A gunshot rang out in Sarajevo, stirring up a terrible wave.

All the diplomats in China, except for Japan, no one cares about the war in the Far East at this moment, and in their minds Europe is the center of the white world! The Japanese army also shrank early after breaking through Gaizhou, and countless pairs of red eyes in the Tokyo base camp shouted "God bless" while fighting at night, feverishly lying on the map to depict carefully, and there was a great posture of expanding a battle for the northeast into a battle to lay the foundation for North China and even the Far East in the next 100 years.

Aoki Nobujun and several other officers even rushed directly into the Capitol and shouted: "Resolutely! It is necessary to completely defeat Shina through a decisive action and win the national fortune of the Great Japanese Empire for a hundred years! Although he was eventually taken away and held by the police for two days, he received heroic applause when he returned to the War Department. Unlike Japan, Chinese newspapers and bigwigs who had previously shouted for an alliance with Germany have come forward to say that the country is weak and unable to take a long-term view, and should not participate in European affairs, but should devote the whole country to defeat Japan, which has wolf ambitions, and recover the country to achieve complete peace in the north. At the same time, the National Assembly also passed a bill to add 15 infantry divisions to the army, and in order to raise more military spending, the Hubei and Chongqing industrial groups, which had just earned a huge amount of technology transfer fees, bought $10 million in treasury bonds at a time, and the National Society also called on all party members to donate money to buy urgently needed medicines and equipment for the front.

It was under this external circumstance that Yang Qiu returned to Beijing, and because the Japanese army proposed to revise the plan in the face of "surprise", the navy simply went to hunt down Chen Shaokuan, who had fled back to Qingdao to join the support ship and disappeared into the vast sea again, so that the Beijing-Feng Railway had not been cut off so far. But when he entered the room on the front foot, his old friend, U.S. Counselor to China Hanger (the previous chapter 310 was corrected for a mistake, apologize), followed suit.

Cai Gongshi has been in the telegraph room almost all the time in the past few days, so Jiang Baili temporarily became a secretary and hostess, making a cup of instant coffee for Hangel. Compared with diplomats from Britain, France, Germany and other countries, although Hanger is also worried about Europe, he is obviously more interested in instant coffee, and after studying it carefully, he picked up the cup and sniffed it, and praised: "Dear Yang? How the hell did you come up with it? Although the taste is a little worse than freshly grinded, it is very convenient, and I think it will be very profitable. ”

"It's not that it will, but it's already making money." Yang Qiu generously announced that instant coffee was invented by himself, and his mood in the past few days is indescribably beautiful, and he said with a smile: "Britain, France and Italy have ordered 1,000 tons each, and I believe there will be more and more." ”

Hanger blinked deliberately: "1000 tons? Oh, God! Yang, you've made a fortune. After the outbreak of the war in Europe, it will directly become a munitions supply, that is, at least tens of thousands of tons of supply per year. ”

"yes, but unfortunately I didn't know much about it at the time, so I sold a lot of shares to Brazilians." Hearing what he said, Yang Qiu pretended to sigh and pretended not to believe it, and asked, "Your Excellency Hangel, I am not very familiar with the situation in Europe, could you please tell me the truth, will war really break out?" ”

Hanger did not doubt Yang Qiu's words, it was difficult for Orientals who had never left the country in the Far East to understand the real Europe, and even if they had staff officers, they might not be able to grasp it in detail. While the United States is far away from the Atlantic to ensure that it does not get involved in the dispute, he remains concerned about the situation in Europe, saying: "It's very complicated. What I can tell you is that diplomatic efforts are underway, but the effect is probably very limited, and Germany has been preparing for this for many years, and they have long hoped to fight for a place under the sun through an honorable and short war, so we can only wait quietly. ”

Yang Qiu didn't speak, his fingers tapped rhythmically on the table. Hanger didn't bother him with his coffee, he thought that this young man who was really in charge of China was thinking about whether to continue the Sino-German alliance, in fact he came here today and was ready, if he chose to continue the alliance, then the United States would undoubtedly give up, because the United States did not want to get involved in the war in Europe.

So he came, it seemed that the casual conversation was actually to test the tone of this young man, dealing with smart people was actually very simple, he believed that Yang Qiu also understood the purpose of his coming here, and was thinking. But in fact, Yang Qiu's actions were just acting, and he had been thinking about this day for three years, but he didn't want Hangel to see that he had been prepared, so he deliberately put on this expression.

Jiang Baili sat next to him, his fingers hooking the corners of his hat and bending down. In the past few days, he has been completely conquered by the "prophecy", since he can calculate the European war so early, how can he not be prepared?

After a while, Yang Qiu put away his fingers and picked up the coffee, and after blowing away the hot air from the cup, his eyebrows twisted: "Your Excellency Hangel, can you do me a favor?" ”

"It's an honor to work for you."

In Hangel's polite tone, Yang Qiu put down the coffee that he hadn't taken a sip of: "I don't want to get involved in European affairs, and the same is true for my country, in fact, if Japan doesn't take away the little emperor, I don't want to go to war, so I hope you can convey my meaning to Britain on my behalf, China and Britain have had good cooperation since the Qing Dynasty, so I don't want the two countries to clash at this time, and of course I don't like the European war to break out on my territory." I'd also like to ask you to get in touch with Japan. ”

Hangel's eyes lit up, in his opinion, Yang Qiu already had the idea of ending the war, being a mediator in international affairs is the favorite thing of the US government, isn't the Russo-Japanese War also mediated by the United States? So he immediately leaned forward and asked, "Does Your Excellency Vice President want to end the war?" ”

"My condition is to return Taiwan, Ryukyu and Kwantung Prefecture, and hand over the Manchurian army to compensate our country for the loss of 100 million US dollars."

It may not be difficult to hand over the Manchurian army, but it is a bit tricky to return the three major regions, and it is impossible to talk about 100 million US dollars, even if the army is defeated, as long as the Chinese navy cannot carry out a cross-ocean landing, Japan is not a real defeat. Moreover, when Taiwan and the Ryukyus are isolated in the open sea and cannot be threatened at all, this kind of offer can only be fishing for the moon in the water. So he frowned and said, "With all due respect, I am very willing to grant your wishes, but do you think these conditions are realistic?" ”

Yang Qiu didn't answer, took a sip of coffee, and quipped: "Don't Americans like to bargain when they talk about business?" ”

Hanger laughed, got up and said, "Your Excellency, please rest assured, I will convey your goodwill to the British and Japanese governments as soon as possible, and I believe that at this moment, Your Excellency Bernard should also hope to end the conflict between the two countries as soon as possible." ”

After Jiang Baili sent him out of the door, he returned to the office but was a little puzzled: "The vice president really wants to talk about peace?" ”

Yang Qiu put down the cup, walked to the map and looked at it a few times, and then asked, "Brother Baili has been in Japan for many years, in your opinion, Japan has suffered such a big loss this time, will it be willing to sit down and negotiate?" ”

Jiang Baili smiled dumbly: "Didn't the vice president ask knowingly." With Japan's current mentality, how can it stop if it doesn't hit its head? What's more, even if they lose Lushun, Sa Zhenbing and they will be able to ensure that the army is sent across the strait? Take another 10,000 steps back and say, even if Okuma Shigenobu and Saionji Gongwang are willing to stop, what will the military department do? What should I do if I have friends in Shanxian County? Is he willing to watch the army lose its troops and fight a futile war? In that case, I'm afraid he will be the first to fall! ”

"Below the gram." After Yang Qiu muttered to himself a few times, he suddenly turned his head: "Brother Baili should have guessed, I asked the United States to convey the goodwill of the willingness to negotiate peace talks on purpose to show them, at least let them know that it is not me Yang who wants to fight, but Japan who wants to fight!" Japan categorically will not accept these conditions, and will not be willing even to hand over only the Manchu ** army, so they will definitely react when they get the news! ”

Jiang Baili doesn't like politics very much, but he also understands Yang Qiu's motive for doing this, so he asked Britain and the United States to bring a message to Japan and sit down to talk, but none of these four conditions can be achieved for the ambitious Japan, so he will definitely try his best to bypass Britain and the United States and act alone. Britain has shown that it does not want the Far East to get out of control, especially at this moment, and if Japan forcibly pushes for war, they will see it as sabotaging the Far East, forcing China towards Germany, and tearing a rift in the Anglo-Japanese alliance.

The United States itself is very dissatisfied with Japan, and once the U.S. government intervenes in mediation and gets a more ferocious attack, then the United States will certainly be even more dissatisfied, and the resulting consequence is that it is likely to be more emotionally inclined to China, at least until the war is won or lost, and the U.S. government will not say a good word for Japan again.

But there's still a problem, Qingdao!

What to do with German-controlled Qingdao? In the event of a war, Britain would definitely pull out the nail, but in the event that China declared neutrality, Britain was not strong enough in the Far East to secure Qingdao, and Japan was bound to help.

This is a dead knot, how to untie it?

While Jiang Baili was pondering the way to resolve the solution, Hanger did bring Yang Qiu's words to the British and Japanese governments. Bernard was naturally overjoyed when he heard this, and through the past few days of getting to know him, he already knew who was really in charge of the country, and getting the young man's assurance that he would not get involved in European affairs would undoubtedly greatly relieve the pressure on his allies, Russia and France, and also strike a blow at Germany. However, after learning of the illusion of peace talks released by Yang Qiu, the Japanese government undoubtedly poured hot oil on the clamor of the expansion of the war.

"There must be no peace talks!"

In the Lushun Fortress, the immortal Otani Kikuzo had not yet come out of the anger of the sneak attack at Lushunkou that day, and was so angry that he scolded when he learned that someone in China actually agreed with the peace talks: "More troops should be sent to increase the punishment, this European chaos will be a blessed opportunity for the rise of the empire, and it must not be missed." "Not only is he reluctant to negotiate peace, but Masataro Fukui and Kawashima Sholang are even more unwilling, what a good opportunity! Britain and the United States are all about to retreat back to Europe, and if they give up waiting for Europe to calm down and then turn back, will Japan be able to turn the other cheeks with Britain and France?

Zhengyi in the temple is even more reluctant, the account of tens of thousands of soldiers spilling their blood in Fengtian has not been calculated, and Manmeng has not completely won it, how can he negotiate peace at this time? It's just that he can't think of a good way to break the situation. At this moment, Shirakawa Yoshinori, a major general of the 9th Brigade of the 5th Division, who was sitting next to him, suddenly stood up, one of the "three heroes of the first phase of Lu Shi" has a great reputation, and the Lushun Massacre during the Russo-Japanese War was initiated by the 11th Infantry Wing, and because of his short stature, he has the nickname of "wild boar" in the army.

The wild boar-like Shirakawa Yoshinori waved his arms, his face flushed: "Your Excellency, General! The Great Japanese Empire did not need roses, let alone compromises! Military personnel should not be swayed by dirty politics, please give the order! I am willing to lead troops to assault the Jiaozhou Peninsula! As long as we land in Jiaozhou and launch an attack, we will not only leave the country with nothing to say, but also help our allies to fight Germany if necessary, and then no one will have anything to say! Defeat Manmeng, defeat the general of the Jiaozhou Peninsula, you are the first hero of the Great Japanese Empire!

Not to mention the officers present around him, even the temple's eyelids jumped. Japan's No. 1 Hero?! Yes, the blood in the body is hot, maybe this battle is a stepping stone for his promotion to the Senate.

"Then keep attacking! Let the cannon do the talking. "Terauchi and the Japanese officers were determined to continue the following tactics in accordance with tradition.