After the United States entered the war, Germany's defeat was determined. Everyone knew that the Germans could not survive. Countless critics were staring at Germany, wanting to see how this empire ended.
The facts are always surprising. On October 25, 1918, the German Naval Command ordered the German High Seas Fleet in Kiel Port to go to sea to fight the British army. If it failed, it would "sink with honor".
The 80,000 sailors in Kiel Port were tired of the war. They refused to weigh anchor and put out the warship. Although the sailors' resistance forced the German naval authorities to withdraw the order, the sailors were persecuted and hundreds of them were arrested.
The suppressed anger of the soldiers finally broke out. On November 3, sailors took to the streets of Kiel to demonstrate against the naval authorities and demanded the release of the arrested. The demonstration then developed into an armed uprising, and the sailors disarmed the officers.
He quickly occupied strategic locations and controlled the entire city.
The workers also held an armed uprising in response and established a majority party regime. By the evening of the 4th, Kiel and nearby suburbs were occupied by the insurrectionists. On the 5th, a general strike was held in Kiel to support the sailors' uprising. The sailors' uprising at the port of Kiel became the German
The November Revolution signaled the outbreak, and the revolution spread rapidly across the country. By November 8, armed uprisings had occurred in almost all major German cities, and majority party organizations had been established, taking most regions of Germany into their hands.
This uprising was called the November Revolution. This revolution not only scared away Kaiser Wilhelm II, but also frightened the Allied Powers. The majority party in Russia had already made them miserable, and now this happened again in Germany.
With this kind of problem, if the majority party controls Germany, it will be the end of the world for the entire Western world.
The Allied Powers also immediately gave up the war. They no longer wanted to force the Germans, and the original Junkers aristocratic group in Germany were also extremely afraid of the majority party. They quickly formed a new republican government, took charge of Germany, and decided to cooperate with the
The Allies sat down at the negotiating table and accepted defeat.
A bloody battle that the two sides fought for more than four years ended in such a dramatic situation, which greatly exceeded the expectations of all political commentators. The whole world was shocked, even China in the Far East was no exception. China
After all, it is a member of the Allied Powers, an out-and-out victorious country. Everyone, including the Beiyang government, feels that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take back the lost power and achieve a comeback.
The news reached Fengtian, and Lao Zhang was also alarmed. He called together all his civil and military officials. He also specially asked Chang Yinhuai to invite Zhang Tinglan and Wang Yongjiang. Wang Yongjiang was the general manager of Zhang Zuolin's money bag, while Zhang Tinglan
He is the number one think tank and knows the international situation best. Lao Zhang angrily let them go because he also wanted to do something.
On the way, Wang Yongjiang asked: "I'd like to say that the war is over. What do you think we should do?"
"Mr. Minyuan, we all know the faces of the great powers. Don't expect to truly treat China as an equal. Those unrealistic ideas are of little value. The most realistic thing is to go to Europe to exchange industrial equipment and talents. Germany and Austria-Hungary
The empire is finished. The military industry of these two countries is very strong and there are many talents. If we can get some, we will be developed. In addition, Britain and France have also been seriously damaged. Let's think of a way to take the opportunity to get some technology and
With these things in hand, and after three to five years of development, our foundation will be solid."
After hearing Zhang Tinglan's idea, Wang Yongjiang nodded: "I'd like to say that although I don't know much about international affairs, I am familiar with the three eastern provinces. It does take some time to settle down and practice internal skills. But in my opinion, we
The commander seems to have other ideas!"
Wang Yongjiang sighed slightly. As the leader of Fengjun, Zhang Zuolin was competent most of the time, but there was only one thing: he was ambitious. Especially in recent times, Fengjun's strength has expanded, and Lao Zhang has also begun to expand personally. This point
Everyone in Fengjun was aware of this, and Wang Yongjiang was also a little worried.
Chang Yinhuai took them to the Tiger Hall, where a lot of people had gathered, including Wu Junsheng, Zhang Jinghui, Zhang Haipeng, Kan Chaoxi and others. In addition, Sun Liechen happened to have returned from Rehe and also arrived at the Tiger Hall. Zhang Zuolin was glowing.
Sitting in the middle, when he saw Zhang Tinglan and Wang Yongjiang arriving, he smiled and said, "Min Yuan and Zhuo Yan are here. I just have a telegram for you. Take it and take a look!"
Wang Yongjiang took it and looked at it. It was from Duan Qirui. The main content of the letter was to ask Zhang Zuolin to send representatives to discuss how to deal with the war. There were two main tasks. One was to recover what should be recovered after the war.
Rights, and another issue is the issue of intervening in the Russian Civil War. Now that the Allied Powers have sent troops, the Beiyang government does not want to fall behind.
Fengjun's prestige is very high. In terms of strength, it can compete with Beiyang, and it sent troops to Hailan Pao early. Both of these problems require Fengjun's participation.
Wang Yongjiang and Zhang Tinglan read all the telegrams and then returned them to Lao Zhang. Zhang Zuolin glanced at everyone and then said: "Everyone, Lao Duan is preparing to take back Germany's rights and also wants to send troops to Russia. What do you think?
Can we take advantage of this opportunity to cause some trouble for Lao Duan and destroy his prestige?"
Yuan Jinkai on the side suddenly laughed and said: "Commander, I think this is a good opportunity. The great powers will never give up benefits to the Beiyang government easily. We might as well raise the conditions. Lao Duan will definitely not be able to complete it. In this way, he
He will be reviled in the country. Does he still have the nerve to continue to be prime minister?"
After Yuan Jinkai finished speaking, Wu Junsheng also said with a smile: "Commander, someone familiar with the situation in Japan revealed to me that the Japanese want to occupy Shandong permanently this time and are unwilling to return it to China, and Beiyang wants to use this opportunity to take over
Back to Shandong, if Lao Duan is unable to take back Shandong, we will mobilize all kinds of forces to unseat Lao Duan. If Lao Duan succeeds by luck, he will inevitably become angry with the Japanese, and we can take the opportunity to replace him, and we will not lose money no matter what."
Wu Junsheng showed a proud smile as he spoke, looking like he had the pearls of wisdom in his hands. Zhang Tinglan felt a thump in his heart at the side. He never thought that these veterans of Fengjun would have such a wishful thinking, and he was suddenly disappointed.
To the extreme.
Regarding the Shandong issue, Zhang Tinglan felt more indignation, dissatisfaction with the great powers, and a desire for power. Zhang Tinglan was eager to fully enhance industrial strength and strengthen armaments, so as to wrest power back from the great powers. But these old-school figures are not like that. They
He believed that this was an opportunity to prevent Lao Duan from coming to power, and wanted to defeat Duan Qirui.
In fact, this is also the fundamental difference between people like Zhang Tinglan and Wu Junsheng. Zhang Tinglan looks at problems more from a national perspective. But Wu Junsheng and others look more at Fengjun and their own small calculations. They emphasize internal fighting and underestimate external fighting. The pattern is different.
The results obtained are different.
Moreover, Zhang Tinglan also captured an important piece of information from Wu Junsheng's words. Old Wu had communicated with the Japanese side and also learned that Japan was not prepared to return Shandong. This was not a trivial matter. What Zhang Tinglan hated the most was the high-level officials of Fengjun and the
Japan colluded, and now that Lao Wu has shown signs of collusion, how can Zhang Tinglan be happy?
What worries Zhang Tinglan even more is whether there is any conspiracy here. After all, as long as the Japanese are involved, nothing good will happen. Zhang Tinglan is already a little nervous.
Lao Zhang's eyes happened to fall on Zhang Tinglan at this time, and he said with a smile: "Zhu Yan, what do you think?"
When asked about himself, Zhang Tinglan had to answer, thought for a while and said: "Commander, the two things Duan Qirui raised are top priorities. If you can provide some help, try to help Lao Duan and take back some of the country's sovereignty.
It can also boost the morale of the people. If you use this as a means to criticize Lao Duan, I am afraid it will make people think that Fengjun does not understand the general situation and does not care about the overall situation, which is a bit unsightly."
"I would like to say that those who achieve big things don't stick to trivial matters. If you want to do big things, you can't care about small reputations." Wu Junsheng said from the side: "We want to bring down the old man. It is also to let the general take control of the Central Plains. Wait until we take control
If we gain political power, we can do more things, which is also a great thing for the people of the world."
Lao Wu wanted to continue, but Zhang Zuolin waved his hand to stop him. He asked with a smile: "Immodestly, apart from helping to support Lao Duan, what else are you going to do?"
"Commander, if Germany loses the war, the people will be in dire straits. The Austro-Hungarian Empire will collapse and all kinds of talents will drain out. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I think we should try our best to buy Europe at the bottom, get more technology and talents, and build up naval and air forces.
, we should strengthen security in border areas, build up coastal defense and border defense, and make Northeast China impregnable."
"What I said makes sense. You can be responsible for these two things for the time being. Especially when purchasing machinery and equipment in Europe, professional manpower must be arranged. I will take full responsibility for you and leave other government affairs to others for the time being."
After hearing what Lao Zhang said, Zhang Tinglan's expression did not change, but his heart was already a little turbulent. It seemed that Zhang Zuolin wanted to distract himself and prevent him from intervening in this matter.
It is obvious that Lao Zhang no longer obeys his advice. In fact, it is right to think about it. How can a majestic patrol envoy from the three eastern provinces and a generation of tycoons completely obey the advice of a junior, especially after Feng Jun has gained a certain strength?
You definitely have your own ideas.
Zhang Tinglan was also a little lonely and was not arguing. However, he was still thinking in his mind. He had to think clearly about the matter at hand and see what should be done to best benefit Fengjun.
Of course, the most important thing at the moment was how to buy Germany at the bottom. Zhang Tinglan quickly found Kuang Rongguang, Xia Han and others, and the main figures in the industrial circles of the three eastern provinces were gathered together.
"Everyone, the war in Europe is over. This is our best opportunity. I am going to set up a special procurement group. The task is to go to Europe to get the technical equipment we urgently need, and then make every effort to recruit all kinds of talents."
"I have to say, we have been waiting for this for a long time!" Kuang Rongguang said with a smile: "I think there are two things we must find out: what we are lacking, and what we can get from Europe."
"Yes, Mr. Kuang hit the point right away." Xia Han said from the side: "Chemical industry, metallurgy, machinery manufacturing, medicine, automobiles, shipbuilding, etc. are all industries that we urgently need to fill. I suggest that all the industries in the three northeastern provinces
The factories all joined together to form a purchasing group and wrote down all the technical problems they faced, whether they were short of people or equipment, and then we went to Europe to purchase them with a purpose."
Zhang Tinglan nodded: "This proposal is very good. We will temporarily divide it into military industry and civilian industry, make separate lists, and then go to purchase. In addition, we must be forward-looking. Some key technological breakthroughs may have just appeared.
If it has not been taken seriously, we must seize the opportunity to get it back, and it is best to dig out the talents to China."
Kuang Rongguang said with a smile: "According to what Zhuo Yan said, we will be ready immediately, but I also want to ask Zhuo Yan to give me an explanation. Such a large-scale operation will cost a lot of money. What exactly are you doing?"
How much money are you prepared to pay?”
Zhang Tinglan stretched out his palm and shook it with a smile: "Five hundred million, Mr. Kuang, do you think it's enough?"
Although these people have all seen Zhang Tinglan's generosity, five hundred million was paid out at once, which is an astronomical figure. Everyone opened their mouths for fear of having ear problems.
"Idiot, are you sure you can come up with so much money?"
"Mr. Kuang, this is actually just the first batch of investment. If we can contact the German government, the investment will increase!"
