The British Legation in Anxing District, Nanjing, was once the British Consulate in Nanjing, after the British recognized the Chinese Empire and established diplomatic relations with it, it became the British Legation in China, the new Minister Plenipotentiary to China, Zhu Erdian, and the Dutch Minister Krober, drank afternoon tea in the minister's reception room, while waiting for information from London and other regions.

From the morning until now, he had cursed the Governor of the East Indies and the Mayor of Surabaya countless times in his heart, and their stupid behavior had put the Netherlands in the present extremely embarrassing situation, and the instructions from the homeland were very clear, asking him to ask the British Minister to China to mediate.

“…… The Chinese may be bluffing, but behind the bluff, there must be something they want! ”

Removing a piece of dim sum from the three-tier dining rack, Zhu Erdian quietly pondered the attitude of the Chinese.

"You mean that the Chinese have no intention of declaring war on the Netherlands?"

"A declaration of war? No! They won't do that! ”

First affirmed, but then Zhu Erdian shook his head again.

"But it is not excluded that they will not protect the overseas Chinese by force, and take the opportunity to achieve some goals!"

"What kind of ......

Just as Krober was about to speak, a British naval officer walked into the reception room.

"Your Excellency! A telegram from the command of the Chinese fleet! ”

After receiving the telegram, Zhu Erdian's expression, which had always remained calm, changed slightly.

"Krober, it has now been confirmed that the Chinese fleet has left the port in the early hours of this morning, two battleships and five cruisers, this is all the main force of the Chinese Navy, and there are armed troop carriers with it!"

"Are they really going to occupy the East Indies?"

The shocked Krober asked urgently, according to the previous speculation of the two, as long as the Chinese do not send the main force of the fleet, then the Chinese are bluffing, and now they not only dispatch the main force of the fleet, but even the main force of the entire Chinese Navy, in the current Asia, except for the Yuben Navy, even the British Chinese fleet cannot confront this fleet.

"I'm afraid only that Your Majesty can answer you!"

Even as a China expert, Zhu Erdian, who has been in China for nearly 30 years, is also confused in the face of this situation, whether it is the Chinese provisional ruling axe in the past or the current Chinese Empire, they are completely different from the Manchu Qing in diplomatic affairs, they are willing to fully open their markets to foreign countries, but as a premise, they have withdrawn tariffs, in the face of the threat of force from other countries, they make an uncompromising posture, and flexibly use diplomatic means, and finally achieve their basic goals under the concession of advancing and retreating.

Railway right-of-way, tariffs, all these are all evidence of this kind of superficial toughness, but in fact flexible diplomatic solutions! But here in the Netherlands, it is difficult to figure out, the Netherlands is not a strong country, their weak fleet is far from the opponent of the Chinese Navy, in the face of a weak opponent, is it possible for the Chinese to hope for a diplomatic solution?

"Jordan, the Netherlands may be a small country, but if the Chinese choose war, then we can only choose war, please believe that this is by no means a war between China and the Netherlands, but a war between Europe and Asians, and now, Ben is challenging Russia in the northeast, and China is trying to get involved in Southeast Asia, which is not in the interests of the Netherlands, and also infringes on the interests of Britain!" If Britain or other Europe sit idly by and watch the Chinese occupy Dutch East India, then in the future, we, the whole of Europe, will have to face the damage to the interests of European countries in China and Yuben, these two Asian countries in Asia! ”

Having recovered from the initial panic, Kroeber hurriedly opened his mouth to try to tie the interests of the Netherlands to those of England.

And what he said in exchange for only Zhu Erdian chuckled helplessly in his heart, although the current Empire is not called Bo Xishan, but compared to the heyday of the Victorian era, it is not what it used to be. The rise of the United States, which surpassed Britain in economic terms, was not optimistic in diplomacy, and Germany became more and more aggressive, constantly causing problems in the Balkans, North Africa, and Palestine.

Britain's dominant share of trade in the Chinese market and the investment of the British financial sector in China have made it impossible for Britain not to pay attention to this country, and Britain really has no energy to take care of the situation in China. The relationship between interests and the actual situation determine the tone of Britain's China policy: stability is paramount.

But what do the Chinese want?

Thinking about this question, Zhu Erdian's heart came to mind an old friend who held an important position in China's new cabinet, maybe he could give himself an answer!

The Imperial Ministry of the Interior, No. 55 Guangfu Avenue, is an administrative agency responsible for domestic affairs, which is different from diplomatic and other deployments, and has seven divisions, including civil governance, police affairs, etiquette, civil engineering, Xinjiang affairs, overseas Chinese affairs, and health, each with a director. As the first Minister of the Interior and Minister of the Interior is Yuan Shikai, in the eyes of the outside world, Yuan Shikai, who has walked on the tightrope several times, but unexpectedly served as the Minister of the Interior, the chief teacher is a little puzzled by the meaning of the emperor, although the Ministry of the Interior is scattered in power and responsibility, but the jurisdiction is wide but there is the fact that the empire is heavy, and because of this, if others in the past will think that the ruling is waiting for the opportunity to "clean up" Yuan Shikai, then now everyone can see that Yuan Shikai is not only not cleaned up, but is "the holy family is long".

It is precisely because of this that Yuan Shikai will become an important member of the domestic government cabinet again after half a year of silence, but when enjoying the external scenery, Yuan Shikai has become more cautious than in the past, he knows better than anyone that this is the strength of the "strong" department that ostensibly controls the country's 150,000 police officers, but it is just a strong look, but the Ministry of the Interior only has the right to supervise local policing, and policing belongs to the local This is the principle of domestic policing.

As early as when the ruling party had not yet ascended the throne and intended to put him in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, when Yuan Shikai accepted it, he only regarded the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a "springboard", but this springboard was far from being as easy as he imagined, and the management of Tibetan Province, Mongolia, Huihui and prisoners of war in Zaiqi were all on the cusp of the limelight.

At this time, the visit of the British Minister Zhu Erdian once again made Yuan Shikai difficult, and he was an old friend, but it was absolutely impossible to tell the truth, one was unwilling, the other was not, but Yuan Shikai needed Zhu Erdian's friendship, to be precise, the British friendship he represented.

"Do you need to talk about that?"

Facing Zhu Erdian's question, Yuan Shikai blinked his eyes and thought for a while.

"This Dutchman is killing people there, and killing people is not enough! They slapped His Majesty in the face, ascending the throne here, and killing his people there, it is a clay man and three points of the local surname, not to mention ......"

Zhu Erdian understood what Yuan Shikai meant, that His Majesty was by no means a cowardly person, so he spoke.

"That being said, your country must invade Dutch East India with a fleet."

"Invasion?"

With a cold snort, Yuan Shikai first sent Zhu Erdian to make a gesture to invite tea, and then took the teacup and moistened his throat.

"It's just to protect overseas Chinese, we have overseas Chinese treaties with other countries, even if our overseas Chinese are not treated fairly, China naturally needs to show something?"

"Do you take into account the reaction of countries if you retaliate militarily?"

Yuan Shikai pointed to the Kangxi kiln colorful vase in an office, which was a treasure sent by the Mongolian princes who came to participate in the ceremony, those princes were scared by the knife of the second division, but such a good thing is the property of the state, if a private person receives more than 100 yuan of property and does not report it, it is a capital crime of killing the head.

"This porcelain itself is already full of cracks, and sometimes, if you want to repair it, you have to take a risk and drill a few holes with a gold steel drill, and if you can't hit the nails, you can't fix it!"

There is a sound outside the string, you may wish to identify yourself. Zhu Erdian paused and pondered for a while before he said.

"For England, the stability of your country is paramount, and that is why London has instructed me to mediate through it."

"Hmmm! It is naturally good to have a powerful country mediating from it! It's better than fighting, isn't it."

Yuan Shikai raised his voice slightly and said.

"However, it seems that this mediation should go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs!"

"Old friend, you understand, I need your help!"

At this time, Zhu Erdian did not hide his purpose anymore.

"Old Friends ......"

Yuan Shikai smiled bitterly and put on a very helpless look.

"You're trying to hurt your old friend!"

"Yuan, this is just an exchange of views between old friends on some current affairs!"

Zhu Erdian slyly played with words.

"You......"

Yuan Shikai immediately stretched his eyebrows, pointed at Zhu Erdian, and said with a smile.

"You haven't learned anything in China, you just learned our dross!"

The two looked at each other and smiled, and decades of old friendship made the two talk without identity constraints, although they both understood that the other party could never give up their identity.

"For China, I think nothing is more important than fairness, Your Majesty has traveled to more than ten countries abroad, and what Your Majesty values is fairness. The shame of one or two silvers, the dispute over the Huangpu River Bridge! ”

Zhu Erdian fully understood that in addition to the compensation and bereavement that the Chinese would definitely demand, I am afraid that it would be fair treatment for overseas Chinese.

But he still blinked, looking at his old friend.

"I suppose you might have other pursuits than fairness, don't you?"

As for Zhu Erdian's question, Yuan Shikai was very deep, but his face was still drinking tea, he knew what he could say and what he couldn't say, so he asked rhetorically.

"According to your minister, what kind of pursuit should China pursue?"

Zhu Erdian, who kicked the ball back into his arms, was stunned for a moment, and then Yuan Shikai spoke again.

"Four years ago, when I was the governor of Zhili, you told me that people have to pay for stupid choices, and you told me that this is an international norm, and I agreed!"

"What do you mean......"

(To be continued)