Pei Ge's brows furrowed when he heard this, and he asked, "How long will this training take?" ”

Lu Zhengxiang shook his head and smiled: "Mr. Peige, this is stumped for me, I am only the Minister of Foreign Affairs, not the Chief of the General Staff, I really don't know, and the military will not sue me, I think it should be withdrawn when the training is qualified!" ”

Prevarication, this is definitely prevarication! After asking these two questions, Pei Ge immediately became clear about Lu Zhengxiang's attitude, what was the purpose of the Chinese National Defense Force's training in the tropical jungle there? You only have to train like that if you want to fight a jungle war, right? Only the French Indo, Burma, and Siam belong to the tropical jungle in this area! Thinking of this, Pei Ge began to break out in a cold sweat, could it be that Huaguo has decided to join the Allies?

When Pei Ge was thinking nonsense, Lu Zhengxiang said again: "Minister Pei Ge, you see that the negotiations between us have been going on for so long, although you have some concessions, but our government and people are not satisfied, so I hope that Minister Pei Ge will proceed from the actual situation, unconditionally return all of China's concessions and tariff autonomy, and abolish the unequal clause signed between the former Qing Dynasty and your country!" ”

Hearing this, Pei Ge came back to his senses from his thoughts, and refused without thinking about it: "This is impossible, my country has made considerable concessions before, and this cannot be allowed anymore in any case!" ”

Lu Zhengxiang said with a straight face: "Minister Peige, I don't think Your Excellency and the French government you represent have any sincerity at all. Up to now, your country, Britain and other Entente countries have tried to persuade China to join the Entente, but your country has always refused to agree unconditionally to the issues concerning the concession of China's sovereignty, the question of tariff autonomy, and a series of unequal treaties. Is this the sincerity of your country? If China joins the Entente, it will still be subject to your country on the issue of sovereignty. Do you think that the leaders of our government are so easy to fool?

Minister Peg, as far as I know. The Anglo-French forces on the front line of Paris and Verdun have been defeated and lost, losing 500,000 troops, and nearly half of the soldiers have been killed or captured, I believe that as long as Germany makes more efforts, it will be difficult for Britain and France to resist the German attack, and Britain is better, it is isolated overseas, and it is protected by a powerful naval fleet, and the German high seas fleet may not be able to fight. If the Anglo-French forces could not stop the German attack, and the whole territory of France would inevitably fall into the hands of the German army, then I am afraid that Your Excellency the Minister would have no home to go back to, but fortunately there is also a French Indochina here to settle down, Your Excellency the Minister, why should your country take the risk of offending our country and repeatedly insist on unconditionally agreeing to return the concessions, the autonomy of tariffs, and the abolition of a series of unequal treaties? You must know that the patience of our country is not unlimited, especially our President, who has repeatedly put pressure on our diplomatic service. Let us settle this matter as far as we can, and if your country returns its concessions unconditionally, its tariff autonomy, and abrogates a series of unequal treaties, then I can exert some influence over the President on the question of joining the Entente, Mr. Minister. What do you see? ”

Pei Ge felt a huge pressure at the moment, and he kept taking out a handkerchief to wipe the beads of sweat on his forehead, which made Lu Zhengxiang feel extremely funny. The heart is very comfortable, I never thought that there would be such a situation today. It actually forced foreign ministers to break into a cold sweat, which was something that the Qing court and the Beiyang era could not have imagined. He sighed in his heart, it is still necessary for the country to be strong, only when the country is strong, diplomatic work can be done, otherwise, even if he has the ability to reach the sky, he will be powerless in the face of the envoys of a powerful country.

Pei Ge left the foreign affairs conference hall in a very bad way, and he told Lu Zhengxiang that he could not make the decision on this matter, and he needed to ask for instructions from China. After he left, Lu Zhengxiang immediately reported the situation and experience of his talks with Peige to Premier Song Shijie, Song Shijie thought that everything that should be done on his side had been done, and the rest was waiting for the reply of the French authorities, but he still asked Lu Zhengxiang to report the matter to Xiao Zhenlei.

After learning about the course and results of the talks, Xiao Zhenlei thought that this matter should be successful, and then he convened his staff to discuss. After the meeting began, he briefly introduced the process and results of the talks between Lu Zhengxiang and Peige, and after the introduction, he said: "If we need to pay any additional conditions to recover these, this is actually equivalent to exchange, and the final result is that our country is not complete in terms of sovereignty, so what conditions should be paid to take back these, I think it is not possible, at least as long as I am still president, I will never agree, or the foreign powers will return the concession unconditionally, tariff autonomy, and abolish an unequal treaty. Either we use force to take it back, it's as simple as that, it's not complicated, the problem is that we can't start a war with the Entente and the Central Powers at the same time, we can only recover our sovereignty from one side first, as far as this stage is concerned, I think it is most appropriate to start with the Entente, judging from the process and results of the talks between Lu Zhengxiang and Peige, the French can no longer withstand the pressure! Tell me, ladies and gentlemen, what we can do to get Britain and France to agree unconditionally and not go to war with them."

When everyone heard this, they thought a lot, and some of them whispered to each other, and then Yang Shiqi asked: "President, can I ask you a question, what do you think about whether our country will join the Entente or the Allied Powers, if we don't know your intentions, I'm afraid it's not good to be a staff officer!" ”

After listening to Yang Shiqi's words, everyone thought in their hearts that this question was too good to ask, and none of them dared to ask this question, even if they did, Xiao Zhenlei would most likely not answer, and he would be dissatisfied.

Xiao Zhenlei pondered for a moment and said: "Okay, I think everyone here has wanted to ask this question for a long time, but until today, only Mr. Yang asked it, I can give an answer to this question, you can join the Entente, you can join the Allied Powers, it depends on how our country chooses, now our country and the United States are strategic allies, if our country declares war on a certain party, the United States will inevitably join a certain side with us, that is to say, our country will become a powerful new force, and our country's entry can reverse any unfavorable occupation, As long as the British mainland has not been occupied by the German army, our country has the ability to turn the tide, or even if the German army is defeated and the whole army retreats back to Germany, our country has the ability to turn the tide of the war! ”

It was only at this time that everyone present knew Xiao Zhenlei's intentions, and only then did they understand his intention of seeking an alliance with the United States, and when he was tied to the United States, these two countries would become a weight that would overwhelm either side, even if he joined the Allies and defeated the Entente in the end, he could turn around and fight Japan and recover the land taken away by Japan.

Yang Shiqi came back to his senses and said: "Since this is the case, President, I think we might as well agree to a secret alliance with the Entente now, and use this as a condition to recover our country's sovereignty and abolish the unequal treaty with the Entente, on the grounds that we are not ready and are not suitable for war with Japan immediately!" ”

Secret alliances? Everyone is not very optimistic about this idea, and now everyone knows that Britain and France have suffered a lot of losses, and they will accept a secret alliance? As long as China is willing to do so, Britain and France will certainly do everything they can to draw China closer to their camp, so that China will inevitably be drawn into war immediately.

Yang Shiqi didn't care about the surprised expressions on everyone's faces, and continued: "In this way, our country will take back the sovereignty taken away by the Entente side, even if Britain and France and other countries leak the news that our country has joined the Entente, as long as we take back this qiē, it is worth it, after all, according to what the president just said, we will join one side sooner or later, even if the news leaks, we will not suffer, at the beginning we can vigorously deny it, if the Japanese do not forgive, simply do not do anything to join the Entente, so as long as the Allied countries are defeated, We will still be taken back what we have been seized by the Allies! With all due respect, it is impossible to take back a single qiē without paying any price, after all, our country is not strong enough to compete with the whole world! First use this method to fool Britain and France into taking back half of it, and then use guò to enter the war and recapture the other half from the Allies by force, this is the only way! ”

Everyone thought about Yang Shiqi's words carefully, and felt that this was really the case, this matter could only be carried out in this direction, Xiao Zhenlei also thought about it, and thought that Yang Shiqi's words were still very reasonable, the predecessors made mistakes, and the descendants need to take responsibility, just like the debt of the father and the son, the Qing court sold so much sovereignty and ceded so much land, this is a mistake, now that the Qing court is finished, and wants to take back the unequal treaties signed and the ceded land without paying the price, how can people be willing to return the conditions to you? This doesn't make sense anywhere.

Xiao Zhenlei weighed it, and immediately said to Lu Zhengxiang: "Then it's decided, Minister Lu, you are responsible for communicating with Britain and France, and on the condition that we temporarily secretly join the Entente in exchange for their return of our country's tariff autonomy, a qiē concession and the abolition of all unequal treaties, this secret joining time is up to one year, and the shortest is half a year, that is to say, the news of China's accession to the Entente cannot be leaked within the shortest half a year, because our country needs to prepare for war!" ”

Lu Zhengxiang got up and agreed: "Understand, President! ”

After going back, Lu Zhengxiang immediately contacted the British and French ministers, at this time Zhu Erdian and Peige were also anxious like ants on a hot pot, and China annexed the border, which caused great pressure on French Indochina, British Burma, and India.

When they met three times, they each said their thoughts, and the matter came to this point, and the three parties also knew that they could not stalemate, and they took a step back, and China agreed to join the Entente, but the other members of the Entente must first keep it secret for more than half a year to let China prepare for war, and the Entente must immediately return the tariff autonomy, a qiē concession and abolish all unequal treaties, and Britain and France must also make concessions on border issues such as Yunnan and Burma, Tibet and India, etc., In the past, the land stolen by Britain and France by illegal means must be returned unconditionally, and the less clear border demarcation must also be clear, and the tree monument is the boundary.

On September 25, the representatives of the Entente signed a secret agreement with China, and China officially and secretly joined the Entente, and the other members of the Entente admitted that they had kept it secret for more than half a year to prepare for war for China, and China immediately announced to the outside world in a high-profile manner that it would recover the land that had been concessioned in the former Qing Dynasty, the tariff autonomy obtained by improper means, and the abolition of an unequal treaty. (To be continued......) R1292