Beiyang 1917

On April 1917, 4, Wang Geng was called by Duan Qirui to the Duan Mansion early in the morning. US President Wilson had signed the declaration of war against Germany in the early morning. The conference hall is held again.

Whether Wang Geng is Duan Qirui's national policy advisor or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' supervision of negotiations with the United States, he must attend such a crucial meeting, not to mention that the theme of the meeting is still: join the war! He, the supervisor of the War Preparation Office of the Ministry of the Army, is duty-bound.

Just after 9 o'clock, the emergency cabinet meeting officially began. Wang Geng sat on Duan Qirui's left hand. Cheng Biguang, Chief of the Navy; on Wang Geng’s left hand side is still the Chief Financial Officer Chen Jin-tao, next to Chen Jin-tao are the Chief of Communications Xu Shiying, the Chief of Justice Zhang Yaozeng, and the Chief of Education Fan Yuanlian (and the Chief of Internal Affairs)

The deputy finance minister didn't come, and there was an unfamiliar face behind Chen Jintao, probably the director of some department.

Duan Qirui was the last one to enter the conference room. After everyone stood up and saluted, Duan Qirui nodded, raised his hand and made a gesture of pressing down, and said cheerfully,

"Sit down! I called everyone on Saturday, because just six hours ago, the United States had signed a document signed by President Wilson, officially declaring war on Germany!"

As soon as the Prime Minister’s words came out, the entire conference room suddenly became buzzing, and most of the people were elated. Except for Wu Tingfang, the Minister of Foreign Affairs who had resigned in the current cabinet, most of the cabinet members supported the Prime Minister’s idea of ​​participating in the war. Now the United States A formal declaration of war is obviously of great help to the cabinet in pushing for war in front of Congress and the president.

"Then, let's talk about it, how can we persuade the President and Congress to pass the motion to join the war by taking advantage of the United States' participation in the war?!" Duan Qirui didn't talk nonsense, and directly pointed out the theme of today's emergency meeting.

"The president is too prudent, so I'm afraid he might not be able to agree. Besides, when he announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany last time, the president was very reluctant. If the prime minister hadn't resigned to fight back, and with Vice President Feng's mediation, the president would not even have severing diplomatic ties. Promise!" Xu Shiying, chief of traffic, said first.

This guy was implicated in the Jinpu Road Bureau corruption-corruption nest case, and his life has been very difficult recently, so he wanted to show a thing or two when he took the opportunity.

"He promised to be a bird. The last time he announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany, it was through the process of passing a resolution by the Congress. It was not stamped by a big president. Li Bodhisattva thought that he would immediately become a Buddha by putting down the butcher knife. It's a joke!" The deputy secretary of the army didn't talk about Li Yuanhong's anger. Last year, because of a dispute with Sun Hongyi, the secretary-general of the presidential palace, Li Yuanhong spared no effort to protect Sun Hongyi, but Xu Shuzheng was really disgusted!

"Yezheng, pay attention to your demeanor!" Duan Qirui glanced at his beloved general, and Xu Shuzheng's face stretched out.

"Prime Minister, the last time the Chinese-government announced the severance of diplomatic relations with Germany, it made four demands to the Allied Powers. Later, we broke off diplomatic relations with Germany and Austria, but these four demands were delayed by the Entente Powers. He insisted on this matter, saying that the cabinet was naive and fooled by the Allied Powers!

Although the United States has declared war this time, if the Four Allied Powers still hesitate to give an accurate statement last time, I am afraid that the President and the Congress will hold on to our tricks and will not let go! "

Finance Minister Chen Jin-tao recently got dirty because of being bribed to open a copper smelter. He is in a hurry and wants to show it in front of the Prime Minister. The words are really on point, and Xu Shuzheng wants him to be the prime minister. Jiang Gan used bitter tricks and countermeasures, but this guy really didn't have the guts.

"Xia Yiting, how did you and Wu Tingfang do things? Why didn't the Ministry of Foreign Affairs get a reply from the Allied Powers about our four-point request last time?" Duan Qirui became angry when he heard Chen Jintao mentioning this. These guys simply put themselves on the fire, fooling themselves before severing diplomatic relations with Germany, patted their chests and said that they would definitely consider China's reasonable demands!

The result was good, I did not hesitate to resign, in exchange for Congress to agree to sever diplomatic relations with Germany and Austria. As a result, the Chinese-government proposed that the four articles were not followed, and I and the cabinet were greatly humiliated in front of Li Yuanhong and the Congress!

At this moment, knowing that Xia Yiting's problem was not alone, the Prime Minister couldn't help but lose his temper!

Xia Yiting knew that the old Duan was not targeting him, but he was a little embarrassed to be scolded in public like this, especially after talking with Wang Geng last night, he had already decided to follow the Prime Minister, but he sent such a basin of cold water head-on, this fellow Then he said with a livid face,

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs only does its own thing, and it does what it wants to do. The big powers are not easy to deal with. We broke off diplomatic relations with Germany and Austria before waiting for a formal reply in writing. This is a lost opportunity. And the bargaining chip, the United States, Britain, France, Russia and Japan delay in giving an answer, so what is strange!"

Duan Qirui was so bullied by Xia Yiting that his nose was a little crooked. The Constitution Research Association was born out of the Progressive Party. Speaking of which, it was Yuan Shikai's royal party at the beginning. He has the intention of continuing to push himself to inherit Yuan Xiangcheng, and this Xia Yiting is a diplomatic talent, so he has been appointed as the deputy minister of foreign affairs, so as to contain the southern partisan as the chief of foreign affairs.

I didn't expect this kid to have a temper, contradicting himself in public, can't you tell that the old man is accusing Wu Tingfang who has resigned?This is how Duan Qirui is not angry!

"Prime Minister, if the President and the Congress are to make concessions on the issue of participating in the war, I'm afraid they have to make progress on the conditions negotiated with the Allied Powers, otherwise they will not be able to convince them! I'm afraid the foreign powers will not agree to this matter if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs comes forward! "Cheng Biguang, the chief of the navy, relieved Xia Yiting. He and Wu Tingfang are from Guangdong. At this time, he had to come out and say something fair for the former chief and Xia Yiting who had already resigned!

"It's a joke. If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs doesn't do diplomacy, what would the Ministry of Foreign Affairs do? If the Prime Minister should come forward for everything, what would the cabinet do?"

Xu Shuzheng took a look, and what he said made Cheng Biguang choke. Although one is the chief of the navy and the other is the deputy chief of the army, there is a huge gap in actual power. Everyone knows that the Chinese navy can be ignored after the Sino-Japanese War. Chief, many times in front of the home of Duan Qirui, the prime minister and chief of the army!

The meeting room was cold for a while, and the other chief executives were all concerned about their affairs. Anyway, I have no ability to persuade the president or Congress for the prime minister.

The benefits of participating in the war are obvious, but there are many political factions in the country. They know that participating in the war is beneficial to China. Some people want to oppose the cabinet and Duan Qirui.

"Prime Minister, I think you may have misunderstood Vice President Xia, can I say a few words?" Wang Geng, who had recently made a fortune by Duan Qirui's side, said.

"Huh? You also know about this? Then tell me about it!" Duan Qirui was a little strange. He took care of Xia Yiting at the reception at the Liuguo Hotel yesterday and asked him to introduce Wang Geng, a new foreigner to the United States, to the ministers of various countries. Negotiation and supervision, why did these two people meet so quickly?

However, the Prime Minister knew that Wang Geng would either not speak, or speak out loud, so the old Duan wanted to hear what his new general had to say.

"I have just returned to China, and of course I am not familiar with former Chief Minister Wu Tingfang and the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but I had the honor to participate in the reception of the ambassadors at the Liuguo Hotel yesterday. In the middle, Vice-Chairman Xia said that he was able to look down on all the heroes with ease, Wang Geng was an eye-opener for me!"

When Wang Geng came up, he set up Xia Yiting's evaluation in front of everyone. When he spoke, he looked envious and sincere, and he looked absolutely serious.

"Wang Geng, Xia Yiting is the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, and it is his duty to host a reception for the diplomatic corps organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Don't you see it too often?"

There was a trace of disapproval in Xu Shuzheng's tone, but he became alert in his heart. Could it be that Wang Geng was lured over by Xia Yiting and the guy from the Constitution Research Association in just one night?

Xu Shuzheng looked down on both Liang Qichao and Tang Hualong. In fact, the Anfu department created by Xu Shuzheng in his previous life did overwhelm the research departments of Liang Qichao and Tang Hualong and became the largest faction of members in the second Congress. Known as the "Anfu Congress".

"Deputy Chief Xu is right. It is not unusual for Deputy Chief Xia to host a diplomatic reception in the capacity of acting chief executive. What opened Wang Geng's eyes was that at the invitation of British Minister Zhu Erdian during the reception, Deputy Chief Xia seized the opportunity to attend the An informal closed-door consultation between China, the United States, Britain, Japan and France was held, and great progress was made, which made Wang Geng realize the outstanding talent of Deputy Chief Xia!"

Wang Geng smiled slightly, and said so confidently in front of everyone.

Xia Yiting blushed when he heard this, he didn't think Wang Geng put all the credit on his own head, this fellow had mixed feelings in his heart, and was so excited that he couldn't speak for a while!