"Oh yes, I'd love to listen."

"In my first year in China, I hired more than 30 Chinese to work for us, and they did some daily chores, and I appointed a foreman for them, and that person was Zhang Houtian. But the foreman obviously did not have the ability to lead, and he handled many things very badly, not only I was very dissatisfied with him, but those Chinese often came to me to complain, saying that he was not.

"Later, I decided to change the foreman. At that time, out of curiosity, I did an experiment and asked those Chinese to choose a foreman by themselves. “

Zhu Erdian smiled knowingly when he heard this: "Oh, it seems that you are the first person to promote democracy in China, and Sun Wen should give you the position." ”

Sa Daoyi smiled: "Do you know what the results of the election are?" ”

"What?"

"I was very shocked, there were actually twenty-eight people who still chose that Zhang Houtian!"

Zhu Erdian was also a little surprised: "How is it possible? Aren't they very upset with that man? ”

Sa Daoyi sighed: "Yes, I am also very strange, I gave them the opportunity to defend their rights, but why did they give up? This matter made me struggle for many years, until I later saw a book, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and after reading it, I realized that the Chinese are more committed to their loyalty than democracy. ”

Zhu Erdian seemed to understand something when he heard this, and this is indeed the case, taking this bombing as an example, if it had happened in London, it is estimated that the ruling party would have been impeached long ago, and large-scale demonstrations had also taken place. But here in Beijing, Chinese have expressed their displeasure in the newspapers. and asked Lao Yuan to make an explanation, but there was no further action, and even those injured democracy fighters only demanded that "next time it happens, you Yuan Shikai is responsible!" ”

"This is really a peculiar people. If we British citizens could do that, we would be much better off for those of us. ”

Sa Daoyi smiled, he knows China very well, it is really much easier to be an official in China than in the UK, and the Chinese people have great awe and trust in the government, so it is not easy to bring down Lao Yuan. For the Chinese, the position of president is a position that they should respect and be loyal to. Even if Yuan Shikai loses. As long as China is still a republic, the way he fell down is definitely a very tactful.

Yuan Shikai was so gentle when he let the Qing Dynasty fall.

Sa Daoyi said: "Mr. Zhu Erdian, I will go to Yuan Shikai's family banquet in the evening. I heard that he had a cocktail party, and there were some friends from the press on it, maybe I should express something. We need to work closely together and we have to try to bring Asia back into balance. ”

While Mr. Zhu Erdian was still in China, the British asked Sa Daoyi to "travel" in a private capacity. It can be seen that they have an urgent need to solve Asia's problems.

The Japanese military progress in Indonesia was quite smooth. In fact, the Dutch resistance had already been defeated, and there were still more than 2,000 Dutch soldiers in the whole of Indonesia, which was already surrounded, and the situation was similar to that of the Russian troops now in Mongolia. The current Japanese army is suppressing the resistance of the Indonesians, who at first thought that the Imperial Japanese Army was here to help them.

The Dutch government was aware of the imminent loss of their last colony, and was helpless, even if it was reluctant. After some discussions, the two sides decided to follow the Americans' approach to the Philippines. The Dutch offered a price, and the Japanese bought Indonesia.

This condition was reached on the basis that both sides took a step back. For the Dutch, they are really reluctant, but there is no way, after they can't beat them militarily, they can only find a reason to look good on their face.

The same is true of the Japanese, the voice of domestic opposition is very high, first of all, small Japan does not have much money, and secondly, they think that the Imperial Japanese Army has paid the price of their lives, but they want to buy it with money, which is somewhat unacceptable. However, in order to make the Japanese occupation of Indonesia more "legitimate", those high-ranking people accepted this opinion.

The question of how much money is being talked about by both sides. The British believed that if the Dutch could not hold on, the price should be negotiated soon.

On the one hand, Britain needs Japan to help him maintain the existence of British power in Asia, and on the other hand, the recent prevalence of Greater East Asia in small Japan really makes the British very afraid, especially the smooth war in Indonesia, which not only makes this argument louder in Japan, but even other countries in Asia have begun to respond.

First of all, Siam, which is now an independent country, but also oppressed by the Western powers, their kings are mild, and their attitude towards the West is similar to that of the Qing Dynasty. But during this period of time, the Asians said that Asia was only regarded as an ideal by them, but when China won victories against Russia and Japan expelled the Netherlands from Indonesia, some people in Siam began to be restless.

As one of the three countries in Asia that have not been completely colonized, they always feel that since the Japanese and Chinese can challenge the West, they should do something themselves. Those are becoming more and more unfriendly to the West.

According to reliable information from the United States, some resistance groups in the Philippines have now received a large amount of military aid, and the Americans have sufficient evidence to prove that the weapons in the hands of those people are related to the Japanese Black Dragon Society.

All this is not allowed to happen by the British gentlemen, and if the Philippines is in full swing and Siam no longer shouts the slogan of Asia for Asians, then no one can guarantee that Malaysia and India will not have accidents.

The ideal situation for Britain is that China and Russia will immediately cease the war, and then China and Japan will break out into a conflict because of some historical problems. In that case, little Japan's energy would be contained by China, and the Russians would be able to devote all their strength to the European theater.

There are too many problems between China and Japan, Jiawu is a scar in the heart of the Chinese, and Taiwan and North Korea are the arms of the Chinese who were cut off by the Japanese! And for Japan, it began with the Russo-Japanese War when Yang beat the ghost and attacked the Akiyama Yoshiko Brigade. Hundreds of thousands of Japanese died directly or indirectly at the hands of that beast, and the army of the Japanese Empire also gnashed its teeth at him!

It's easy to get them to rub off.

The news of Mr. Sadaoyi's visit to China was not kept secret by the British side. Although they officially said that this was just a personal act of Sa Daoyi, everyone knew what the British policy toward China was, and after Sa Daoyi and Yuan Shikai met, it was very likely that there would be a result.

Many people wanted to meet with Sa Daoyi in advance, but Mr. Sa Daoyi refused to meet with other relevant people on the grounds that he was tired of traveling, and only had this secret consultation with Zhu Erdian. So at Yuan Shikai's reception to welcome Sa Daoyi. Everyone hopes to get a ticket, but Yuan Shikai is so unkind, except for some important government officials who have a relationship with Sa Daoyi. Only ministers from various countries in China and a few journalists attended the reception.

Moreover, the reporters were warned in advance by Lao Yuan, who said that this time Mr. Sa Daoyi was here for tourism, and any inquiries about political aspects should not happen. If you have any questions. You can wait for Mr. Sadaoyi to hold a press conference and ask questions, and no one is allowed to ask political questions at the reception.

Xu Feng, a reporter for Hua Pao, was a little disappointed with this request, and everyone knew that Lu Daosa was not here for tourism, and for the current situation in China, the final direction of Sino-British relations is also very important......

When he pointed the camera at Sa Daoyi, Xu Feng Xu Feng wanted to know what kind of attitude Mr. Lu Daosa Daoyi brought this time, but looked at the heavily guarded guards next to him. He knew that if he opened his mouth, he would probably be kicked out of this drinking party.

"Mr. Sadaoyi. I would like to know what kind of thoughts you had in mind when you set foot on Chinese soil again? Can you tell me where the first stop of your tour will be? ”

Without waiting for Xu Feng to speak, a Chinese female reporter next to him asked.

As far as Yuan Shikai said, it seems that only this topic is suitable for the opening. Several reporters took out pen and paper at the same time, ready to jot down Sa Daoyi's speech.

Mr. Sa Daoyi glanced at it, and after seeing Yuan Shikai standing next to him, he made a very dissatisfied expression at Lao Yuan: "Oh, old friend, why are there so few reporters and friends?" ”

Lao Yuan was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile: "I'm afraid of disturbing you, if Mr. Sa Daoyi has anything to say to reporters, I can arrange a press conference for you." ”

Sa Daoyi said: "That's not necessary, I just thought I was no longer welcome here." ”

Xu Feng was alert, and immediately said: "Mr. Sadaoyi, you have misunderstood, although I am a reporter of the Chinese newspaper, I am Chinese, as a Chinese, I can tell you very responsibly, in order to come here to meet you, I have gone through a lot of scrutiny." We remember what you have done in China, and we may be very dissatisfied with the British Empire's policy toward China, but we have always been friends with you. ”

Lao Yuan couldn't help but glance at Xu Feng twice, this reporter was very alert and spoke very decently, Lao Yuan appreciated it very much.

Sa Daoyi smiled: "Then I'm relieved, no matter where my first stop is, I don't want to be an unpopular person." The lady just asked me how I felt when I set foot in China again, and I can tell you frankly that I had mixed feelings. ”

Sa Daoyi paused here for a moment, and the smile on his face slowly faded: "Please believe me, my affection for China is second only to my motherland, I am as willing as you are to see China move towards a path of development, I hope we can always be friends." During the Wuchang Revolution, I tried to do this, but then failed. ”

Xu Feng's hand was flying like a pen at this time, and the reporters realized that they might get an unexpected news today. Lao Yuan on the side also didn't expect that Sa Daoyi would be able to talk things back as soon as they met, he thought that the British would have to find a suitable opportunity and a suitable occasion.

Sa Daoyi continued: "I don't want to say more about the reasons for the failure, I don't want to shift the responsibility to any party, I can only tell you frankly that I think the reason why things have developed to this day is that I have not done my job well, and I have ignored the feelings of President Yuan and the Chinese people in some aspects." Today, I apologize to you. ”

After speaking, Sa Daoyi really took off his hat and bent down gently to Yuan Shikai, which made Old Yuan a little unacceptable.

"My mistake has plunged China into war, and I know that this apology will not make up for the damage you have suffered. But I really don't know what else I can do. Believe me, I really don't want war to happen. (To be continued......)