Throughout the seven or eight days in mid-September, the weather in Bei Jing was hot in the day and cool at night, as if in response to the current hotly debated political situation. As the Preparatory Committee's increasingly explicit propaganda campaign, the constitutional monarchy
The arrogance was as strong as the plantain fan, and many old people who were encouraged by the Security Council and the bureaucrats and gentry of the Junxian faction in the former Qing Dynasty came out to show their faces as if they could not sit still.
In contrast to the calls for a constitutional monarchy, a generation of political activists, officials, businessmen and scholars in Jiangsu and Zhejiang who firmly supported the republic seemed to have suddenly awakened. They realized the conspiracy brewing behind the scenes of the Security Council and quickly organized a counterattack.
The two sides first used newspapers as a front, publishing editorials and papers one after another to criticize each other. Later, they even held public speeches and symposiums to advocate for their respective political ideas.
Many ordinary people mostly treated this matter with the attitude of watching the excitement. In their opinion, it is already the Republic of China, and there is no need to argue endlessly about the political system and the state system. They just treat it as a matter for these "literary officials"
If they have nothing to do, they will go out and create some troubles to show each other's presence.
But it is precisely because of this seemingly academic battle that more and more knowledgeable people realize that something is wrong. Even Congress is discussing asking Yuan Shikai to come forward to calm the matter, or at least express his position.
yes.
In addition to the uproar caused by the activities of the Security Council, the Qingdao issue and China's participation in the European War are also hot topics. More and more gossips are leaking out from unknown sources.
There are some nonsense among them, but there are also some inseparable truths.
News about the secret negotiations between China and Japan gradually surfaced. The contents of the "Twenty-One" became more and more transparent day by day, so that domestic intellectuals criticized the Beiyang government more and more seriously. The common people had no idea that if it were not for Beiyang
Zheng Fu deliberately leaked this information, how could they, the common people of Xing Dou, know the contents? And these common people of Xing Dou would not think carefully about the inside story. They only knew to denounce Beiyang Zheng Fu for betraying national sovereignty.
Even the Chinese Revolutionary Party in Japan realized that the time had come for a comeback. They sent telegrams and published articles to add fuel to the volatile situation in the country. They were just waiting to return to the country when the country was in chaos and lead a more revolutionary movement.
It is a great revolution that is so powerful that it can benefit all people and promote the spirit of democracy and republicanism.
While Yuan Su was living in the Presidential Palace, he was inquiring about his uncle Yuan Shikai every day. He hoped that after that conversation in the study room, his uncle could realize the key to the current situation. However, he had not received any news from the Presidential Palace in the past few days.
What's the latest news over there? I've received a few telegrams from Luanzhou.
Some of the messages were reports from the Office of the Military Affairs Commission on the establishment of the Corps and the 10th Division, preparations for the Artillery Academy and Artillery Special Training Class, and the production progress of new rifles, etc. Yuan Su gave one-by-one replies and instructions, which should be signed
Once the order is signed, all the funds that should be allocated will be allocated.
There are also two telegrams, both sent by Reynoldson. The first telegram was signed three days ago. Reynoldson responded to Yuan Su's previous request that Britain give up supporting Japan's occupation of Qingdao. He and Yuan Su
There was no difference from what was expected. Obviously, after learning about the relevant situation in detail, Reynoldson knew that the overall arrangement of the British government was unshakable at all, so he simply replied that nothing could be done about the matter.
The second cable was sent yesterday afternoon. At this time, the British Foreign Office, the Embassy in China and Reynoldson's superior unit, the British Whitehall Intelligence Department, successively learned of the "Twenty-One" secret agreement between Japan and China.
, was greatly shocked by this incident. For this reason, the British Foreign Office conducted a series of negotiations with the US Foreign Office, and determined that the "Twenty-One Articles" had greatly damaged the interests of both countries in China, and decided to use diplomatic means to intervene in this Chinese document.
ri secret appointment.
In the eyes of many established Western powers, although Japan is a rising star, it is far from being on par with the Western powers. Especially the United Kingdom, which has always believed that Japan is just a pony,
They are just his subordinates following his footsteps. But this pony boy has such great ambitions and secretly wants to seize the opportunity to invade the interests of Britain and the United States in China. How can he tolerate this?
In the content of the "Twenty-one Articles", Japan took the opportunity to expand its railway hosting rights in China. Among them, the Nanman Railway and the Anfeng Railway directly affected the interests of the United Kingdom; it also required China not to concession all seaports and islands to other countries.
The country has even restricted the development trends of the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries in China.
As for China's financial, civil affairs and military requirements to be co-organized with the Japanese side, it is a direct attempt to control China from within the highest authority. This is the most intolerable to the United States, which has always pursued a balance of interests in China. A small Japanese base
, he even uttered wild words about wanting ants to eat elephants, and he did so in front of so many tigers, wolves, jackals and leopards around him.
Although in modern Chinese history, there is no clear record of the response of the British and American powers to the "Twenty-One Articles". Later generations just believed that the British and American eyes were focused on Europe, so they had no time to take into account the trends in the Far East. However, as the British and American ministers to China,
How could the country's plenipotentiary representative in China not react at all when faced with Japan's arrogant intrusion?
What's more, the loss of power and humiliation shown in the "Twenty-One Articles" has been even worse, whether it was the former Qing Dynasty or the red and blue governments of later generations. Historical evaluations of the "Twenty-One Articles" are mostly based on political needs.
, because it was the Kuomintang that overthrew the Beiyang government, and in order to show that the Kuomintang and the Beiyang government were of the same species, red historians spared no effort to discredit the Beiyang government, and infinitely expanded the charges for the "Twenty-One" incident.
On September 9th, the British and American ministers in China sent a note to Japan's minister in China, Ri Zhiyi, requesting Japan to make a formal reply to the "Twenty-One Articles", and expressed sternly that if Japan was good at doing so,
If Japan's claims affect the interests of Western countries in China, Western countries will definitely impose severe sanctions on Japan.
Ri Zhiyi only responded vaguely in this note. When the outside world began to spread the news of the secret talks between China and Ri, Ri was already aware of the considerable impact this incident had. But Ri also knew very well that
What the UK and the US can do currently is limited to verbal condemnation.
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