky.

"Perhaps the United Front should send a message of thanks to the Wright brothers of the United States, without which the Wright brothers would not have achieved such a brilliant military victory."

When Xu Shichang said this, Xu Shichang's face changed slightly, and the generals of the Beiyang Army present were even more pale, glaring at Mr. American Minister, obviously disagreeing with his sentence of "brilliant military victory"

The British minister lit his cigar as if no one was around, took a puff, and slowly shuffled out the choking smoke. Later, he also euphemistically criticized the views of the American minister.

"Mr. Steder, in my opinion, although the United Front has achieved some victories at present, as a local military force against the central government, they obviously ignore the governments standing behind the central government, and if Beiyang is given strong support, I believe that the current situation of the war can be completely reversed. Of course, I'm also interested in new weapons like airplanes, and although I'm not a soldier, I think that maybe the future war will be a three-dimensional war. According to the information received by the British Government, Germany has sent a military observation mission to China, and it is to study the flying units of the United Front, because in the eyes of the Germans, of all the armies in the world, only the pilots of the revolutionary armed forces of the United Front are the most qualified to make an objective evaluation of air operations. ”

Stade glanced at Zhu Erdian, although he was very skeptical about the authenticity of the information obtained by the British Government on the German Observation Mission, but he completely agreed with the British diplomat's opinion, in fact, because of the outstanding performance of the Republican Army Flying Team in the war, the world's major military powers have noticed this new combat method, and even the US Government has ordered the military attache stationed in China to collect relevant air combat intelligence as much as possible, and the US Army, which originally held a conservative stance on aircraft, has also purchased dozens of the latest aircraft for experiments in one go.

However, for this kind of flying machine composed of wood, glue, canvas, and rope, modern means of fire killing are a real threat to it, and in future wars, how much role this air weapon can play, Steder has no bottom in his heart, in his opinion, this kind of air weapon is more suitable for reconnaissance, but it is indeed a bit exaggerated to use it for combat.

Knowing this, we can understand the urgent mood of the German General Staff, because for Germany, Britain's military strength is too strong, especially its naval strength, and if it wants to defeat today's unfallen emperor, the Germans must win by surprise, otherwise, Germany will be dragged down by the British arms race.

When the foreigners were making bold speculations about the future war, Xu Shichang, the acting president of the Republic of China, was also looking at the sky and sighing.

"If the United Front on the Hangzhou side also has planes, I am afraid that the situation in the southeast will be even more difficult to manage

Finish.

Thinking of this, Xu Shichang looked south, but it was also gray over there, just like the future of Beiyang now, which made people unable to see clearly and couldn't figure it out.

The future is boundless, and today's Xu Shichang is just doing his best, and the rest is to obey the fate of heaven.