Chapter 26: Friendship

September of the ninth year of the empire.

In the quiet courtyard under the Purple Mountain, the golden cinnamon in the courtyard spits out an intoxicating difference, the sunlight through the gaps in the branches and leaves sprinkles a little white on the courtyard, the chrysanthemums in full bloom compete with the golden cinnamon in the courtyard, a few sparrows squeak and jump around in the leaves, and the melodious pipa sound comes out in the small study.

This is the villa of Yang Du, the leader of the Constitutional Party.

At this time, Yang Du was dressed in a light green Han dress, holding a teacup in his hand, half-closed eyes on the rocking chair, swaying back and forth with the chair, listening attentively to Xinna's concubine Jingxian playing the pipa there, the tune is Yang Duxin's "Butterfly Love Flower", Jingxian played the pipa and sang by herself.

Listening to the music, Yang Du looked very uncomfortable, and at the end of the song, Jingxian first pursed her lips and chuckled, and then her eyes flashed, sitting on the armrest of Yang Du's rocking chair.

At this time, Yang Du also stopped, and looked back at Jingxian and smiled slightly.

"Okay, you sang very well, the rhyme, the beat, sang all the emotions when I wrote the lyrics"

After a pause, he continued.

"It's just that the "will" tone is a little lower, it seems that it should be a little higher, and the timbre is low, so it is suspected of hurting the song."

The master's words were to make Jingxian pout.

"Why should it be higher, I think it's better to be lower, it should be low"

"Huh? Why? ”

Yang Du asked urgently, in the past, when he filled in the new songs and handed them to Jingxian, she always practiced singing according to the music cards and rules, and never disobeyed her will, so he was strange now.

"Look at you, it's rare to be half idle, it's so messy outside, singing high, don't you just provoke your thoughts, I really want to be able to grow old like this, be safe, that's what satisfies it"

Jing Xian's few words only made Yang Du's heart sour, first nodded, and then shook his head.

"You don't know, sir, I've been ...... all these years"

The voice was slightly deep, and Yang Du said helplessly.

"It seems to be beautiful, but after the scenery, you should be careful everywhere, be cautious in everything, and after so many years of armpit gas, how can others know it......"

Thinking of the sin he had suffered in the past nine years, Yang Du sighed, narrowed his eyes, gently hugged Jingxian with his hand, and snuggled tightly.

Outsiders never knew that as early as nine years ago, he Yang Du had a file in the Investigation Bureau and filed a case, and it can be said that he relied on betraying his friends to seek glory, so that he had the later peace, and the Constitutional Party was not as good as day by day, and it was not unrelated to his prudence, but sometimes, in order to appease the dissatisfaction within the party, he had to let people launch all kinds of seemingly "pranky methods" in the House of Lords, and as a result, the Constitutional Party became a joke, but finally let the Democratic Party get cheap.

Unwilling

How could Yang Du be willing, he had thought about becoming the prime minister of the cabinet back then, but now? The leader of the Constitutional Party may not be able to be stable, but the silence of the past nine years has made him realize that if he wants to have a peaceful life, he is afraid that the only way to do this is to "order" the cabinet, so that he can clearly and smoothly take out some things from the Investigation Bureau, at least let himself no longer be controlled by the Investigation Bureau.

It is precisely for this reason that he secretly met with Liang Qichao and merged with Qida to form the Constitutional Party and the Democratic Party to form the "Democratic Constitutional Party." The two parties have an overwhelming advantage in the provincial parliament and nearly half in the lower house of the National Assembly.

Now Yang Du's psychology of being the prime minister of the cabinet has long been extinct, at least he has no mind for the time being, and there is only one desire left for a "political party to form a cabinet", if this wish is realized, then Liang Qichao will be the prime minister of the cabinet, and he Yang Du, who has obtained a doctorate in law from Yale University, will serve as the minister of justice, which is naturally reasonable, and the investigation bureau is under the command of the Ministry of Justice.

As long as the tight spell was removed, on that day, Yang Du's heart burned with ambition again, an ambition that he had never really given up.

For the time being, let Liang Qichao let him take the lead, no matter what he says to the outside world, the investigation bureau known as the "East Factory" is still unclear? All you have to do is make a plan behind your back, and if someone from the Bureau of Investigation finds you, it's a big deal...... Just as he was thinking about what to do, he heard the porter come and preach.

"Marzen, the commercial charge d'affaires of the German Reich in China, asks for a meeting"

Reich Commercial Chargé d'Affaires in China?

The concierge's communication only made Yang Du stunned, what kind of commercial agency in China is basically a famous hall created by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Germans, on the one hand, it declares war on others, and on the other hand, it "sympathizes with a large number of German businessmen and overseas Chinese who have made extraordinary contributions to China's economy, industry, and education", so what? The so-called declaration of war, at least for now, the Germans suffered a big loss, but in order to avoid China's involvement in the war, on the contrary, they knocked out their teeth and swallowed them in their stomachs, and even said that overseas colonies fell into the hands of the Chinese than in the hands of the British and French. ,

Now, despite the fact that China and Germany are in a "state of war," and after China has banned the "Sino-German Friendship Association" in accordance with the law, the German commercial chargé d'affaires in China, Marzan, has organized the "Asian-Sino-European Friendship Association" with China's pro-German factions and German nationals stranded in Chinese government offices, enterprises, and universities, and has constantly wooed well-known Chinese personages to side with Germany. China and Germany can negotiate peace at any time", in short, the activities of the Germans in China are still very active, and even the army not only did not put the German advisers in prisoner of war camps, but continued to use the German advisers.

With regard to this "state of war" between China and Germany, British Minister Zhu Erdian, French Minister Kang Yi, and Russian Minister Krupensky were extremely dissatisfied with the Chinese government's acquiescence to the activities of pro-German groups.

"Your Excellency the Prime Minister"

As soon as he saw Yang Du, Marzan said politely.

"Your Excellency Chargé d'Affaires"

Nodding his head, as a greeting, Yang Du stretched out his hand to invite Marzan to sit down.

"I don't know why Your Excellency the Chargé d'Affaires is here?"

While making tea, Yang Du asked straight to the point.

But Marzan smiled faintly without saying a word, and then carefully looked at the Constitutionalist Chancellor in front of him, he was no different from most Chinese officials, he wore loose Han clothes in his spare time, not the "new uniform" that imitated the style of military uniforms, and now the wind of collapse instigated by the Constitutionalist Party made him immediately smell an opportunity, and it was one of his tasks to win China to become an ally of Germany again, but if it didn't work, it was also his task to avoid China sending troops to Europe as much as possible.

Now that China's political situation is in chaos due to the "collapse of the cabinet", it is completely in the interests of Germany, and as long as the political situation is unstable, it is impossible for China to send troops to Europe, and, on the other hand, Marzan believes that China also needs such an excuse, and the most fundamental reason why China declared war on Germany, saying that it is for peace, is probably for the sake of colonial expansion, and for Germany it is acceptable to temporarily lose those overseas colonies that are impossible to preserve.

Thinking about it in his heart, Malzan asked quietly.

"Your Excellency, how are you doing?"

"Chargé d'Affaires Ma is here at this time, I'm afraid I don't just care about Yang's body."

Yang Du replied softly, then picked up the teacup, made a gesture to invite tea, and then waited for him to continue.

"Nature"

Yang Du's opening point made Marzan nod his head, and at the same time took out a document from his file bag.

"I came to see the Prime Minister today, but I did something else"

"Oh?"

In response, Yang Du's eyes were fixed on the document that Marzan took out, and he was curious about what it was.

"This document is an internal document of a British company"

"Oh"

Seeing that Yang Du didn't understand the meaning of his words, Malzan said directly.

"If this document is made public, I am afraid that several government officials will be investigated, and out of friendship between friends, I think it is necessary for me to say hello to you."

When mentioning "friendship", Malzan deliberately accentuated his voice, in fact, this document was obtained by German intelligence officers as early as two years ago, and the content was very simple, just a telegram from several British companies agreeing to give 20 kickbacks to Chinese government officials responsible for purchasing machinery and equipment.

Once the telegram is made public, it will definitely give the cabinet a fatal blow, and it may contribute to the collapse of the cabinet, Nanjing's political situation is stable and unfavorable to Germany, the more chaotic the more beneficial to Germany, for Germany, the dispute between the Chinese Congress and the cabinet is only one of the links, the most important link is that the officials who purchase equipment accept bribes, which will directly affect China's economic system, as long as the Chinese begin to question the country's economic operation model, questioning this model is just for the benefit of some officials, then at least in the next one to two years, It is impossible for China's political arena to calm down, and by that time, the war in Europe will be over long ago.

"Friendship of friends"

After taking the document handed by Malzan, opening it and only taking a cursory glance, Yang Du was stunned by the content of the telegram, this is, if it is published, this telegram will be a heavy punch

This is simply adding fuel to the fire, but as soon as he raised his eyes, Yang Du looked at Marzan.

"Mr. Chargé d'affaires, what do you want?"

"Friendship of your country".

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