There is no diplomacy for a weak country!

Perhaps no one has a better understanding of this sentence than the Chinese, since the moment the door of the country was opened, from the Manchu officials who did not know what diplomacy was, to the tuition fees they paid from knowing that they did not think about it, to knowing why they were it, and then because of the weak country, they had no diplomacy.

Diplomacy! It can be said that the diplomats of the Manchu Qing Dynasty tasted the bitterness. The Manchu Qing Dynasty's diplomatic power was lost, partly because of the weakness of the country, and partly because of the weakness of the bones, and the overlapping of the two made the state power completely lost. After replacing the Manchu Qing Dynasty, diplomacy naturally became the top priority of the new regime, and Liang Dunyan, as the foreign minister, only gave one sentence to Chen Moran as the ruling foreign minister when he became the foreign minister.

"There is no diplomacy for a weak country! Definitely! Strong countries diplomacy with strong power, weak countries with spiritual strength! ”

It's just a sentence, so that Liang Dunyan pondered for a full month before he tasted the taste, and for other departments when it comes to foreign affairs, it is still the same, the so-called spiritual power is nothing more than that it doesn't matter if the country is weak, but if it is said that even the bones and heads are weak, then it is strange that it has to become the fish and meat of other countries.

The bones must be hard, the advance and retreat must be modest, and the rights and interests of the struggle must not be conceded an inch! It is China, which is still a weak country, that is currently at the core of its diplomacy. It's easy to say, anyone can say it, but it's even harder to do. In the 64 years of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, all the rights and interests that should be sold have basically been sold, and there is nothing to fight about.

The rights that can be sold are often closely linked to the interests of the new regime. In the last few years of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, although the "borrowing debts to build roads" activities of the late Qing Dynasty had the purpose of balancing the power of the great powers in China, it also relied on the expansion of the political and economic penetration of the great powers into China to a certain extent, which was by no means what the ruling axe was happy to see.

After the establishment of the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Communications immediately notified all foreign companies holding railway stocks to come to Nanjing to discuss railway matters, and these companies had no choice but to buy it, because after all, the place through which the railway passed was in the area controlled by the ruling axe, so they sent representatives to Nanjing to negotiate with the Ministry of Communications.

The railway has naturally become the first case of the ruling axe diplomacy, from July 12 to start the talks, it has attracted the attention of all walks of life, this is the first case of national political axe diplomacy, the ruling axe is also extremely concerned, at the beginning of the "Luhan Railway", "Guangdong-Hankou Railway", "Guanwai Railway", "Shanghai-Nanjing Railway", "Jinzhen Railway", "Bianluo Railway" negotiations, with the increase of the provinces of the Liberation of the "Liutai Railway" also joined it, the negotiations only started for one month, and the negotiations were interrupted several times due to differences between the two sides. But in the end, they had to go back to the negotiating table.

In front of the negotiating table covered with red woolen cloth in the conference room of the Ministry of Transport, on one side sat representatives of the Belgian company, the chief engineer of the Luján Railway, and representatives of the company. On the other side, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Communications sat down, and the atmosphere of the negotiations seemed a little tense, perhaps from the very beginning of the negotiations, it was doomed that the atmosphere of the negotiations could not be harmonious.

“…… In order to speed up the progress of the project, save costs, and cut corners, the result is that the quality of the construction lines is extremely low. ”

Zhan Tianyou, a railway engineer at the Ministry of Communications, reprimanded while exhibiting the evidence he had collected.

"Not only the line, but even important projects like the Yellow River Bridge, with a total length of 3,010.2 meters and a total of 102 holes, are the longest bridges on the Luhan line. However, in order to reduce the investment burden and speed up the construction progress, the depth of the foundation pile was not enough, and 8 bridge piers were washed away by floods during the construction period. According to your country's regulations, the warranty period of the bridge will only be 15 years after completion, and the driving speed will only be 10 kilometers per hour......"

While talking with the other party's drawings, Zhan Tianyou stared at Yu Beide.

"I ask you, Engineer Yu Beide, did you ever build such a low-standard railway when you were building railways in Europe? Even the wartime railways built by the Liberation Army are probably more than the railways designed by Your Excellency, is this your company's intention to reduce costs and cut corners, or does Mr. Yu Beide and your company itself do not have the resources to design and build railways! ”

"You're insulting me and the company's reputation!"

In the face of the reprimand, Yu Beide immediately stood up and replied urgently.

"It's your own actions that insult you!"

Zhan Tianyou replied unceremoniously.

The other party's unceremonious attitude made Yu Beide dumb for a moment, the fundamental reason for designing such a low-standard railway and road grid was to reduce costs, and at the same time as he was dumbfounded, Hafred, who was next to him, immediately continued.

"According to the contract for the construction of the loan, your country does not impose any restrictions on the conditions of the routes and bridges, and your country does not have the corresponding railway construction specifications on the basis of the ......"

Seeing that the other party was technically reprimanding, Hafred slyly refuted it technically.

"That's the Manchus, not China! I remind Mr. Hafred of the difference between the two! ”

Liang Dunyan replied first, and Hafred immediately added.

"According to international standards, railways are subject to the specifications of the road construction period, so please forgive us for not being able to comply with the new railway standards in your country."

"According to international standards, during the construction of the road, there is a change in construction specifications, and the new regulations need to be strictly adhered to in the unfinished road section, which Mr. Hafred is not surprised!"

Zhan Tianyou took out the railway engineering codes that had been prepared in various countries, opened a page from one of the railway engineering codes of the Kingdom of Belgium, and put it in front of Hafred.

"The same is true of your country's railway engineering code!"

"This ......"

Hafred smiled awkwardly, and glanced at his colleagues with some smugness, no matter how cunning, he could not change the fact that the unfinished route had to be built according to the new engineering code.

"So do you agree to comply with the new engineering specifications of the ruling axe in the unbuilt road sections, bridges, and tunnels?"

Zhan Tianyou asked.

"It's the right thing to do!"

After reaching a consensus with his colleagues, Yu Beide nodded, and rarely did not make many rebuttals.

None of this came as a surprise to him, and there was no possibility of a way back by words or national power, and in the previous month, while the negotiations were underway, the ruling axe had already signed a new engineering code, an unusually harsh code of regulations, which was technically refuted and thus forced the other side to make concessions.

"Please include this sentence in the memorandum of additional terms and conditions of the Luján Railway! For example, it has been agreed that the international practice of following the new regulations has not been formed! I don't think you agree with that, right? ”

After receiving the nod from everyone, Liang Dunyan asked the attaché to record this clause again.

"But before we can make the change, we need to get your country's new engineering specifications for revising the design drawings!"

"Of course you'll get it! And you'll get it now! ”

Saying that a copy of the railway engineering specification in French was taken out by the attaché and handed to Yu Beide, almost as soon as he received the engineering specification, he turned it over, but after a minute or two, he raised his head suddenly, looked directly at Liang Dunyan, Zhan Tianyou and others in front of him, and shouted loudly.

"It can't be! Your mainline railway standards far exceed the standards of their European counterparts! You're trying to make things difficult for technical reasons! ”

Yu Beide's eyes almost widened when he shouted these words, and he realized that from the beginning, he, like other companies, had fallen into the trap designed by the damned Chinese, who first took the old "detailed contract" and agreed on the construction period with the companies, like the Luhan railway, which was supposed to be completed three years ago according to the contract, but due to the unrest in the north four years ago, the project was accidentally hindered, affecting the progress, plus the liberation campaign.

Although there were differences, the two sides finally reached an agreement to complete the project before December 31 next year, and an additional clause of the contract has been signed for this, according to the provisions of the contract, for example, a fine of 35,000 taels will be paid for each day of delay, and the fine will be doubled after 30 days, and then the fine will be doubled every 30 days until the contract expires, and if it is delivered one day earlier, China will provide a bonus of 35,000 taels.

What seemed like a fair term is now a well-designed trap.

"To be precise, the European standards of a few years ago, at present, Britain, the United States, France and Germany have made new standards, and China's iron fall standards are all referring to the standards of European and American countries, and there is absolutely no intention of adjusting the difficulty!"

Zhan Tianyou's expression still did not change, this railway standard specification was just signed by the ruling government last night, from the very beginning, the whole negotiation was completely a carefully set up scam, and even the Ministry of Communications did not even think of continuing to fulfill any loan road construction contract signed by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which is the reason why last month even did not hesitate to make concessions, but also signed supplementary terms of contracts with various companies.

"It is absolutely impossible to exceed the investment by at least 70% with the road construction cost of 37 million and 500,000 taels, according to the new railway standards! All the tracks we have purchased are scrapped! The loss is nearly 10 million taels! ”

At the same time as Yu Beide shouted loudly, Hafred snatched the railroad engineering code, and after flipping through the two pages, his face was also pale with shock, what kind of engineering code is this, this is the code that wants them to go bankrupt.

"In order to fulfill the contract, we will increase the investment of up to 25% according to the supplementary terms of the contract!"

Zhan Tianyou's expression did not change at all, but his heart was already happy. This supplementary clause was agreed by the two parties a week ago, and the reason is very simple: in the past five years, Belgian companies have raised interest rates on the grounds that the interest rate on the bonds is too low to underwrite, and then asked for additional investment on the grounds of rising raw material prices and difficult routes, which is why in the negotiations last month, the additional terms agreed with the companies were more focused on the construction period and the recovery of part of the rights.

But they never imagined that the most important of all the supplementary provisions for the Ministry of Transport was precisely the time limit and additional clauses that were considered "normal", such as the vast majority of railway companies that would face bankruptcy or zero profit under the new regulations, which is exactly what the Ministry of Transport needs.

"Impossible! There is no way we can accept this norm! We ask your Ministry of Railways to lower the new railway standards! ”

"Will Belgium revise its own railway engineering codes for the benefit of foreign companies?"

Although he was a little worried, Liang Dunyan still refuted that this was a trap prepared by the ruling government for these foreign companies, and the stakes in it have been made very clear, but the ruling party should insist on going its own way.

After a while in his heart, Yu Beide immediately spoke up to save him.

"If the new norms are implemented, it will undoubtedly lead us into bankruptcy, and we hope that your country will be able to build railways in accordance with the Belgian 1900 road construction standards out of friendship, and we can guarantee strict compliance with the railway engineering codes!"

When he said this, he even kept saying to himself in his heart, this is only an unfinished route, less than two-thirds of the total amount of work, nothing more than to make less money, other sections of the road have been cut corners have made the company a lot, and the delay in the construction period in the past few years has allowed the company to use the road construction funds for other investments, which is acceptable.

"We're sorry, but we can't accept that! The responsibility of the Ministry of Communications is to supervise the construction of railways, highways and wharves in accordance with engineering specifications and standards! ”

Zhan Tianyou's words just fell, but Hafred on the side couldn't hold back the anger in his heart, and he slapped the table and stood up.

"Then let your damn norms die! There is no way we can abide by this norm! If you have the ability, go talk to the Belgian army! ”

"Humph......"

Liang Dunyan's report made Chen Moran almost laugh out loud, that Belgian is too cute, if it was a British or German, maybe he would have considered it, but it was a Belgian who said this!

"Are you sure you heard me right? He told us to go and talk to the Belgian army? ”

"In power, Belgium is just a small country, and Hafred's words are just angry words, but the borrowing and road construction involves the five major powers of Britain, Germany, the United States, Russia, and France, and if they jointly exert pressure, I am afraid that in the end we will have to make concessions, unless we ......"

"Unless what? Unless it is conceeded now, isn't it? ”

Chen Moran raised his eyes to look at Liang Dunyan, touched the carefully groomed Prussian mustache on his lower lip with his right hand, and then leaned back on the chair a little lazily.

"It's impossible to make concessions, I can tell you clearly now, they either accept our terms, or just wait to pay liquidated damages, what kind of railway is this gang building, crossing a bridge has to slow down to ten kilometers, this kind of railway is not wanted, even if they sell the road back to us, this bridge has to be blown up and rebuilt!"

Saying this, Chen Moran was beating the drum in his heart, redeeming the railway was already the biggest bottom line he could accept, if it really didn't work...... Power! Is it just because of the threat of the Russians that I fought desperately with the Russians in the Northeast? No, but to fight a strong country status, in this era of believing in the law of the jungle, if you don't win the status of a strong country on the battlefield, no country will listen to your voice.

But now "that Belgian doesn't want us to speak to their army?" ”

Chen Moran suddenly asked, and when Liang Dunyan was about to speak, he added.

"Song Sheng, do you remember what I said to you when you first arrived at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, weak countries diplomacy with spiritual strength!"

Saying that, Chen Moran grinned, and his eyes showed this look.

In 4602 Yanhuang China, there was perhaps no newspaper with a larger circulation than Guangfu Bao, the mouthpiece of the ruling axe and the organ of the Guangfu Society, which until three months ago was an illegal underground publication, but now it has become the largest and most influential newspaper in China.

Thanks to the financial subsidies of the Liberation Society and even the subsidy of the ruling axe in the name of culture, the "Liberation Daily" can be distributed to all the provinces that have been liberated at a much lower price than its peers, and then expanded to all provinces with the pace of the Liberation Army's march. Just as the colleagues said, wherever the Liberation Army went, it only brought three things: "one is the national political axe, the second is the industrial voucher, and the third is the recovery report".

In just a few months, Guangfu Bao has become the most influential and most reader-oriented newspaper in China, but the headquarters of the newspaper is not in Nanjing, but in Pudong, Shanghai.

Just as they were about to finish proofreading the newspaper, a room separated by a glass window suddenly opened.

"Take down the front page!"

Ye Shusheng, the editor-in-chief standing outside the door, shouted loudly, all the editors were stunned, it is said that if this is not a major event, it is impossible to change the front page, since the "Guangfu Daily" has been publicly released, but only twice the front page has been changed, once is the liberation, and the other is the Beijing trap.

After a while, when the contents of the front page were delivered by the telegraph office courier, the editors of the newspaper were all in a semi-sluggish state, and they never imagined that a railway negotiation would turn out to be such a breakdown, that the other side would threaten war with war, and that the threat was not a great power like Britain, France, Germany, and Russia, but only a small country where the vast majority of people did not know where.

"Mingju, you start writing an editorial immediately!"

Holding another telegram in his hand, Ye Shusheng shouted loudly.

"Update tomorrow's front page now and publish the editorial together! The title is - War! We're working overnight to get the extra out of the issue with the newspaper tomorrow morning! ”

"Editorial?"

Zhou Yiyang was stunned.

"It's what you usually let you practice, whether you can turn it over or not, it's up to you to write this editorial!"

Agitate! Ye Shusheng clearly knows the role of editorials, and has always attached great importance to the role of editorials, especially his agitation.

(To be continued)