Although Gao Junjie's performance is a little too strong, all in all, his style is still in line with the consistent style of Westerners.

Although I really want to leave, but the reality is too helpless, so that Alexander. Except for a sulking meal, which caused the feast to break up, Mr. Stephens did not really go home, but continued to stay.

In other words, although he doesn't like Gao Junjie's tone, Alexander's purpose will not change, and he will not really ignore the overall situation because of this small difficulty.

At the very least, he will not and cannot interrupt this negotiation until the two sides reach a result, otherwise he will return to greet him with a gloomy life.

In addition, Alexander and his entourage believed that Gao Junjie's previous approach was just a routine test and could not be a formal meeting.

After all, it was just a reception banquet, to put it bluntly, it was an occasion for eating, although Chinese are used to talking about things at the dinner table, but for Westerners, this is definitely not an occasion to talk about serious things, so I think it is a small temptation of the other party.

If it was a modern society, or had learned about Chinese customs, Alexander would never have this idea, but out of his own racial pride, he did not know too much about the customs of the Chinese, plus Gao Junjie is also white, so it is natural to follow the rules of the West.

After returning to the dormitory arranged by the Chinese side to rest for an afternoon and night, the next morning, Alexander, refreshed. Stephens and his entourage renewed their request to start formal negotiations with the Chinese representatives.

For this request, the expeditionary force quickly agreed, and it was no surprise that the main candidate for negotiations with them this time was Gao Junjie.

In order to respect this negotiation, the expeditionary force specially found an indoor conference room as a negotiation meeting room, and then sat in a row across the long table. There are name tags and tea on the table, which makes it look serious and solemn.

Although the number of people on both sides has increased in this negotiation, in general, the main negotiators of both sides are Gao Junjie and Alexander. Stephens and the others, who are more of a flag-waving and shouting, or used to mess around, in short, the role cannot be said to be none, but it does not play a decisive role.

At the beginning of the negotiations, perhaps there had been insults before. Alexander. Stephens took the lead and used his rich experience and eloquence as a lawyer to talk about the history of friendly exchanges between the two sides, and then talk about the mutually beneficial relationship between them.

Alexander believed that the expeditionary force's unauthorized use of New Orleans as a concession was quite unreasonable and had no legal basis at all.

As for the cession contract they had signed with the Federal Government of the North. Let's not say that the Northern government is the enemy of the Southern government, and the laws of the other side have no legal effect in the Southern government, let's just say that New Orleans is the inherent territory of the Southern Union since ancient times. Therefore, the contract with the Northern government was not binding on him, and the expeditionary force should withdraw from New Orleans as soon as possible before the relationship between the two sides broke down further. All unreasonable demands before the cancellation.

Obviously, Alexander decided not to mention the previous request made by Gao Junjie this time, nor did he mention his so-called reply. Instead, he first talked about the friendly history of the two sides, then put forward his own demands, and put on the posture that he was a victim and that you were vexatious, and finally softened his tone and reiterated the demands and positions of the Confederate States of America.

To put it simply, what Alexander meant was, don't mess around with your expeditionary force, just spit out New Orleans quickly, as long as you give us back this city, we are still good friends.

In this regard, Gao Junjie listened very carefully, nodded his head, and then put forward his own opinions.

"Let's not talk about anything else, you just said that the government of the Northern Union State has no right to divide the land of your Southern Union State at will, right?" Gao Junjie said this, and then did not wait for the other party to answer, and then said, "On the other hand, the government of the Southern Confederate States has no right to make irresponsible remarks about the land of the Northern Federal Government, and this is reciprocal behavior." ”

Finding that Alexander on the other side frowned, as if he was about to speak, Gao Junjie waved his hand next: "Listen to me first, this is basic politeness, isn't it?" ”

The other party said so, and Alexander had to swallow the words back from his mouth, but his face was quite ugly, because after listening to Gao Junjie's previous words, he probably knew what the other party was going to say next.

Sure enough, Gao Junjie took it and said, "Let's take a second look at the ownership of the city of New Orleans." You say this city has been yours since ancient times? Hehe, that's a funny question, because strictly speaking, you Americans didn't create this city, and you're not the only owner of it.

Well, well, I don't want to talk about history here, but de jure speaking, this city was not originally the territory of your Confederate States of America, but the territory of the United States of America, and New Orleans is still their inherent territory on the map of the United States of America.

Then, in the southern territories of the former United States of America, you declared your independence and established the Confederate States of America, and then the heads of the city declared that they had joined your camp and became your city because they agreed with your ideas.

However, in the war against the Northern Army, your Western Theater was completely defeated, not only did you lose territory in the north, but New Orleans in the south was easily occupied by the Marines of the Northern Army. And as far as I know, the courage of the New Orleans to surrender with little resistance to the naval forces of the Northern Army is truly admirable. ”

After saying an inexplicable sarcasm, Gao Junjie continued: "Everyone knows what happened after that, the city changed its camp again and became the territory of the United States, and it was precisely at this time that our expeditionary force came here to represent the will of the Chinese Empire to wage war against the Federation Army, and the first target was New Orleans!"

In other words, the city of New Orleans, whoever it used to be, was the land of the United States of America at the time of our landing, our enemy. So after we conquered the city, it rightfully became our spoils of war.

Of course, because we were still at war with the government of the United States of the North, according to the general logic, that is, the ownership of the land conquered by each other was not completely determined, so New Orleans at the time of the war could not be considered ours, at least not legally, so we did not ask for much from New Orleans at that time.

But when we formally signed a negotiating agreement with the Government of the United States of America. The two sides confirmed each other's rights and interests, such as this New Orleans, and we got the official confirmation of the United States government, which clearly stipulated that it would be owned by our Eastern Bloc and become our Eastern Bloc concessions.

According to the general principle, at this time, we can reasonably and legally declare our ownership of New Orleans in accordance with the content of the treaty, and at this point. We think we are polite and forceful, and there is not the slightest bit of controversy, so on this issue. Your demands are quite unreasonable and ridiculous. ”

"You guys are just a strong word!" Alexander. Stephens finally couldn't hold back, and immediately retorted, "Anyway. New Orleans is a city in our Confederate State, and it cannot be said that it was once forcibly occupied by the Yankees by force, and it became theirs. It's just forced submission, and you can't say that the city is really theirs.

What's more, we and the Yankees have always been in a state of war, and when the war is not over, everything is unknown, that is, the ownership of the city cannot be confirmed as the other party's because it has been occupied by the other side for a while, which is itself a disputed territory.

Since New Orleans is a disputed land, and our Union government has never given up its sovereignty over the city, the true ownership of the city of New Orleans is not clear, at least until the war is over and all rights and interests of everyone are officially determined, the government of the United States of the North has no right to privately decide the ownership of the disputed city of New Orleans!

Therefore, the contract you signed with the government of the United States of the North, that is, the contract under which the government of the United States agreed to assign New Orleans to you as a concession, is illegal and invalid, and your use of this illegal and invalid agreement to determine the ownership of New Orleans is obviously not legally valid, and it is impossible for it to be recognized by the international side! ”

As soon as the words ended, the negotiators belonging to the side of the Allied States all applauded in unison, and they were all using this way to serve Alexander. Vice President Stephens' rhetoric just now was also to put pressure on the other side.

On the other hand, on the side of the Eastern Expeditionary Force, because the other party spoke too quickly, it was not digested for a while, so there was a short period of silence, coupled with the collective applause of the other party's personnel, which made it even more unreasonable and morale slightly low.

I have to say, Alexander. Stephens's words just now are indeed good, he seized on a loophole in Gao Junjie's own words, that is, the uncertainty of ownership in a state of war, and overturned the legitimacy of the United States of America's ownership of New Orleans on the grounds that the Southern Union government and the Northern federal government to which he belonged still did not stop the war.

In other words, Alexander. In the exchange of words just now, Stephens did not directly rebuke the Chinese expeditionary force, nor did he directly attack the expeditionary force, but attacked the other party of the two sides of the contract, that is, the United States of America, in order to question the legitimacy of the United States of America's ownership of New Orleans, and fundamentally overturned the concession treaty signed between the United States and the expeditionary force.

This logic is quite deadly, because once this concession treaty is legally invalid, it means that what the Eastern Expeditionary Force is doing now is wrong and illegal, and it will make the Eastern Expeditionary Force lose its legal support.

Moreover, the best thing is that this statement also avoids directly tearing the face with the Chinese expeditionary force, after all, the main attack is the United States of America, which can also be said to be the United States of America deceived the Eastern Expeditionary Force, so it is not the fault of the expeditionary force, you are also deceived, the real bad guy is the United States of America!

Or else, Alexander. After all, Stephens has been a lawyer, and in terms of eloquence and exploiting loopholes, he is definitely a professional, and in this regard, Gao Junjie, who was originally just a sailor, is far behind, although he has a strong sense of self-motivation, but after all, the foundation is too thin, at least in terms of lip service, it is definitely not Alexander. Stephens' opponent.

Gao Junjie's strength at the banquet before, it was just because of Alexander. Stephens didn't prepare, and he didn't understand the Chinese banquet tradition, and Gao Junjie attacked suddenly, so he broke up unhappily.

However, after an afternoon and a night of preparation, after the two sides started formal negotiations again, Gao Junjie was a little out of excuses, and he was obviously not the opponent of this group of professional envoys of the alliance powers.

What is even more embarrassing is that the current negotiations have been dominated by the Allied side, and the expeditionary force does not know how to deal with it for a while, which makes the morale of the other side higher and higher.

Then, in this unfavorable situation, it is impossible for Gao Junjie to put forward his own requirements again, even if he forcibly changes the topic, it will inevitably give people a posture of being reasonable and showing weakness, and he will have no confidence when he speaks, so it is naturally difficult to get the desired result.

Obviously, many Chinese delegates thought of this, so some people quietly advised Gao Junjie that it was better to suspend the meeting and postpone it for a while, because according to the art of war, this is called a delaying tactic.

However, although Gao Junjie reacted a little slowly, he was actually a stubborn person in his bones, otherwise, he would not have come to this point.

Therefore, he was still a little hesitant and entangled, entangled in how to deal with the other party's words, and solved the problem of the legitimacy of this treaty, but after the persuasion of his own people, he came back to his senses.

Gao Junjie suddenly thought, yes, why did he tell them so many truths? After all, this is not a matter of reasoning, but a matter of fists!

Therefore, since it doesn't make sense in theory, just follow the example of your former compatriots, the British, and when there is no reason to talk about it, you will play scoundrels and move your fists!

Bang!

Gao Junjie suddenly slammed his fist on the table, stopping the collective applause on the other side, and after everyone looked at him again, he raised his chin and puffed out his chest, just like the British officers he had seen before, showing his arrogance to the fullest.

"I don't care if it's legal or not." Gao Junjie said slowly, "I only know that New Orleans was fought independently by our expeditionary force, so it is naturally our trophy!"

There are only two ways to get our booty back, first, for you to retake it by force, and second, for us to reward you with great mercy. Apart from these two methods, there is no third way to get the city.

Obviously, we don't want to be merciful and give you the spoils of New Orleans, so you can either fight with us and see who is better in the end, or we can convince us again that if the conditions are good enough, maybe we will give you this city. ”

"You!" Alexander. Stephens was stunned for a moment, and then he became furious, "You are unreasonable! ”

"Yes, I'm not being reasonable!" Gao Junjie's eyes widened, "The French Emperor Napoleon said that the truth is only within the range of the cannon!" Therefore, if you want to reason with us, you have to see if you have that strength!

In short, New Orleans is our city, there is no doubt about it, and whoever wants to question it has to go to war!

So, put away your reasoning, in today's situation, you only have two ways, either completely agree with our conditions, everyone is still good friends, or you just can't talk, everyone goes back to fight with their strength, and whoever wins in the end will listen to whom! How's it about a winner-takes-all? (To be continued......)