@@@@@

As soon as the European war, which had been fought for more than four years, ended, the most violent wave of wind plague swept through the Far East. News of the outbreak of wind and plague in Guangzhou, Shanghai, Wuhan and even Zhengzhou and Taiyuan in the mainland, a large number of people are dying every day, and the business of coffin shops is several times better than during the war. From the intern doctor to the head of the military medical department of the National Defense Forces, and now to the Minister of Health of the Republic of China, Du Wenhao, who has experienced the fierce war in the southwest, the unification of the whole country and the tragic situation of the Sino-Japanese war, has taken all the means, but he is still helpless in the face of the surging terrible plague.

The last month of 1918 was the darkest period since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and in just one month, the number of deaths due to wind plague reported nationwide was as high as 200,000. It flattened the United States, only weaker than India's terrible figure of 430,000 in January. This is still just a statistical figure, how many people in the vast countryside can not afford to get sick? Nobody knows. In response to the plague of the century, Congress and local governments issued hundreds of emergency bills and proclamations in a short period of time, and newspapers were full of precautionary measures published by the government. Although these bills have led to the gradual improvement of the Republic's public crisis management methods, and the birth of institutions such as the National Disease and Famine Early Warning Center, the scars have not been erased. Schools were closed, markets were closed, factories were closed, the streets of Nanjing were barely visible, and celebrations of victory were canceled. Some people say that this is because the poison gas that foreigners have been fighting for four years is drifting in the wind, and some people say that God is angry because God can't see the "Chengcheng Law" implemented at the beginning of the year, and some people say that it is because the factory chimney sprays too much coal ash.

But whether these rumors were ridiculous or harbored evil intentions, 1918 gradually passed in this atmosphere. In the past year, some people have been happy and some people have sailed, those who have made war money in the early years, are smiling and preparing for the future in the New Year, but they have just gritted their teeth and decided to invest all their net worth to get a vote, but they found that in addition to buying a bunch of machines, Chapter 474 Angry Sea (1) Where the order is, I don't know yet.

As the war fortunes cool down as the smoke of war wears off in Europe, the explosive fiscal figures will eventually plummet. A wave of bankruptcies has loomed, and governments are looking for the last straw to save their economies, as well as trying to control the spread of the flu. For many of the Entente countries, the solution is very, very simple to divide up the alliance!

Well-dressed, aristocratic manners, and gentlemanly manners have long been forgotten. Many people only have astronomical compensation in their eyes, thinking of giant warships, valuable precision machinery and equipment, and various technologies that are coveted. Every government and official invited to the peace conference had their sacks ready, their eyes flushed to Paris, and they sat in a huge conference room and pretended to be in a meeting, while their eyes were fixed hundreds of kilometers away on the world's second-largest industrial country. The Japanese government, which had been building 271 ships for export for three years and gradually recovering from OEM processing, was the first to take action to get a piece of the pie and establish its position in the new world. In addition to sending a Kongo-class battlecruiser to protect him, Yoshikazu Tanaka also led a 40-member delegation, including Foreign Minister Nobuaki Makino, to France. On the contrary, Yang Qiu, who returned to Nanjing, was not in a hurry. First, he discussed with Li Yuanhong and others that Foreign Minister Lu Zhengxiang, Chief of General Staff Song Ziqing, Navy Ye Zugui, Minister of Industry Zheng Tingxiang, and Central Bank Governor Xu Xiujun should be sent to Paris to meet Wang Zhengting and Gu Weijun for preliminary negotiations, and then they began to mobilize ships to Marseille to pick up the officers and men of the expeditionary force to return to China, and also asked the expeditionary force escort fleet that was carrying out tasks in the Atlantic Ocean to provide protection, as if they had forgotten this grand meeting that decided the world's international politics and order in the 20 years after World War I.

The heavy snow made the already silent city of Nanjing even more silent, and only laughter and laughter could be heard from the Prime Minister's Office. After being forced to cancel the government's large-scale drinking party scheduled by the flu, Tang Shaoyi simply made her own and invited friends to a small gathering. First, to celebrate the victory of the war, and secondly, to connect with all walks of life to lay the groundwork for the final term of office. Although there were many guests from other countries, the conversation turned again to the ongoing Paris Peace Conference.

Because of the signing of the "Plum Blossom Agreement", it became famous throughout the country. Hu Weide, who became vice premier less than half a year after his return, became one of the stars at the reception, especially since he had served as ambassador to France for a long time, so he became a source of information for everyone to know about Europe and the Paris Peace Conference. Chen Guofu is the shy of this group, usually living in a simple place and devoting himself to taking care of party affairs for Yang Qiu, he is a little unaccustomed to this kind of high-level government drinking party. Glancing at the spiral staircase leading to the second floor, he asked, "Deputy Prime Minister." Why do you think the vice president is not going to Paris for a long time? Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiichi Tanaka has been on his journey for half a month. Moreover, I just heard from Ambassador Reinsch that this meeting is not a trivial matter, not only to determine the distribution plan of the war dividends to be obtained by various countries, but also to discuss the future politics of the world and other issues. ”

Hu Weide is no longer a newcomer who has just come back and does not know the domestic personnel situation, and knows that he has a unique position. The management of the party affairs of the National Socialist Party has not been changed for so many years, which shows the status in Yang Qiu's mind, and replied with a smile: "This meeting involves too wide, not to mention the many countries, Britain, France and the United States all secretly want to take this opportunity to contain each other and ensure their own interests, and it is impossible to end it in a short time." So it's useless to go early. ”

Jiang Zuobin agreed with his words and said: "What the vice premier said is reasonable, in addition to France being the host, British Prime Minister Lloyd George and US President Wilson have set the time for going to France in the middle of next month. ”

Chen Guofu continued to ask: "But I heard that Japan is ready to fight hard this time, not only to continue to ensure the Anglo-Japanese alliance, but also to make a big profit!" Last year, they squeezed a lot of money from local Russian merchants when they went to Siberia, and forced the North Koreans to dig coal and iron ore, and it is said that the first batch of iron ore and coking coal will be shipped back by May this year at the latest. If they get the compensation and industrial equipment again, it will definitely be a big trouble in the future. ”

Hu Weide knew Yang Qiu's thoughts and personal preferences, so after returning to China, he carefully analyzed the Russo-Japanese issue and said: "We are making progress, and Japan has not relaxed. In the past three years, they have built a total of more than 200 ships using the Indian iron ore provided by Britain, most of which have been sold to Britain and France to supplement the losses in the Atlantic, and they have obtained a lot of OEM business, and last year's taxes also reached 1 billion yuan, which is much better than the previous two years, and they also started construction of two battleships and several cruisers regardless of the economic burden, obviously wanting to maintain our advantage at sea. If it's just Japan, I'm not afraid. I'm afraid that Russia will ease up in a few years and join forces with them. ”

Jiang Zuobin snorted coldly: "What are you afraid of joining forces?" Irkutsk is in our hands, and as long as this place is not lost, the Trans-Siberian Railway will not be able to be unblocked. No matter how capable Lenin was, he did not want to provide aid to Japan. ”

Hu Weide didn't dare to take it lightly, and said: "Yuyan is still a little more vigorous, but don't forget that Lenin even dared to sign the Brest contract." For him, what would it be like to hand over the vicinity of the Sea of Okhotsk to Japan for development, or simply to give the areas under our control to Japan in name as well? This bold assumption made everyone's hearts shrink. Deliberately handing over the whole of East Siberia to Japan for development? Is this possible! The more people thought about it, the more they felt that there was a way, and when Russia would not be able to get it back for a while, it was hard to guarantee that Lenin and the poor party would not trade land for it.

"No, I can't. I'm going to remind the Vice President to prevent this. Jiang Zuobin, as an officer, was naturally the most nervous about this situation, but as soon as he was about to go upstairs, he was stopped by Hu Wei, looked at the end of the stairs and admired: "Yuyan, don't worry, in fact, these speculations were told to me by the vice president, and he can see farther than anyone else." ”

When the discussion about the future was fierce downstairs, the atmosphere in the study on the second floor was solemn. Yang Qiu hugged his arms and eyebrows tightened, and Tang Shaoyi and Li Yuanhong were also very serious. Fang Rui, who was next to him, pointed to the picture on the table and introduced it to everyone: "Britain and France have issued an ultimatum, demanding that the German naval fleet must go to sea to Scapa Bay by February 20 at the latest, and wait for the final negotiation results. With the character of Germany, it will definitely drag on the last day. On that day, the British, just in case, would certainly shoot all their warships in the direction of the Kiel Canal to make sure that nothing was lost. So Bingwen and the others have decided to set off on the same day. We have successively sent more than 1,000 sailors to Germany, all of whom are commanded by Bingwen and other naval cadets who went to Germany, and with local employment, we can ensure that a maximum of 30 cargo ships can be operated. The fleet would take the Danish Channel into the Norwegian coast, taking advantage of the foggy winter and many canyons to cover the north to Greenland, and then cross the North Atlantic to the northern coast of Canada. Last year, we bought three coal carriers in the United States, which will protect the coalers as soon as they arrive. Then the flotilla dispersed, flying neutral flags and heading for South America along the Canadian and American sides. and rendezvous in Brazil. ”

Looking at the line drawn by Fang Rui, Sa Zhenbing's face was ugly, and he said, "When I was learning to operate ships in the UK, my mentor told us. The Greenland Arctic Ocean must not be entered in winter unless necessary. From February to May, there are storms and freezes, and the most dangerous are the large and small icebergs, which look not much bigger than the table. But the water is often thousands of kilometers wide, and if you put it on, the ship will be destroyed and people will die! A few years ago, such a large cruise ship was sunk far from the route! So it's not a good road. ”

He sighed at the end, making everyone's hearts feel heavier and heavier. Cheng Biguang, one of the few captains in the navy who has sailed around the world, also added: "Chief Sa is right, the British call this route the Arctic Ocean route, and they rarely go through it in normal times, but in the past two years, there have been ships to and fro in order to support Russia." This route was interrupted after Lenin came to power in Russia, and even if it was not interrupted, it was basically cut off from February and could not be resumed until early May. After Greenland, there is the Davis Strait, where few ships are not seen all year round. But if you can get here, you won't have to go south. U.S. and Canadian patrol ships rarely intercept neutral ships, Brazil and Chile can replenish coal, and we can also carry coal carriers to meet them in the name of training, for fear of getting into trouble when crossing them. ”

"It's useless to think too much. Bingwen and the others have already sent a telegram to Wang Zhengting, and the companies such as Krupp, Rheinmetall, and Zeiss have all agreed to the deal, and the materials, drawings and equipment are on their way to Rostock, and the ships they purchased are also there. "Yang Qiu didn't know the difficulties, I don't know how many martyrs were buried on the Arctic Ocean route in World War II, but there was no turning back when he opened the bow.

Looking at the map, he got up and walked to the window: "Chen Guofu and I went to Paris, as for them to see if God gives this country any hope for rejuvenation!" ”……！！！