Chapter VII: Preparatory Meetings for the Paris Peace Conference

The large-scale dispatch of international students that began in the first year of the Republic of China finally bore initial fruit in the past two years. After the outbreak of the war in Europe, the number of government officials increased from 5,000 a year to 15,000 last summer. Since the Republican Party came to power, 15 new comprehensive universities and 20 polytechnic universities have been added in China, and the scale of normal schools in various provinces has been repeatedly expanded.

Thirty percent of the annual financial allocation is spent on education, which seems like a lot, but it is not. China is still too big, but fortunately, the people have a long tradition of running schools, and to a certain extent, they have made up for the lack of state investment.

Because of Fang Jianxiong's visit, the small courtyard where Yun Qinghe and Zhou Leng lived suddenly became lively in this morning. Fushuai is here! This news spread far and wide, and experts and scholars living in this large courtyard gathered one after another.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the trend of studying abroad rose, but there was not much use for those who returned from studying. Until the beginning of the Republican Party's administration, it attached importance to education and talent, and was willing to invest to reverse the situation of wasting talent. In today's Republic of China, high-tech is the most popular, and there is even such a sentence, "Learn mathematics, physics and chemistry well, and you will not be afraid to go all over the world".

Fang Dashuai, the first person in the Republic of China, was sitting in this small courtyard, surrounded by people. In the official tone, it should be said that Chairman Fang Jianxiong and experts and scholars gathered together, and they talked cordially for a long time, and there was no hearty laughter in the courtyard.

There have been four Paris Peace Conferences in history, the third in January 1919. Let's put it this way, the quality of every Paris Peace Conference is actually two words: "share the spoils." In other words, it is according to the size of the fist, and then sit in rows and divide the fruit. The big one is left to myself. The small ones are reserved for the little ones.

There is no doubt that in the Paris Peace Conference today, China's fist is not large, it can only be regarded as second-class, and Japan and Italy are also in the second rank. In fact, the Italian industry is okay, that is, the country's army is too bad at fighting and belongs to the absolute pig teammates.

As early as January 1918, U.S. Presidents Thomas, Woodrow, and Wilson put forward the "Fourteen Points," on which the Paris Peace Conference was built. In a sense. The "14-point principle" exposed the ambition of the United States to become world hegemonic and was one of the main reasons for guiding the Anglo-French peace conference to pick up the United States at the Paris Peace Conference.

At the Paris Peace Conference in this time and space, the Americans preempted Britain and France and pulled in China's helper. In fact, this is one of the main conditions for the United States to provide loans to China, since the Republic of China. The United States has provided billions of dollars in loans to China. This is not a small amount, considering that during the entire European war, Britain and France owed the United States a total of 6 billion dollars.

Of course, with loans and technical assistance, the United States has replaced Britain as China's biggest beneficiary, especially in the Yangtze River Valley, Britain's traditional sphere of influence, and the Americans have become the biggest winners in this region without a clean sweep.

The Beiyang period in parallel space-time history. The government has no way to borrow money from foreigners, and the only one willing to lend money to the Beiyang government is Japan, an ambitious Asian country. Why is there no way for Beiyang to sell the country? Without him, there is not much use value. This really can't be blamed on imperialism for being ruthless and unjust! What is said between the country and the country is interests, you have no use value, and if you want to sell the country, you can't find the temple gate with a pig's head.

Parallel history. From the first year of the Republic of China to the full-scale outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in 1937, China was never unified in the real sense, and heavy industry stagnated or even regressed.

In this time and space, this qiē will not be repeated. Members of the Chinese delegation to the Paris Peace Conference. You can look at each opponent with your chest held high. On January 13~17, 1919, Britain, France, the United States, China, Japan, and Italy held a preparatory meeting for the Paris Peace Conference. The rules of procedure for the Peace Conference were drawn up behind the backs of the other victorious powers.

Gu Weijun, the chief meeting representative, remembered what happened last night, Yang Yongtai suddenly came to the door to tell him, this meeting was led by him, Yang Yongtai temporarily received a call from China, and there were other important matters to deal with during the meeting.

When he really stood in front of the representatives of various countries, it was like carrying Mount Tai on his shoulders.

"Distinguished gentlemen, Gu Weijun, on behalf of the Chinese Government, I would like to make the following seven demands. First, abolish the spheres of influence of various countries in China; second, the withdrawal of troops and patrols from various countries in China; Third, the post and telecommunications bureaus, cable telegraph offices, and radio agencies of various countries in China should be abolished; Fourth, revoke consular jurisdiction; Fifth, the return of the leased land; Sixth, the return of the concession; Seventh, treat the defeated Germany and Austria well and provide the necessary humanitarian assistance to Germany and Austria. Gu Weijun talked eloquently in front of the representatives of various countries, and now it is just a preparatory meeting. In fact, China's views were made as early as during US Secretary of State Lansing's visit to China.

In this world, the weak are not sympathetic. In parallel history, the Paris Peace Conference, in which China's interests were wantonly trampled on, was a lesson in naked blood. In this time and space, no country dares to snub the voice of the Chinese government.

There is no diplomacy for a weak country! This sentence is bloody!

On the first day of preparation for the meeting, when Gu Weijun raised his voice at the meeting, the delegates suddenly discovered that China had stood up and become a huge force to be reckoned with. Although Britain is still the world's most powerful country, it is certain that even if Britain pulls in France and Japan, it will hardly pose a threat to China. Not to mention that France will not risk offending China and causing any loss of interests in Asia. As for Japan, the greatest wish now is to seize the time to catch up with China and not to be pulled out of the gap by China's overall military strength. The most important point is that the current countries need China. The United States needed China's help in countering Britain's alliance with Japan, and France wanted China to secure its interests in South Asia. Britain and Japan need China to play a role in intervening in Russia. Spring is coming, and the offensive of the White Russian government against the Soviet government is about to begin. It is important whether China recognizes the White Russian government in Siberia, because geographically, China, which controls the southern section of the Trans-Siberian Railway, has the most convenient access to support Belarus.

Whether it is a parallel time and space or this time and space, the assistance of European and American countries to Belarus is extremely limited, and the interference is also weak. Otherwise, with the strength of Soviet Russia, there would be no possibility of winning the war. The war in Europe has drained Europe of blood, and this sentence is not nonsense. Europe in this time and space, because of someone's private black hand, Europe's losses are even heavier.

At the Paris Peace Conference, where the parallel was empty, US President Wilson betrayed China's interests and supported the transfer of German interests in China to Japan. On the contrary, when Gu Weijun issued a seven-point demand, Wilson was the first to stand up in support of China's demands, and said: China has made outstanding contributions to the European war and is an important force for world peace in the future. The U.S. government and the Chinese government have reached an agreement and consensus on the equality of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

What is surprising is that French Prime Minister Clemenceau's attitude is also very clear, and then he said: Sino-French friendship is forged in blood, and France supports the Chinese government's reasonable demands on its own interests, and only reserves its opinion on point 7.

Perhaps not expecting France to jump out in support of China, British Prime Minister George then implicitly said that the British government attaches importance to friendly relations with China and is willing to hold consultations on China's demands. Japanese Foreign Minister Yasuya Uchida followed suit and expressed the Japanese Government's willingness to hold dialogues.

In fact, in the first six of China's seven-point demands, Britain and Japan suffered the most. Especially Japan, which is still in the Chinese concession of Lushun. Not to mention the British, there are concessions in all the ports of China, and there are garrisons and patrols.

When Gu Weijun was preparing to make a speech at the meeting, Yang Yongtai received two guests from Germany in the hotel where he was staying.

Bob and Biel, the two handsome German brothers, sat opposite Yang Yongtai at the moment, with calm faces.

Bob, a rookie and famous general who rose from the war in Europe, made a secret trip to Paris, dressed in casual clothes and light on his car. The war had matured the young German, with two well-trimmed mustaches under his nose.

"Mr. Yang, appointed by Field Marshal Hindenburg, has come to negotiate with the Chinese Government on the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The past is in the past, and China's provisional government has consistently maintained that the foundation of Sino-German friendship is solid. ”

Bob's scene is very slippery, and most people are impressed by the relationship between China and Germany in the thirties for Germany's military assistance to China before the Anti-Japanese War. In fact, relations between China and Germany have not been very good, and Germany has never been really friendly to China. In real history, after the First Sino-Japanese War, Germany was the first to forcibly enclose Jiaozhou Bay. The commander-in-chief of the eight allied armies in the year of Gengzi was a German, and Germany was the first great power to stand up and take action in support of the Qing government's suppression of the revolution. The Germans believe in iron and sword, and the Germans are extremely ugly when it comes to seizing interests in China.

Let's put it this way, the attitude of the great powers toward China is essentially the same.

In this time and space, China and Germany have been in contact with each other privately for the sake of their own interests, and they are still using each other in essence. Although Germany was defeated in the war, there was a lot that China needed. In the same vein, Germany hopes that China will help fight for its interests at the Paris Peace Conference, and that the Chinese government will provide food and medicine to ease the current enormous pressure within Germany.

Both of them are old friends of the Chinese, and before going abroad this time, the chairman personally gave relevant instructions on the German issue. The Chinese government will adhere to its position of treating Germany well, and if it cannot change the final result, the Chinese government is willing to provide assistance to Germany on its own. I think the details will be discussed until the end of the Paris Peace Conference. Yang Yongtai also responded with diplomatic rhetoric.