ps: No, too, there is something to do today, only one more

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January 3, Republic 2758 (1917), Hanking, Presidential Palace.

Today is still the New Year's Day holiday, and the New Year's Day is now one of the legal holidays in China, and the holiday lasts for three days. Today, most people in the country are still on vacation, but a central high-ranking person like Wen Desi has no way to rest. No, early this morning, the ambassadors of Britain and France came to the door in the name of congratulatory gifts.

"Your Excellency, this is a congratulatory gift from His Majesty King George V on behalf of our Royal Family, congratulating you on the addition of children...... Oh, and this is a congratulatory gift from His Excellency Lloyd George on behalf of our Government...... Congratulations on becoming a new father......" British Ambassador to China Zhu Erdian, although his face was full of smiles, he could not hide the exhaustion and anxiety in his eyes.

The French Ambassador to China, Mr. Conde, also presented the gift list and congratulated: "Your Excellency the President, this is the congratulatory gift that our President Poincaré and Prime Minister Clemenceau of the French Third Republic have presented to you on behalf of our people and the Government respectively, and have entrusted me to convey my best wishes to you, your wife and children......

"Thank you very much! Thank you very much! Thank you for the blessings and gifts you have brought...... "Wen Deji accepted the congratulatory gifts from Britain and France with a smile on his face, and expressed his gratitude at the same time.

After the news of Wende's happy addition to his son came out, many countries have sent congratulatory gifts in the past few days. Japan is now interested in easing relations between the two sides, and they are also very active in this matter, and because of the proximity of the two countries, their actions are the fastest among the great powers. They sent the minister of the Imperial Household to China and presented a set of Japanese swords as a congratulatory gift. Then there was Nicholas II of Russia, who sent someone to send a craft egg made of gold, diamonds, jadeite and other materials. Wilhelm II of Germany sent a complete set of harness and a set of medieval craft armor. The United States sent a foal of a thoroughbred horse......

Of course, Jurdian and Kant did not come here just to give gifts, because after a few days of fierce fighting, the situation in London had deteriorated so much that the British could hardly hold on. What's more, Russia is almost unable to hold on, and now the shape of the Entente is very critical. Although they came to send congratulatory gifts under the pretext of congratulatory reasons, Mr. Wen had already seen through it.

After greeting each other for a while, the two sides began to get to the point.

After a few words, Zhu Erdian said straight to the point: "Your Excellency, we don't hide it, the current shape of the Entente is not optimistic, but if the Allies are allowed to win, it will be a disaster for the whole world, and it will not be beneficial to your country." Therefore, we sincerely hope that your country will join the side of the just Entente and jointly fight against the evil allies......"

Your sister's justice! Your sister's righteousness and evil! Trick the children into going! Although Erdezi is not very good, it is not something that you are qualified to blame for the opium cow. Wen Desi rolled his eyes when he heard this.

Well, "not being cheeky" is the basic skill of diplomats, and "reversing black and white" is the basic essence of diplomats. After all, Zhu Erdian is a qualified diplomat, so don't use the standards of normal people to demand this aspect.

Wen Deji smiled and said in the most sincere tone: "Hehe, this request of your country makes us very difficult. As you know, China has been a peace-loving country since ancient times, our people are a group of peace-loving people, and we do not like war. We are very sorry and saddened by the war that took place in Europe. We have always paid attention to convincing people with virtue, so we hope that the two sides of the conflict can restrain each other, and everyone will sit down and have a good talk, and is it not good to use negotiation instead of war to settle disputes......?

“...... Therefore, our people will not approve of participating in a war thousands of miles away. What's more, the Entente countries are our friends, and the Central Powers are also our friends, and helping one friend to fight another friend is also not in line with our traditional morality......" said with a pure expression of harmlessness to humans and animals, "You make me feel very distressed like this".

Zhu Erdian also rolled his eyes when he heard it. Your sister's love of peace, your sister's virtue to convince people! Is it true that your more than 10 million square kilometers of land are all given away by phone bills?

At this time, Kant saw Wendeji like this, so he gritted his teeth and directly offered the bid: "Your Excellency, we believe that the order in Africa should be rebuilt, and now the allies have deviated from justice and become a threat to world peace. If your country is willing to uphold justice, then German East Africa, Eritrea and Italian Somalia can be taken over by your country......"

Wen Deji shook his head and said, "Mr. Ambassador, I think you have misunderstood. Respect for friends is a traditional virtue of the Chinese nation, and this respect also includes the property of friends, in our tradition, friends can entrust their wives and children, not to mention property. Taking a friend's property is contrary to our morals, and strict zhòng is contrary to our values. Germany and Italy are our friends, and we will not do such a thing...... As for what you said about good and evil, I don't see it, but this may be the difference in thinking between Easterners and Westerners. ”

Well, when it comes to this, Juerdian and Kant also understand that this time they will definitely not be able to talk. As for the righteousness and evil, traditional virtues, and peace-loving things that both sides are talking about, and those who really believe it are stupid. There's a fart friend between countries! It's not a profit.

Mr. Wen's meaning is very clear to them, that is, "This price is not enough, and this little thing is not enough to make me pull off my face." The implication is that as long as the benefits are sufficient, our traditional virtues cannot be changed. But if the price is not enough, then I am sorry, the traditional virtue of our Chinese is very firm! If we say that we love peace, then we must love peace!

But it is useless for Juerdian and Kant to understand, they are just ambassadors, their power is very limited, and they can't do this kind of thing at all. Now I can only report this situation back and see how the old men in China deal with it.

In Zhu Erdian's view, the request to invite China into the war was rejected, which was completely reasonable. With his knowledge of Wen Desi and the Chinese government, it is clear that this kind of blank check will not fool them. And the old men in China do not understand at all that the current China is not at all the China ruled by the Tatars in the past, and the current Chinese high-level leaders are obviously excellent, modern and high-level education, and this insincere condition cannot impress them. But Zhu Erdian can't help it, those old men in China are still reluctant to bleed, and they want to use a little blank check to deceive people to sell their lives.

However, Wen Desi's attitude also made Zhu Erdian feel a little relieved. In this way, the allies will not be able to pull China into the water, because they will not be able to make a bid.

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Seeing that Wen Deji was not in charge, Zhu Erdian changed the topic: "Then Mr. President, we are ready to buy a batch of warships from your country, can your country agree to this request?"

"Oh, do you still want to order warships? Now our shipyards are running at full capacity, and most of the products on the slipway are orders from your Entente powers. Wende paused for a moment.

Zhu Erdian hurriedly said: "No, no, no, what we want is not a new ship, but those former dreadnoughts and armored cruisers that your country already has, ......" Speaking of this, even with the face of a professional diplomat, he felt a little embarrassed.

When did the British Empire, which has the largest navy on earth, become like this? It actually bought old warships from a country like China, which had no naval tradition, and the most unbearable thing for him was that two of these former dreadnoughts were Britain's own old men. What used to be thrown out as tatters has to be bought back with money, and I feel ashamed to think about it.

"Ex-dreadnought?" Wen Deji was immediately embarrassed. Nima, didn't you look down on it last time? Why have you changed your mind now?

Of course, this kind of talk is just vomiting in his heart, someone is helping to collect the rags, why don't you do such a good business? Sell and sell, don't sell is a bastard!

Wen Desi immediately said that in principle, these old ships can be sold to friends in the Entente countries, and the price is negotiable. After the general direction is finalized, of course, the specific price code cannot be discussed by Wen Desi in person, which is a matter for the relevant departments below.

Britain and France have no choice, because the two major battles of Jutland and Corsica have greatly damaged their naval vitality, and the Russian fleet is sealed in the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea. The most important thing is that after the Battle of Jutland, the German Navy was completely freed. Not only are they now very active in submarines, but even surface assault ships of all kinds have appeared in the field, firing everywhere, and even a few German cruisers have swaggered into the Indian Ocean.

The Entente has too many colonies, and there are many places to defend, and the current warships are really not enough. Britain and France are not fools either, of course they know that it is better to buy a ship than to buy a new one. But if you place an order for a new warship now, when the ship is built, the daylilies will be cold, and you can't afford to wait! But China will not sell those new warships in service, and it was not negotiated last time, and it will not be even more so this time.

So, they have to look at the old warships that they didn't look down on a few months ago, and not only with China, but also with the United States ambassador who is now talking with the United States about buying old warships. Even the three small powerhouses in South America were also approached.

"This kind of bamboo pole sent to the door, if you don't knock hard, you are simply sorry for the motherland and the people!" Zhang Lizheng, premier of the State Council, said with a righteous face.