Chapter 511: Forty Thousand (I)

Mr. President supports the youth movement. This is Mr. President's own business, and others have no right to interfere and cannot control the president, but as the bigwigs of the central ministries and cabinet members, Tang Shaoyi, Xiong Xiling and others must also fulfill their duties, serve the center, and serve the president.

Therefore, everyone quickly shifted their attention from the young people who gathered in front of the presidential palace, and under the leadership of Tang Shaoyi, they entered the presidential palace in a very low-key manner, intending to pay a visit to Zhao Bei, the president of the Republic of China, and make a statement to Mr. President, and be sure to persuade the president to make some concessions in the matter of foreign 'handover' negotiations, and "accept it when it is good."

The president did not agree to meet with all the cabinet members, but only agreed to let Tang Shaoyi go to the commander's hall to meet the president and make a speech to the president, relaying the opinions of the bigwigs of various cabinet ministries.

When he arrived at the Commander's Hall, Tang Shaoyi found that the president was busy receiving several other distinguished guests, the British Minister to China, Zhu Erdian, the American Minister to China, Stade, the German Minister to China, Rex, and the French Minister to China, Marsley. These four foreign guests were relatively silent with Mr. President of the Republic of China in that "No. 1 office", and the atmosphere was a little strange.

Tang Shaoyi's arrival somewhat alleviated the embarrassing atmosphere in the room, he and the four ministers were acquaintances, so he took the initiative to come forward to say hello, and everyone inevitably exchanged pleasantries, and then Chief Tang walked up to the president and solemnly presented the cabinet's love letter to the president.

"May I ask you, Mr. President, when will the four ministers be here? Why did the Ministry of Foreign Affairs know nothing about this? Tang Shaoyi asked very unceremoniously.

I don't blame Tang Shaoyi for being angry, after all, he is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Mr. President received foreign ministers in China, and actually skipped the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is really annoying.

"General Tang doesn't have to be angry, I blame me for this matter, considering that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is busy holding foreign 'diplomacy' negotiations with Japan today, therefore, I did not bother the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but fortunately, the four ministers are also informal, and it will not affect Sino-foreign relations because of this."

In the face of the foreign minister's questioning, Mr. President did not get angry, but politely brushed the 'Mao', which made people not angry.

There is no way, this is how the president deals with the cabinet ministries, and he doesn't come hard. But it will never be held hostage by the cabinet, this Tai Chi is very authentic.

In this regard, Tang Shaoyi is also helpless, although the president has long been accustomed to encroaching on the power of the cabinet, but after all, he still saves face for the cabinet, and the cabinet has to get by, forcing himself to get used to the president's way of doing things, after all, the "cabinet premier" is abolished, the cabinet is a plate of scattered sand, although Tang Shaoyi leads the cabinet as the minister of foreign affairs, but after all, the name is not right, and it is impossible to command all ministries.

Seeing that the president still had that polite expression, Tang Shaoyi had no choice but to stop delving into the president's responsibility for exceeding his authority, and then cut to the point, imploring the president to make some small concessions in the 'dealings' with Japan, so as to prevent China and Japan from falling into a confrontation again.

Knowing that Tang Shaoyi had come for the Sino-Japanese 'negotiations' matter, the ministers of the four countries present in the meeting were all in high spirits, especially the British Minister Zhu Erdian, who almost stood up and looked at the letter of the cabinet ministers that was held in the hands of Mr. President. Just wait for the president to nod.

"Cabinet Ladies and Gentlemen, you are thinking about the country, I have no doubt about that. However, as the president of the Republic of China, I must also think about the long-term interests of the country, and I also hope that General Tang and cabinet members can understand this. ”

Mr. President's words made Tang Shaoyi's heart hang, and the British minister finally couldn't help it, walked to Tang Shaoyi's side, and unceremoniously pointed out Mr. President's wrong view.

"Forgive me for being blunt, Mr. President, in my opinion, if the tension between China and Japan cannot be eased quickly, then the British government will change its current position, after all, the Japanese Empire is a loyal ally of the British Empire, and Britain has always been credible about its allies, and once a war breaks out between China and Japan, then the British government will definitely not abandon its allies."

The threat in these words was very strong, and it was impossible for Zhao Bei not to hear it, but he was not frightened by the threat of the British, because he understood that the current situation in Europe was more tense than the situation in the Far East, and the smell of gunpowder was stronger, at this time. It is very difficult for the British government to 'extract' from European affairs to intervene in the war between China and Japan, for the simple reason that just recently, a war is brewing in the Balkans, and the reason why the ministers of the four countries in China have come to visit the president of the Republic of China today is precisely for this purpose, they all want to 'figure' out what China's current foreign 'diplomacy' policy is, and whether they really plan to have a war with Japan in Northeast Asia, after all, Europe seems to be going to war.

In 1908, because of the outbreak of the "sick man of West Asia" Ottoman Empire, a crisis quickly appeared in the Balkans, "'Polish' Sinia Crisis", taking advantage of the Ottoman Empire's soul 'chaos', Germany's ally Austria-Hungary officially annexed 'Box' and Herzegovina that had been "trusteeship" for 20 years, and at the same time, the Ottoman Empire's "protectorate" Bulgaria also took the opportunity to declare independence, and after that, in order to prevent military retaliation from the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria immediately gathered troops in the border area, and the two countries were on the verge of a major war, which was finally avoided because of the intervention of Tsarist Russia. In this Balkan crisis, although Russia and Austria-Hungary showed the same demeanor as a great power, this kind of "peace" under the action of external forces was destined to be fragile, and once there was a storm, this "peace" situation could not be maintained.

In 1910, the "peace" in the Balkans was shattered by a fierce ethnic and religious conflict in Macedonia under Ottoman control, and the subsequent war between Italy and the Ottoman Empire in 1911 further exacerbated tensions in the Balkans. In March 1912, Bulgaria and Serbia signed a treaty of military alliance, through which the two countries divided most of Macedonia on official documents and maps, leaving only a small part of the disputed territory to await the "verdict" of the future Russian tsar to determine the final ownership of the territory and whether Serbia could have an outlet to the Adriatic Sea.

The signing of this treaty of alliance has undoubtedly 'inserted' a fuse in the Balkans, which is a "keg of European gunpowder," and has made the Balkan region more and more 'turbulent,' and the politicians and foreign "diplomats" of the European powers have to step up their mediation efforts to avoid a Balkan war that may lead to a conflict in Europe.

But the efforts of the foreign 'diplomats' of the European powers were doomed to be in vain, because just a few days ago news had come out of the Balkan courts that Bulgaria and Serbia had signed a new military agreement, and at the same time, two other small Balkan states, Greece and Montenegro, were also in impatient negotiations with Bulgaria———— all of which indicated that a Balkan war was being planned against the Ottoman Empire, and that a Balkan war was about to emerge in the Balkans in order to defeat the Ottoman Empire." Balkan League".

It would be a mistake to think that the war between the "Balkan League" and the Ottoman Empire was only a matter between them, for the simple reason that the four Balkan countries that joined the "Balkan League" belonged to the wall-riding faction of foreign "diplomatic relations" and were the objects of the Entente and the Allied bloc that were trying to woo them, and the attitude towards these four countries would probably ultimately determine who would have more allies when a major war broke out in Europe in the future.

As powers that have a direct impact on Europe and the world order, Britain and Germany have issued sternly worded instructions to their envoys in China, ordering them to resolve the problems between China and Japan before the situation in the Balkans becomes clear.

The British minister received an instruction: "In any case, the situation must be calmed down as soon as possible, stability in the Far East must be maintained, and war must not be lightly spoken of until the last moment." ”

The German minister received the instruction: "It is necessary to take advantage of the tension in Northeast Asia to further strengthen the goodwill of the Chinese, especially the president, in order to serve Germany's global strategy, and if necessary, to give the Chinese strong foreign 'relations' and financial support, and if Your Excellency deems it necessary, a regional 'sexual' armed conflict can break out in Northeast Asia." In order to divert Russia's attention. ”

Knowing the mission of the two ministers, it is not difficult to understand the strange atmosphere in this office just now, because the policy of the British government is to avoid war, while the policy of the German government is not against war, which is-for-tat, although this is not in the interests of Europe, but it is in line with the interests of Zhao Bei.

Although now is not the best time to start a war with Japan, but as a historical traveler, Zhao Bei is very aware of the current world situation, the reason why he continues to make a tough stance in the 'negotiations' with Japan is to see the delicate situation in Europe, he believes that as long as the posture is sufficient, and the development of the situation is cautious, then, perhaps, through the British government to continue to exert pressure on the Japanese government, force it to be in the ' Make significant concessions in the negotiations in order to increase the prestige of the president, and further use it to strengthen his control over the central power and complete his next strategy.

Taking a step back, even if this foreign 'diplomacy' adventure did not succeed and led to the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, Zhao Bei would not back down, because he already understood what the Far East strategy of the German government was, and once the war really broke out, Germany's support would be strong, but this was only a secondary factor, and the more important factor was that Zhao Bei firmly believed that behind him stood the people, 40,000 people who were awakening, and this was the capital he valued the most.

With the support of 40,000,000 people, this confidence is complete.