The Borneo story may not be effective until a year from now, but there is one problem looming.

Shandong issue.

After the outbreak of World War I, on August 15, 1914, Japan voluntarily joined the Entente to declare war on Germany under the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.

On September 18, 1914, the Japanese-British forces began to attack Qingdao. At the same time, the Japanese army ignored China's status as a neutral country at that time, and in addition to occupying Jiaozhou Bay, it also occupied the entire line of the Jiaoji Railway.

At that time, Yuan Shikai's Beiyang government protested to Japan and demanded that the Japanese army retreat. But Japan ignored it.

Also last year, the Beiyang government declared war on Germany and joined the Entente.

After that, the Beiyang government once again demanded that the Japanese withdraw their troops, but the Japanese still did not leave.

This is also a mistake.

In order to fight the Germans, the British and the French ignored the Beiyang government, which had not yet entered the war, and signed secret treaties with Japan one after another. According to the terms of the secret treaty, the Japanese would receive the rights of the Germans in Shandong after the war.

The British favored the French in order to let the Japanese taste the sweetness first, and then support Britain and France in the war against Germany in Europe.

However, they did not expect that the Japanese would not be fooled, and there would be no further measures after taking Shandong, not only did they not send a single soldier to Europe, but they took advantage of the fact that Britain and France could not get out of the whirlpool of war in Europe, and while selling things to Europe at high prices to make money, they wantonly seized the market of the Beiyang government.

You must know that the Beiyang government has one-fifth of the world's population, and such a giant market, even the whole of Africa cannot catch up with the industrial products that can be consumed. Otherwise, even if Europe has the resources of Africa, you can't sell what you produce, just like nothing.

The "honest and reliable" Beiyang government, which corresponds to the despicable and shameless Japanese, has had tens of thousands of troops in Europe since it declared war on Germany last year, and it has also made great contributions.

This put the British and the French in an extremely awkward position.

If you have merit, you must be rewarded, and even if you can't punish it, you can't help it. However, the secret treaty signed between the British and the French and the Japanese was laid out in black and white, and how to choose between them became a problem that Clemenceau had to face.

"Qin, I understand your anger, but I need time." Facing Qin Zhiyuan, Clemenceau spread out his hands and responded helplessly.

Clemenceau and Qin Zhiyuan are located in the Bordeaux city government, because the French government has moved to Bordeaux, and Clemenceau, as prime minister, will also work here.

Just half an hour earlier, Qin Zhiyuan had just accepted the rank of lieutenant general from Clemenceau and had reached a consensus on the expansion of the First Division of the Foreign Legion into four divisions.

From this meeting time, we can see the advantages of some people in the DPRK and China, you must know that Qin Zhiyuan met with President Raymond Poincaré twice, and the total time did not exceed half an hour. As for the three prime ministers after Qin Zhiyuan's arrival in France, Aristide Briand, Alexandre Ribault, and Paul Panlewe, Qin Zhiyuan did not get the opportunity to meet at all.

Well, the three prime ministers, it sounds like Qin Zhiyuan has been in France for more than ten years, but in fact it has only been more than half a year......

That's a mess!

"George, I'm so angry, I can't understand why a child who is opportunistic and cranky is rewarded. Why should honest, hard-working, hard-working children be humiliated? "Qin Zhiyuan is righteous and awe-inspiring.

Clemenceau was worried, rubbing his temples and pinching his eyebrows, accompanied by the action of patting his head from time to time. In fact, he is not to blame for this kind of upside down, his predecessor made a mistake, and now he is asking him to bear the blame.

But no one else is to blame, since Clemenceau is prime minister, he means that he will recognize all the agreements signed by his predecessor, otherwise France's national credibility will be lost.

"Qin, believe me, I will come up with a way, maybe half a year, maybe nine months, Shandong will definitely return it to the Beiyang government." Clemenceau was sincere.

This is not that Clemenceau is using the Dafa of delay, and when facing Qin Zhiyuan, Clemenceau will not shirk. Qin Zhiyuan is a general who is fighting on the front line, and his troops are now almost the most combat-effective troops in France.

France could not afford that kind of consequence, Clemenceau knew it well.

"Of course I believe you, Your Excellency the Prime Minister......" Qin Zhiyuan still wanted to add to the fire.

"Call me George, Qin, and I won't forget those nights in Dafuwei." Clemenceau orthodox.

At night, it sounded dirty, but Qin Zhiyuan understood what Clemenceau meant.

"Okay, George, I believe in you." Qin Zhiyuan understood Clemenceau's distress.

The elected government has never been decided by one person, even if Clemenceau wants to help Qin Zhiyuan, without the approval of the parliament, Clemenceau can do nothing.

As Clemenceau said, he needed time to convince Parliament, time to reconcile the interests of all parties, time to bring France back together.

In fact, the above is the job of the French prime minister, and as for governing the locality, it is not within the scope of the prime minister's authority.

As prime minister, Clemenceau has no right to interfere in the operation of the city government of Paris, and the decision of the city of Paris to build a Paris government elected by the citizens of Paris, as for a remote area like Corsica, there is no even control of the parliament, because there are no representatives from Corsica in the French parliament.

The prime minister is actually quite aggrieved.

It was precisely because of the grievances that Clemenceau gradually became tougher and was eventually ostracized by the mainstream French society.

That is an afterthought, and now Clemenceau is the much-anticipated savior of France.

Qin Zhiyuan is also looking forward to it.

"There's good news, I have to inform you personally." Clemenceau got up solemnly, walked around the desk and stood opposite Qin Zhiyuan: "In order to thank the Chinese for their meritorious service to France, the parliament collectively passed a resolution yesterday, deciding to give up the remaining amount of the indemnity owed by the Beiyang government to France Gengzi from now on. ”

"Gengzi indemnity", this is an eternal pain in the hearts of the Chinese people.

In 1900, because of the Boxer Rebellion that year, which led to the invasion of China by the Eight-Nation Alliance, the Qing government at that time was forced to sign the "Xinchou Treaty", which stipulated that the Qing Empire would compensate all countries with 450 million taels of silver, to be repaid in 39 years, with a total of 980 million taels of silver.

Why 450 million?

Because at that time, the Qing Empire had 450 million people, one or two per person......

Beginning in 1900, Gengzi indemnity was paid year by year. Among them, from 1909 onwards, the Americans returned part of the principal and interest of the amortized surplus as a study fund in the United States.

After the establishment of the Republic of China, in order to obtain the recognition of Western countries, the government of the Republic of China announced that it would inherit all the treaties signed by the Qing Empire, and the Gengzi indemnity continued to be paid.

Qin Zhiyuan's birth finally changed this status quo, and Clemenceau may not be able to force Japan to return Shandong to the Republic of China now, but he also expressed his gratitude to the Republic of China in his own way.

You know, half of France has been reduced to rubble, and now they are in need of money.

Therefore, Qin Zhiyuan's thanks seemed sincere: "Thank you, George, thank you......"

Qin Zhiyuan gave George Clemenceau a big hug.

(To be continued.) )