September 2, Shanghai.

It is time for the Far Eastern Metropolis to get off work again, the children cross their schoolbags like pigeons in the wind and rush out of the school gate, the workers are tired and stretching their waists out of the workshops, and the rickshaw drivers wear uniform yellow vests to become a flowing scenery of the city.

The four-horse road, which connects the Chinese area and the public concession, is particularly lively, and many people who live in the concession but work in the Chinese area have to pass through here, taking advantage of the opportunity of many people to get off work, and the street vendors take this opportunity to shout desperately. The women haggled as they shuttled, the men sometimes stopped to pick up something to take home for their families to try, and the children after school crowded the various dim sum and candy stalls, drooling as they watched the crystal clear.

In the past three years of the Republic of China, Shanghai has experienced countless ups and downs, and since Chen Qimei led the Qing gang ruffians to shout revolutionary slogans and seize this place without blood, this largest and most prosperous city in the Far East has become the focus of world attention. The peace talks between the north and the south, the abdication of the Qing dynasty and other major events are inextricably linked here, and there are currently the largest shipyards, the largest number of textile factories and the largest number of foreign merchants in the country.

According to incomplete statistics from the United Kingdom, the total investment in Shanghai from Europe and the United States alone exceeds $1.5 billion. Although 1914 had not yet passed, the first half of the year's trade and total output exceeded 100 million US dollars, more than double that of Yokohama, Japan, which was also a national industrial city. Even the young vice president, who started in Hubei and has the status of a soldier in China and owns the largest private industry in the country, said in an interview with a French reporter that "the whole country looks at Shanghai, and Shanghai determines the Republic of China." This shows how important Shanghai's position in the Republic of China is.

Bernard stood at the window, all kinds of urban projects were under construction in the distance, sewer renovation, road widening, etc., all showed that the Republic of China government was pragmatically building the long-term goal here, which seemed to remind him of the great construction boom that broke out in Britain during the Industrial Revolution, and he had to admit that Yang Qiu had indeed brought some new atmosphere to the country, at least under his extremely strong army and gunpoint, no government officials across the country dared to stand up and point fingers.

How strong was the Kuomintang in 1911? How brilliant was Beiyang in 1912? But now it has all but disappeared. The straightforward land reform and suppression games in the eight southwestern provinces, Henan, Shaanxi and other places, as well as the northeast purge that is destined to take advantage of the war, are all bluntly telling those officials who do not cooperate that they will either be obedient or disappear completely!

"Is this land only suitable for strongman politics?"

Bernard frowned, strongman politics is not good news for Britain's Asia policy, especially since the strongman doesn't seem to like Britain. Judging from the many contacts, if it had not been for the outbreak of war, perhaps he would have preferred to throw himself into the arms of Germany rather than fight with the most powerful country in the world. There are also many reasons for this, such as Zhu Erdian's erroneous support for Yuan Shikai, the British government's connivance with Japanese aggression, and the tariffs and non-recognition policies that are still in the hands of today.

A knock at the door interrupted Bernard's train of thought, and he turned to see Jurdian, who rarely came south, and his assistant John Moen walking in. Bernard didn't like this fat guy very much, and even the parliament didn't like it, because it was his error of judgment that caused China and Germany to almost come together, and also led to the rapid entry of China and the United States, if it were not for the war, maybe the power of the British Empire in the Far East would be destroyed by all three. But considering that he had finally helped the country maintain its dominance for more than ten years, he still greeted him with a smile: "Welcome to Shanghai." ”

Zhu Erdian's expression was full of tiredness and loss, and the old man who had spent decades in China and who had been calling for wind and rain to influence the country's political course knew that his political career had come to an end. After saluting politely, he asked, "Your Excellency Bernard, I heard that you are preparing to start recognition negotiations with the government of the Republic of China?" ”

Bernard asked people to pour coffee for them, and handed over Juerdian's favorite Cuban cigar After sitting down, his face was suddenly solemn, and he touched the forehead with his hand and the corner of his mouth was bitter: "You two may have been away from Europe for too long, I might as well tell you that England is in big trouble this time!" Two weeks ago, the Germans officially stepped into the Grand Plains of France after defeating the French ** team on the Belgian border, and they were very fast, and they have now advanced to the Marne River not far from Paris, and in two weeks our country and France have lost a total of more than 400,000 soldiers! The French government has moved to Bordeaux, and they are ready to lose Paris! ”

"God!" John Moen stood up in surprise, as an active British colonel's military attache in China, he was well aware of the importance of Paris, and if Paris was lost then the war could be declared over!

Bernard still seemed to think that the news was not shocking enough, and sighed: "Our Russian allies are also in big trouble, they have lost more than 300,000 soldiers from two armies in one night at Tannenberg!" Nicholas II has sent us a plea for help, asking us to find an immediate way to stop the Sino-Japanese war so that he can withdraw the 300,000 elite troops stationed in the Far East. Whitehall also told me that they had found a large number of squadrons of standard equipment in the German army, which had unexpectedly strengthened the combat capabilities of the German and Austro-Hungarian ** teams, especially a light machine gun (submachine gun) that could fire in bursts to easily clear any trenches we had deployed. ”

"Then why negotiate with the Chinese? Fleets should be sent to strike along their coasts! Wouldn't it be better to help Japan achieve victory? John Moen was a little excited, he couldn't imagine that the situation that had been stabilized two weeks ago could take such a major turn overnight.

Bernard glanced at him, and sighed deeply in his heart, these diplomats sent by England in the Far East are really spoiled, they don't understand at all, now is not the time to punish China and learn from Japan's stupidity to open the second front, but to win over China to get the same equipment from that damn Yang Qiu, and quickly let Nicholas II withdraw 300,000 elite Far East Army, otherwise the whole of Russia may collapse!

"One more thing." Bernard didn't stop dying, took out an urgent telegram and shook it: "The German company Bayer announced two weeks ago that they have successfully copied a miracle prescription purchased from China before the war, which can solve the symptoms of inflammation and other symptoms after soldiers are injured. Whitehall intelligence has confirmed the effects of the presence of the new drug. It's a telegram from them asking us to bring back the same prescription at any cost, and even pay customs duties! ”

"No!" Zhu Erdian's fat body trembled: "Your Excellency, the tariff is an important means for our country to contain China, if we lose it, even if we win the war in the future, our goods will need to pay a great price if they want to return!" ”

"I know what you are saying, Your Excellency, but do you think what would have happened if the public became aware of the fact that the government had sacrificed thousands of soldiers who could have been saved for such a trivial tariff?

"We still have Japan. China and Japan are at war, and we can. Zhu Erdian still did not give up, but his words were quickly interrupted by Bernard reaching out: "This is the clear code telegram that I just received. ”

As soon as Zhu Erdian's finger touched the telegraph, a burst of firecrackers suddenly sounded outside the window, and the firecrackers became more and more dense, and in the blink of an eye, the whole Shanghai seemed to explode, and several naval warships on the Huangpu River also fired salutes at the same time. "What's wrong? Today is not a festival for the Chinese. John Moen walked to the window a little stupidly, and saw that the public concession and the Chinese area in the distance were already full of people, and countless people waved their arms and shouted and danced happily, and the kind of excitement and excitement that was overflowing was even more enthusiastic than the overthrow of the Manchu Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the Republic of China three years ago.

"Japan lost." Bernard got up and snuffed out the cigarette butts: "They lost more than 30,000 people in Qingdao and Shandong!" The Second Fleet also lost four capital ships. After putting on the top hat, Bernard glanced at Zhu Erdian, who was already gray on the sofa, and although he couldn't bear it, he still said: "I'm going to Nanjing, and the two of you should go back to prepare as soon as possible, and the telegram from Downing Street asking the two to return to China to report on their work may already be on the way." ”

The moment Bernard pushed the door and walked out, the newspaper slipped from Jurdian's trembling big hand, and his time was over.

"Qingdao victory!"

"Great victory in the north!"

"Long live the Republic of China, long live Commander Yang!"

Shanghai has completely fallen into a frenzy, the streets and alleys are full of people, and even ordinary people who are indifferent to the country are lured out of their homes by the sky of firecrackers and fireworks, and then chant a slogan of "no forgetting to tell the family sacrifice". Countless young people climbed high places and waved the Flying Tiger Battle Flag vigorously, the students rushed out of the classroom, and the teachers joined the cheering frenzy.

If time can stop, then the land of China at this moment has been completely boiling, millions of people who have received the news have come out of their homes and raised their arms and shouted, perhaps they only account for a small part of the total population of the country, but under the infection of their enthusiasm, the news is like wings to fly everywhere in the land of China. How many people have been bullied by their neighbors since the First Sino-Japanese War? How many times has this evil neighbor threatened the people of the country with a bayonet and a spear higher than a person, and bought the resources that originally belonged to China at a price cheaper than cabbage?

But now they are defeated!

This is not a single wing on the Motianling, nor is it a one-time coverage of the Yalu River bank in Jiuliancheng, this is a full four 10,000-ton ironclad giant ships that make the Chinese people fear, and it is a complete army division and a half, among which there is the Japanese Ninth Brigade that personally created the Lushun tragedy!

Wan Zhong Soul in the Tomb of Wan Zhong! Although Lushun has not yet been recovered today, the heads of more than 30,000 Japanese soldiers are undoubtedly the best memorial.

It's boiling, the whole country is boiling!

Amid the firecrackers and streamers, Gu Weijun, a rising star of the National Society, stepped onto the podium for the first time and officially submitted to the parliament a draft on "recovering all Japanese concessions and revoking all unequal clauses with Japan" and "imposing press control in times of national emergency" on behalf of Yang Qiu.

The latter is nothing, but the previous draft of the resumption of the concession was sent to the parliamentarians, and the entire political arena of China and even the Far East was shaken! What is a Concession? What will be the impact of the abolition of the concession? How will Britain, France and other countries with huge interests in China understand?! When the German army ravaged France and Russia with iron hooves, and when Britain, France and Russia lost a total of 700,000 soldiers in two weeks, the Far East, which was already inconspicuous in the eyes of Europe and the United States, began to take a major turn!