In fact, Xiao Zhenlei really didn't understand the inner world of an arrogant Englishman like Zhu Erdian, he didn't know how this old guy would think of threatening him with such an extreme method, and Zhu Erdian's stupid behavior made him realize that a golden opportunity to recover the public concession had come.

Immediately after contacting the envoys of Germany, the United States, and Russia to China and holding urgent consultations, he made another telephone call to Zhang Jiyao of the People's Daily, asking Zhang Jiyao to mobilize the power of the media to let the people of the whole country know about the matter in the shortest possible time.

On the morning of that day, all the newspapers reported the aggression of the British warships firing their guns at the Chinese border for no reason, the order of Xiao Zhenlei of the First Division of the Shanghai Army to go to the concession to regain the management of the public concession, and the overwhelming reports that the Wusong Fort had received Xiao Zhenlei's order to return fire on the British warships.

As soon as these reports came out, they immediately caused a sensation throughout the country, and the broad masses of the people throughout the country immediately spontaneously staged extremely huge demonstrations in major cities to show solidarity with Xiao Zhenlei and the Nanjing Provisional Government. Shanghai is boiling, China is boiling, and national self-confidence is completely aroused at this moment.

Xiao Zhenlei delivered a speech on the radio station, assuring the people of the whole country and overseas Chinese that the incident was triggered by the British army, that the provisional government would resolutely take back the public concession, and called on the people of the whole country to stand up against foreign invaders, that China could no longer sleep, and that the time had come for China to wake up.

This speech brought Xiao Zhenlei's prestige in China to a peak, making the Iron and Blood Salvation Party the largest party, and countless aspiring young people applied to join the Iron and Blood Salvation Party.

At this time, China was completely boiling in the world, and the British authorities had always been passive in this incident, under the means of Xiao Zhenlei. Even the French, allies of the British, did not stand up for the British, and the British were almost isolated internationally. If it weren't for the fact that there was a Japanese brother following behind the ass, Britain would have become a loner internationally.

Meantime. The British intelligence service also noticed that Germany was in secret contact with Xiao Zhenlei, and the agents immediately reported to the mainland after receiving the news, and the London side quickly held a meeting to discuss how to deal with it. If Xiao Zhenlei becomes Germany's spokesman in China, with Xiao Zhenlei's current power and development momentum, it is very likely that he will become a force that will dominate China in the future, and then Britain's interests in the Far East will be greatly reduced or disappear, and Britain's position in the Far East will no longer exist. This is what the British authorities do not want to see. However, some people are worried that if they compromise with Xiao Zhenlei, it is likely to boost Xiao Zhenlei's arrogance and make him gain an inch, and these people's worries are not unreasonable, the British Parliament is divided into two factions, one faction believes that as long as Xiao Zhenlei does not throw himself into the arms of the Germans, it is not unacceptable to abandon the Shanghai Tang Public Concession, and the conservatives believe that it is necessary to maintain the dignity of the British Empire and immediately organize troops to attack Xiao Zhenlei. There are also some people who think that they can support Yuan Shikai and Xiao Zhenlei to fight in the ring and use Yuan Shikai to contain Xiao Zhenlei.

After several days of urgent discussions, the British parliamentary authorities finally came to a result, in order to ensure that Xiao Zhenlei did not throw himself into the arms of Germany to contain British forces in the Far East. You can consider giving up the public concession, but in order to contain Xiao Zhenlei, don't let him sit big. Support for Yuan Shikai in the north in terms of funds and weapons. So the London side immediately sent a telegram to Zhu Erdian, informing him of the decision of the London authorities. Let him immediately get in touch with the Nanjing Provisional Government and deal with the aftermath.

Sometimes a lot of things are just a step that is hard to cross. Xiao Zhenlei is so bold to cross this step, and caused a fait accompli, the British have nothing to do, although Britain still has some ships in the Far East, but it is too far behind in terms of the army, and Xiao Zhenlei now has more than a dozen divisions, more than 100,000 horses, not everyone can gnaw it, and Xiao Zhenlei has now won the hearts of the people of the whole of China, with the support of 40,000 people in China, anyone who wants to deal with him has to weigh their own capital, the British do not want to experience another Boer War in the Far East, This would have brought down this once empire on which the sun never set, and the British would settle accounts, so they compromised.

Zhu Erdian was preparing to go north to Nanjing to continue to negotiate with Xiao Zhenlei on the conflict between the two sides, this time he was planted, but he did not want to throw away the public concession, and London might hold him accountable for this matter, but he did not expect that the telegram sent by the London side before he left, as he expected, the London side reprimanded him very harshly, and said that he had sent someone to investigate the true situation of the matter, and asked him to immediately contact the Nanjing Provisional Government to reach a settlement, and if necessary, he could abandon the Shanghai public concession. In any case, there is more than one British concession in China. After receiving the telegram, Zhu Erdian was relieved, at least he had enough room to maneuver.

On March 1, Zhu Erdian came to Nanjing to meet with Xiao Zhenlei again, and at the beginning he protested against the Provisional Government's sudden dispatch of troops to take over the Shanghai Public Concession, and demanded that Xiao Zhenlei immediately order the First Division of the Shanghai Army to withdraw from the concession.

"Vice Minister Xiao, on behalf of the British Empire, I would like to express my strong protest against the sudden order of the Nanjing Provisional Government to order the First Division of the Shanghai Army to occupy the Public Concession, and now I demand that the Nanjing Provisional Government immediately order the First Division of the Shanghai Army to withdraw from the Public Concession and compensate for all losses in the concession!"

Xiao Zhenlei looked at Zhu Erdian like an idiot and asked, "Mr. Zhu Erdian, if you have nothing else to do, you must know that I am still busy!" Someone, send off! ”

Zhu Erdian hurriedly said: "Slow, Vice Chief Xiao, okay, we all have some sincerity and sit down and have a good talk, okay?" ”

Xiao Zhenlei looked at Zhu Erdian for a while, and pointed to the chair next to him: "Please sit!" ”

"Thank you!" Zhu Erdian said a word, then sat down on the chair with Xiao Zhenlei, and said: "Deputy Chief Xiao, in response to the Nanjing Provisional Government's proposal to terminate the concession treaty with China, my British Empire does not agree, I can give up the management of the Shanghai Public Concession, but China must retain the management of the British Concession in other parts of China, and China will not give up the issue of consular jurisdiction, after China gives up the management of the Shanghai Public Concession, in exchange, the Nanjing Provisional Government must not reach any agreement with Germany and Russia!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei lit a cigarette, took a few puffs and spit out a long smoke, and said: "Mr. Zhu Erdian, as an Englishman who knows China best in Britain, you should know very well that the current China is no longer the China of the past, the government of the Republic of China is not the Manchu Dynasty, and the unequal treaties signed between the previous countries and the Manchu Dynasty will be abolished one by one in the future, China is waking up, and it is a historical trend that no one or any country can stop by standing up for the Chinese people, no matter which country intends to enslave the Chinese people, They will all be crushed to pieces by the power of the powerful Chinese people! I understand the difficulties of the British authorities, but China's determination to recover the concession is beyond doubt, and we can consider giving the British authorities some time to take back only the Shanghai Public Concession for the time being, but the question of consular jurisdiction is not negotiable, because it is a matter of sovereignty! If the British authorities do not agree, we are determined to resolve the issue through war".

These categorical words were like a declaration, listening to Zhu Erdian's ears made him shake, he analyzed Xiao Zhenlei in his heart, he found that this is a person with extremely strong beliefs and outstanding ability, maybe this person will dominate the fate of the Far East for a long time to come, China may change dramatically because of this person, as this person said, this is an irresistible historical trend.

Zhu Erdian hesitated for a moment, and said tentatively: "Vice Chief Xiao, my country agrees to return the management of the Shanghai Public Concession to your country, and I am really embarrassed by the issue of insufficient consular jurisdiction, so it is better for us to put aside the issue of consular jurisdiction for the time being, and now talk about the property issues related to our government and citizens in the public concession!" ”

Xiao Zhenlei waved his hand and said categorically: "No, the recovery of the British consular jurisdiction in our country and the Shanghai Public Concession is a prerequisite for our talks, and only on the basis of meeting these two conditions can we carry out the following negotiations!" ”

After three days of lengthy negotiations, Xiao Zhenlei finally reached an agreement with Zhu Erdian, and the two sides agreed that the Provisional Government of Nanjing, China, would take back the management of the British authorities in the Shanghai Public Concession and the British consular jurisdiction in China, and that British citizens in the Public Concession could leave with all their belongings or choose to stay, and enjoy the same benefits and treatment as Chinese citizens, but could not have Chinese nationality, and the Provisional Government would not confiscate the right to use the land and real estate owned by British citizens in the concession. But the ownership of both land and real estate belongs to the Chinese government.

On March 4, when Xiao Zhenlei announced the news, the whole country fell into a frenzied jubilation, and for many years, this was the greatest victory won by China in the struggle against the great powers, and it was a great victory for the entire Chinese people.

After recovering the public concession and consular jurisdiction in Shanghai, the Dutch authorities saw the determination of the Provisional Government in Nanjing, and the British compromised, and they did not dare to be arrogant anymore, and hurriedly agreed to the four conditions put forward by the Provisional Government. The victory in this confrontation with the British authorities and the Dutch authorities made the Chinese people see their own strength, and since they have gained national self-confidence, they have also won wide praise from overseas Chinese, making overseas Chinese feel for the first time that an independent China is their strong backing.

On March 5, Xiao Zhenlei published a personal article in the People's Daily, entitled "My Oath - Motherland, I Will Use My Blood and Life to Guarantee You Forever Brilliant, Prosperous, and Peaceful". (To be continued......) R1292