10841908 Far Eastern madman

The wind swept in the dust from the north. The sun is blocked. Today, most of the people walking on the street are gray-faced, and the banners in front of the shops on the street are swaying with the wind, and the top is also gray, and the whole city is such a color, monotonous and simple.

This is the city of Beijing, the capital of this oriental country, although the taste of modernization is far less than that of Tianjin in the south, but after all, it is the seat of the country's power, and every move here is watched by people.

The four-wheeled carriage ran over the potholed streets, drove from the Daqianmen Railway Station to the city with a disgraced face, and slowly made its way through the windy and sandy city, and finally arrived at its destination.

Dongjiaomin Lane In fact, in the eyes of the diplomats of the great powers, this should be regarded as the real power center of the country, as for the presidential palace not far from here, it is just an actor who performs in the foreground, almost all major political activities and decisions in this country are actually planned by Dongjiaomin Lane, and the diplomats of the great powers here are the directors of these political "civilization plays", without their cooperation, the president in the presidential palace is just a puppet who is weak and powerless because of the loss of the thread.

Since the war of yo years, this ancient Eastern country has actually become a "public colony" of the great powers, and the reason why it has always retained a central government that seems to have sovereignty is only because the great powers need an agent to rule the country, and it is too dangerous for the great powers to rule the country directly, or it is more cost-effective to support the agents, and the great powers can only extract profits from this tax collection machine.

Previously, this agent was the Manchu court. However, the Great Powers soon found that this tax-collecting machine could no longer be maintained, and that the cost of maintaining it was much higher than the profit obtained from it, so the Great Powers did not hesitate to abandon the obsolete tax-collecting machine and choose a new one, which was called "Beiyang"

But before the new tax collection machine began to officially operate, the powers suddenly found that this machine had a new shell, but the interior was still rotten, if they could not obtain the support of the powers, this tax collection machine could be completely finished at any time, so the powers were anxious to find a way to repair the tax collection machine, but they also regretted to see that not all the powers now plan to repair this Beiyang machine, at least the Germans' minds are worth figuring out.

Despite the ill-intentioned intentions of the Germans, thanks to the efforts of diplomats from other countries, the German Minister to China finally decided to participate in the North-South mediation and to resolve the issue of the distribution of central power in a peaceful way.

Whatever the reason for the German envoy agreeing to participate in the North-South mediation, at least for now diplomats are already preparing for this peace negotiation between powerful factions in the north and south of China, and this Dongjiaomin Lane is the mastermind behind this peace negotiation.

The four-wheeled carriage that had rushed from the Daqianmen Railway Station to Dongjiaomin Lane stopped in front of the American Legation, the door was pushed open by the passengers inside, and two blond and blue-eyed foreigners stepped out of the carriage, one was named Stad, the American Consul General in Mukden, and the other was Marven, Mr. Stadde's main assistant and Chinese translator.

Stade, holding a silk handkerchief and covering his mouth and nose, stood by the carriage and glanced at the gray sky.

"Marven, do you know? The sight reminds me of the sandstorms that swept through the western and central parts of the United States more than a decade ago, and what caused them because of over-clearing of the land. Moreover, this is clearly the capital of the country, and if you are a newcomer, you may mistakenly think that there is a desert nearby. ”

Stade muttered, and Marven looked at the sky, then at his shoes.

"Sir, I thought it would be a good idea to open a shoeshine shop here, you see, our shoes were just polished at the train station, but now it looks like we just left the lime factory. I think the dust in this city may have been blown from the Mongolian steppe, and as far as I know, there are now many farmers from the Chinese mainland who go to the steppe to reclaim the land, lease the grassland from the Mongol princes, and then turn it into farmland. Clearly, they are repeating what the United States did more than a decade ago, farming in areas that are not suitable for farming. ”

"The farmers are short-sighted, and the government is doing nothing, can you blame the poor farmers in tattered clothes? As far as I know, the rent in the inland areas of Chinese mainland is indeed too high, tenant farmers work hard for a year, but often get nothing, highland rent forces them to go to remote areas to make a living, and the Mongolian steppe is obviously an undeveloped virgin land, if the country has enough industry, these farmers may not have to go to the grassland to compete with the herders for pasture, this is a modern conflict between agricultural civilization and nomadic civilization. ”

"Sir, I heard that there are also conflicts brewing on the grasslands, conflicts between herdsmen and farmers, conflicts between princes and commoners, it seems that this country is full of conflicts, even if the North-South peace talks make progress this time, this country may not calm down in a short time."

"Marvin, you have somewhat underestimated the determination of the US government to maintain peace in the Far East, and in any case, the US government will not sit idly by and watch the peace in the Far East be destroyed, whether this destructive force comes from inside or outside the country.

It seems to me that as long as there is progress in the peace talks between the North and the South, the turmoil in the steppes and Manchuria will soon subside. As soon as Japan and Russia lose their excuse for dry poisoning, then. The precarious situation in the country can be quickly eased. ”

"Russia is still focusing on Europe and may not have the strength to expand further in Northeast Asia, but Japan is different, and the U.S. government should take a tougher stance and fight back head-on against Japan's ambitions."

"Yes, Japan is the biggest threat to the current order in the Far East, and compared to Japan, the United Front is just a variable, and the United Front is not enough to undermine peace in the Far East."

Two American diplomats stood in front of the U.S. legation and talked for a while about the current international situation. However, they soon stopped their discussion, because some staff members came out of the embassy, carrying large bags and small bags, and some heavy wooden boxes had to be carried by two people, and the luggage was loaded onto the four-wheeled carriage parked in front of the embassy.

The one who walked out with the baggage team was a middle-aged American, and Stade recognized it at a glance.

"Ahem, Mr. Fletcher, are you going back home?"

In the face of the "enthusiastic" Stade, the American looked indifferent, didn't say a word, and got into the carriage directly.

Before the window was closed, Stade shouted into the window a few more times.

"Mr. Fletcher, I see that you have brought so much luggage, perhaps you have brought all the Chinese antiques you have collected over the years, but I need to remind you that the blue and white porcelain vase that you collected as a treasure is a quality, and the Xuande furnace, although the workmanship is very good, but in ancient times

The passenger in the car, who was ridiculing that "on the field, this imitation is worth a few dollars at most", was obviously enraged, and roared in the car urging the driver to catch the car, and after the carriage started, there were still a few pieces of luggage that could be loaded into the car, and the American soldiers carrying the luggage shouted and chased after him, and threw the small suitcases through the windows.

As the carriage faded away, Stade's assistant Marvin whistled.

"Sir, though I hate this politician too. But you seem to have gone too far. You know, Mr. Fletcher's "Xuande furnace" he bought for a hundred dollars? For this reason, he also offended the British military attache who also took a fancy to this "antique". ”

"That idiot, if he had devoted half of his antique collection energy to his work, he wouldn't have gotten out of here."

Stade whistled very happily, and was very happy to be able to watch this political enemy slip away from his eyes, and Mr. Consul was indeed very happy.

Because Mr. Rou Keyi, the US minister to China, returned to China to report on his work, Fletcher had been acting as the US minister to China some time ago, but his work attitude was indeed very perfunctory, and when the powerful factions in the north and south of China were engaged in a decisive battle in southern Henan, this acting minister was insensitive to this. He was not in the slightest aware of the potential impact of the campaign on the entire Far East, and compared to the aggressive German and British ministers, the American minister, who was only interested in collecting Chinese antiques, did not take the initiative to get in touch with the United Front, nor did he actively express his "sincerity" to the Beiyang center. When the war became clear, a telegram from the U.S. State Department relieved Mr. Fletcher of his duties as acting minister and chargé d'affaires in China, and recalled him to China.

In fact, even the decision to announce participation in the armistice between the North and the South was a decision made by the US Secretary of State on behalf of Fletcher, and at the same time, Mr. Secretary of State also sent a telegram to Mr. Stade, who was far away in Mukden, urging him to leave south as soon as possible to take over the post of chargé d'affaires in China at the US Legation in Beijing, and also to serve as acting minister to China.

So, just step through the door of the embassy. Then, he is the US minister to China. Although he is currently only an agent, this is very beneficial for his future political development.

Although the outcome of this armed conflict between powerful factions in the north and south of China has not yet been decided, at least one American politician has taken advantage of it. In this regard, Stade was very satisfied, and his favor for the commander-in-chief Zhao of the United Front also increased.

However, the new US Minister to China did not rush into the office of the Minister and took the key to the safe from the military attaché, he only lingered in the telegram room of the embassy for a while, and then, with his assistant Marven, hurriedly left the embassy, got into a light carriage, and rushed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China to meet the acting foreign affairs minister, Mr. Tang Shaoyi.

"Mr. Stade was inaugurated as U.S. Minister to China. I am deeply gratified and extend my heartfelt congratulations to Your Excellency on your cooperation with Mr. Minister. It is a great honor to jointly safeguard the friendship between China and the United States. If Mr. Minister does not object, the contemptible man intends to hold a small banquet in the Humble House. I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Minister and to further enhance our personal friendship. ”

When they met, Tang Shaoyi was polite and greeting, with a smile on her face, but she was a little bitter in her heart. Although the previous Fletcher was a waste to the US government, Tang Shaoyi "admired" him very much, because that Fletcher would not stalk on the issue of China's railways and would not give the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a headache, but this Stafford is different, this person himself is the lackey of the American railroad king Harriman. When he was in Fengtian, he had been entangled with Xu Shichang about the railway of the three eastern provinces, and some time ago for the Guangdong-Hanzhou railway, he even hooked up with powerful figures in the south, this kind of behavior in Beiyang's eyes is contempt for the authority of the center, and now, such a figure is appointed as the US minister to China, can the Beiyang center not have a headache?

In fact, Tang Shaoyi and Steder have a good personal relationship, but when Steder took over the post of US minister to China, the relationship between the two has undergone subtle changes, and Steder has also noticed this change.

"I heard that Mr. Tang once joined the Alliance? I wonder if there is still a connection with the United Front? ”

Stade was so simple that he did not dwell on diplomatic etiquette, but went straight to the point.

"There is no direct contact, and at the moment there is only some contact with the United Front peace talks. Why did Mr. Minister ask this question? Tang Shaoyi couldn't figure out Si Dede's intentions, and this answer was also ambiguous.

"That's right. According to reliable information received by the United States Government, it seems that the United Front is discussing with German businessmen the joint construction of the Canton-Hankou railway, and Mr. Secretary of State has ordered me to pay attention to this issue, so I have made a special inquiry about it. ”

Stade blinked slyly and stared at Tang Shaoyi's face, but he didn't notice the change in the sophisticated diplomat's expression.

"I can't answer that question. However, since the United States Government considers the information to be reliable, why did Mr. Minister not inquire about the United Front? Their peace talks delegation is now staying at the Six Nations Hotel. Moreover, Mr. Song Jiaoren also returned to Beijing yesterday. Now you may be at the Six Nations Hotel, why don't you go and ask Mr. Song Jiaoren directly? ”

Tang Shaoyi's answer made Si Dade very satisfied. This is where he came from.

"If Mr. Tang does not object, I would like to visit that Mr. Song with you. Actually, I had a relationship with him, but we didn't know him very well, and I would be very happy if Mr. Tang had formally introduced me, because you were all members of the League, and Mr. Song seemed to be your boss. ”

"This catty. , there seems to be something wrong. Your envoy has not yet presented his credentials to President Xu, and it seems inconvenient for you to communicate directly with the United Front in your capacity as US Minister to China until you have done so. ”

Tang Shaoyi regretted giving Si Dai that suggestion a little, the ministers of these powers have a very bad tendency, they all regard the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China as their own office in China, and they can command whatever they want, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no way to do this, and they dare not protest.

A weak country has no diplomacy, and this is a true portrayal of the situation of Tang Shaoyi and his colleagues.

"Mr. Tang doesn't have to worry about this question. I am not going to meet Mr. Song this time in my capacity as a diplomat, but as a commercial representative of the American Railroad, and this meeting will not have any negative impact on the diplomatic relations between the two countries. ”

Stade's rhetoric left Tang Shaoyi with no choice. Now the central government of Beiyang is all supported by the foreign powers. I really couldn't be stunned, so I called a few staff members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and after a few words, I got into the carriage of the American Legation with Steder and rushed to the Liuguo Hotel in Dongjiaomin Lane.