In this way, the envoy of the Rì Acting Minister to China, Kohata Youkichi, visited Sun Yuanqi again

With the support of the cabinet, Kohata Youkichi was obviously more arrogant, and after the meeting, he asked directly: "Your Excellency, there are rumors that your country has privately signed an entente with Germany and recovered the Jiaoao region. I wonder if the rumors are true? ”

Sun Yuanqi glanced at him and replied lightly: "What if it's not true?" What if it's true? ”

Kohata Youji said coldly: "If the rumors are not true, then I hope that your country can immediately stop all contacts with the German side, and I have issued an ultimatum to Germany earlier today, demanding that Germany immediately withdraw all warships in the China Sea, and those who cannot retreat will immediately disarm, and that all the leased land in Jiaozhou Bay be unconditionally handed over to our country before September 1, so that it can be returned to your country when the conditions are right in the future."

"If the rumors are true, hum, your country did not consult Britain and the United Kingdom in advance, and did not report it in time afterwards, and then privately signed an agreement with Germany to recover Jiaozhou Bay, and all the huge risks and serious consequences caused by it will be borne by your country!"

Sun Yuan's face sank like water: "Why, the recovery of the leased land of the country still needs to inform your country and Britain?" If Sun is not mistaken, our Republic of China should be an independent country, right? I don't have any affiliation with your country or the United Kingdom, right? Why do we have to report to you when we handle our own internal affairs? Your hands are stretched too far!

"The matter has come to this, Sun may as well open the window and say something bright: First, as early as June this year, China and Germany have signed an agreement on the return of the leased land in Jiaozhou Bay free of charge. The agreement is now in force; Second, China has never joined the Allied camp and has no intention of doing so; 3. China has maintained absolute neutrality since August this year. will not participate in any coalition of countries in the future; Fourth, China has the confidence and ability to defend its territorial integrity and sovereignty from infringement. Your Excellency the Minister may wish to truthfully bring these opinions to your country, and I hope that you will fully respect China's power to handle internal affairs and refrain from pointing fingers everywhere! ”

Like a cat that has been stepped on by its tail, Kohata Yukichi suddenly jumped up: "What! Have you signed an agreement with Germany to return Jiaozhou Bay? Do you know how serious the consequences this can have for your country? ”

Sun Yuanqi replied calmly: "Sun really wants to know what the huge risks and serious consequences of His Excellency the Minister are talking about!" ”

Kohata Youji trembled with anger, and pointed at Sun Yuanqi tremblingly: "Your Excellency is so reckless, aren't you afraid of bringing serious disasters to the country and the people?" ”

Sun Yuanqi leaned back on the Taishi's chair and replied slowly: "Am I not reckless and obedient to your country's words. Will your country stop sending troops to China and return the Jiaoao region to China? ”

Kohata Youji stiffened his neck and said: "As I said earlier, as long as your country can immediately stop all contacts with the German side, including interrupting the implementation of the return agreement, our empire will demand that Germany unconditionally hand over all the leased land of Jiaozhou Bay to our country for management before September 1, and then return it to your country when the conditions are right in the future." Do you have any questions? ”

Sun Yuanqi raised two fingers: "Sun has two questions, and I want to ask Minister Kohata for advice: First, the so-called 'when the conditions are right in the future' for His Excellency. When, exactly? Will it be three or five years from now, or thirty or fifty years, or three or five hundred years? Second, since your country will eventually return the Jiaoao area to China, what is the difference between it and Germany's immediate return? Why do you have to go over and take a turn out of your country's hands? ”

Kohata Youji's face immediately turned from red to purple and purple to blue, but he avoided answering Sun Yuanqi's question: "Your Excellency is a famous scientist and educator. But by no means a qualified politician. I would like to advise Your Excellency the Prime Minister to convene a cabinet meeting on this issue to discuss it carefully, to pool wisdom, and not to delay the country and the nation because of the quick talk! ”

After more than half a sentence of speculation, Yukichi Kohata was once again so angry that he threw his sleeves away.

Although Kohata Youji came to coerce and lure, ultimatum and persuasion, it was nothing more than to force Sun Yuanqi to raise the white flag. He offered the Jiaoao area to Rì Ben, but he did not make a mistake in what he said. For example, Sun Yuanqi can be regarded as a famous scientist and educator in this era, but he is by no means a qualified politician; There was also a cabinet meeting for Sun Yuanqi to convene a cabinet meeting on this issue to discuss it carefully and brainstorm ideas.

Although Sun Yuanqi had already made up his mind on this issue that he would have to fight even if he was fighting or not, this did not mean that Sun Yuanqi could make a decision by patting his head at the headquarters of the New China Party, because if he really wanted to fight a big war with him, he would at least need to raise his hand in the cabinet and report it to the provisional president for approval. Although Sun Yuanqi, the New China Party, China Broadcasting, "Political and Economic Newspaper" and other media have been blowing the wind openly and secretly for some time now, and the large-scale exercises in Shandong and the dispatch of troops in the northeast can also give everyone a glimpse of the clues, but the procedures that should be followed must be followed, otherwise the government and the parliament will not become Sun Yuanqi's hall of words?

What is the core of the enlightened world in the future? It's mínzhǔ centralization! 光mínzhǔ is not concentrated, that is called a vegetable market; If the light is not concentrated on the people, it is called a hall of words. The centralized system is a combination of centralization on the basis of the mínzhǔ and the mínzhǔ under the guidance of the center. Of course, in actual cāo work, many times it is for you to let go of what you say, but I don't necessarily listen to what you say.

The same is true now. The Beiyang Department and Li Yuanhong still had Xiao Jiujiu in their arms, and they had their own different ideas on the issue of starting a war with Rìben. In Sun Yuanqi's view, if there are different opinions, they should be allowed to speak out, but what they say does not necessarily have to be adopted; once the result is agreed, no matter who they are, they must unify their thinking to the result, and those who understand it must be implemented, and those who do not understand it for the time being must also be implemented, and they must deepen their understanding in the course of implementation.

Because of this, Sun Yuanqi decided to quickly convene an emergency state meeting of the cabinet members in Beijing to discuss the issue of fighting against the rì.

In the past few months since Sun Yuanqi returned to the capital from Taiyuan, because of the absence of the disturbance of the National Assembly and the fetters of the Great Presidential Palace, the political situation of the whole country has suddenly calmed down, and it has become a rare stable place since the Xinhai Revolution, and the cabinet meeting has also resumed the normal frequency of every two days. At this time, an emergency meeting was suddenly held, which caught everyone somewhat off guard.

As the Minister of the Army, although Duan Qirui can only do some work according to the reports of the garrisons in various places and the orders of the cabinet, he has more military information after all, and with a little attention, he can guess that a major war between China and China is imminent. Now that I suddenly heard that Sun Yuanqi had urgently convened a cabinet meeting, I immediately realized the general content of the meeting.

After Duan Qirui walked into the conference room, he subconsciously looked around, and secretly analyzed in his heart: The first department of the New China Party, Premier Sun Yuanqi, Minister of Internal Affairs Yang Yongtaizheng, Chief Financial Officer Tang Shouqian, and Minister of Industry and Commerce Meng Zhaochang should attend the meeting, but Navy Chief Jiang Zhiqing has been conducting exercises in the waters near Haizhou Bay recently, and it is estimated that he will not be able to come back in a hurry;

Needless to say, Foreign Minister Lu Zhengxiang and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Chen Zhenxian are both in Beijing, so they should not miss this meeting. It's just that since the death of the president, both Lu Zhengxiang and Chen Zhenxian have been a little detached, and they are lukewarm to themselves, but they are closer to Sun Yuanqi. Now it is really a new society, and the way of husband and wife is no longer about "marrying and obeying the husband, and the husband dies from the son", but has become "choosing a tree to live in, and remarrying after the husband dies"!

As for the Kuomintang lineage, it is even more decayed. In the chaos in the capital at the beginning of the year, the Kuomintang was disbanded by Tang Tianxi's erroneous decree, and the party members were scattered, and there is no news of reorganization so far; The Kuomintang exiled overseas was reorganized into the Chinese Revolutionary Party by Sun Wen, and it seemed that they wanted to completely dissociate themselves from the Kuomintang reorganized by Song Jiaoren. Originally, there were two Kuomintang cabinet members in the cabinet, but the chief of justice, Wang Chonghui, went overseas when he put down the Kuomintang rebellion in the south, and it is still difficult to return home; And the chief of education, Cai Yuanpei and Sun Yuanqi, are so good that they almost wear a pair of pants, and if they don't deliberately mention it, almost no one will think that he is still a member of the Kuomintang!

By contrast, the Republican Party is even more tragic. The third largest party in the National Assembly is now no longer remembered. Party leader Li Yuanhong was first imprisoned in Yingtai for a year or two to count the stars, and finally got the chance to get ahead, and was invited to the presidential palace to be a clay sculpture bodhisattva and a rubber stamp, which is actually equivalent to house arrest in disguise. And Cheng Dequan, the only cabinet member, is now the only one who is the head of the horse, and he can't wait to join the New China Party immediately. It is estimated that even if Li Yuanhong sends eight sedan chairs to invite him now, he will not dare to show up easily!

Thinking of this, Duan Qirui couldn't help but shake his head: At present, whether in the Congress or in the cabinet, the New China Party is a dominant party, and even if all the other parties are united, they will not be able to compete with it. What else can we talk about about mínzhǔ, republican?

Before Duan Qirui could finish his long sigh, he heard Sun Yuanqi's voice sounding at the door: "What is Chief Zhiquan thinking?" I've seen you sitting here shaking your head and sighing from afar, isn't there something annoying? Or are you complaining that Sun is late and makes everyone here wait for a long time? ”