In fact, the "spoils" conference will not open until next year, but Qin Zhiyuan can't wait until next year to make a move, and a lot of work needs to be done in advance, so as not to be caught off guard at that time.

In fact, for the Republic of China, the key to the problem lies in Shandong.

The Japanese defeated the Germans entrenched in Shandong during the World War, and then refused to leave in Shandong, wanting to create an established fact, and the latter wanted to make some benefits and see if they could blackmail something, and then retreat.

In the middle of the year, Qin Zhiyuan once talked to Clemenceau about this matter, and Clemenceau was of course on Qin Zhiyuan's side and demanded that the Japanese immediately withdraw from Shandong.

Clemenceau did not like the Japanese, not because the Japanese forcibly occupied Shandong, but because of the "Anglo-Japanese alliance".

There were certain historical reasons for the establishment of the "Anglo-Japanese Alliance"; at the beginning, the British were afraid that the Russians' interests in China would swell and endanger the interests of Britain, so they signed a secret agreement with the Japanese, whereby the British recognized the Japanese interests in China and their status in Korea, and the Japanese also recognized the British interests in China. The treaty stipulates that if one of the two sides is attacked, the other must provide assistance.

It was also because of the Anglo-Japanese alliance that in the Russo-Japanese War, France had to sit back and watch their ally the Russians be defeated by the Japanese and could do nothing.

Clemenceau therefore did not have a favorable opinion of the Japanese.

Of course, Clemenceau did not have a good impression of the Chinese, and Clemenceau would speak to the Republic of China, purely for Qin Zhiyuan's reasons.

Don't mention any fair and just position, that thing is really worthless in international relations, there was no fairness and justice in the 20s of the 21st century, let alone the 20s of the 20th century.

Although Japan now has a certain status in the world, it is still afraid of France, and after Clemenceau urges the Japanese to withdraw from Shandong, the Japanese are looking for various interests to delay, and at the same time asking their allies the British to help them out.

In the middle of the year, the world war was raging, and the role of the Foreign Legion was very great, and the British did not dare to ignore it, so although they received a call for help from their allies, the British also hummed and found all kinds of excuses to delay, that is, they did not speak for the Japanese.

Now that the world war is over, the issue is once again on the table.

Qin Zhiyuan, who returned to Paris, had nothing to do at all, and when he saw the sky, he went to the Prime Minister's Office to harass Clemenceau and demanded that Clemenceau give justice to the Republic of China.

Clemenceau was so annoyed by Qin Zhiyuan's entanglement that he promised Qin Zhiyuan that he would settle the matter at the Paris Peace Conference next year, which appeased Qin Zhiyuan.

In fact, Qin Zhiyuan was not worried at all that the Japanese would refuse to return Shandong, because if the Japanese really did that, Qin Zhiyuan would have a reason not to open a penicillin factory in Japan.

In the summer of 1918, after two months of silence, the Spanish flu broke out on a large scale again.

This time the flu pandemic is more ferocious, and the rate of illness among young people between the ages of 20 and 35 is particularly high, and the fatality rate is far higher than that of the spring.

In fact, at present, penicillin factories in the United States and the United Kingdom have been put into operation, and for every dose of penicillin produced by Americans and British, Qin Zhiyuan will charge ten dollars as patent fees, and this alone has tens of millions of dollars in revenue every month.

There is no doubt that the Americans and the British are really in such great demand.

After the Americans put forward the "Monroe Doctrine," they regarded the Americas as their own backyard, and when they were the boss, they always had to look like they were the bosses, so the Americans had the entire American market behind them.

The British have more demand, Britain has the largest colony in the world, has the largest population in the world, and of course has the largest demand in the world.

Penicillin is still being produced in Corsica, although all finished products are still being purchased by the French government.

Qin Zhiyuan did not raise the price because of the outbreak of the "Spanish flu", but still maintained the original price.

That's already a sky-high price.

After the outbreak of the flu in the spring, Sandy once proposed to study the causes and pathological structure of the "Spanish flu", but Qin Zhiyuan did not agree.

The "Spanish flu" is like a malicious joke played by God to the world, and it has broken out three times in total, and then it has disappeared without a trace, and it has never broken out again.

Until the 21st century, a full 100 years have passed, and the cause of the "Spanish flu" is still inconclusive, and it really makes no sense to study it now.

Of course, the Japanese also have a demand for penicillin, and because of the large population in Japan, the demand for penicillin is still quite large, but the Japanese are not willing to accept Qin Zhiyuan's blackmail, because if a factory is opened in Japan, Qin Zhiyuan requires the Japanese to pay $20 for each dose of the patent.

This is blackmail, knowing that a penicillin does not cost even five cents.

Of course, the Japanese government does not want to pay this money, and they even want to buy the relevant patents, figure out the production process of penicillin, and then set up a factory in Japan to produce it.

This was seriously warned by the French government that if the Japanese government really dared to do so, the French government would not hesitate to fight and protect the interests of its own citizens.

Of course, Clemenceau will stand up for Qin Zhiyuan, because for every ten dollars Qin Zhiyuan collects, he will increase the tax revenue of two dollars for the French government to protect Qin Zhiyuan's interests, and at the same time, to protect the interests of the French government itself.

The Japanese had no choice but to engage in arduous negotiations with Corsica on the one hand, and on the other hand sought international support.

It's a pity that no one supports the Japanese.

The Americans supported Qin Zhiyuan's approach, because in the world, the Americans collected the most patent fees, and if the Japanese made a breakthrough in Qin Zhiyuan, it would mean that any other country could also make a breakthrough in the United States.

Compared with the French government's simple defense of Qin Zhiyuan's interests, the Americans maintain the entire patent system.

Although the British were forced to express their support for the Japanese under pressure from their "allies", they did not express any position on Qin Zhiyuan's approach.

Britain is still the largest in the world, but the British also suffer, and the British are more interested in maintaining the world order. What's more, through the comparison of the interests of Britain and Japan in China during the World War, the British feel that they are now at a disadvantage, and seeing that Japan is about to dominate the world's largest market, the British also want to do something.

Only then did the Japanese realize that they were isolated around the world.

And the initiator of all this is Qin Zhiyuan, who is a cold bystander.

Hate someone's guts?

This is not enough to describe the hatred of the Japanese for Qin Zhiyuan.

But at the same time, it is not enough to describe Qin Zhiyuan's hatred for the Japanese.

By the end of November, the outbreak of the Spanish flu reached its climax, and nearly 10,000 people died of the "Spanish flu" every day in Japan, and most of them were young people, which made the fear in Japan reach the extreme.

At the beginning of December, Count Nobuaki Makino, who had been seeking an agreement with Corsica, did not delay any longer, and on the condition that Japan withdraw from Shandong and give up all rights and interests in Shandong, in exchange for the consent of the local government of Corsica to set up a factory in Japan to produce penicillin.

The Paris Peace Conference had not yet begun, and Qin Zhiyuan had already helped the Republic of China achieve an important gain.

In the original history, the Japanese withdrew from Shandong after the Washington Conference in 1922.

This was not Qin Zhiyuan's biggest gain, when the armistice was signed, a delegation belonging to the Grand Duchy of Lanfang made a detour to Germany via Switzerland, and they wanted to urge Crown Prince William to fulfill his promise.

Although Qin Zhiyuan was the king of the Grand Duchy of Lanfang, the Grand Duchy of Lanfang did not declare war on Germany, and they were free to go to Germany and conduct whatever trade they wanted.

On 12 November, the day after the Armistice came into force, the delegation arrived in Essen, in the Ruhr industrial region, and their first task was to assess the Krupp plant.

They were received by Crown Prince William's cousin.

In order to welcome the arrival of the Lanfang delegation, the German side imposed martial law on the railway station and drove the carriage all the way to the platform.

Because of the loss of Romania, Germany had no source of oil, all the machines of the Germans could not be operated, even the horses pulling carts became scarce, and many horses were eaten as food.

"Zhang, welcome to you." Christopher's expression was bitter.

"Your Highness, it's a pleasure to meet you." Zhang Tianyun was polite.

This so-called "Lanfang delegation" is actually composed of engineers drawn by Qin Zhiyuan from the Renault factory and Corsica, who are not responsible for negotiations, but only responsible for assessing the state of the machine, and the relevant negotiation work has been completed by Qin Zhiyuan and William.

"Let's go, let's hurry up and finish today's work." As a member of the royal family, Christopher's heart is full of humiliation and sadness.

But so what?

As a member of the royal family, Christopher has enjoyed all the glory and benefits of his status in peacetime, so when disaster strikes, no one can stay away.

Since "unconditional surrender" was a decision made by the German Imperial Family, the Imperial Family had to bear the humiliation of all this.

Christopher is well aware of this, and if it is unbearable, then now Kaiser Wilhelm II and Crown Prince Wilhelm will feel a hundred times more than Christopher.

Thinking so, Christopher could barely face Zhang Tianyun and them calmly.

But obviously, not everyone thinks so.

At the gate of the Krupp factory, the oldest engineer, Friedrich Krupp, stood alone at the door, holding up his cane and stopping in front of the convoy.

Behind Friedrich Krupp were tens of thousands of workers, men, women and children, both gray-haired and childish, all of whom had a common name: the Krupp people.

Including Friedrich, he didn't actually have the surname Krupp at all, but from the age of 11 when he entered the factory, Friedrich stayed in the Krupp factory for 70 years, so he changed his surname to Krupp to show his loyalty to the Krupp company.

"Young man, this is not the place where you should be, as long as there is one Krupp alive, you will not be able to succeed." The white-haired Friedrich couldn't even hold his crutches steadily, but he still used his crutches to tremble and point at the German captain who was ordered to open the way, and did not give an inch.

"Sir, this cannot be reversed." The captain was expressionless, he was already numbed by the torture of war.

"No, we can still hold on, we shouldn't just give up, we still have 100,000 workers in the factory, the machines are intact, we can still work......" Friedrich burst into tears.

Friedrich did not know that the dismantling of the factory was irreversible, but emotionally and mentally, Friedrich had to make a final struggle, even if to no avail.

"Yes, if you don't want to fight, then let's go!" A worker in overalls stepped out of the crowd.

"You can't do this, it's going to ruin Krupp, it's going to ruin German ......," a woman cried.

The two brothers Zhang Tianyun and Xuanyuan in the carriage looked at each other, and they had a hunch that maybe this trip to Germany would not go well.

(To be continued.) )