Chapter 147 Playing Monkey (Asking for a Monthly Pass!) Read! ）

The fifth day was a sunny summer day, and on this day, the eyes of the whole world were focused on the Portsmouth Naval Dockyard Building, from morning to afternoon, almost half of the American reporters crowded outside the Portsmouth Naval Yard Building, and at two o'clock in the afternoon, the representatives of Japan and Russia formally signed the peace treaty, and the signing of the "Portsmouth Peace Treaty" ended the war.

Immediately after the signing of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty, the Russian negotiators left the meeting and took a dinghy to the other side of the shipyard across a narrow strait, leaving a train to New York, while they were on their way to the train station.

In another small reception room in the Portsmouth Navy Yard Building, Japanese envoy Foreign Minister Shotaro Komura and the new U.S. Secretary of State Elihu ? Rutte, the two outsiders began to have a secret meeting again.

At the beginning of the meeting, Elihu? Root began to say slowly, in a roundabout way:

"One of the first prerequisites of concern to my government is that the Japanese government should give clear assurances in advance that it is willing and able to implement a program for the maintenance of lasting peace in East Asia!"

The strange sè that the Komura Foreign Minister saw when he heard this sentence, Elihu? Root continued.

"Of course, the U.S. government is willing to coordinate your country and other countries to come up with a plan to resolve various issues related to reconciliation, but Japan needs to commit itself to abandoning its policy of using force and using military force. and to adopt the principles proclaimed and enforced by this government that embody the correct basis of all relations between nations. ”

Talking, Elihu? Rout handed a piece of paper listing the four principles to the foreign minister.

1. Respect China's territorial and sovereign integrity;

2. Support the principle of openness to China followed by all countries;

3. Support the principle of equality in all countries in China, including equal business opportunities;

4. The status quo in the Far East shall not be changed, except by peaceful means.

This condition was put forward by President Roosevelt, perhaps President Roosevelt refused to sell old ships to China, but he still paid attention to China, and because of this, Elihue? It is only after the negotiations that Root will put forward such a condition.

At this point, looking at Elihu? The four principles proposed by Root, Komura Shoutaro was silent for a while, he knew that this was the United States asking Japan to endorse China's security, and after a moment of silence, he opened his mouth to ask.

"Your Excellency, is it asking Japan to agree to a fairly complete extent to the proposals contained in the draft agreement?"

Elihu? Lu Ting nodded, then shook his head in reply.

"Some suggestions can be agreed to immediately, while others need to be revised or deleted."

Elihu? Of course, Lut did not point to Komura Shoutaro and immediately promised himself, after all, he also needed to report to the country and ask for domestic opinions.

"However, if the government is sincerely interested in maintaining peace in the Far East!"

Elihu? Rout deliberately emphasized the word peace before continuing.

"Then I think that with the coordination of the United States, China and Japan can find mutually satisfactory solutions to all major problems."

After all, the United States is still the "boss behind the scenes" in Japan, and according to domestic instructions, the United States must not be radicalized until the eighth tranche of public bonds is issued in the United States.

"I think that my country is happy to see hope for peace, and we also do not want to see the flames of war burning again in the Far East!"

Komura Shoutaro replied in a rhetorical manner, and then deliberately emphasized.

"In this war, Japan is the victorious country, but Japan, as the victorious country, has not received any land and a ruble indemnity, as Japan, it is no longer able to continue the war in this war only to obtain these two things, otherwise the huge military expenditure and a large amount of bloodshed are unacceptable to Japan! Constrained by financial resources and the trauma of the war on the Japanese economy, we have no intention of seeking a change in the status quo in the coming years......"

Looking at Elihu? Rutte, Komura Shoutaro, once again emphasized the previous request.

"Therefore, I hope that your country will accept our request to assist us in issuing the eighth tranche of 500 million yen bonds, just as we were asked to sign the peace treaty!"

Maybe it's a reminder of Elihue? Rutte, Komura Shoutaro pointed out again.

"In this war, we accepted President Roosevelt's suggestion and did not ask for reparations and land cedes, but it was difficult to convince the people, and in this war, Japan paid too much, and Japan's economy also suffered a heavy blow, and I hope that Mr. Secretary of State, can convey this to President Roosevelt, and this bond will in fact be directly related to the future peace of Asia!" ,

Elihu? Reckless nodded, and there was nothing wrong with the fact that the eighth bond was signed by President Roosevelt in order to facilitate Japan's signature.

"So, Foreign Minister Komura, if our country is willing to underwrite your country's 500 million yen bonds in the next two months, will the United States be able to obtain your country's endorsement from your country as if it has no intention of seeking to change the situation in the Far East?"

"Of course there is no problem!"

This time, Komura Shoutaro didn't know that he had made a fundamental mistake.

At this time, he did not know that in Japan, the imperial council convened by Katsura Taro and his cabinet had already agreed to the decision to use force against China, and Komura, who had not received the telegram, naturally did not know that he should take the same pace as at home.

Elihu, who got his wish to get the basic waijiāo endorsement from the small village? Root, of course, does not doubt this, and he even sees this endorsement from the Japanese envoy as another major test in the two months since he became secretary of state.

"As far as the Russo-Japanese War is concerned, the Russo-Japanese War is over, in a profound sense, Russian hegemony is over forever, and tsarism is also dying with the contract......"

When the news of the signing of the peace treaty reached the location of President Roosevelt's summer villa in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York, Roosevelt, who was sitting in the living room, sighed in a sentimental tone.

A month earlier, after negotiations had begun, secret telegrams had been exchanged between Oyster Bay, Potsdam (the Kaiser's summer residence) and Peterhof (the Tsar's summer residence) in order to reconcile the differences between Japan and Russia, and finally Tsar Nicholas II made concessions and the peace treaty was finally signed.

"Mr. President, in the end, as you guessed, even if the conditions for land cession and indemnity are waived, Japan will make peace, because Japan can no longer afford to continue the war just to obtain land cession and indemnity, and they will never be able to cede South Sakhalin and obtain 1.2 billion yen in compensation, and Russia is not a Qing country!"

Elihu? Mr. Root, who had only taken office two months earlier, had just finished one of the most important tests of his presidency a few days ago -- ending the war between Japan and Russia -- and had received an endorsement from the president that he wanted him to have Japan's intendency to seek to change the situation in the Far East, even though that endorsement had not even been recognized in Japan.

"Russia is not a Qing country!"

One sentence was exchanged for a moment of silence from Roosevelt, who, after a moment of silence, looked up at Elihu, who was sitting in front of him. Root.

"Ellett, do you think the Japanese really agree not to seek a change in the situation in Asia?"

In Elihu? Before Routter came to New York, he had already told Roosevelt the good news, but Roosevelt had no bottom in his heart, although he had no confidence in his heart, but in the face of the Chinese ambassador to the United States and the naval attaché's office repeatedly asking for the purchase of several armored cruisers or combat ships from the United States, as a kind of divine comfort, he still informed the Chinese ambassador to the United States of the good news.

"The eighth bond!"

Elihu? Rout deliberately accentuated his tone.

"Mr. President, in view of the fact that Japan has spent a lot of military spending in this war, and if it receives reparations in the future during the war, it will be financially difficult, so they cannot do without financial support from the United States for at least the next five years, otherwise Japan will have a financial collapse!"

Listen to Elihu? Roosevelt was silent for a moment before continuing to ask.

"Do you remember, then, that a few months ago France wanted peace between Japan and Russia as soon as possible, and promised Japan that if Japan promised not to pay reparations, France would be willing to intercede in order to induce Russia to agree to peace? At the same time, France intends to open the Paris financial market to Japan instead and raise 500 million to 700 million yen in public bonds. The result of this is more favourable than a temporary reparation. This is because Japan can use the financial markets of wealthy France for a long time. ”

Elihu? Lu Te nodded, this is not news, even four days ago, on the train to New York, he had seen the newspaper that Japan had issued 700 million yen of public bonds in the Paris market.

"Japan issued 500 million yen with us, 700 million yen in Paris, and 300 million yen in London, and the Germans refused their demand, but Germany accepted 200 million Chinese yuan bonds, ostensibly to end the war, and to stabilize the financial situation in order to clean up the first and second six-cent interest sterling bonds and the fourth and fifth domestic treasury bonds with six-cent interest, but Japan did not need 1.5 billion yen bonds at all! But why do they issue so many bonds? ”,

Roosevelt asked rhetorically, and he also muttered in his heart, if Komura had already made a waijiāo endorsement, then why was Japan still borrowing a lot of money when he made the waijiāo endorsement, and even this debt was beyond Japan's national capacity, thinking, suddenly Roosevelt realized a problem.

"Russia is not a Qing country!"

Roosevelt, who had only reacted at this time, muttered this sentence and looked at Elixiu? Rutte, with the annoyance of being deceived, crossed his eyebrows.

"Damn yellow-skinned monkeys, we'll let them play like monkeys! They want to get reparations from China! ”

[.b.m]