A Man of Science and Engineering in Troubled Times Wandering in the Late Qing Dynasty

Chapter 642 Justice and Power

Gu Weijun belongs to the pro-American faction and has no good impression of Japan. However, he also knows that the Japs are now very influential and difficult to deal with, so he said: "Britain and France have a secret agreement with Japan. It is impossible to offend Japan. We can only place our hope in the peace conference." Adopt Wilson’s Fourteen Points, the first of which requires open treaties and opposes secret treaties.”

Li Yu said: "Neither Britain nor France would agree with Wilson's opinions."

Wilson's Fourteen Points include open treaty, abolition of tariff barriers, freedom of navigation, reduction of armament, fair handling of colonial issues, organization of the League of Nations, equality of all countries regardless of size, etc. It sounds very ideal indeed, but because it is too ideal, it actually Impossible.

Britain and France had colonized the world for so long, and they knew exactly what the United States wanted to do.

The purpose of abolishing tariff barriers is to establish the commercial hegemony of the United States. After all, the United States now has the largest production capacity in the world. If it is allowed to sell, no one can compete with it;

Advocating for freedom of navigation on the sea is to break British maritime hegemony;

National self-determination is to dismantle the colonial system of Britain and France.

Therefore, these strategies are actually aimed at established powerful countries such as Britain and France, but weaker countries relatively welcome these policies.

After Wilson's opinions were reported in China, they aroused very strong positive reactions and echoes. After all, China has always been oppressed by foreign powers and bound by unequal treaties.

Even Chen Zhongfu, who has never been pro-American, once praised Wilson: "He is upright and can be regarded as the first good person in the world."

However, the current Lao America is not the Lao America after World War II, and it does not have such great influence in front of Britain and France.

Gu Weijun said: "When the China issue is discussed, the conference will definitely let Japan speak first. We are passive everywhere."

Li Yu said: "I suddenly remembered a sentence that could be used to target Japan's intentions."

Gu Weijun asked: "What?"

Li Yu said: "China cannot live without Shandong, just like the West cannot live without Jerusalem."

Gu Weijun was stunned for a moment, and then said: "It's very meaningful. I will revise the diplomatic rhetoric and use it in my speech. Thank you, Mr. Academician."

Li Yu smiled and said: "I didn't say it, I just... heard it by chance."

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It was not until the end of January that the peace conference began to discuss the Shandong issue. Gu Weijun was right. The conference asked Japan to express its attitude first.

Baron Makino brought his speech and said in still broken English: "We in Japan believe that Germany's Jiaoji Railway and other interests in Shandong should be handed over to Japan unconditionally."

This guy is a thief. He didn’t mention a word about whether these rights and interests should be returned to China in the future.

His rhetoric at this time was completely different from when Lu Zhengxiang met with Japanese Foreign Minister Yasuya Uchida in Tokyo. The delegation did not expect that they were playing an hermaphrodite trick.

One of the two Chinese representatives present happened to be Gu Weijun. He did not lose his sense of proportion. When it was his turn to speak, he said: "As for the issue of Jiaozhou, we should wait for China to state its reasons before discussing it."

Gu Weijun's suggestion was approved by Britain, France and the United States, and he gained a day's buffer time, leaving it to be elaborated on the next day.

He only had one day to prepare and only one chance. ——Because during the entire Paris Peace Conference, the China issue was only formally discussed in these two days.

Without much hesitation, the delegation chose to let Gu Weijun come forward to make a statement.

Right or wrong, success or failure lies in this one move.

Historically, Gu Weijun never said, "China cannot live without Shandong, just like the West cannot live without Jerusalem," but his words have always secretly revealed this meaning.

The screenwriter of "My 1919" is very good, highly condensed and made a reasonable film and television adaptation.

In fact, most of the rhetoric in the diplomatic field is very long and cautious, and does not sound so sonorous and powerful, because their primary purpose is not to leak even the slightest flaw, and to rack their brains to find ways to trick the other party.

It only took Gu Weijun one day to compile a very good speech. At the formal meeting the next day, he first made his attitude clear: "Shandong has great differences with other seas due to its history, race, religion, customs, language, national defense, etc. Unlike other islands, Germany should be ordered to fully and directly return the leased Qingdao and Jiaoji railways and ancillary rights to China."

The key point is the words "completely" and "directly", and Japan cannot be dealt with.

Then Gu Weijun elaborated:

"All the German leased land in Jiaozhou, the Jiaoji Railway and other rights should be returned directly to China. This land is a complete territory of China and no loss can be tolerated. The 36 million people have been of the Chinese race since the beginning of history and have operated in China. The language is based on Chinese religion. The origin of this land rent and Germany has long been known. At that time, due to religious issues, the Germans used force to threaten them, and China had no choice but to give in to their request.

"Based on the situation, Jiaozhou is the gateway to northern China and the key to the shortest route from the sea to Beijing, and the Jiaoji Railway is connected with Jinpu and can directly reach the capital. Even if it is just a matter of national defense, China has full power and cannot listen to any other country. Important places, some disputes.

"In cultural terms, Shandong is the birthplace of Confucius and Mencius, which is regarded as a sacred place by the Chinese people. The essence of China, this province has the majority of power, so this province is the focus of the attention of the Chinese people.

"In economic terms, the province is small and populated, with an area of ​​only 25,000 square miles and a population of 36 trillion. It is densely populated and difficult to survive. If other countries invade it, they are just fish and meat natives, and they cannot Also for the colonies.

"Therefore, based on the principles of national and territorial integrity recognized by today's meeting, the return of this land to China is indeed the right it deserves."

When talking about culture, Gu Weijun's sentence "Shandong is the birthplace of Confucius and Mencius, a place regarded as sacred by the Chinese people" is the source of the famous "China cannot live without Shandong, just like the West cannot live without Jerusalem" in the movie.

Gu Weijun's speech should be more comprehensive and rigorous, taking into account all aspects and not leaking out.

Finally, Gu Weijun once again used clever diplomatic rhetoric and said: "The Japanese army drove the German forces out of Shandong for China, and China is extremely grateful.

"Britain was still able to send troops to help during the crisis in Europe, which China deeply admired.

"The other alliance countries are in a stalemate with Germany, so they cannot send troops to the east to aid, and China cannot forget it.

“However, no matter how earnest our gratitude is, if we cede the natural rights of the Chinese people as a reward, thereby sowing the seeds of future strife, then if we do not fight hard, we will not be able to do anything to China, nor will we do anything to the world.

“All treaties, exchanges of letters, contracts, etc. concluded between China and Japan during the European War, if circumstances change due to China joining the war, the treaties, etc. should be considered temporary and must be submitted to the General Assembly for decision.”

After laying the groundwork and thanking everyone, the last sentence was his purpose: acknowledging the fact that Japan now occupies Qingdao and the weakness of the secret treaty, and cleverly changing the angle of the problem, that is, "this treaty and others should be considered temporary." "The nature of the treaty must be submitted to the General Assembly for decision", thus gaining the possibility of renegotiating Japan's attempt to cancel the agreement.

Gu Weijun's performance was like a textbook.

After the speech, representatives from various countries applauded and shook hands with him one by one, which was completely different from Japan's indifferent performance after the speech yesterday. It can be seen that, at least on a perceptual and personal level, representatives from various countries still stand with China.

It is a pity that the peace conference is a political conference, and ultimately it involves interests.

Since the meeting on January 1, the great powers have no longer listened to China's opinions. Gu Weijun, Lu Zhengxiang and others have no way of knowing what the great powers' private transactions are. They can only rely on contacts with representatives of various countries to understand the progress of some great powers' negotiations. .

Alas, it’s just that I have no status.

However, except for Britain, France, the United States, Italy and Japan, all other countries have experienced this.

Until two and a half months later, when Lu Zhengxiang sent a telegram to the Beiyang government to report the situation, he still said sadly: "The international community is even more indifferent to my situation today. It is difficult to visit and contact the leaders of the great powers, and people from all walks of life are dismissive of China's comments and observations. All kinds of situations , the situation is getting worse. Regarding the issue of Shandong in our country, except for the goodwill maintenance of the United States, although all the dignitaries from various countries express sympathy for our attitude, they always want to talk about it due to various facts. Justice and justice cannot be shaken, so we work together to carry out the task, fearing that the Nine Cauldrons will be difficult to lift."

Roughly speaking, the attitude of the great powers towards the Shandong issue is now very indifferent. Only the United States maintains goodwill based on the Fourteen Points. Celebrities from various countries sympathize with China, but are unable to provide actual support. The entire peace conference only saw power and no justice.

Li Yu knew what was going on, and didn't want to get involved too much in the peace meeting, lest he get the bad attitude.

However, he still followed his promise with Gu Weijun and published many articles in newspapers calling on the academic and cultural circles to pay attention to China's issues.

Li Yu's name is resounding, and many French scientists including Curie, Jean Perrin, Langevin, M. de Broglie (the elder brother, it is his younger brother de Broglie who is working on matter waves) have expressed their support for Li Yu. Oral.

At an academic salon held by the University of Paris, they also showed Li Yu a joint letter that would be submitted to Clemenceau.

Jean Perrin said: "Clémenceau and British Prime Minister Lloyd George are both tough people. I don't know how effective our joint letter can be."

"It's up to people to make things happen, and it's up to God to make things happen. I'm very grateful." Li Yu said, feeling a sense of political powerlessness in his heart, and once again he was glad that he was not pursuing an official career.

M. de Broglie said: "The academician invited me to go to China back then. Unfortunately, due to the war, my brother and I were drafted by the army and could not escape."

"It doesn't matter," Li Yu said, "How is your brother doing?"

M. de Broglie said: "He likes Academician Li Yu and Academician Einstein very much. Now he comes to the University of Paris to study theoretical physics with Professor Langevin."

In the early days of World War I, de Broglie was sent to the Valerian Hill position outside Paris as a tunnel engineer. This was a very dangerous job. So M. de Broglie used his connections to transfer his brother to the radio department of the Eiffel Tower as a communications soldier.

Li Yu said: “The theoretical physics field welcomes outstanding talents.”

M. de Broglie said: "He has just started to get in touch with it, so I can't say how talented he is. I hope Academician Li Yu will give him some guidance in the future."

Li Yu smiled and said: "Professor Langzhiwan is enough."

Langevin said: "After four years of delay, scientific research should be on track. I no longer want to study submarine detection sonar."

Jean Perrin said: "Professor Langevin actually doesn't want to be managed by laymen in the military, right?"

"Yes," Langevin said without hesitation, "I have never seen so many difficult demands."

Li Yu said: "Professor Langevin is now an acoustics expert."

“I’ve been studying acoustics all these years, and I’ve almost forgotten what quantum mechanics and relativity are talking about,” Langevin said. “But in terms of underwater sonar detection, I dare not say that, there are not many in France. Someone knows better than me.”

Jean Perrin said: "Perhaps Professor Langevin will be recruited back by the military in the future to continue studying submarine submarine detection."

Langevin shook his head: "I won't go, I won't go! But I have left a tail in my sonar research in the army, and I will find time to complete it in the next two years."

Li Yu said: "The underwater exploration project is good, it would be a pity to give it up."

M. de Broglie said: "That is, my brother once said that he also wanted to learn it in his spare time."

"What?" Langevin asked, "Does he still want to find the sunken ship on the bottom of the sea? If he could find it, I wouldn't be a professor anymore. Just catching a boatload of gold would be enough to make me a rich man."

Li Yu smiled and said: "Even if it can be found, it must be fished out. What if it is thousands of meters under the sea?"

"Like the Titanic? The offshore sea shouldn't be that deep," Langevin said. "In fact, when I was studying undersea sonar, I always had a doubt. I wanted to know how deep the sea is. Unfortunately, this project requires too much time. At sea, I don’t really like taking boats.”

Li Yu said: "The ocean is so big that it is basically impossible to cover it by ship. We will have to rely on the development of aerospace in the future."

"Aerospace? Airplane?" Langevin asked.

"Is it possible to install satellites in low-Earth orbit in space?" Li Yu said.

"It sounds a bit like your two science fiction novels." Jean Perrin said.

M. De Broglie said: "If this kind of technology really exists, it will be even harder to imagine what level future wars will develop to."

Langevin is more cheerful: "I'm not worried at all about this kind of technology that has no established theory."

Li Yu said: "A Russian scholar named Tsiolkovs has calculated the rocket theory."

"Russia?" M. De Broglie said in surprise, "You really can't underestimate them."

Jean Perrin said: "Looking at the reports, Russia is still fighting a civil war, and many troops were shipped from our country and the United Kingdom."

Langevin said: "The new red regime is really tenacious, and the wind on the battlefield has changed too quickly. The interventionist forces may lose the war soon."

Li Yuwen: "Professor Langevin seems to be very optimistic about them."

"Yes," said Langevin, "if the French had not entered the war, I would even have wanted to support them."

Langevin did join the French Communist Party many years later.

He has been quite anti-sodium since then and was imprisoned for it. After September 18, Langevin vigorously criticized Japan and criticized the League of Nations for conniving Japan; he also personally came to China to inspect education.