The invited military and political dignitaries and foreign ministers each wore decent formal dresses, and carried the wife of the main room or the concubine and concubine into the Xiyuan in a carriage one after another, and there were also military generals who were alone in Beijing on high-headed horses.

As for the common sedan chair in the former Qing Dynasty, it is already invisible.

After the republic, in order to reflect the new atmosphere of the republic, Zhao Dongyun ordered very early on that all military and political dignitaries were not allowed to take a sedan chair when they went out, and abandoned the titles of lord and official with a strong feudal imperial atmosphere. Therefore, the travel of officials gradually turned into horse-drawn carriages, which can be regarded as a great stimulus to the development of the carriage industry in the Soviet system.

However, although there are horses, mules and other livestock in northern China, but the number is still very insufficient, so officials began to generally take the Toyo car, so that the Toyo car this new means of transportation in just two years in North China is very popular, and even the Fuyuan company specially invested in a Toyo car factory to produce this new means of transportation, and there are many rickshaw shops in big cities such as Beijing and Tianjin to provide passenger transport services.

However, those who can come to Xiyuan today are either military and political dignitaries or foreign ministers, and today's occasion is a very formal state banquet, so it is naturally impossible for those who come to lose face, so they basically come by four-wheeled or two-wheeled carriages, and as for those who come directly on horseback, there are only those military generals.

After these costumed guests entered the Zhonghai in Xiyuan, they soon formed a small circle, and some of the juniors who came with their parents even fell in love.

Today's such occasions are rare, and they quickly bring their families together, so many people bring their descendants to see the world, and even many people want to let their descendants hold this opportunity to go on a blind date or something, after all, those present are all powerful, and there is a great possibility of marriage.

Without mentioning these people, but talking about the ministers of various countries, they naturally do not regard today's Spring Festival garden party as an ordinary party like ordinary Soviet military and political dignitaries, and the purpose of their coming here is not to play, and these diplomats have a strong political purpose no matter where they go.

"Your country has obtained the right to borrow money from the Tianjin-Pudong Railway, and you have not congratulated Sir yet!" It was Pasteur, the French minister to China, who spoke.

Although the words are well concealed, they still reveal a strong envy!

The Tianjin-Pudong railway is the second north-south artery through China, and the investment amount is expected to exceed 10 million pounds.

However, disappointment and envy were useless, and Zhao Dongyun gave the loan rights of the Tianjin-Pudong Railway to the British, not only because of the low interest rate on the loans provided by the British, but also because of the political factors.

The Tianjin-Pudong Railway is to connect Jinling and Tianjin, and after the construction of the Yangtze River Bridge is completed in the future, it will still be connected to the Nanjing-Shanghai Railway, and this Yangtze River basin has always been an important place of interest for the British, and no country can be touched.

The same loan rights given to the British on the Tianjin-Pudong Railway were also to obtain the British side's acquiescence in their plan to cross the river south!

The British had survived in the Yangtze River valley, so that Zhao Dongyun would have to go south to cross the river to fight, and it was basically impossible to bypass the British, not to mention anything else, if the British had waved their warships to the Yangtze River under the banner of protecting merchants, Zhao Dongyun would not have dared to cross the river rashly.

So even if the British do not support their own river-crossing operations, they must not object!

This is an important reason why Zhao Dongyun gave the loan right of the Jinpu Railway to the UK!

Zhu Erdian listened to Pasteur's words, and also smiled professionally, and then said: "Thank you for your congratulations, but I heard that your country is actively negotiating with Jurentang on the follow-up loan of the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway, if it can be successful, presumably your envoy will also be able to become famous in the Far East!" ”

That is to say, but Zhu Erdian does not think that the French can obtain the right to borrow money from the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway, not to mention that the Tongguò area of the Guangdong-Hankou Railway is still under the control of the Southern Federation and the Anhui system, respectively, even if the above-mentioned areas are taken by the Soviet system and the construction of the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway is put on the agenda, the French will have no chance.

First of all, the issue of the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway is more sensitive than that of the Jinpu Railway and the Longhai Railway, and the Americans obtained the right to build the railway a few years ago, but later because of public opinion, the Qing government was forced to withdraw the right to build the railway, thus suspending the construction of the railway. Later, even if Zhao Dongyun's government dared to take out loans to build the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway, the French would never be able to compete with Britain or the United States, and even Belgium would have more influence than France in the construction of China's railways.

Ministers, you say a word, I say a word, casually' while talking, soon there was a commotion outside, and not long after that, I heard a voice "The president and his wife have arrived!" ”

Soon, Zhu Erdian and the others saw Zhao Dongyun wearing a dress and taking Fang Ruolian into the venue!

Zhao Dongyun was also like those professional diplomats at this time, with a professional smile on his face, and then greeted and shook hands with those who came up to greet him.

After a short period of excitement, Zhao Dongyun and others disappeared from everyone's sight, and outsiders didn't know that in a small flower hall next to it, Zhao Dongyun was sitting together with Zhu Erdian, Pasteur, Rou Keyi and other ministers of many countries.

At this time, although everyone's expressions were still relaxed, they didn't have the kind of idle talk they had before!

"The republican government has always advocated freedom of commerce, whether in the north or in the south, the republican government will spare no effort to protect the safety of people and property in China!" Zhao Dongyun's voice was not loud, but the speed of speech was not fast, and everyone could clearly hear every word of Zhao Dongyun.

"I personally apologize for the blockage of trade routes caused by the war ahead, but please also trust the execution of the republican government, we are confident and capable of restoring local business order!"

In Zhao Dongyun's words, there was a vague hint of reassurance.

Zhu Erdian, who was on the side, also put down his cigar, and then said loudly: "I personally still appreciate the ability of your government, but the Yangtze River area is related to the livelihood of many merchants in our country, and if this war lasts for one day, the imperial merchants will lose countless pounds, so I still hope that His Excellency the President's army will maintain the necessary caution in the Yangtze River Valley!" ”

"In addition, Shanghai has already been traumatized by the war last year, and I hope that His Excellency the President's army can handle it properly so as to avoid Shanghai being harmed by the war as much as possible!" Zhu Erdian continued: "In order to avoid plunging Shanghai into the flames of war and endangering the lives and property of merchants from various countries in Shanghai, I propose that Shanghai can be temporarily entrusted by various countries, and then taken over by your country after the war!" ”

However, after Zhao Dongyun heard this, there was a burst of anger in his heart, this Englishman really thought he was a three-year-old child

Although the troops want to cross the river south to fight cannot be separated from the acquiescence and even support of the British, they have already paid huge benefits, and now the British are lions opening their mouths? What temporary hosting? Once he really agrees, it will be extremely difficult for other countries to return the Chinese boundary in Shanghai in the future, and then one careless will turn the whole of Shanghai into a concession.

So at this time, Zhao Dongyun's face remained unchanged, but his tone became slightly tougher: "Shanghai is the sacred and inviolable inherent territory of China, and temporary trusteeship is absolutely impossible." ”

Zhao Dongyun did not hesitate to reject Zhu Erdian's suggestion, but Shanghai is indeed too sensitive, especially the Shanghai concession, which must be treated with caution.

So he continued: "I can personally promise that the army of the republic will never enter the concessions of various countries, but every move of our troops outside the concessions will cause the countries to worry!" ”

Seeing that Zhao Dongyun's attitude is so tough, Zhu Erdian doesn't care too much, this temporary custody is originally a casual remark, if Zhao Dongyun is really stupid and agrees, then he will be equivalent to picking up a Shanghai for nothing, and he won't lose anything if he doesn't agree, as for Zhao Dongyun may be dissatisfied with the UK?

He Zhu Erdian doesn't care, and the British Empire doesn't care!

The purpose of this informal meeting between Zhao Dongyun and Zhu Erdian and other ministers of various countries was very strong, that is, to win the support of various countries for the southward crossing of the river by the Feng army not long after, and even if they did not support it, they would not oppose it.

As for Zhao Dongyun's move to continue to fight in the south and to unify China with arms, all countries have basically confirmed their attitudes before.

If you say yes, there are generally the United Kingdom and the United States.

Britain's support for Zhao Dongyun's unification of China was in its own interests, because Britain needed a united and weak China to contain Russia and expand its own business interests in China.

However, the support of the British side is limited, and it is unlikely that they will give diplomatic or actual military support.

The same is true for the United States, and their reason for supporting Zhao Dongyun is relatively simple, that is, they want to open up China's huge market, and Zhao Dongyun's move to vigorously attract foreign investment in several industrial zones is very appealing to the Americans.

The reason why these two countries support Zhao Dongyun is also related to the fact that Zhao Dongyun gave them the right to borrow money for the Longhai Railway and the Jinpu Railway respectively.

The rest of Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Italy and a bunch of other European countries basically have an indifferent attitude.

Then there are Japan's and Russia's, both of whom are opposed to Zhao Dongyun's unification of China. Moreover, this kind of opposition is also practical, Russia has begun to support Zhao Erxun, and Japan has supported Duan Qirui.

Especially in Japan, in order to support Duan Qirui, they have made great efforts, not only giving a large number of military loans, but also sending a large number of instructors to help Duan Qirui train troops.

Although the overall attitude of each country has been determined, some detailed conditions still need to be negotiated, especially the Yangtze River area involves the interests of Britain and many other powers, so it is necessary for Zhao Dongyun to obtain the support or acquiescence of the British before the war.

At least they can't show that their troops have just crossed the river, and then the British warships will drive up to block their own crossing of the river!

Therefore, in the informal talks of this Spring Festival garden party, Zhao Dongyun once again promised the British and many others that after the Feng army went south, he would continue to protect the lives and property of merchants from various countries, and also gave an informal and private promise: Feng Jun would do his best to end the war in Jiangnan, especially in Shanghai, and avoid irreparable losses to the local area if the war lasted for a long time.

It's also funny to say that the British are more worried than the Chinese about the destruction of the Jiangnan region by the war!