Don't think that Song Biao is really just a constitutional monarchy, only responsible for signing every day, and don't think that Song Biao has no control over the parliament and the cabinet, he just doesn't show up.

The Liberation Party has 600,000 members across the country, and 86 people were elected as members of the National Assembly, and these people basically have to listen to Song Biao's command, and at least 1/3 of them are absolutely obedient to the emperor.

Song Biao just won't give orders to everyone easily.

In the cabinet political axe, the important positions are all members of the imperial party, all of which are Song Biao's most trusted descendants who control the power of the country, and Song Biao also tries his best to make a balanced choice between trust and ability.

For Song Biao, he can choose not to ask questions and not interfere, but that does not mean that he can lose control of the Congress and the cabinet.

…… Song Biao did not wait for the afternoon of the next day, and in the morning he directly summoned Premier Tang Shaoyi to his living room and invited Tang Shaoyi to have morning tea.

Tang Shaoyi didn't dare to refute, so she could only nod yes.

The morning sun was very warm, shining into the room along the window, Song Biao sat on a rattan chair holding a cup of Qimen black tea, sighing a lot of things in his heart, while Tang Shaoyi cautiously put the teacup on his knees with both hands, and didn't dare to move.

Song Biao took a sip of tea, and sighed that this Qimen black tea is really good, after all, it is a carefully selected tribute, and the quality is better, no wonder it can become the cherished choice of the British royal family.

The mystery in this is probably only something that people who are really obsessed with black tea can taste, but Song Biao can't taste it yet.

It doesn't matter, as long as it's good and someone is willing to buy it.

Putting the teacup on the coffee table next to him, Song Biao and Tang Shaoyi beside him comforted: "Do big things with magnanimity, don't be too entangled in those small problems." Yuan Shikai's problem is naturally dealt with by me, you and him toss, you may not be an opponent, I asked you to be the prime minister, to manage the political axe well, to govern the country well, not to clear the opponent for me. ”

Hearing such words, Tang Shaoyi, who had been beaten by Song Biao just now, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and a big stone fell in his heart, and said: "Your Majesty, your subordinates are too worried." ”

Song Biao continued: "When you are an emperor, you have to be focused, and so is when you are a prime minister. The 175 large-scale industrial plans are what you should grasp, the 1540 education plan is what you should devote more energy to asking, and the 1st Five-Year Plan of the Empire, which is being planned by the political axe, is the focus. It is necessary to grasp and let go of the small, and the small things should be done to whoever should be done, as long as others do things according to the law and according to the principles. ”

Tang Shaoyi said yes again and again.

At this moment, Tang Shaoyi listened to the criticism, but his heart was as sweet as honey, as long as the emperor trusted him and was willing to hand over the power of prime minister to him all the time, his position was naturally stable, and he didn't have to worry about others dealing with him.

Song Biao turned the topic and said: "I met with Rong Xingqiao and Zhang Kangren yesterday afternoon, and talked about a lot of things, I listened to Rong Xingqiao, he was not very satisfied with some of your decisions in the 175 plan, although he didn't sue you for this old classmate, but the mood was quite uncomfortable." He is the god of wealth of the cabinet's political axe, without him lending usury to the central bank, the central bank does not lend to you, and you do not pay military expenses to the army, how can this battle be fought. If there is a dispute, then negotiate and settle it, and don't even make such a thing happen to me. ”

Tang Shaoyi nodded and explained: "There are indeed some controversies, some companies he doesn't want to run, I see that others can't do it, forcing him to do it, some companies everyone wants to do, and they can do it, the profits are good, he wants to do it, I simply beg him to give a way to live for other ethnic businessmen." ”

Song Biao sighed, he didn't know much about this matter, and he didn't ask specifically.

Because of the Xinhai War, last year's Far East Annual Meeting was not held, and many things have not yet been officially decided, and Song Biao basically looked at the annual report and confirmed that the Far East consortium was operating well and that its profits had increased significantly compared with last year.

Since Tang Shaoyi said this, Song Biao casually asked, "What project does he want to do, and you don't give it?" ”

Tang Shaoyi said: "He proposed that the Far East has made a decision to invest heavily in the two businesses of fertilizer and glass, and also to invest heavily in shipping, textiles, steel, metallurgy, machinery, electrical, shipbuilding, cement, ...... I want to go all of them, and I just want to be a faucet, and I don't want to do basic raw material input, which is really difficult for me. I can't afford to offend, and I have to offend. ”

Song Biao laughed and said: "Look at it, this is called the wicked person to sue first, he said that the consortium has insufficient capital, and many projects do not have enough capital to invest in, to put it bluntly, he just doesn't want to invest, he just wants to invest in profitable transactions." ”

Tang Shaoyi sighed: "Yes, Your Majesty, Chairman Rong will inevitably open the business scope too big, I think most foreign companies are not like this, many of them are focused on doing one or two well, such a large-scale expansion of business, I am afraid there are many inappropriate and risks, of course, this is just my family's words, but also loyal words." ”

Song Biao snorted and said, "I understand what you mean, the 175 items are related to the rise of the modern industry of the entire nation and the country, and you can't do it righteously." Although the Far East is a royal asset, you also know that as long as they do not operate illegally, I have always asked too much and let them use their talents to the fullest. In this matter, you can stick to your own principles, consider the big picture, and make a comprehensive layout. I just want to remind you here that the support of the political axe does not mean the denial of competition, nor does it mean that it supports monopoly, and the basic principle of the political axe is to maintain social fairness and justice, and to do everything according to law. We have supported these large enterprises through the 1st and 2nd Five-Year Plan, and we have to leave them alone, and we must maintain the principle of fairness so that other enterprises can compete together. Within 175 items, Rong Xingqiao is willing to do a good job, the political axe and the enterprise cooperate to serve the national industry, if the political axe does not agree, they fancy the profit and insist on doing it, and the political axe can only be free. In the same way, if the enterprise is unwilling to do it, you don't have to force it, the enterprise has a way to survive the enterprise, you can't say that Rong Xingqiao is your friend, you can ask him to do those things that are not in line with the interests of the enterprise, right? ”

Tang Shaoyi said: "Your Majesty, your subordinates must have a good talk with Rong Xingqiao these days, negotiate this matter properly, and strive to benefit both the country and the people, as well as the enterprise." ”

Song Biao corrected: "First of all, it is necessary to benefit enterprises, and enterprises should do a good job, not only pay taxes, but also create jobs, which in itself is a major matter for the benefit of the country and the people." The world is crowded, all for the sake of profit, respect the objective law, and follow the trend of the way of doing things smoothly. ”

He obviously understands the reason why Rong Xingqiao wants to include the Far East fertilizer plant in the 175 plan, there are so many arable land and farmers in China, and the political axe plan will increase the average grain output by 30%, how much market space is there, how is Rong Xingqiao not clear?

Tang Shaoyi said: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty will carefully regulate this matter to ensure the smooth implementation of the 175 Plan, and use ten years to establish a modern industrial system for China and lay the foundation for the Great Revolution of 30 years of recovery." ”

Song Biao was silent for a moment, took out a cigarette from the cigarette on the coffee table, and thought for a while before saying: "Do it well, if the constitution is passed this time, you can only be the prime minister for two terms at most, even if you can hold other positions, the opportunity to preside over the overall situation is gone after all." The implementation of the 1st and 2nd Five-Year Plan is in place, and the two major projects of 175 and 1540 schools are grasped well. ”

Tang Shaoyi was secretly overjoyed and said: "The emperor has praised it, this is all the emperor's work, how dare his subordinates have private evidence." ”

Song Biao smoked a cigarette quietly and did not answer Tang Shaoyi's words.

The 1540 school plan means that each province should have a national comprehensive university and five professional colleges of science and engineering, teacher training, medicine, finance and economics, and law, as well as 40 secondary colleges distributed throughout the province.

In addition to the 1540 plan, there is also the "20,000 people plan", that is, 2,000 students are sent at public expense every year, and another 2,000 self-financed international students are encouraged through private scholarships, work-study programs, family contributions, etc., so that there are 10,000 publicly-funded and self-financed international students in overseas European and American powers and other countries every year.

The two educational programs are also based on a ten-year period, which will be initially completed after ten years.

Plan.

This is an important force in the rapid development of China's New Deal, and the way to promote social progress mainly depends on the forward-looking planning and investment of the political axe.

Of course, Song Biao hopes that these plans can be successfully realized, and in that case, there is no reason why China should not be strong.

After smoking the cigarette in his hand, Song Biao took a sip of tea, and was about to discuss some other small matters with Tang Shaoyi, but Zhang Futian, a first-class chamberlain, walked in at this time and said to Song Biao: "Your Majesty, the British Minister Sir Zhu Erdian asks to see you." ”

Song Biao was slightly surprised, such a trip should at least be told a few days in advance through the diplomatic department, and wait for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to arrange it, he is the emperor, where can he say that he will see him?

Song Biao glanced at Tang Shaoyi and seemed to think that Tang Shaoyi could give a suitable explanation.

Tang Shaoyi hurriedly said: "Back to Your Majesty, it is true that the cabinet has not received any relevant requests. ”

Song Biao immediately replied to Zhang Futian with a little disgust: "You asked him to wait for the Ministry of Internal Affairs to arrange, is it possible that the minister of the British Empire is superior, and he wants to see me, so I, the emperor, will go to see him on a horse?" , let him. ”

Of course, Zhang Futian would not let Minister Zhu Erdian get out of the West Sea, but the irony in these words always had to be conveyed subtly, he nodded silently, and then turned to leave.

Since Song Biao asked him to get out, Minister Zhu Erdian could only roll out of the West Sea in a group.

There is no way, although China has not yet re-emerged, but as long as there is the Song Emperor and the Northeast Army, this can be regarded as a basic power, even if it is a British minister.

Song Biao was very unhappy, and always felt that Britain was used to being the kingdom of the Celestial Empire, and this matter was really done in no one's eyes.

Tang Shaoyi's and Song Biao asked, "Your Majesty, why don't you let your ministers go down to meet Minister Zhu Erdian?" ”

Song Biao waved his hand and said: "No, you can talk about it after you return to the political axe, during this period of time, we have to strike with hot iron, without the help of Germany and Russia, it will be difficult for us to achieve such a big victory, you have to send diplomats to Russia and the German legation to visit, Russia is in the front, Germany is in the back, and the German minister will continue to arrange for the German minister to meet you, and the matter will be carried out in a grand manner, and the posture of continuing to deepen cooperation with Germany will be put on a posture." Finally, the U.S. minister will also send another commissioner to negotiate, and he will also have to make a big point. As for the UK, it doesn't matter when you meet Zhu Erdian, after the meeting in advance, don't talk too much later, let them think about it slowly. ”

Tang Shaoyi nodded silently and said, "The emperor is sage, and his subordinates understand the emperor's holy will, so they must be cautious." ”

Song Biao hummed, continued to drink tea, and thought in his heart about how to deal with the British.

China and Britain are also theoretically a kind of belligerent countries, although Britain claims to be neutral, but without the full support of Britain, it may not dare to start this Xinhai War.

After the defeat of the present war, how to deal with diplomatic relations between China and Britain is indeed a thorny issue, which requires both sides to find a way to ponder slowly, and it is definitely not something that Zhu Erdian can solve by relying on his personal friendship and the glorious aura of the British Empire.

Therefore, Zhu Erdian, a senior diplomat, is also unreliable, he is too familiar with China, thinking that human favor is greater than heaven, and he can finally meet the emperor only by personal relations.

Song Biao returned to Beijing so quickly this time to officially ascend the throne, if he doesn't ascend the throne at this time, when will he wait?

After meeting with Premier Tang Shaoyi, Song Biao met with Cai Yuanpei, Tao Chengzhang, Song Jiaoren, Liang Qichao, Zhang Jian, and other influential figures in the National Assembly in the next few days, and personally intervened to mediate, electing Cai Yuanpei as the first speaker of the National Assembly, and facilitating the formal reorganization of the Liberation Council into the China Liberation Party.

In the Congress, the forces controlled by Song Biao as the emperor were not limited to the Guangfu Society, and some of his candidates were selected for the New Politics and the National Congress and the Constitutional Council.

Song Biao himself was one of the founders of the New Deal Strong Nation Association, and the other two important founders were Zhang Zhidong and Yuan Shikai.

The composition of the Constituent Assembly was the most complicated, with the centralist faction represented by Zhang Jian and the local autonomous faction represented by the gentry in other places, and the main body was the local gentry from all over the country, such as Zhang Bishi, Yu Qiaqing, Zhu Baosan, Qu Benqiao, Qiao Jingyan, Sun Meitang, and others, who attended the National Assembly as nonvoting delegates in the name of members of the Constituent Assembly.

Although Liang Qichao's Reform and Progressive Society is lackluster, it is basically the same as the Liberation Society in terms of concept, emphasizing centralization, constitutional monarchy, and enlightenment[***], and there is no problem in fully supporting the imperial party.

On June 10, 1911, Ouyang Geng, who was the foreign minister of the cabinet, and Chen Qicai, chief of staff of the Northeast Army of the Central Army, signed the "Sino-Chinese Armistice Treaty" with the Chinese government on behalf of the central government.

Before Song Biao left Pyongyang, he had already reached an agreement with Prime Minister Seongwonji Gongwang on the Korean Peninsula issue on the principle of "separating the north and the south and jointly supervising the administration." The only point of contention was the question of whether the capital of the DPRK should remain in Seoul or move to Pyongyang, which actually had a bearing on the question of who between China and the other would directly control the DPRK.

In the end, China conceded and agreed to keep the capital of North Korea in Seoul, while the Central Army kept a regiment of garrisons in the north of Seoul, and the two countries also retained a regiment in North Korea, and the two countries' forces in Korea were bounded by the Han River, and the garrisons were also bounded by this, and the total garrison strength of both sides in Korea could not exceed 30,000.

The concession was agreed to divide the Western Ryukyu Islands to China, with the Miyako Strait as the boundary between the two sides, and the rest of the terms were subject to the agreement before Song Biao's departure from Pyongyang.

Since the "Sino-Chinese Armistice Treaty" and the "Sino-Sino-Xinhai Treaty of Commerce" were negotiated together, after the signing of the "Sino-Sino-Armistice Treaty", the Sino-Sino-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Commerce were formally signed in Pyongyang on June 14, 1911, in which the "Armistice Treaty" gave up all privileges and concessions in China, and the two countries re-signed a new treaty to protect China's economic and trade interests, stipulating that the international treaty ports in China enjoyed the right of commerce and trade, and that China enjoyed the same commercial rights in the international treaty ports of China, and that each other had the right to invest in each other's countriesand enjoy all rights within the legal jurisdiction of the other country.

China as a whole welcomes the influx of foreign investment and foreign capital, whether it is British, American, French, Chinese, or Russian, as long as they are willing to abide by China's relevant laws, they can invest freely in China.

After the signing of the Sino-Chinese Armistice Treaty, China abolished foreign privileges for the first time in the 19th and 20th centuries as a victorious power, and Song Biao's prestige as emperor naturally rose at home.

Taking advantage of such a favorable opportunity, the members of the imperial party within the National Assembly took the opportunity to adjust some of the provisions of the draft provisional constitution and formally adopted the "First Constitution of the Chinese Empire" on July 1, 1911.

With this right, the emperor can dissolve the parliament at any time, remove the political axe cabinet, and in special situations such as war, turmoil, and separatism, the emperor also has the right to reorganize a temporary cabinet according to the discipline regime.

In addition, the military and intelligence agencies in the Central Cabinet were also under the direct discipline of the Emperor and had the power to appoint the highest officials of the Central Court.

In short, of the constitutional monarchies of the first decade of the 20th century, the Russian Tsar had the highest real power, followed by the Chinese Emperor and the German Emperor, while the Emperor had no real power, but was in a position of immense exaltation and the collective fanatical allegiance of the entire national and military classes.

The difference with the tsar is that the members of the Tsarist Duma are all nobles appointed by the tsar, while Song Biao, as the emperor of the Chinese Empire, only has less than 1/3 of the total number of congressmen, that is, on the basis of the average "election" of two congressmen in each province, the emperor has the right to "elect" one more congressman by province, and in the center, the emperor has the right to decide 5 senior councilors, 7 army councilors, and 3 navy councilors.

It's just that compared with the German emperor, the real power of the Chinese emperor is definitely much greater.

After the First Constitution of the Empire was formally voted on by the National Assembly, Song Biao also confirmed that he would officially ascend the throne as emperor on July 15, and before that, he began to move to live in the Forbidden City.

Song Biao's plan was to establish a new Kyoto district in Fangshan County and Daxing County on the southern side of Yanjing, which would serve as the headquarters of the central government, military, intelligence agencies, and other social institutions of the national surname, while Yanjing was the nominal capital and did not actually undertake too many political tasks.

It's just that it can't be moved temporarily, and it costs money to build a new Kyoto, and the central government has already owed a lot of debts, although the funds for the construction of the imperial palace can be paid by Song Biao himself, but it will take six or seven years to build the initial construction.

Tongzhou is certainly not suitable for the long-term temporary residence of the central political axe and the imperial court, just during this time, the internal purge of the capital has been completed, Song Biao finally decided to make Zhongnanhai the permanent residence of the imperial court, he and his family lived in the original regent palace, and handled official business in the Zhonghai area.

Because he resolutely did not want to move into the Forbidden City, Tang Shaoyi racked his brains to expand the wall of the original Regent Palace, and included the Ziguang Pavilion and Shiying Palace into the imperial court, and continued to demolish the Qingwang Mansion to expand, and expanded the Ziguang Pavilion into the east and west pavilions, Shiying Palace expanded into Xuanzheng Garden, and the original unfinished Regent Mansion also continued to be built, renamed Xiting, and the newly expanded and newly built Ziguang Pavilion, Xuanzheng Garden, and Yufeng Garden were collectively called the East Garden.

After the expansion of the Ziguang Pavilion, it belongs to the centralized office area of the General Administration of the Inner Court, as well as a more formal place to receive foreign guests, Xuanzheng Garden is the place where Song Biao often works, and Yufeng Garden is a landscape garden close to Zhonghai.

On July 15, a month before the official accession to the throne, Song Biao's family moved into Zhonghai Xiting to live, the central cabinet political axe had been relocated to the South China Sea and surrounding offices as early as the beginning of the year, the National Assembly held a temporary meeting in Yuyuantan, everything was ready, just waiting for the official enthronement, the first chief of the inner court was Yuan Jinkai, the chief of the inner court guard was Zhang Futian, and the chief official of the inner court was Zhang Binglin.

After Foreign Minister Ouyang Geng returned, after negotiating with the ministers of various countries, and with Song Biao's consent, he arranged in advance for the ministers of several major powers to formally meet the emperor in advance.

In terms of specific ordering, because Russia sent Grand Duke Mikhail to Yanjing in person to congratulate Song Biao on his accession to the throne, it is naturally beyond reproach that he is in first place, German Foreign Minister Vaughn. Haddonin was in second place, and the British Minister Sir Jurdin was in third place, followed by the United States and France.

Even this order of rank is already very respectful of the British, after all, the Grand Duke and the Foreign Minister personally arrived in Yanjing, and they are the envoys of the Russian Emperor and the Kaiser.

After spending two separate days separately meeting with Grand Duke Mikhail and German Foreign Minister, Song Biao received Sir Juerdian on the morning of the third day and met with US President Wilhelm in the afternoon. Taft's envoy to Rokhshire will meet with the French minister in the evening.

Xuanzheng Garden is a new garden built by demolishing the Qingwang Mansion, according to the convention, there are the Imperial Study, Yihua Hall, Senior Cabinet, Privy Council, Inner Chamber, Meeting Room, Conference Hall and West Flower Hall, because the area is limited, the layout is relatively compact, and finally the Yufeng Garden of the other design is squeezed to the lake surface of Zhonghai, and the lake is built.

The design of this Xuanzheng Garden was personally inquired by Song Biao, relatively speaking, it was very much in line with his requirements, the imperial study and Yihua Hall were connected to each other, Song Biao usually handled some official affairs in the imperial study, and went to Yihe Pavilion to rest and take a nap in his spare time, and the Senior Administration Pavilion was used to deal with more formal affairs, such as meeting cabinet officials.

Because the time arrangement was very close, Song Biao arranged the time of the meeting very early, and after breakfast in the morning, accompanied by Zhang Futian, he walked to the senior pavilion of Qingfeng Garden, and Minister Zhu Erdian came much earlier than Emperor Song, and waited in the living room early in the morning.

Although the actual power is between the Tsar and the German Emperor, Emperor Song does not arrange many close ministers, far from being comparable to the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Secretariat of the General Administration of the Inner Court is still the closest to him, Chen Qimei is still a good talent, Song Biao also promoted him to be the new director of the Secretariat, and the entire Secretariat is in the Privy Council.

Song Biao went directly to the imperial study, where he met with Archduke Mikhail and German Foreign Minister Hadarenin yesterday, and it would not be considered a gift to continue to meet with the British minister here.

After the internal attendants had made all the preparations, the first-class internal attendant Jiang Zuobin led Minister Zhu Erdian into the imperial study.

Entering the imperial study, Zhu Erdian stepped forward and bowed, presented a diplomatic letter from the British Prime Minister, congratulated Emperor Song on his accession to the throne in advance in the name of a political axe, and after receiving the letter, Song Biao asked Jiang Zuobin to send a chair to Zhu Erdian.

The specifications are still the same as in the past, and the minister enjoys mahogany chairs with armrests and a lower specification.

At this time, Zhu Erdian still failed to reach an agreement with the Imperial Foreign Minister Ouyang Geng on the Sino-British issue, and he was not very sure in his heart, the so-called personal friendship between him and His Majesty the Emperor now seems to have long since turned into spring mud, and it was worthless by that war.

Sir Jurdian sat down respectfully and said, "Your Majesty the Emperor, please allow me to speak on behalf of Herbert, Prime Minister of the British Empire. His Excellency Asquith congratulated you and expressed his wishes to the Prime Minister for further expansion of friendship and cooperation between the two countries. ”

Song Biao bowed slightly, and said: "China and Britain are both among the largest empires in the world, and the cooperation between the two countries plays a very vital role in the stability of the world, and I hope so. ”

Now even the ghost knows that the relationship between China and Germany is very close, and it can also be said that it is between the Russian-French alliance and Germany and Austria, and it is still unknown which side it will fall, but there will definitely be nothing to do with Britain.

Of course, Sir Jurdian knew this, but no one could break through these things.

The problems between China and Britain are a bit too much, and China's demand that Britain give up all its privileges in China except for the Hong Kong colony and give up the Gengzi indemnity is categorically unacceptable.

Of course, Song Biao and Foreign Minister Ouyang Geng also knew that it was impossible to get Britain, France, Russia, and Germany to give up their privileges in China, but the reason why they wanted to formally raise this matter to other countries so forcefully was only to make full use of the influence of the Sino-Chinese Xinhai War, seize the opportunity to maximize national interests, and reduce the privileges of various countries in China through negotiations as much as possible.

After thinking about it, Song Biaosuo stood up and walked into the hall, and Sir Zhu Erdian also hurriedly stood up and accompanied him.

Song Biao raised his hand slightly and motioned for Sir Zhu Erdian to accompany him to the garden on the west side, the Yihua Hall for Song Biao's lunch break on the landlord side of the imperial study, and a rockery garden on the west side, with a closed corridor with glass windows.

Song Biao stopped in this corridor, asked people to prepare another coffee table and rattan chairs, sat here to enjoy the scenery, lit a cigarette, provided Sir Zhu Erdian with a box of cigars and a pot of Qimen black tea, and said: "My country is a country of etiquette, there is an ancient saying called 'entering the door is a guest', according to the reason, since you came to congratulate me on my accession to the throne and officially become emperor, I naturally have to be polite to you, and I will not say some unpleasant words, but if this is the case, we can't say anything serious." If you want to talk about friends, I and you are also friends, so I won't hide it from you, let's talk about it directly. As for the invitation of Germany and France and other countries to further cooperate with China, or even to form an alliance, my answer is unified: whoever is willing to give up all unequal privileges in China first and sign a treaty of friendship with China should first carry out comprehensive cooperation with any country. As an old friend, what I can tell you, and allow you to convey to your Prime Minister, is simple: if Britain takes this step first, I can guarantee that Britain will have a much greater advantage and benefits in co-operation with our country than before. Of course, I know that Britain is unwilling to give up its so-called various privileges, and thinks of ways to discriminate against our country, and thinks of ways to make our country continue to submit to Britain and become a stepping stone for Britain in world hegemony, then my choice can only be to borrow 100 million pounds of money from Germany for military spending, and when Britain really goes to war with Germany, my choice can only be to sweep Asia with 2 million land forces, from the Shanghai Concession and Hong Kong to Singapore, and then detour through Central Asia to India. ”

Speaking of this, he thought of a famous saying, and at this moment he really felt the same way, and seemingly plainly reminded Minister Zhu Erdian: "The Chinese are poor, and they are still not afraid of death when they fight." China is a little weaker, but it still has a population of 400 million, and as long as there are people who are willing to shoot and artillery, the army of 10 million can still be organized...... It's only 10 million troops, so many people, it's not a big problem, at least I can do it. ”

Minister Zhu Erdian was taken aback, he would rather Emperor Song not treat him as a friend, not to say such a true thing, but he believed that if Emperor Song really launched a ruthless attack, maybe he could really organize an army of 10 million.

Not to mention anything else, in the Sino-Chinese Xinhai War, wasn't the general mobilization of the Northeast Army, including militiamen and people, close to the scale of three million?

The Chinese population is too large and the area is too large, as long as a real emperor like Song Biao comes up and dares to make up his mind to decide a decisive battle with foreign countries, no country really dares to blindly face the war, this is not as simple as a book, this is a vast country with a population of 400 million.

Song Biao finished saying what he wanted to say, looking at the scenery outside the window indifferently, smoking a cigarette, he didn't have too many expressions, but his will was so firm that he didn't allow others to question it at all.

What can Minister Juerdian say?

He was only a small minister to China, and he could not say anything in the midst of such a level of threat.

After thinking for a long time, Minister Zhu Erdian said: "Your Majesty, please believe that our country has great sincerity to change the current diplomatic and political deadlock between the two countries, but we all know that it is difficult for this world to have the possibility of solving all problems at one time, so please be patient and confident, I believe that my country and your country will gradually solve all the problems left over from the previous dynasty within a few years." ”

Song Biao was silent.

After a long time, he and Minister Juerdian replied, "You can think that my words have a lot of anger, so in actual action, I must be more cautious, prudent, and conservative, so as not to anger your country too much, but you must also believe that this is the truth in my heart." In fact, what I can do, and what I can do, is far beyond the imagination of you and your country. ”

Speaking of this, he continued after a slight pause: "It is okay to go step by step, but it depends on how big the first step is and whether it is enough to satisfy our country for the time being." ”

Having said that, Song Biao actually has no real confidence, and he does not believe that Britain, which has become increasingly pedantic, will react in the fastest time, this is impossible, standing at the top of the world's highest interests, what Britain wants to do at all times is to maintain its world hegemony and every bit of privileged interests in the world, only those countries that are really obsessed with attacking and aspiring to become the new hegemon of the world will respond as quickly as possible in a seemingly fair and just manner.

This country is either Germany or the United States, and it can never be the three countries that have the most interests in China, Britain, France, and Russia.

After the meeting with Minister Zhu Erdian, this afternoon, Song Biao continued to meet with the special envoy of the President of the United States, Mr. Rokehill, who was serving as a minister in Tsarist Russia at this time, and was temporarily removed from China, and was about to serve as the minister to China again at this special stage.

Prior to that, the current President of the United States, William. Howard. Taft had considered continuing to appoint former President Theodore. Mr. Roosevelt served as the special envoy, and finally arranged for the newly appointed Minister Rockhill to take this position, but this does not mean that the United States will ignore the Chinese Empire, on the contrary, as the founder of the gold-dollar diplomacy, President Taft can't wait to promote the development of China-US gold-dollar diplomacy, so as to expand the export of American capital and interests in China, and at the same time balance the influence and interests of old empires such as Britain and France in Asia.

That afternoon, after the meeting between Song Biao and Special Envoy Rockhill, the two talked about many practical changes that could be acted upon immediately, and soon decided to re-sign the "Sino-US Treaty of Friendship and Reciprocity of Strategic Cooperation," in which Song Biao used the word "strategy" very sensitively and innovatively.

strategy!!!

"Strategy" is a very special word, derived from the Greek word "strategos", in 580 A.D. the Eastern Roman Emperor Maurice once wrote a textbook for senior military generals, called "strategica" - "strategicon", which means "the art of commanders".

In the West, the term strategy is largely military in favour, although the term was gradually extended to other areas in the late 19th century.

The U.S. and China agreed to use the term, ostensibly as a state cooperation, but to some extent strongly signaled to other countries that strategic cooperation in the military was important.

William. Howard. Taft, who was the first governor of the Philippines in the United States, visited Katsumoto during his tenure as Secretary of War and signed an agreement with Katsura Taro, the prime minister at the time, the "Taft-Katsura Taro Memorandum," which was premised on the United States' recognition of Katsumoto's special rights and interests in Korea in exchange for his commitment to Philippine security.

However, the value of this agreement is not particularly great, and the competition between Ben and the United States over the Hawaiian Islands and other islands in the Pacific Ocean is heating up, and the Pacific immigration policy that Ben actively pursues is threatening the United States' control of the Hawaiian Islands.

At the strong initiative of Rockhill, as well as the personal lobbying of Song Biao, Theodore. President Roosevelt began to adopt a policy of supporting China in order to balance the naval deterrent power of the country, and at the same time skillfully used China to contain the political power of Britain, France, Russia and other countries in Asia. Howard. President Taft has inherited this policy intact.

Regarding this "Sino-US Treaty of Friendship and Reciprocal Strategic Cooperation", when he was in Pyongyang, Song Biao had already worked with Theodore. Roosevelt basically reached an agreement, and at this time only further confirmed that according to this new treaty, the United States would give up all its privileges in China, give up the Gengzi indemnity, and set up an education fund to fund China's student programs in the United States.

In fact, through the new treaty, China and the United States still granted each other the most favored nation trade treatment and recognized each other's legal rights to invest and trade in each other's countries, while the Chinese Empire promised to fully open the Chinese market to the Chinese market, allow American capital to invest in Chinese mainland, set up foreign-related national courts, and manage American citizens in China in accordance with the international laws and regulations recognized by China and the United States.

In the "Reciprocity Treaty", the United States grants special preferential tariff treatment to some of China's agricultural products and some primary industrial products, especially the lowest tariffs on China's traditional export products such as raw silk, tea, and porcelain, while China guarantees to charge lower import tariffs on emerging industries such as machinery, electrical, telecommunications, ships, and automobiles in the United States, as well as on wheat and horses.

In addition, the two countries have signed a special memorandum of understanding on the technology transfer agreement to facilitate China's unified purchase of patented technology and equipment from the United States and the introduction of new technologies.

In terms of financial cooperation, the United States has pledged to provide China with a low-interest government loan of $20 million per year for education and agricultural projects in the next 10 years, as well as to support China's implementation of a gold-standard foreign trade system, and the international trade between the two countries will be settled by the exchange rate of the US dollar against China's gold yuan bills, and the United States also supports the gold standard value of China's gold yuan bills.

This can be said William. Howard. President Taft's U.S. dollar policy was the first major international success.

At the real strategic level, Sino-US military exchanges will be further expanded and formalized, the US Naval Academy and the University of Virginia Military Academy will openly increase the number of Chinese students, expand cooperation and exchanges at the naval level, and help China build a new navy, China will regularly send naval fleets to train at US naval bases, and the United States will also send formal US naval advisory groups to China.

Outside of this Pact of Reciprocity, William. Howard. President Taft also pledged to do everything he could to push Republicans to pass a new bill in Congress to balance the adverse effects of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

To some extent, this is not a truly equal reciprocal treaty, for example, American citizens in China basically only need to abide by the constraints of the British and American legal system, while Chinese citizens in the United States are bound by American law, the two sides are in an unequal environment, but at the enterprise level, the two sides are reciprocal, American companies in China abide by Chinese law, and Chinese companies in the United States must abide by American law.

But given that China's legal system is moving forward and evolving after the Anglo-American legal system, Song Biao is not very concerned about this inequality, at least the United States has given up many of its discriminatory privileges in China, including the right to navigate inland waterways and the American concession in Shanghai.

At the same time, China and the United States decided to issue a joint statement recommending that other countries also renounce the privileges they had acquired during the Qing Dynasty in China, and that the new Chinese empire should be governed by Chinese law as a buffer by proposing the establishment of a number of international commons in the coastal areas, in which foreigners in China would be governed by Anglo-American law, and those in the interior of the non-public areas would be governed by Chinese law.

In the case of the Shanghai International Public District, after the merger of the British and French concessions into this public area, the management model of the board of directors of the International Public District was still adopted, and the tax revenue was used locally.

(To be continued)