Chapter 42 What to do

In the tenth year of the Empire, on December 15, at 10:00 a.m., the government building of the palace was heavily guarded as usual. Officials and civil servants shuttled back and forth in the government building. Today, unlike usual, except for the royal staff, it is rare to see the secretaries of the State Council gathered in the lounge. Undoubtedly, it is reminding people that perhaps a government conference presided over by His Majesty is being held in the government building at this time.

In the conference room on the third floor, a political conference is being held at this time. According to the common saying in the newspaper, that is, the "imperial front meeting", but the official word is "the highest political council of the empire". The so-called highest political council is very simple. The reason is presided over by His Majesty the emperor himself. In the early days of the founding of the empire, this kind of meeting It is often held, and in recent years, such highest-standard government meetings have rarely been held.

The government conference room on the third floor is the place where the highest government conference is held. This conference room is decorated with the taste of an east-style study. It has a simple black wooden grid on the top, with a white ceiling, a Chinese chandelier and simple Chinese furniture hanging in the grid, which makes it look very simple.

In fact, except for the Zijinshan Royal Garden, this kind of palace, like the government building, has no place to show the "face of the empire" whether externally or internally. This may also be the pragmatic side of the country, but even if it is so simple, there are only three simple Ming-style desks and chairs. In the ten years since its construction, the conference room has repeatedly decided the fate of this ancient and young country. Historically, almost all important political conferences that determine the fate of the country have been held in this conference room.

The Supreme Political Council meeting on this day made people feel tense at the beginning.

Do you accept or reject?

- All the participants felt that China was once again at a severe crossroads, and this idea was tightly gripping.

At the beginning of the meeting, Lu Zhengxiang, the new Foreign Minister, first explained the proposal put forward by Zhu Erdian, which was very simple. It was nothing more than "sent troops to Europe in exchange for France's return to Guangzhou Bay".

Subsequently, Guan Mingtang, who had just become Prime Minister, presented to the emperor the draft prepared by the Army Department for this meeting - "The Strategic Points of Imperial Europe".

After reading the draft of Key Points, Chen Moran asked in a rather difficult-to-understand tone.

"The order of planned matters is a little strange. Why do you put the preparation to send troops first and the diplomatic attempt second?"

In the face of His Majesty's question, Guan Mingtang unnaturally explained:

"This draft, in the same order as putting diplomatic negotiations at the top of the plan, has included the most important surname of diplomatic attempts."

Chen Moran is naturally dissatisfied with this answer, and can even be said to be very dissatisfied. Did they forget what they said?

Aware of His Majesty's dissatisfaction with the issue of sending troops, Cai E, the Minister of the Army, immediately gave a roughly the same answer.

"After full discussion, we believe that since our country has participated in the war, it is inevitable to send troops! Instead of waiting until it is inevitable to send troops, it's better to use sending troops as a bargaining chip to ask France to return to Guangzhou Bay!"

In the face of this answer, Chen Moran directly asked Chief of Staff Jiang Baili with dissatisfaction.

"If the army is sent to France now, how long will the army be sure to solve the problem?"

With a little contemplation, Jiang Baili replied tentatively:

"If 60 divisions can be sent in the first half of next year, we believe that in the second half of the year, cooperation with the British and French coalition forces can solve the European war problem."

Then he added.

"Due to the careful discussion and deduction of the staff, we believe that if we send a limited number of troops, it will be difficult for us to obtain the separate command of the front. Therefore, the first batch of troops need to send at least 15 divisions to obtain the command of a certain war zone, instead of handing over the command to the United Kingdom or France! This can prevent our army from being used as cannon fodder.

This answer just made Chen Moran's face more ugly and asked:

"Isn't it that we sent 15 divisions to Europe to be cannon fodder?"

Your Majesty's questioning only surprised Jiang Baili for a while, and then argued:

"Your Majesty, the situation is different. If we hand over the command of the army to the British or the French, they will not cherish the lives of Chinese soldiers, but if we command alone, we can ensure that the lives of the soldiers will not be wasted!"

As soon as he heard this, Chen Moran raised his tone - I'm afraid that in their opinion, His Majesty has never used such a harsh tone - in fact, he simply scolded Jiang Baili's tone.

"Not sending troops to Europe is the real love of soldiers. Don't forget what we built the army for, to defend our country, not to help the British or the French to fight!"

Jiang Baili just lowered his head and was speechless to his majesty's scolding. Cai E saw that the sign was wrong, so he said from the side.

"Your Majesty, the General Staff considers the overall situation. Since China has participated in the war, it is inevitable to send troops. Otherwise, I'm afraid it will cause dissatisfaction within the Allied Countries!"

"If they are not satisfied, will I take the surname of the soldiers to satisfy them?"

In the face of His Majesty's reprimand, Jiang Baili, who had been bowing his head and not saying anything, directly asked.

"Your Majesty, if your Majesty does not agree to send the army, why should the army be expanded? If it's just to defend China, 106 divisions are enough. Why..."

"You don't understand!"

responded directly with four words. Chen Moran glanced at the cabinet dignitaries on both sides of the stage. They didn't know why they insisted on expanding the army. Did they really think that they expanded the army to help the British or the French?

It's not surprising that they don't know history at all! That's why I don't understand, but the question is, in this world, in addition to myself, how many people can understand this history? Can you see through the evolution of the world's current situation? No, at least there is no second person!

You don't understand!

Is there a more severe rebuke than this sentence? In everyone's eyes, I'm afraid there is no harsher words than this!

You don't understand. Although it's just four simple words, it's almost an insult to these people who are regarded as the pillars and talents of this country by the outside world.

In the face of your majesty's scolding, everyone was silent. They occasionally looked at their colleagues on the opposite side, as if they wanted to get some answers from them, but unexpectedly, they didn't expect that your majesty would use such words at all.

Aware that he used too many words, Chen Moran opened his mouth to ease the atmosphere.

"Sometimes, the situation is like a fog. When I can't see through it, you can see through it. Therefore, most of the time, I need to rely on the help of Zhuqing to explore the country well. Similarly, when I can see it, you can't see clearly!"

When everyone was silent, although the tension in the venue eased, Chen Moran did not forget to knock again to pull them back to the right path:

"Let's put it this way, when we deal with Westerners, the first thing we need to think about is self-protection, that is, we don't suffer losses. If we send troops to France now, we will suffer a big loss no matter what!"

In the face of His Majesty's words, Jiang Baili's neck had sweat on his neck. Originally, he thought that His Majesty had already decided to send troops to Europe, so he agreed to expand the army, so he... But it turned out that His Majesty did not change his idea of not sending troops to Europe from beginning to end.

For Your Majesty, even if it is a temporary loss in dealing with Europeans, it is often to take advantage in the future. Just like the concession made to Germany when the Sino-German Alliance Treaty was signed, its original intention is to introduce Germany to restrict Britain, but the current facts prove Your Majesty's foresight.

In the past decade, Germany has become the largest investor in China, with nearly 10 billion marks of investment and loans. Relying on German investment and loans, China has established a large number of modern enterprises. In order to attract German capital, China has made concessions in many aspects. At that time, in the eyes of many people, it was very Helpless, because the original decision was made out of the decision of "market for technology" and "market for capital".

After the outbreak of the war, it declared war on Germany and confiscated German assets in China while refusing to repay the loan. In other words, through this war, China not only obtained two million square kilometers of new territory occupied by military force, but also received an additional return of more than 10 billion marks.

Sometimes, behind His Majesty's stubbornness, there are often other considerations. After thinking about it, coupled with His Majesty's previous explanation, like others, Jiang Baili's face began to calm down.

"Now! The topic we are going to discuss is very simple,"

Seeing that the meeting has reached this point, Chen Moran knew that he needed to set a tone for the meeting now.

"First, how should we use diplomatic attempts to induce the French to hand over the Gulf of Guangzhou, and at the same time, how to use the French to induce the British to return at least the New Territories to us!"

As long as the British hand over the New Territories, Victoria Bay will become a chicken rib for Britain, a bay that can be blocked with small-caliber shore guns, and can it be a natural military port that cannot be given up?

"Second, how do we need to show the combat effectiveness of the army to Europeans,"

Your Majesty's words only made Jiang Baili and others frown. Your Majesty did not agree to send the army before, but now he wants to show his combat effectiveness. Does Your Majesty have any other plans?

Of course, there are other plans. Since Zhu Erdian left the palace, Chen Moran has been thinking about how to intervene in World War I. Of course, this kind of intervention must be a limited intervention that can make the British and the French speechless. Only in this way can delay the issue of sending troops to Europe. As a result, the French can hand over Guangzhou Bay and even collect some interest by the way. For this problem, I have thought about it for two days and two nights.

"Your Majesty means..."

Yuan Shikai, who was equally worried about whether he should be an opposition soldier, first took a look at His Majesty, who had already served as the president of the House of Lords, and vaguely understood His Majesty's meaning. After thinking about it for a while, he made a speech. He stressed that he must go all out to open up the situation through diplomatic means. , and said sharply:

"I took a look at the draft and it seems to be mainly sending troops, sending troops as a breakthrough. The so-called sending troops is to send troops to Europe. However, can we understand the true meaning of the draft in this way: always send troops as the basis for opening up the situation, that is to say, if you don't send troops, there is no possibility of breaking the situation.

Just as Jiang Baili wanted to stand up and answer this, he saw that he had been severely reprimanded by His Majesty and Sa Zhenbing, the Minister of the Navy, stood up and replied:

"When drafting this plan, the military has negotiated with the State Council, but sending troops is only a bargaining chip, and it is also our only bargaining chip. Of course, in the end, whether to send troops or not will be decided by the political council before submitting it to your majesty for approval."

In the face of such an answer, Yuan Shikai once again stressed the need to open up the situation by diplomatic means.

"I'm relieved to know that the commander-in-chief is the same as the opinion of the Secretary of the Navy?? Anyway, I think..."

When he spoke, he took a look at His Majesty. In the constitutional protection incident, maybe His Majesty intended to use him as a scapegoat, but in the end, His Majesty did not forget him. Now he can become the president of the House of Lords. To some extent, he is satisfied.

"Your Majesty's proposal is the most appropriate. Diplomacy and diplomacy are the relationship of mutual use. If the British want to sacrifice the French, they will not sacrifice the British until they taste the French. As the saying goes, the squirfish compete with each other and the fisherman benefits. Now let's be this fisherman. Anyway, whether it's the British or the French, it's for us. They all have something to ask for. As long as the war continues, as it is now, it will become a war of attrition and a war of stalemate. Our more than two hundred divisions are the delicious food in their eyes. What we have to do is to let them see it. If they can't eat it, they can't eat it and want to eat it..."

In fact, in Yuan Shikai's heart, he prefers to use "a wife is not as good as a concubine, a concubine is not as good as stealing, and stealing is not as good as stealing". But in this case, it is better not to say it in such a meeting, so as not to leave the impression of Yuan Shikai to future generations. Except for women, he will not think about anything else.

Yuan Shikai's words made Chen Moran take a look, and then sat motionless in front of him, staring at the meeting. At this time, he seemed to be unable to move his upper body uncontrollly and said in a high-pitated voice that no one had ever heard:

"Yuan Qing's words mean to me. That's what I mean. This is negotiation. Since it's a negotiation, we have to put on airs! Let them see the difficulty, so that they can show more sincerity!"

"That's right!"

He nodded and echoed, and Yuan Shikai added.

"Your Majesty, I think it is necessary to let public opinion take action and reveal the news. Of course, the main tone does not support the political axe to send troops to the European continent. In short, use the public opinion of the people to block it first, and then talk to them slowly!"

Yuan Shikai's suggestion only surprised everyone. They didn't expect that Yuan Shikai would say such a thing at this time, but they noticed that His Majesty's face smiled because of his words.

"This old fox!"

While looking at Yuan Shikai, he muttered in his heart. Guan Mingtang couldn't help sighing in his heart that Yuan Shikai had something special about him. At least in his Majesty's mind, he reacted faster and more ** than others.

In Guan Mingtang's opinion, Yuan Shikai just smiled, and then half closed his eyes again. He, the president of the noble court, often did not need to express too many opinions when he participated in the Supreme Political Conference. Sometimes, only one or two sentences were enough.

"So how to show our military strength?"

Guan Mingtang asked in a slow and soft voice.

However, this does not require Yuan Shikai to answer. Chen Moran took out a piece of paper directly from his coat pocket and said in a hurry:

"This is a letter from many years ago. Over the years, it has been in my arms!"

This piece of paper is a letter written by a person imprisoned in prison to himself. The reason why he received this letter is because of a sentence in the letter.

"There is such a sentence in this letter: "With China's weakness, how dare you say great, China's decline, why dare you dare to be the emperor, China, inside, the people's wisdom is not open, outside, external troubles are not well, the sea, overseas without an inch of land colonization, shame, the land of the country is claimed by outsiders!" ...The empire of China, the emperor is two thousand years of traditional feudalism, the country, the new bottle of old wine, is really unbearable!"

Chen Moran still remembers that when he saw this letter for the first time, he only felt red when he read this sentence, but at this time, he went to raise the letter in his hand, and then added:

"When I read this letter for the first time, my face was red, but my heart was flat. He told me that I need to do those things, I will work hard to do these things in the same way, end some things, and start something! Fortunately..."

There was some smile on his face. Chen Moran showed this letter to others for the first time. When he was lucky, he showed a little pride on his face and his words became relaxed.

"It has been ten years now. Inside, the people's wisdom has been opened for the first time. Outside, the external troubles have been calmed. There have been millions of colonial places overseas, but this shame..."

He tapped his finger on the table, and Chen Moran's face showed some helplessness.

"So far, it has still not been solved. I want to solve it, but I suffer from reality. Some things can only be seen temporarily. Therefore, for me, in order to save some situations, we need more colonies. Only by obtaining more colonies overseas can we make up for some things, so as to save some national face. Before recovering the lost land, there is a way to confess to the 500 million citizens of the empire. Those Westerners want to use us, okay, but first of all, they must admit some things and agree to some things. For example, we will send our army to a certain place. They don't agree. It doesn't matter. We send troops to fight ourselves, and I won't. I believe that with the Chinese army, if we want to make a place, is it impossible?

"I don't know what Your Majesty is referring to..."

"Middle East!"

(to be continued)