Chapter 81 The Question of the Concession and the Russian Decision
On the evening of the signing of the treaty between China and Britain, the envoys of various countries in China sent the detailed process back to China by telegram, and then they waited for the news from China before acting.
When all countries learned that the British concession in China had been reclaimed by the Chinese people, they were worried that their own concessions would be recovered, and the repossession of the British concession was a signal from the Chinese government, indicating that the Chinese government would take back these concessions in the near future.
In 1912, there were 24 concessions in China, including six in the British: Tianjin, Hankou, Guangzhou, Jiujiang, Xiamen, Zhenjiang, and Shanghai. Five places in Japan: Tianjin, Hankou, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Chongqing Japanese Concession; Four places in France: Shanghai, Tianjin, Hankow, Guangzhou French Concession; two in Germany: Tianjin and Hankou German Concessions; two places in Russia: Tianjin and Hankou Russian Concessions; Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Belgium each had a concession in Tianjin, as well as the Shanghai Public Concession (formed by the merger of the British and American Concessions) and the Gulangyu Public Concession (composed of Britain, the United States, Germany, France, Spain, Japan, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway).
Now that Huaxia has recovered the six concessions of the British, and the remaining twenty concessions of various countries, Qin Yu asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to try to solve the concessions of Belgium, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, and if it is really not possible, he will take back these concessions strongly, as for the remaining Qin Yu does not want to take it back, except for Germany, Qin Yu will let them return ten times in the future, and it is not easy to make too many enemies in China now, but Belgium, a small country and Austria-Hungary, must be recovered. He also asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to contact Portugal and ask Portugal to return Macao to China, but he didn't care about Portugal at all.
Soon the Belgian diplomatic ambassador to China was summoned by the Huaxia Foreign Ministry, which directly told the Belgian ambassador that it would take back the Belgian concession in Tianjin and ask Belgium to move out within 10 days. The Belgian ambassador immediately sent a telegram back to the country to make up his mind, and the Belgian government quickly decided to return the Tianjin concession to Huaxia, who had even defeated the British, and they were even less able to confront Huaxia.
The next day, Belgium approached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Huaxia and said that it would return the Tianjin concession to Huaxia, and that it would move to the concession in a few days, and the two countries would sign an agreement on the return of the concession.
Just when the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was busy fighting with the ambassadors of Italy and Austria-Hungary, the German ambassador Hanmi came to the Chinese government to say that Germany was willing to unconditionally return the concession to China.
In the end, Italy and Austria-Hungary also quickly returned the concession to China at the suggestion of Germany, but China also paid for this advanced grenade drawings - the later French F-1M1915 to the two countries.
U.S. Ambassador Methody approached the Chinese government and said that he would withdraw from the Shanghai Public Concession and return the Shanghai Concession, and that China and the United States would deepen exchanges. The United States returned the Shanghai Public Concession in exchange for Huaxia's favor, and they would not lose anything, and they knew that Huaxia would have to take back the concession sooner or later, so why not be a good person.
Less than 10 days after the signing of the treaty between China and Britain, Huaxia recovered the concessions of Germany, the United States, Italy, and Austria in China, and now Japan, Russia, and France are left with the three countries that have not returned the concessions, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is communicating with the Portuguese governor in Macao, but the governor of Macao actually refuses Huaxia's request. Macao has been occupied by Portugal for 300 years, the governor of Macao still thought that he could be independent as before, Huaxia directly transferred the army from Guangdong to surround Macao, the governor of Macao immediately telegraphed to the country, Portugal wanted Britain to ask for help, but Britain did not like it at all, so Portugal had no choice but to withdraw from Macao and return it to China.
Huaxia Daily has been focusing on the issue of reclaiming the concession lately, and the newspaper is selling out every day, and after this series of exclusive reports, it has been widely recognized. As the mouthpiece of the Huaxia government, Huaxia Daily has directly thrown other newspapers a few streets away, and Huaxia Daily has become a must-read newspaper for the vast majority of the Chinese people every day, and the Huaxia government has finally begun to pay attention to public opinion.
At the time when Huaxia took back the concession, the French government had been arguing, arguing about not returning the French concession in China, and French President Clement Armand Fallier thought that it would be better to return the concession to China first, because the concession would still be able to safeguard France's interests in China, and Russia also sent a telegram to him saying that as an Entente country, he should advance and retreat together, so he still thought it was better to be with Russia.
French Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Raymond Poincaré believes that it is necessary to have a good relationship with China, and that a good relationship with China can ensure the security of the Annam region, and that the concession can be exchanged for tanks and new warships, but the British only said that they could not sell it and did not say that they could not be exchanged, and more importantly, their natural enemy Germany actually returned the concession, and it was inevitable that there would be no shady deals, and he felt that Germany was very likely to have obtained those drawings, and if so, Germany would be ahead of them. As soon as war broke out, France would lose its advantage.
The difference of opinion between the two sides made the atmosphere tense, but soon Raymond Poincaré overpowered the president with the support of the militants, and Fallier was reluctantly persuaded.
The French ambassador in China, Pegue, soon received a telegram from China, but by this time Huaxia had already taken back Macao, and Peg waited for a day to see that the people from Huaxia did not come to him, so he went to negotiate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Huaxia.
In the end, Huaxia and France reached an agreement, Huaxia exchanged tank drawings for the concession, and promised not to invade Annam, France and Huaxia established new diplomatic relations, and France recognized the Huaxia government as the only legitimate government of Huaxia.
At this time in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Tsar Nicholas II was discussing with the ministers the vigorous issue of recovering the concession in China, and they did not know whether Huaxia would recover the Russian concession.
"Hmph, damn yellow monkey, didn't you just defeat the British garbage, even France returned the concession, I'm really angry, the French are really unreliable, you tell me about the current situation." Nicholas II said with great dissatisfaction.
Parliamentary Minister Vladimir Kokvtsev thought for a while and said: "France's strength in the Far East is already very weak, even inferior to Britain, they are afraid that China will threaten the Annam region, and it may be for the advanced warship drawings of Huaxia, otherwise the arrogant Gallic chicken will not return the concession like this, as for the rest should be for the purpose of entering the big market of China in the future, after all, the current situation in China has disrupted the distribution of interests of various countries in China, and the interests of all countries in China will be reshuffled." ”
After the Minister of Parliament finished speaking, Rasputin could not wait to say: "I think we should keep these concessions alive, so that we can better protect the interests of the Imperial merchants in China, who have added a lot of taxes to the Empire." Rasputin was trusted by the Empress and favored by Nicholas II to speak here, and before entering the palace to discuss it, some merchants approached him in the hope that he would keep the Chinese concession.
"Your Majesty, now the Chinese army not only has airships but also that kind of powerful tanks, and the British army is losing to those weapons, and I hope to be able to get these weapons. Looking at the situation these days, Germany and France and other countries must have obtained the drawings of these weapons, so please exchange the concession for these drawings, otherwise our country's strength will be pulled apart, and now that the army in China is already very strong, I will replace the weapons and equipment of the Far Eastern Military District. War Minister General Sukhomlinov said in a pleading tone.
Admiral Grigrovich also said at this time: "The navy is too weak now, since the death of the Pacific Fleet, the empire's navy in the Far East has been very weak, and the warships under construction by the navy are not at all comparable to the new warships in China, so I also agree with exchanging the concession for the blueprints." ”
"Now the relationship between the empire and Huaxia is not very good, we occupy Outer Mongolia Huaxia will definitely not give us a good face, I'm afraid they don't want to, I dare to say that in the future, Huaxia will go to war with the empire for the sake of Outer Mongolia." This was stated by the Minister of Parliament Vladimir Kokvtsev.
"The warships of China are only a little more advanced, Britain has already obtained those drawings, just go to Britain to ask for it, now that the railway in the Far East has been basically completed, if the weak yellow monkeys dare to do it, they will be knocked down, I want them to know the strength of the empire." The indispensable Tao of Nicholas II.
Sukhomlinov said very carefully: "Your Majesty, if we fight with China, it will definitely be Japan that will benefit, once we can't quickly solve China, Japan is likely to occupy the whole of Manchuria, so we can't start a war lightly, I think it is better to return the concession and ease relations with China, and now the atmosphere in the Balkans is too tense, and a little carelessness will cause a big war, so we should ease up Huaxia, and wait for the Balkan affairs to pass and then pay more attention to the Far East." ”
"Damn the Japanese, it's enough to defeat them last time, I must give it a good color in the future, I want to expand the army, transfer 500,000 troops to the Far East, and the long-term garrison in the Far East will not be less than 500,000 in the future, so that I can not only threaten Huaxia but also suppress those damned dwarves. As for the Balkans, this is a big problem, the current Allies are too arrogant, and Europe is still our center. Nicholas II was very angry, he held a grudge against the previous "Otsu Incident", and he also believed that the "Bloody Sunday" during the Russo-Japanese War was secretly supported by the Japanese, for which he hated the Japanese very much.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Edward Preske, reminded at this time: "Your Majesty, the finances are very tight now, and if you recruit more soldiers, you will be unable to pay enough financials, and the construction of warships in the form previously formulated by Your Majesty is very large, and it will be a huge gap to update the weapons and equipment of the Far Eastern Army on a large scale, so please think twice." After saying that, he was covered in cold sweat, and he knew very well the character of Nicholas II, that is, good face.
Sure enough, Nicholas II roared after hearing this, "The financial revenue of the empire is getting smaller and smaller, and the tax will be increased immediately, those untouchables are too good, as for the weapons and equipment in the Far East, if they are not replaced, the expansion of the army is important, and I will pay half of the money for the expansion of the army, and I will increase the recruitment of 300,000." Leave the concession in China alone, if they want to change it, let them exchange it with drawings and recognition of the independence of Outer Mongolia, go down, I'm tired. When they heard this, they immediately dispersed.