The secret negotiations between China and Japan led to a final agreement at the end of 1920, for which the foreign affairs of the two sides held a total of 120 large and small talks. The difficulty of the negotiations is the exchange between Taiwan and Sakhalin, and Japan needs Sakhalin oil, but it is not extremely unwilling to give up Taiwan. There is a consensus among the Japanese government and the opposition that "Taiwan is the lifeline of Japan." It should be said that this consensus is very accurate, and 90 years later, 80 percent of the ships transported by sea in Japan will go around Taiwan. Taiwan can be said to be the throat of Japan's maritime lifeline, and if it is choked, it is equivalent to choking Japan's throat.

The Chinese side adheres to the consensus reached by China, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and France, and that Sakhalin Island will be jointly administered by China and Japan. If Japan wants to gain independent control of Sakhalin, it must exchange Taiwan for it. Oil can be said to be the blood of Japan, and the Chinese government, which is also "lacking" in oil, naturally wants to show enough toughness.

The negotiations thus reached a stalemate, which lasted for six full months, and finally, lured by oil, the Japanese government offered to return Taiwan, but to take de facto control of Sakhalin Island and about 200,000 square kilometers of the Far Eastern coastline. During the negotiations, Britain and the United States intervened, and Britain proposed that Japan return Taiwan and that China should not garrison troops as a free trade area. The United States agrees with this plan as a complement to Japan. In the eyes of the outside world, under pressure from Britain and the United States, an agreement was finally reached between China and Japan.

On the eve of New Year's Day in 1921, under the supervision of the British and American governments, China and Japan signed an agreement. Japan was granted trusteeship of 200,000 square kilometers of Sakhalin Island and the Far Eastern coast. According to this agreement, the Twin Cities sub-fortress will be included in the scope of the Japanese trusteeship. This is a point that the Japanese Government insisted on during the negotiations, and under the mediation of Britain and the United States, the Chinese Government made concessions. Frankly speaking, without the Twin Cities Fortress, the Japanese government would not have reassured the so-called Far Eastern Trusteeship. Even with the Twin Cities Fortress. It's just a psychological comfort.

After facilitating the Sino-Japanese agreement, Britain and the United States could not wait to propose the negotiation of a naval treaty. The Washington Naval Treaty in history finally came to light under the impetus of the Americans.

China has never been a naval power, so it does not care about this treaty, and the US government advocates that the tonnage of the Chinese and Japanese navies should be maintained in a considerable number, but the Japanese government firmly opposes this. The British, on the other hand, supported Japan's views, which aroused strong dissatisfaction from the Chinese government, and after being reported in the newspapers, triggered a continuous anti-British wave in the country in the first half of 1921. The Chinese government in the negotiation of a naval treaty. He changed his original intention and took a tough attitude to demand the same status as Japan, otherwise he would not join the Washington Naval Treaty, and Foreign Minister Gu Weijun even threatened to withdraw from the League of Nations at the League of Nations Congress.

The United States is happy to see China's withdrawal from the League of Nations as a threat. Britain, of course, could not accept it. At the same time, it is not acceptable that the tonnage of the Chinese and Japanese navies will be the same. So we continued to negotiate and continue to negotiate.

The navy is the lifeblood of Japan, and the navy of the Republic of China is not so important in comparison, and the shipbuilding industry of the Republic of China is relatively backward. It is for these reasons that the negotiations have been able to continue. The negotiations dragged on for more than a year, and finally history returned to square one, February 6, 1922. During the Washington Conference, Britain, the United States, France, Japan, Italy, and China agreed to limit the naval competition. The Washington Naval Treaty was jointly signed, in accordance with the provisions of the treaty. The tonnage ratio of the capital ships of the six countries is 5:5:3:2:175:175. According to the treaty, China can have 200,000 tons of capital ships and 80,000 tons of aircraft carriers.

This capital ship cannot exceed 200,000 tons, which is the bottom line of Japan. on this. In the tonnage of aircraft carriers, the day did not insist. Britain and the United States acquiesced in Japan's attitude on the issue of capital ships. On the issue of aircraft carriers, China was chosen to support it.

All in all, it was a balancing event, and under the vigorous impetus of the United States, and in the face of Britain's growing weakness and inability to maintain it, the United States obtained the same maritime status as Britain through the naval agreement, and at the same time pulled out a Chinese navy against Britain's ally, Japan. According to the agreement, the United States cannot sell more than 30,000 tons of capital ships to China, which is obviously difficult for the United States and China. With the acquiescence of the U.S. government, some "outdated" technologies came to China through non-governmental channels. These are all for later, and in any case, the era of "naval holiday" in history has come.

The most important event that affected the world in 1921 was the Siberian counterattack launched by the Soviet government, in which the Soviet Union mobilized the strength of the whole country to counterattack, gathering 500,000 troops, more than 2,000 artillery pieces, and 300 combat vehicles at one time. The battle began on May 1, 1921, and in the face of a powerful Soviet offensive, the Omsk defensive line of the White Russian government held out for only three days. The entire counterattack lasted forty-five days. On June 15, Kolchak retreated to Irkutsk with the remnants of about 5,000 men, and the Chinese government immediately sent the situation to the audience. In August 1921, Kolchak formed a government-in-exile in the United States.

During the Soviet campaign, the Chinese government symbolically sent an army of about 50,000 men (one infantry corps and three Korean infantry divisions) west through Ili into Almaty. Along the way, the Soviet troops retreated without a fight, without resistance, as if on a march. After entering Almaty, the squadron refused to work as hard as last time, no matter how the British and Americans called.

After the fall of Omsk, U.S. Minister Reyns urgently asked to see Fang Jianxiong, and the answer he received was that "China cannot fight Moscow, there is no need for this, and there is no ability to do so." Judging by the Battle of Omsk, the White Russian government has no value to save. The U.S. government can send troops to Siberia, and the Chinese government is willing to provide the necessary help. ”

At a critical time in the naval negotiations in Washington, the United States betrayed China's interests in the tonnage of capital ships, and this answer was interpreted by some US politicians as a way for the Chinese government to respond to the US government's betrayal of its allies. In particular, this tone was widely recognized in the United States, and US President Harding was criticized for it, and many members of the US Congress openly criticized Harding for compromising with Japan during the negotiations on the Washington Naval Agreement. Some American economists wrote a lot in the newspapers, saying that in the first quarter of 1921, the market share of US products (including enterprises in China) in China was drastically reduced, down 15 percent from the same period in history, and the export of US agricultural products to China was hit hard, with less than $20 million, a record low since 1914. As a result, concerns were expressed about the future of Sino-US relations. During the Washington Conference, some American farmers marched in the streets to protest against the US Government's compromise with Japan and to instruct the Chinese Government to drastically reduce imports of US agricultural products.

Time flies, and the history of a different time and space comes to 1923.

Shenyang, since the opening of the Republic of China, to Fengtian to return to the name of Shenyang, in just a few years, Shenyang with its special geographical location and convenient conditions, quickly jumped to the domestic large industrial city. The three core theories of the Northeast China, the Yangtze River Basin, and the Pearl River Basin, which were established at the beginning of the Republican Party's administration, have been fully demonstrated in the past five years.

In 1918, the Republican Party won the general election, and during the second period of government, Shenyang took over the banner of industrial development in Northeast China. Tang Hualong shouted the slogan of "developing the Northeast, building the Northeast" at the cabinet meeting, and with the full development of Sino-German non-governmental cooperation in 1920, more than 50 wholly-owned and joint ventures were born in Shenyang in one go.

On the first day of 1923, the Shenyang Locomotive Depot was draped in red and hung with colors inside and outside, and there was a festive atmosphere. After returning from the war in Europe, Liaoning Governor Zhang Zuolin, who left the military to join politics, was waiting patiently in the lobby of the heavily guarded Shenyang Hotel. Along with Zhang Zuolin, there is his brother Zhang Zuoxiang. After the European country, Zhang Zuoxiang left the military and political circles and turned to the business circles, and the Shenyang Locomotive Factory was the product of the partnership of a group of former Fengjun brothers headed by Zhang Zuoxiang.

Today is a very special day for these old people of Fengjun. After three years of construction, from the initial introduction of German technology to the Germans led the production of locomotives, to today, all the locomotives independently produced by Shenyang Locomotive Factory officially rolled off the assembly line. It can be said that this marks a new record in the field of locomotives in China.

When he left the military circles and retreated bravely, it was the result of Zhang Zuolin's leadership. The reason is very simple, these generals of the Fengjun army headed by Zhang Zuolin are too poor in their own lives, and they cannot keep up with the pace of modernization of the national defense forces. Zhang Zuolin, who has experienced the war in Europe, feels this more deeply. So after returning home, he took the initiative to choose to leave the army. After retiring, Zhang Zuolin started a business, first opened an agricultural machinery company in Northeast China, cooperated with Wuhu, and produced agricultural tricycles in Northeast China on the spot, and recovered his investment that year. During the Sino-German private capital cooperation, Zhang Zuolin seized the opportunity to introduce German locomotive technology, and pulled a group of old brothers to establish Shenyang Locomotive Factory. In January 1922, the first joint venture locomotive rolled off the assembly line, and in the same year, Zhang Zuolin actively participated in the provincial elections, and won the election and became the new governor of Liaoning Province.

After participating in politics, Zhang Zuolin gave up his identity as a businessman, at least superficially and completely separated from the enterprise. Therefore, the enterprises are all under the name of the old brothers and their sons.

I am here today to specifically ask Fang Jianxiong, chairman of the Civil Affairs Committee, to attend the ceremony of the official launch of the Youlong No. 1 locomotive at the Shenyang Locomotive Factory. In fact, Fang Jianxiong passed through Shenyang, and the purpose of this trip was Daqing in Heilongjiang.

In the past few years, the biggest feature of Northeast China is the development of heavy industry, and domestic industrial giants Eurasia Group and North Industries Group have successively invested in Northeast China. Therefore, it has triggered a wave of investment in the private industry in Northeast China, in which the gentry in the Northeast are not willing to be lonely in this investment boom, and have taken out coffins to seize the surrounding supporting industries of large enterprises. Enterprises like Shenyang Brothers Locomotive Factory are undoubtedly the best among them. The railway industry of the Republic of China has developed rapidly, and Shenyang Brothers Locomotive Factory has produced a total of 30 locomotives since the joint venture was put into operation, all of which are national orders.